Chapter 3

"WAKE UP!"

*WHUMP*

Jack woke with a start as he was shoved off of Dojo's back. "Ung!"

"It was most foolish not to fully fuel your backpack, Spicah." Omi said.

Raimundo rolled his eyes in agreement as he dismounted, followed by the others. "Yeah, you've done a lot of klutzy things, but this pretty much tops them."

Jack groaned as he finally lifted himself to his feet. He didn't look at them as he started limping towards his house where they had dropped him off, shoulders hunched. "Yeah, whatever."

The group left with a huff at his thanklessness, but he didn't care. He turned slightly to watch them go, then instantly let the charade drop, falling to his knees and leaning over to support himself on one hand. His other hand he clutched to his chest as his eyes began to tear up. He rolled slightly until he sat properly on the front step, and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Uhm, hh-hi, 9-1-1?"

"Hmmm, we haven't seen Spicer in a while."

"Don't say that Rai!" Kimiko exclaimed.

"Yes, he will give us jinx!" Omi chipped in cryptically.

"It's 'you will jinx us', Omi." Clay sighed, and patted him on the shoulder pityingly as he stood confused. "I know partner, makes no sense."

"It doesn't!"

Dojo interrupted then, "C'mon kids, time for Wu-hunting! My tea is gonna get cold."

Rai continued the search, shaking off the feeling that Jack should not have been absent from the wu finding for so long. If he missed too many more, he may even be worried.

These thoughts fell to unimportance instantly though as a familiar voice met his ears.

"Well I hope you've got a micro-wave in your little asylum, cuz the wu won't be yours any time soon!"

They turned to Jack, who currently had his eyes on the wu already.

"See Rai? You jinxed us!"

As they made the dash to beat Jack to the Wu, Rai couldn't really feel regretful. It just wasn't right without Jack around to try to foil them. Jack was reaching for the wu that was stuck in a hollow tree in the forest they were in just as Raimundo leapt for it. Both their hands hit it at once, and Raimundo smiled confidently as he challenged Jack to a showdown. "The game is to….uh…" Raimundo paused. It was getting harder to think of good challenges. "Get an item to the top of a tree first…I guess."

"That's the best you could think of?" Jack mocked, but was interrupted by the changing of the battle-field. They found themselves each in an identical tree with a ball that had a string attached to it. They soon found they were attached together.

"Wait! I didn't say what Wu we would use."

Jack shrugged a little sheepishly. "Well, uh, I didn't bring any."

"WHAT?"

Jack started upwards top speed with his heli-pack while the Rai was distracted. Rai urgently tried to recover the ground from his opponents apparent advantage with the heli-pack before suddenly being jolted by the rope. "Heya dude! Hold your horses!"

Jack hovered in place to look down at him. The rope was taut between them.

"Looks like we have to be a little more closely matched for this round. Don't fall behind!" Rai yelled as he darted up the branches. Jack muttered something under his breath and followed up, a little slower than before to allow for slack in the rope. Rai was worried though that the heli-pak would still give Jack the advantage. Jack grinned happily, probably thinking he had it in the bag. Rai laughed at Jack's reaction when he suddenly yanked him downwards, causing him to spiral awkwardly while Raimundo moved quickly towards the goal.

Just as Rai was pulling up to the top branches with his end of the rope, he looked back to see the other end which was still in Jack's grasp become tangled in the propellers of his back-pack.

Rai was wrenched down from where he was climbing, falling so that both boys were suspended in midair by the rope that had snagged on a branch. Rai clung to the ball, arms straining. His end of the rope, he noticed, was much further up than Jacks. If Jack would try to start swinging, he could land himself back in his own tree. He yelled this idea down to jack, who was presently attempting to detangle the rope from propeller.

Upon hearing the idea, Rai could tell that Jack really wanted to reject the idea, no doubt because Rai had suggested it. But fortunately he simply nodded. He started swinging his legs, and he slowly gained the momentum needed. Raimundo now realized, to his dismay, just where jack was going to land. Jack finally got the high enough swing, and landed a good yard higher than Rai, who scrambled to attempt to catch up. Just as he thought he may still have a chance, he heard his enemy's cry of triumph. Jack had won. Instantly the trees began to shrink back down to normal size, causing Jack to become dislodged from his perch. He screamed all the way down to the ground, just like old times, and landed with a sizeable thump. Rai simply rode the transformation down, and hopped off.

"Man, hard luck partner. There was no getting out of that one though." Clay said. Rai and the others only sighed, shoulders slumped.

Rai looked back to Jack who was still sprawled on the ground. "Whew!" He made what sounded to be an attempted cheer, and pumped his fist straight in the air. "I win….ha…haha…Ung."

Rai turned around the rest of the way to watch him leave, but he didn't get up. Clay joined him, saying, "Your voice sounds like you've been at it with a belt sander!"

"You won Jack, so you gonna get out of here or what?" Kimiko said sourly.

Jack flashed her a smile from his position. "Darn right I won!" he cut off awkwardly with that, not answering her question. He sighed leaving his arms spread-eagled.

"So…?"

"I'll lie here just as long as I want!" Jack retorted.

"That is a strange way to celebrate victory, Spicah." Omi said, walking over to stare down at him. "Is it fun?"

"NO IT'S NOT FUN!" Jack yelled suddenly. "I…."

They all crowded closer while Omi had jumped back in surprise.

Rai observed him confusedly. "You what?"

"I…..can't….get up…." Jack muttered, not looking at him.

"What?"

He sounded much more audible this time around as he admitted in a voice of defeat, "I can't get up."

"What's the holdup kids? Let's get going!" Dojo said, completely out of the loop.

"Wait!" Jack shouted, lifting his head with a wince. "Don't leave me!"

"Alright partner, don't get your knickers in a twist! What's the problem?" Clay asked, kneeling beside him.

"I think I may have broken my spine…." He whined, laying his head back with his eyes screwed shut.

Dojo popped up on Clay's shoulder. "Hey, let me take a look." He crawled off his perch and carefully onto Jack's belly, trying to feel the damage. "How did you survive wearing this big jacket during the summer? You shoulda got heatstroke with how thick this thing is."

"Did a lot for the beatings I took though…" jack muttered.

"Take this jacket off him. I can't figure out anything with so much fabric in the way." Dojo instructed, and Clay did as asked despite Jack's feeble protests. Upon removal of the jacket, revealing the green Frankenstein's monster tank top underneath, dojo gently examined the damage.

"How is he, Dojo?" Omi asked in concern.

Dojo stayed silent, continuing grimly to pull up his shirt, leading Jack to let out a quick little shriek of surprise. "What is this?" Dojo asked Jack seriously, pointing at a marred area on his bruising stomach. Jack looked away awkwardly.

"Jack, this is serious."

"Stitches."

"Why?"

Jack sighed and told him finally. "Last showdown, when my backpack ran out of fuel, I broke a couple bones. Had to get surgery."

The others shared a collective gasp, while dojo just looked angry. "You came to a showdown like this? You shouldn't even be leaving your house, let alone fighting Xiaolin warriors. We're gonna have to get you to a hospital."

Jack simply nodded while Dojo put his shirt back in place and signaled Kimiko to call 9-1-1.

Raimundo just stared with a stunned expression. He had given Jack all he had, and Jack hadn't looked like there was anything wrong with him. He supposed maybe all this time, Jack had been complaining not because he was a whiner, really, but because he wanted somebody to care.

Not that that meant he would cater to this 'need' Jack had. If Jack wanted friends, he would have to be one first.

Or not.

Raimundo sighed putting on a humorous smile as he and Master Fung walked the halls of the hospital, towards Jack Spicer's room. When Fung had heard what happened, he had seemingly sensed Raimundo's dilemma, and told him that it would be a good lesson in mercy to visit Jack when he was in need. Raimundo, of course, initially protested this idea, but in the end he knew it wouldn't be so bad. Omi had hoped to go to woo Jack over to the Xiaolin side, but Fung knew that any of the others would probably only aggravate the young "evil boy genius".

They finally reached the room, room 210, and with Fung's bidding, Rai knocked.

Jack had been on the phone with his dad when he heard the knock. "I'm fine dad, and it was an accident. Nothing to worry about. I think the doctor is back, I'll talk to you later." Jack sighed as he hung up. He placed his phone on the table beside him and spoke loud enough to be heard through the door. "Come in!"

As a familiar Brazilian face peeked in, Jack threw his arms up in exasperation. "Oh great, here comes the Xiaolin warriors to beat me up and take my wu again! well you know what, I don't even ha-oh." He cut off as Raimundo stepped in, followed by the Xiaolin master, Fung. The old master's presence either meant that it was really important, or not. He relaxed all the same. "Hi."

"Uh hey, Jack." Raimundo awkwardly greeted him, shuffling his feet. Fung smiled more easily, seeming perfectly at home with the situation.

"So, are you here to tell me that I've caused some kind of spiritual turmoil, or did you want to remind me that you won't be going easy on me next time?" Jack asked, arms crossed.

"Quite the opposite actually." Fung began. "You need ample time to heal, and until you have had that time I do not want you engaging in any Showdowns with my students. I have given them permission to call your parents or the hospital if you are seen outside your house without the consent of your doctor."

Jack's eyes went wide, and he looked thoroughly angered by this idea. Fung, though, held a hand up for silence. "However, we have no control over what you may do besides that. I only hope you will keep your physical health in mind."

Jack leaned forward, ready to protest, but leaned back again with a resigning sigh. "Fine. I'm surprised you'd care so much though."

"Hey, we all do! Here, we have something for you." Raimundo brightened up to pass him an envelope. Jack looked it over critically, but soon ripped it open. In it was a card, which he read out loud. "Get well soon, but not too soon." He looked up disbelievingly, but Rai just held back a laugh and gestured for him to continue. Jack opened the card. In the left side was a gift cart for a hard-ware supplier. On the other side, an explanation. "Because nothing means more between best enemies than a bribe."

Jack stopped for a moment, looking at all the signatures by the monks, omi's accompanied by a wal-mart smiley sticker, then looked up at Raimundo who waited expectantly.

"This…" Jack began, tearing up slightly. "Is the best thing an enemy has ever done for me."

Raimundo smiled sincerely, and said, "Well, we didn't know exactly where you get your parts for your robots, but we thought you'd probably be insulted if we gave you a wal-mart card."

"But where'd you get the card? I didn't know greeting cards for enemies existed!" Jack exclaimed, regarding the gift as If it were gold.

Raimundo shrugged. "Kimiko googled it and we found a store nearby."

"You know this doesn't change anything though." Jack said, though with a smile.

"No way." Raimundo agreed. "What are enemies for?"