Song of the Lotan, Chapter Four

[lonewolfprincess]

While Wuya tried to give Jack her usual post-loss tirade, cut off by his insistence on being addressed as Master again, the Xiaolin Warriors met with Tao and his mother, the great lotan humming deeply at the humans.

Mia nodded in response before turning to the others.

“She says thanks for saving her son… buuut this place is thoroughly trashed. They’re going to find a new location to nest.”

Ah… Omi’s smile grew bittersweet. Mia didn’t need to say the rest out loud: don’t follow.

He merely strode up to the water’s edge, bowing deeply to the great sea serpents.

“Farewell, Tao. I wish you safe travels. Perhaps our paths will cross again someday?”

Tao let out a soft, keening hum as he nuzzled his friend’s chest one last time. Then he retreated back to swim at his mother’s side… and the two of them opened their maws skyward, unleashing fountains of steaming water into the domed air around them.

Ah. Omi grin became surer as he slipped the golden torc onto his neck.

“Dragonthroat Collar, Water!”

The ruby in the throat shifted into a brilliant aquamarine, and Omi opened his mouth to breathe a scalding hot geyser of his own. The three streams caught the light from the opening overhead just right, a flurry of bright rainbows filling the cavern.

Everyone took in the sight with awed, tender smiles, Dojo openly weeping on Clay’s shoulder.

“My little boy’s all grown up…” the mystical dragon sniffled, thankfully grabbing a tissue before blowing his nose with a massive honk.

With one last croon, the lotans dove beneath the pool, exiting the grotto in search of quieter waters… completely oblivious to the bright peridot eyes leering from within the freshly opened crevice in the stone beneath the waves.

Wuya, on the other hand, rolled her eyes at all the sap.

“Well, what are you waiting for, Master? Isn’t it time for us to slink off and lick our wounds—”

“You go on ahead,” Jack said, unusually subdued.

“… What?”

“I said…” Jack ground out, “go on ahead. I have business here first.”

Wuya narrowed her bug eyes. “What kind of business?”

“The kind that’s none of yours, now beat it! I’ll see you at home.”

Wuya squinted once more… and the floated towards the skylight.

“As you wish… Master.”

Jack watched her for a few long seconds… before he sighed in relief and strode over to the Xiaolin Warriors who were all busy giving Omi congratulations and condolences and planning what to do with the rest of their day—oh. Everyone tensed as he approached, Omi most of all.

“Yeah yeah, congratulations, Sweet Pea. Look… I’ve got something to settle with you guys.”

Omi glared at the evil boy genius. “What kind of something?”

“Something I should’ve done a long time ago…” he said, expression darkening.



Tori squeed as the server placed the massive, absolutely dressed-to-the-nines sundae in front of her.

“Aaaaaah, it’s beautiful~!” She grinned as she took her first bite. “Mm! And the texture’s amazing~!” Only then did she remember to swallow. “And the fact that it’s on someone else’s tab makes it even sweeter~! Thanks, Pumpkin Spice~!”

Mia, meanwhile, gave a more sedate smirk to her plain cup of rocky road… to go with her enormous mug of hot chocolate, the mountain of whipped cream threatening to keel over from all the syrups and chocolate shavings on top.

“Yeah, thanks for including us, Ginger Spice.” Seriously, neither of them expected Spicer to honor the old ice cream agreement, let alone include Jermaine and the newbie girls in it.

Jack rolled his eyes as she plunged a spoon into his banana split.

“Would it kill you two to just call me Jack? At least for today?”

The girls, gave each other long, credulous looks…

“… Nah!” they declared in unison. Mia merely took a long drink of her hot chocolate while Tori chipperly added, “we don’t hate you that much, Spicy!”

“Huh?” Jack shot the other warriors puzzled looks, but they looked just as confused as they shrugged.

“They do have a point, Spicer,” Omi said cooly before taking a bite of his hot fudge sundae, seated directly at Jack’s left. “It is most unusual for you to honor this offer, especially a year and a half later.”

Oh… the euphoria along the long stretch of the ice cream parlor’s island bar chilled, and Jack… actually cringed.

“Okay, you caught me. So um…” He cleared his suddenly dry throat. “So… remember the whole Meteor Maul incident?”

Omi narrowed his eyes. “It would be hard to forget, considering it was only a few days ago.”

The others glowered with him. Where was Spicer going with this?

“So… one of my wire-tap bots may have kinda sorta… faaallen out of my pocket next to you guys? And I… miiiight have overheard one or two things?”

“You did what?!” Kimiko led the charge in standing up in their seats and glaring at the evil boy genius.

“One butt-whooping a day not enough for you, boy?” Jermaine growled.

“So, what, is blackmail your game?” Raimundo asked with that thunderstorm tone.

Mia, meanwhile, clutched her still-shrunken Crescent Fang, both sisters glaring daggers at him.

“Girl, I promise I’ll give you the most thorough sharpening and clove-oil bath ever if you let me go wolf right now.” The tiny dragger glowed menacingly in response.

“Changed my mind, you’re really close to earning Jack status, Spicer.”

“Easy, easy!” Jack frantically held up surrendering jazz hands from where he was still seated. “It’s not like that, I-- …” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this shop, okay?”

Everyone shared puzzled looks… before slowly sitting down, gazes still wary.

“So like… conquering the whole world’s been my dream for ages. Still is, always will be. And there’s no way you’re gonna bring me over to the sunshine-and-butterflies good side, got it?”

“Of course,” Omi answered, cold and sharp as an ice pick. “Your future self proved that well enough.”

The whole bar fell silent at the venom in the monk’s voice, and there was that spiky knot in Jack’s chest again. At least now he could put a name to it, even if not out loud.

“Right, that’s… kinda the thing. Hearing that I did… that particular stuff…” Omi’s scowl deepened as he danced around the truth. “It felt… weird? To picture me doing that?” He could only meet Omi’s eyes for a flicker of a second, fingers laced tight and trembling against the countertop. “I don’t know how to describe it, it was just… weird. And wrong.”

Everyone blinked, guessing which word he really meant.

“A-anyway… I wanted to make like a… clause to the whole Battle of Good Versus Evil Thing.”

Omi raised a skeptical eyebrow at the evil boy genius.

“What kind of a ‘clause’?”

Jack took a deep breath.

“Okay, here it is. We can fight over Wu and kick each other’s butts and raid each other’s Wu stashes… But.” Jack held out a firm hand, his other arm propping him up on the countertop as he stood. “I’m gonna promise… that I’m never gonna try to actually annihilate you guys. Alright?”

Oh. Everyone shared baffled looks, but… the evil boy genius looked and sounded like he meant it.

Omi… still looked skeptical, but… less out of lack of belief and… more out of fear.

“You really promise?”

“Yes, I really promise.”

“And… would that include those you did not kill in that future? Like Dojo, or Jermaine, or the Farina-Marcus sisters?”

“Yes, yes, them too.”

“And you’re not going to use anything you heard against us?” Tori asked, voice still steely. She had no idea how much Jack caught of her sister’s story, and like heck was she going to let that be turned into a weapon.

“Yes, yes, I promise! Geez, is it that hard to take me at my word?”

“Yes,” everyone chimed flatly.

Omi… stared into his ice cream for a long moment, face stony. Even the senior monks had a hard time reading the expressions flitting over his face.

… Finally, slowly, hesitantly… he lifted a hand towards Jack’s, face still searching.

“I… believe I can accept that. For now.”

Jack… actually seemed relieved as he clasped the little monk’s hand.

“Fair enough.” Another sigh as he sat down again. “Now come on, I’m not paying for all this ice cream just for it to melt. Eat already, chumps.”

With that, the truce resumed, and the Xiaolin Warriors and their arch nemesis resumed taking a moment to… just be teenagers hanging out in an ice cream parlor. By the end of the hour, Omi’s smile towards Jack even began to relax.