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Chapter Text

He didn't remember what exactly happened. What came first and what came last. He remembered everything as if through fog or completely torn-out movie scenes mixed together senselessly.

He remembered when Wuya called Jack to her, the only person apart from her and the golems with whom Raimundo had any contact from the outside world and to play games. A day passed, two, three... Before he knew it, a whole week had passed, and Jack hadn't returned to his Rai Zone to play Goo Zombie 3 or laugh at stupid cartoons. He asked Wuya where Jack was, but she replied evasively that he was probably wandering around somewhere. They both knew it was a flat lie. She didn't hide the fact that his goggles were lying next to her throne.

He remembered that another week had passed as he played all the games alone over and over again, beating all of Jack's scores while slowly erasing him from every console's memory until there was no trace left that he had ever played with him.

He remembered the witch's pleased smile when she came into his room and put her arm around him, whispering sweet words and asking if he would teach her how to play the games. He hugged her like he always did when he felt lonely. She always returned the gesture. This time, however, there was something different. He didn't register as he sank his Golden Tiger Claws into her body.

He remembered her choked voice, full of surprise and pain, and his own terror. She looked at him with glazed eyes. She was saying something, but he couldn't hear it due to the ringing in his ears. He took a few steps back, watching the stone floor become stained crimson.

He didn't remember saying the name of the Wu as he turned around, opened a portal, and immediately jumped into it.

He remembered that he hit the stone floor painfully. Entered the ruins of the Xiaolin temple, which for some strange reason looked brand new, but that didn't make him think twice. He often had hallucinations and beautiful dreams before reality hit him painfully each time. It was dark and quiet, not even the wind stirred in anticipation of his next step.

He remembered Dojo's voice calling to him when he entered the building with Shen Gong Wu, but he didn't even look at him. It was another hallucination in his tired mind. He needed to hide, think and calm his nerves before he came back to her and apologized, and she would hug him, and it would be as if nothing had happened. It always ended the same way, like clockwork.

He remembered moving the bells and opening the entrance to the crypt, where they once held Wu. He slowly walked inside up the winding stairs, and the deposit boxes caught his attention. All closed. He wondered why they were closed since he always left them open. He walked over to one, this particular one that he always liked to have opened, so he could look at the shattered Reversing Mirror that was supposed to remind him of the world's failure and his wrong decisions. He pressed the stone and the compartment immediately opened, revealing a perfectly fine-looking Reversing Mirror.

He remembered his own scream, how he grabbed the mirror and started banging it on the stone stairs over and over again. He felt tears streaming down his cheeks as Wu looked intact, without even a small scratch. He fell to his knees, letting helplessness take control, when fate decided to mock him so cruelly.

He didn't remember when he started punching the mirror or where streaks of blood started appearing on the perfect surface of the untouched mirror.

He didn't remember when a small hand grabbed his wrist before he could punch the mirror again. This person was asking something but he didn't understand the words, staring blankly into the mirror, where he saw his blank face between the streaks of blood.

He didn't remember how long the tears had been streaming down his face, or how many times he had quietly repeated that he couldn't break the mirror and alternated between apologizing for hurting her.

He didn't remember small hands grabbing his face, but they lifted his head gently so that he could see for the first time in so long the familiar blue eyes that echoed with her scream, haunting him in his sleep every night.

- Raimundo...?

He didn't remember what happened next, when the world disappeared behind a black curtain.

He didn't want to remember that he was alone because he let her kill all the people he was close to...

Chapter Text

He felt strangely safe for the first time since Wuya took over the world. The familiar scent of wood and wildflowers assaulted his nostrils before he opened his eyes. He frowned as the light hit him. It couldn't be the sun, Wuya got rid of it, sending darkness to the world. He covered his eyes with his hand and looked at the familiar ceiling. He must have fallen asleep in his old room in the temple ruins, even though he didn't remember going to bed. He wondered how long he had been lying idle, running away from his problems again, and where the strange new blanket had come from? He would remember if there was anything new in the ruins. He lifted his heavy body with trembling hands and almost immediately fell to the mat with a thud. He groaned quietly, clutching his sore arm.

"A double hit on the same arm will definitely leave a huge bruise..." He muttered.

Finally, after a few moments of struggling, he managed to sit up. The world was much brighter than he remembered, and a strange anxiety began to take away his breath as the memories of what he had done before he fell asleep hit him violently.

He took a deep breath, and something stung his heart painfully. He didn't have the Golden Tiger Claws on his hand. He looked around and removed the blanket covering him, but Wu was nowhere to be found.

"No, no, no..."

With mounting panic, he searched his pockets, then threw away the pillow and mate. He began to search every nook and cranny, unable to breathe easily.

He didn't have them.

He was defenseless.

He couldn't help her.

He couldn't help himself.

He had to find them!

HE HAD TO FIND THEM!!!

"Rai?"

He froze. Swallowing hard, he looked carefully over his shoulder. She stood in the doorway just as he remembered her. Light skin, raspberry lips, rosy cheeks and blue eyes framed by black strands of hair. He turned back to the cabinet he was ransacking, throwing everything out.

"It's gone, I can't find it anywhere..." He fell to his knees, breathing harder and harder. "I can't defend her..." He grabbed his arms, leaning forward. "She'll be angry that I lost them. It has to be somewhere... It has to be somewhere..."

"Raimundo, calm down."

He jumped back when he felt a small hand on his back and slumped to a safe distance. He hated how his mind played with him so painfully because he knew Kimiko wasn't there. She couldn't be.

"Rai." She held out her hands carefully, speaking slowly, as if he were a frightened animal. "Rai, breathe and tell me, what are you looking for? I can help you."

He was breathing shallowly, even though the wind was starting to blow stronger and stronger in the closed room. He instinctively grabbed his right hand, clenching it involuntarily, as if trying to convince his brain that it was just an illusion and that he would soon feel the Wu strips under his fingers. This gesture didn't go unnoticed by Kimiko.

"Golden Tiger Claws..." He choked out and began to mutter quietly, looking frantically for Wu. "She'll be mad at me for losing them. I don't want her to hurt me because I lost them. She's already angry because I hurt her... I hurt her, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to, it wasn't... It wasn't supposed to be like this... She'll be angry... I have to find them..."

He spoke with less and less sense and a growing anxiety that he couldn't control. He had to find this Shen Gong Wu before Wuya found him and found out he had lost it. He didn't want to upset her even more. He had no one but her.

"Here you go, I didn't have time to clean them."

"It's okay, Omi. Thank you. Rai?"

He looked at Kimiko and, almost with despair, took the Shen Gong Wu from her hands and immediately put it on his right hand. He carefully created a small, palm-sized portal and sighed in relief, clutching claws to his chest. Only then could he concentrate more. He had bandages on his hands. A much too large dark sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. He pursed his lips tightly. He didn't remember how long he didn't change his gray sweatshirt and dark green pants, but Wuya always tried to clean them with magic because, as she said, he looked the best in that outfit. He never asked for anything new because she liked the set, and he wanted to make her happy more than he wanted to make himself happy.

He promised to defend her, and he even failed to do so...

He tightened his grip on Wu and blinked rapidly, holding back the tears that were trying to escape. No hallucination has ever lasted as long as this one. He couldn't find even the slightest spark of courage to look into the eyes of the friends he allowed to be killed. Running a reassuring finger over the Golden Tiger Claws, he stared at a spot on the floor, trying to stave off another panic attack. He felt dried blood under his fingers.

"I have to apologize to her..." He choked out quietly, looking blankly at the floor. "I hurt her, and I swore to protect her... But... But she took him... She took him, and I was left alone again..."

"Who did she take?" Kimiko asked quietly.

He swallowed hard, biting his nail violently, and held the Golden Tiger Claws tightly to his chest. No apparition had ever asked him questions before, only occasionally would they say something but not ask about something he was mumbling. It's been so long since he had a normal conversation with anyone that sometimes he thought he didn't remember how conversations worked. He licked his chapped lips as he moved his knees closer.

"Do you think she was jealous of me?" He asked, carefully examining the ground. "She killed him because she wanted to own me, was that it? She got rid of him because he bothered her...?"

Kimiko was silent. He was afraid to look up for fear of finding an empty space because she wasn't really there. She couldn't be because Wuya killed them all, and he allowed it.

"I don't know who you're talking about, so I can't say for sure, but people do strange things for really flimsy reasons." She replied carefully. "Who did she get rid of?"

He almost choked on air, trying to hold back his bitter laughter. He wanted so badly to have a normal conversation with someone who wasn't a several-thousand-year-old witch with delusions of grandeur.

"Jack Spicer..." He whispered so quietly that he could almost feel Kimiko leaning in to hear better. "She's not human... She's a crazy witch with a mania for appropriating everything she finds interesting. She has a bigger ego than Omi, and with Heylin's chaos magic, it's an explosive mix." He smiled crookedly. "She was laughing, saying that she had conquered the world just before lunch and there was no one to stop her. And she was right, there is no one to stop her.

"Hey, just without those, Rai. Together, we can kick anyone."

He froze for a second, feeling his mouth go dry. He knew it was supposed to be some kind of joke, but it didn't make him laugh at all. The world decided to mock him in the cruelest way possible and refused to let him have a break again. Not today. Not on the anniversary of their deaths. He gathered the last of his courage and raised his empty eyes to the girl.

"You couldn't, because I killed you all."

He saw the shock and disbelief growing on her face. He closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around his knees, and then hid his face. He wanted to wake up from this bittersweet nightmare. He didn't want to look at the friends he had killed. He didn't even remember how much time had passed, a year, two years, maybe more? Jack had been with him for quite a long time, but when the world went dark, time seemed to suddenly no longer matter.

"Dojo, will you stay with him? I have to make a call."

"Of course..."

He heard the sound of her retreating footsteps, so unlike the witch's bare feet, as she passed between the corridors. He flinched when he heard the faint sound of a door closing in the distance. He glanced uncertainly at the little dragon as it moved over and sat to his left. He involuntarily clutched Wu to his chest for fear that he might want to tear it away from him.

"We have lots of questions." Dojo laughed quietly, uncertainly. "But you probably won't answer anyway, right, kid?

He hated the feeling of helplessness, but he knew that one more moment in this nightmare and he would lose his mind, if he hadn't already. He needed someone to talk to before he had another panic attack, and he felt one approaching. He swallowed hard.

"Ask..." His voice was small.

Dojo was silent for a long moment, as if trying to find the right set of questions for the moment.

"Raimundo, are you afraid of us?"

Was he afraid of hallucinations? Always. Was he afraid of talking to dead friends? Not necessarily. He simply felt uncomfortable when he thought about what cruel fate had befallen them and how he could have prevented it.

Not trusting his own voice, he denied it with a strong shake of his head.

"Why did you want to destroy the Reversing Mirror?"

He closed his fingers around the Golden Tiger Claws. The horror showed on his face almost immediately. He couldn't destroy it, and Wuya did it as easily as tearing up a stupid piece of paper.

"I couldn't break it..." He choked out through a lump in his throat, and tears rolled down his cheeks involuntarily. "I couldn't break it." He repeated. "She'll be mad at me for not breaking it... She won't let me go back if she sees the whole mirror... She'll think it was my fault... I didn't fix it..."

"Raimundo, the Reversing Mirror was never broken." Dojo replied quietly.

"No, it is not true!" He shook his head. "She broke it when I helped her get her body back. It was broken... It was broken because I personally picked up the remains and put them in a drawer in the temple. It was broken." He repeated, almost despairingly. "It was in pieces... I didn't fix it, but she will think differently because I already hurt her..." He looked at Dojo, who was looking at him with regret. "Dojo, I hurt her, but I didn't want to... I swore to protect her, but I sank claws into her anyway..."

Dojo looked with consternation at Wu with dried blood, swallowed hard, and carefully placed his paw on the boy's shoulder. The tiny touch burned his skin, but he didn't say a word of complaint.

"Raimundo?" Dojo's voice sounded as if from behind thick glass. "Who did you hurt? Who will be angry with you?"

A choked sob escaped his throat. He needed to believe so badly that he was out of the nightmare and everything he had experienced was a dream. He knew it wasn't possible because he had brought on such a fate when he allied himself with the witch.

"Wuya..."

The name hung in the air like an executioner over a condemned man, but Dojo did not move away and only hugged his hand tighter. He was just waiting for this bubble of illusion to finally burst so he could come back to Wuya and apologize, humble himself like a bug, and hope she wouldn't be mad at him for too long. After all, he was her favorite subordinate. Even Katnappe was barely tolerated in the citadel, with only two meetings a month to report on whatever country she was in charge of.

He had no idea how long he sat with Dojo on his shoulder, but he must have dozed off at some point because when he opened his eyes, the world was enveloped in a familiar darkness. There was almost relief on his face when there was no sign of the Dojo. He felt the effects of sleeping in this position for several hours, everything hurt. He wondered if Wuya had even started looking for him, or if she was waiting patiently for him to return to her with his tail between his legs. He froze in place when he noticed several sandwiches and tea on a tray, hidden under a transparent plastic lid, and a small note in front of him.

"Eat something when you get up"

He swallowed hard. Wuya found him and left the food, so she is waiting for him to come back with his tail between his legs and apologize. He sighed, rubbing his face with his hand. He really didn't want to wake up from that sweet dream, but he knew that no matter how long it took, reality would always hit him hard and bring him back. With a blank expression on his face, he reached for the first sandwich and knitted his eyebrows as he felt the sweet taste of peanut butter and jam. Wuya must have had a really good day because she usually leaves the ham sandwiches, which he hates the most. He quickly ate everything, but when he took a sip of the, now cold, tea he blinked slowly at the cup. The aroma of bitter yerba maté danced on his tongue, surprising him.

Bitter tea was his favorite.

He rubbed his eyes with two fingers. He must have been exhausted or had eaten too many sandwiches because he couldn't taste the sweetness in his tea. Wuya always sweetened it for him. He felt completely confused. Something really was wrong, but he couldn't put it into any rational explanation. Maybe he was still sleeping? No, no, it didn't make sense, he could still feel the bruise on his arm from hitting the same spot twice. For the first time in many years, he felt strange discomfort and anxiety while staying in the temple. He tightened his fingers on the fabric of his sweatshirt close to his heart, feeling that if he didn't do it, it would fall out due to it hitting his ribs too violently.

He heard the footsteps of at least several people approaching, but only one wore heavy shoes with buckles. Raimundo listened for a long time, and when the group got dangerously close to his part of the room, he jumped silently to the ceiling and hid in the vault. He was on the verge of another panic attack over the stupid tea and sandwiches, and the few years spent in Wuya's company had taken their toll. Living for several years in a world dominated by darkness, they taught Raimundo to be cautious when approaching new sounds, people and animals. Anyone could be a potential enemy.

"Dojo said that She would be angry with him, but we don't know what would convince him to tell us who it is." It was definitely Kimiko's voice.

"And why am I here?"

Raimundo blinked slowly, and his heart stopped. He hadn't heard that voice in almost two weeks, and he began to wonder if he would ever know what it sounded like. His dead friends entered the room and...

"He said that She took you and that he killed us, so we suspect he thinks of us as hallucinations." Kimiko explained briefly. "We have no idea how to convince him that it's not true and that he is safe."

"Friends, Raimundo has disappeared." Omi pointed to the empty mat. "Do you think he escaped?"

"Not impossible." Clay adjusted his hat. "He looked more scared than Bessie did when she was first milked."

"Are you sure it wasn't a group hallucination?"

"He really was..." Kimiko growled, and Rai quietly jumped down from the ceiling to the mat. "Here?"

He ignored them completely, looking uncertainly at the boy in a red T-shirt with a skull, dark pants and black hoods with metal buckles. Red hair was lifted with the help of yellow goggles with a red spiral.

"J-Jack?" He choked out quietly. "I th-thought she took you... that you..."

Jack looked at Raimundo with wide eyes, his mouth slightly open. 

"Holy sh..." He cleared his throat, glancing at Omi. "Shrimp. Yes, holy shrimp, I wanted to say."

He shook his head and quickly put the goggles back on. Raimundo blinked slowly and pursed his lips.

"I'm not a robot, you don't have to scan me, Jack."

The boy froze for a second and then slowly raised his goggles. He swallowed hard and wiped his face with his hand, looked at the monks and back at Raimundo, as if he were trying to find any suitable words or an appropriate question, but he couldn't get anything out of his throat. Raimundo looked at his friends hesitantly, but quickly turned his eyes to Jack. How could he know it wasn't a dream or another hallucination? Some were so beautiful and true that it hurt even more when he realized that the world had mocked him painfully.

"No... No, no, she took you..." He covered his ears with his hands as he crouched abruptly, eyes wide. "She took you... You can't be here. You can not..."

"Rai, breathe!" Kimiko approached carefully. "Inhale, exhale. You're safe, no one hurt Jack, see? Jack Spicer is alive and well."

"Not true!" He almost screamed, and a wave of wind pushed them away from him. "She killed him because of me! She was jealous of me, and Jack was bothering her! He's not here... You're not here..."

"Jack Spicer, do something!" Omi shouted. "You're a genius, do something smart!"

"Of course I'm a genius!" Jack growled. He put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Raimundo thinks we are hallucinations?"

"What do you think?" Kimiko looked at him angrily. "Nothing we say to him helps. I couldn't find anything on the internet that would give us any ideas on what to do to make him believe that we weren't an illusion!"

He looked at her surprised. He blinked once, twice, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

"Are you kidding me?" Jack laughed loudly. "Ohh, it's beautiful! Hahaha! I don't believe it!"

"Jack Spicer, this is not a situation for laughing, but a time for action!"

"Sure, sure, Chromedome! Give me a moment..."

He waved his hand dismissively, trying to calm his amusement. Even Raimundo looked at him uncertainly. Was he laughing at his incompetence? Jack had never laughed at him, but this was actually the first time he had had a hallucination of him.

"I'm waiting for you to say, 'Jack Spicer, you're a genius'."

Jack Spicer, with a stupid, self-satisfied smile, leaned forward slightly with his hand to his ear.

"What?" Kimiko raised an eyebrow.

"Say, 'Jack Spicer you are a genius'." He repeated. "Come on, come on, I don't have all day."

The girl's face turned red, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Jack Spicer, you're a genius." She recited through clenched teeth. "Now will you explain why I had to say something so stupid?"

"Wait, let me enjoy this beautiful moment." He raised his hand with a stupid smile. He took a deep breath and nodded. "It feels good to be a genius appreciated by your enemies."

"Spicer!"

"Okay, okay..." He rolled his eyes. "Raimundo is the Dragon of the Wind, right?"

"It is obvious!" Omi replied. "I'm Water, Kimiko is Fire, and Clay..."

"Yeah, yeah, never mind." Jack waved his hand dismissively. "If his magic is the wind and your own magic can't cheat on you, and I know this from Chase, why doesn't he use it to focus on sounds and catch what the wind is carrying? Wind magic cannot be fooled by any hallucination or illusion."

The monks stared at him with open mouths, and Raimundo blinked slowly, trying to process what he had just heard. It couldn't be that easy, right? He tried everything to drown out the images of his friends, who had looked at him with pity for so many years and repeated that he was not to blame for anything or on bad days, they did just the opposite. When Jack was with him, he always knew that he had support and would help him, but when he was gone...

He closed his eyes and focused his wind magic on catching the slightest sound, trying to drown out what was unreal around him.

"Jack, you're a genius..." Kimiko gasped, confused. "I never thought I would say this out loud on my own accord."

He smelled the rose perfume that Kimiko always loved.

"Jack Spicer, baby, is an evil boy genius! "Jack replied indignantly. "You should know that."

The smell of car oil and gasoline that Jack smelled like.

"You are undeniably a genius, partner."

"Jack Spicer, you're so smart for being so donkey"

"Dump Omi. For being so dump."

"That, too."

The scent of seawater, a cream for leather shoes and hats. He opened his glassy eyes straight at the four of them discussing. He didn't dream them, he didn't hallucinate them. They were really here. He didn't understand and didn't want to know how this was possible, not now. He stood up to his feet and, without warning, hugged Jack with a stifled cry.

"I'm glad you're alive, Jack..." He buried his face in the crook of Jack's neck." That you are all alive. I'm so terribly sorry that I allowed all this to happen... If I had known that you would die, that she would do this... I'm sorry..."

Jack hesitantly returned the hug, and everyone immediately joined him. They didn't understand what Raimundo had to go through, but they were also happy that he was alive and with them again. They had lots of questions, and so did he, but now they were happy to be all together again.

For the first time in a long time, he didn't want to wake up...

Chapter Text

"Wait, wait! I've been dead for how long?!"

"Since half a year." Kimiko repeated.

"So for you, it was me who died because of Mala Mala Jong half a year ago." Raimundo combed his hair back with his fingers, looking at the cup of tea. "But... It doesn't make any sense... Mala Mala Jong knocked me out cold when Wuya got out of my head information where to find you and the other Wu. I woke up an hour later, bruised and with a cut on my head, but not dead..." He knitted his eyebrows and thought hard about the next events. "I was the only one who didn't get a promotion, and Master Fung was angry with me for not following orders. Omi was saying that one day I'd probably be as good as him, and that wasn't very nice, so I used my Golden Tiger Claws and ran home. Wuya convinced me to help her because she knew how much I felt inferior in the temple and no one took my efforts seriously, and like an idiot, I believed in her sweet words..." He sighed.

"Wuya?! And where was I then?!" Jack shouted indignantly. "That old hag doesn't go anywhere without me!" He crossed his arms over his chest. "I mean, back then she followed me everywhere because she's not corporeal, so she needed help..."

"You told her to go away because you built a Wu detector, and you didn't need help finding them." Raimundo explained and slowly started counting on his fingers. "I won the duel with Jack for the Reversing Mirror, escaped with Wuya, and stole the Serpent's Tail from the vault so she could get her body back. She built a huge citadel, and for me, she created a great room with all the games ever made." He smiled crookedly and turned the cup over in his hands. "Whatever I wanted, she gave it to me, and in return I promised to serve her, and it wasn't that bad, seriously, I just..."

"You were lonely."

He looked up at Jack in surprise. He looked at him as if he understood what he was going through. Raimundo bit his lower lip and nodded weakly. He still couldn't believe he was sitting in the kitchen talking to his dead friends. He had been dead to them for half a year, so he suspected they felt as strange as he did.

"You said you killed us..." Kimiko whispered. "How did that happen?"

He swallowed hard, and his hands began to tremble slightly. He took a sip of now cold tea and took a deep breath.

"Jack sent Omi back to the past to get a new puzzle box to trap Wuya, but she caught you before you could do anything." He cleared his throat, feeling a lump in his throat. "She told golems to crush you, and I... I didn't do anything... I was sure she was just bluffing, and I even tried to tell her not to, but I couldn't... I felt like my throat was tied in a knot and when she said she could give me whatever I wanted..." He blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears away. "I wanted to say I wanted my friends, but instead..." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. "I said I wanted Jack Spicer, and she said yes, and... and..."

"And that's how Jack was with you, but not us..." Clay finished quietly, and Rai nodded. "Dang it..."

"You chose Jack Spicer over us, your brothers in arms?!" Omi screamed with wide eyes. "Raimundo, we trusted you and you betrayed us! How could you...!"

"Omi, that's enough!"

Dojo put his paw over Omi's mouth before he said anything else. The little boy immediately fell silent when he saw Raimundo wiping the tears from his cheeks, remorse and regret for his actions visible in his eyes. Tears showed in Omi’s eyes as he grabbed Raimundo's hand through the table.

"I'm so sorry, Raimundo! My words were inappropriate! It wasn't my intention to hurt you! I beg your forgiveness, my friend!"

"It's not your fault, Omi." He choked out quietly and smiled crookedly. "I brewed this beer myself, and now I need to drink it."

"Raimundo, my friend! Alcohol is not healthy for a young body!" He objected.

"It's just a metaphor, Cheddarhead." Jack rolled his eyes. "I have an explanation, but it may sound absurd."

"I'm talking to dead friends, and you're talking to dead me, nothing gets weirder than that." Rai smiled, drinking the rest of the tea. "Tell me what ideas you have, because I ran out of them."

"I don't think you're Raimundo."

The others looked at Jack strangely, but before anyone could question his sanity, he held out his hand, automatically silencing them.

"No, seriously. Look, what if this Raimundo is from a parallel dimension and something caused him to end up here where our Raimundo died, so there can't be an implosion between worlds." He explained quickly. "He can't be from another timeline, because there was no situation in the past where Raimundo would disappear, and he himself said that he remembers the situation with Mala Mala Jong, but differently than us."

"So I'm from a parallel world where you died because I helped Wuya conquer the world, but here..."

"Wuya never got her body back, and I never fought anyone for the Reversing Mirror, and I let your friends take it."

"That's why it was never broken, because Wuya never regained her power!"

"And the world didn't end."

"Slow down!" Dojo interrupted, and Jack and Raimundo looked at him. "If Raimundo is from another universe, how did he end up here? There is no Shen Gong Wu for interdimensional travel. Dashi never planned anything like this, so why is he here?"

Jack and Raimundo exchanged glances. That was a really, really good question. Now that they knew what was going on, the question was how he got here.

"I know!" Kimiko shouted, grabbing Raimundo's hand, which still had Wu on it. "Golden Tiger Claws! It must have something to do with them!

"That's right, you teleported with their help!" Clay snapped his fingers.

Raimundo looked at Wu with knitted eyebrows, the dried blood catching his attention. His eyes widened, and he looked at Jack, who looked similar. They both must have had the same idea...

"Blood!" They shouted at the same time.

The rest looked confused, from Jack to Raimundo.

"What?"

"I stabbed Wuya with them!" Rai explained quickly, pointing to his claws. "I panicked and used them to go to the temple to think and calm my nerves, because that's how I always think best."

"Magic is in the blood, and since Wuya with the body is a powerful Heylin witch, it must have caused the anomaly with the Shen Gong Wu and that's why you're here!" Jack nodded eagerly.

"Wuya is the Heylin Chaos Witch!" He corrected him. "Her blood must be saturated with chaos magic! It suddenly made so much sense!"

"Man, this is brilliant and terrifying at the same time!"

"You're telling me, bro?! I accidentally jumped between dimensions here!" He laughed, and immediately his mood faded. "Exactly... I shouldn't be here at all..." He swallowed hard. "I can't go back and apologize to her... She'll be mad at me for not coming back..."

"Raimundo?"

Dojo placed his paws on Wu and smiled warmly when the boy looked at him uncertainly.

"You don't have to go back to her if you don't want to."

"Exactly." Kimiko nodded. "We are still your friends, and we would be happy if you stayed."

"We will be extremely honored, my friend!"

"We're missing a Wind Dragon, so maybe you'd like the role, partner?"

Raimundo looked at each of them, and finally stared at Jack, as if his opinion was the final decision. Jack scratched the back of his neck, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks. He wasn't used to being expected to make a decision on something so important.

"Three losers aren't complete without a fourth, so why don't you stay so I can make fun of you more easily?" Jack shrugged. "Anyway, I wonder what the great Jack Spicer could have taught you when you were alone, because knowing me, and I know myself very well, we must have built some great robot of destruction."

"The computer, the robot butler and the virus you let into the Pentagon." He counted on his fingers and smiled stupidly. "For three days, it played Darth Vader's theme song from Star Wars every time someone important walked down the hall."

"Oh yeah, that's definitely my kind of humor." Jack snorted. "You could come over sometime and help me tinker with some robots, if you stay."

"How could I pass up such a good offer?" His lip quivered as he tried not to smile. "You've convinced me, Spicer."

"I'm happy to hear that, Pedrosa."

"I don't understand." Omi scratched his head. "You agreed because Jack Spicer will let you build a robot, but not for us, your friends?"

"It was a sarcasm." Raimundo rolled his eyes.

"Oh, sarcasm took me by surprise again!" He shouted. "So, will you stay?"

"I'll stay because four dragons are better than three, right?"

The boy's face immediately lit up with a wide smile as he jumped with a cry of delight on Raimundo's neck, who barely caught him upright and laughed in response. Maybe he couldn't return to his dimension, but he didn't regret it because he could fix what he had destroyed years ago. Now he had a chance to protect his friends and stop anyone who would try to hurt them. Regardless of the price...

"Master Fung!" Omi jumped off Raimundo's lap and ran behind his back. "You're finally back!"

"It's nice to see you too, Omi, but I was only gone for a few days."

Raimundo's heart sank when he heard the man's deep voice. He raised his arms up, keeping his head low. His friends forgave him everything and wanted him back in their lives, but will he also give him a chance? He was unable to kill Master Fung and sent him back to the Ying Yang world without Wuya's knowledge, although he suspected that she knew exactly what he had done.

"How was Master Guan?" Kimiko asked curiously. "Did he agree to additional training with us?"

"He can't wait for you to come to his temple during the holidays." Master Fung's voice was a few steps away from the table. "I see we have guests."

"Jack Spicer helped us overcome the crisis!" Omi shouted with enthusiasm. "And you won't believe who's back!"

Raimundo tightened his fingers grip on the tabletop, trying to calm his shaking hands. Master Fung won't throw him out. He was demanding and strict, but he always cared about their well-being. He took a deep breath. He stood up to his feet and turned to face his former Master.

"M-Master Fung, hey..." He smiled faintly.

The man looked at him with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. Raimundo, not knowing what to do as the awkward silence continued, looked down and began to tug at the hem of his sweatshirt with his fingers.

"It's a bit of a confusing story, but I'm not Raimundo... I mean, I'm Raimundo, but not your Raimundo? I mean... I would like to, if... If you let me... C-Come back..." He raised his arms, feeling less and less confident. "I... I... I-I would like to be the Wind Dragon again if you let me... Please... I will understand if..."

He stiffened as Master Fung wrapped his arms around him in a warm, affectionate hug. He placed one hand on his head and pressed it against his shoulder.

"Welcome back home, Raimundo." He said quietly. "We will be honored to have the Wind Dragon in our ranks again."

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he embraced the man with choked sobs and silent despair. He didn't care that everyone was looking at him as he cried like a child. He didn't care that he showed weakness. He was happy that he could regain his long-lost family and become the Xiaolin Wind Dragon again. Master Fung and his friends did not reject him, and this was the most precious thing he could receive, and he will not let anyone take it from him. Never again...

Master Fung listened to the whole story, which the others explained all together, shouting. In the end, it was Kimiko who explained everything in more detail, and Jack occasionally added his two cents to the story. Raimundo didn't say another word for fear of bursting into tears again. Master Fung was very surprised by the whole story and seemed saddened at the end. Raimundo knew perfectly well why. He was disappointed with him...

"Raimundo, accept my deep apologies."

The boy blinked slowly once, twice. 

What?

"What?"

"If I were a better teacher, I would not allow you to be contaminated with evil." Master Fung bowed his head low. "And even though I know it was me from another dimension who did it, nothing excuses a bad teacher."

"It's not true!" Raimundo immediately jumped out of his chair and started gesticulating vigorously. "You are the best teacher in the world, Master Fung! I was the one who acted like a spoiled brat and disobeyed your instructions, put everyone in danger, and then allied with Wuya and trusted her sweet lies! You just wanted to protect me, and I didn't appreciate it! I should be the one begging your forgiveness for being an idiot and..."

He fell silent as Master Fung raised his hand. He smiled gently, as he always did when Raimundo started talking too much in a panic.

"We both learned a serious lesson from this." He admitted it, weighing each word slowly. "It is important that old clouds do not dim the light of new days."

"Can you translate?" Kimiko whispered to Dojo.

"Mistakes teach us not to make them again in the future." Raimundo replied and bowed to the man. "I would be honored to study here again, Master Fung."

"Breakfast at eight, and at nine, your friends will check your skill level." Master Fung smiled as Rai straightened up, happiness evident on his face. "You are the only one who is not yet a Wudai warrior, so we need to check if you are ready for this title."

"Thank you, Master Fung!"

"Sleep well, young Dragons." He looked at Jack for a long time. "Jack Spicer, we would be delighted if you came for dinner tomorrow."

"Uh, sure, cool." Jack cleared his throat. "I mean, I'd be honored... Yeah, thanks."

Master Fung nodded and left. Raimundo fell heavily into his chair and exhaled loudly. Clay immediately ruffled his hair with his hand, and Kimiko lightly punched his arm. For the first time in a long time, he didn't feel lonely because he had them with him again.

Jack left a few minutes later after setting a time to arrive for dinner.

When they went to their rooms, Raimundo looked at his part with a strange knot of nostalgia in his stomach. His things were completely untouched, and Kimiko explained that they didn't want to touch them because it would make them feel worse, and they wanted to have at least as much of his presence. He opened the chest and found his worn brown teddy bear, an eighth birthday present from his oldest sister.

He felt at home again.

The next morning, he panicked that he was having hallucinations again and everything that happened the day before was just a nice dream. It took him a few minutes to calm his nerves enough to use his wind magic and convince himself that everything was real. Firstly, he took the Golden Tiger Claws to the bathroom, where he washed the dried blood, because he didn't want another attempt at moving to another universe. He hoped a soap and water were enough, but just to be on the safe side, he also poured bleach on them and washed them again. He wanted to make sure there was no trace of blood.

He put the dried Wu in his sweatshirt pocket and went for breakfast, which took place in a cheerful atmosphere. He usually ate breakfast alone on the couch in front of the big TV or with Jack, commenting on the stupidity of the characters on the screen. He didn't think he had missed the chaotic breakfast with the three Xiaolin Dragons so much until now.

After breakfast, they went out to the square, where Omi showed him a stone platform with a blue urn.

"I want you to break the vase with the help of your element." Omi stated this in a serious tone. "Don't push it off the platform, but break him into pieces!"

"I'm a bit out of practice..." He rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly. "Well, you know, for a few years I lived in a citadel where there wasn't much to do and enemies rarely appeared. Wuya personally went out to get new Shen Gong Wu and even made a whole display case of them! She held them like war trophies." He looked up thoughtfully. "Actually, now that I think about it, she could have considered them as war trophies, after all, she won every fight..."

"Just show us what you can do with your element, Rai."

"Kimiko is right." Clay replied. "You said you trained sometimes. We want to know what level you are at."

Raimundo scratched the back of his neck with a slight blush. He wasn't even an apprentice, having never gotten his rank, but that was what they were here for. Their Raimundo died and never received it either, so it was only fair to honor them both. He closed his eyes. He exhaled loudly and crouched down, placing his hands on the ground. As soon as he raised his hands, two tiny tornadoes of air showed up, and as soon as Raimundo stood up, they grew in size. He swirled his hands, and the tornadoes slenderized and changed into wind vines. He crossed his arms, and the wind vines spiraled and wrapped around his arms and wrists. He opened his eyes and waved his hands violently towards the blue vase. After a second, the vase and the podium fell into pieces. He snapped his fingers, and the wind vines disappeared.

"Ahh, dang it..." He muttered, scratching his head. "Last year I was able to chop up the object, and the podium was intact." He looked at his friends. "What? I told you I was out of practice!"

"How did you do it with your element?!" Omi shouted out all his thoughts. "We can't do that without using Shen Gong Wu!"

He looked at Omi for a long moment and then looked at the other two, but they shook their heads, and he opened his mouth in shock. He cleared his throat, trying to regain his voice.

"I had to do something with myself when Wuya took over the world, so I read various scrolls and tested them in my free time." Raimundo looked at the ground, and his face immediately turned slightly red. "I thought that as Wudai Warriors, you were already at this level... You know, like, connected to your element as one body and spirit or something... Now I feel like an idiot who brags about what he can do..."

"Don't worry about it, Rai." Kimiko put her hand on his shoulder. "You just surprised us with this. We could have guessed that you were at a much higher level than us."

"Exactly." Clay nodded with a smile. "After all, you spent several years with an elderly witch and had nothing better to do than train."

"With this level, you should already have become a Xiaolin Dragon, thus surpassing the ranks of Wudai and Shoku! This is an incredible achievement of unity with your element, Raimundo!"

"I’m definitely not suitable for Shoku, much less Xiaolin Dragon." Raimundo smiled uncertainly and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He didn't expect such exuberance from them. "I may be able to use the full power of my element and turn it into a weapon, but I have been away from group work for several years, and, as I said, I am out of practice." He pointed at the rubble with his thumb. "Last year I was able to cut up just the vase, and the platform was intact. Control over the element doesn't make me a Shoku warrior or a Xiaolin dragon, I'm not even sure if I'm suitable for Wudai..."

"That's why you're doing these exercises, to see if you're fit for the Wudai rank!" Dojo shouted, coming up with a scroll under his arm. "We have a new Shen Gong Wu to acquire!" He unrolled the scroll. "This is..."

"Woozy Shooter." Raimundo interjected. "It looks like a slightly exotic trumpet with a weird mini sugar bowl on top. When you blow on it, it releases purple smoke, and if you push people into it, they will behave irrationally and goofy. It is not dangerous, but when used by an opponent, it can pacify you for a few minutes and allow you to rob the entire vault. You will find it on a platform of stones near the Grand Canyon." He looked up from the scroll. Everyone looked at him with big eyes. "What? I told you that Wuya got almost all the Wu! For the less interesting ones, she sent me personally with instructions on where I could find them." He pointed to the Golden Tiger Claws. "I used my Wu to teleport to take them. And before you ask, no, I don't know the locations of all the Shen Gong Wu. Anyway, it was in a different dimension, so I may be slightly wrong with this one..."

"You’re right about the location of this one, it is near the Grand Canyon." Dojo found his voice first. "Indeed, I left them near the treasure cave on the landing next to the Grand Canyon." He closed the scroll and turned into his giant form. "Jump in, kids! The sooner we get this Wu, the sooner we'll be back!"

Raimundo bit his lower lip. He still didn't feel very confident in the situation he found himself in, and searching for Shen Gong Wu so suddenly was not something he wanted to do. Certainly not so fast.

"Raimundo?"

"Um, I'd rather stay, if you don't mind?" He rubbed his arm. "I don't feel very confident in searching for Shen Gong Wu and fighting in the Xiaolin Showdown yet. I mean, I can, but if I couldn't use my element precisely on the vase, I could hurt someone during the duel..." He cleared his throat. "Would it sound weird if I said I'd rather stay and exercise?"

"You're absolutely right, Raimundo!" Omi shouted with enthusiasm. "If you have problems with your power and you just came back from the dead, training and meditation will be the best options."

"We'll be back before you know it." Clay smiled and gave a thumbs up. "See you soon!"

He returned the gesture less confidently, and as they flew away, his smile immediately faded. He looked at his trembling hand and clenched it into a fist. He had trouble with the accuracy of his attacks, and that wasn't a lie, but he hid the rest of the truth from them. The truth was that he had spent years learning to control his element with the combination of Heylin's magic because he lived in a citadel that was saturated with it. Heylin's magic had been a part of his body for so long that he couldn't separate it from his element, and he wasn't sure if it was even possible. It didn't change one thing. He now intended to use this magic to fight against Heylin.

He moved his hand, and the wind gently lifted the platform and the vase shells, arranging them as they were before he destroyed them. Of course, the cracks were still visible, and the slightest touch could destroy everything, but he was glad that he had succeeded in this little trick. Maybe he didn't have to work as hard on improving his skills as he thought? It was harder to fit back into the group fight. He had a few years behind him, but that didn't mean he would give up so easily.

He felt like he was at home, from which he left a few years ago and just returned...

Chapter Text

While waiting for his friends to return, Raimundo busied himself with testing his skills on the training field, but feeling little satisfaction when no one was there to check his time, he gave up after a few tries. He washed the breakfast dishes and dried them with the help of the wind, testing his control over the element, and was pleased to admit that he wasn't as rusty as he thought. Not having much to do, he decided to walk around the temple to see how much  of a difference there was between what he remembered and this world. However, this didn't take him long. The differences were modest, even imperceptible. The image of a girl with sheep was replaced by a water mill by the river in the hall next to the kitchen, or instead of a fern in the corner of the kitchen, there was a pot of herbs. Little things that could be changed at any time.

He rubbed a hand over his face, looking at his side of the room. It was almost as he remembered, but it wasn't exactly his stuff. Everything in this world belonged to Raimundo, not to him. And at the same time, he couldn't help but use them with the thought that they did belong to him. How messed up do you have to be to think like that? His mental state wasn't the best, but knowing that Wuya wouldn't get him here and he wouldn't have to go back to her, he felt a strange sense of relief and lightness. It was as if someone had removed strong, heavy chains from his body that had bound him for years, and suddenly he couldn't move, take a step forward, and leave everything bad behind. Xiaolin Temple was his home, but Wuya's citadel had been his home for the past few years, and with panic slowly rising, he walked out quickly towards Shen Gong Wu's vault.

He needed something to occupy his mind.

As he sat for a long time on the cold sapphire steps, leaning against the stone column, he didn't feel much better than he had hoped. Out of curiosity, he also checked what Shen Gong Wu they had, just to keep his mind occupied. He was surprised to see a lot of the most difficult and hard to find Wu, but a very low amount of easy or medium level, which puzzled him for a moment as he continued to stare at the wall. Why didn't his favorite place help? Why did so many high-level Wu activate, but so few mid- or low-level ones? Most of them he never found with his friends. He only knew them because Wuya had them in her favorite display case, and he could use them for fun with Jack because, at one point, they became useless to him when he defeated most of the enemies without their help.

Feeling the air slowly becoming thicker and the sapphire walls getting dangerously close, he rose to his feet and without thinking, raised his hand with Wu.

"Golden Tiger Claws!"

He cut through the air, jumped into the purple swirling portal, and fell straight onto the metal table with a thud. He hissed, rubbing his aching knees, and slid down from the table, taking a lopsided step towards the dark couch in the corner of the room. He sat down and hugged his knees close to him, only to bury his face in them. The quiet buzzing from the computers and the LED lamp in the corner strangely calmed his growing panic. He needed a change of scenery, and he knew Jack wouldn't mind, after all, he suggested that he could come over whenever he wanted. He felt safer in a room full of electronics and some robots than in the temple, but he couldn't understand why. What caused this? He always felt safe in the vault with Wu, but this time was different, as if the world was trying to drive him away from the home he had barely reclaimed.

He didn't know how long he sat crouched on the couch, listening to the quiet buzzing of the computer and robots that seemed to be watching him, even though he could have sworn they were turned off. The sudden slam of the door and heavy footsteps jolted him from his strange lethargy. He knitted his eyebrows. Those weren't Jack's steps. They were too heavy, rhythmic and vibrating. Raimundo took advantage of the shadow falling on the couch and used one of the stealth techniques he found in the ancient scrolls, blending into the darkness. It was a very useful, but forgotten, shadow stealth technique he had learned to get out of sight when he was about to take down someone or infiltrate for Wuya.

He watched as someone who looked like Jack entered the basement, whistling to himself, and stood in front of the computer. He changed his passwords and codes, then turned to the light table, grabbed a tablet-like device, and started typing away. Several of the robots made a strange beeping sound, and their red eyes blinked green for a second before returning to their original color. Raimundo knew exactly what that meant. They have been reprogrammed. Whoever this person was, they were trying to block access to Jack's basement. He stood up slowly, neutralizing his camouflage, and approached the impostor. In one swift movement, he grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the wall.

"What the...?!" Not-Jack blinked in surprise. "Raimundo? What are you doing here...?"

"I'll only ask one time." Raimundo moved his face closer to the impostor. "Where's Jack?"

"Come on, Raimundo. It's me." He was looking unsteady. "Did you gulp too much air?"

Raimundo lowered his head, and a shadow fell over part of his face, his eyes losing all light. The Impostor made an uncertain sound, and the next second Raimundo grabbed the wrist with the knife. His eyes narrowed when he noticed that Not-Jack wasn't holding a knife but had a blade instead of a hand.

"You are a robot."

It wasn't a question, but RoboJack snorted in disgust.

"And what about that? I'm much better than Jack!"

"Where's Jack?"

"I don't know, I left him behind! He is hopeless and tearful! I'm much better! I can't die, I don't have to sleep, and I don't have to eat!" RoboJack laughed maliciously. "Why do you need someone as weak as him when you have a better model?"

"I prefer the original." He looked straight into the red eyes and smiled coldly. "If Jack is alive, I don't need you anymore."

"What?"

RoboJack blinked once and opened his mouth to say something, but froze and made a strange buzzing sound before disintegrating into small pieces of metal rubble. The air vines  disappeared. He grimaced at the pile of scrap metal and walked over to the computer, where he quickly set to undoing whatever changes RoboJack had chosen to make at his discretion. When he was finished, he did the same with the robots using the tablet. Not having much to do, he grabbed an empty box from the corner into which he could put RoboJack's remains since there was no need for him to mess up the floor, especially since Jack could easily use the functional parts later. He crouched down next to the remains of the robot and began tossing everything into the box, looking over his shoulder when he heard the basement door open and familiar footsteps coming up the stairs. He rose to his feet with the box in his hands, and as soon as Jack saw him, he screamed and jumped back, covering his face.

"R-Raimundo?!" He blinked. "What are you doing here? When did you come? Have you seen a robot that looks like me?"

"I couldn't stand the silence in the temple, and somehow I came here." Raimundo shrugged. "I came in sometime before lunch, and RoboJack was trying to reprogram everything and probably take away your private life, so I got rid of him."

"You got rid of him." He repeated.

"I got rid of him."

He handed Jack the box with what was left of RoboJack, and he stared open-mouthed at the remains. He dug out the metal eyeball and looked at Raimundo uncertainly. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. He repeated the gesture three times before finally clearing his throat.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to be so brutal..." He muttered.

"He tried to kill me, so I destroyed him." He shrugged again. "And I restored everything he reprogrammed to the previous state. He thought you were a worse model, and he would do better than you." He admitted it after a moment of reflection. "Do you think there's a universe somewhere where RoboJack killed you and took over your life, but no one noticed?"

"It's a very bloody and dark scenario, but as much as it scares me, it's not impossible..." Jack tightened his fingers on the box, looking at the remains of the robot. "I thought making a robot version of me would be more helpful, but the bastard decided to fight on the opposite side from me." He grumbled angrily and looked to the side, sulking. "And Ashley won the stupid Wu, and Chase took her under his wing as an apprentice, which should have been my place!"

Raimundo glanced at the metal parts in the box, which trembled slightly but immediately stopped as Jack huffed in a grumpy manner, like a child. He looked into the boy's red eyes, expecting another torrent of words, but Jack seemed to be done complaining about his bad day.

"Can I help you with something?" Raimundo asked and pointed to the box in Jack's hands. "Sorry for breaking your robot, but it was worse than you. I hope some parts can be salvaged."

Jack frowned at the part in the box and muttered. He didn't understand whether it was an affirmative mutter or not. When Jack realized that Raimundo was still waiting for his answer, he coughed briefly into his clenched fist and looked around the room uncertainly, as if searching for something. Finally, he pointed to the light table.

"You can help me get working parts back from this bastard."

"Ok."

Jack nodded, not knowing what to say. He clearly wasn't used to having someone help him with the chores, which was completely natural. After all, he and his Jack didn't know how to start either, but over time everything started to get easier and simpler, and before they knew it, they were running like a perfectly oiled machine. He hoped that one day those days would come back, and he would have a similar experience with this Jack, even if he wasn't the last friend he had lost.

They worked for a long time in concentration, putting screws, plates and other functional parts into the blue box, and those that were not suitable for anything immediately went into the trash. When this was finished, Jack enthusiastically began explaining the software of the latest model of Jack Bots he was planning, and that he was not uncertain what to choose as a coating. Raimundo pointed out a few things that could improve shooting and flying speed, and Jack applauded enthusiastically. He immediately pulled out several other blue rolls of designs and pressed a pencil into Raimundo's hands, demanding that he check the other designs and make corrections. They worked and talked long enough that they didn't notice that day turned into night.

"Don't let go 'cause I don't wanna be this, I don't wanna be this! Death is mine, I know! Don't let go, don't let go! Save your own..."*

Raimundo looked at Jack, who jumped and quickly pulled his phone out of his pants. He picked up.

"Hey, what's up?" He glanced at Raimundo. "Yes, he's here. He got rid of my crazy robot. Cool, at what time?" He glanced at the clock above the monitors. "We'll be there in ten minutes, okay? Sure, chill. Yo!" He hung up and put the phone in his back pocket. "I still don't know where she got my number, but I suspect she hacked the system..." He muttered and looked at Raimundo. "Kimiko called. You scared them with your sudden disappearance. They want us to come for dinner at the temple in ten minutes." He scratched his head. "Actually, I thought this whole dinner was just bait or something... I didn't expect them to really want me... I mean, it's nice, but we're still enemies and..." He exhaled loudly. "It's weird, okay?"

"Master Fung never jokes about invitations, enemy or not." Raimundo quickly finished marking the final corrections on the blueprints and put down the pencil. "I'm done. Do you have something else?"

"Nope." Jack rolled up all the projects and put them in a box in the corner. "You improved all my projects from the last five months." He scratched the back of his neck. "You know, it wasn't as weird as I thought. If you want, we can work together tomorrow or build new Jack Bots with your corrections."

"Sure."

"Of course you don't want to, it was stupid!" He exploded. He blinked slowly. "Wait, really?"

"Yes, as long as I have nothing to do at the temple."

"Great!" Jack threw his hands up but then straightened up. "I mean, it's great that you want to develop under my genius, Raimundo."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Raimundo's lips. He knew perfectly well the outburst of joy that Jack was trying to suppress. It had been a long time since he had anyone with whom he could properly play with his robots, so his joy was explained. With the help of Golden Tiger Claws, they opened a portal in the common room, but no one was around.

"Go first. You know where the kitchen is?" Raimundo asked, looking at his oil-stained T-shirt. "I have to change clothes."

"That's probably what's left of RoboJack after you neutralized him." Jack admitted. "Maybe I'll go look for the rest first? I'll say you're changing clothes."

Hearing no response, Jack nodded and quickly ran out of the room. He looked into the kitchen, but it was empty, as were the corridors and other rooms. He wondered where the rest of the big four had disappeared, after all, he had only talked to Kimiko on the phone ten minutes earlier. When he went out into the square, he saw a strange sight. Kimiko, Omi and Clay were laughing and talking nonsense about water and being a girl. There was a purple mist around them. He raised an eyebrow.

"This is something new..."

"Three done."

Jack looked up. Standing on the roof was a girl in a black latex catsuit with a stupid grin on her face and a Woozy Shooter in her hand.

"Now it's time for the whining idiot." Katnappe laughed happily.

"I'm not a whining idiot!" Jack objected.

"Woozy Shooter!" She screamed.

She aimed her crooked trumpet, and the purple cloud moved straight towards Jack, who pulled out his own Shen Gong Wu from behind his back and shouted.

"Reversing Mirror!"

The purple cloud changed direction to attack Katnappe, but before it reached her, it was blown away by a gust of wind. The cat thief blinked in surprise.

"Ha! You missed, sucker!" She smiled broadly, showing her teeth. "I will get rid of you, and all Shen Gong Wu will be mine!"

"You forgot one person, Kitty."

She looked back and stood in front of a stranger wearing a dark hoodie. A shadow covered most of his face, so she couldn't tell who it was. She quickly pulled out the Woozy Shooter, but it was kicked out of her hand and fell straight into Jack's hands.

"Jack, be so kind and return all the stolen Shen Gong Wu to the place where we keep them." He looked down at the boy with menace. "The mirror too."

"Honestly, I stole it from them fair and square, it's not my fault that I'm an evil genius..." He grumbled, but gathered all the Wu and moved towards the vault. "Be right back!"

"You have the nerve to come here and steal..." He avoided a kick to the face.

"I don't know who you are, but I won't give you my loot!" She growled.

She threw another kick, but her leg was caught. She readied her claws when suddenly she heard a cracking sound, and a piercing scream of pain tore from her throat. Her right leg was bent strangely at an angle, and the bone was poking through the latex suit. The attacker approached her slowly, so she swung her claws, but her hand was grabbed by the wrist.

"You'll give them back because they don't belong to you."

Another crack pierced the night as he broke her wrist, but this time she stifled a scream. She huffed like a purebred cat before being grabbed by the throat.

"Unlike my friends, I don't play nice games with thieves."

Half of his face was covered by the shadow of his hood, and his green eyes radiated coldness and murderous intent. She could finally see his face up close.

"You... You're dead..." She choked out, looking at the boy in disbelief. "You... You were killed by the mo-monster Wu..."

"You've got old news, Kitty."

He held his hand out in front of her, and a wind turbine formed into claws.

"I'll make it look like an accident, what do you say?" He asked quietly.

He smiled coldly as tears rolled down her cheeks, fear replacing confidence. He sunk his claws into her stomach. She whimpered in pain, struggling and trying to reach him with her good hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack running out of the vault empty-handed and giving him a thumbs up. He smiled and looked at the girl at his mercy. She wasn't worth killing.

"Remember one thing, Ashley." He pulled her toward his face and grabbed her hand when she tried to scratch him. "If you come near the Xiaolin Temple or the monks again, I will personally rip out your guts and feed them to the local dogs, understand?"

She nodded quickly, unable to say a word. Still looking at her, he put his hand into his sweatshirt pocket and took out the Golden Tiger Claws. She closed her eyes, as if afraid he would sink his claws into her flesh.

"Golden Tiger Claws." He whispered and opened a portal next to him. "Next time, I won't be so nice."

He threw the girl into the portal, which immediately closed behind her. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment to look at the half-full moon. Katnappe was only a minor evil, but he knew how dangerous she could become in the future if given a chance by Wuya. He put his trembling hands in his pockets and looked at himself critically. Surprisingly, he didn't have a single drop of the girl's blood on him. Everything was on the roof, but no one would know about it.

He jumped from the roof to his feet. He looked around. His three friends were still confused by the effects of Shen Gong Wu, so he used the wind and blew away the remnants of the purple smoke.

"What's going on..."

"Are you all right?" Raimundo asked, helping Kimiko up. "I was changing, and I saw through the window what was happening."

"Oh, I guess... I guess, yeah..." Kimiko put her hand on her head. "Nice night, really..."

"Have any of you seen Katnappe?" Omi looked around. "She was here just a second ago!"

"She probably stole our Wu and ran away." Clay groaned angrily.

"Actually, Raimundo...!" Jack started with enthusiasm.

"I sent her to the hospital when Jack used the Reversing Mirror on her, and she fell off the roof." Raimundo cut him off. They looked at him in surprise. "She broke her leg and wrist. It looked too serious for her to go without medical care, so I used my Wu and sent her to the hospital. I also asked Jack to put our Shen Gong Wu in the vault, after all, everyone already knows the password there."

"Yeah, you should change that." Jack nodded eagerly. "I think half of the bad guys already know what the password is!"

"I didn't think I'd say this, but thanks, Spicer." Clay blinked in confusion. "Seriously, thanks for your help."

"I am a guest here, and I promised to behave." He admitted it casually. "Besides, Raimundo destroyed my evil robot that tried to take my life, literally, so consider it a repayment for his services."

"What's for dinner?" Raimundo stretched with his hands in front of him, then put them in his pockets. "I'm hungry."

"And you only talk about one thing." Kimiko shook her head. "Let's go to the dining room, Dojo will serve everything soon. I asked him to keep an eye on the food when Katnappe attacked us."

Raimundo felt Jack's intrigued gaze on him and knew he had lots of questions. There was no way he didn't see how he was sinking his claws of wind into Ashley, nor could he not hear her scream, but he hid it from his friends, and for that he was grateful. Jack was either afraid of him or intrigued. Time would show which of the two would prevail, and a confrontation would ensue.

His list of people to take care of was short, but he intended to cross it all off and protect those closest to him, and Jack was one of them, even if he was on Heylin's side.

He was going to protect his home at all costs, and no one could stop him...

Chapter Text

He walked down a corridor lit only by torches, giving off a ghostly green glow from the flames. He walked past his bloodied friends from years ago, ignoring their worried faces. He knew they weren't really there, and it was just another hallucination from lack of sleep. He had to report to his Mistress about his last journey. He was gone longer than usual, but he felt a strange knot in his stomach as he slowly approached the throne room. He pushed open the massive door, and his dead friends watched his every move. The air was thick, warm, and unpleasant. Wuya sat on a large stone throne surrounded by green flames. As soon as she saw the boy, she smiled broadly.

"Mistress." He bowed slightly.

"Raimundo, finally!" She called. "I was slowly starting to wither from boredom without you!"

"The mission was complicated by several rebels." He said. "According to your orders, I eliminated them."

"And the Wu?"

Raimundo pulled out from his gray sweatshirt a statuette of a golden cow with a Ying-Yang sign in the middle. The cow looked as if it were deep in meditation. Wuya immediately appeared a step away from him and took Shen Gong Wu away with fascination. The green flames completely disappeared.

"Ohhh, she's more beautiful than I thought!" She sighed with fascination and hugged Raimundo tenderly. "I knew I could count on you, Raimundo. You're the best!"

She kissed the top of his head. He closed his eyes, clinging to the tender, almost motherly gesture he was given. Wuya usually just hugged him. She very rarely gave a kiss on the forehead, head or cheek because it was somehow a greater reward for his hard work and efforts.

"You know that I love you?" His voice was small.

"And I love you too." Wuya ran her long fingers through his hair. "If I had a son, he would be just like you."

He smiled at these words. Wuya was not only his mistress, but also someone like his mother, whom fate had taken from him as a child. She knew which strings to move to make him play how she wanted. He let her do it because he saw nothing wrong with it. She was always there for him when he needed it, so why would he want it to change?

"It's a pity you tried to kill me because of a stupid boy."

He froze, eyes wide. His heart stopped when he saw blood appear on her charcoal dress. He moved abruptly away from her. His gray sweatshirt and hands were stained red. Blood dripped slowly from the Golden Tiger Claws that he still had on his right hand. He breathed shallowly, looking at the blood on his hands, when it suddenly burst into green flames with a tinge of silver.

Wuya looked at him with glazed eyes. She was saying something, but he didn't understand. He didn't have time to scream, and his entire body was enveloped in flames. He opened his eyes suddenly. His hands were surrounded by small green and silver flames. He looked around in panic, trying to steady his breathing. He heard Omi moan softly. Footsteps towards him.

"Raimundo?"

A sleepy Omi appeared at the entrance to his side of the room. However, before he opened his eyes, Raimundo used the Golden Tiger Claws and disappeared into the purple portal. He fell on his back on the dry ground. Flames reappeared on his right hand as soon as he removed the Wu. He tried to calm his breathing and stop his body from shaking. He lost control, but what was happening now had never happened before. He always had control of Heylin's magic, and when there was a problem, Wuya would help. Now that she wasn't there, she couldn't help him. He hurt her and ran away because he didn't want to face the consequences. As the flames spread further, he closed his eyes tightly with his hands on the ground. His breathing was shallow, and the air was becoming increasingly scarce, even as a gust of wind picked up. He needed help... Anyone to help... But he couldn't risk it because he would hurt them, and he promised himself never to hurt his loved ones again and to protect them, even from himself.

"Please... Mistress... Help me... I'm sorry..." Tears began to flow thickly down his cheeks. "I didn't mean to... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Please don't leave me..."

He was so focused on calming the burst of magic and his panic attack that he didn't notice the rocks surrounding him slowly rising into the air. He jumped away in fear only when a small hand touched his shoulder. With wide eyes and slightly ajar lips, he looked ahead in disbelief. His breath froze in his lungs, and his heart stopped.

☯

"One, two, three!" The red-haired girl shouted, tapping her chopsticks. "Let’s go!"

Jack smiled and grabbed the microphone as the tanned boy with black hair pressed a few buttons on the console and gave a thumbs up. The five-year-old blonde twirled the drumsticks in her hands and began to quickly beat the rhythm on the xylophone. As soon as Megan finished playing the beginning, a red-haired girl with red eyes began to gently beat the rhythm on the drums and came in with the beat violently, along with an older black-haired man who immediately plucked the strings of an electric guitar.

" Spooky scary skeletons! Send shivers down your spine! Shrieking skulls will shock your soul! Seal your doom tonight! " Jack tightened his grip on the microphone. " They speak with such a screech! You'll shake and shudder in surprise, when you hear these zombies shriek!" He tilted his head to the side with a stupid smile. " You're so misunderstood! You only want to socialize, but I don't think we should!" *

On the couch opposite the small stage sat two red-haired women with red eyes, one had hair past her chin and the other had long hair past her shoulders. Both ladies clapped to the rhythm of the music, and sitting in the chair next to them, the blond man just shook his head. An old woman sat in a stroller nearby. Her gray hair was tied up in a perfect bun that swayed back and forth as she bobbed her head as if she were at a metal concert. She beat the rhythm of the music on her lap.

Jack looked at his youngest cousin with a goofy smile, and she returned the gesture, still striking a few notes on the small xylophone from time to time. They both glanced at their cousin, who was now playing a clean melody with the man on the drums and electric guitar. Jack turned back to the stage. A Latina woman appeared from the kitchen, feeding a baby with dark hair from a bottle. She smiled and waved, and when Jack and Megan waved back, she disappeared again. He raised the microphone.

" Spooky scary skeletons! Send shivers down your spine! Shreeking skulls will shock your soul and seal your doom tonight!" Jack noticed that his phone on the dresser started to glow. Somebody called. He'll have to call back when they're done. " You'll shake and shudder in surprise, when you hear these zombies shriek! Spirits supernatural are shy what's all the fuss, but bags of bones seem so unsafe, it's semi-serious!"

He smiled as his mother pulled out her phone and showed a blond, tanned man on the camera. His dad managed to call almost at the end, but he was glad that he at least found some time at work and had internet access to see their play. He gave a thumbs up when Charlie and her dad started playing a clean beat, and the man on the phone grinned happily. He glanced at the redhead on the drums and the man with the guitar. They sounded perfect together, but someone who didn't know them wouldn't think they were family because the girl did not look like her father at all. But if you think about it, Megan didn't look like her mom; she looked like a little copy of her dad. He glanced at the youngest with a goofy smile. She might be a mean and nasty little brat, but she was still family, and he loved her in his weird way.

" Spooky scary skeletons!"

Despite her age, Megan was a very energetic child, and she showed it by beating the rhythm quickly, but she was still too young to play on the drums. Maybe Charlie will teach her in the future? Or will she join Heylin like Jack? Time will tell...

"Woooo!!" Their mothers screamed.

"Way to go!" The blonde shouted along with Jack's dad on the camera.

Everyone applauded, and a Latina woman with a child looked out of the kitchen.

"Megan, you did great on the xylophone." Charlie smiled at the youngest.

"Of course, I did great!" The blonde pumped her chest out. "I'm a genius!"

"It runs in the family." The boy behind the console muttered and glanced at Jack. "I wonder if she'll take over your evil empire, Jack."

"Anthony, don't even scare me like that!" Jack pretended to flinch. "I don't like sharing power, but I might consider a small minion in my army."

"You're a little minion yourself!"

Megan threw the drum stick at him, but Charlie managed to catch it before Jack got hit in the face.

"The family business will finally move forward again!" Grandma screamed with delight. "But if the Evil Empire doesn't work out for you, you can always join Charlie and Marcus' team. With your voice, Jackie, and Megan's energetic play, you would make a hit in the music industry!"

"That's right, Jackie." The red-haired teenager smiled charmingly and placed herself on her cousin's shoulder. "Why don't you quit Heylin and join our little music crew? Anthony is so annoying, and I would gladly replace him."

"I love you too, cousin!" Anthony called out from behind the console. "I'm going to get some orange juice and drink it all myself!"

"Oh, you little bastard!"

"Don't you dare!"

Charlie and Megan ran after the laughing boy towards the kitchen.

"Hey, what about me? Wait for me!

The blonde on the couch quickly jumped up and ran after his children and niece.

"Gloria, how do you cope with these little demons?" The man on the phone laughed, shaking his head. "I couldn't stand Sydney, and we are brothers. You've got three on your head. Tell me your secret, woman!"

"I'm very patient by nature, Micah." The Latina laughed and handed the short-haired redhead the child. "He was fed and even burped nicely without vomiting."

"Thanks Gloria, you are lovely."

Jack's phone started to glow and vibrate again. The boy rolled his eyes. He was sure that it was his dad who called, but apparently someone else had decided to intrude on the family's little party.

"Someone clearly can't last even five minutes without me." Jack grabbed the phone and jerked his thumb towards the corridor. "I'll be back in a moment, just to check what they want."

"Take your time, honey, aunt Ariel needs to put Ben to sleep anyway."

He smiled at his mother and left, answering another call.

"What do you want again?" He growled. "It's my mother and aunt's birthday, and you losers are a bit of a bother, so let's hope it's something important."

"Is Raimundo with you?"

Kimiko was clearly nervous. Jack knitted his eyebrows in surprise.

"No, I haven't seen him for three days." He looked out into the living room. His family was talking about something. "I told him that my family is coming over to celebrate my mother and her sister's birthday, and I won't be available all day today."

"He's nowhere in the temple, and we were sure he was with you... He disappeared around five in the morning, and it's slowly approaching dinner and..."

"Raimundo is old enough that you don't have to babysit him." He rolled his eyes. "If this is all, I'm out. I'll say it again, it's my mother's and aunt's birthday, and I don't have time for it."

"THE GREAT EVIL WOKE ME UP IN THE MORNING!!!"

Omi screamed into the phone so loudly that Jack had to pull the phone away from his ear.

"Omi, you don't have to shout it, he can hear you normally." Kimiko instructed the boy.

"Oh, please forgive me." He replied more quietly and started speaking in a normal voice. "This morning I woke up to bad energy, and it was from part of Raimundo's room, but he wasn't there, and a moment later Dojo came running screaming that he felt Heylin's magic in the temple."

"We checked all the rooms, but we didn't find anything." Clay joined the conversation. "We are afraid that something bad has happened to Raimundo. We think that he might have had another panic attack or nightmare, but we can't find him anywhere."

"And when Dojo said he sensed Heylin's magic, we thought someone tried to kidnap him, and he ran away to you."

"You have to help us find him, Jack Spicer!"

"I don't need to do anything." He snorted. "Like I said, Raimundo is almost an adult. He can be responsible for himself, and why should I help you anyway? He's not here. Check your Wu's stash or something."

"We searched every place in the temple." Kimiko sighed.

"Raimundo trusts only you, Jack Spicer! You are his friend!"

Jack opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it when Omi uttered his second sentence. He tightened his fingers on his cell phone and rubbed his eyes, being careful about his eyeliner. How was he supposed to explain to a kid that Raimundo was friends with other him in another dimension and they weren't friends here at all. True, Rai helped him with several projects and got rid of his murderous robot, and Jack kept silent about what he had done with Katnappe. Sometimes they did something together, played two games, talked about their favorite TV programs...

He closed his eyes and looked at the ceiling with a heavy sigh.

Damn, he really liked Raimundo and could have thought of him as something close to a friend, but he didn't see it until now.

"Jack?"

"I'll find him, but you owe me a favor." He growled. He hung up before he got an answer. "They really had to today...

For a Heylin genius, he was really getting too nice and soft with the Xiaolin monks.

"Another Wu?"

He looked back, surprised. A woman with shoulder-length red hair and red eyes stood in the doorway.

"No, no, not really!" He shook his head quickly. "I would never go on a Shen Gong Wu hunt on your and Aunt Ariel's birthday! A friend disappeared, and his relatives are worried that something might have happened."

"One of Xiaolin or Heylin?"

"Xiaolin." He sighed.

He knew that his family knew the truth about Xiaolin and Heylin's fight, and even though Grandma Jennette was on Heylin's side, her children, Jack's uncles and dad, and their wives were neutral in this war. Their children were also in the neutral sphere, the exception, of course, was Jack.

"He recently went through a trauma, and his friends think he trusts me the most because I helped him once or twice, but that's stupid! We are on opposite sides!" He threw his hands in front of him. "I don't understand why he would trust me more than his friends?! They say otherwise and want me to help find him!"

"Jack." She grabbed his chin and lifted it slightly so he could look into her eyes. "Since you were there for him in the worst moments, and you were the only one who could help, it's no surprise to me that he rooted his trust in you."

"Even if, still..."

"Go find him. Check if he's okay." She smiled warmly. "Me and Aunt Ariel will make it through this last hour without you." She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. "Anyway, Uncle Sydney, Anthony and Megan are an attraction enough when they start acting like crazy monkeys in a circus."

"You're the best, mom!" He hugged her tightly. "Thanks! I will come back as soon as I can!"

"Take your time, honey!"

Jack quickly reached the basement door and pushed in the code to open the entrance. He ran inside and skipped two or three steps to jump to the table and grab the keys to the jet and the tracker he had made after Raimundo's last unannounced visit to his evil cave. He stopped abruptly. Should he take some Shen Gong Wu or Jack Bots with him?

He bit his lower lip and clicked a few options on his watch, activating four bots that immediately flew over and compacted themselves into the undercarriage compartment. After some thought, he took the Monkey Staff with him. It was the only Wu he had with a useful feature during combat. He rubbed his forehead. What the hell has he gotten himself into?

He got into the jet and triple-checked to make sure he had everything. Once he was sure, he activated the exit passage for the jet and started the machine. He hoped that Raimundo wasn't too far away, but since he had the Golden Tiger Claws, anything was possible.

"Good thing I increased the number of seats in these stupid vehicles, because I don't know how I could accommodate more than one person..." He grumbled, setting the locator in the cockpit.

"It's still quite cramped in here, cousin."

With a scream like a slaughtered animal, he yanked the steering wheel. The jet swung to the right and spun around three times before the boy stabilized the flight again. He engaged autopilot and turned back, mouth wide open.

"Charlie, what the hell?!" He screamed.

"I heard you were looking for a friend with problems, so I thought I'd help." The redhead shrugged and squeezed into the front seat. "By the way, I wouldn't call it a jet if it has two seats in the front and two in the back, you know?"

"Seat belt!" He growled.

"How gentle..." She rolled her eyes, but obediently fastened her seat belt. "Let's face it, Jack. Which of the two of us is learning about the human psyche and plans to pursue it in the future, me or you?"

Jack pursed his lips tightly and growled, hitting his forehead on the steering wheel. Charlie laughed and smiled widely, showing her teeth as he glared at her.

"Admit it, you need me."

"I could handle it..." He muttered, then grimaced. "Okay, I wouldn't handle it very easily, but you still shouldn't have sneaked in! I almost had a heart attack!" He shook his head. "Does Aunt Ariel know you're here?"

"Grandma knows I'm here."

"Of course she knows..." He sighed. "That woman knows everything."

"She knows enough to keep you from going on your own." She looked at the map in the cockpit. "Do you know where to find him?"

"I'm not sure..." Jack bit his lower lip. "I put a bug in his pocket the last time he broke into my evil cave and scared me half to death. I wanted to make sure he never did that again."

"How do you know he didn't change his clothes or something?" Charlie raised an eyebrow, examining the map. "He must have changed his clothes a long time ago, so where did you get the idea that..."

"It's a smart bug." He sighed. "If he changes clothes, it will quickly change the location to the current clothes he is wearing. It's a tiny little robot bug with legs and hooks. It won't fall off, it won't fall out, and it certainly won't leave him alone. I made sure of that."

"You don't want your Romeo to get lost, huh?"

Jack turned red and choked on saliva. He looked at Charlie with horror, and she smiled in a mischievous way, as if she knew much more than anyone gave her credit for.

"He's not my boyfriend!" He screamed. "It's hard for me to even call him a friend! He is, was actually, my enemy! He is on Xiaolin's side, and I am on Heylin's side, although we have been on the same side for a while, but it's still...!"

"But you like him anyway." She noticed, and when the boy wanted to snap back, she added. "Like a friend."

He did not answer. He couldn't tell if he and Raimundo were friends. Yes, what they had been doing the last few days and how Raimundo fit perfectly into his world of robots and programming were really nice. He had no one else who would admire his work and even understand its complexity, and Raimundo had been doing just that since he, as it were, returned from the afterlife. He opened his mouth to finally respond, but was interrupted by a beeping sound. He glanced quickly at the map attached to the cockpit.

"Zoom it."

Charlie did as he asked. She looked at the map and the beeping red light.

"He is somewhere about..." She blinked. "Here?"

"Here?" He repeated.

"Yes, here! Land!" She called out and pointed to a burned piece of land. "I didn't know he had fire powers. Unless it's one of those whole Shebu Gudu Wudu things."

"Shen Gong Wu." He rolled his eyes, carefully landing on the empty space between the trees. "Raimundo doesn't have fire powers, and I doubt he used any Wu."

He stepped out of the jet and offered Charlie his hand, helping her get off safely. They walked a short distance between the trees, where they saw a burned-out fragment, and he stopped dead in his tracks with his mouth open. The land was not only charred, but all the plants were burned. Particles of dust and ash-burned plants were still floating in the air, as if almost frozen in time. He turned abruptly as Charlie squealed and clung to his arm.

"What is that thing?!"

"I'd like to know myself..." Jack blinks once, then twice.

Staring at them was a small stone golem that barely reached Jack's knees. He stared blankly with a glowing green eyes. Jack frowned.

"Hey, little one, uh... Do you know where Raimundo is?" He asked. The golem tilted its head to the side. "Boy, brown hair, green eyes. Control the wind?" He clarified, but the golem continued to stare. "Uhh, what else... Oh! He has a Shen Gong Wu on his right hand. Er, golden claws?"

The golem nodded and showed some direction. He walked up to Jack and tugged on his pants leg, still pointing at something. He took a step forward, and the little golem jumped back and ran forward. Jack grabbed Charlie's hand and led her after the stone creature, which clearly stopped and glanced to see if they were following him. They didn't walk very long when they noticed a crouched figure under the tree and another small golem, almost identical to the one leading them.

"Raimundo!"

The boy started and looked over his shoulder in surprise. Jack stopped abruptly, his eyes wide. Several small green flames laced with silver were smoldering on Raimundo's body. The boy looked like he had been crying for at least several hours and hadn't had a good night's sleep for a week. His legs were tucked almost to his chin, and he held them tightly in his arms.

"Jack..." His voice was small, like that of a terrified little child. "I don't know what to do... I can't put them out... Mistress always helped me, but now she's not here..." Fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. "I don't know what to do... I don't know how to stop them... Help me..."

Only then did Jack understand how much Wuya must have destroyed Raimundo's psyche and made him so dependent on her that he couldn't control his own power. Although green-silver flames were something new, but if he remembered correctly, they were a mark of Heylin witches and wizards, at least that's what their grandmother taught them. He took a deep breath and walked carefully to the front, trying to remember everything his grandmother had taught him about Heylin's magic and the elements, but he had never seen them in real life, much less combined like this.

"Okay, okay..." He stretched his arms out in front of Raimundo, who looked like he was going to run away. "It's okay, Rai. Everything will be fine, you just have to..." He cleared his throat, trying to calm the tremors in his voice. "Breathe? Inhale Exhale. Listen to the wind, let it guide you?" He looked at Charlie uncertainly. "Help?"

Charlie quickly got over her shock and walked over to the boy and crouched down in front of him. The little golems immediately surrounded the boy in a defensive gesture, ready to protect him if necessary.

"Hi, I'm Charlie, and you?"

"Ra... Raimundo..." He uttered it quietly, glancing at Jack and back at the girl. "You are very similar... You and Jack... Only he has whiter skin..."

"I'm his cousin." She smiled warmly. "Our mothers are sisters, twins. Do you have any siblings, Rai?" He nodded. "How much? My little brother was born four months ago, his name is Ben."

"Sixteen..."

"Sixteen?" She blinked.

"Eight brothers and sisters." He admitted it quietly. "I have... I had? I don't know if I still have them here, but..."

"Quite a circus."

Raimundo smiled crookedly and wiped his cheeks. Jack noticed that whatever Charlie was doing, it worked, as one by one the flames began to slowly die out.

"Actually, we had a family circus." He replied after a moment of silence. "Me and the triplets were the only ones doing tightrope acrobatics, but then somehow... My parents wanted to rest and stabilize our lives, so we returned to live in Brazil. We lived in Rio de Janeiro. I was nine years old then, and my triplets were eleven... A year later, my mother died... My father married a second time, but he and my stepmother died in an accident a year before I went to Xiaolin temple..." 

The two remaining flames began to burn stronger. Charlie didn't know what to say, so she looked at Jack for help.

"And where do these stone dwarves come from?" Jack poked one golem on the forehead with his finger. "You plan to build an evil empire and fill the world with stone dwarves, Snow White?"

At the words about the evil empire, Raimundo visibly flinched in concern but smiled at the rest of the statement. He looked uncertainly at the four small stone golems. They looked identical to the ones Wuya had created, but those were several meters larger.

"I don't know... I'm not sure?" Raimundo carefully placed his hand on one golem's head, and it smiled with one tooth and clung to him affectionately." When I was with Wuya, she created such huge golems, but they were several meters larger. They obeyed me as her right hand, and I could summon more of them when needed, but... I never did it by accident, and I didn't think that..." He put a hand on his own face, sighing heavily. "I think I've lost control of Heylin's magic, but I haven't had any problems with it for years. I think... I think I must have accidentally released too much of it and subconsciously created these small ones, because I wanted so badly for Wuya to appear and help me control the burst of my magic..."

They were silent for a long moment. Charlie clearly had a lot of questions, but she preferred to keep her curiosity silent, although she didn't fully understand how someone from Xiaolin could have Heylin's magic.

"Those green flames were her magic, weren't they?" Jack asked carefully.

"Yes, they are hers." He muttered. "I spent many years with her, and the citadel was imbued with her Heylin's magic to such an extent that at one point it simply became part of my own with my wind magic and seemed to merge with it to the point that I couldn't separate them, I don't even know if it's even possible without killing me..." He closed his eyes. "She created her citadel here, you know? It was big and empty, full of green torches... I miss my room... I felt safe there..."

"Rai...?"

Jack didn't have time to finish when Raimundo suddenly fell to the ground and instinctively grabbed him in panic. Only after a while did he realize that he had fallen asleep from exhaustion. He looked uncertainly at Charlie, and she at him.

"Adrenaline must have been holding him, and when he felt a little safe, it slowly began to wear off." She shrugged and stood up. "Take his legs, and I'll take his arms."

"Wait."

Jack clicked a few buttons on his watch. After a while, two Jackbots appeared and easily took the unconscious boy with them. Charlie looked at the little stone golems uncertainly.

"What will we do with them?"

"Uh, stay?" Jack pointed to the ground. "Sit?"

"Jack, they are not dogs."

"Do you have a better idea?!" He growled.

"We'll take care of Raimundo, so please wait here for him." Charlie leaned over the little ones, and they tilted their heads to the side. "Maybe build him something nice during this time? Like a little stone doll house or something?"

The golems exchanged glances, muttered nonsense, and suddenly ran off in several directions.

"I guess it worked..." She muttered in surprise.

"It looks like it." Jack scratched his head. "Let's go back. I still have to call his friends and tell them that I found their missing piece."

"Don't tell them he has Heylin magic."

"Of course." He looked at her, surprised, and nodded. "He's already been through one trauma, and for now he doesn't need to be rejected for something so stupid. I'm not inside their heads, but these idiots apparently let him go bad once, although I don't know for what reason exactly."

"It didn't have a very good effect on his psyche, I think." The girl looked at the jet that was already in view. "Talk to him when he wakes up and ask him questions. If he wants to tell them, that's his decision, not ours."

"Of course..." He repeated it more quietly.

Raimundo needed help to get out of the nightmare, but only an old enemy could give him that...

Chapter Text

Explaining Raimundo's escape from the temple was difficult for Jack, but Charlie was a big help. She explained what they suspected, that Raimundo had run away due to a nightmare and a panic attack, and when she and Jack found him and proved he wasn't hallucinating, he fainted in their arms. She completely omitted mentioning stone golems and Heylin magic, over which the boy lost control. Jack tried to convince them to let Raimundo stay at his house because his mother was a nurse, and they would be able to take care of him. Of course, the Xiaolin Dragons were not very convinced.

"Jack and I were the last people he saw before he passed out. If you move him to the temple and the two of us aren't there, then he may panic again and not believe you."

After Charlie's words, they reluctantly agreed with her and allowed Raimundo to stay with her and Jack, but they told them to inform them when he woke up. They didn't want to say anything about Heylin's magic, which burst into small flames from time to time on the unconscious boy's hands during the first few hours. They might not understand.

After another ten hours, the magic had normalized, but another problem arose. Raimundo got a fever. It started at thirty-eight degrees, but when the temperature climbed to forty, Charlie and Jack started to panic a little and considered calling the monks. Following the instructions of the boy's mother, they put cold compresses on him and changed them as soon as they stopped being cold. The fever kept rising, and nothing helped. They were ready to call in the monks, when suddenly Jack had an idea that he thought was stupid and might work.

"Jack, he has a fever." Charlie shook her head. "Opening a window when someone is sick will only make things worse and not help in any way."

"Note that this is not an ordinary fever." Jack rolled his eyes. "He has a fever due to Heylin's magic overload, grandma told us about it."

"Yes, but she also repeated that every warrior or magician has energy in him, which is best renewed in a small, closed room. Opening a window in his condition will cause pneumonia faster if the air blows through it!"

"Think about it for a moment, his element is wind, and Heylin's magic just mixed with it and was on the main line when we found him. What if he needs contact with his element to moderate everything?"

Charlie opened her mouth to say something and then closed it. She blinked.

"Actually, it makes sense..."

Jack rolled his eyes again but didn't answer, opening the window wide. A violent wind blew into the room, carrying with it several leaves and flowers that almost immediately swirled over Raimundo's body and fell gracefully around him. The boy breathed a deep sigh of relief, and the unhealthy blush slowly began to fade. Charlie and Jack exchanged glances and high-fives with big smiles. Now all they had to do was wait for Raimundo to wake up.

The next few hours were a wait that finally got tired of, and Jack suggested going to his Evil Lair and tinkering with the robots. As they descended into the basement, Charlie glanced uncertainly at the stairs. She seemed afraid to leave Raimundo alone, even though she had only known him for a few hours. Her empathy for wronged people was too big, and she swore at her more than once, but with Raimundo she felt obliged to watch over him and protect him from the evil of the world. She put it down to the fact that the boy seemed as lost as Jack had been before he finally found his passion for robotics and planned to take over the world.

"I didn't know you had friends." Charlie admitted, breaking the silence and reaching for the device with darts on it. "In the sense of among the Xiaolin monks."

"Me too." Jack sighed heavily. "I only realized it when his friends called me for help. I didn't plan on making friends with my enemy, but..."

"It just happened?

"Yhy..."

She wanted to ask something else, but the device in her hands beeped loudly. She dropped it with a squeal of panic, and the machine fell under the desk. Jack rolled his eyes and dove under the desk, muttering to himself that there was no time for the new Shen Gong Wu to appear but now.

"SPICER!!"

Charlie jumped and turned with wide eyes to face the screen. On the monitor was a man with long black hair, pale, sallow skin and reptile-like yellow eyes. Chase Young stared at her like a predator staring at his prey, his vertical pupils narrowing dangerously. Panicked, she looked down at Jack, and he began to gesticulate erratically. She only understood how quietly, barely audibly, he said the stupidest words he could think of.

"Pretend to be me!"

Charlie smiled stupidly and rested her hands on the console.

"Hey, Chase! Did you miss me? What did I do to deserve your call so early, my dear Lord?"

"Spicer?" Chase raised an eyebrow.

"Who else?" She laughed uncertainly. "My cousin, Megan?"

"I'm not like that..." Jack whispered under the table.

He had to bite his fingers so he wouldn't groan or make a sound when Charlie kicked him in the loins. It wasn't a strong kick, but it caught him by surprise.

"Should I ask why you look like a woman?"

Chase's voice broke the dead silence. Charlie blinked slowly and looked at herself, then glanced at Jack under the table, and he shook his head violently and began gesticulating like crazy. She raised her head quickly with a dead look in her eyes. How was she supposed to explain this? Was there any Wu that did this? No, not necessarily. They were only supposed to be for defeating Wuya, so it wouldn't make sense. What could she...

"Spell!" She screamed. Chase raised his other eyebrow, and Jack jumped. She cleared her throat. "I started practicing Heylin's magic from Grandma's book, and I messed something up, hehe..." She scratched the back of her neck. "Grandma said that this spell should wear off in a day or two, and I'll go back to my old, masculine and awesome self!" She flexed her muscles. "Jack Spicer, Evil Boy Genius, will return to his old...!"

"I don’t care, Spicer!" Chase growled.

"Sorry!" She squeaked and straightened to attention. "Actually, why are you calling?"

"I heard that you started spending time with the Xiaolin monks."

"Not really spend time with them!" She snorted. "I've barely been to their place once, and they've been to mine, and that's it! They wanted my Wu tracker because their lizard couldn't fly or something, and it was my mother's birthday, and..."

"Spicer."

"I'm silent."

Chase rubbed his eyes with his fingers. He was clearly tired of talking to Jack, and Charlie wasn't making it any easier. She couldn't say she liked this guy, with the way he and the rest of Heylin treated her cousin like the worst of them.

"Have you seen, when in the company of Xiaolin monks, for one of them to have a parrot or other kind of bird with them?"

The question caught her off guard a bit as she leaned uncontrollably, trying to lean on the desk, but quickly straightened herself up. She glanced at Jack, but he shook his head vehemently, which she quickly copied to the monitor.

"And they didn't find any yoyo?"

Head denial again. Chase sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. Something was clearly bothering him, but even if Jack asked, he wouldn't get an answer. He was no one important to Chase or to Heylin, and yet she couldn't help the question that came to her lips:

"Are you in any danger, Chase?"

The man froze for a second, as if he had completely forgotten that he was still on a video call with Jack. He grimaced and opened his mouth with a clearly sarcastic remark, but eventually sighed again and knitted his eyebrows, looking straight at the girl.

"I have suspicions that my greatest enemy, Hannibal Roy Bean, has escaped from prison, that I locked him in fifteen hundred years ago, and that this may endanger not only me but my subordinates as well."

She opened her mouth to say something, but he interrupted her.

"If you see anything suspicious or someone with a gray bird on their shoulder, let me know immediately, Spicer."

She nodded confidently, but before she could say anything, Chase ended the call. Jack scrambled out from under the desk, rubbing his aching stomach.

"Hannibal and Chase are enemies? I didn't expect this..."

"Who is Hannibal?"

Jack scratched his head, looking at the turned-off monitor as if it would provide any answers. He exhaled loudly.

"Hannibal Roy Bean is a Heylin demon..."

A faint voice came from the direction of the basement entrance. Raimundo stood at the foot of the stairs. His eyes were glassy, and his hair was messy. He looked as if he was going to faint and fall down the stairs at any moment, and at this thought, the girl immediately ran to him and led him out of the laboratory. Jack was a few steps behind them, quickly closing the basement. He didn't ask how Raimundo knew the code, although he suspected that his alternate version could have told him all the passwords and codes. On the other hand, Raimundo was quite a hacker, so it's very possible that he cracked the code himself.

He went into the kitchen, where his cousin was just putting a kettle of water on for tea. Raimundo sat at a small table with his hand on his cheek and his elbow on the counter. Up close, he looked completely exhausted and dead inside. Jack bit his lip to keep from saying something sarcastic. Damn, it was easier when he didn't consider anyone a friend...

"Hannibal turned Chase into a monster and dragged him to the Heylin side." Raimundo continued, looking at the counter. "Chase Young was one of the Xiaolin Dragons and a friend of Master Guan and Dashi. They say that Chase decided that Heylin was getting too small and got rid of Hannibal by locking him in another dimension, from which there is no normal exit or entry." He rubbed his right eye with his hand. "Me and Jack tried to find out more, but we quickly gave up. I know one thing, Hannibal is unpredictable and never makes arrangements that are not beneficial to him." He looked up at them hard. "He is a real monster, pure evil..."

☯

"Shadow of Fear. It allows the user to enter an opponent's deepest nightmares and make them come true, which aids in combat." Kimiko read aloud. "Horrible. I don't even want to remember what my worst nightmare is."

"Do you think we're doing the right thing?"

Clay and Kimiko looked at Omi in confusion. He sat with a worried expression, looking over his shoulder, as if he expected someone to attack them in the air.

"With looking for a new Wu?" Clay asked carefully.

"I think Omi is worried about Raimundo." Kimiko closed the scroll and put it in her backpack. The boy nodded. "I'm not sure about the idea of leaving him with Jack, but his cousin is right. Raimundo had been through too much trauma, and if he woke up in the temple without them, he might have a panic attack again. Remember when he woke up the first time and refused to believe that we were all alive?"

"He was scared and nervous, like a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs." Clay adjusted his hat. "Spicer has proven to us more than once that he is as trustworthy if it is about Raimundo."

"You are right." Omi smiled broadly and supported his hips with his hands. "Jack Spicer has proven himself to be a worthy companion to our friend, and, if it weren't for his desire to do evil, he would also be a good Xiaolin Dragon!"

"Let's not jump that far into the future..." Kimiko grimaced in disgust.

Kimiko couldn't imagine Spicer as the Xiaolin Dragon at all. Of course, Omi once tried to convince him to abandon Heylin and join Xiaolin, but he was laughed at, although Jack suggested going out for ice cream every Sunday. They only agreed for Omi's sake, and over time, it became their routine. They didn't talk about the fight at that time, Heylin, Xiaolin or Shen Gong Wu to be conquered. They were just regular teenagers going out for ice cream for a while. The last year had been hard for them, and having a little weekend getaway like this every week was a nice change, especially since the loss of Raimundo was a painful blow to all of them. Even for Jack himself, who blamed himself for his death. He argued this based on the fact that he was the one who put Mala Mala Jong together, and if he had known what would happen, he would never have let Wuya get every Wu for that.

Kimiko looked up at the sky thoughtfully. Speaking of the witch, they hadn't seen her in almost half a year when a man named Chase Young showed up. Katnappe wasn't interested in helping her, Chase Young also reportedly brushed her off, and Jack had made it clear a year earlier that she was a redundant piece of furniture for him. There was no one to help her look for Wu, and she couldn't touch them due to her lack of a corporeal form. She knew one thing, Wuya didn't give up and was plotting something behind their backs. But what worried her most was what would happen if one day Raimundo met this Wuya who had never had any contact with him beyond being enemies. She was afraid of this day, but she hoped that Raimundo would remember that he was not alone and that he had them, and this was not his Wuya. Not the one who beguiled him with sweet words to hide the bitterness of lies.

"We are here!" Dojo called out.

Pulled from her thoughts, she looked around curiously. They were near a sawmill and a lake with lots of logs floating in it. Jack was nowhere to be found, which explained that he was probably keeping an eye on Raimundo and taking his little task seriously. But why wasn't there anyone else? It was really weird...

"There it is!" Omi shouted and started jumping from log to log. "I got it!"

He grabbed Wu, which looked like an eagle made of copper. He let out a startled cry as someone tugged on the other side. Before him stood a pretty dark-skinned girl with chocolate hair tied in a long braid behind her hips and piercing violet eyes. She was dressed in a blue tracksuit, as if she had just finished jogging. The girl raised an eyebrow, examining Omi carefully.

"You didn't say anything about the kid in pajamas." The girl glanced over her shoulder. "Fighting with the child was not part of the deal."

"Oh, he won't be any problem for you, I assure you."

A semi-transparent ghost with a white mask and a painted face emerged from behind the girl's shoulder.

"Wuya!"

"In the flesh!" Wuya laughed hoarsely. "I still see some gaps in the team. Master Fung still hasn't found a replacement for your friend?"

Kimiko took a step forward with a guttural growl, but Clay immediately grabbed her arm. Fighting Wuya was pointless because she had no corporeal form, and Kimiko, despite her best intentions, would not hurt her. Dojo gritted his teeth hard to avoid saying something stupid, like revealing that Raimundo had returned from his death to their team, because it was supposed to remain a secret for some time. They wanted him to get used to the new world and feel confident enough to go with them on missions for the new Wu's.

"What's going on?" The new girl knitted her eyebrows as Wu began to glow. "Why is this thing glowing?"

"When two or more warriors argue about Shen Gong Wu, it is activating something, what we call the Xiaolin Showdown!" Omi explained quickly. "One of us chooses a game and offers some additional Wu to use during the duel. The winner takes everything."

"Duel? I will fight a child?" She looked at Omi carefully. "How old are you actually, kid?"

"I'm not a kid, but a Xiaolin warrior! Dragon in training!" He shouted back indignantly. However, he cleared his throat, embarrassed, when it didn't make much of an impression on the new girl. "I am now ten years old..."

"Ten?"

"Irrelevant! I challenge you to the Xiaolin Showdown, ummm..." He blinked quickly when he realized he didn't know her name. "I am sorry, but what's your name?"

"My name is Sara." She smiled and raised her head proudly. "Sara Willows."

"Well then, Sara Willows, I challenge you to the Xiaolin Showdown!" Omi pointed the finger at her. "My Gills of Hamachi against your... your... I'm sorry again, but do you have any Wu?"

"Sara will put up Lasso Boa Boa!" Wuya squeaked.

"The goal of the game is to be the first to obtain the Shadow of Fear and throw your opponent off a log into the water!"

"I'm in!" Sara smiled broadly.

"Let’s go! Xiaolin Showdown!" Omi shouted.

The world shook and flashed white. The Shadow of Fear suddenly came to life and spread its wings, only to fly away to the farthest log. The world was completely flooded with water, and there were thousands of logs around. To Sara's surprise, Omi was now wearing a navy blue outfit reminiscent of a ninja from movies, with a water symbol on his chest.

"Nice effects..." She admitted it loudly.

"Gōng Yi Tanpai!"

"Excuse me?" Sara blinks slowly. "What does it mean?

"Och, forgive me, forgive me!" Omi immediately threw his hands up in panic. "I forgot it was your first time. This means ‘The Duel Begins’!"

"Oh, thank you, sweetheart!" She smiled and then looked uncertain. "Just please be gentle with me, it's my first time."

Omi immediately turned red and nodded eagerly with a stupid smile. The rest of the monks and Dojo slapped their foreheads with their hands. They had some doubts about whether Omi would be able to cope in a duel with a new opponent.

"I'm warning you, Sara Willows, I'm a martial arts master and a Xiaolin Water Dragon, so I'll give you a head start because you're a girlAAAAHHH!!"

Omi screamed and fell into the water with a splash. He was so focused on explaining how good an opponent he was that he didn't notice when Sara activated her Wu and threw it at him. It was a brief moment of inattention, and he had just lost three Wu. Everything returned to normal, and Omi stared open-mouthed at the smug-looking girl.

"It was probably the shortest duel in history." Dojo muttered and then scratched his head. "Actually, probably even shorter than the one with Katnappe on Easter Island..."

"Thanks for the goodies, sweetheart." Sara kissed Omi on the top of his head, leaving a lipstick mark of her lips. "I hope that we will fight again someday, and you will show me what a great fighter you are. Adiós amigos~!"

She waved cheerfully and disappeared in a few leaps over the logs. Omi skipped over to his friends, head hanging. His face resembled a ripe tomato, and his eyes roamed the lawn in confusion.

"Don't worry, partner." Clay patted him on the back. "It could have happened to anyone. I probably wouldn't know what to do myself if I had to fight a pretty girl who pretended to be innocent. Just like a wolf in sheep's skin hidden in the herd."

"Which doesn't change the fact that I failed." Omi rubbed his arm." I let her innocence and unfamiliarity put a sweater on my eyes."

"Wool on your eyes." Kimiko corrected him. "Let's go back, maybe Jack has some news for us or Rai has returned to the temple?"

Omi immediately beamed at the news that their friend could be waiting for them, and the loss of the three Wu no longer mattered for a moment. Clay and Kimiko discreetly fist bump. No one liked to see Omi feeling down for some reason. All three of them remembered how devastated he was by Raimundo's death and blamed himself the most for not being a good enough friend and warrior because he never followed him when he slipped away. He then cursed Raimundo's stupidity and the litany he would give him when they returned to the temple, but all they found was rubble, blood and a dead friend stuck in the wall with a construction rod in his body. They arrived just as the older monks were releasing Raimundo's body from the wall. Master Fung immediately limped towards them and tried to lead them outside. He had to hold Omi, who was screaming and trying to run to his dead friend, and wake him up. Repeating loudly that he was only unconscious and not dead.

For weeks, they recalled the moment when they were leaving the building, when Raimundo's body was covered with a torn curtain. Omi didn't say a word for two weeks and didn't go with them to look for another Wu. He trained until he fell unconscious, day and night. The loss of Raimundo was a great blow to them, but it was Omi who felt it the hardest because he was the youngest and had never seen anyone’s death. The sudden Raimundo's comeback from the death, even if he was from a parallel dimension, was like honey to Omi's torn heart, and he wanted to be the best friend and support he could get. He didn't say it out loud that it hurt him to see that Raimundo felt safer with Jack, but at the same time, he was happy that his friend was happy and safe, even if he wasn't the one to make it happen.

Upon reaching the temple, they were surprised to see from above not only Raimundo but also Jack and his cousin, and the first of them was talking to Master Fung about something. They landed just as Raimundo hugged their master with a big smile.

"Thank you, Master Fung!" He immediately jumped away, flustered. "Oh, sorry!"

"Don't apologize for wanting to feel physical touch, my boy." Master Fung stroked Raimundo's head with a smile. "I will always be at your disposal if you need it."

Raimundo nodded, the smile never leaving his face. He laughed loudly as Omi jumped on his back with a scream. This sight was exceptionally charming for everyone, and they could not hide their tender smiles.

"I see you had an interesting hunt for Wu while I was unconscious." Rai raised an eyebrow when he saw lipstick marks on the top of Omi's head. "Should I ask?"

"No." Kimiko replied quickly. "Some new girl appeared on the bad guys' team and stole three Wu's from under our noses." She sighed.

"I lost my concentration, and she took advantage of the fact that I thought she was a newbie in the world of duel’s." Omi admitted, and his cheeks and ears immediately turned red. "She sneaked up on me like a sheep in the herd of wolves!"

"A wolf in the herd of sheep’s." Clay corrected him.

"That too!"

"What did you talk to Master Fung about?"

Raimundo was clearly flustered by Kimiko's question and quickly glanced towards Jack and his cousin as if he were asking for their consent.

"I asked Master Fung if it would be a problem for me to train Jack twice a week..." He admitted it carefully. "I thought I could do a little bit to help him with his lack of body muscles as a thank you for helping me with, well, my problems..." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"And I'm here to keep my dear cousin from stealing your Wu." The redhead interjected with a smile. "Oh, by the way, Charlie Spicer. There was no chance to introduce myself because so much had happened in the last few hours."

"I'm Omi, and these are my companions and friends, Clay, Kimiko and Dojo! And you've already met Raimundo." Omi enthusiastically pointed to each of them in turn. "I will be very pleased that Jack Spicer will start training his body and treating it like a temple that needs to be taken care of. And I'm grateful to you, Cousin Charlie, for watching over him while we were away." He bowed toward the girl. "As much as we are glad that Jack Spicer wants to learn the martial arts, we know that the evil in him is still strong, and he could rob us of many Wu. Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome, sweetie." Charlie wiped the lipstick from his head with a tissue. "I now know why Jack thinks you're his favorite monk."

"Charlie!"

The future seemed to be getting better, but the new enemy had a plan and was waiting for the right moment to reveal itself...

Chapter Text

Raimundo had a very simple plan. Since Jack didn't say a word about the situation with Katnappe or the green flames, and Raimundo, wanting to avoid talking about it, offered to help the boy with strength training and improving his physical fitness. Jack was surprised at first, but eagerly agreed to the idea, and once Master Fung accepted it, Raimundo was able to put his modest plan into action. He alternately trained with Jack alone or with friends in group attacks, but the second part was not the easiest when he had been working alone for years and cooperation with three friends was too painful. After a week of rehearsals, he was finally slowly getting into the rhythm of the other three warriors. Jack suddenly became a regular at the temple, mainly spending time with Raimundo, and sometimes he didn't even go looking for Shen Gong Wu, claiming that it was of little interest to him, which puzzled the monks for the first few days, but not for long. The fewer opponents to fight for the new Wu, the better for them. They didn't know that Rai knew perfectly well which Wu could be useful for possible world domination, and he told Jack about it, whether it was worth his attention or not, and that was the only reason why the Evil Boy Genius preferred to stay for training. It was a small agreement between them that the Xiaolin monks didn't need to know about. Of course, sometimes Raimundo appeared in Jack's evil lair (basement) and helped with assembling the robots and programming them.

Of course, the young Xiaolin monks were not blameless and also hid some facts from Raimundo. One of them was Sara Willows, who took Omi Wu from under his nose. The girl appeared twice more during the showdown, accompanied by the witch, but only won once, when her opponent was Clay. Kimiko wasn't very gentle because, for her, it didn't matter who the opponent was. They decided not to tell Raimundo about Wuya for fear of his reaction. Unfortunately, he guessed that his friends were hiding something from him, but he didn't know what exactly. He had lived too many years with Wuya and her minions to not notice when someone was up to something and trying to hide it. The atmosphere in the temple was slowly becoming unbearable, but he didn't know what to say to make his friends stop treating him like an egg. True, he didn't want to leave the walls of the Xiaolin Temple too much and only left it with the help of the Golden Tiger Claws to Jack's house, but it gave him a certain amount of security. He just didn't know yet from what or who.

"New Wu has just activated!"

Dojo's scream startled Raimundo from his thoughts, and he almost got hit by the blade, but he instinctively took a step back. He carefully stepped out of the obstacle course and walked over to the others to see what they found this time. Omi unfolded the scroll, and everyone leaned over it. The figure held a disk in his hand, which he began to direct in different directions and create copies of himself.

"This is a Shadow Slicer, moderately useful Wu." Raimundo muttered, looking at the scroll. "When activated, it makes perfect holographic copies of the user, allowing them to confuse enemies. You can make as many copies as you want, but they disappear as soon as they come into contact with the enemy." He rubbed his nose. "As far as I remember, it was probably at the Zoo in a cage with monkeys." He looked at the rest and raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing, we're just wondering if it's worth opening the scroll in front of you, Mr. Walking Encyclopedia of Wu." Kimiko smiled slyly.

"Don't joke, I'm not that good." He rolled his eyes.

"Have you noticed that each new Wu lately is rather medium or low?" Clay said suddenly, and when they looked at him, he added. "For some time now, the only Shen Gong Wu that are activated are medium or low level, and yet two weeks ago there were mainly the most dangerous and strong ones."

"Clay's right." Omi closed the scroll and frowned deeply. "Recently, we have collected Wu that were not very strong or averagely dangerous, as if suddenly there were no stronger ones or something had changed."

Raimundo glanced at Omi and then back at the scroll. What could have changed so suddenly two weeks ago to...

"It's because of me..." Raimundo swallowed hard. "Before, there was an imbalance because there were no Wind Dragon, so to maintain it, you got stronger weapons, but when I showed up..."

"The balance is back on track!" Kimiko replied loudly. "It makes sense! Balance tried to fill the hole, but now it doesn't have to, and that's why the new Wu aren't that strong, because we don't need them anymore."

"It's more twisted than a snake's belly button basking in the desert sun." Clay scratched his cheek. "But actually, it makes strange sense."

"Less talk, more action!" Dojo grew larger and waited until everyone jumped on its back. "Raimundo, jump on."

He flinched at the dragon's words, and his insides twisted painfully. He glanced uncertainly at the empty spot on Dojo's back and swallowed hard. In front of his eyes, there were green scales covered in blood, and massacred corpses of his friends in the dungeon of the castle that Wuya created. A cold sweat rolled down his temple as he took two steps back and opened his mouth to respond, but his voice wouldn't come out.

"Sorry, guys, but I'm kidnapping him!" Someone called out cheerfully, and a small hand slipped under his arm. He looked uncertainly to the side. Charlie smiled happily. "Raimundo promised to go to the beach with me and Jack today! But Jack abandoned me, so I'm left with Rai!"

"Well then, Cousin Charlie, we are very grateful to you for making our friend's time more pleasant!" Omi exclaimed enthusiastically. "Have fun and come back for dinner!"

"You too!"

Charlie waved to the teenagers as they flew away on the dragon, and when they were gone, her smile fell.

"I didn't say I would go to any beach with you and Jack today." Raimundo frowned. "Jack wasn't supposed to come until strength training tomorrow."

"Jack went to pick up some new Wu, and I still had some free time, so I came by, hoping you didn't have anything to do either." Charlie shrugged. "I noticed that you were on the verge of a panic attack, so I decided to step in and help. And I really want to go somewhere out of town, and you've got the whole teleporting claw thing, so it would be faster."

"You're crazy." He snorted, shaking his head, but took the Golden Tiger Claws out of his pocket. "So, where do you want to go exactly?"

"Surprise me."

He smiled involuntarily and opened a purple-swirling portal. He took Charlie's hand, and they both entered in. They didn't notice the shadow that slipped into the hidden room, a prison for what should never be released.

Raimundo looked around absentmindedly, not entirely sure why his brain had chosen this of all places. They actually landed on the beach near the small gallery by the pier, but still, of all places on earth...

"Where are we?"

He looked at the girl uncertainly and back at the city in the distance. He let out a long sigh, putting Wu into his sweatshirt pocket.

"Rio de Janeiro, my hometown..."

"Why here?" Charlie knitted her eyebrows. "I thought you didn't want to see your family." She smiled slightly when he looked at her in surprise. "You were saying a lot of things because of the fever, mainly about your family and that your Mistress would be angry with you. Besides, when we first met, you had a panic attack, and I asked you about various things, and then you also said that you had eight sisters and brothers, and what happened to your parents."

Raimundo scratched the back of his neck, looking intently at the sand. He didn't expect a stranger to know so much about him. No one knew that much about him, not even his friends or Wuya. Jack was the only one who knew, but after so long together, they told each other everything, but his Jack had been dead for a long time, because maybe he knew too much or Wuya was jealous? He wasn't entirely sure anymore...

"There's an interesting shop nearby." He decided to quickly change the subject. "Large selection and cheap price."

"Lots of stuff and cheaply, it's my favorite type of clothes." She smiled and slipped her hand under his arm. "Lead the way, my knight."

He snorted. He barely knew Charlie, but she seemed like a really interesting person. She was like a friend he hadn't had for a long time, and unlike the monks, he didn't feel awkward or wary around her. Or maybe he simply couldn't think of them differently than those he had let down and allowed to be killed? It's very likely. He let out a soft breath out as they walked through the door of the store. He just hoped that he wouldn't run into any of his siblings, because he didn't know how they would react to his sudden resurrection.

"Raimundo?"

"Hmm?"

"Is this one of the Wu?"

He looked questioningly at Charlie and then at what she was pointing at. He frowned and took two steps forward with obvious consternation. It's not possible that...

"Sword of the Storm." He grabbed the handle sticking out of the sand. "But it's not possible, it should be hidden in Monaco on the beach of Monte Carlo and..."

"Then you can look for it in that place, because this one belongs to me!"

Raimundo looked up sharply as someone tugged at the blade. In front of him stood a very obese man in a burgundy ninja outfit.

Tubbimura.

"It seems that history repeats itself." Raimundo thought. "And what brought you here?" He rolled his eyes. "Go check if you're somewhere else. I really don't feel like fighting someone on Heylin's side."

"I don't know anything about this Heylin thing you're talking about, but I've got a job, and I'm going to do it."

"A job?"

This intrigued him. If he remembered correctly, Tubbimura was employed by Jack, but since the story took a different path here, who did...?

"Hai! PandaBubba hired me to find these magical artifacts."

At the sound of the name of the villain, who had become one of Wuya's subordinates, Raimundo's emotions boiled and his eyes glowed brightly. The blade in their hands began to glow.

"Why is this sword glowing?" Charlie asked carefully.

"This means we have to fight in the Xiaolin Showdown and the winner will take all the Wu." Raimundo explained briefly.

"Hai, PandaBubba explained to me how they work. It's time to start the duel." Tubbimura raised his head. "What do they call you?"

"Raimundo." He smiled, and a shadow fell on half of his face. "Raimundo Pedrosa, the Wind Dragon of Xiaolin and your worst nightmare, Maurice."

The man's face, although largely hidden behind the mask, expressed deep shock and slight anxiety. The air became dangerously thick, and the atmosphere became unpleasant.

"Charlie, go to the store without me. I'll be a bit busy."

"Sure." She withdrew hesitantly, examining them both. "Don't kill him, Raimundo..."

"I won't kill him, but I will tell him deeply, why you shouldn't mess with the Xiaolin Dragon."

Charlie nodded, even though Raimundo couldn't see her, and quickly fled towards the shops he had shown her a few moments ago. She didn't know Raimundo long enough to know if he would kill someone in a duel, but she knew from Jack what he had done to a certain girl named Katnappe, and she didn't want to witness a repeat of it. She knew he was the Heylin's Witch subordinate, and that probably meant he had blood on his hands. She just hoped that Raimundo wouldn't actually kill this man, whoever he was.

☯

"It's nonexistent!"

"Unreal." Kimiko sighed.

"That too!" Omi shouted, throwing his hands up. "How could we let Jack Spicer rob us of Shen Gong Wu?! Jack Spicer!"

"Training with Raimundo showed its benefits, and that's it." Clay shrugged. "Spicer became faster than a dog running away from a bath."

Suddenly, Dojo sneezed loudly, and his whole body rocked dangerously, which was met with outraged sounds from his passengers.

"Do you need a tissue, partner?" Clay stood up, straightening his hat.

"Tell me no bird fell into your nostrils..." Kimiko grimaced.

"No, no, it's probably the new Wu activateaaa...  ACHOO!!" Dojo's body rocked again, but this time the three teenagers were ready for it. "Sorry..." He sniffled. "I think it's the Sword of the Storm. Only with it, I have a runny nose."

Kimiko quickly took the scroll out of her backpack and unfolded it. A figure with a sword appeared in the picture, creating a whirlwind of air, and in the next second, he and its owner became invisible and penetrated the floor.

"Sword of the Storm is a sword strongly associated with the element of wind. It allows you to create incredible gusts of air, hurricanes and tornadoes. It has no material form. The user can also become intangible for a short period of time." Omi announced loudly. "A user of the wind element can draw its full power potential from it. This is a very treacherous Wu that, in the wrong hands, will be either useless or dangerous, depending on whether the possessor knows how to use it."

"Raimundo would be delighted with such a Wu." Kimiko smiled and rolled up the scroll. "He would finally get Wu with his element, especially since he doesn't have the Wudai rank yet and didn't get his own weapon."

"That's a very perceptive thought, Kimiko." Omi thought for a moment. "If we get this Wu, Raimundo will want to go searching with us!

"I don't think that's the main reason why he doesn't want to come with us..." Clay glanced at Kimiko. They both noticed how Raimundo reacted to the question about going after the new Wu. "He seemed uncertain about the idea of hopping on Dojo's back."

"As if something scared him." Kimiko caught the thought, but seeing Omi's face, she quickly added. "But you're right, maybe this Wu will convince him."

Omi immediately smiled widely and actually bounced on Dojo's back, eager to get a new Wu with the wind element and make their friend happy. Omi wasn't stupid, and he knew perfectly well that something was blocking Raimundo from going after the new Wu with them, but he couldn't say what it could be. If there was something that could convince him to change his mind and make him happy, Omi was going to get it at all costs.

"According to my GPS, we are approaching Rio de Janeiro." Kimiko furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, is it Rai's..."

"This is Raimundo's hometown." Omi interjected. "This is incredible! Shen Gong Wu of the wind element is in our friend's hometown! It's a sign, I tell you!"

"You know what? You're right, it must be a sign."

"I agree with Kimiko." Dojo smiled broadly. "If this doesn't convince the kid to join you, then nothing will!"

"Well, let's move quickly before someone takes it!

The rest exchanged smiles. Omi was slowly becoming his frisky self again, and they really hoped that this Wu would help, at least in a small way.

Dojo landed on the sand and slowly shrank as three monks jumped off he's back. They looked around, but nothing strange was visible in the area. Kimiko noticed a strangely dark part of the sand, like thinned blood.

"Someone probably stepped on a sea urchin." Clay muttered, seeing the same thing as the girl.

"Or maybe they cut themselves on a clam..." Dojo sniffed. "More than once, Dashi was able to cut his hands or feet because of a clam. Unfortunately, this happens when you're in water or sand."

"Friends! Less talking and more searching!" Omi shouted loudly. "We have to get this Wu before someone else gets their hands on it!"

"I'll search the east, Clay the west, and Omi..." Kimiko didn't have time to finish because the boy ran to the front. "Ok, never mind."

Omi ran to every stone, umbrella, bottle and shell. He searched every corner of the beach just to find the Sword of the Storm, but as time slowly passed like sand through his fingers, the more his hopes of finding Wu faded. Dojo on his shoulder, glanced uncertainly at the young monk, considering what to say to cheer him up, but he couldn't think of anything wise. Despite his age, Omi seemed tough and confident, but deep down, he was still a child. A child wounded by fate who witnessed the death of a friend and blamed himself for it every day, but today was the day he wanted to prove his worth, and he would try to fix everything since the world had given him a second chance.

"It must be here somewhere!"

Omi angrily threw the empty bottle into the trash can when, after several minutes, he found no sign of Wu.

"You know, Omi, my runny nose disappeared some time ago, so I think..."

"Don't even try, Dojo!" He shouted indignantly. "It must be here somewhere! We cannot fail a second time today!"

"Someone has already taken this Wu..." Dojo finished with a sad face. "I'm sorry, kid..."

"I can't let Raimundo down a second time..." Wasted, he looked at the sand under his feet. "This was supposed to be his Wu... I can't fail..." He sniffed. "It must be somewhere..."

"Omi?"

He raised his head and sniffed. Jack Spicer's cousin stood in front of him. She held several paper bags in her hands, and one was slightly dirty with something he couldn't identify.

"Hey, what's up?" She crouched down in front of him. "Something happened? Whose butt I have to kick?"

"You don't have to kick anyone's butt." Omi smiled crookedly, rubbing his eyes on the sleeve of his robe. "We lost one Wu with Jack Spicer, Cousin Charlie, and now someone took the other one before we could find it, and I wanted to give it to Raimundo to make him feel better and at home, but..." His mouth twisted into a horseshoe shape. "Someone took it..." He repeated.

"Oh... I'm sorry, but you know, Raimundo will definitely enjoy your company." She smiled warmly. "He went to change clothes because, while walking on the beach, he tripped over a stick and cut his knees on clams."

"I told you there are accidents with clams!" Dojo crossed his paws in front of him.

"What are you and Raimundo doing here, Cousin Charlie?" Omi frowned. "You said you were going to the beach."

"And as you can see, we're on the beach." She laughed warmly. "We didn't specify which beach, so Rai moved us here. I was actually surprised that he chose his hometown of all places, but I doubt he would want to see his family..." She stood up. "I think he's afraid to see them because he's been dead for half a year..."

"I don't want to give my older sisters a heart attack." Raimundo appeared next to them like a specter. "I thought you went to a completely different place to look for Shen Gong Wu."

"Yes, we did, but Jack Spicer beat us." Omi sighed heavily. "And we also lost the second one."

"Sword of the Storm activated recently, but someone beat us to it and took it." Dojo explained quickly. "Omi is disappointed that he couldn't find it."

"Oh, I guess it's my fault."

"What?"

Raimundo smiled apologetically and pulled out a golden Dadao from behind his back with a black handle and an oriental pommel with a tassel at the end. Omi opened his mouth in shock, and his eyes sparkled with delight.

"Raimundo, you found your first Shen Gong Wu!" He shouted with enthusiasm.

"Uh, what?" Rai made a stupid face. "This isn't my first Wu?"

"But the first one you've found since you came back to us!"

He blinked. He chuckled softly and stroked Omi's head. He really missed Omi's frisky temperament and his strange way of looking at the world in a very positive way.

"You're right, it's my first Wu and with the element of wind." He grinned, showing his teeth. "Are you proud of me?"

"Of course!" He threw his hands up. "Now you could come with us to look for Wu like in the old days." Seeing that Raimundo's smile faded a bit, he added quickly. "Of course, if you want to. No one will force you to join us in searching for Wu or fighting if you don't feel ready for it..."

"It's okay, Omi." He tucked the Sword of the Storm into his belt. "I'll finally get over it and go with you, but I still need some time."

"We will wait for you as long as required."

"Thanks." Rai looked around. "Oh, where are Kim and Clay?"

"Ah! I forgot to inform them that they had nothing left to look for!"

Omi ran to the right in panic, shouting from a distance for them to go left and tell Clay there was nothing to look for. Charlie and Raimundo exchanged surprised glances and shrugged. They moved to the left.

"I said you tripped and landed with your knees on clams, so you had to change your clothes."

"Thanks."

They were silent for a long time, when suddenly they saw a cowboy leaning over with a big rock above his head. He knew what she wanted to hear, even if she didn't say anything out loud.

"I didn't kill him, I just sent him to the hospital." He murmured very quietly.

Charlie exhaled loudly and smiled weakly.

"That's good, Rai."

That day, Charlie became as important person to him as Jack, Dojo, and everyone from Xiaolin. He knew that the truth would eventually come out, and he dreaded that day more than anything in the world. He didn't want to lose again everything he had barely regained and could hold in his trembling hands.

The thread of lies and secrets began to turn into nooses around the neck, slowly strangling its victims...

Chapter Text

Two weeks...

Two weeks had passed since Raimundo's battle with Tubbimura and the man had not once appeared on the horizon, which was received very positively by the Wind Dragon. Katnappe also took his "request" to heart, because apparently no one saw her during the Xiaolin Showdown. What was most surprising, however, was the fact that as soon as they returned to the temple, Omi immediately told how Raimundo had found his first Wu, with the wind element at that, and Master Fung had awarded him the rank of Wudai Warrior. The explanation that he had done nothing worthy of earning the title seemed to fall on deaf ears, and Raimundo had a strong suspicion that Master Fung was planning to give him the rank sooner or later and that the situation was just an excuse.

Two weeks after Raimundo received the rank of Wudai, Omi became insufferable as he persistently tried to get him out of the temple walls. Only the intervention of Master Fung forced Raimundo to set off, despite the boy's great reluctance, justifying that as a Wudai warrior he had to find his own weapon, and the hiding place of Shen Gong Wu was the perfect opportunity to do so. Omi was excited about Raimundo going with them to find the new Shen Gong Wu, because, in his opinion, he should come out into the world and start living since he was dead, but he isn't anymore.

"This logic makes absolutely no sense, Omi." Raimundo sighed, hearing the same sentence for the fourth time as they fly on Dojo. "I never died, remember?"

"To our world, you died, so it is logical that you must begin to exist again, dear friend." Omi replied in his know-it-all tone. "Besides, the location of this Shen Gong Wu is perfect because we can also look for your Wudai weapon! A perfect coincidence!"

Raimundo rolled his eyes, not wanting to argue with Omi any longer because he knew it was a wasted fight. He didn't feel too confident about going on a quest to find Shen Gong Wu, much less a strange weapon that was supposed to choose him or something. He understood the form of the Wudai weapon perfectly well, but he saw no need for it when he could create the weapon out of thin air, literally. However, if they thought that Wudai's weapon would be a good solution, and it was just an additional task to get him out of the temple, then so be it. He went with them, although reluctantly. The only consolation was that they didn't ask why he suddenly had a hood over his head and why he borrowed Clay's spare bandana, although the second thing made them wonder more. They didn't ask, and he was grateful for that because he didn't want to answer. The explanation was very simple, and if they had thought about it for a while, they would have discovered the truth long ago. He didn't want to be recognized by enemies or indirect people who could sense the Heylin magic emanating from him, and as a Xiaolin Dragon in training, he shouldn't have it. It would raise questions, and he wanted to keep it hidden for as long as possible.

They also didn't ask why Jack Spicer had suddenly become a regular at the temple and why Raimundo had started training him, even though he suspected that the Dojo and Master Fung knew very well. Even though Dojo sometimes behaved irrationally stupid, he was not an idiot and could feel the vibrations of magic, and Master Fung had the title of master for a reason. He didn't want to say anything until he was sure he was doing the right thing by training Jack, but he made it his mission to protect and help him, no matter what side he was on. He wondered if Wuya or Chase from this world knew what he had noticed? Or maybe it was due to the fact that, as a Wind Dragon, he was more sensitive to subtle vibrations in the air? Wuya was still a ghost, and her powers were kept to a minimum, so he could explain her as not having a body, but Chase Young? If he knew, why didn't he take a step towards Jack? He didn't see him as a potential threat, an ally, or maybe...

"We are close!"

Dojo's voice brought him out of his thoughts, just as he landed in front of the large entrance to the canyon. Raimundo looked around with interest. He had never been to this place or any place like it, so it was probably one of those Shen Gong Wu that Wuya went to get herself, or the location was completely different from his world. He grimaced at his own thoughts. His world? This is his world now, and the other one... The other one was complete chaos and destruction, the end of the world, that he let it be because he was too weak, because he gave up, because he allowed it all. Completely ignoring discussions about the burning sun, he asked:

"Shall we split up or go together?"

"Good question." Clay rubbed his chin with his fingers. "When we were looking for our Wudai weapons, we were together."

"But we also have to find Shen Gong Wu!" Omi shouted and pulled out the map. "There should be a split on the other side of this canyon, and according to the Dojo there is a Wu somewhere nearby, and according to the map, there should be your Wudai weapon in the area as well, so no split is required."

"You could have said no, it would have been shorter." Dojo muttered under his breath. "The Shen Gong Wu we are looking for is a Crouching Cougar."

Dojo looked at Raimundo expectantly, and the other three soon did the same. The boy raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"We're waiting for you to tell us something about this Wu, Mr. Encyclopedia of Wu." Kimiko smiled cheekily.

"Why should I tell you about it?" Raimundo tried not to smile stupidly. He knew exactly what they meant. "Can't you check the scroll?"

"You do this every time a new Wu comes out, so speak up." Dojo rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay, fine." He burst out laughing. "Crouching Cougar is a Shen Gong Wu that looks like a figurine of a sleeping cat and is the size of both of Clay's hands. After activation, it's a simple vehicle, or rather a large mechanical cougar with a place to sit on its back, but for a maximum of two, maybe three people. It copes perfectly with wet areas or jungles. It's faster than a monster truck or a car. It has very comfortable seats and a hidden place to put a cup of drink, but getting on it is a pain because Dashi didn't think of putting in a ladder for someone like Jacek." He sighed long with a stupid smile. "I had to help him get on it more than once when we were going to get the smaller Shen Gong Wu for Wuya, because I didn't feel like using my claws. Besides, I liked to run around the neighborhood sometimes, even if there wasn't much to see after the witch took over the world..."

"Dashi sometimes had brilliant ideas that were not suitable for ordinary people." Dojo shrugged. "I think Shen Gong Wu will be somewhere on the stone, but whether it's low or high, I'm not sure." He scratched his head.

"Definitely, somewhere up high." Raimundo looked up and moved forward. "Ours was on top of a rock, but not close to the canyon."

"Okay, let's go then." Clay adjusted his hat.

They followed Raimundo, and Dojo jumped on his shoulders and hid under his hood, claiming that it was too hot for him. Rai, however, knew that the dragon wanted to have a better view of everything and be close to finding his weapon if needed. The others could handle Wu, but Wudai's weapons were much harder to find. He suspected there was more to it, but he preferred not to say anything out loud. Did Dojo know that Raimundo was hiding something? Very likely. Did Raimundo even care? Minimally, mostly out of anxiety about being rejected, but that's all.

"Do you think Jack Spicer will show up and try to steal this Wu from us?"

"Possibly, Omi." Kimiko sighed heavily. "Recently, training with Raimundo has made him unbearable."

"His body and mind became clearer and calmer." Omi nodded enthusiastically. "If it weren't for the stubbornness of a horse, he would be a great Xiaolin Dragon!"

"Mule."

"That too!"

Raimundo did not listen to their further conversation. He had more important things on his mind. He had a specific plan to get rid of anyone who posed a threat to his friends and family, and that list had dwindled considerably, leaving largely his worst enemies and at least three small minnows. It might sound stupid or even irrational, but Chase Young wasn't on his list of people to eliminate, quite the opposite. He had a completely different plan for the Lord, one that he slowly began to work his way into planning, and he wondered if Jack would be willing to help with this endeavor. Would Chase Young himself even want to try it? He and his Jack were very close, but they never made it. Now he had all their research perfectly in his head, so it saved him several years of deciphering it all over again.

Lost in his own thoughts and completely disobeying the rest of the team, Raimundo sensed a sudden change in the air and stopped. He looked up just as someone was falling almost perfectly right onto him. He raised his hand, and a small tornado caught the unfortunate person, abruptly cutting off his scream. Raimundo raised an eyebrow, dismissing the wind.

"Jack Spicer?!" Omi shouted with an accusing finger. "Don't tell me that you've come to steal Shen Gong Wu from us again, because you must know that we will kick your body!"

"Butt." Kim corrected him.

"That too!"

"If you're going to kick anyone, you'd better kick the guy who came up behind me, grabbed my Jetbootsu and pushed me down from the mountain!" Jack growled angrily, pointing upwards. "There wasn't even a duel or anything! What a jerk! Agrh!!"

Raimundo looked up carefully, listening. There was no vibration in the air, no sound, and nothing disturbing. He pulled his eyebrows together tightly. Something was definitely wrong here. If they were halfway inside the canyon, why was there absolutely no sound? No whistle of the wind rushing between the rocks, no sound of rustling sand, no animals, complete silence...

To him, one flutter of air was a signal louder than any siren. He made a quick hand gesture, pushing his surprised friends to the front of the canyon, while he grabbed Jack's coat and jumped back. In that second, an avalanche of rocks fell to where everyone was standing. Rai cleared away the clouds of dust with a flick of his finger. In front of him was a huge mountain of stones. He touched one stone, and the entire structure shook slightly.

"Shit..."

He bit his lower lip. There was no way he could move it or break through it without destroying the entire structure and possibly hurting someone. He glanced at Jack and he gave a thumbs up. Raimundo breathed a sigh of relief. At least he was sure Jack was okay, but what about the rest?

"Rai?!"

It was definitely Kimiko. He could barely hear her over all the rocks, but he guesses that meant they were fine.

"I'm fine! Jack and I jumped out at the last minute!" He shouted back. "Don't touch the rocks! The structure is too unstable and may crush someone!"

He heard a very quiet conversation on the other side, but he couldn't make out the words. They had probably discussed the possibility of moving the rocks with Clay, but he knew it wouldn't help. They weren't yet at such a high level of connection with their element that they could do something like that without making things worse. He looked around carefully, looking up. He also used the wind to listen for any possible threat, but there was nothing but the sounds of nature. Whoever tried to get rid of them escaped or was able to hide their presence well. He created a ball of air in his hand, leaned over it and said:

"We'll go around, you go ahead, and I'll see you there."

He blew a ball of air towards the rocks and it changed form and slipped through the cracks. It was one of several tricks he learned from the scrolls.

"Okay!"

He nodded, even though the others couldn't see him. They had a long way to go, and he wasn't happy about that, especially since he had no intention of going out looking for anything any time soon. He wanted to get rid of everyone on his humble list first, but the world decided to stop him. He turned to the exit of the canyon and ran, grabbing Jack by the collar and pulling him along, earning an indignant cry from him. But Raimundo didn't let him go until they were outside. He didn't want to risk being separated, especially since he didn't know if Jack was even ready to fight someone more powerful, and there were still too many such opponents. He stopped only a few steps from the entrance and let go of Jack. He focused on the wind to show him where his friends were. A small stream of air and sand like a ribbon surrounded him and passed to the right, so he directed his steps there. He had to find them as quickly as possible before anyone who could hurt them showed up, and he wasn't around.

"Pedrosa, for fuck's sake!"

A tug on his arm and the sharp tone of Jack's voice brought Raimundo out of his storm of thoughts.

"You're worried, I understand, really, but splitting up isn't the best idea." Jack let him go. "Your friends are not weaklings, they will manage without you, and running like an idiot will only waste too much energy, and you will be useless in a possible fight."

Raimundo blinked. He didn't notice that he started walking faster and faster and almost left the genius behind. He rubbed his face with his hand and nodded.

"You're right, I'm sorry... I just don't want anything to happen to them if the enemy attacks."

"Is that why you treated Katnappe so bloodily and sent her to the hospital?" Jack asked after a moment of silence. Raimundo looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, I saw the whole situation. Brutal and bloody, which, now that I think about it, was predictable." He snorted and shook his head. "You spent several good years in the company of an old witch, and if she's fucked up as a ghost, who's to say that she's not five times worse with a body..."

"I'm trying to protect people close to me, that's all." He muttered, walking again. "I won't let history come full circle again. Now, when I have my family back, I will defend them at all costs."

"Pursuing the goal over the dead body is not a good option."

Raimundo turned around abruptly, and a violent wind rose around them.

"I didn't kill anyone here!" He growled. "You're the last person who should lecture me, Spicer! I know fucking well what it means to be a part of Heylin! I was on the worst side for many years, murdering anyone she pointed at who she wanted to get rid of! Rebels, unnecessary people, children, women, old people, everyone! I never once said a word of complaint, and I tried to convince myself more than once that I was doing it for them, for you!" His eyes glowed a delicately ghostly green, and green-silver flames flashed through his hands. "I tried to do anything to make my life have any meaning without the people I allowed to kill due to my own stupidity! I have murdered more than once and been bathed in the blood of too many people to count! I'm not Raimundo! He was the Xiaolin Dragon, the hero, and I'm not! I'm not him, and I never will be! So don't tell me that pursuing the goal over the dead body is not the way, because we both know there's no saving me, and I've done way worse shit than what I did to Ashley that night! She should be happy that I let her live!" Not hearing a word from Jack, he turned his back to him. "Fuck!"

He didn't even notice when tears started flowing down his cheeks. He hadn't told anyone about what he was doing for Wuya for a very long time. His Jack knew, because he helped him calm his nerves more than once after the first few times, but over time he learned to suppress his emotions and killing, maiming, and even torturing became much easier. Too easy, and that was what scared him the most, but there he only had her and Jack, and he wanted to do everything to make them happy and safe. His Jack didn't support it just like himself, but he understood why he did it and pretended with him that everything was fine when it was quite the opposite.

"I don't want to lose everything again..." His voice was small. "The less people know about Shen Gong Wu, the better for the world, for them, for you... I cannot protect them in any other way than to get rid of those who will become the worst evil of this world..."

"That's why you broke Ashley mentally, so that you wouldn't have to kill her, but only remove her from the Xiaolin and Heylin world."

It wasn't a question, but Raimundo nodded anyway. He knew he could kill without even blinking, but he didn't want his loved ones to be afraid of him for something so trivial. He couldn't bear it mentally and would finish his plans sooner, and in the end he would end himself.

"I don't want them to know what I did, what I became..." He wiped the last tears from his face. "They wouldn't undestand it... I have no one but them..."

"When you had a panic attack the night before, you ran away." Jack chose his words carefully. "Omi sensed Heylin's magic, but he didn't put two and two together. They didn't know it was your magic."

"I was thinking about the fact that Master Fung suspects something, he's not a fool." Raimundo smiled crookedly and looked down, gently lifting his sweatshirt. "And you knew from the first accident, did you, Dojo?"

The dragon shyly poked its muzzle out from under its black sweatshirt and looked uncertainly, first at the stunned Jack and then at Raimundo. He clenched his jaw tightly, but his eyes were full of regret, and he was clearly trying not to cry.

"I-I sensed it when you first showed up, and Kimiko asked me to keep an eye on you. You know, when you told me how you hurt Wuya..." He began to play with his fingers hesitantly. "At the time, I thought it was probably some remnants of her magic, but I started to have doubts when I felt it again during Katnappe's attack on the temple, and I was sure when you escaped and Omi confirmed that he felt Heylin's magic." He glanced cautiously at Raimundo. "I didn't say anything to the others because I know how fragile your trust in anyone is, and I thought that, well, you would finally tell us yourself..."

"You witnessed what he did to Katnappe." Jack choked out dully. "You saw everything and didn't say anything to the rest of the team, nor to your master, nor to anyone?!"

"Hey, I'm a talker, and it's hard for me to keep my mouth sometimes shut, but I'm not a snitch, okay?" Dojo growled, supporting his hips with his paws. "He needed space and patience, so I gave it to him! I didn't want him to think he was a threat or anything! Each of the Xiaolin Dragons has done worse things in the past, and unfortunately there have been defections to the Heylin side or fatal accidents that they caused, so believe me, kid, I was there for every one of them! I have raised more generations of young adepts than any of you could count on both hands!" Smoke blew from his nostrils.

"Okay, okay, calm down!" He raised his hands up, rolling his eyes. "Geez, I just asked."

"Thanks for being here, Dojo."

Raimundo patted Dojo on the head. When the dragon looked at him, he saw no resentment or scandal, but gratitude and a sincere smile that he hadn't seen in a long time. Dojo immediately snuggled into the boy's face, almost crying, which resulted in him giggling softly and patting his head again.

"I can't tell them." He whispered, barely audible. "Give me some more time."

Dojo nodded. He perfectly understood what Raimundo had to go through, how thin his trust was, and how extremely fragile his psyche was. He went through something similar with Dashi when Chase sold his soul and how he couldn't get over the loss of his friend, his brother. That was the first time the Grand Master doubted himself and his powers. He never fully recovered from this loss, even if he looked happy and smiled, Dojo knew what he was going through internally.

Suddenly, his tail twitched, and he jumped up from under Raimundo's hood and sat on his head. He looked around carefully, sniffing. He pointed strongly with his paw in some direction.

"Over there!"

"Over there, what?" Jack raised an eyebrow.

Dojo rolled his eyes.

"I can sense the magic of Wudai weapon from that direction."

"Are you sure?" Raimundo asked.

"Listen, I helped find three of them six months ago." Dojo leaned down to look straight into the boy's eyes. "I will recognize these delicate vibrations of activated Wudai magic anywhere. Besides, two kilometers away there is a Shen Gong Wu that I hid there, so if it's not the Wudai weapon for you, we will definitely find the rest and the Wu.

"It's enough for me." Rai shrugged.

"Ughh!" Jack threw his hands up in the air. "I'm only going with you because I want to get that prankster who took my Jetbootsu without a showdown, and maybe get Crouching Cougar." He grunted.

Raimundo smiled faintly, putting the bandana back on half his face. He knew Jack well enough to know that was only half the truth. Not only did he not want to be left alone in the wilderness, but he was also worried about Raimundo, and although it was hard for the genius to admit it, the Brazilian knew that he considered him a friend.

He stopped abruptly as soon as he felt a slight vibration of evil energy in the air. He silenced Dojo, who asked why they had stopped. He looked carefully around with his hand stretched to the side to protect Jack from a possible attack. All he could see was a field of cactuses, but something was definitely wrong. Dark magic surrounded them on every imaginable side, and he couldn't find its root source, and that never happened unless... His eyes widened as he finally understood.

"Jack!"

He grabbed the redhead by the coat and pushed him behind himself, at the last moment avoiding his arm being bitten off by a cactus with teeth. No wonder he couldn't find the source of dark magic because the cactuses were saturated with it. He crossed his hands in front of him and spread them violently, causing a huge gust of air to blow away a large group of cactuses. However, the plants did not give up, hissed ominously and attacked. With a squeak worthy of a little girl, Dojo hid under Raimundo's hood, trembling like a leaf. Raimundo summoned his element again and created several small air turbines that shredded a dozen or so cactuses, but it seemed as if they were increasing in number with no end in sight.

"Get down!"

He drop down and Jack threw a small ball at some cactuses that stood behind Raimundo. Upon contact with the spike, the ball exploded into small blades and shredded several enemies. Rai smiled at him. He may not have had powers or robots with him, but Jack had definitely taken his teachings to heart to always have something small to attack or defend.

Suddenly, something shiny flew straight towards Raimundo and landed in his hand. He blinked in surprise as he saw the beautiful, curved blue, glass-like sword blade with a black hilt and gold accents. He opened his mouth slightly in shock. Was it his...

"It's great that you found your Wudai toy, but maybe you could help me with these bastards before I get turned into a sieve??!!" Jack roared and jumped away from several cactuses with a scream. "I'M NOT USED TO FIGHTING WEEDS!!"

"Oh, yeah, of course, sorry!" He shouted back, regaining his composure.

Instinctively, he took the blade more firmly in his hands, and the name of the sword appeared in his head, as if he had always known that it should be called that.

"Blade of the Nebula!"

The blade immediately disappeared and was replaced by a slender air turbine, which he swung sharply and spun around in a circle. He struck at each demonic cactus, and when the blade returned to its original form, the upper part of the plants fell silently to the dry ground. They were all cut perfectly in half. Jack looked around with his mouth open and his eyes wide.

"That was awesome!" He shouted with obvious excitement. "I want one of those too!"

"Maybe someday, Jack." Raimundo laughed and attached the sword to his belt. "We better find the rest and try to get your Wu back."

"Exactly! I forgot about that peasant from donkey hill!" He growled angrily and grabbed Raimundo's arm, pulling him along. "Let's go!"

"Ajay captain!"

He saluted, but obediently allowed himself to be dragged. Dojo carefully emerged from under his hood and glanced at the boy in dismay.

"He will never get a Wudai weapon, he is not the Xiaolin Dragon." He noticed quietly.

Raimundo just shrugged. He didn't have to reveal all his secrets or plans, not when he wasn't entirely sure yet whether what he was doing made any sense at all. Time will tell. The time that Raimundo felt was not much, and something big was slowly approaching to destroy this world. However, he couldn't explain where this strange feeling came from, but it had already warned him once, and he not only ignored it, but also allowed the world to be destroyed. This time would be different, and he was going to make sure of that.

"We're late to the party." Jack grumbled angrily.

He glanced at the genius and reluctantly had to agree with him. They reached the place where the potential Wu was most likely located, but from what could be seen, the duel ended to Xiaolin's disadvantage. Towering over Omi was a dark-skinned boy wearing a kimono very similar to Xiaolin's, but it was almost all black with accents of red. In hands, he was holding Jetbootsu, Crouching Cougar and Mantis Flip Coin.

"I expected something better, but as usual, you showed that you are worthless." The stranger snorted with disgust. "I don't understand why Chase would ever want someone like you on his side."

"I know that the good in you is stronger than the evil! You just have to find them within yourself! You don't belong to Heylin side!"

Raimundo's heart sank. Omi's words matched what his Omi had shouted before he allowed them to be killed. He felt the air slowly running out, but everything suddenly returned to normal when someone placed a cold hand on his shoulder. He turned his head abruptly. Jack smiled stiffly. He must have noticed the slowly growing panic in Raimundo's eyes and reacted instinctively.

"And you are weak and will remain weak."

"Jermaine, please. Let's talk, you don't think so!"

"Stop embarrassing yourself, Omi..."

The stranger turned on his heel and disappeared, engulfed in a dark vortex like air. Omi hung his head, completely defeated and miserable. Kimiko tried to comfort him somehow, but she couldn't find the right words.

"You're finally here!" Clay noticed them first. "You missed quite a show. Unfortunately, we lost the Crouching Cougar and the Mantis Flip Coin."

"We saw it." Raimundo grimaced, still looking at the place where the stranger had disappeared. "Who was that?"

"Chase Young's protégé." Kimiko grimaced as if she had eaten a lemon. "We hoped that he would not go after this  Shen Gong Wu, but unfortunately we miscalculated and Omi had to fight him."

"Jermaine was someone I hoped to call a friend once..." Omi admitted it quietly. "He was angry with me for my unkind words when I tried to tell him Chase Young was evil, but he didn't believe me. I don't know the reasons why he joined the Heylin side, but I hope to save him one day and free him from the side of evil."

"Omi met him in New York, right?" Raimundo asked. "Me and..." He fell silent for a moment. "We met him in New York while searching for Wu, and he kept an eye on Omi when he disappeared from our sight, but he didn't seem like a bad person."

"Same with us." Kimiko admitted. "Jermaine seemed like a really nice guy, laid back and chatty, but it never occurred to us that Chase Young had sent him to watch over Omi in the big city."

"Back then, he had no interest in any Shen Gong Wu at all, but that changed when he revealed himself to us as Chase's protégé." Clay rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "We thought he didn't know who Chase Young was, and that's why he trained with him, but it turned out he did know him longer than us."

Raimundo looked at Omi thoughtfully. He remembered Jermaine from his world, and he didn't seem like a bad person, quite the opposite, and even years later he could recall memories of the dark-skinned boy from Brooklyn who exuded a pleasant, warm aura. The Jermaine of this world was similar in character, but his aura was cold and unpleasant, saturated with Heylin magic just like Raimundo's. However, the difference between them was significantly large. Raimundo used his powers to remove threats to his friends, and Jermaine could hurt them without blinking and wanted to help evil take over the world. He almost killed Raimundo and Jack just to separate them from the rest. He wondered if Omi's wish to save Jermaine and free him from evil made any sense at all, or if he was lost forever.

"I don't know if it isn't too late..." He muttered.

No one responded to his words. They weren't sure if he was talking about the lost Wu or the possible saving Jermaine from Heylin.

"You found your Wudai weapon!" Omi exclaimed with delight when he noticed the sword on Raimundo's belt. "This is great news, my dear friend! We will finally be able to start real training, and Master Fung will finally show us the Dragon Formation!"

"Dragon formation?" Raimundo blinks slowly. "What is that?"

"You never did..." Kimiko stopped mid-sentence when she realized that Raimundo never even gained the rank of Wudai, and what's more, his former team died before they even learned about the Dragon Formation. "It's something we as Xiaolin Dragons are supposed to learn, and that's how we share energy or something."

"We were incomplete before, so Master Fung didn't tell us anything else about it." Clay added.

"Exactly, but since we're already full of holes, maybe he'll let us!" Omi shouted.

"Whole again." Jack suggested.

"That too!"

"What did you name your weapon, partner?"

Raimundo looked at the cowboy and, with a smile, held out his blue glass blade, proudly saying its name:

"Blade of the Nebula."

The newly reconstituted Xiaolin Dragons could finally enter the game, but were they really complete?

Chapter Text

Raimundo watched closely as Jack worked on his next invention. It was going to be the robobutler he had mentioned when they first met, and Jack seemed fascinated by the idea. He thought that if other „him" could do something like that, he had no intention of being worse. Raimundo, of course, did not share this idea, considering that he and his Jack simply had nothing else to do and had been sitting in each other's company for a good few years, so building such a technological marvel was very difficult and tedious. It was not something like RoboJack or ChameleonBot. This robot was closer to an android, an almost perfect human with a mind of its own, and it did not even need the Heart of Jong for it.

With a heavy sigh, Jack put down the screwdriver and looked towards Raimundo, who was situated on his dark couch. He looked like he wanted to ask something, but was not entirely sure how to put the words. When Raimundo raised an eyebrow, Jack sighed again.

"Why exactly are you sitting here again, instead of at the temple with your friends?"

He shrugged in response. Jack grimaced and raised an eyebrow.

"You're not on the Heylin side anymore."

"I know, but you're not entirely on it either, no matter how you try to convince yourself."

The redhead grimaced at those words, wondering whether to be offended or to agree. In a way, ever since Raimundo had returned to the world of the living, Jack had spent less time trying to please Chase, stopped trying to get cozy with Wuya, and had even ignored all the minor villains. He wasn't particularly close to the Xiaolin monks either, except for Raimundo, although he was more of a neutral player. If Jack had to define himself on the side of the war, he would call himself a wild card, not entirely on anyone's side, but not entirely neutral either.

Raimundo must have misunderstood his silence, because he began to speak quietly:

"Sometimes I feel too anxious in the temple; the crypt with Wu doesn't help me calm down and gather my thoughts... I feel safe with you..."

He knitted his brows, thinking hard. Raimundo felt bad in the temple and the crypt with Shen Gong Wu, but not in his basement with heavy music? This was something unusual and indeed strange.

"It's a bit strange that you felt homely and calm there before, and now you don't. Maybe the guilt is killing you or something?" Jack scratched the back of his neck. "Just to be clear, you're not bothering me here much, but I don't think the rest of them will be thrilled with you disappearing into my evil lair."

He leaned over the project again with a frown, ignoring the look Raimundo gave him. Was that the reason he felt bad? The guilt that he had let them all get murdered because of his own stupid decision? No, that wasn't necessarily the point. Yes, he felt guilty every time he sat down for breakfast, played or practiced with friends who hadn't lived in his world for many years, but he didn't think that was the reason for the strange unease feeling. This was something completely different, something he couldn't yet name or understand.

He raised an eyebrow when Jack tried to reach for the wrench that was lying on the other end of the table. The wrench vibrated slightly and moved quickly into Jack's hand, which he didn't even notice. A shadow of a smile appeared on Raimundo's lips. His suspicions had been confirmed once again, but he had never brought this subject up with the young genius. He wasn't entirely sure whether he should bring it up at all or wait for the development of events.

"Would you like to join the Xiaolin as the Dragon of Metal?"

The words fell out of his mouth faster than he could think. Jack dropped the wrench with a loud bang and turned around with wide eyes, right at Raimundo. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. Finally, he stupidly managed to say:

"What?"

Jack must have misheard something, right? There was no way it wasn't some weird kind of joke. However, Raimundo didn't look like he was joking or said something wrong.

"You heard me, Jack. Wouldn't you like to join the Xiaolin as the Dragon of Metal?

Jack blinked once, twice, and bit his lower lip. No, Raimundo wasn't joking. He was deadly serious, but was Jack even suitable for a place where no one was friendly to him? Chase and Wuya would probably kill him if he changed sides.

"I'm not suitable..." Jack choked out, not noticing that he was holding his breath. "I don't even... I don't even have powers like you, a-aand besides, your buddies don't like me! And Wuya and Ch-Chase will kill me if I agree!" He rubbed his hand nervously. "It won't work!"

"Jack, you have metal manipulation powers. Every screw shakes around you as you lose your nerve. You could pull a wrench towards you and not even notice it." Raimundo grimaced slightly. "And let's be honest, Chase and Wuya are so interested in your existence that they didn't even notice you disappearing for three days with a broken ankle. Not to mention, Chase couldn't even tell you and Charlie apart what she mentioned when we were shopping last time at my hometown. They don't care about you, Jack. And my friends are already used to you at the temple; not much would change, really."

He was silent, looking at the Dragon of Wind  with an unreadable expression on his face. As unpleasant as it was, he was right about one thing. Chase and Wuya, they wouldn't care at all. No one would be interested in his change of front, well, maybe except for the young adepts, who honestly didn't have much sympathy for him. But could he really give up everything he had worked for so long for one stupid proposal from someone who, until recently, was dead to the world?

He looked at his hands, dirty with grease and oil.

"Why me?" He asked quietly. 

"Because fate likes to kick us in the ass."

"I thought you'd say something like 'This is what you were meant to be' or some other piece of wisdom." He rolled his eyes.

"You're talking to the wrong monk. "He smiled and looked down at the floor, as if trying to gather his thoughts and precise arguments. "When I was a kid, I was drawn to high places where I could feel the breeze, be close to open spaces... When Master Fung appeared on my doorstep, it was like a letter from Hogwarts." He laughed quietly. "I couldn't believe that I was special, and my attraction to dangerous places, where the wind was raging, was not just a whim but a fact that my powers wanted to be awakened and be close. It's the same with you, Jack. Without your toys and metal around you, you feel uneasy. That's why you have metal frames in your windows, your walls are covered with metal plates, and your table and chairs are metal. Your element wanted to let you know to notice it, give it a chance, and let you act."

Jack bit his lower lip. His brain was practically smoking from the rush of thoughts, and the screws and tools around him began to vibrate slightly, which he noticed after a second. He took a deep breath, and everything fell silent. He rubbed his hands together, looking to the side.

"Can I... Can I think about it some more?" He finally asked, timidly. "It's too much information for me. I don't know what to think, I..."

"You need time, I know." Raimundo didn't take his eyes off him. "I was in your place, Jack. I didn't agree to become the Dragon of Wind right away when Master Fung knocked on my door. In fact, I only spoke up half a year later, because I had so many doubts, but I know one thing: it wasn't a bad decision."

"It's easy for you to say, you were on the neutral side." Jack snorted. "I've been on the Heylin side for years, and suddenly I would change sides."

"I've been on both sides for a few years, and I know what too quick a decision leads to."

"Yeah..." 

"You have as much time as you want Jack; no one will hold a grudge or be angry at you if you decide you don't want to. It's your decision, your life."

 "I know."

They sat in silence for a while, but it wasn't unpleasant or heavy. It was soothing, calming, thought-provoking.

"Think about it, Jack; there's no rush, and if you need help learning to control your powers, I'm available regardless of your decision." Raimundo got up from the couch and, with the help of the Golden Tiger Claws, created a portal. "I'm going back to the temple, because you're right, they might start to worry that I didn't come back."

"Raimundo."

He looked over his shoulder with one leg in the portal. Jack twisted his hands nervously but didn't look at him.

"Thanks..."

A shadow of a smile appeared on Raimundo's lips as he replied:

"That's what friends are for, Jack."

And he disappeared down the passage, stepping out perfectly into the temple corridor. He took a deep breath. He didn't plan on revealing the truth to Jack, but his powers were getting stronger, and he could eventually hurt himself if he accidentally pulled something and stabbed himself. His friends didn't need to know, but there was one person he planned to talk to about this.

He entered the room, where there were separate spaces for each of the dragons, and stopped in the doorway, surprised. Kimiko was sitting hunched over her laptop, where there were several search results about the Black Dragon artifact. He frowned, and when he saw her reaching for the black figurine from the table, he acted on instinct.

"Don't touch it!"

He grabbed her hand, barely twisting her wrist, moving her as far away from the black dragon figurine as possible. He pulled her back two steps and pulled behind, shielding her with anticipation, but nothing happened. He took a deep breath, not even realizing that he was holding his it.

"Raimundo, what are you doing?"

He held Kimiko's hand tightly, not taking his eyes off the black figurine on the table next to the laptop. He hoped they wouldn't find a few specific Wu, but apparently the world thought otherwise.

"Raimundo?"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head sharply towards the girl. She was looking at him with a clear question and caution. He glanced at the dragon again, but nothing happened.

"You know what that is?"

"Unfortunately, yeah." He sighed. "It's bloody dangerous, Wu. You better not touch it, or we'll have troubles."

He turned around and took Kimiko with him.

"What troubles? I tried to find anything, but there's no information about the Black Dragon anywhere."

He stopped abruptly and looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"It's not black; it's sapphire."

"What?!"

He started going down the corridor again, ignoring Kimiko's screams, protests, and questions. He had to find the others, and their Master first to warn them not to touch it. The temple was not a safe place to keep something so dangerous.

"It's the Sapphire Dragon." Raimundo finally answered Kimiko's multiplying questions. "This Wu is dangerous. It doesn't know good or evil and attacks everyone, turning them into sapphire statues, and the more victims it gets, the stronger it is. You couldn't find anything about it, because it's covered in soot and looks black." He looked into the crypt, where he hoped to see Master Fung and the rest. "If you had scraped off the soot, we would have been in serious trouble, and nothing would have stopped it. Even Wuya didn't want to keep it among the other Wu and told me to hide it in the core of the earth so that it would never end up in the wrong hands."

"Why did Master Dashi create something so powerful, yet unstoppable?"

"I think he himself didn't expect to create something so strong and dangerous."

He looked into the dining room, where he found the rest; only Omi was missing.

"Master Fung, we have a serious problem!"

"More than serious." Clay admitted gloomily, holding an ornate box in his hands. "Someone stole the Heylin Seed, which we were supposed to learn how to guard today."

Raimundo frowned deeply and looked at Kimiko, and she at him, then turned back to Clay and the Master.

"Well, then we have two serious problems."

Master Fung looked very serious, with a cold, calculating gaze and tense facial muscles. His smile was not on his lips as usual; instead, there was a deep grimace of concern.

"What happened, Raimundo?"

"The black dragon you found is the Sapphire Dragon, the most dangerous Wu in existence." He explained quickly. "It doesn't see between good and evil and turns everything living into a sapphire statue and later manipulates them, and the more victims it gains, the stronger it will become. Nothing will stop it!"

"Except for soot." Kimiko interjected. "It seems that the soot is keeping it in check, so it may be the only way to stop it."

"Of course!" Dojo shouted, peeking out from under Clay's hat. "The dragon is covered in soot; that's why we couldn't find it in the scroll, because it is not black but sapphire!"

"We must hide this Wu immediately before it falls into the wrong hands." Master Fung took the ornate box from Clay's hands. "And find the Heylin Seed before someone sprinkles it with water or throws it into the ground, or we'll be doomed."

"Is the seed that dangerous?"

"From what Dojo and Master Fung said before you returned, the last time it was released, it destroyed the entire temple." Kimiko admitted cursorily and pointed to the stairs hidden behind the statue. "Supposedly it was released 1,500 years ago, and the crypt below was supposed to be its prison for eternity."

"Oh yeah, not only the temple went down in ruins, but the entire forest and several surrounding villages." Dojo shivered, covering himself with his hat. "Dashi, Chase, and Guan barely managed to contain it, and they were higher in rank than you at the time!"

"The Moonstone Locust should be awakened soon if the seed is released." Master Fung added. "This is the only Shen Gong Wu known to humanity that can stop it. It was created specifically to stop the Heylin Seed."

"If the place is the same as mine, maybe we can find it right away?"

"Do you think you could find it without activating?" Dojo looked at him, intrigued. " That would speed things up!"

"But it could also be in a completely different place, like the Sword of the Storm." Kimiko noticed. "You said it yourself, that some of them were in a completely different place than yours, so there is a fifty-fifty chance that the Moonstone Locust will be in the same place."

Raimundo wanted to answer but quickly closed his mouth. Kimiko was right; there was no certainty that the Shen Gong Wu would be in the same place as in his old world. They were in a slight stalemate situation. His train of thought was interrupted by one thing that he had just noticed. He looked around in dismay.

"Where's Omi?"

"He went looking for Kimiko so she could call Jack and bring you to the temple." Clay explained. "We wanted you to hear about the Heylin Seed too, but..."

Suddenly, everyone flinched and looked sharply towards the only door. They exchanged quick glances and took off running. They ran into their shared room, where Kimiko's laptop was still on the table, but the dragon figurine was gone.

"Omi!"

In the middle of the room stood Omi with an uncertain expression on his face and his hand pointing accusingly at someone.

Raimundo looked around carefully, making sure that the Sapphire Dragon wasn't close and wouldn't surprise them suddenly. When he made sure that the surrounding area was safe, he took a closer look at the statue that Omi had become. His eyes were directed upwards.

"Someone was here and used the Sapphire Dragon." Everyone present looked at Raimundo in surprise, so he continued. "Omi looks like he's shouting at someone, but he was surprised by something else. His gaze is directed upwards, but his hand is pointing at someone below. Knowing Omi, he caught someone else and started throwing accusations, and that someone activated the Dragon and ran away before he got hit." He looked around again. "But why did they activate the Sapphire Dragon, and what do they want from here?"

"Our Wu!" Kimiko shouted. "That someone definitely came for them, but Omi must have caught them and they activated the Sapphire Dragon in a panic and ran away!"

"Or did it on purpose." Clay supported. "We have to be careful and find not only this strange Wu, but also our uninvited guest..."

"You guys hide on the roof and don't come out until I give you a sign."

They looked at Raimundo with wide eyes, as if he had grown a second head.

"Excuse me?!"

"You've got to be kidding, partner!"

 "Trust me, I have a plan." Raimundo sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead when he saw their doubting faces. "Kimiko's powers will be useful to pacify the Sapphire Dragon, and Clay's powers can slow it down."

"What about you?" Dojo asked timidly, sticking his muzzle out. "You're not planning on being bait or something, are you?"

"Not really." He smiled and pointed at himself. "My element is wind, and I can quickly disappear if I want, and if the Sapphire Dragon tries to blow its magical breath at me, I can easily distract it and run away. You can try to find our wild Wu, and I'll scout the ground and find the uninvited thief."

"And if you don't find anyone, and we still have wild Wu on the loose?"

"Then I'll be the bait, and you'll burn him with your fire."

Kimiko exhaled loudly. She was clearly not convinced by the idea, but nodded. Clay adjusted his hat, and Dojo slid off his head and wrapped it around Raimundo's neck.

"Don't think I'll leave you alone, young man! I'm still responsible for all of you!"

"Okay."

"Don't try to sweeten me up with sweet words. I'm not going to le- Wait, what?"

Dojo blinked in confusion. He hadn't expected to hear that—quite the opposite. He thought that Raimundo would start to rebel and argue that he would rather go alone.

"Even if I say that I don't want help, you would go anyway, so it's better to speed up the process." Raimundo shrugged. "Besides, you're small enough that it won't be hard for me to escape with you from a potential attack, and even your small size will come in handy as an extra pair of eyes."

He looked at the boy for a long moment before nodding his head in agreement, because what he said made a lot of sense. The Dragon of Wind smiled at him and exchanged glances with the other Dragons. They all nodded in agreement and jumped towards the roof, where they could focus on their task and locating not only the feral Shen Gong Wu, but also the potential thief, if they was still nearby.

☯

Jack angrily threw a wrench towards the wall again, from which it bounced and fell with a dull sound. He growled, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. He hadn't been able to focus on his stupid project for over half an hour when Raimundo had dropped an incredibly large bomb on him. Him? A Dragon of Metal? One of the Xiaolin Warriors monks? What a Joke!

He pressed his lips together in a thin line, staring blankly at the wrench lying on the ground and timidly reaching out his hand towards it. For a moment, nothing happened and Jack was sure that Raimundo had played a good joke on him, but suddenly the wrench began to tremble slightly and shift a little. He lowered his hand abruptly, his eyes wide.

"Maybe there's a method to this madness..." He muttered almost silently. He groaned loudly. "A Dragon of Metal? Why did Charlie have to go to that stupid concert now?!"

Suddenly, there was a strange lack of air in the room, and the walls were dangerously close. Without thinking, Jack grabbed the keys from the desk and left the basement, jumping up two steps at the time and almost running out of the house, locking the door. He needed to talk to someone or have a drink—anything to take his mind off of everything that was currently troubling him. He turned around and stopped abruptly. His yard was strangely more overgrown than he remembered this morning, and it had only been a few hours. He carefully walked down the few steps, looking around at the vines and weeds that had sprung up out of nowhere.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket to make a call, but suddenly a vine ripped the phone from his hand and another wrapped itself around his arms. Before he could blink, he was side-hugged by... a plant? Next to his face was a purple-red flower with accents of yellow and a yellow head with black curl hair. The plant smiled broadly, its beady eyes strangely gleaming.

" Bonne soirée , Master~! (Fr. Good evening)"

Jack opened his mouth, and a terrible scream escaped his throat.

Troubles were mounting and secrets were multiplying, although several had already been revealed...

Chapter Text

He slipped between the alleys, trying to catch the slightest movement or noise, but he couldn't get anything. There was no uninvited guest anywhere, as if he had appeared, caused a commotion, and fled, but why? What was his purpose? The crypt with Wu was untouched; he had already checked that while searching. The same went for the Sapphire Dragon. He wasn't an intelligent Wu, dangerous indeed, but not intelligent. It couldn't come up with any strategy or plan, it just acted on instinct, and that's it, so why was it so hard to find this damn thing?

"Raimundo!"

Raimundo looked at Dojo, and a second later he felt a warm gust of air on the top of his head. It was pure instinct to jump back almost immediately and avoid the blue gust that would turn him into a statue. The feral Shen Gong Wu looked at him angrily, if these artifacts could show any emotions at all, and blew at them again. Dojo let out a girlish squeal as Raimundo used his element to disperse the sapphire fire and fled into the shadows of the alleyway. He held Dojo's muzzle and listened carefully.

He held his breath as Wu slide past them and pressed its large muzzle a few inches away from them. He could feel Dojo trembling in his hands, but his attention was focused on the large sapphire muzzle next to his chest. It felt like an eternity when a small pebble hit the floor somewhere behind the Sapphire Dragon and caught its attention. It backed away almost immediately and went to investigate the noise. Raimundo breathed a sigh of relief as the feral Wu disappeared from sight. He wasn't sure, but he suspected that Kimiko or Clay had seen what was happening and were trying to intervene and help.

He made sure that the Sapphire Dragon was out of his field of vision, let go of the Dojo, and walked between the alleys, listening for every rustle or footstep, but surprisingly, the Xiaolin temple was unnaturally quiet and empty. Something was clearly wrong... A cold wind suddenly swept through his body, and his breath caught in his throat. Someone was in the crypt with Shen Gong Wu. He quickly and quietly slipped into the crypt, which was open. Someone came out. A figure in a dark cloak and a hockey mask. He was holding the Reversing Mirror and the Serpents Tail in their hands.

"Didn't your parents teach you that stealing doesn't pay off?" Raimundo raised an eyebrow, trying to keep his nerves in check. "I'll ask you to give this back politely, and you won't lose your hands."

The thief snorted clearly under his mask and raised the Serpents Tail, but he didn't even have time to say its name when Raimundo appeared in front of him and kicked Wu out of his hands. Dojo jumped out from under Raimundo's hoodie and grabbed the stolen Shen Gong Wu with a cry.

"Ha! I caught it!" He looked at the thief and laughed nervously. "Maybe I should go, he he?"

Raimundo immediately grabbed the thief by the hand as he tried to run to Dojo, which gave the little dragon a chance to escape. The masked man elbowed Raimundo in the stomach, putting him down for a second, and ran towards the exit, hoping to catch Dojo, but the little dragon had already managed to disappear. Raimundo immediately ran after the thief, but he perfectly dodged by arching his body backwards, which was impossible for an ordinary person without proper training. They exchanged blows and dodges. The thief was agile and fast, definitely not just any sly guy.

The thief dodged Raimundo's attack above his head, and when he turned around, he was hit in the face by a gust of smoke. He covered himself with his hands and was sure he heard the thief's indistinct murmur. He used his element to dispel the smoke. He looked around, but the mysterious thief was gone.

"Damn..."

He ran in the only direction the thief could have escaped, to the main exit. He looked around, but something was wrong. He felt incredibly uncomfortable and as if he were pressed against a wall, and air, his element, suddenly began to be lacking. The Xiaolin temple was suddenly shrouded in mist, and the buildings turned into the ruins he knew so well. He slowly turned around in horror, hoping that he wouldn't see one thing. Cold sweat ran down his back as he saw the majestic citadel with bright green flames bathed in the light of a full moon, on which hung the witch's symbol.

No...

Ra...ndo...

He couldn't be there again...

...im...do.

He was finally free!

Rai...ndo!

He was supposed to get a chance to fix everything!

SMACK!

He froze when he felt a slap in the face. He blinked. Kimiko was standing in front of him, holding his face and looking at him in horror.

"Raimundo, breathe. It wasn't true; it was the effect of Wu causing nightmares."

He took a sharp breath and blinked. He looked to the right, but there was no full moon or Wuya symbol in the citadel. It slowly dawned on him what was actually happening around him. He caught the thief stealing, Dojo escaped with the Snake Tail, then ran after the thief and...

He swallowed hard. Why was he seeing the Wuya citadel? The Xiaolin Ruins? Was he hallucinating? Was he slowly going crazy?

"Rai, you had a panic attack," Kimiko explained calmly. "The thief used Shadow of Fear on you."

"To slow me down and escape." Raimundo cursed loudly. "Damn, I could have guessed that wasn't true..."

"You were scared, it's normal that you weren't thinking rationally." She glanced around carefully. "We don't know where Wu disappeared to, but the thief probably escaped."

"He took the Reversing Mirror." Raimundo rubbed his face with his hand. "Luckily Dojo stole the Serpents Tail, so she won't get their body back..."

"Dojo is with Clay." Kimiko admitted, but looked confused. "Who won't get their body back?"

Raimundo opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly felt a shiver in the air. It was a second before he saw sapphire flames moving straight towards them. He instinctively pushed Kimiko away, and the world was enveloped in sapphire.

☯

He watched the golems leave with the people he had called friends until recently. He felt Wuya's warm hand on his shoulder, the gentle stroke of her thumb to show him support. He had doubts, and at the same time he felt a huge resentment towards his friends, towards the Xiaolin, towards Master Fung. A few seconds ago he had suggested that they join him, but they had refused, abandoned him, and shown how little his opinion, happiness, or dreams meant to them. He clutched the box in his hands, but he didn't have the courage to open it or to look inside.

Wuya must have sensed his mixed feelings about the whole situation and the decision he had made, because she gently tightened her fingers on his arm. He looked at her with visible uncertainty and fear.

"Forget about them. Forget about the loneliness, about the emptiness that had haunted you for so long. I can fill this emptiness, Raimundo. I can make you feel alive in a way you've never experienced before." Wuya leaned in, her long hair tickling his cheek gently. "Let go of the past, the chains of loyalty and morality that have held you back for so long. Be mine, and I will be yours, now and forever. You will never be alone, never again misunderstood, hurt, and abandoned." Wuya's hand moved to the back of his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair as she held him in place. "And I will give you everything, Raimundo. Everything you've ever wanted, everything you never knew you needed."

"Everything?" He whispered, looking into her eyes.

Her lips curved into a smile full of sick satisfaction, revealing sharp teeth. Her sweet words dripped with dark magic that he shouldn't get close to, and yet he wanted to believe her and not feel the pain, loneliness, and being misunderstood.

"Everything." She admitted, her voice velvety and light. "Every dark wish, every dream forbidden by the monks... I will make them all come true." She leaned closer until her forehead touched his, until he felt the warmth of her skin. "I can give you power beyond your wildest dreams, Raimundo. Wealth, status, and the ability to shape the world to your whims. I can satisfy your every twisted idea, your deepest, darkest desires." Her hands slid down to his cheeks and cupped his face as if she had grasped the most precious treasure in the world. "I can be your Goddess, your Queen, your Mistress, your Mother... your Everything."

She fell silent for a moment, letting the weight of her words penetrate every inch of his body and soul to make sure of what she was trying to tell him. To assure him that the act of allowing her to kill his former friends was the right one and that he had not made the worst mistake.

"All you have to do, my dear Raimundo, is submit to me. Give me your heart, your soul, and your complete devotion, and in return I will give you the whole world. You will never be alone by my side." She looked into his eyes, glassy from the tears he held back. Her voice was no more than a whisper. "So tell me, Raimundo, are you ready to grab it all with both hands and never let go? Are you ready to be mine forever?"

His lower lip trembled, and all the regret and sadness that had gripped his heart just a few seconds ago suddenly disappeared. The terror that he had chosen badly, that he had been left alone, that he had let everything be destroyed, all of that ceased to matter, because Wuya had given him hope for a new life by her side.

"Yes..." He whispered in a broken voice. "I don't want to feel this way anymore..."

A triumphant, wicked smile spread across Wuya's face, and her eyes flashed with unbridled power as she stroked his cheek with her thumb.

"Good boy." She mumbled quietly, her hair flowing down her shoulders like a waterfall. "I promise you, my dear warrior..." She smiled gently, almost like a mother looking at her child with pride and hope. "My perfect boy, I will give you the whole world; just be with me, and I will be with you forever."

"Promise?" His voice was small, less than a whisper.

"I promise." She gathered him into a hug full of tenderness and strength. "I will always be with you to take away all the pain and suffering. I will be with you forever, my dear boy."

He was silent for a long time, his breath trembling and uncertain. He swallowed.

"Jack Spicer..." He mumbled quietly.

Wuya pulled away in surprise, but still keeping her hands on his shoulders. She looked at him intensely, as if waiting for the rest of his words. He looked down, like a child who had said something inappropriate in front of their parents.

"I want Jack Spicer." He licked his lips nervously.

Wuya was silent. She put a finger under Raimundo's chin and gently lifted so that he would look at her, which he did. She looked at him intensely, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"You said you'd give me everything." He mumbled almost immediately, with a hint of panic. "I... I need friends my age... to, um, play games?"

Suddenly her face softened again, and a tender smile blossomed on her face. She placed a tender hand on Raimundo's cheek and snapped her fingers with a free hand.

"Of course. Anything for my perfect boy." She brushed his cheek tenderly with her thumb. "Remember, you are responsible for him. I count on you, Raimundo."

She didn't talk about Jack Spicer as a person, but an ordinary dog ​​that Raimundo asked for and received on the condition that he would be responsible and take care of it. What was most terrifying was that Wuya honestly thought of Spicer as a hamster or a dog that she could give away on a trivial whim. Raimundo should have felt uneasy, guilty, or scared at the thought, but his emotions were like a well that simply dried out and nothing was left. Wuya was right; he didn't need anyone from Xiaolin. However, Jack wasn't Xiaolin; he wasn't fully Heylin either, and perhaps that was what made Raimundo want him.

☯

When he opened his eyes, he felt his legs give out under him. He was confused when he saw Clay, who held him by the shoulders. Kimiko was checking on Omi, and Dojo was holding a black dragon statuette with pincers. His foggy mind slowly began to put everything in its place. Someone wanted to rob them and activated the Sapphire Dragon. He pushed Kimiko away out of pure panic, and then…

He grabbed his throbbing head.

"What happened?" He asked. His voice was low, hoarse.

He remembered being with Wuya again, in the citadel, when he let her send his friends away for the second and last time, condemning them to death. The memory of the past did not let him rest, and doubts and regret for abandoning his Mistress spread in his heart for a few seconds, but he quickly pushed those thoughts away.

"Kimiko incinerated our wild Wu when Dojo distracted it." Clay explained briefly. "I tried not to hurt and keep my sapphire friends busy."

Raimundo blinked once, twice. He opened his mouth, but only said a short "oh". He didn't expect to be not only turned into a statue, but also be used as a zombie statue. It was completely different before; it was Dojo who saved them with the help of Clay's mega hot sauce.

"Now we have to think where the Heylin Seed is." Omi shouted. "The Sapphire Dragon was just a dysfunction to stop us!"

"A distraction." Kimiko corrected him.

"That too!"

I'm 21, but I still walk around with a fake ID (what?) Cuddle with the homies watching "Stand By Me" (cute) This (bump) ain't free, baby, pay my fee (bread) Let me live my life, baby, c'est la vie*

Raimundo raised an eyebrow and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He looked indignantly at Kimiko, who was clearly having a good laugh.

"This is the last time I let you touch my new phone." He threatened her with his finger, to which she blew him a kiss. He rolled his eyes and answered. "Hello?"

He blinked. He listened with his mouth open until he finally exploded.

"What?!"

The others looked at Raimundo. His jaw was slack and his eyes wide as plates. With a quiet click, he closed his jaw and looked with furrowed eyebrows at the rest of the Dragons.

"Don't touch anything, we'll be there soon."

He hung up and looked at his phone. He ran his fingers back through his hair, letting out a loud breath. He was clearly trying not to laugh.

"You won't believe where the Heylin Seed is."

The Xiaolin dragons exchanged glances, but neither of them knew the answer to the question that was nagging them. They would have to wait until they got there and saw for themselves, as Raimundo assured them.

Okay, they expected to see a lot, but it certainly wasn't Jack Spicer holding the Monkey Staff in a tight grip, aimed at a large hamster ball surrounded by a strange blue barrier with a dozen robots with laser weapons aimed at the plant with a face in the middle. Clay was the first to decide to break the awkward silence.

"What in tarnation?!"

Jack let out a shrill scream worthy of a wild monkey and aimed the Monkey Stuff at them. When he realized it was just them, he breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't let go of Wu, still glancing nervously at the large hamster ball in which the sulking flower with the face was sitting.

"When you said you found and trapped a talking French flower, that's not what I expected." Raimundo rubbed his face with his hand, trying to hold back laughter at the same time. "Jack, what did you do?"

"Hey, don't judge me!" Jack growled. "After that time with the murderous cactuses, I don't trust any plant in my environment anymore, especially one with a face and French people!"

"French people?" Kimiko raised an eyebrow. "In what sense?"

"This weed," Jack pointed to the plant in the ball, which waved with a cheerful "Salu" (Fr. Hey) and a stupid smile. "is French! Just like that freaking mime with powers who sends me a new postcard from a place he visited every month just because I worked with him once! I'm allergic to French people, mimes, and demonic plants! And this!" He shook his stick at the closed plant. "And this is a demonic French plant! My worst nightmare all in one!"

"Tu es impoli, Master! (Fr. You're rude)," the plant groaned in theatrical despair.

"Shut up or you'll become a salad!" Jack growled in response and turned back to the monks. "Take him away, please!"

"Well, our thief chose the wrong place to drop the Heylin Seed." Kimiko snorted quietly.

Raimundo had some doubts whether there was only one thief, because what was the point of stealing the seed, dropping it near Jack's house, and then returning to the Xiaolin Temple to active the Sapphire Dragon? There were definitely two thieves. The seed was supposed to be an additional distraction, but why? Raimundo sighed heavily, putting aside for later the thoughts of why the thieves had caused such drastic chaos.

"Now all that's missing is the Moonstone Locust."

Dojo shivered violently and looked at Raimundo with an uncertain smile.

"It just went activated." Dojo admitted.

"So we know where we have to go." Clay adjusted his hat and glanced at Jack. "Can you watch over him for a while longer, Spicer?"

"Oh, I'll watch over this thing, don't worry!" Jack growled, not taking his hostile gaze off the flower in the ball. "Just hurry up, because I'm doing you favors!"

Kimiko giggled quietly into her hand, Omi looked very pleased with Jack's help, Clay shook his head, and Raimundo simply shrugged. In the back of his mind, he still had the mysterious discrepancy between the two events and who were the thieves, and why were they trying to restore Wuya's body?

Much more secrets and a few less solutions to the upcoming troubles.

Chapter Text

He walked deeper into the castle, brushing blood from his hands as he knocked another strangely dressed warrior, as if he had been torn from a completely different era. They acted as if they were trying to stop him. There were plenty of sleeping wildcats around, but he didn't bother to think about it. Wuya had given him a mission and he intended to do it, just like any other. He just didn't understood why she had chosen the Heylin Solar Eclipse. Maybe he will ask Jack when he got back from the mission?

He stopped in front of a large ornate door, and when he didn't sense any danger, he used wind magic to push it open, in case it triggered any traps. He looked around cautiously, his eyes falling on a man breathing heavily on a throne. Long raven hair stuck to his earthy skin, and reptilian eyes watched him with intrigue.

"The witch has enveloped the world in darkness, creating an eternal full moon, but I didn't expect her to go so far as to send a teenager at Heylin Eclipse to get rid of me in such a shallow way.” The man smiled with an aristocratic expression full of superiority. "If I may ask before you kill me, who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"

"Raimundo Pedrosa, the Wind Dragon." He replied calmly. He didn't want to show that the man made him feel uneasy. "And you are?"

"Chase Young, one of the greatest warriors in the world." The man, Chase, watched Raimundo with his reptilian eyes. "Did the Xiaolin monks send you here?"

"I'm not one of them anymore." Raimundo snorted and added with obvious satisfaction. "They're all dead thanks to me. I work with Wuya."

Chase's expression didn't change, though Raimundo could have sworn something flashed in his eyes.

"Hmm, you work with the witch... How predictable."

"She sees me as a person, not just a stupid Wind Dragon."

"Oh really now?" Chase's pupils narrowed like a cat. "Who do you think you are to her?"

"I'm her loyal warrior. I help her, support, and in return she lets me do whatever I want, whenever I want, without pressure or tricks. She was there for me when I needed her. She helped me train my wind magic and martial arts. She never judged my weaknesses or mocked me." He replied proudly. "Wuya is my Mistress, and I'm her Champion, her loyal Warrior. I'll do anything for her."

Raimundo didn't say how his so-called friends made fun of him for not being a Wudai warrior, or how Master Fung wouldn't let him train with the rest of the elemental magic because of his lower level.

"For her, I killed the remaining Xiaolin Dragons, helped destroy the Temple."

It wasn't entirely a lie, because even though Raimundo didn't kill his former friends personally, he did contribute to their deaths.

"Her loyal warrior? "Chase snorted with superiority. "The witch uses you like a puppet, like a mere toy and nothing more."

"I'm no one's puppet!" He snapped back. "I'm my own person."

"Do you really believe that? You're deceiving yourself to drown out your conscience. The witch doesn't care about you. You're like a tool she can use and throw away when you're no longer useful."

He didn't want to listen to Chase Young's further words, he was just another villain who tried to trick him into betraying his Lady and doubting the bond that connected them both. Raimundo got rid of him, just like he did with Hannibal and many others that Wuya had pointed out as potential threats.

Wuya was his everything...

And yet, the words of several people kept popping up in his head over and over again, making it clear to him that he had made the wrong choice.

"You're looking at the screen as if you don't believe what happened, or you've dozed off again."

Raimundo blinked slowly and suddenly found himself in the room Wuya had made for him with lots of games, a couch and a TV. 

"Do you want to keep playing, or do you want to do something else?"

He looked at Jack with dismay, then at the controller in his hands and at the plasma monitor, on which hung a large flashing Game Over sign.

Ah...

"If you wanted to get into my head, you should have chosen another memory." He mumbled and looked to the right.

A pretty dark-skinned girl with chocolate hair tied in a long braid behind her hips and violet eyes stood three steps from the couch. She was wearing a black T-shirt and loose denim pants. She was holding Shadow of Fear in her hands.

"It doesn't matter which door I chose, there was a lot of blood everywhere." She admitted after a moment of hesitation.

"True, I can't blame you for not being able to choose between probably thousands of doors, each labeled as the greatest fear." Raimundo turned his face towards the TV. "You might scare others, but I survived the end of the world and not many things can scare me, I rather treat my fears like another Tuesday or something." He shrugged.

"You're weirder than I thought." She sighed and walked over to the couch, where she sat down in Jack's place, who had disappeared. "I don't plan on stealing your Shen Gong Wu, I was rather curious about you and the strange fear that threw you off balance the last time we met." She looked at Raimundo carefully. "What was that strange citadel with the mark on the moon? You were so scared that I was sure you would have a heart attack and I even wanted to cancel the Wu power."

He clenched his fingers on the pad. He could throw her out of his head, after all, Shen Gong Wu or not, it was his mind and he ruled in here.

"My penance for the biggest mistake of my life." He finally replied. "I made a pact with the devil just like you did and allowed everyone close to me to be killed. I had to live with that knowledge for years to come. Funny time."

"That wasn't the answer I expected..."

"And what do you want to achieve by stealing the mirror? She won't fulfill your wishes, she'll just destroy your life, take everything you hold dear and turn you into her servant. She'll pretend that you have freedom, but that's a lie."

She was silent. He expected her not to answer and leave him alone, because she had no reason to tell him anything. She only came here out of curiosity, not the desire to steal Wu. He didn't blame her, he would have done the same in her place.

"I have nothing to lose, and I can only gain." She got up from the couch and headed for the dark, dingy door. Most likely the exit. "By the way, I'm Sara Willows."

"Rai."

He watched Sara walk out the door without a word. He shifted his gaze to the TV, where Game Over was still flashing. He clicked the button on the controller, which turned off the console, and closed his eyes.

He opened his eyes and stood up from the mat with a heavy sigh. He rubbed his face with his hand. He didn't get much information, but at least he knew who had stolen the Shadow of Fear and the Reversing Mirror, and who his friends were trying to protect him from.

He looked at his hand, which he clenched into a fist after a moment, and knitted his eyebrows.

Sara Willows was just like him. She thought she had nothing to lose by tying her fate to Wuya. She wasn't twisted by evil like Tobbimura or Katnappe... She was just a lost teenager, like he had been three months ago.

He fell back onto the mat and pillow, letting out a heavy sight. He stared at the ceiling for a long moment.

He could hear everything the wind carried, the ticking of the clock from the kitchen at the end of the corridor, the quiet rustle of leaves outside, the calm breathing of his friends lost in sleep, the leaves, and flower petals flying between the alleys.

"Damn it..."

He got up from the mat and ruffled his hair with a hand. He doubted that Sara had tried to steal the Serpents Tail from the crypt, but he preferred to check it to be sure. Just in case. Besides, he needed fresh air.

He put on the Golden Tiger Claws and without a word opened the portal, which he calmly entered to get inside the crypt with the Shen Gong Wu. He had noticed long ago that there was no need to shout out or say the name of the Wu to activate it, just the thought was enough. He looked into each compartment in turn, and when he made sure that everything was in place, he sighed with great relief. He swallowed hard, looking at the empty compartment on the left. The only one he had opened so many times to make himself realize that he had destroyed the world and everything he loved out of regret and confusion. It was empty because Sara had stolen the mirror. She didn't have to say that she was responsible for it, but she definitely didn’t steal the Heylin Seed.

With Wu's help, he exited out of the crypt and stood outside the Xiaolin Temple. The night was warm and clear, and the moon was halfway up. He took a deep breath of the night air and walked to the exit, where he sat down on the cold steps and almost immediately bit his lower lip. There was another problem. His family thought he was dead and he hadn't contacted anyone since he returned. In his world, he had lost his parents and three siblings, but what was it like in this world? Were his parents alive? Had his father remarried? How many siblings did he have? There were so many unknowns, and he wasn't even sure what he would tell his family...

He pressed his lips together tightly. No, not his family. Raimundo's family from this world. True, he was Raimundo, but at the same time he wasn't... He swallowed hard and started thinking about all the options in his head, how such a conversation could go. And then there was the matter of Wuya and the whole Heylin mess... The possibility that Wuya could come back to life filled him with silent terror. His plans were slowly starting to be destroyed and he wasn't sure what to do next. He got rid of a few of the most important figures from the Heylin image, who would cause a lot of problems in the future, but since he was taken away from Wuya's side, a new player appeared, Sara Willows, whom he hadn't met in his old world. Was there a possibility that someone would take the place of the others he got rid of? Was he destroying the balance with his actions, and the world would kick him painfully for it?

"Is something bothering you, young dragon?"

Raimundo turned around in surprise. He didn't expect to see Master Fung so late at night and so close to the exit of the Xiaolin Temple.

"It's nothing big..."

"It must be something big, since you've been awake for almost three nights despite your assurances that you'll try to sleep tonight."

He grimaced at Master Fung's words and turned his head away as he sat down next to him on the stairs. If he was going to talk to someone, Master Fung was the only adult who could understand him.

"I keep thinking about the situation from a few days ago." Raimundo rubbed his heads with his hand. "I have the feeling that I missed something. I know for sure that there were two thieves. One tried to get two artifacts to restore Wuya's body, that explains the release of the Sapphire Dragon, but the other thief? Why did he steal the Heylin Seed? What was his purpose? Nothing disappeared from the crypt except the mirror." He mumbled with a heavy sigh. "It’s bothering me..."

Master Fung hummed in a low voice, as if he had expected to hear such an answer from Raimundo. In fact, he always seemed to be the kind of person who expected everything.

"Do you think there was some deeper hidden motive in this?"

It wasn't a question, but Raimundo nodded in agreement.

"I don't understand this. I feel like I'm missing something..." He sighed. "I have the impression that my appearance here was just caused you all a lot of problems."

"Oh yes, you are a big problem for all of us, that's true." Master Fung admitted and suddenly placed a hand on his head, and when Raimundo looked at him in surprise, he sent him a smile. "But a one of that we couldn’t live without. I'm glad that I can teach you again, and your friends that they have you back. Your bond has been strengthened like never before. Remember, Raimundo, the unknown will soon bloom and reveal its petals to the sun."

Raimundo looked down and bit his lower lip.

"So I should just not worry and let the events flow, not worrying about the future, because anything can happen?"

Master Fung laughed warmly.

"I guess I'm too old, or you're too smart, because you're figuring out every sentence I say."

"I've had a lot of time to think." Raimundo smiled shyly and leaned his head carefully against his shoulder. "Thank you for the second chance, Master."

"And we thank you that we could have you back, my boy."

He closed his eyes, enjoying the moment of peace that had been sorely missed lately.

☯

Omi stood up abruptly from the bed. With a heavy, ragged breath, he looked around in dismay. He was sure that he had sensed evil magic again, just like...

"Raimundo..." He stood up abruptly from under the sheets and ran behind the neighboring room screen. "Raimu...!"

He took a deep breath with a wheezing sound as he realized that his friend's mat was empty. Panic began to take over his body. He ran to the bathroom, then to the kitchen, but Raimundo was nowhere to be seen, so he quickly returned to the sleeping quarters.

"KIMIKO!! CLAY!!" He screamed horribly. "RAIMUNDO HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED BY THE FORCES OF EVIL AGAIN!!"

With a broken yelp, Clay jumped to a sitting position and almost fell forward, while Kimiko only jumped and sit up harshly. They both blinked slowly, still clearly sleepy.

"What?"

"Raimundo disappeared!" Omi explained quickly. "AGAIN!!"

"Maybe he went to the bathroom?" Clay suggested.

"He did not!"

"Then maybe..."

"He is not there! "Omi interrupted before Kimiko could finish. "Friends, Raimundo is nowhere to be found! We have to find him! He definitely had another attack and either escaped or was kidnapped or mhhmngh...!"

Kimiko covered his mouth with her hand with a heavy sigh.

"We understand, Omi." She glanced at Clay. "Are you sure you checked absolutely every room?"

Omi nodded vigorously. Clay grimaced and scratched his head before placing his hat on top of it.

"In that case, let's go find him, otherwise Omi won't let us sleep." He yawned.

"Just don't scream anymore, the others are still asleep." Kimiko warned the little one before removing her hand. "When did you notice Raimundo was gone?"

"A few minutes ago!" Omi threw his hands up in the air. "We have to hurry! Less talk and more action, friends!"

Kimiko and Clay exchanged glances, but they didn’t say anything about Omi's baseless panic. They didn't think that panicking about Raimundo's disappearance was that serious. He was almost an adult and could have just gone for a walk or used the Golden Tiger Claws to even found himself on top of the pyramid, and there was nothing they could do about it. Even if they didn't show it like Omi, they were also worried about how secretive Raimundo was.

When they went out into the corridor, they met Dojo, who looked very pleased about something, even downright touched? Omi immediately ran towards the dragon with visible panic.

"Dojo! Trouble! Raimundo disappeared! We have to find him!"

Dojo blinked once, twice and smiled gently before patting him on the head.

"He didn't disappear anywhere, kid."

"Yes he did! He is not in his sleeping area!" Omi shouted.

"No, he's not there, but I know where he is." Dojo shook his head and turned around, waving his paw for them to follow him. "I'll show you, but be quiet."

The Xiaolin Dragons exchanged glances, but wordlessly followed the small dragon. When they were outside, the slight chill of the night hit them. None of them understood why they were heading for the Temple's exit until they saw a figure sitting on the stairs and another half-lying on the floor and on the first person's legs. When they got closer, they immediately recognized both figures. Omi covered his mouth with his hands with a broken gasp of delight, while Kimiko and Clay smiled gently at the image before them. Dojo nodded in understanding at their reactions.

Master Fung turned toward them carefully and put a finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet, before he went back to combing through the brown hair of the sleeping Raimundo on his lap. They carefully approached the stairs and sat down around their Master and the Wind Dragon.

"I haven't seen him sleep so peacefully since he got back..." Kimiko whispered.

"He hasn't slept for two or three days now." Clay mumbled.

"Raimundo still carries the burden of his own actions, which he loses sleep over it." Master Fung combed the brown locks of the teenager on his lap. "He needs you more than ever, even if he doesn't see it himself yet."

Kimiko blinked, realizing something.

"He tries to do everything himself all the time because he thinks that this way he will protect us..."

"He's afraid that history will repeat itself and he will lose you all again." Dojo nodded. "This kid has been through more than anyone, but the only thing we can do is show that we are there for him and he is not alone."

"But he still only spends time with Jack Spicer!" Omi puffed out his cheeks. "He doesn't show much that he likes us as much!"

"Omi, didn't you think that it's just as hard for him as it is for us?" Kimiko looked at the youngest. "Jack was the only person he had with him for many years."

"It's very possible that looking at us every day causes him mental pain, because he remembers how he let us get killed." Clay sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck. "I can't imagine how awful he must feel, even if we're not those people."

Omi opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it and opened it again. He did it twice before he closed his mouth completely and bit his lower lip. He wasn't the smartest of their group, which could also be due to his young age, but he understood how torn up their friend must have been. He knew how much their Riamundo's death hurt him, so this Raimundo must have felt similarly, or even worse, because there were more deaths.

"Then we will show Raimundo that he can count on us and that we will not let him down or leave him no matter how much trouble he feels in his heart!" Omi assured fervently. "We will be friends and comrades in arms that he can count on no matter the situation!"

Kimiko and Clay exchanged glances and smiles. Dojo nodded fervently with a smile. They did not know how much they needed each other, and since the world had given them another chance, they were going to do everything to make Raimundo feel at home again. Raimundo was one of them and that would never change. They just had to make him fully aware of it.

Raimundo needed his friends, and they were going to show him that they're not going anywhere, and he could count on them.