The Rufus Horror Picture Show, Chapter Two

[lonewolfprincess]

“Mia!” Tori tossed Mia’s jacket and backpack to the side and rushed back to the cave-in, futilely tugging on a board sticking out. “Come on, we’ve gotta help her!”

Tori tugged and tugged until Clay placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Easy, Tori, easy—”

“Don’t tell me ‘easy,’ cowboy, my sister could be buried alive!” She gestured frantically to the cave-in. “Can’t you dig her out?! You’re the one with Earth powers and super strength!”

Clay glared at the pile for a long moment… then shook his head.

“Even if it were all earth… I’d have to move everything real careful-like to make sure I didn’t make it worse, especially with this whole place about as sound as a wet paper bag. You have the Sight of Hou Yi, maybe you can see how Mia’s doing?”

Tori nodded as the suggestion sank in, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Darkness… and then a long, lean silhouette of silver, still shining through all the rubble.

“I see her!” Tori squinted her eyes even tighter. “She’s moving but… I can’t tell if she’s hurt or not. I don’t think she’s trapped though; the Fang’s not rushing to take over.”

Clay smiled, hand shaking a bit in relief even as it squeezed Tori’s shoulder to offer comfort.

“Then we’ve got some time.” He stood up and offered a hand up. “Let’s find Rai and Kim; they’ll help us get her out, if she don’t beat us to it herself.”

Tori nodded and smiled faintly as she took the hand to rise. “Yeah, I…” her words paused. “Are… you okay, Omi?”

Omi stood in the middle of the room, body stiff and trembling as he stared at the cave-in, Mia’s shouts to go still ringing in his ears, Dojo wrapped around his shoulders protectively. At Tori’s voice, he gave a small, shaky nod and forced his breathing to even out.

“Y-yes… I am just… relieved that Mia is still—er… that she is alright.” Another deep, shuddering breath, and a hastily wiped away tear, banishing the memories of a much older Raimundo begging him to flee to the past. “A-and Clay is right. We will find a way to rescue her together!”

Clay and Tori shared concerned looks as Dojo just hugged Omi tighter. Eventually, the Sun Dragon nodded and offered a gentle hand down to the little monk.

“You’re right. Thanks, guys. Now come on, let’s find a way back to the others.”

Unfortunately, this room only had one other doorway, leading farther away from the side room Kimiko and Raimundo had ducked into. But they hoped it’d eventually lead them back to the right spot, so after retrieving Mia’s jacket and backpack, onwards they went.



Raimundo lifted his head from where he and Kimiko had hit the deck once the previous room caved in, one arm shielding her back.

“You okay?” he asked once everything stopped shaking.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Kimiko breathed out in faint relief. “And thanks. Now let me up.”

Raimundo smirked. “I dunno, I wouldn’t mind staying like this a little longer. View’s nice down here, né?” He waggled his eyebrows for good measure.

Kimiko’s face burned even as she growled and shoved a hand in Raimundo’s face, pushing herself up and dusting herself off… which was a challenge, given the floor was caked in dust.

“Good to know responsibility hasn’t changed you completely, you dork…” she grumbled with an eye roll. “Now what?”

Raimundo snickered, even as he ignored the twinge in his heart that Kimiko probably still wasn’t interested. Maybe. Honestly, it was still hard to tell, even after two years of knowing her and fighting together. Maybe he should ask the other girls for advice sometime. But he forced himself to focus, brushing a cloud of dust off himself as he approached the cave-in and put a hand in his pocket.

“Falcon’s Eye!”

Raimundo scanned the rubble, only seeing split wood beams and twisted brass and gaudy crystal prisms, no human, wolf, or dragon bodies to be found.

“Okay phew… looks like everyone made it out okay. Come on…” He pointed to their right. “The others probably went through the far door, so if we keep going this way, we’ll meet up eventually.”

Kimiko nodded, fishing out her flashlight again as she and Raimundo passed into the next room. Unfortunately, instead of a door leading to the left, or even forward, a wooden staircase spiraled up to the right.

“Dangit…” Kimiko looked behind them. “Should we head back?”

Raimundo nodded, leading back through the entryway—

“What?!” Raimundo called out, frantically flashing his flashlight to where the caved-in door used to be. And the entryway leading towards the front of the building. Instead, both walls were solid, and a perfect copy of the other room’s spiral staircase taunted them on their left.

“Haha… very funny, ghosts…” Raimundo grumbled to the ceiling. “Look, just come down here so we can kick your butts, unless you’re scared of a few teenagers!”

“Rai, don’t taunt the stupid—”

A creak from above… and a long red carpet unfurled from the top of the stairs, spiraling down, down, until the other edge landed in front of the Wind and Fire Dragons with a dusty thump, making them cough.

Raimundo waved the dust cloud out of his face. “Okay, okay, we get the hint!” He sighed to Kimiko. “Guess we’re going up. Shoku Star, Wind!”

Kimiko glared up the staircase and pulled out the Mantis Flip Coin, calling on it to deftly leap up the questionable stairs while Raimundo flew behind her.



Mia took in a deep whiff of the wreckage in front of her, then exhaled in relief. All the smells of her sister and friends were faint, no scent of trapped bodies or blood.

“Okay good, they made it out…” Mia looked around the room, spotting a staircase and hatch leading up through the deep dark, thankful that she landed between it and the cave-in. “And there’s a way out of here. I’ve got this.”

She made to stand… and instantly regretted it, pain shooting from her ankle up to the rest of her.

“Oof, okay, maybe I don’t got this…”

Gingerly, she sat down on the floor, untied her boot, and pulled it off… No blood or exposed bones, but the ankle was already swelling, and moving it didn’t feel pleasant.

“Just twisted then…” A soft groan. “And of course the first aid kit and all my other Wu are in my backpack…” But at least that meant the others could use them. “Maybe I can make a crutch, or I could use the Fang to go to four—”

“I SAID GO AWAY!” Mia cried out as she clapped her hands to her ears. “YOU DON’T BELONG HERE, JUST LEAVE ALREADY!”

Mia snarled, loud barks tearing from her throat. “What do you think I’m trying to do?!”

“I… wait...” The voice instantly softened, confused. “You… you can understand me? And talk back? Are you a dog too?”

Okay, so this spirit wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t understand her, the confusion a typical reaction from dogs hearing her the first time.

Mia smirked gently, patting the ground next to her. “Why don’t you come here and find out? I can’t talk to someone I can’t see.”

A long pause… Mia could hear gears turning in the dog’s brain. And then… a large blue shape began to float down from the ceiling.



“Is it just me, or did we pass into this same room three doors ago?” Dojo asked, riding on Clay’s shoulders now.

“I believe you are right. That is the same picture of the bearded old man!” Omi pointed at the photograph of Louis Pasteur accusingly.

“I mean, a lot of early scientists that actually got credit for their stuff kinda look alike—what the…?!” No, Omi was right, it was the exact same picture as the last room, down to the frame. “How?” Tori threw her hands in the air, utterly baffled. “We’ve been going straight!”

“My guess… this place may not be playing by normal architecture rules.” Not that Clay was happy about it. How were they supposed to find the others now?

“This is ridiculous!” Tori shouted to the sky. “There’s gotta be something around here that can help us!”

As if on cue, a high-pitched scream echoed through the room next door, and Jack Spicer barreled in with Wuya floating behind him as he tripped and fell on his face before them.

“Oh, thank goodness, other living people!” Jack sang, staring up from the dusty floor with tearful eyes. “I’m saved!”

The three Xiaolin Dragons and Dojo all rolled their eyes upwards, as if to tell the forces that be ‘very funny.’

“Rise, Jack Spicer.” Omi crossed his arms in front of him. “Your groveling is most undignified.” Omi coughed and waved a hand as the other tried to cover his mouth and nose. “And most unsanitary.”

Jack hopped to his feet, unfortunately kicking up an even bigger cloud of dust and making the do-gooders cough even harder.

“Sorry… but it’s d-dark and I-I keep getting lost and those ghosts have been following me nonstop and—”

“And you led them here, you dummy?!” Tori screeched, grabbing Jack by the collar.

Jack looked down at her hands, then up to her cherubic face, scrunched up in panic and exasperation.

“You know, you’re a lot stronger than you look.” He simpered up at her. “I know your sister turned me down, but uh… any chance you’re single?” He sealed it with a wink and finger guns.

Omi, Clay, and Dojo all facepalmed at Jack’s audacity, while Tori just dropped him back into the dust, hands at her hips.

“Boys… ghosts prowling around and that’s where your head’s at?” She rolled her eyes before addressing the evil boy genius at her feet. “Let’s get this out of the way, sweetie. You’re girly,” she proudly brought a hand up to her heart, “but even you could never be girly enough for me.”

The boys all gaped… and then burst out laughing!

“Hoowhee, I felt that one!” Clay guffawed as Omi rolled around on the floor and Dojo flew up to the Sun Dragon’s shoulders to give her a tiny high five.

A few puzzled seconds later, it clicked for Jack.

“Ohhh…” He stood up and dusted himself off good-naturedly. “Welp, no hard feelings. At least it’s not because of my personality!”

“Oh, trust me,” Tori smirked, actually a bit pleased he took it so well, “the personality would turn me off even if you were a girl. … Probably.”

Wuya cut off the repartee with a groan.

“Would you all keep it down? I thought I was done with headaches when I lost my body… again…”

Everyone blinked, and Dojo sighed. “Okay, I’ll bite. What’s eating you, hagface?”

Omi turned his head this way and that. “I do not see anything trying to consume Wuya.”

“Good thing too; I wouldn’t wish that on any stomach,” Clay muttered under his breath, earning a giggle from Tori.

Wuya growled. “I’d like to see how pleasant you are fending off some big-for-their-britches ghost trying to possess you.”

Oh. Everyone paled at that nugget of information.

“A g-ghost… trying to possess… you?” Omi managed to squeak out through clattering teeth.

“Yes, yes…” Wuya waved impatiently, clearly more annoyed than worried. “These ghosts clearly have a leader, if you can call it that. They’re an insolent little bully, and it seems I’m the first ghost to ever give them a challenge… and unfortunately, they like challenges…”

“So… you’re saying the other ghosts don’t want to hurt us…?” Oh… Tori felt sick to her stomach…

Wuya and Jack shrugged.

“Who cares?” Jack asked. “I just wanna get out of here!”

“Not without my Shen Gong Wu, you—” but she stopped at Jack’s raised eyebrow, and cleared her nonexistent throat. “I mean… but Master, what about your Shen Gong Wu?”

Everyone on the Xiaolin side blinked.

“Is she always like this…?” Tori asked out the side of her mouth. The boys and the dragon all shook their heads vehemently.

“My guess, she either lost a bet, or she hit her head when she last had one,” Dojo quipped.

“As much as I hate to admit it…” Omi grumbled, “Wuya is right. We cannot leave without our friends or the Bubble Brain.”

Clay sighed. “At this rate, we’ve got worse luck of finding either than finding a needle in a haystack.” And he had done that, once upon a time. “It’d be nice if we had a proper guide.”

It was right then that a quartet of ghosts burst from the doorway Jack had entered through, howling loud enough to rattle the windows!

“AAAAAH!”



Mia smiled as the dog floated down in front of her. He was a Newfoundland, tall and sturdy with shaggy, pure black fur dyed sapphire in unlife, a curious smile on his jowls. Mia had read about Grims in mythology books, but she never expected to meet one in real life… let alone one this trusting.

“So… what are you?” he asked, his voice registering as a warm, round, slightly doofy baritone to Mia’s magic. He walked up and sniffed the girl. “You look human, but… you smell kinda like a Great Dog too, and… you speak regular dog?”

Honestly… good question, but Mia just shrugged and held out a hand for him to sniff properly.

“I’m Mia.” Hopefully that’d be enough for him. “Do you have a name?”

“Oh, yup! My name’s Rufus!” He sniffed her hand eagerly, giant banner of a tail wagging. “Nice to meet you, Mia!”

Mia couldn’t help a soft laugh. “Nice to meet you too. So how long have you been here?”

“Uh… I dunno. Lots and lots of seasons.” His wagging slowed, and he started to whimper. “I came here with my human when he was sick, but… then he got worse and…” Rufus winced, still unable to speak that pain out loud, “And… someone took me away to live somewhere else, but it wasn’t the same without him, and then I woke up back here, and I’ve been trying to find him but—”

Rufus shook his head; at first Mia thought it was to shake off the grief, but then his voice turned serious.

“You need to go away. The Bad Man’s busy right now, but if he finds out I’m being nice to you—”

“Wait, slow down.” Mia glared. “What Bad Man?”

“The Bad Man! He makes all the humans here hurt so much they can’t be humans anymore, so they scare other humans away. He makes me hurt too sometimes, but usually I just howl and scare away everything so they don’t get hurt, and he leaves me alone.” He looked away briefly, then brought big indigo-blue eyes up to hers, whispering as much as a dog could. “I think he made my human sicker. On purpose…”

“… I see…” Mia ground out through a low growl, her hands balled into fists in her lap. “Do the humans call the Bad Man anything?”

Rufus nodded. “The other humans called him… Doctor!”

… Yup, she walked right into that one. But he said it with such suspense and pride that she couldn’t help a soft laugh.

“Well, Rufus… my friends and I came here to find something shiny of ours and leave… but they’re also experts at taking care of Bad Men, and they’re teaching me and my sister how too.”

The big dog’s eyes lit up with… if he could cry, Mia was sure he would have.

“Really…?” Spoken with hope that had long since died, flickering back to life. A voice Mia knew fluently.

“Really.” Mia nodded firmly with a confident smile, bracing herself against the rubble to stand again. “And as soon as I find this Doctor, I promise you, I am gonna kick his—AH!”

Ow! Pain, right, bad ankle! Mia winced as she hastily lowered herself back down.

“Okay, I… might need to wait for backup…” she winced.

Rufus’s gaze went down to her bootless foot and swollen ankle. “You’re hurt?”

He didn’t hesitate to bend down and gently lap at her ankle. Mia flinched, expecting bone-chilling cold but… the licks were perfectly cool, like an ice pack wrapped in a soft washcloth. The pain subsided, and she could even swear some of the swelling was already going down.

“Thanks.” Mia smiled softly, taking the few precious moments pain free to put her boot back on. No way was she risking stepping on broken glass or metal in this death trap.

Rufus turned and stood up straight, bracing his whole ghostly body. “Here, I can help you stand up and walk too.”

Mia gave a bemused chuckle. “Iii don’t think that’s gonna—”

Oh. She’d raised a hand to pass through his shoulders to demonstrate, but… instead of cold thin air, she felt snow-kissed fur, solid muscles, sturdy bones.

“Whoa…”

Rufus wagged his tail harder. “It’s okay, I don’t mind! I did it for my human all the time when we were alive!” He gave a soft chuckle of a “boof.” “And you’re a lot smaller than him!”

Ah… now a lot made sense. Mia grabbed the chilly fur, using Rufus’s weight and the strength in her upper body and good leg to hoist herself up.

“Alright, Rufus, let’s get going.”

And leaning on Rufus’s steady gait, Mia limped towards the stairs like she was marching into battle.



Raimundo floated and Kimiko stepped lightly over the hallway, listening closely for any creaks or shrieks that could spell disaster.

“So… what now, we just follow the red velvet road?” Kimiko asked the boy gliding beside her.

“Looks like it.” Raimundo squinted. “Actually… kinda weird that this carpet’s red. All the rest have been green so far, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right. Not sure I wanna know what the symbolism’s supposed to be here…”

Soon enough, though, the straight red carpet took a sharp turn right, as if it was perfectly measured and cut to guide them into the big office. Full-to-the-brim bookcases lined the walls behind a heavy and ornate wooden desk, more books and files and a few knickknacks and awards all neatly organized across the whole of the surface. Grandeur, but every element calculated in its usefulness, not a single inch left to waste.

Raimundo gently blew the dust away from the plaque on the door.

“Dr. Victor Baxter, MD, Chief of Medicine.” Raimundo rolled his eyes. “Dude’s gotta remind us he’s a doctor like three different times?”

Kimiko snickered. “Still a smaller ego than Jack’s… though not by much.”

The two Dragons gingerly crept into the office, scanning the bookcases, walls, and desk for anything out of the ordinary, Kimiko ducking to examine the draws of the desk while Raimundo floating up high to look at the top shelves of the bookcase.

A glint of metal caught Raimundo’s eye, and he gasped as he dashed over to look. Sitting as a paperweight was a small dome: an enamel brain capped with a spiderweb cage of bronze, each arm of the cage leading to a tiny camera lens, all sitting on a thick bronze disk studded with bubble-like glass beads.

“Hey, I think this is the Bubble Brain!” He floated back down with a grin. “Now we just need to find the others and get out.”

Kimiko took in the Shen Gong Wu with surprise… but then her excitement soured.

“Yeah… that seems too easy.”

Raimundo groaned. “What, you think there’s some other conveniently brain-shaped object that might be the real Shen Gong Wu?” Not because he didn’t believe her, but because that would be just their luck.

Kimiko shook her head. “No, but… there might be something else we’re supposed to find.”

Raimundo grimaced, but she had a point; it’s not like the ghosts knew what they were looking for, let alone seemed that inclined to help them.

“Falcon’s Eye.” He scanned the desk drawers, the walls around them and especially the paintings, the bookcases… and then his eyes lit up. “There: safe behind the shelves, probably has one of those book-pull levers.”

Kimiko nodded, scanning the thick spines of medical journals and textbooks… her finger landing on a thick, red-and-gold-bound copy of “Frankenstein,” the only book out of place among all the practical texts. A light tug… and that section of the shelf slid forward and to the side, revealing a small wall safe with a dial lock.

Raimundo cracked his knuckles; Kimiko might’ve been an expert hacker, but he knew his way around an analog safe or two. An ear pressed to the safe door, amplified by his connection to Wind, and in seconds the safe clicked open, and they were able to pull the handle and open it.

“A book?” Raimundo took it out, surprised that this was the only thing in the safe. “Maybe it’s one of those dummy book safes…”

Nope, the pages in the untitled black leather cover were all real, and handwritten in black ink, likely from the fancy fountain pen stand on the desk.

“Looks like case study notes. But why would he have them locked away?” Kimiko mused.

“Probably to keep them secret—oof!”

Yeah, okay, he deserved that sock in the arm… He flipped to a random page.

“‘Subject 27 still recovering too quickly… recalibrate morphine to placebo ratio… introduce intermittent microdoses of caravela-portuguesa’—WHAT?!” Raimundo yanked the book out to arm’s length like it bit him, causing Kimiko to jump back.

“What is it?”

“Caravela-portuguesa. Portuguese man o’ war, it’s a type of jellyfish!” Well, technically a distant cousin to true jellyfish, but Raimundo was the Xiaolin Dragon of the Wind, not a marine biologist. “Their sting’s nasty too. This dude was using jellyfish venom and some drug called placebo to increase people’s pain? That’s messed up!”

“Pretty sure ‘placebo’ means a fake treatment.” Kimiko stroked her chin, squinting at the book. “So that means he was lowering medicine doses on the sly.”

Raimundo nodded grimly, skimming through more pages. “Looks like this guy was a double psycho: making people suffer and tricking them into putting him in their wills. Money, real estate, big stuff.”

Kimiko shivered. “No wonder the ghosts are so angry. So, do they want us to get the truth out, or…?”

Before they could speculate further, a duo of ghosts popped out of the floor. Instead of the twisted, hollow-faced specters they faced below, however, these two looked like faint impressions of ordinary humans, glowing eyes the only features in their faces, but the desperation shining through so clearly.

“Help us… please!”

“He’s still here!”



The five corporeal beings all backed up against the wall in a tight, trembling bunch as the ghosts closed in on them, Wuya joining the huddle out of surprise and annoyance than actual fear.

“Anybody got any ideas…?” Clay asked, muscles tensing even as he gritted his teeth that physical fighting wouldn’t do much good.

“Besides kissing our butts goodbye?” Jack whimpered.

“Good thing I got my will updated five years ago…” Dojo shivered on Clay’s shoulders. Then again, his will was pretty straightforward, leaving most of his belongings to “Puppy Eyes” with a few select items going to Omi. He made a note to add the other Dragons if they ever got out of this though.

Wuya rolled her bug eyes. “I’ll handle this.” Wuya’s form expanded until it loomed over the quartet of wraiths, spectral lightning crackling around her. “You dare to oppose Wuya, the greatest Heylin witch of all time and the rightful mistress of the world?! Begone, lowly shadows, or suffer the consequences!”

The ghosts blinks dully for a few seconds… then stretched out their own forms, wailing even louder at the suddenly dwarfed Wuya!

Wuya blinked back in shock, but then shrugged in dismay as she shrunk back down.

“Well, I tried.”

Tori flinched at the ghastly howls, but forced herself to take a deep, shaky breath.

“W-wait, you… you said they don’t want to scare us, right?” Very slowly, she took a step towards the ghostly mob. “I-I wanna try something.”

Clay, Omi, and Dojo all shared worried looks, but… what choice did they have?

Finally, Omi nodded. “Be careful, Tori. We don’t know what they might do.”

“Don’t remind me…” Tori muttered, taking another breath, praying that she wouldn’t end up possessed or mauled or drained of her life force or whatever… and forced herself to smile. “H-hey there.”

The four ghosts’ looming forms crouched down to roar in her face, and although Tori yelped and flinched, she stood her ground.

“Y-yeah, yeah, I know. Sorry about the grumpy old hag. And for earlier. Not the best impression, huh? Like you’re just minding your own business, and some teenagers come stomping in messing up your place of eternal torment. Probably thought you’d finally get some peace and quiet after the place got closed to the public, right?”

The ghosts… blinked dumbly. She was right, they did get an annoying number of ghost hunting troupes visiting, but… these were the first mortals not to run away screaming never to return, and… this one was smiling and chatting with them? How? Why?

“Yeah, thought so. Like… when was the last time you had actual visitors instead of just gawkers that cut and run the second you came out to greet them? When was the last time you had fun?”

Everyone else in the room met Tori’s question with stunned silence. What on earth was she up to?

“Sun!”

Warmth and joy flooded through the dark, drafty room and through the whole crowd, the ghosts’ faces relaxing ever so slightly. Tori’s smile grew surer too, and she took in a deep breath…

“DAAAAAY-O!” Tory sang out. “Day-ay-ay-o! Daylight come and me wan’ go hooome!”

Everyone blinked; Wuya and Omi had no idea what the song was, but Dojo, Clay, and Jack remembered this from the one Tim Burton movie.

“Is she…?” Jack asked, head tilted and face scrunched in bafflement.

“Yup,” Clay and Dojo answered in unison.

“Day! Meeeee saaaaay day me-say-day me-say-day me-say-day me-say-day-ay-ay-oooo!” Tori sang, alternating between long dragging notes and rapid-fire lyrics. “Daylight come and me waaaan’ goooo hooooome!”

Another deep breath, and Tori broke into a light dance in place as she grinned at the ghosts.

“Come on, everybody, this is a call-and-response song! Work all night on a drink a rrrum!” She pointed both index fingers at the ghosts to prompt them. “Daylight come and me wan’ go home! Stack banana ’til the morning come!”

“Daylight come and me wan’ go home,” the ghosts quietly sang back, almost shyly copying Tori’s dance as their twisted, hollow forms slowly morphed into more humanoid silhouettes. And they could swear… was that faint music floating through the air now?

“Well, I’ll be a cat with a fiddle, it’s working…!” Clay whispered in awe as Tori continued to conduct the ghosts, trying to keep his voice down in case he accidentally ruined the routine.

“A song-story!” Omi giggled with delight, glad that his earlier idea had worked and dancing along a bit too. “And a most pitchy one as well!”

“Catchy,” everyone corrected.

“Okay, so we’re not dead…” Jack said warily, as if he was worried of jinxing it all. “But how’s a musical number gonna help us—” His gaze had flicked to Wuya, and now he did a double take at the ghost, doing tiny, unenthused hula hands midair. “Wait, you too?!”

“Yes, me too, this song is… infectious!” Wuya growled through Tori’s verse, only to sigh and begrudgingly respond on cue, “Daylight come and me wan’ go home…”

Dojo wished more than anything he had a camcorder on his person.

“I said a six-a foot-a seven foot-a eight-a foot-a bunch!” Tori sang with a cheeky grin, short staccato notes imitating the pluck of a ukulele.

“Daylight come and me wan’ go home!”

The ghosts now sang back enthusiastically, the glowing eyes shining with warmth even as the rest of their faces were invisible. More ghosts began to float in from the walls, the ceiling, the floors, all calm and even pleased to join in the number, a few even seeming to play shadows of instruments.

Tori grinned. “Come, friendly ghostly band, help us find our friends-a!”

The ghosts all nodded as they sang the response, and swiftly floated through the air to line up, forming a procession up to the door and lining the walls outside.

Clay grinned. “Looks like we got ourselves a marching band!”

“Indeed!” Omi laughed. “Thank you, ghosts, for leading the way!”

The whole troupe followed the singing, dancing Sun Dragon down the halls echoing with music.



“So,” Mia mused, still leaning on Brutus as they slowly walked the halls of the hospital, not trusting the walls to support her weight, “you’re saying this Bad Man is keeping your human hidden from you?”

Rufus nodded. “I keep trying to find him, but… whenever I find a human, the Bad Man’s making them hurt, so they all look and sound the same. They don’t really smell like anything anymore either.”

Mia nodded. That would be one way to keep a fresh Grim under control… which only made her blood boil more that this doctor knew what he was doing. And he was clearly skilled enough at torture to keep the rest of the ghosts compliant. She knew better than to ask why they didn’t rise up with their superior numbers; freeing yourself was always easier said than done, especially after years and years of pain and fear. But…

“Well… you’re not alone now. We’ll help find your human and kick this ghost’s butt. And you’re a Grim. I think you’re a lot more powerful than you realize. Ever think the Bad Man might be scared of you?”

“What?” Rufus gave a baffled bark, almost laughing at the idea. “Why? I’m not scary at all, I’m just a dog. And he’s…” Rufus stopped and cringed, back hunched and fluffy tail tucked between his legs. “He’s really scary…”

Mia gave a soft chuckle. “Well yeah, but you’re a ghost dog now. And he can do the pain thing; maybe you can do something special too, aside from your service dog stuff. Maybe he knows that but you don’t.”

Not that… Mia had any idea if that was true, but hopefully it’d give Rufus enough of an idea to break free and fight back. Bullies always thrived on making their victims feel powerless.

“I dunno, what if—” Rufus paused, floppy ears perking slightly. “Wait, what is that…?”

Mia squinted as she focused on the faint sound too, steadily growing louder…

“Is that… singing?” she asked herself.

Not just singing… was that the freaking Banana Boat Song?

Mia laughed, only knowing one person who could pull this off once she stopped being so scared.

“Come on, I think I know where we’re headed now.” Mia grinned fiercely, stumbling a bit as she tried to run only to be reminded of her bad foot, but thankfully Rufus loped up to catch her just in time, howling softly whenever the ghostly chorus sang. With a wince, Mia rose back up to stand and lean against Rufus, limping a little faster towards the noise.



Tori led the little monk, cowboy, dragon, evil boy genius, and begrudgingly dancing ghost up a flight of stairs as the ghosts continued to serenade them, voices growing louder as they continued down the hall.

Omi hadn’t stopped smiling since the song started, and he laughed once again in awe.

“Tori, this song-story is most powerful! Where did you learn it?”

Tori grinned down at him. “Oh, it’s an old folk song from Jamaica!” she sang in line with the melody, hurrying to speak as the ghosts sang the response, “but Harry Belafonte’s the one who really made it famous!”

“This Harry Belafonte must be a powerful warrior!”

Tori nodded, making a note to tell the little monk more about one of her dad’s biggest heroes once they got out of this death trap.

“Yo, guys, is that you?” a tenor voice called out from around a corner at the end of the hall, followed by the sight of a lanky boy and a petite girl with a ponytail filled with crimps and colorful streaks.

The Xiaolin quartet gasped in delight.

“Raimundo, Kimiko!” The two parties rushed towards each other, Jack and Wuya trotting and dancing behind more leisurely as Tori scooped the Fire and Wind Dragons into a tight hug!

“Oh my gosh, I’m so glad you’re okay!” With one last squeeze, Tori set them down, Raimundo and Kimiko’s ribs grateful she didn’t have Clay’s super strength. “We need your help. The room caved in behind us and Mia fell down into the basement, we need to get her out!”

“No, you don’t!” A slightly nasal voice called out from a suddenly appearing staircase, Mia slowly reaching the top with support from the banister and a ghostly Newfoundland.

Tori gasped, dashing over to pull her sister into a crushing bear hug as soon as she reached the last step.

“Ohhhh I’m so glad you’re alright!” Tori cried as she swiveled gently in the hug, Mia wincing from suddenly putting weight on her bad foot even as she returned the embrace happily. Then the shorter sister pulled back to frown and shake a finger. “Do not scare me like that again, okay?”

Mia shook her head. “Okay okay, I’ll try.” That was the most she could promise, given they were heroes now. But then she gave her sister an amused smile. “Did you seriously reverse-Beetlejuice a whole hospital full of ghosts?”

Tori grinned as she handed Mia her jacket and backpack. “Yup! I even got Wuya to join in~!”

Clay, Omi, and Dojo all grinned and nodded confirmation even as Wuya sulked. Raimundo, Kimiko, and Mia all broke into guffaws.

“So that’s what happened!” Raimundo said between chuckles. “One minute these ghosts were begging us for help, the next they were singing, it was so weird.”

Mia, having finished donning her missing articles, chuckled and squeezed her arms tighter around Tori. Of course, she could bring light to this place… she always did for Mia.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” Mia asked softly.

Tori’s grin softened as she returned the hug again. “Yeah well… helps to have someone to be brave for.”

Everyone took in the scene with warm smiles (well, save for an eye-rolling Jack and a nonplussed Wuya still making little hula hands motions), but then Raimundo spoke up, pulling something out of his pocket.

“Good news, we found the Bubble Brain—”

“Tangle Web Comb,” Kimiko interrupted, almost bored as she restrained Jack from tackling Raimundo to try and yank the Shen Gong Wu from his hands.

A quick nod of gratitude, and Raimundo continued.

“Bad news… this place used to be run by a real piece of work.”

“And his ghost is still here,” Kimiko added, voice low and fists at her side sparking with fury, “torturing all the others into doing his bidding, the sicko.”

The levity dropped instantly. Mia nodded to confirm; the others already suspected from Wuya’s report, but it still made their spines shake and their stomachs drop.

“Yeah, apparently he can inflict some sort of pain curse to drive them mad,” Mia growled, hand bunching in the dog’s fur to ground herself. “But… sounds like we have a few solutions. Everyone, meet Rufus: the Grim of Schwarzherz State Hospital.”

After the obligatory thunderclap outside, Rufus gave a soft, deep bark and a panting smile that Mia didn’t need to translate as a cheerful greeting. All the other Xiaolin Dragons rushed over to give the big sweet lug pets and coos over what a good boy he was.

Omi looked up from giving Rufus a scratch on his fluffy neck, the dog almost as tall to him as a horse.

“What is a Grim?”

“A guardian ghost. Usually they’re supposed to protect graveyards, but… I guess this place counts as one?” Mia smiled gently as she leaned against Rufus’s shoulder. “He was a service dog for one of the patients here, and his ghost came back here to look for his master. I think the doctor’s keeping him hostage so Rufus won’t fight him.”

Every hand not busy petting Rufus clenched into a fist.

“Okay, let’s think…” Raimundo said, starting to pace on the creaking hallway floor. “We have a guardian ghost dog, and we have a whole mess of patient ghosts, and Tori’s singing keeps them clear of the doctor’s curse. So… maybe we can start a ghost revolution or something?”

Everyone started to grin—

“A charming idea,” a smug tenor called out from all around them. “Just one problem.”

One last ghost floated down from the ceiling. Unlike the others, his form was perfectly human, crisply detailed in shades of blue. He was a handsome man in his forties or fifties, fair hair short and perfectly combed, a long ice blue medical coat over a dress shirt and a bow tie and slacks, all capped with the winning smile of a man used to getting exactly what he wanted.

“I already have you surrounded,” Doctor Victor Baxter smirked.