We Need to Talk About Omi, Chapter Three

[lonewolfprincess]

Jack watched his beautiful, gigantic bot get turned into a pincushion, and paled even further, which was next to impossible. Wuya’s eyes were as wide as they could be as she floated next to him.

“O-kay… think it’s time to bail. Later, Xiaolin Los—AH!”

Omi’s blank, haunted gaze turned to the Evil Boy Genius, and a golem hand of water rose up to catch him. Jack barely managed to dodge, the fingertips grazing the tattered hem of his coat.

“Okay that’s it, I’m out of here!” And he buzzed away screaming on his heli-pack, Maul in hand and wanting no more of this madness.

“Omi!” Raimundo called out over the roaring waves. “Omi, it’s okay, you can stop now! We’re safe!”

Omi didn’t respond. At least none of them thought he did. His lips moved, but his voice was too quiet to pick out over the chaos.

“Omi, listen to me—AH!”

Raimundo suddenly felt himself pushed back from the few steps towards his friend, a cyclone of water rising up to block Omi from view.

“Omiii!” Clay called out over the storm.

“What do we do?!” Kimiko asked, arms raised to shield her face from the whipping water.

The Shoku Warrior gritted his teeth. “Jermaine! Take the girls, get the Shen Gong Wu from Jack!”

“What?!” Mia called out, terror dissolving as she gritted her teeth back. “No, we’re not leaving you—!”

“That’s an order, go now!” Raimundo furiously waved an arm to shoo them away. No matter what happened next, he needed to make sure they’d be safe.

“But—!”

“Mia!” Tori took a sharp hold of her sister’s hand, face every bit as worried, trying to mask it with a smile. “They’ve got this! Trust them!”

The Moon Dragon growled, resigned and frustrated. “You’re not doing this alone!”

She and Tori shared a firm nod and struck a quick pose in tandem.

“Dragon Y Shengqi Formation!”

Confidence and determination flooded through all of them, even Jermaine, gold and silver light rippling across the surface of the rough waters.

“Whoa!” He examined his hands as if they were glowing. “Now that’s what I’m talking about! Come on, girls, we’ve got a chump to catch!”

All three of them ran up the mountain towards the fleeing Jack, Mia sparing them a fleeting glance over her shoulder as she scrambled up the drowning island with them.



Raimundo managed to feel a smidge of relief as the trio ran off, but only barely. The waters surrounding them only slowed down a little too; he’d hoped the positive emotions from the Dragon Y Shengqi would help soothe whatever was going through Omi’s head, but no such luck.

“Dojo! Any idea what’s going on?!”

“I-It must be the Kaijin Charm!” He knew it was more than just the Charm, but they could hash that out after they survived this! “If we can deactivate it, we might be able to calm Omi down!”

Clay nodded, pulling the Reversing Mirror off his person. He’d already huddled towards Raimundo and Kimiko to shield them with his bulk, so he handed off the Mirror to Raimundo easily.

“Everyone! Stick close to me, we’re going in!”

Kimiko nodded firmly, refusing to let the growing fear get in the way of saving her friend. Clay’s nod was just as firm, fists clenched. Dojo frowned at the wall of water. He knew the kids were strong and resourceful enough to stop the commotion… but what happened after that caught his dread.



If it weren’t for the fact that they were currently running after a flying goth chump over flooded volcanic terrain, Jermaine might’ve enjoyed this. The Sun and Moon powers gave him a rush so strong, he felt like he could take on ten Jacks! Maybe even Chase Young! … If the evil warrior was having a really, really bad day… But right now, it was a fight to keep his mind focused, tempted to look behind every ten seconds to make sure his homey was safe. But Raimundo made it clear his job was to protect the newbies while the Wudai Warriors with elemental powers did the dangerous part, so he had to give that his all.

“Let’s make this fast!” Mia shouted, sprinting up the mountain as fast as she could, her purchase frustratingly unsure against the craggy rocks and steadily rising water. “The sooner we catch Spicer, the sooner we can go back and help!”

Jermaine turned the urge to shake his head in amusement to a cool, smirking nod. Mia might’ve been headstrong, but he definitely couldn’t say she lacked guts.

“What do we do?!” Tori called out. She had a few ideas of her own, but Jermaine was apparently acting leader, so she was focused on following him.

Jermaine nodded, motioning for the girls to run close for a “huddle.” He hadn’t been slacking since he last ran with the Xiaolin Dragons; while he’d mostly focused on basketball rather than martial arts, his levelheadedness and fast thinking on his feet had gotten coaches’ attention, and he had a few games’ experience as acting captain under his belt now.

“Ever hear of the Crane Wings formation?”



Jack, meanwhile, ignored all the chaos and strategizing as he neared the top of the mountain, the lava coming out cool and sluggish as oil thanks to the chill of the sea water dome still closing off the entire island. His eyes darted around the dome, looking desperately for a weak spot. He could figure out what the heck happened to Cueball later; right now, survival was priority.

“Sure, combine the bots and your main transportation into one package, what could possibly go wrong?” Jack grumbled frantically.

“Use the Shen Gong Wu, then, you foo—” Wuya bitterly bit her tongue at Jack’s glare. Really? He was going to insist on that here? “I mean… you have the Shen Gong Wu at your disposal, Master.”

Jack nodded, satisfied that the witch had been put in her place, before rummaging through his coat and pack.

“Let’s see… Monkey Staff… Mikado Arm… Woozy Shooter… Which-Switch… Gills of Hamachi…”

“Fancy Feet!”

“No, don’t have those—” Wait… “… Oh no.”

He tried to look down to spot a dark copper and bright pastel blur… but no Tori to be seen. Where was—

“Jet Bootsu!” Another familiar voice snapped out from behind, Mia barreling towards him in the air at a breakneck speed.

“Mantis Flip Coin!” Jermaine somersaulted gracefully through the air, shooting up even higher than Jack before straightening out into a downward kick. “Hawk Snatching Rat!”

“Shroud of Shadows!” Ah, there was Tori, hurtling towards him on a Fancy Feet-boosted leap as she unfurled the Shroud from off her person.

Jack barely had time to let out a girly scream as the three warriors crashed into him.



“Longhorn Taurus! Wudai Crater, Earth!”

Clay punched both fists forwards as he stamped the ground, walls of rock cutting up and forward to carve a channel through the cyclone. Inside, Omi still stood, frozen in place as the Kaijin Charm threw arcs of magic up and down his arm.

“Omi!”

Still no response, dang it! Raimundo motioned the others to move forward with him as one, slow, steady, the Shoku Warrior bracing the Reversing Mirror in front of them all like a shield.

“Don’t worry, little buddy, we’ve got you!” Clay shouted over the howling waves.

“Omi!” Kimiko called out. “What’s wrong?! Please!”

Just a few more steps…

“You’ve gotta snap out of it, bro!” Raimundo grunted as he struggled to aim the large, heavy Mirror in the middle of a barely-blocked cyclone. “Reversing Mirror!”

The Kaijin Charm’s arc of power slowly shrank, fizzled out, disappeared, and the gauntlet receded to rest at Omi’s shoulder. His… shoulder still barely visible as Water overwhelmed him.

“Dagnabbit…! This is harder than trying to patch a crack in the Mansfield Dam!”

“Omi!” Kimiko moved to kneel in front of the monk. “It’s okay, really! You saved me!” Worry leaked into her face and voice when she saw he didn’t relax at all. “Please wake up…”

“Take some deep breaths, kid!” Dojo shouted from Clay’s shoulders. “Everyone’s safe!”

“N-no… St-stay back… Not… not safe…”

“What’s not safe—OMI!”

More water, this time rushing up from the ground to form a swirling shell around the monk.

Raimundo’s calm determination gave way, and he tossed the Mirror aside to pound on the shell.

“Omi, stop! Let us in already!”

“Yo, gang!”

All four Dragons’ heads snapped towards the voice. Jermaine stood confidently, Sun and Moon Dragons in tow, both of them escorting a thoroughly chained up Jack Spicer, chains courtesy of the Brush of Ma Liang.

“That’s Xiaolin Dragons 3, Heylin Losers 0!”

Jack growled. “That’s my evil taunt!”

Jermaine barely gave Jack an eye roll. “How’re y’all holding up?!”

“How’s it look like we’re holding up?!” Raimundo impatiently gestured to all the water, especially the shell around Omi.

“Okay, okay!” Jermaine held his hands up in surrender. “Just asking, man! Anyway, we’ve got an idea!”

“Well, let’s hear it!” Clay shouted. “We ain’t getting any dryer!”

Mia cupped her mouth to shout, the other hand holding one of Jack’s half-dozen reclaimed Shen Gong Wu aloft.

“The Woozy Shooter makes a rational person go loopy, right?!”

At the others’ nods, Tori resumed quickly. “What happens if you Mirror it?!”

Raimundo blinked… and grinned, holding out a hand. Mia grinned in response, throwing it forward, Raimundo catching it with ease before handing it over to Kimiko. He drew the Sword of the Storm out again while Clay took hold of the Reversing Mirror.

“Ready, guys?!”

Clay and Kimiko nodded firmly. “Ready!”

“Sword of the Storm, Wind!”

Raimundo’s slice cut through the shell of water, just barely, just for a second before it would reform. They had to make this count.

“Woozy Shooter!” Kimiko gave the Shen Gong Wu a harsh blow of breath, dark neon purple smoke starting to pour out towards the Dragon of Water.

“Reversing Mirror!” And the purple haze shifted to a soft spring green.

Omi breathed it in, coughing at the fumes that now smelled like oversteeped green tea and honey… and slowly, the Water receded, Omi’s form returned to normal, expression changing to a mildly nervous confusion as he blinked all around. The shell fell and puddled harmlessly at his feet, the flood at their ankles stilled and receded, and the dome of water above them— … okay yeah, that was coming down hard and fast.

“Wudai Earth Shield!” Clay hastily threw up his own dome, shielding all his friends (and Jack Spicer and the ghost hag, he guessed) from the deluge above. He waited a few seconds after the impact, just in case, before letting the dome return to the earth.

Raimundo knelt down in front of the little monk, voice soft in the new quiet. “How’re you feeling, man?”

Omi groaned. “Calmer. A little tired…” Embarrassed and horrified that he’d lost that much control of his powers and put all his friends in danger… He bowed deeply to Raimundo, blinking tightly to try and stem the tears threatening to form. “I apologize for my most foolish behavior, Leader.”

“Panic— Wait, hold on…” Mia lifted up one of Jack Spicer’s chains from where he still flopped on the ground like a caterpillar. “Do you want Scaredy Spice here, Omi?”

Omi blinked as if noticing Jack for the first time all night. A few tense seconds… and he shook his head, fists clenching in his lap, not even bothering to fix his icy glare on his enemy.

The girls nodded grimly.

“Mikado Arm!” The golden arms shot up Tori’s sleeves, already plump arms gaining size and definition as she bent down to snap Jack’s chains like dry spaghetti noodles.

Jermaine and Mia, meanwhile, stood tall, glaring down at the creep with crossed arms.

“Beat it,” Jermaine growled.

“Iiiii’d love to, but uh…” Jack meekly poked his fingers together from where he still lay on the ground, “you took all my Wu and trashed my only transports?”

Well, not all of his Wu, thank everything, but all the ones he’d brought on this outing. But it was true that his heli-pack had been thoroughly mangled during the trio’s ambush.

Everyone rolled their eyes.

“Brush of Ma Liang…” The Sun Dragon didn’t even bother dismissing the Mikado Arm as she pulled out her sketchbook again, hastily brushing out a small object and holding it out to Spicer. “Here you go.”

Jack gave her a quizzical look. “A propeller beanie? Really?”

She waved her temporarily beefy hands at him in shooing motions. “Yes, don’t worry, it’ll be strong enough to take you back home, now go already! We’re having a moment.”

“Unless you want me to ask the sharks if they’ll take you home.” Mia asked with a cold smirk.

Jack shrank back in horror, then remembered he was supposed to be indignant, and pointed a dramatic finger at them all.

“This isn’t over!”

And with that, Jack Spicer, Evil Boy Genius, shoved the brightly colored propeller beanie onto his damp red hair and flew away, stonily ignoring Wuya’s chuckles.

After a parting glare, Mia turned her gaze back to the group.

“Anyway…” her expression softened. “Panic attacks aren’t ‘foolish behavior.’” She crossed her arms. “Unfortunately, they’re also not really something you can control. Not without help.”

“I…” Omi’s gaze hardened as he rose to his feet. “That is not necessary, Mia. I will—”

“Not necessary?” Raimundo asked, voice going high as he gestured to the waterlogged island. “You turned a three-story tall robot into a pincushion and flooded an active volcano to the point where all the lava cooled down! What the heck happened?!”

Omi opened his mouth to push back—

“Omi…” Dojo’s voice from Clay’s shoulders, gentle, sad, cut through the argument. “I think it’s time, kiddo. Please…”

The little monk blinked in horror… then that fury erupted again.

“No! They do not deserve that burden, how could you ask me that?! I thought I could trust you, Dojo!”

“What burden?” Kimiko asked, more concerned than angry.

“Yeah, Omi, what in tarnation is going on?”

“That is not your concern!”

“Like heck it isn’t!” Raimundo snapped back. “We’re not leaving this rock until you tell us what the heck’s going on.”

Omi growled. “That is what you think! Golden Tiger Claws!” The Water Dragon furiously tore through space itself, the portal howling.

“Omi, no!” Kimiko called out.

Raimundo hastily grabbed the Mirror from the ground. “Reversing Mirror!”

Omi jumped into the portal… and almost instantly, its exit opened, plopping him on the ground between them again. His desired destination turning into the last place he wanted to be…

“Seriously, dude? You’re pulling a me?”

Omi threw the Tiger Claws on the ground in frustration. “You do not understand!”

“Then help us understand, Chrome Dome!”

“Rai—” But Tori and Jermaine held arms up, halting Mia’s admonition and her steps forward.

“That is the point!” Omi shouted, hot tears streaming down his face. “I do not want you to understand! It is the last thing anyone should understand!”

“Understand what?” Clay asked. “You’re making less sense than a dog barking at a passing car, partner!”

“Omi…” Kimiko’s voice stayed soft, worry drowning any temper she might’ve felt… She hesitated, then took a deep breath. “Was it… because that bot captured me?”

Omi couldn’t stop the tiny gasp from escaping him, hastily looking away. But he could already hear the apology on Kimiko’s tongue, and he refused to let her take that on her shoulders.

“It is not your fault at all, Kimiko. It is Jack's for attacking you..." Even he was surprised by how much venom entered that last sentence. "And... mine as well for overreacting. I apologize—”

“No!” Raimundo cut him off, low and firm. “If that was just an overreaction, you would’ve stopped after you skewered that bot like churrasco! What’s really going on, Omi?”

Mia blinked, something clicking into place.

“You… also freaked out when Chase Young grabbed me,” her voice came out low, unsteady. She wasn’t sure it was her place to say this, that she’d make it worse, but… maybe he needed it said for him. “It wasn't about the Shen Gong Wu, was it? You were afraid for my life…”

A deep, loud silence fell over the island.

“… What happened on that Wudai Quest, Omi?” Raimundo asked, soft as distant thunder.

“… I believe you can guess well enough now, Leader.”

Raimundo stomped the ground hard, enough to produce a small boom of real thunder.

“Dangit, Omi! I’m not playing guessing games with you! Did one of us die on your Wudai Quest or not?!”

“YOU ALL DID!!!”

Everyone gasped, no one sharper than Omi as he clasped his hands over his mouth.

Rage and anguish and shame boiled over, and his hands flew to his sides in clenched fists as he screamed.

“My stupidity and arrogance got all of you killed, one by one! There! That is my big secret! Are you happy now?!”

Omi shut his eyes tightly, squeezing out more tears, not wanting to take in their horror or their disgust or their pity—

Long, wiry arms nearly crushed him in their embrace. Omi’s eyes finally opened. Over the Shoku Warrior’s shoulder, Omi saw Kimiko rushing towards them, sobbing hard as she fell to her knees to hug them both tight. Clay was only a few steps behind her, face stoic save for his own steady tears as his embrace shielded them all. Jermaine walked up steadily, hastily wiping away a tear before kneeling down and joining the hug.

Only Tori and Mia hesitated, not out of lack of desire, but not knowing where they stood.

“We… can go if you—”

Omi shook his head before Mia could finish asking, silently holding out his hand. The girls nodded and walked over, Tori’s arms gentle, Mia’s hug fierce.

Finally, Dojo slipped away to grow to full size, coiling gently around them all to shield them from the world.

“Tell us everything, Omi…” Raimundo whispered. “Please…”