Hey Xiaolin fans! You might remember me from my other story, "The Last Showdown of the Show", where I wrote out the final battle that the first series ended on. That story was to help build the hype for Chronicles...buuuuut after seeing it (and more importantly, the fans' reactions to it), I decided to creatively challenge myself by rewriting the whole thing! This is just the prologue before the main story starts, so enjoy!

Xiaolin Showdown/Chronicles is owned by Christy Hui. Shen Gong Wu are Warner Bros., etc.

The halls were silent as the teenager made his way through the temple. He had come a long way in this little "quest" of his, and was not about to give up now, even if the strain of the venture was catching up to him.

As the boy walked through the dark temple halls, he heard a monstrous growl. He turned to see an open door. Inside a monster made of metal armor was reducing the room to rubble, with a lot of elderly men feebly fighting back. The youth stopped, then shook his head and continued on.

He crossed through a large dome-shaped room. Despite the fact that he was indoors, the inside of the dome was a fully-animated jungle at nighttime. The boy looked up to see a red comet crossing through the sky. He then turned to see a distant village on fire. Upon recognizing the village, he panicked a little. Then he heard a soft twinkling. He turned to see several odd-looking objects floating in the air and glowing, which were making the twinkling noise. A bronze sword with a red tassel and a swirled design across the blade floated closer to him than the rest. The tassel moved on its own like a beckoning finger. The teenager looked back at the flaming town, then at the comet high above. He turned and thrust his palm toward the floating sword as if to say, "forget it". The boy walked the rest of the way through the room and exited back into the temple.

After wandering through a few more hallways, he stumbled into an indoor garden. The teen walked through while admiring all the foliage. He turned and sniffed a small pink flower, only to stop cold when he noticed the shrub it was attached to.

It was a potted hedge shaped like a young teenage girl. The girl's face was frozen in fear and sadness. The boy looked to see more human-shaped plants. There was one resembling a big muscular boy with a real cowboy hat on top of its head. Another one was shaped like an old man, and a small scrawny one that looked more like a lizard. There was even a dark green cactus with a face and goggles on its top. Finally, the last shrub was smaller than most of the others, and was shaped like a young boy with a large, spherical head. He was looking straight with his eyes closed, but when the one in flesh walked up to him, the shrub suddenly opened his eyes and looked up at him.

"All your fault." The plant spoke.

"All your fault. All your fault." The other human (and lizard)-shaped hedges droned simultaneously. The warrior shut his eyes and covered his ears. He tried to run away, but the garden seemed endless.

"All your fault. All your fault."

They wouldn't stop! Finally, they quieted down enough for a new voice to be heard over them. It was higher pitched and had a French accent to it, and unlike the others, who were saying the sentence despairingly, the new voice was saying it with joy. The voice got louder and louder, until it sounded close…very close.

The teenager opened his eyes to see another plant with a face in front of him. But this wasn't a hedge like before; this plant was more of a flower. It leaned into the boy's face while repeating the same three words over and over, its voice getting higher and happier with each repeat.

"All your fault. All your fault! ALL YOUR FAULT! Hahahaha!"

Finally, the boy had enough. The flower stopped talking and took a deep breath. It then blew a cloud of yellow pollen at the boy, but he leaped over it and the plant. The flower barely had time to turn around before the non-plant jumped at it and punched it in the face. The plant fell over and was still. It and all the other plants in the garden turned brown and wilted. Then they turned into white smoke, which filled the room and the boy's vision. When it cleared, the only thing in the room was plain soil. The youth smiled and walked out of the room.

After walking a little more, the warrior came to a large double door. He looked it over and thought to himself.

All right. This should be it. Gotta say, this was an experience. Coulda used a little more action, though.

As if the temple had read the boy's mind, the hallway started shaking. The adventurer was forced back as the ground immediately in front of the door cracked and levitated. Rocks came together to form arms and legs until the youth was looking at a giant humanoid golem made completely out of stone. Glowing green eyes appeared and glared. A jagged mouth formed and the creature roared.

Whereas most men would have run away screaming, the teenage boy just smirked and assumed a well-trained fighting position. The monster charged forward and punched the ground where the youth was, but the ground was all it hit. It looked to its right to see the boy there smiling. He then clapped its hands together; when he did so, a sideways tornado appeared and hit the golem full-force. Being stone, the monster stood its ground rather easily, but the boy wasn't done yet. He jumped into the air, levitated, curled into a ball with his arms wrapped around himself, then uncurled and unleashed an even mightier wind blast. This one did the trick as it caused the creature's disproportioned head to fall off. The boy then leapt at the body and showered it with martial arts moves that could not be learned from watching movies. When the boy was done, nothing happened at first. Then the monster's body disintegrated into gravel, the head shortly following. The boy dusted himself off, waded through the mess, and reached for the door's handle when he heard his name being called.

"Join me…"

The youth stopped and turned. He knew that voice all-too-well and desperately wished he didn't.

Light green energy was flying through the air and collecting into a mass in front of him. When all was done, he was looking at a woman made out of green light and green fire. The woman was actually very beautiful, though the boy knew that you shouldn't lower your guard on someone just because they look beautiful (at least, he knew it when it came to this particular woman anyway). The woman said his name again.

"Join me…Help me rise again, and I will give you everything you've ever dreamed of."

While most boys his age would have pinched themselves at the prospect of a beautiful woman giving them anything they ask for, this boy's angry and determined look never wavered.

"No. Never again."

With that, the boy put the flats of his hands together and pushed out, producing a gust of wind that caused the fiery woman to dissipate. After he made sure she was gone, he opened the door and entered the room. Inside was all red. Red walls, red ceiling, red floor, red everything. But it wasn't the color that grabbed the warrior's attention. Across the back wall was a large intricate molding of a dragon. Contrary to popular belief, most dragons didn't have wings or even feet; they looked remarkably like serpents with arms. The dragon on the wall was in a spiral, showing its long, flexible body. The creature ended in the center of the wall, with its head pointing down and its jaw wide open. Suspended within its jaws was another smaller molding of an eight-pointed star. And at the core of the star was what the boy had come for.

There was a red staircase that led up to the center of the dragon picture. The boy slowly walked up until he was right in front of the star. In the center was a smooth glass orb wedged halfway into the stone. Within was a miniature tornado that spun in place indefinitely. The boy tried not to get mesmerized by the natural beauty as he grabbed hold of the orb. After a few seconds of tugging, he pulled the object free. The warrior got to stare into it for only a moment more before the orb became full of bright light, snuffing out the tornado.

The glowing sphere rose into the air as the boy averted his eyes. The orb shone even brighter before transforming. When the teenager could look again, there was a glowing sword floating down to him. The sword was the color of sand. The blade had two light blue diamonds on each side, one near the top, and one near the bottom. Around the top diamond were blue lines that reached around the blade, but ended above the bottom diamond. The sword was the color of dry sand for most of the blade and the divider between the blade and the handle (which was disc-shaped). On the other hand, the handle and bottom portion of the blade around the lower diamond were like wet sand. Finally, the weapon had a dark-blue segmented handle grip (decorated with white swirls that resembled question marks) and a dark-blue tassel on the end.

The sword lowered itself into the boy's hands and stopped glowing. The boy looked it over and raised an eyebrow. This sword looked a lot like the one that had tempted him a while back, one that he had become very familiar with for a time. Then, the diamonds and lines on the sword lit up dark-blue. The boy closed his eyes and heard an undistinguishable voice in his head.

Dragon of Wind,

Congratulations, you have completed the next step of your journey, and you have certainly gone through a lot to get here. In the past, you have acted brashly, which has led to critical mistakes: you ignored your master's instructions and returned to your temple when you shouldn't have, putting your friends in danger. You also ignored his words regarding the Heylin comet, causing you to almost lose yourself and destroy all you cared for. However, your heart was always in the right place. You came back to your temple because you were concerned for your master's safety, and you risked the Heylin comet to save your home and family. Even when you temporarily fell to the persuasion of darkness, you realized what truly mattered to you and saved the day in the end, even turning down the initial reward because you knew you weren't ready for it yet. Every mistake you have made since then, you have learned from, and have only grown stronger every day. Now that you are leader, you must truly put such thoughtless actions behind you for the sake of your team, which will grow as well. Go forth, mighty Dragon, may your simple breezes become mighty storms that cannot be swayed.

Sword of Lucida.

The quester opened his eyes and smiled. He raised the sword into the air with the blade pointing up. A strong wind swirled around him. The sword started glowing again and transformed. The blade became longer and pointier. The divider disc became long and flat with a small orb on each end. The handle and grip extended and narrowed toward the bottom, the swirls on the grip disappearing. The end and tassel were replaced by another orb (this one the color of the handle) with a smaller dark-blue center. The diamonds and lines continued to glow dark-blue as the wind circled around the warrior. The lad's quest was complete, and he had a few words to say before he headed back.

"Finally. I'm ready to truly embrace my destiny…as a Xiaolin Shoku Warrior."

ONE YEAR LATER…

It was a very busy day at the Xiaolin temple. The three monks duking it out were doing so with even more energy than usual, because hopefully, they would all be moving up in rank very soon. The first of the monks, the young, passionate, but arrogant Omi ran at a couple of training dummies and showered them with a combo before back flipping back onto the ground. The next monk, the clever and charming as well as the only female Kimiko Tohomiko jumped at them and with a single roundhouse kick, knocked their heads off. Finally, the strong yet gentle and polite Clay Bailey ran to the headless dummies and punched them both with one fist each. His mighty knuckles broke through the material like gelatin, leaving the false enemies with no heads and big holes in their chests.

The Dragons-in-training weren't finished yet, though. One by one, they all attached a metal covering to one shoulder. Kimiko walked up first. "Cat's Eye Draco, Fire!" When the female Dragon said "fire", she thrust her palms forward. A large fireball instantly formed and shot out from her hands, setting the two dummies on fire. Omi quickly jumped into the air and activated his weapon. "Kaijin Charm, Water!" Omi unleashed a wave of water that fell down and extinguished the flames, leaving the dummies significantly burnt, but intact. Finally, Clay stepped forward. "Longhorn Taurus, Earth!" He raised his foot and brought it to the pavement. His two teammates could feel the vibrations as the whole section of the temple rumbled. At last, a crevice formed in the ground under Clay's foot. It stretched across the training ground until reaching the dummies. By then, it had grown big enough for the dummies to fall down into the miniature chasm the Texan had created.

"I see we'll have to order more dummies."

The three turned to see Master Fung walk up to them. Their faithful dragon companion Dojo was on his left shoulder. Walking along his right was the last member of their team, the sometimes brash and overconfident but protective and caring Raimundo Pedrosa. Rai's attire was different from the other three. While his friends wore red robes and white pants (except for Omi, who wore black pants), the Dragon of Wind wore a black robe with red pants.

The three Dragons in training turned and bowed. "Young monks, you have all trained very expertly and passionately, and as you all know, you are finally ready to advance to the next level: becoming Shoku Warriors, alongside Raimundo." He gestured to the older boy.

"Indeed, Master Fung. I believe we are all ready." Omi said. "Even though I have been ready far before the others." He muttered under his breath. "I heard that." Fung said, causing Omi to blush and put on a big fake grin.

"As I explained to Raimundo last year, your journey will take you to the heart of a mystic and long-forgotten land. Once you three are there, you will split up and find your own paths. Be warned, you will face dangers, temptations, and ghosts from your past. But once you overcome all that, you will be rewarded with not only a new ranking, but your new Shoku weapons. Raimundo?" the master turned to him. Rai nodded and reached into his robes, withdrawing the Sword of Lucida. The sand-colored weapon sparkled in the sunlight.

"As I have already told you, you will not take any Shen Gong Wu with you, or your Wudai weapons. Let your own skills and your hearts see you through. It will be difficult, but I assure you, it will be worth it. Complete the tasks Raimundo has completed and you will all be ready to take the next step in your journey. Now, are you three ready?"

The three eagerly nodded.

"Very well. Dojo?"

"You got it, Baby Blue-Eyes!" Dojo saluted before slithering down to the ground. Fung and the monks stepped back as the dragon started growing in size until he was forty feet long. Omi, Kimiko, and Clay walked up to Fung, and one by one, they gave him their Wudai weapons and Elemental Charms, followed by a brief bow. Then, they all climbed onto Dojo's back. "Hop on for a journey of wonder, enchantment, and Shoku Warrior-ness!" Dojo elatedly said as he took off through the air.

Raimundo watched his friends leave, and then looked down at his sword and sighed. Fung then placed a hand on is shoulder. "Do not worry, Raimundo. Even when the others are of equal rank as you, they will not be equal to you. You have earned the position of leader, and that will not change any time soon." Rai smiled and bowed as well. "Thanks, Master Fung."

Dojo flew through the air over China. "So, where exactly is this place, Dojo?" Kimiko asked.

"It's in a magical forest that only reveals its true nature when a Xiaolin Wudai Warrior is ready to become a Shoku Warrior." Dojo explained. "Of course, since I'm not a monk like you guys, I can only take you so far." After a few minutes of flying, Dojo landed on the ground and shrunk back down to normal size. They were in a large forest surrounded by trees. They were on a dirt path; however in front of them the path split in three directions. "Alright, here we are! You kids are on your own, now! I'll be back in a while to pick you up. Later!" Before the monks could say anything else, Dojo grew again and flew off, leaving the three by themselves.

Kimiko took a deep breath. "Well, guys, this is it. We each take our own path from here."

"Well, yeah, but which path does each one of us take?" Clay questioned.

Kimiko looked at the three-way fork and pondered the same thing. Suddenly, she felt something. A kind of…energy. She could sense it leading down the middle path. The girl walked up to it. "This one. This is where I'm supposed to go."

"How can ya tell-" Clay cut himself off as he felt a mystical energy as well, telling him to go down the path that led to the right. "Yeah, I can feel it too."

"…I feel nothing." Omi said. His friends didn't seem to hear him, and started walking down their respective paths. "Wait! As most amazing monk here, I think I should decide…hello?" Omi's objections fell on deaf ears as Kimiko and Clay continued walking. Omi sighed and started walking down the left path, the one he had been left with.

Kimiko followed the energy for what seemed like hours as she kept going deeper into the forest. Soon enough anything resembling a trail had disappeared, and the female warrior was just left wandering in the woods. Suddenly, she couldn't feel the energy anymore.

"What? Oh, come on! I can't be stuck here!" Try as she might, though, Kimiko could no longer feel anything. Just as she was about to try and retrace her steps, she heard a rustling in the leaves around her. "Huh? Who's there?" Kimiko asked. No response. She assumed a fighting stance. "I'm warning you, I'm a trained Xiaolin Warrior!"

"I know, Kimiko…I know."

The girl stopped. "That voice…"

Without warning, a dark blur leapt out of the shadows. Kimiko barely jumped to the side before her assailant made herself clear.

It was Wuya.

"Long time no see, girly." The ancient woman said, flexing her claw-like fingernails.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Kimiko demanded.

"Aw, can't an old enemy drop by to see how her favorite gal-pal's doing?" Wuya asked in a faux-sincere tone. Kimiko growled and rushed at her.

Clay was lost as well. He had followed his senses for hours only to have them just abandon him.

"Well, this is just dandy. Where do I go now? Maybe I can check the trees for moss to see which way is north…" Clay's survival thoughts were interrupted by a rustling. He slowly walked over to check it out.

"It's alright, little critter. I won't hurtcha…" But what stepped out into the daylight was far from a little critter. The best was to describe it would be a giant, monstrous, yet somewhat humanoid scorpion. Its body was the color of sand, its shell was the color of bricks, and was without a doubt angry. Something in Clay's brain registered this creature as being familiar, but he disregarded it and prepared to fight. The monster said nothing and just roared.

Omi was even more lost than his teammates, as he never felt the energy that Kimiko and Clay felt. He kept going in circles through his cheek of the woods (as he would say). "Oh, this is most frustrating! I have been wandering for hours, and am no closer to becoming a Shoku Warrior!"

"Sad story, isn't it? I can relate."

The owner of the voice walked out of the darkness. It was none other than the one and only-

"Chase Young?!" Omi half-asked, half-shouted. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. Shall we?" Chase assumed a fighting stance.

Omi quickly collected himself and mirrored his rival's pose. "Let's shall!"

Kimiko jumped over Wuya and landed on her hands, kicking Wuya as she turned around. Then Kimiko quickly spun around while on her hands to kick Wuya even more. The witch blocked with her legs and swung downward at Kimiko, causing her to jump out of the way back onto two feet. Wuya came at Kimiko with her claws, but the girl jumped and used Wuya's arm to boost herself into a flip over the witch, quickly coming back with a spin attack. Kimiko suddenly kicked out and then again, causing Wuya to flinch back. The ex-ghost snarled and came at Kimiko with her claws again.

Ka-punch!

The giant scorpion monster beat Clay with its claw. Due to the cowboy's muscles, he blocked and was relatively fine. The scorpion swung at Clay again, only for him to retaliate with a punch of his own. The beast swung down with both claws, but Clay dodged and jumped on top of one of the claws, then jumped up again at the monster's face, delivering a mean left hook. Clay landed on two feet as his enemy staggered back.

"Hiyah!"

Omi rushed at Chase and swung his right fist, only for him to quickly move his head, causing Omi to miss by inches. Chase tried to punch him, but Omi leapt and placed his hands on Chase's arm for a sweeping kick to the face. Chase saw this coming, however, and blocked with his other arm. The two rivals quickly moved in a circle motion and landed across from the other. The two then went at it again. Omi punched, but Chase blocked with a kick. Chase swung his arm, but Omi sidestepped. Omi jump-kicked, only for Chase to block with his elbow. The two warriors were at a stalemate, but even when Omi missed again, he refused to give in. Omi leapt at Chase and punched, but Chase met Omi's fist with his own, neither making any headway and both being slightly knocked back.

"You are a most worthy adversary, Chase Young."

"As are you. But you have yet to see my full power."

"I was about to say the same." The nine dots on Omi's forehead started glowing and he smiled.

Kimiko flipped away from Wuya again. "Hey Wuya, how's about we turn things up a notch? Fire!" The female dragon shot a stream of flame from her hands. Wuya turned her head and raised a hand to protect herself. When the fire stopped, she turned back to Kimiko and smiled. "You wanna play that way?" The with raised her left hand and a green fireball appeared in it. "Fine by me." Kimiko's eyes widened as Wuya threw the fireball at her. Kimiko jumped out of the way as the projectile reduced a tree behind her to a charred stump.

Kimiko got a hold of herself and started throwing fireball after fireball at Wuya, the witch doing the same. Soon, it was just a constant stream of orange and green with plenty of explosions in the background. Kimiko leapt to the side before jumping above Wuya. "Judolette Flip, Fire!" Kimiko shouted as she flipped down at Wuya with her foot on fire. Her flaming foot came down on Wuya, knocking her back several feet. The witch snarled again before both her hands lit up green and she shot two green fire streams at Kimiko.

The giant scorpion monster shook its head to clear itself of the punch to its face. It turned back toward Clay and sneered, its long reptile-like tongue flicking about. "Hoo-wee! Yer one tough bronco, partner. But let's see ya handle this! Seismic Kick, Earth!" Clay stomped the ground, making it rumble. Suddenly, from below the colossus rose big stalagmites, squeezing the creature between them. The monster roared and smashed through them. Then to Clay's surprise, it spoke. "Impressive." It had a deep, evil, but still somewhat familiar voice. "But not impressive enough!" The scorpion produced a large wooden spear in its right claw. The spear was long, the handle was as black as if the wood was burnt, and the blade was jagged and looked very sharp. The monster twirled the spear in its claw and attempted to stab the cowboy, him dodging just in time.

Chase barely avoided getting wet by a stream of water that shot out from Omi's hands. The boy continued to shoot blasts of H2O as the fallen warrior avoided every one. Soon, the two stood facing the other, neither one making a move. "Alright." Chase said, closing his eyes. "Playtime's over!" His voice changed to be deeper and more evil, and when he opened his eyes, they were bloodshot. Skin and armor became scales until in Chase's place was a humanoid crocodile-like creature. Chase bared his teeth and leapt at Omi, swiping and clawing like mad. Omi dodged all of this and continued firing large balls of water at him.

Kimiko dodged Wuya's fire best she could while throwing back some of her own, but she couldn't seem to be able to keep up. Almost all of the trees surrounding them had been either burnt or blown up by the onslaught. Finally, Kimiko took shelter behind a tree that was mostly intact. She heard Wuya's wicked laughter.

"Did you really think you could stand a chance, Kimiko? I have centuries of combat and magic experience, and you're just a little girl."

Just a…girl? Kimiko's eyes narrowed as she was suddenly filled with determination. Kimiko leapt above the tree she was behind, formed a giant fireball in her hands, and threw it at Wuya. The fireball hit the ground right in front of her, knocking her back. Wuya got up, but could see nothing but smoke from the blast, that is until Kimiko came flying out of it and started attacking her as if she had the Shard of Lightning. Every punch and kick was almost faster than the eye could follow. Kimiko finished her fierce combo with a spinning kick that more or less left Wuya on the ground. The witch looked up to see Kimiko seething. "How's this for a little girl? Wudai Mars, FIRE!" Kimiko clenched her fists and suddenly, she lit herself on fire. This didn't seem to hurt her in the slightest (just the opposite in fact). Kimiko grabbed Wuya's hand and flipped her into the ground behind her. Then again, and then again. Finally, Kimiko spun Wuya around and threw her into the last tree that was completely unharmed. That soon changed though, for when the Heylin witch smashed into it, the three splintered like a pencil. As for Wuya, upon contact with the tree, she suddenly turned into red mist which immediately dissipated.

Kimiko took a minute to compose herself, then looked up to see Wuya was gone. "Huh? Hey, where'd she go?" Suddenly, a section of bark at the base of the tree Wuya had been thrown into started burning. Kimiko stared at this for a second, and then started walking towards it. When she got close, the fire suddenly went out; what was strangest was there was no sign the fire had even been on the tree, not even a scorch mark. Just then, another tree further back caught on fire on one spot too, and when Kimiko walked over to that tree, the fire disappeared with no trace again. Kimiko turned to see the same thing on yet another tree. "Was this part of the test…?" She asked herself as she continued following the flame.

The demon scorpion continued stabbing its spear into the ground trying to turn Clay into a shish-kebab. The Texan was strong, but he wasn't slow. After a while, Clay managed to knock the giant stick out of his enemy's hand, it landing blade-down in the dirt. The foe quickly reacted and rammed Clay with its other claw, knocking the monk onto his back. The monster pinned him to the ground with its claw. "Haha! You have failed to stop me, boy. I will destroy you, then the rest of your pathetic monk friends, and then heck, I just might seek out your family too."

Clay stopped struggling during that last line. Suddenly, he felt anger rising up in him. Without a word, Clay gripped the claw holding him down and lifted it off of him. He quickly got back up. "No one touches my friends and family!" He yelled before charging at the beast. The claws swung and snapped in vain as Clay ran up to its exposed body and punched it. The punch was so powerful that the giant was actually forced back a little. Clay continued punching the beast until it brought its claws down at him. Clay jumped back and clenched his fists. Clay then raised his hands with his palms out. "Wudai Crater, Earth!" In less than a second, a giant stone wall rose out of the ground and struck the monster on the underside of its chin. As it staggered back, Clay ran at it, jumped all the way to the top of the wall, and then soared at the scorpion as fast as a missile…and with twice the punching power.

KA-POW!

The monster had finally had enough as Clay landed on the ground. The monster turned so it was facing Clay and dropped to its knees. Clay smiled at his victory when he noticed the spear in the ground starting to shrink. As it got smaller, the color got lighter until the spear was light brown with a dark brown stripe. Clay's eyes widened. He recognized that spear…

He turned back to the monster to see that it was shrinking too. Its claws and legs went back into its body and transformed into human limbs. Its shell wrapped around its front and became a sort of toga. Finally, the demonic head shifted and rearranged until Clay was looking at a very familiar face.

"Master Monk Guan?! What in tarnation-"

The 1500-year-old warrior looked up at Clay. The face was just as he remembered except for his right eye. It was wide open, yellow, and had a strange tattoo around it. Monk Guan smiled at Clay and winked with his evil eye before he and his discarded Spear of Guan transformed into brown mist and disappeared. Clay didn't have much time to wonder what in Sam Hill just happened before he felt a slight rumbling in the ground. A small crack appeared where Guan last was, and stretched off into the forest to Clay's left. Clay looked back at where the crack started, than where it went off to again. The cowboy just shook his head before following the crack.

Chase and Omi continued duking it out, punch followed by claws followed by kick followed by tail swipe. Omi leapt at Chase. "Monkey Strike!"

"Repulse the Monkey!" Omi was knocked back. Chase then grabbed Omi and held him against a tree by his throat. "Your efforts are in vain, Omi. You cannot stop me, and soon enough you will not want to stop me. We shall bring about darkness…together."

Omi grunted and closed his eyes. The center and compass point dots on his forehead lit up, then the compass points dimmed and the corner dots lit up instead. This went back and forth a few times until finally all nine dots started glowing. "Not on your life. WUDAI NEPTUNE, WATER!" Omi cried out, causing a torrent of water to explode from his body and throw Chase into a tree on the opposite side of their makeshift arena. Dots still shining like miniature suns, Omi rushed at Chase, kicked him into the air, then leapt above him and with a final kick, sent him crashing back into the ground.

Omi landed as the reptile slowly got up. "You can't fight it, Omi…it's your destiny…your future."

Omi furrowed his brow. "The future can be changed; you said it yourself. Tsunami Strike!" Omi leapt and delivered one last attack, and as Chase recoiled, he disintegrated into blue mist and was gone.

Omi suddenly heard the sound of running water. He turned to see a small river that hadn't been there before. His dots altered again before he started walking, following the flow of the creek.

Kimiko followed the flaming trees until she reached a big clearing, most of which was taken up by a red decent-sized temple. The flame on the last tree winked out as Kimiko walked past it and up to the steps that led into the building. "Well…this is it." The girl said to herself. She walked up the steps and entered the temple.

Kimiko made her way through the red halls of the place she had discovered. "Boy, sure is quiet in here…" Kimiko soon heard a rustling noise above her. She looked up to see three spikes rush down to her. Kimiko quickly jumped and somersaulted forward as the spikes hit the ground. She turned to look at them. The spikes were light brown and seemed to have stretched down to the ground like elastic. As they rose back up to the ceiling, Kimiko turned around to see similar brown spikes stretching down not just from the ceiling, but from the floor and walls too. Kimiko smirked and crouched. She then ran forward, jumping, ducking and dodging every stretchy brown spike that came her way. Kimiko was on fire (no pun intended) as she made her way through the hall.

This isn't so bad. I totally got this. No problem!

Kimiko's self-reassuring thoughts were stopped when she failed to notice a small set of spikes right below her. Before she knew what happened, the small spikes had actually come out of the ground and wrapped her up like rope. Kimiko was left on the ground as she struggled to get out.

Kimiko then heard laughing. She couldn't see anyone, but she heard their laughing and mocking.

"Look at Kimiko, all helpless and stuff."

"She shoulda just stuck to playing her games."

"Such is to be expected of a girl."

The mysterious voices just made Kimiko angrier, but it seemed that every time she tried to break free of her bonds, they would constrict her even more.

What IS this stuff? It's tight, but it feels soft…almost like hair.

Wait…hair?

Kimiko suddenly stopped moving. She took some deep breaths and tried to push the jeering voices out of her head. Soon, despite the voices being at the same volume, it was like she couldn't even hear them. Then she calmly concentrated on the bonds. She imagined them loosening and to her surprise, the bindings came off of her and disappeared.

Kimiko got up and dusted herself off. Not only had the voices stopped, when she turned back, there was no sign of the spikes, any of them.

"Weird…" The female warrior thought to herself as she got to the end of the hallway and exited through the waiting door.

Clay came out of the forest and looked to the red temple, which the crack in the ground ended just in front of. "Well I'll be hogtied at the annual family rodeo!" After getting his country-ism out of the way, Clay walked up into the temple. He made his way through the corridors with no excitement until he came into a large room with a massive obstacle course…that ignored all common sense of safety. Spiked pegs to jump on, flames shooting out of the ground, swinging pendulums…it had it all. Clay then heard voices in the air around him.

"Come on, cowboy, go ahead."

"Yeah, we all did it. Now it's your turn."

"You wanna win, dontcha? Then get yer keister in there!"

Clay covered his ears as he tried to ignore the voices telling him to go through that death trap. "No way! There's bravery, then there's just plain stupidity! There's gotta be another way!" Clay looked around across the course trying to see some kind of shortcut as the voices continued.

"Nice try, farm boy, but you ain't chickenin' outta this!"

"Want out? There's only one way!"

"Yeah! The RIGHT way!"

"Wait…right way?" Clay looked to his right to see a door that hadn't been there before. He walked up to it and went through. He emerged at the other end of the room, at the end of the obstacle course from hell.

"W-wait a minute! You can't do that!"

"Yeah, that's cheating!"

"You have to do what we did!"

Clay smiled and tipped his hat. "Far as I reckon, partners, it don't matter what I did long as I did it. Sometimes the solution to yer problem's simpler than the problem itself." With that, Clay walked through another door and exited the room.

Omi was walking through his temple. The river he had followed had ended in a sort of moat around the temple, which Omi had immediately rushed into, wanting to earn the title of Shoku warrior before anyone else (other than Raimundo, of course). Though in his rush, Omi had neglected to pay attention to where he was going, and now he was starting to wonder if he was lost. "I hope I do get lost in here for the rest of my life. Then I will surely be the last to earn the title of Shoku warrior!" Omi's panic lasted until he came to a large empty room. A rectangular platform was in the center, almost like a stage. Deciding to investigate, Omi jumped on top. Suddenly, the room became darkened and a big spotlight shone on Omi.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Give it up for Omi, the mighty (and only) Xiaolin Warrior!"

Applause was heard as confetti dropped from out of nowhere and a curtain with Omi's face on it fell down behind the stage. Even though Omi could not see his "fans", he immediately started bowing. "Thank you! Thank you! I do not deserve this…oh wait, yes I do!" Omi laughed. "It feels good to have my fifty minutes of fame!"

"Actually, Omi, that's 'fifteen minutes of fame'." Omi looked up surprised. "What? Only fifteen?!"

"Yes, and they just ended!" Omi heard large stomping. He turned and looked to see giant stone statues of Raimundo, Kimiko, and Clay. They moved and smiled just like the real thing. The giant version of Rai then kicked Omi out of the spotlight, which then widened to encompass the three statues.

"Let's give a round of applause to Raimundo, Kimiko, and Clay, the NEW Xiaolin Warriors!"

"W-wait!" Omi cried, getting up. "This is not my fifty minutes of fame! It was not even fifteen minutes!"

"Aw, what's wrong Omi?" The giant stone Kimiko looked down at him. "Don't you wanna share the spotlight?"

"Yeah, pard." The Clay colossus added. "We're a team now."

"No more solo acts for you." Rai finished. "Our skills are evenly matched."

Omi growled. "No they are not! I have been training since I was in training diapers! I'll show you! Tsunami Strike, WATER!" Omi shot out a stream of water from his hands. The animated statue of Rai stepped in the puddle, causing him to slip and fall, shattering into pieces.

"Wait, what the-" Clay stammered.

"That's not how this is supposed to go!" Kimiko added, just as dumbstruck.

"I am more skilled than all of you! WATER!" Omi leapt at Kimiko and ran along her arm. He leapt at her neck and delivered a rapid combo. With one final chop, the stone girl's head was separated from her body. They both fell to the ground.

"I think yer missin' the point here, pard. No one likes a poor sport!" Clay tried to step on Omi, but the small monk zipped out of the way. "What do you mean poor; I do not live on the streets! But you will become part of the streets, you stealer of the spotted light!" Omi shot out another burst of water at Clay's feet, causing him to slip as well. He landed hard on his back and cracks appeared all over his stone body.

"That's…spotlight…" The golem groaned before crumbling into rubble alongside the others. A door at the end of the room opened.

"Um…let's give it up for…Omi." A handful of claps could be heard as Omi proudly walked through the door.

Kimiko made her way through the temple some more. "Ugh, how long have I been walking? Can the temple even be this big?" She asked herself. Her questions about the temple's size only multiplied when she entered the next room. She was standing in front of a huge waterfall that landed in a river filled with grey rocks that could be used as platforms. Kimiko walked on the rocky shore and was awestruck by the gorgeous sight until she spotted something that wasn't part of the nature. "Clay? Is that you?" Kimiko walked up to her friend, but he didn't register that he heard her, or do anything at all. "…Clay? You alright?" Clay slowly turned so he was facing her. His eyes were closed and his mouth was expressionless. Then, he opened his eyes. They were pure black. His mouth twisted into an evil grin and he laughed diabolically. "Long time, no see, Kimiko." Clay said with a second, evil-sounding voice accompanying his own.

Kimiko took a step back. "No…not you."

'Clay' laughed again. "Yes, it's me. I'm back in this new strong body, and it's all your fault!" 'Clay' continued laughing as Kimiko took a step back. Her mind was suddenly filled with self-pitying thoughts.

He's right. It is my fault. If I had just come clean about the Mosaic Scale breaking...

"Now I'm gonna take over the whole stinkin' world, and there ain't nothin' you can do about it. Haha!"

Kimiko seemed to snap herself out of her self-pity. "No, you're not. Sure, I made a mistake, but I'll fix it if it's the last thing I do. I can do something about it." Kimiko leapt at 'Clay' and kicked him in the chest, knocking him back. He got back up and growled. "We'll see about that!" He ran up and tried to punch Kimiko, but she flipped out of the way. She landed on one of the rocks in the river and turned to see the evil cowboy leap impossibly high into the air and come back down with his fists together. Kimiko leapt onto another rock just before the first one was smashed to pieces by 'Clay's' super-strong fist. He jumped to smash the new rock Kimiko was standing on just as she leapt to yet another one. This went on for a while until finally, 'Clay' seemed to be slowing down. He fell on one knee, panting. Kimiko walked up to him, smirking. "See? I told you I could fix my own mistakes."

"Lucky…girl." The imposter got out before collapsing on the ground and dissolving into red mist. A door appeared next to Kimiko and she opened it. "Not lucky…just smart."

Meanwhile, the real Clay walked through a few more halls until he came to a large square room. It seemed to be empty, so he just started walking through it. When he was about a third of the way across, he heard an alluring female voice.

"Clay…Wanna square dance with us, big boy?" Clay looked to see brown mist filling the room. The mist rose into several tall shapes all throughout the area. They then solidified into…women. Hot women…wearing overalls and cowgirl hats. The room was soon full of Southern supermodels. One of them with long flowing black hair walked up to Clay. "Hey there, baby, you lost?" Clay felt his cheeks go red. "No…well, yes…kinda. I-I don't suppose none o' ya'll know where I can get my Shoku weapon, d-do ya?"

"Oh, of course," the woman said, running a manicured finger down his cheek. "You just have to survive."

"Survive what?" Clay suddenly felt the rub become a scratch as the fingernail became a lot sharper, like a claw.

"Us." The women's eyes became red with slits for pupils and their teeth all became sharp. They then produced swords, axes, flails, and many other nasty weapons in their hands. Clay backed up into the wall as he was surrounded by killer women. "Whatcha gonna do, cowboy? Punch us?" the one with the black hair taunted as she swung her sword around.

"N-no! I can't plow through a buncha girls, it just ain't right!"

"Oh, toughen up, will ya? And fight like a man!" The women scoffed as they came closer.

"No, I can't fight ya'll!" Clay then opened his eyes and smiled. "But I can shake ya'll up!"

"Wait, what?" The women asked.

"Seismic Kick, Earth!" Clay stomped the ground and shockwaves went all across the room, disorienting the women and making many of them fall on their knees. Clay then crouched and sprinted, jumping and flipping over and in-between the killer females as they tried to get back on their feet. Soon, Clay was in front of the door at the end of the room. He smiled and tipped his hat again. "So long, ladies. It's been fun not fighting with ya'll." Clay then walked through the door.

The head lady smiled. "I have to admit, he is quite the gentleman."

The other girls agreed as they all disappeared into brown mist.

Omi walked confidently through the halls. "I passed the first test with shooting colors! I'm sure I will pass the next one with just as much-" The boy's self-congratulatory thoughts were interrupted when he walked through a door with his eyes shut and quickly plummeted down. He fell for a couple seconds before landing on something bouncy. Omi looked back up to see the doorway in the grey wall high above. He then looked around him to see what he had landed on.

A giant spider web.

Omi looked down through the holes in the web to see a bottomless pit below. He then heard chittering noises. He looked to see dozens of huge brown spiders crawling out of round holes in the walls. In seconds, they had surrounded him.

"Well, well, look who it is, fellas." One of them said in a rough, smart-alec voice. "It's the Cheeseball Exterminator!" The spiders laughed. Omi managed to get his footing on the web and struck a pose. "I defeated you once, wretched spiders, I will do it again!"

"How?" The first spider continued. "I don't see your lizard partner anywhere. Probably 'cause you broke his trust!"

"W-what?" Omi faltered.

"Yeah!" Another spider spoke up. "You promised you wouldn't use that fountain thing for anything else, but didja? Nooooo!"

"Some noble warrior, amirite?" A third spider asked as others around him murmured in agreement.

Omi slowly lowered his hand. "But…I honored my promise by not taking advantage of the information I wasn't supposed to learn! I AM noble!"

"So? Ya still peeked! Now you're all alone!" The first spider said again as he and the others advanced on the boy. "Face it, kid. You need someone who trusts you in order to deal with us!" The spiders cackled.

Omi's hesitant and guilty look instantly changed to one of anger and determination. "That is where you are wrong!"

"Huh?"

"I do not need anyone's help to defeat the likes of you! Wudai Neptune, Water!" Omi pointed his hands downward as water shot out of them, propelling himself up as the spiders next to him were drenched. Omi flipped and landed on another part of the web as the spiders recovered.

"Get that promise-breaker!" The head spider shouted as the spiders started swarming towards Omi. He shot more water at the spiders as he looked up. There! Among the holes the spiders had crawled out of, there was one with a door inside. Omi turned back and kicked a few spiders out of his way. He ran, leapt, and used the web like a trampoline to propel himself up to the hole with the door in it. He turned back to see that using the wet web like that had caused it to break, sending the spiders plummeting into the abyss below. Omi laughed triumphantly. "I can defeat evil on my own, no help is needed!" He exited through the door.

One strand from the web was left dangling on the wall; hanging from it were the three spiders who had spoken. The third that had done so, who was at the bottom, remarked, "You know, his skills really are worthy. More so, in fact."

The second spider, perched above him, added, "Yeah, but I thiiink he may have missed the point."

The lead spider, hanging on above both of them, sighed. "Again."

All three spiders' eyes widened as the strand of web they were clinging to snapped, sending the three of them into the pit like the rest.

Kimiko was starting to get weary. These tests seemed so real! What would the next one be like…what unfamiliar setting would she be transported to?

The next room she entered, to her shock, was super familiar. It was her father's company building. She saw conveyor belts and wooden crates everywhere. "Hello? Is anyone here?" she called out.

"Kimiko…" she heard a voice she instantly recognized as her father's. "Dad! Thank goodness you're-"

Kimko stopped when her dad walked up to her. His arms were held out and his eyes were glazed over. He had been transformed into a zombie…again.

"Must get Kimiko…" The man droned as he continued moving toward his daughter.

"D-Dad? Snap out of it! It's me, Kimiko! Your daughter!" Kimiko leapt out of the way as the brainwashed business owner swung at her. "Please Dad, I don't wanna hurt you."

"Must get Kimiko!" Mr. Tohomiko shouted as he suddenly started running towards her (unheard of for a zombie).

"No, no, come on!" she said as she dodged. "Dad, you have no idea what you're doing!"

Kimiko gasped. 'Those…those were the last words I said to him when I visited him a few months ago. ' Kimiko dodged her dad again while still thinking. 'We had a big fight that day, and I regret every word of it Now my dad's a zombie.' Kimiko parried a few blows from her zombified father with one arm and without turning her head. 'Maybe I'm not cut out for this like I thought I was…'

"I DON'T MAKE MISTAKES!"

"Just drop it, okay Omi?"

"This is all my fault…"

Kimiko suddenly glared with determination. 'No. That was just another mistake. I CAN make things right, and I will. I'll make up with my dad the next time I see him, but first, I have to deal with this FAKER!'

The female warrior suddenly grabbed her "dad's" hands and threw him over her onto his back. "I'm not afraid to fight you, Dad. And I'm not afraid to admit my mistakes. I'm sorry I got mad at you that day. I'll make it up to you…I promise." Kimiko said more to herself than to the zombie on the floor. The aforementioned man rolled over onto his stomach and smiled. "That's my girl." He said in his still-zombie-ish voice before turning into red smoke. Without warning, a trapdoor appeared below Kimiko and she fell down with a scream.

Clay strolled down the red hallways, weary but trying to remain at ease. This test would take as long as it needed to…he would only go home after he completed this task.

Or would he? Clay stepped from the hall to a desert as far as the eye could see. The sun was blazing high above, and the only obstructions to the sand were cacti and tumbleweeds. There was only one place this could be.

"Texas? What in tarnation?!" Clay asked himself. Before he got the chance to walk around, he felt rumbling in the earth far below him. It got louder and closer until a huge black column suddenly rose from the ground in front of Clay. The colossal black pillar continued to rise until it was half as tall and thick as a silo. It turned to Clay to reveal slitted eyes and a forked tongue. It was a huge black snake; a viper. Clay grit his teeth and clenched his fists.

The snake bared its fangs and lunged. Clay quickly sidestepped and punched the body as it slid past him. The animal quickly circled around and lunged at him again. Clay jumped out of the way, causing the snake to bite into itself. It recoiled in pain. Clay smiled and got ready to fight again. The snake turned toward him.

"Yes, Clay, fight me. It's been a long time comin'." Clay stopped upon hearing the snake talk. The voice seemed familiar for some reason…it was dark, but female and had an accent not unlike his own. Clay nearly fainted when he figured it out.

"J-J-Jesse?! Is that you?!" The viper smiled. "'Bout time you figured it out, big brother."

"But w-what happened? How did you do this?" Jesse let out a big hissy laugh. "How did I? You did this to me, Clay."

"W-what?"

"This is what happens when you hogtie the spotlight yer whole dadgum life! 'Clay this', 'Clay that!' UGH! I had none o' the things you had…so now I have this."

"N-now Jesse, I thought we made up about this! You're my baby sister! Now you stop bein' a giant slippery snake this minute! We don't want Daddy knowin' 'bout this, now do we?"

Jesse smiled. "Oh, he already knows, Clay."

"Huh?"

"That's right, son. Ah'm right here."

Clay turned to see another huge black viper even bigger and thicker than Jesse. It spoke in a twisted version of the authoritative voice Clay knew and loved so much.

"Daddy? You too?"

"Yessiree. And I reckon I changed mah mind about you bein' a man! Why can't you be more like the rest of us?"

"Yeah, Clay, why you gotta be such a disappointment?"

Clay turned to see another snake (in-between the sizes of the other two). He immediately recognized the voice and backed away.

No…not Patty too.

"Tell us, big bro," Jesse started as the three snakes surrounded him. "How does it feel to have let down yer whole family?"

No…I let them down…every one of 'em…I'm the worst cowboy ever.

The giant vipers closed in on him.

Haven't I tried my darndest to avoid this, though? I've always tried to be a good son and brother. Was it just not enough?

"You never understood what it was like growin' up in the shadow of a perfect older siblin'!"

"Whatever Ah wanted, YOU got!"

"The only thing you proved is what a mistake ah made lettin' you join this...Silly xi-ow pow Ring-a-ding quest in the first place."

"Ungh…ergh…" Clay grunted as his three family members bared their fangs. "NO!" The three monsters flinched back.

"I'm sorry I cast such a big shadow over ya'll. I was just tryin' to be the best I could be! Feelin' like ya'll were bein' overshadowed was the last thing I wanted! And daddy…I told you before. I know I don't do things yer way, but you need to accept it and let me do my job my way!" Clay fell to his knees. "I never wanted to disappoint any of ya'll. But I'll make it up to all of you...because that's what family does."

The three giant snakes exchanged glances before smiling. "That's what Shoku Warriors do too." Jesse said.

Clay hadn't expected this response. "Huh?"

"I'm proud o' ya, son. We all are." The scaly version of his dad replied before all three of them turned into brown smoke that blew away in the Texas wind. Clay suddenly felt himself sinking. He looked down and saw to his horror that he was in a sand trap! He barely had time to do as much as flail before being slurped down completely.

Omi was once again walking, and with more pride than ever. When he walked into the next room, he stopped. It was a coliseum of some sort, and it looked pretty ravaged. It was huge-even bigger than the "Roman Coliseum" Master Fung had told him about once. Omi noticed that it was night time, yet he could see the walls and floor of the arena perfectly. "What am I doing here…?"

"You're here to meet your end, boy."

Omi recognized that southern accent anywhere (no, not Clay's).

He looked up into the air to see his most recent, insanely wicked enemy-Hannibal Roy Bean. The normally tiny foe was now the size of Cyclops. He was consisted solely of green outlines and seemed to be flying on a cloud.

"Ready for round two, Cue Ball? 'Cause I am!" Hannibal shot green lightning out of his tendrils down at Omi. Omi dodged and looked up at the bean. He growled and felt energy coursing through him. He let his body absorb it until all he saw was a blinding white light. When it cleared, Omi looked to see that he was sitting on a cloud, made of white outlines, and was as big as Hannibal. Omi glowered. "Let's do this, Hannibal Bean."

"Ladies first."

Omi growled again. "Wudai Neptune, water!" Omi shot a torrent of water at Hannibal, who dodged. Hannibal shot more green lightning at him, with as much luck. Omi then used his power to summon a monsoon that rained on Hannibal. However, the bean wasn't affected by this annoyance. "Come on, Cheese Brain, is that the best you got? Gimme some fire or wind! You've got the power. Go on, show me you're the best!"

Omi felt inside himself and found that Hannibal was right. Omi could once again control all four elements, not just his own. He looked down at his hand and a small (to him) fireball appeared in it. Omi smiled and was about to use a Wudai Mars attack when he suddenly had a few flashbacks.

"Omi, that was most unwise."

"Man, you got an ego bigger than that dome o' yours."

"Stop trying to use ALL the elements! Focus on the ONE you do best!"

Omi could see what Hannibal was trying to do. He was trying to get Omi to overload himself again. Well, not this time.

"I do not control fire." Omi threw the fireball away. "I do not control earth." Omi produced a large boulder in his hand and threw that away too. "I do not control wind." Omi pushed his hands forward, causing a mighty breeze to blow. "I am the Xiaolin Dragon of Water, and that is all I need to be. WUDAI NEPTUNE, WATER!" An even stronger blast of water hit Hannibal head-on. While the bean sputtered, Omi turned his cloud into a cyclone of swirling water. He turned it towards Hannibal and shot out of it like a cannon, knocking Hannibal off of his cloud. The two fell to the ground of the coliseum, causing a HUGE flash of light.

Omi stood up. He was back to normal, as was Hannibal, who just lay there on the coliseum floor. Omi proudly stood over him. "I do not need to master all the elements, Hannibal Bean. With only one, I am already more amazing and spectacular than anyone can imagine!"

Hannibal groaned. "Close enough…" he said before disappearing in a puff of blue smoke. A trapdoor opened below Omi and he fell down with little more than a yelp.

A hatch opened in the ceiling and Kimiko dropped down. She managed to expertly land on her feet. She looked to see she was in a wide hallway with stone dragon heads appearing from the walls. Kimiko made a gagging motion at the design and looked to the end of the hall. There was a large set of double doors, much bigger than the doors she had previously walked through. Kimiko smiled; finally this quest would be over. She ran down to the doors and pulled. They didn't move. She pushed. Nothing. Kimiko put her hands on her hips.

Okay, what is going on? I finally reach the end and this thing won't even open?

Kimiko was so focused on the doors that she didn't even notice a black liquid pouring from the dragon heads on the walls. Kimiko turned and started walking away from the stubborn door when she heard a splash. She looked down to see that she had stepped in a murky black puddle. There was a large puddle in the center of the room now, and was growing every second.

What is- as soon as the smell hit the girl's nose, she knew.

Oil. Kimiko immediately made a mental note to refrain from using her fire powers. The puddle of oil continued to grow until suddenly, it lifted up like Omi controlling a puddle of water. The black gold swished and formed a shape resembling a body. It was not human, though, as the head was too big and misaligned, the arms were far too small and stubby, and what was unmistakably a tail was added. The oily figure rippled and shifted. Black liquid became green scales and facial features such as slitted eyes and razor-sharp teeth became defined. Kimiko gasped in recognition. She stared up into the merciless maw of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"So we meet again, girl." The beast said in a deep, yet British and feminine accent. "And just in time for supper!" The T-Rex ran toward Kimiko, but she flipped out of the way. "I'm not afraid of you! Take this!" Wudai Mars, Fire!" She formed a large fireball and threw it and the dinosaur. The T-Rex just smiled before opening her mouth and swallowing the fireball whole. "You really don't learn, do you?" she said before spitting the fireball back out at her. Kimiko dodged before running out of the dinosaur's stomping range.

Come on, girl, you got this. You're (almost) a Shoku Warrior! Now get your act together and make that thing extinct again!

Kimiko turned around and ran back toward the enemy. "Wudai Mars, Fire!" Instead of a fireball, a stream of fire shot from her hands. The dinosaur opened her mouth again, but this time the fire didn't stop. Kimiko kept pouring it in. The T-Rex started to look a little worried as her body started expanding like a balloon. Soon, Kimiko stopped her attack. The dinosaur looked ridiculous as a big green ball until glowing yellow cracks started appearing all over the body. Both Kimiko and the dinosaur's eyes widened before they spoke.

"Oh, crumpets."

"WUDAI FIRE SHIELD!"

KA-BOOOOOOM!

When the smoke cleared, Kimiko was holding her hands in front of her, which were producing a half-circle of fire around her; this was what had saved her from the explosion. The female monk dissipated the shield and coughed a little. She shot some more fire from her hands to dispel the remaining smoke as she made her way across the room to the double doors. She coughed again before entering.

The room inside was identical to the one Raimundo had entered in the last part of his quest. The only difference was the orb in the center of the star molding. When Kimiko climbed the steps to it, she took a second to gaze at the flames noiselessly burning inside it. She pulled the orb out. Not hot at all. The orb was filled with bright light and the flames were extinguished. It rose into the air and shined brightly. When Kimiko uncovered her eyes, she was looking at a different object altogether. It was a four-pointed star. At the center was a red jewel that resembled a smaller version of the star itself. Surrounding the jewel were grey metal handles that quickly widened. Each handle had a design of two curvy black lines that made a heart shape, the point facing away from the jewel. Finishing the star's design were gold spikes on top of the handles that pointed out like arrows. The object resembled a ninja star, much more than the Star Hanabi did, a fact that Kimiko instantly liked. After the star floated down into her hand, she closed her eyes as a voice echoed in her mind.

Dragon of Fire,

Congratulations, you are now a Shoku Warrior. You have certainly changed since your arrival at the temple. You could barely focus on so much as your hair color, and now your skills and senses have been honed past most adults'. You have faced your own flaws along the way, the most prominent of which has been pride. Your stubbornness to prove yourself by mastering the Tangle Web Comb almost caused your enemy to seize the powerful Golden Tiger Claws. When the Mosaic Scale broke, you did not want to admit to the others that you had made a mistake, a decision that almost plunged the world into catastrophe. You often say things that hurt others just to stop yourself from getting hurt. While you have much improved, you must realize that you are not perfect, you will make mistakes, and ignoring common sense to prove yourself will only make things worse. One particular teammate of yours may come across as rude and sexist, but please forgive him. He is not mean-spirited, he is only ignorant. You do not need to be better than everyone else solely because of your gender, nor will you ever be better. You are part of a team, and as such you must trust your friends to not only balance out your shortcomings, but to see past them. Go forth, mighty warrior, may your fiery unquenchable spirit be properly disciplined and controlled, and not become an unrelenting, self-destructive wildfire.

Kanabi Star.

When Kimiko opened her eyes, she noticed something glowing. She looked down to see that it was her sash. Before her eyes, it changed from the light blue of Wudai rank to the shimmering gold of Shoku rank. She held up her weapon, the Kanabi Star, and was surrounded by fire. Like before, it did not hurt her one bit. The Kanabi Star started glowing and changed. The vaguely-diamond shaped jewel in the center changed to a circle. The heart-designs on the metal changed to one whole side of the handle being black. Finally, the Star became a little bigger except for the points, which changed from four to eight, being evenly spaced from each other. Kimiko held up her knew Shoku weapon proudly as the flames licked all over her.

"Yes, I do trust my friends…and I promise I'll do my best as a Shoku Warrior!"

Clay suddenly found himself free of sand. He got up to see a round room with a large set of double doors at the end. Strewn amongst the room were large pieces of garbage, such as discarded appliances and other pieces of scrap metal.

"Hoo-wee. For an ancient mystical temple, this place is kind of a dump." Clay murmured to himself as he made his way past all the junk. He got to the doors and pulled. Locked. Clay took off his hat and scratched his head. He was starting to think of just punching his way through the door when he heard a loud metallic thumping. He turned around to see the appliances moving of their own accord. They were all converging towards the center of the room. They seemed to leap off the ground and stick to each other. In seconds, they had formed a towering robot with a head vaguely shaped like a mushroom.

Jack Spicer's Junk Bot.

"What the…thought I'd seen the last of you!" The Dragon of Earth bared his fists as the machine clunked towards him. Clay pounded his fists into the floor, causing a tremor that echoed across the room. However, the robot stood its ground. Its red visor lit up and a laser shot out at Clay. He rolled out of the way as the laser kept firing. Clay leapt at Junk Bot and punched its leg, barely making a dent. Junk Bot held out its large metal hand. It detached from its body like a normal Jack Bot's does and pinned Clay down. It held the cowboy with its large sharp claws. Clay struggled.

Not again. Come on, Clay, you're a Xiaolin Warrior; this feller's just a hunk o' scrap! You got this!

"You think you can best me? Think again!" Clay grunted. "Wudai…Crater…Earth!" Clay slammed his fists against the hand that held him, completely shattering it. Junk Bot looked away from Clay to look at its stump of an arm. Big mistake. Shouting the name of his signature attack again, Clay stomped the ground, causing a large earthquake and chunks of stone to rise from the ground. Junk Bot received numerous dents all over its body and was thrown off balance. Clay wrapped things up by hurling himself right at the robot's center.

Crash!

Clay punched right through the robot, leaving a large hole in the chassis. Junk Bot stood still for a moment, and then fell backward. With one mighty crash, the robot was a threat no longer. Clay stood up, walked past the motionless reject, and went back to the door. It opened. Clay smiled and went on through.

Clay walked into the same red room Raimundo and Kimiko had, with the dragon molding on the wall and the steps leading up to it. Said steps were crossed by Clay right up to the star molding inside the dragon's maw. An odd sight was inside the glass orb. At the bottom of the inner concave surface were a collection of light brown stalagmites that grew at angles so as to all fit in. Dust of the same color settled around them at the bottom. Clay pulled the orb out of the wall with ease, lightly disturbing the dust. The sphere then filled with light, causing the stalagmites and the dust to disappear. It lifted into the air and changed shape.

When Clay could look again, he was looking at a clenched metal gauntlet that would fit over his hand. The weapon was colored dull gold with lines across each finger. These were normally a dull metal gray color, but were currently glowing orange. At the bottom of the hand was a red band that separated it from a slanting ring-shaped opening where he could fit his arm into it. The ring was decorated with a thin line the same gray color as the lines on the fingers normally were directly below the red band that stretched down into squares in a pattern with the bronze. Inside the bronze areas below were gray swirls that looked like question marks (like on Raimundo's Sword of Lucida).

Clay slid his right hand into the gauntlet. It fit perfectly. Clay closed his eyes when he heard the voice in his head.

Dragon of Earth,

Congratulations. You have completed the next part of your journey by becoming a Shoku Warrior. You definitely deserve it; you have proven time and time again that underneath your tough body lies a heart of gold. You are kind to creatures great and small and would never intentionally hurt the ones close to you. Alas, in this modern, complicated world, pleasing one can displease another. In your childhood you strived to be whom your parents wanted you to be. Deciding to not disappoint them inadvertently caused them to be disappointed in other members of your family, to which they hold a grudge against you when you only tried to do your best. You have since made up with your sister by showing her the kind soul you truly are, and that is not the only time doing so has caused you to succeed. Your gentle and sensible thinking is what caused you to win your first Xiaolin Showdown and many other challenges afterwards. Yet you have also proved you are no pushover by standing up to your father and showing him that you do not need to abide by his rules any longer. Both ways of thinking will be needed in the future, especially with making peace with another member of your family that still wrongly holds a grudge against you. Even when the situation seems to demand otherwise, always keep your morals about you and never give up. Go forth, mighty warrior, may your will stand like a rock and your fist fly with the ferocity of an earthquake.

Fist of the Iron Bear.

Clay smiled and raised his Fist into the air. Shockwaves of energy seemed to come from the ground around him as it transformed. The weapon became bigger and bulkier, the lines on the fingers disappeared, the band became bigger and turned green and the bronze-colored openings for the question marks shifted into bumps instead of rectangles. The material for the Fist looked softer as well; it now resembled a boxing glove, except as just stated it still had fingers. The portion of the glove above the band was covered in a yellow glow, the same glow that was on Clay's sash as it changed from blue to gold, illuminating his already bright face.

"Watch out, varmints…there's a new Shoku Warrior on the block."

Omi fell from the ceiling with a thump. He got up and looked around. Nothing much to see; just a plain simple hallway with a large set of double doors at the end. Omi looked around, saw there was nothing to fight, and smiled. He took a step forward when he heard a shout identical to his own. He looked up toward the source and saw another trapdoor on the ceiling at the other end of the room. That one opened and what looked like another Omi came falling out. That Omi got up and the real Omi gasped. The doppelganger looked just like him except for his robes which were black with a red sash, his eyes which glowed red, and his dots which were rotated into a diamond shape instead of a square shape.

This was the evil version of Omi. He growled. "I must destroy you, goody-three-feet me! Time to fight-fight-fight!" He ran at the real, good Omi. Omi jumped out of the way and blocked a punch. Evil Omi tried a jump attack, but Good Omi jumped and kicked him in mid-air. Evil Omi slid back, but quickly got back up. He ran back at Good Omi and showered him with attacks, only for Good Omi to shower right back. The two were at a complete standstill, perfectly blocking when the other attacked and vice versa. Good Omi jumped back. "Wudai Neptune, Water!" A stream of water shot at the clone, who just smiled. "Wudai Neptune, Ice!" He held out his hands, and as soon as Good Omi's water touched them, it froze solid and raced back toward Good Omi. The real monk stopped his attack and got out of the way before he could be frozen along with his water. The long stick of ice fell and clattered to the ground. The two Omis went at it again. Still neither one made any headway. The two stopped attacking each other at the same time and jumped back, both needing a breather.

"Haha…You cannot defeat me." Evil Omi gloated. "We are alike in every way; evenly matched; two carrots in a pod! You will never win!"

Good Omi panted some more before looking back up at his counterpart. "You are wrong, evil-yet-handsome me! I will win!"

"And why is that?"

"Because good always wins over evil! Wudai Neptune, Water!" A stream of water shot at Evil Omi again. The boy just smirked and held out his hands, ready to do the ice trick again, but the water didn't continue forward to his hands. It split into two streams that circled around him. Evil Omi looked around confused before the circle of water around him suddenly closed in, causing a big splash that shot him into the air. Good Omi quickly jumped onto a wall, then jumped off of it up to Evil Omi. The real Omi delivered a final kick to his enemy and sent him flying all across the room, only to be abruptly stopped by the door. Evil Omi stayed there for a few seconds before sliding down and falling onto his stomach. Omi walked up to him triumphantly. "I do not want to say I told you so…oh wait, yes I do. I told you so!" Omi said, more cheekily than ever.

Evil Omi tilted his head up and gave an evil smile. "You have power, yes, but power is what leads to corruption. Perhaps we are not as different as you think." The doppelganger gave a final evil cackle before he turned transparent and melted, leaving nothing to show he had ever existed except a decent-sized puddle of water. Omi seemed to think about his clone's final words before shaking his head. "Pah! I do not have to listen to evil me! Even if he was deceptively good-looking!" Omi splish-splashed through the puddle that used to be himself and entered the last room.

You know what the room looks like by now. Omi walked up the steps and gazed at the orb at the center of the wall. Omi gawked when he saw that there appeared to be nothing in it. He was about to complain to whatever mystical entities had created this place that he had been "torn off" when he took a closer look. The inside of the orb looked odd around the edges, and Omi's reflection was off too. It was then the boy realized that the orb wasn't empty after all; inside was a floating, clear, absolutely still sphere of water. Omi grabbed hold of his prize. He seemed to have more difficulty than the others, but finally it popped out. The sphere glowed and rose up. Omi was so mesmerized by it that he didn't even look away when it shone brighter than normal. Omi, after having miraculously not been blinded, held out his hands as is new weapon floated down to him. Size-and-shape-wise, the orb hadn't changed at all; it was still that: an orb. The color, though, was very different. The orb was now a light blue color, like the Orb of Tornami. What made it different, though, were the additional designs on it. Across the sphere were darker blue wave patterns. Omi tossed it up and down. It felt good, the weight was alright, most suitable for the greatest Xiaolin Warrior of all time! Omi then heard the voice in his head, but he was too preoccupied with his weapon to close his eyes.

Dragon of Water,

…

You are a mighty warrior. There is no doubt about that. Ever since your infant days, you have been prepared for greatness. Your levels of skill and discipline are unrivaled, even amongst your teammates. However, your problem is that you allow all of this to go to your head. You constantly let your own achievements overshadow those of your friends. You did not even want them to become Xiaolin Dragons alongside you in the beginning. You continually point out their mistakes, even past ones, without even once thinking of your own. More often than not, you rush into dangerous situations without considering the consequences. Normally, this kind of behavior is NOT worthy of a Xiaolin Dragon.

Omi stopped fiddling with the orb.

However…there is still hope for you. Despite seeing nothing but greatness in yourself, you also see the greatness in others. Your enemies Jack Spicer and Chase Young are viewed by your teammates as nothing but that: enemies. You, on the other hand, have seen goodness in both of them on numerous occasions. You are a very active and friendly spirit, always trusting before mistrusting. While this has led to be the wrong decision on some occasions, it has been the correct decision far more often. Your heart's in the right place when it comes to others, but it must be in the right place for yourself.

The mysterious voice actually seemed to sigh.

You still have not learned your lesson. Even your experiences within this temple will not leave a lasting impact. Regardless, your success in the future depends on all four of you being Shoku Warriors. You have achieved your new ranking, but for your sake, remember what I said: practice humility, encourage others instead of chastising them, and never lose sight of whom to consider an enemy, and whom to consider a friend. Go forth, mighty warrior, may your small unclean puddle become a mighty ocean of purity.

Orb of Torpedo.

What seemed to be a river's worth of water rushed and flowed around Omi. The Orb in his hand changed more dynamically than the others. It wasn't even an orb anymore; it had transformed into something close to an actual torpedo. It was a rocket resting on a circular stand. In the middle of the stand was a pole that rose up into the "nozzle" of the torpedo and down to serve as a handle. The torpedo, stand, and pole were all the same color as the Orb had been, but the rocket part still had the wave designs on it. Omi gazed at the changed weapon for a second before looking down to see his new golden sash. He continued pondering for a second before breaking out into a big smile.

"Yes! I am finally a Shoku Warrior! I would say I did not think I could do it…but that would be a large rotund lie! Haha!"

As Omi continued to soak in his accomplishment, another sigh could be heard from the air around him. Finally, Omi closed his mouth and looked around him.

"So…how do I get out of here?"

The three monks exited their three temples and met up with each other, surprisingly quickly considering how long they had been wandering in the forest beforehand. Soon after they were out, Dojo came back for them. Much to their surprise, he told them they had only been in the forest for a couple hours.

"But…the forest…the temple…it seemed like forever." Kimiko insisted as they rode home.

"What can I say? Mystical forests. They have a way of doing that to you." Dojo shrugged. "Anywho, are those new sashes I see?" Kimiko discarded her previous confusion. "Yup. You're lookin' at three new Shoku Warriors."

"I'm so proud of you kids. You've got your new weapons, too, right?"

The three monks let out cheers in the affirmative as they held aloft their prizes.

"That's the ticket. Oh, just wait until Master Fung sees this!"

"Well done, young monks. Well done, indeed."

Everyone was back at the temple, and Master Fung stood at the front of the dojo. His four students were all before him on their knees, with their Shoku Weapons lying in front of them. From left to right, it was Raimundo with the Sword of Lucida, Omi with the Orb of Torpedo, Kimiko with the Kanabi Star, and Clay with the Fist of the Iron Bear.

"At last, all four of you are now Shoku Warriors, and have received your new weapons. Not only do you no longer need your Wudai weapons, you have no immediate use for your Elemental Charms either, as your Shoku weapons can be boosted without them." The four monks nodded, remembering how all their weapons transformed.

"However, now the Elemental energy comes from your own chi. It will take time and practice to get used to this, but once you master it, your skills will be mightier than they were with the Elemental Wu. In any case, go easy on boosting your weapons until you get the hang of it." Fung advised.

"Yes, Master Fung." The four chorused.

"Another thing about your weapons; I have already explained all of this to Raimundo, of course, but now it is time the rest of you caught up. You may have noticed they bear a striking resemblance to certain Shen Gong Wu you have frequently used in the past." The four nodded again.

"That it because these weapons, as you originally found them, were forged from the same mystical energies that are used to create Shen Gong Wu, and have changed shape to suit the warrior who claimed them. As such, they technically count as Shen Gong Wu, and can be wagered in Xiaolin Showdowns.

The three newly deemed Shoku Warriors looked excited for a moment, before their looks shifted to worry and unease.

"But Master Fung," Kimiko began. "If we wager these in a Showdown and lose…"

"Your enemy will own them? Yes. However-" Fung suddenly said, getting the attention of his students, "You will not have to worry about the weapons being used against you. For even though they are Shen Gong Wu, they are still your weapons. Only you can access their true power; for anyone else, they will only be as useful as the original Wu they were based on, and this is only after they have been granted permission."

Three heads perked up. "Permission?" they said in unison.

"Yes, for anyone else to use your weapons, you must give them permission to do so. Even if they win it in a Showdown, anyone who possesses your weapon but does not have your blessing to wield its power…will find it to be completely useless." The monks' faces brightened upon hearing that evil wouldn't be able to hack into the power of their new weapons.

"What will we do with our old weapons, Master Fung?" Omi asked.

"Do not worry, Omi. Your Wudai weapons and elemental charms will be kept in a secure location." Fung stepped aside to reveal the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman behind him. The chest opened and the blind spirit came out. He raised his arms and the eight old weapons floated up to him: The Shimo Staff, Kaijin Charm, Blade of the Nebula, Crest of the Condor, Arrow Sparrow, Cat's Eye Draco, Big Bang Meteorang, and Longhorn Taurus. The spirit sunk back into the chest and the Wudai weapons followed, the chest closing afterwards.

"The Blind Swordsman will keep your weapons safe until whenever you may need them again." Fung finished.

"Wow…seems like only yesterday we just got those things, huh guys?" Raimundo asked. "Now we've all got these new weapons to practice. Well, you have to practice more than I do." The leader snickered, having gotten a year-long head start on them.

"And I suggest the rest of you get to practicing." Fung sternly told them. "Now that you are all Shoku Warriors, it is almost time for you to begin the next step in your journey.

"You mentioned this 'next step' before we left. What is it, Master Fung?" Omi inquired.

"Raimundo?" The black-robed boy nodded and stood up to address his followers.

"Guys, working with all of you is great, and the four of us will always be a well-oiled machine, but now the machine's getting an extra engine."

The other three monks exchanged glances.

"Were you trying to sound like Master Fung?" Dojo called from where he was resting in the corner. "'Cause that was kinda…lousy."

Raimundo sighed. "We're adding another monk to the team."

"What?" Three surprised voices exclaimed at once.

"Yes, young monks." Fung said, standing alongside Rai. "I've watched you four grow as a team with pride. But with evil forces such as Chase Young and Hannibal Bean always lurking on the horizon, this team must grow even more. The other monks and I have been compiling a list of possible candidates. You will choose one of them to become the new Xiaolin Dragon in-training."

"Whoa…this is a lot to take in." Kimiko said. "First we get a new rank and new weapons, now we're getting a new teammate?"

"My Nanny…Things are definitely gonna be different 'round here."

"A new student…hopefully I can teach him many valuable things about how to be almost as amazing as me!" Omi seemed to be the happiest of the three.

"Come on, guys, it's not that bad." Raimundo insisted. "We got used to each other, didn't we? What's one more new guy?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right…when is this happening?" Kimiko asked.

"The tryouts won't be for a few more weeks, plenty of time for you three to get used to your new weapons and signature Shoku moves, as well as for all four of you to learn your new Shoku Rocket Formation."

"Don't worry, Fung-meister. I'll whip these three into shape. Gotta impress the new monk…whoever it's gonna be." Raimundo assured his master, who nodded.

"Prepare yourselves, Shoku Warriors. As I once told Raimundo, your job has only begun. The survival of the world depends on you."

Dojo chuckled. "Not too much pressure there."

So there you have it, the first chapter of my new XC rewrite! I have several ideas for what I want to do for the actual episodes, so just hang in there; the rest is on its way. Until then, keep fighting the good fight and Gong Yi Tan Pai!