The last few weeks have been quite busy for Spicer, who has been making big moves for the continuation of his operations. First, he sold his house and then moved to a remote corner of Japan for peace and quiet. Even though he doubts anyone is interested in his return, no one will break into his house to attack him or loot his fridge anymore. With the money he obtained from the sale and also the fortune left by his deceased family, the young survivor began building a rather discreet house with some additional amenities, such as a room to design his next move and also his lab, although this time he built it upstairs because, strangely enough, seeing the sun really does the heart good. And of course, he also built his own training ground with a fully functional forge.
Yes, he has indeed returned to a modern world and the technological advances would make the nerd in him drool, only the past twelve years have proven to him that all his robots have held him back in a certain way, his daily hell has given him the opportunity to unleash his warrior potential and Jack does not want to just erase this part of his life because even though he has suffered and endured the anguish of death day and night, this pain has given him a strength that no machine could replace.
That's why he was content to make a watch to detect SGWs and also a few other small things to strengthen his arsenal, he has no illusions, in a short time he will be facing either a warrior monk a good thousand years old with an army of mystical beasts or a sorceress capable of doing whatever she pleases with her black magic, ah and not forgetting the Dragons of Xiaolin which will undoubtedly block his path, it is to say that the old Jack would have avoided this fight to survive while the one of today tells himself that now that he has invested himself in this project he no longer has the right to back down.
Tapping his index finger against the pommel of his sword, the red-haired young man watched his watch activate, finally giving him the coordinates of the active SGW. Wasting no time, he mounted his new motorcycle and began to speed in the indicated direction.
Staring at the road without closing his eyes, Jack wonders if he will be the first on the scene or the Xiaolin?...he really hopes not to see them...otherwise their SGW won't last long.
~SJ~
...a dragon's head with a cave inside? Yeah, he's freely guessing who might be hiding here.
The redhead cautiously walks through the dark corridors, noting to himself the absence of the owner of the place, not that he wants to face Chase Young right away, he may have become stronger but taking down this monster requires much more preparation, in the meantime he will just destroy what his watch has detected and then leave and start again until one day he is eliminated from SGW.
Keeping one hand ready to draw, he puts his head out at every intersection while inhaling the scent of the beasts living here with their master. Needless to say, Jack's nose is too good at picking up the stench, having too often had to crawl into beast nests to take shelter or to hunt down particularly juicy prey. Following the scent, he eventually arrived at the place where the smell was strongest. He is quite sure that Chase would put his beasts in charge of guarding the SGW during his absence.
"Ooh...shoo...shoo...brother...sorry..."
His steps stopped abruptly as his eyes narrowed at the sound of that youthful and plaintive voice, moving as gently as possible the former genius inventor looked around the room and felt his blood turn to ice.
There, suspended above a pack of sleeping beasts, is a little boy who looks very much like Omi except for the green glasses that adorn his eyes closed with fatigue, his clothes are torn and Jack sees multiple signs of injury on this small fragile body, he does not feel at all the trembling of his hands nor even the fact that his pupils are shrinking dangerously as his heart beats harder.
His memory relives the worst ordeals he endured, the days punctuated by him brushing against death just to stay alive for a few more minutes, beaten, bloodied, half-dead sometimes.
"A...ahha...hha...help...help brother Omi..."
With a clean and precise movement, his thumb unleashed the gleaming blade with a rage equal to that of the samurai.
~SJ~
Ping felt his eyes closing again despite his desire to keep them open; his arms ached from being suspended there like a tasteless trophy; he tried to struggle and shout for his friends to come and get him, all in vain...
He must not cry...a true Xiaolin warrior does not cry in adversity.
He has been repeating this to himself for hours while hoping to see his idol Omi and the other Dragons come to save him.
~Clap! Shiiiiiiiiii~
The sudden noise rang like a bell for the little boy who opened his eyes wide, thinking he saw his brother Omi, but he was just thrown into a loop of confusion as he saw someone else approaching the now-awake beasts, growling at the intruder, drawing a long katana and holding it in one hand while advancing towards them with a stiff gait.
The closer he got, the more Ping could make out what the stranger looked like: dressed in a black kimono and a red belt, her long hair resembling a mane of infernal fire, a beard masking the lower part of her face, the pallor of her skin making her look like a ghost hungry for battle and blood, but what deeply disturbed Ping was her eyes.
Red, in his incandescent irises he saw so much rage that he began to tremble on the spot as the stranger advanced towards him, this man exuded such a thirst for blood that the little boy wondered if he had come to kill him, this thought died the second the first beast pounced on the redhead.
The beast growls, mouth wide open, sinking its fangs into its prey. The prey then grips its weapon, its knuckles cracking as its shoulders begin to move. Moving forward at full speed, the samurai thrusts his blade through the beast's throat, piercing the flesh. Without slowing down, he slices off the head of the mystical animal with a single thrust, sending it flying into the air. Grabbing the head of the second, he digs his thumb into the animal's eye, eliciting a groan of pain. This gives Jack time to hurl it towards the others, who scatter. The beast's body crashes against the wall beneath the feet of the small monk, who watches in astonishment as the redhead's body blurs, leaving behind only a trail of red. Lowering his body, he splits the third's body in two, then straightens up and runs his blade across the fourth's eyes. The fourth groans and recoils. Jack uses him as a springboard, launching himself forward with a swift, sharp turn. blade he plunges it into the head of the fifth who dies instantly and falls limply along his blade, turning his head back he looks at the other creatures standing there their limbs tensed by their primal instinct which screams at them not to approach the red-eyed human who swings his blade to remove the blood.
Rushing towards them once more, he continues to slash, again, again, more, more! Even more! Slicing beasts to survive is, after all, what he knows best.
The last beast tries everything and clamps its throat, taking advantage of the fact that its blade is embedded in the body of one of the other animals. Spicer's burning gaze of rage is fixed on him as he drops his sword. With terrifying speed and precision, he seizes the throat of the attacking lion and begins to squeeze!
~CRAAAAC!GLUKKKKK!~
The animal struggles under the deadly grip of the survivor who began to scream fiercely as he felt his chest being lacerated by the animal's claws, except that instead of loosening his grip he squeezes even harder the throat of the lion which is struggling with all its might.
"What's wrong?! Are you afraid of me, you filthy flea-ridden bag?!" he roars at the open-eyed beast, who can only stare at the human with fiery eyes, his face contorted by rage, making him resemble a vengeful demon. " Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeve! "
His howl surpasses the death cry of the beast as it breathes its last between his fingers; for a second everything seems calm, then Spicer finally releases the lion's lifeless body, inhaling and exhaling long jets of hot air. The survivor looks at the bodies around him with a rather intense feeling of well-being; he remembers the time Chase dropped them on him.
"...haf...hhhhan...hhhhaaa" he gently throws his head back, wiping the blood from his chest, forever scarred by the beast's four claws. "Now...we're even..."
Almost laughing at his feeling of victory, he turns his head to the side to look at the little boy who is looking at him with a fear that is quite justifiable given the carnage he has just committed before his eyes, well, not that it affects him in any way.
...even though a treacherous part of his heart is happy that he is finally safe.
Advancing slowly while taking his sword in his step, he comes to the boy who closes his eyes believing he is the next victim of his blade, wasting no time he cuts the chain in one go then catches the small falling body with one hand.
"How's it going, kid?" asked the redhead's gruff voice.
The question pulls Ping out of his fear; seeing that he is no longer chained, he looks at the man in a new light. He thought he was in the presence of a madman killing everything in his path, but clearly he was wrong; this man came to save him!
"You saved me..." he said in a small, emotional voice which greatly moved the former evil genius who sheathed his blade while buzzing.
"I wasn't going to leave you there...that would be cruel, don't you think?" he replied with a brief smile on his face.
It had been a long time since he had accomplished anything for any reason other than his own...and strangely he appreciates the feeling that fills his weary heart.
"Thank you...thank you sir *hic* I really thought that..." the voice, thick with sobs, deeply disturbs the redhead who kneels to place his hand on the shoulder of the little man who looks at his savior with tears in the corners of his eyes.
"Everything's fine, little one, they won't hurt you anymore," they assure him, firmly squeezing Ping's shoulder, who quickly nods in agreement. "Tell me, how did you end up here?"
"Oh! I was on a mission to unmask Amorocha! She's pretending to be Willow, a monk apprentice from Xiaolin! She wants to find the vault with all the Wu in order to destroy the temple!"
...ok he is quite impressed by the speed of speech and also the lung capacity of the little guy.
"Hmm," the redhead simply said, straightening up, one hand on his sword and the other stroking his beard. "So I'm too late..."
"Uh, sir?" The little ball of energy tilted his head back to look his savior in the eyes. "Why did you come here? Did Brother Omi send you to fetch me?"
"Sorry little one, I came for the Wu, which I had more obviously detected, he left with Chase and that Amorocha guy."
"That's surely the Medusa's comb that Omi gave to Amorocha!"
"...what? Omi handed it to him?" Jack asks incredulously because in his old memories this little monk never made such a mistake, preferring to die than to leave a Wu unattended.
"Yes! Amorocha used her diabolical powers to brainwash him!"
"Diabolical powers, you say?" wonders Jack, trying to anticipate what to expect from this woman.
"Yes, a single glance was all it took for him to bewitch the others!"
"...ah," said the young man sheepishly, rubbing his eyes together and grumbling under his breath about hormones and their harmful effect on heroes who have to save the world. "I think you have nothing to worry about, the spell won't last."
"Really?!" the little monk demanded, overjoyed to know that his brother was surely saved.
"Yes, believe me, he'll be much better afterwards," he assures with an eye roll, while mentally thinking about how he'll make fun of Omi the next time he crosses paths with him.
What? He's no longer evil, okay, but he still has the right to make fun of others if he wants to.
"Sir, your injury! It must be treated quickly!" he exclaims, pointing at the redhead's torso, who merely shrugs nonchalantly as he turns away.
"It'll be alright, I've had worse," he assures, while thinking about what he should do now. "Tell me, by any chance, do you know where they went?"
"They've gone to seize the SGW Bobopop!" the wooden dragon quickly replied.
"...always such strange names," Jack sighed. "Well, thank you, little one."
"Wait! You're going?! Chase and Amorocha are very dangerous, sir!"
"I know, but there's no way I'm letting a SGW roam free," he said, a hint of anger in his voice. "I have to go there and destroy it."
"Huh? But why?!"
"Because these things are far too dangerous regardless of who possesses them, it only takes one Shen Gong Wu for a catastrophe to occur."
"But the Xiaolin monks are here to protect them and watch over them," Ping assures, waving his arms quickly ready to defend his friends, then a scarlet red eye flashes in his gaze.
"Tell me, little one, what would you look like if I put a sword in a baby's crib?"
"That's crazy! He might hurt himself!"
"Why? Can't he hold it and use it?"
"But he could hurt himself and...oooooh!"
"You see what I mean? It's all well and good to think they'll be safe locked away, but the truth is they're just there to tempt those who want to take over the world. Whether it's Chase or Wuya, neither of them will give up as long as these things exist," Spicer explained, his dark gaze fixed on his half-drawn blade, revealing the reflection in his eyes narrowing with anger. "And that's why I'm going to destroy them..."
That's the real temptation of a weapon; you can build a rifle capable of killing an elephant in one shot, but if you never use it, it's just a big, useless piece of metal. You always need a hand to handle a weapon, and no matter who holds it, it's always a deadly object. Jack doesn't care that the Monks think they're acting in the best interests of the world by keeping them safe. In his eyes, the SGW are calamities just waiting for some idiot to steal them and start a war that no ordinary human being would be willing to face. He himself is nothing more than a man with a surprisingly sharp sword, and yet he embarked on this quest with the firm intention of ending these choices, even if it means losing his life.
...yeah, living a normal life is impossible for him as long as the Shen Gong Wu are still around.
"Wow! You're a real samurai! You fight in the shadows to save the world without anyone knowing!" exclaims the annoying little monk joyfully to the samurai, who doesn't look him in the eyes.
"...I'm not a hero, kid...I'm doing this for myself," he confessed calmly as he started walking. "Come on, let's not linger too long, the lizard might come back."
Without waiting to be told twice, Pingpong obediently followed the survivor, jumping over the lifeless bodies of Chase's beasts. He sent the chicken chair crawling on his skin when he saw the carnage left by his savior. Of course, he was grateful, just not used to seeing so much blood. Chasing away his thoughts, he continued to follow the redhead who, for his part, wondered what plan would be the most advantageous to achieve his goal.
As he joined the position of the SGW detected earlier, he found himself arguing with Chase and undoubtedly the Xiaolin Dragons, unless this Amorocha revealed herself at that moment and betrayed the dragonets to eliminate them in one fell swoop, except that he doubted such a plan, Chase is the kind of arrogant and theatrical type that he will not be able to resist the desire to see the face of his enemies when his accomplice betrays them, likewise he will want to launch a great offensive on the Xiaolin temple to show his tactical superiority and also display his power as he likes to do.
Finally, all those years of following his activity are finally giving him something useful.
Returning to his initial train of thought, the samurai finally decided that if Chase and Amorocha wanted the location of the vault, then they still needed Omi, so the rest of their plan would surely be linked to the SGW. The redhead sighed once he left the cave; the idea that he found himself in the middle of their war annoyed him as much as it reminded him of very bad memories of his past performances. Luckily, he had grown up and changed, otherwise he wouldn't even dare to think about facing all those superhuman monsters.
A gasp finally pulls him from his battle plans and his lips curl into a half-smile at the sight of the little monk's stars of total admiration at the sight of his armored motorcycle, the Crusher, which he created from scratch, wanting to have the perfect fusion between a motorcycle and a tank, grey in color with some small touches of red here and there, this little gem is equipped with a machine gun on the front, a turbo boost, shredding mudguards, and an electric cannon at the rear as well as a mine launcher.
Yeah, a real beauty who has awakened her inventive side.
"Incredible! Even if it's strange to see a samurai on a motorcycle," said Ping, spinning around the vehicle like a yellow and blue tornado.
"A horse wouldn't be fast enough," the redhead explained, climbing on top and starting the machine, which roared like a dog impatient to be set free. "Climb on, little one, and you'll explain to me in detail what happened."
Jumping behind the samurai, little Ping clings tightly to his savior who wastes no time in speeding off, and while the little monk tells him the story of how he became a candidate to be the wood dragon, Jack promises himself to give the other dragons a good kick in the behind...except for Kimiko who seems to be the only one still equipped with a brain.
~SJ~
All along the way, Jack was treated to the official story of Boris Antonio Rolf Jean-Pierre Gaulle LeGrand IV... aka Ping Pong to his friends, even though our survivor chose to keep only Ping to avoid thinking of the little monk as a ball. That honor belongs to Omi. Anyway, he told him how the desire to join the monks came about and, above all, how much he admired Omi for becoming so strong while being the smallest of the dragons. Even though... his voice cracked while recounting this part, a sign that being rejected by his idol had really hurt him. Feeling that sadness only made Spicer want to hit the idiots. How could he let himself be fooled by a girl who came out of nowhere? Okay, granted, they probably have hormones messing with their brains, but still! How come Kimiko is the only one who understood that...ah yes, that's right, she's far from stupid, he remembers that.
Well, not at the moment, having been hit by the Crazy Rabbit...good grief, if Jack gets his hands on the one who gave the names to the SGW, he'll make him eat a book on improvisations, in short, the Fire Dragon will be out of service during his visit, too bad, he would have liked to entrust Ping to someone with a good head on their shoulders, but it seems he will have to settle for the idiots one, two, and three.
Rolling and bouncing in the air, the redhead sees commotion on the horizon, squinting his eyes he can make out many more people than expected, and many faces that he likes to forget, but well, he wants to try to make an effort because it's a memory.
...a cyclops...no...um, an overweight ninja...no, nothing at all...a chihuahua? ...I don't even want to remember it...a young woman in a slouchy jumpsuit-
"I'm meow-better than you~"
Ashley Katswelle, aka Katnappe the feline thief, and also the daughter of one of his late father's associates—yes, he remembers that whiskered minx a little too well, the one who's a bit too fond of anything feline. Well, in his memory, she wasn't as tall and... anyway, he'll just say that the black stripes along her cheeks accentuate her feline side. However, he'd like to understand what she's doing here with this makeshift team that seems completely outmatched by the man—
A small specter with a horribly posed mask automatically answers his question. Clearly, Wuya wasted no time finding a new partner. Funny, Jack would have bet on Chase, but come on, he's not about to complain that the awful witch is harassing someone else. Scanning the marshes, he finally spots a blond head heading at full speed towards a giant dead tree stump. So there's the traitor, off to the SGW. What's Chase's plan, anyway? How is this thing going to help them locate the vault? The samurai is frustrated not to have the solution to the riddle, but hey, he didn't come here to help the monks, but rather to begin his mission.
"Sir! They're here!" said little Ping quickly, pointing at Clay pushing back the giant cyclops by creating a wave of mud.
"I saw it," replied the redhead, getting off his motorcycle and moving closer to the edge of the road, which was higher than the marshes. He observed the fighting with a more attentive eye. "The advantage goes to the monks, they resemble each other, and the Amorocha is heading towards the SGW."
"Then we have to stop him!"
"Attend"
"Huh? Why wait?!" exclaimed the little man, turning back to his thoughtful savior.
"How does she plan to find the location of the safe? She clearly wants to get her hands on that SGW at all costs, but you told me it wasn't dangerous in principle."
"Yes, I read it in the book that describes all the Wus," he assures, nodding his head quickly.
"So why want him so badly? If it was to attack, then it would make sense...unless she plans to use him in another way, but," Jack muses, and for a second decides to draw on his old memories as an antagonist, "...if I wanted to take all the SGW at once...and I want to know where they all are...oh! ...ohohoho, now that's an idea worth exploring."
"What?! What an idea! What did sir tell you?!"
"I think I know what the Heylins are planning and it's a shame for them because I'm going to sabotage their pretty plan," the redhead announced with a wild smile.
"Uh, sir?" Turning his gaze towards the little boy, he raised a curious eyebrow in his direction. "You didn't want to destroy the SGW?"
"Of course, but I learned that a goal is like a spider's web; what you desire is right in the center, and to reach it, you have to follow the path of each thread so you don't get trapped," explains Jack, who remembers overcoming his fear of the creature by gouging out its eyes. "We'll beat them at their own game and reach the temple before Amorocha. She'll be eager to please her master and will leave him behind, and he'll return to his lair to take his beasts with him... or so he thinks."
While Spicer was precisely describing his former idol Ping's plan, he looked at the redhead with new eyes. At first, he didn't know what to think of the man who had strangled a lion with his bare hands. Of course, he was happy to be saved and would be forever grateful for that. Then he told him about his objective, and that's when the little monk thought he was dealing with an agent of the Heylin. Except that he then explained to him rationally how the SGW bring nothing good to the world compared to what the scrolls about their creator Dashi say. Yet the samurai's words resonated within him because, to be honest, his first mission with the dragons had given him the impression that all that mattered to them was Wu and nothing else. He had made a mistake, okay, but the words he said to him at that moment were... painful.
Especially those of Big Brother Omi, the one he has idolized for years, his hero...who turned his back on him for a girl.
The bitterness in him must be visible because his savior gently pats him on the shoulder without looking at him; touched by the gesture, he quickly dries his tears while glancing at Omi, the water dragon, who sends Katnappe flying through the air with a powerful wave.
"You can go and join them if you want, if you explain things to them properly maybe they will understand their mistake...and if they don't I can kick their asses" said the redhead kindly with a small smile at the end, listening to the boy with glasses sniffle a laugh.
"Thank you sir, but...I...I don't think I'm ready to face them..." he confesses, looking at his feet, his hand on his head helping him bear his deep feeling of bitterness.
"Don't feel guilty because of their mistake, Ping. If a pretty face is all it takes to blind them to the truth, then he doesn't deserve your tears," the former villain Heylin assured him, turning his attention back. "You can come with me to the temple if you wish."
The proposal seemed to make Ping Pong hesitate, but just enough time to look one last time at those he thought were his friends, then he turned his eyes away from them to focus on the samurai sitting on his motorcycle, then without saying a word he jumped behind him and grabbed onto his kimono as the powerful machine sped off towards the Xiaolin temple.