Three Single Steps, Chapter Two

[lonewolfprincess]

Raimundo picked up another book from the hap-hazard, half-opened pile he’d amassed on the reading room table, candles lit all around to make up for the deep twilight outside. He tried to read a few lines… and then faceplanted into the pages.

“Game theory my butt… this much math should be illegal, especially in games.” Mia had warned him again that it was a dense read when he asked to borrow it, but Raimundo’s eyes were swimming just a few pages in. How could she stand it?

Mia… she’d come back an hour or two after the disastrous Xiaolin Surprise, going through her chores and dinner rotely and only giving the shortest answers possible to questions. Tori said Mia was just tired, but… it was hard to gauge whether the brooding was angry or sad or what.

Raimundo sighed and rubbed his eyes, surrendering and standing up to head towards the kitchen. Maybe some coffee would help, plus or minus a round or two of Goo Zombies 12: Black Goo. Raimundo approached the counter where the kettle used for tea and French press coffee usually stood, to find it missing. Normally he’d just be confused, but after today a frustrated growl rose out of him.

“Guys, I swear—”

“Taking a break, Raimundo?” Raimundo startled with an “AI!” as Master Fung’s voice gently broke the silence from the small table he’d been too dazed to look at, the missing kettle, what looked like a full pot, and two cups resting on it. “I find chrysanthemum tea is best for soothing nerves on days like this.”

He let out a sigh, half-relieved, half-annoyed, as he clutched his chest.

“Well, my nerves definitely need soothing…” Especially after that startle, was Fungmeister trying to give him a heart attack today?

But even as he grumbled, he gave Master Fung a grateful nod, sitting down and moving to take the pot and pour his teacher the first cup, only to be surprised when the Master held up a hand to stop him.

“Allow me,” he said calmly, and poured Raimundo’s cup first. “After all, one’s first day as a teacher is an important milestone. We should celebrate.”

The surprise and honor Raimundo felt quickly evaporated at the words, and he scoffed even as he knocked on the table three times and took the tea.

“Celebrate what? I’m scrambling to pull lesson plans out of my… hat,” he meekly censored at Master Fung’s eyebrow, “and one of my students ends up having a panic attack and running off! I have no idea what I’m doing!” Raimundo took a small, quick sip, still wary after the mishap at breakfast. “Couldn’t you have given me a heads up? Is this punishment for all the times I made fun of your proverbs?”

“Of course not, Raimundo… that is what chores are for.” Okay, Raimundo couldn’t help a snort at the joke. “Do you remember when you lost the Sword of the Storm?”

“Hard to forget…” Raimundo rose a chagrined eyebrow as he propped up one cheek with a fist. Where was Master Fung going with this, besides rubbing his mistakes in his face?

“You were sullen, hard on yourself… but after a gentle nudge on where you went wrong, you worked hard to overcome your mistake and won the first Shen Yi Bu Dare in centuries. I was most proud of you that day.”

Raimundo smiled briefly as Master Fung took his first sip of tea.

“Thanks… But not sure how that applies here. Mia wasn’t careless, she was scared. Heck, if anything she thinks too much. You’d think someone that impulsive wouldn’t get that stuck in her own head, but…”

Oh… wait…

Raimundo straightened up as it dawned on him. “So… you’re saying she’s like me?”

Master Fung nodded. “In some ways… I sense that her path here might have been darker than yours, however; trust in herself and others are likely luxuries she is still not accustomed to.”

Raimundo nodded soberly as he took another drink. What on earth could’ve made her panic that fiercely over being tied up?

“So, how do I build up that trust? I mean, I know she trusts Tori with everything, they’re sisters. But we just met, and how am I supposed to get her to trust herself?”

“‘It takes more than one cold day to freeze a river three feet deep,’” Master Fung replied, serenely sipping his tea even as Raimundo correctly translated it to “time and patience” and groaned. “In the short term… I would look for ways to help her relax during lessons. Give her concrete proof on what she is doing well, and gentle but honest corrections. Tori, meanwhile, also needs support on the more physical aspects, and in maintaining calm in dangerous situations.”

Raimundo blinked, drinking the words in but… also a bit surprised Master Fung was being so straightforward with him.

“What, no disguising everything in wise old sayings and puzzles until I stumble on the answers myself?”

“Well, since you asked…” Master Fung formed a properly dramatic pause from a sip of tea, “‘In a group of three people, there is always at least one person you can learn from.’ And you are lucky enough to be part of a group of eight.”

Raimundo did a quick tally. Him and Master Fung, of course, maybe Dojo for the third… oh… of course…

He smiled, deeper and calmer than he had all day, and gave as deep a bow as he could over the table, fist-to-palm.

“Thank you, Master Fung.” He finished his tea and rose from the table after Master Fung returned the bow. “And thanks for the tea, but I should get back to it.”

“Any time, my teacher-in-training.”

Raimundo dropped his teacup off in the sink and rounded the corner out of the kitchen… only to run headfirst into Mia herself, the two of them managing to stay on their feet as they recovered from the collision.

“Mia?” Wait… “How much of that did you hear?”

Mia blinked in confusion, or… was it confusion? “Hear of what?”

Raimundo stared at her a long moment, trying to figure out if she was legit or not… before shaking his head.

“Nothing, just teacher stuff with the Fungmeister.” He pointed a thumb back towards the kitchen. “Speaking of which, fresh pot of chrysanthemum tea, if you don’t mind really vague proverbs.”

Mia looked to the kitchen, silently debating… then shook her head.

“No thanks…” Her face bunched up… “And…” she dropped into a light bow, “sorry about everything earlier…”

Raimundo’s face fell, and he reached out to touch her shoulder and coax her back up.

“Hey, nothing to apologize for. It’s not like you could help it.” He gave her a gentle smile. “Look, we’re both still new at this. And you did a great job at the obstacle course, and with the Surprise for the first two rounds. Tomorrow, we’ll both have a better idea of what to do and work from there, okay?”

Mia face softened a little, even if she didn’t quite smile.

“Thanks. And… for what it’s worth… for a first timer, you’re not that bad a teacher.”

Raimundo give her a gentle smile and bow back, which she quickly returned.

“Thanks, dudette.”

And with that, Raimundo went back to the drawing board… missing how Mia’s face darkened once he was far enough away.

“You just need a better student…”



Meanwhile, in his Super Evil Lair, Jack welded the last few pieces of plating on a standard Jackbot, and flipped up his welding mask for a gloat break.

“Just a few more bots, and soon Jack Spicer- Evil Boy Genius- will be ready to enact his latest evil plan! BAHAHAHAHAHA!”

As he laughed, he spun around the room on his stool like a top (chairs with good swivel were vital for dramatic evil moments!), but as he came to a stop—

“And what evil plan might that be?” asked the tiny purple ghost suddenly inches away from his face.

Jack fell too far backwards in his girly scream, and the stool shot away from him to crash somewhere as he fell flat on his back.

“Wuya?!” Jack’s shock turned to a dubious glare as he stood up. “What are you doing here?”

“Why, Jack, can’t I pay a visit to one of my oldest friends?” Wuya asked in an antifreeze-sweet voice, trying to bat puppy-dog lashes but only managing to look like she got dust in her ghastly bug eyes.

“Yeah, right…” And then Jack looked around and saw the two of them were alone… and a big, smug grin spread on his face. “Let me guess: you’re either double-crossing Chase again, or he kicked you out.”

“He didn’t kick me out, I left him!” Wuya huffed, a bit grateful to not have an expressive humanoid face at the moment since Jack had her mostly pegged. “Chase Young has become… boring!”

“Chase Young? Boring? Psh, sure, and I’m up for a Nobel Peace Prize this year.”

“It’s true! All he does is sit around his lair moping, no Shen Gong Wu, and he gave up the perfect opportunity to destroy the Dragons a few nights ago! It’s almost as if— … no… it couldn’t be…” Wuya said slowly, as if the realization was only just now dawning on her.

“What, what is it?”

“It’s almost as if… Chase Young has lost his appetite for evil. Perhaps the timelines merging did something to him. Perhaps… there might be an opportunity for a new Dark Prince of Evil to rise up. One with cunning, ambition, style! Perhaps… someone like you, Jack?”

Jack grinned as he walked back to his workbench.

“I do have style,” he mused as he sat down… only to remember that his stool was MIA, and he fell on his butt with a yelp. He hastily stood up again to regain his dignity… or as much as he could with goggles askew. “But why should I partner up with you to do it?”

“Oh, come now, Jack, we’ve always been more successful when we worked together! And now that Raimundo has become a Shoku Warrior, and the Dragons of the Sun and Moon have joined the Xiaolin ranks, you’ll need all the help you can get!”

Jack considered this for a long few seconds, drumming his fingers on the workbench… before holding up two fingers.

“Two conditions.”

Wuya gave a small gasp of delight. “Name them!”

“First: no backstabbing. If I get so much as a hint that you’re going to betray me, that’s it, we’re done forever!”

“Fine, fine,” Wuya said, already having three or four future backstabbing options in mind. As if Jack wouldn’t beg her back eventually. “What’s the other one?”

“I get top billing! You’re my sidekick now, or… henchwoman, I guess. I’ll workshop the title later.” Jack waved a hand in the air to dismiss the problem as Wuya floated there gobsmacked. “Anyway, when I conquer the world, you’ll be my second-in-command, but I’ll be the supreme leader! Don’t worry, I’ll let you have China and Switzerland as a consolation.”

“WHAT?!” Wuya finally managed to shriek. “You wouldn’t even have a means to take over the world without me, and this is the thanks I get?!”

“That’s my final offer: take it or leave it, hagface.” Jack smirked cooly to add this last bit. “I hear Katnappe’s recruiting if you’d rather team up with her again.”

Wuya sulked for a few seconds, for form’s sake… then sighed.

“I’m desperate, but not Katnappe desperate. Very well, Jack, we have a deal.”

Jack grinned, holding out a fingertip so Wuya could mime shaking it with her tiny ghost hand.

“Alright, so, here’s what I’ve got planned so far…”



Clay turned on his mat, eyes fluttering open. At first, he thought he just needed a late-night snack (he was usually one of the heaviest sleepers except when his stomach called), but… no, he realized he was hearing rustling, coming from the far right. Slowly, Clay sat up and peaked out from behind his curtain.

Mia was crouched down in front of Tori’s cubicle, dressed in her Xiaolin robes, Fang on her hip and backpack on her shoulders, slipping a piece of paper under her sister’s curtain. With that, she slowly stood up and walked out.

Clay gasped, dread shoving away the rest of his grogginess, and he pushed through the curtain to his right to grab Raimundo’s shoulders.

“Rai… Rai, wake up, partner, we got a situation…” He whispered as he shook the new leader.

Raimundo stirred, but only turned over, waving Clay’s hands away.

“Learning’s climbin’ a mountain… zero-sum…”

Clay groaned… he debated waking any of the others up, but if he took too long, he might lose any chance of following her. A heavy sigh… and he rushed out to follow her as quickly and quietly as he could, grateful that he usually wore his boots to bed.

Thankfully she hadn’t run far away, just to the main courtyard… looking to the Shen Gong Wu vault…

“Oh no…” he whispered from his hiding place behind the corner of a building.

Mia stood there for a long moment, just staring… Clay missing how the hand clutching one strap of her backpack rumbled with fur and claws, before she shook her head, instead bolting for the walls surrounding the temple.

“Mia?” Clay called out, but Mia didn’t stop. “Mia, wait!”

She didn’t even look behind her as she ran for the front gate, down the stairs and into the dense mountain forests surrounding the temple.

“Mia, stop, hold on!”

Clay kept calling out after her at the top of his lungs even as the two of them weaved through trees and leapt over roots and stones, the full moon not high enough in the sky yet to fully cut through the thick pine boughs to the forest below.

Clay stopped shouting long enough to take in more breaths, forcing himself to calm down and think even as he ran… Mia was still new, but she was also the master of the Crescent Fang, which meant both better vision in the dark and a running stamina that could probably rival even a Wudai-level Dragon of the Earth. So… his best bet was to cut her off at the pass.

“Wudai Crater, Earth!” His Earth chi surged through him, and soil and small forest stones clung to his feet to form heavy boots. Despite the weight, Clay felt his stride growing swifter and surer over the steep and uneven forest ground as if he knew it by heart, and he veered off to cut a path through the dense trees to overtake Mia and step out far enough in front of her that she’d have time to stop.

“Mia, stop!”

Mia scrambled to halt before she could collide with the wall of muscle suddenly in her path, barely succeeding before falling backwards.

“Clay? What are you doing out here?” She was… way too confused to even address the fact that he was wearing cowboy-print pajamas and his boots.

Clay’s jaw dropped in confusion. “I… I’ve only been calling after you the last five minutes! Didn’t you hear me at all?”

Mia rose an eyebrow as she removed one of her earbuds, heavy rock music cutting through the quiet of the night. “No?”

Clay blinked… and mentally facepalmed, even as a small part of him was relieved she wasn’t ignoring him on purpose.

“Right, that’d do it…” A deep sigh, even as he offered a hand up, which she took with a faint nod. “Sorry, I just…” He rubbed the back of his neck, more embarrassed by the second. “Y-you were all dressed and packed up a-and I saw you leave Tori a note—”

“‘Tori, gone for a run…’” Mia recited dryly, Clay’s face more and more dumbstruck with each word. “‘If I’m not back by morning, I either fell asleep in the woods or got kidnapped. Either way, come find me. Love, Mia’”

“… Oh…” Clay just… hid his face in his hands, even as it failed to cover up the blush starting at his ears and blending into the collar of his pajamas.

Mia rolled her eyes, but… with a faint smile. “What, did you think I was gonna run away and join the dark side or whatever?”

“I uh… m-maybe…? N-not because of you, honest!” Clay shouted, giving her frantic jazz hands, at her crossed arms and glare. “It’s uh… it’s been known to happen around here, that’s all…”

That took Mia by surprise. “How often?”

“Uh… technically three times? But honestly, Rai’s the only real case… Omi got tricked into brainwashing himself, and I was possessed by a demon, so I don’t really remember anything…”

Mia just stared at him… for a long moment… and then burst out laughing, loud and a little bitter, even as Clay blinked at her.

“Oh man…!” she sighed as her laugh finally started to die down, “I’m sorry, that all sounds awful, I just… what have I gotten myself into…?”

Clay waited and listened for her to calm down, relief slowly sinking in that she wasn’t going to leave.

“So, um… What are you doing out here?”

Mia paused, face growing pensive. “I found this clearing while I was running off that panic attack. I thought… maybe some self-guided meditation might help with my element and the Crescent Fang? Music, free writing, that sort of thing?” The corner of her mouth quirked a bit. “Figured you guys would appreciate me not doing Metallica and Evanescence karaoke while you’re trying to sleep.”

Clay nodded. That made sense… even if he wasn’t sure that kind of music was exactly “meditative,” but to each their own.

“Well then, do you… want any company? I-I can understand if you’d rather ride solo on this, but…”

Mia thought for a second… and then smirked as she nodded in the direction she was running.

“Race ya.” And she bolted into the woods with a grin!

“What the—hey!” Clay startled as she darted past him, but it only took a second more for a wide grin to spread on his face as he chased after her.

The two of them raced through the dense evergreens, guided by Clay’s connection to the earth and Mia’s sharper night-vision and the scent of her earlier run. They swapped between sprinting and dodging over the wild ground or leaping from sturdy branch to sturdy branch, laughter and whoops of joy echoing through the dark and faint moonlight.

A few more leaps… and Mia found herself on a branch with nothing in front of it but open air, overlooking a wide clearing of sweet grass and summer wildflowers, a tall cypress tree standing guard over a small pond in the center.

Mia took in the clearing with a soft “whoa…” The spot was lovely in the afternoon sun, but it looked even more beautiful now with the full moon and stars shining overhead. After a few seconds to admire it, she leapt down just before Clay ran in. She looked to him with a slightly breathless smirk.

“Looks like I win again, Tex.”

Clay panted as he braced himself against a tree, but he huffed out a laugh at Mia’s words. “I’d say the Crescent Fang gave you a leg up there… or four.”

Mia snorted at the joke. “Oh, come on, you’re a Wudai-level Dragon of the Earth. We were totally evenly matched!”

She turned back to the clearing, walking a few paces before setting her backpack down and plopping herself onto her back in the grass, staring up at the night sky.

“I have never seen this many stars before…” she said in an awed whisper. Even with how green Portland was, it was still a city with a good amount of light pollution.

Clay nodded, sitting down beside her, one hand propping himself upright while the other forearm rested on his knee.

“Definitely one of my favorite parts coming out here. I’m still partial to a Texas night sky, but this one takes the cake in terms of clarity.”

Mia nodded in the grass. “Hopefully I can feel something out here.” A soft sigh as the worries from earlier crept back in. “I just… hate lagging behind, slowing all of you down, even Tori. Raimundo shouldn’t have to waste his time teaching me the basics.”

The words hit Clay like a punch to the heart. “Teaching you ain’t a waste—”

“Yes, it is!” Mia sat up, the peace and joy from earlier vanished, but she forced herself to calm down with a deep breath, one hand clutching the grass beneath her as the other raked through her bangs. “You guys have been on this quest for what, two years now? Tori and I could’ve started with you then! I could’ve—!" She cut her words off, silent for a moment before shaking her head. “Well, I could’ve started even sooner but… then I might miss out on Tori being my sister.”

Nothing was worth that, not even a better past.

Clay mulled over the words in silence for a while, bitter as over-steeped tea leaves… He still didn’t know how to navigate these dark moods or this pain that Mia kept locked up tight from the spoken world, but… he had to try.

“Look, I won’t say I rightly know why you couldn’t have joined us sooner, but… from where you’re starting, I’d say you’re doing just fine.”

“Yeah, sure I am…” Mia flopped back into the grass, holding up a hand to count her failures. “Can’t connect to my element, failed the obstacle course puzzle, and had a panic attack over being restrained in front of everyone. I might as well have ‘Easy Win’ stamped on my forehead for the bad guys’ convenience.”

Clay shook his head, folding his arms to use as a pillow as he lay back in the grass.

“You didn’t fail the obstacle course at all; using the pole all the way through was mighty smart. And you should’ve seen Kimiko when we found the Tangle Web Comb: that Wu kept trussing her up like a bale of hay, her temper was so bad.” Still was, on occasion, but now it was more honed, tempered, and Clay liked that about her… to the point of an old crush, but he would take that secret to his grave, if he could help it. Not to mention he saw a lot of that drive and passion and fierce, protective loyalty in someone else now… “And I wasn’t kidding about Rai running off to join the dark side.”

Mia looked at him from her spot on the ground. “Really?”

“Yup. Long story short, he’d been passed over when the rest of us got promoted to Apprentice. He ended up helping Wuya regain physical form and take over the world, but he came back to save us and the world in the end. Took him a good few months afterwards to get that Apprentice rank too- his choice- and now look at him.”

Mia let the words sink in; it was so hard to see Raimundo as willing to turn his back on everything when he seemed to care so deeply for everyone now, took his responsibilities so seriously. (And honestly… she thought past-him was an idiot for throwing away something a younger her would have given almost anything for.) But… maybe that’s why he cared so deeply now.

“Not to mention all of us had some sort of training prior to coming here. I had ranch work and tai chi; Raimundo performed in a circus and knew some capoeira; Kimiko had ballet and judo; and Omi’s been living and training at the temple literally his whole life!”

Mia sighed… “Meanwhile, my CV has restaurant work, Dance Armageddon, a single fistfight against a bunch of ordinary middle school girls, and a very…” she grimaced, “constrained childhood.” She looked over to Clay… and then saw the concern in his face and balked, sitting up and giving frantic jazz hands. “Th-the girls were bullying Tori! And the first punches were simultaneous, I swear!”

Oh. Clay was more interested in the “constrained childhood” part, but… good to know. He sat up too and gave her a gentle smile.

“You’re a really good sister, ain’t you?”

Mia blinked… and then turned to the moon above, softly smiling.

“I try to be. I owe her so much… our parents and big brother Louis too. They…” She shook her head, deciding it was enough about her for now. “Long story. A-anyway, do you have any siblings?”

To her surprise… Clay looked taken aback by the question, faltered. “I…”

“Tex…?”

The cowboy took a soft breath… then made himself look her in the eye. “Can you… keep a secret?”

Mia took in his face, almost… scared? Why was he scared? After a few seconds of worry, she nodded solemnly, two fingers tracing an X over her heart.

“To my grave. I won’t even tell Tori.”

Clay nodded back, took another deep breath as he felt the ground beneath his hands.

“We talked a bit about the timeline merge a few weeks back, right?”

Mia nodded; the monks had shared the bare bones for sure- even if Omi was cagey about some of his own details- but with how emotionally wrought it seemed to be, of course they probably didn’t share everything yet, couldn’t describe everything even if they tried.

“Well… alright, I know I have a younger sister named Jessie.” The desperation in his voice, though… it almost sounded like he was desperately trying to convince himself it was true. “But um… back in that other timeline… I could’ve sworn that… i-instead of her, I had a younger brother? And I… there’s so much that got changed between the timelines, I’m… I’m not sure whether either of those is still true?”

Mia stared at him, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

“… Hoooooly jalapeños! I… that’s… what?!” She hopped up to pace in front of him. “You’re not sure whether your siblings still exist?! How are you not losing your mind right now?! Wait, what am I saying, of course you are! No wonder you’re so jumpy!”

Jumpy? Clay puzzled for a bit, wondering if maybe she was talking about his crush symptoms but… well okay, maybe that and his Schrodinger’s leadership rattled him a little more obviously than he thought.

Mia took a deep, hasty breath to halt her ranting, turning to him. “Have you told anyone else about this?”

Clay shook his head, eyes downcast. “I think this is the first time I’ve admitted it to myself, to be honest.”

Mia stared at him in disbelief and… fear, like watching someone else stand on a crumbling cliff. She wanted to shout at him, why he was wasting his time listening to her whine about getting a good grade in Xiaolin Dragon when his siblings could be missing, but… no. No, she refused to snap at him like back in the alley. A slow, deep, ragged breath through her nose… and then she sat down firmly in front of him, gaze steely as if prepared to duel this problem to the death.

“Okay, let’s think about this. There’s more than one possibility than ‘both siblings don’t exist anymore.’ Yes, one of them not existing is on the table, but… I don’t know, maybe both of them got brought to this side? Or maybe they’re the same person, just gender-flipped, or transgender in either direction?” At Clay’s surprised stare, she narrowed her eyes at him. “Louis is trans, it’s possible.”

Clay nodded frantically, both at the theory and in respect of Mia defending her brother’s identity.

“No, I-I agree, just… I just…” he curled up a bit on himself. “Even the idea of looking has me shaking harder than a rattlesnake in an earthquake in the middle of winter. I-I know I have a problem of standing still when I should move, a-and I wasn’t always the best brother to either of ’em, but…”

Mia sighed as he trailed off, hand combing through her bangs again. “Yeah, I think I get that… But… look, I know I don’t always follow through on this- exhibit A this afternoon- and even when I do, results can be mixed, but sometimes… you just need to do the thing that scares you to move forward.” She gave the air in front of her an uppercut. “Punch your anxiety in the face!” A faint, pleading smile crossed her face. “Especially if it’s for someone you love. They need their big brother right now, Clay. And I can’t think of a single person in the world who doesn’t want to be found when they’re lost.”

Oh… Clay heard the hurt in her words… spoken from experience? The silence hung heavy for a few seconds… and then he nodded.

“Okay… I’ll do it, as soon as we get off this mountain.” He gave her a soft smile. “Thanks for… shedding a little moonlight on this, little lady.”

Mia blinked at him, tried to scoff-laugh through the blush surging on her cheeks.

“Hey, fair’s fair. Sometimes you…”

Oh. Mia trailed off as she took in the conversation they just had. The stories and songs about the moon and the night were so varied: serenity, fear, revelry, darkness, romance, daring, loneliness, secrets, wildness, and she’d hoped to pinpoint a single one of those feelings as the key to focus, the key to her moon powers, but… no, that was all wrong. Because they were all true. And the truth was all of them. The Moon was revealing everything that couldn’t been seen in the daytime, complexity, revelation, transformation, focus…

Clarity.

She stood up in shock, eyes wide as they took in the moon and dense tapestry of stars above them.

“I… I think I’ve got it.”

Clay scrambled back up with her, surprise and delight slowly dawning. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, it’s—!”

“Uh, hate to interrupt your little slumber party…”

Cold, metallic claws erupted from the earth grab their wrists, and the Dragons struggled against the bonds as Jack Spicer descended into the clearing from his helipack, a small horde of Jackbots and a small purple ghost at his side as he sneered at his prisoners.

“But I have some Shen Gong Wu to nab, and you’re going to help me.”