Domination

By: CrystallicSky

Disclaimer: I don't own Xiaolin Showdown or any of its characters, nor do I make any profit or attempt to with the writing of this or any of my other pieces.

Warnings: Language, homosexuality, implications of sexual situations, etc.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"What do you want?"

"To take over the world," Jack easily scoffed. "I've only been saying it for, like, eight years."

"So you have," Chase agreed. "Do you even know what that means?"

A frown. "Taking over the world?"

"Yes."

"Of course I do."

"What is it, then?"

Jack's frown deepened. "It's… I don't… What are you even…" He floundered for a few moments more before shaking his head. "This is one of those things that you can't just explain," he decided.

"Why?" Chase wondered. "Because you don't understand it?"

"Because everybody understands it!" Jack snapped. "Taking over the world is taking over the world: you can't simplify it beyond that."

"The 'it is what it is' argument, eh? I beg to differ. There is more," the dragonlord insisted.

Most certainly not pouting, Jack demanded, "Like what?"

"Like where, when, why, and how, for starters." Chase crossed one leg over the other, leaning back into the plush armchair he sat in. "These are questions you must ask yourself before you just blindly strive for a goal."

"I have!" Jack exclaimed. "I have asked myself that stuff! I'm not some kind of idiot who'd just charge into something like that. Give me a little credit, Chase."

"I will," Chase acquiesced. "You say you've asked yourself those questions: what were your answers?"

The youth paused. "What were…? What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I say. What were your answers to the where, when, why, and how of your plans for global conquest?"

"Oh… Well, the 'where' is everywhere," Jack said slowly. "I want to conquer the whole planet, after all."

There was a fairly long pause, and Chase quirked an eyebrow when his lover said nothing else. "And the 'when'?" he prompted.

"There isn't one," Jack eventually admitted. "It's…an ongoing project. I'm working on it now, and I don't know when it'll be finished."

Seemingly content with this as a response, Chase continued. "Why?"

"Because I…do."

"That's not an answer."

"It's my answer," Jack sharply retorted.

Chase eyed the young man for a moment, reading his defensive posture and hostile aura as only a seasoned warrior like himself could. It was immediately clear to him that Jack did not have a ready answer beyond that, even without seeing the blatant uncertainty in his bright red eyes.

"Then how?" he chose to ask instead of dwelling on the 'why.'

"How?" Jack parroted.

"Yes, that was what I asked you," Chase confirmed. "How, specifically, do you intend on taking over the world, Spicer?"

The warlord watched passively as the goth blinked once…twice…thrice before turning his gaze to the floor, looking deeply unsettled. His legs came up to his chest, stark white arms wrapping around them.

Jack muttered something under his breath, a delicate pink creeping across his cheeks.

Chase heard it perfectly clearly, of course. There was no need for him to ask Jack to repeat it whatsoever.

But he did anyways, because what the youth had admitted needed to be confessed, out loud, to another person for it to have any impact on him.

"What was that?" he said, enunciating firmly in such a way that demanded a reply.

"I said I don't know!" Jack barked, managing to look both sheepish and irritated at once.

"You don't know," Chase repeated.

The blush darkened. "I never really…nailed anything down, I guess," Jack admitted. "I was just gonna…I dunno, wing it?"

"So, you're saying you have no solid plan."

"…no. No, I don't."

"And that is precisely why we're doing this."

Jack looked up from the floor beneath the couch he sat on, over to his lord and master. "What?"

Chase gave him a look of utmost condescension. "Did you think I was asking you these things to irritate you, Jack?" he wondered.

"No," Jack replied instinctively. This reply was quickly amended after an eyebrow raised across from him. "Okay," he confessed, "maybe a little…"

"Not at all the case," Chase assured. "I'm asking you these things because I want to help you."

"Take over the world?"

"Precisely."

"Why?" Jack demanded.

It was Chase's turn to frown. "What do you mean, 'why'? You are my consort. Isn't that reason enough to want to help you?"

"Well, yeah, but…isn't it your goal, too?" Jack inquired suspiciously. "Why would you help me do what you're trying to do?"

Chase grinned. "You forget that I am immortal, Spicer," he said.

"So am I, now. What's that got to do with anything?"

"It is everything," Chase asserted. "I have time. There is no need for haste in terms of subjugating this world as far as I am concerned because I can always get to it later, so to speak."

"But…I have time, too, don't I?" Jack wondered. "Why do you want to help me do this now?"

Chase's smile widened. "Because you want it," he answered. "Because you have wanted this for most of your life and you don't have enough of the patience that I have in order to wait for centuries. You want the world now, and I would like to help you get it now."

Jack nodded slowly. "So…what? You'll help me take over and then, you'll take over some other time?"

"Why not? Considering I have that time, I don't see that it is impossible."

"Okay, so…help me," Jack prompted. "What do I have to do?"

"That, I cannot tell you," Chase informed.

This yielded a less than pleasant reaction from his consort.

"You can't tell me?" the goth demanded. "What the hell does that mean? You said you weren't just fucking around with me, and then you tease me like this? What-"

"Calm down, Jack," Chase coolly instructed. "I promise I'm not teasing you."

"Then-"

"I can't just tell you what to do," he explained. "If I did that, it would hardly be your conquest. It would just be you doing what I told you to do. The end result would be the same, with you as Earth's ruler, but it would hardly be as satisfying as it would be if the plan and the execution thereof were yours and yours alone."

"An empty victory," Jack realized.

"Exactly."

"Alright. So, I have to think of how to do this on my own. Fine, but you said you were gonna help," the albino reminded. "If I've gotta figure it out, what are you here for?"

"To give you a nudge in the proper direction," Chase answered with an enigmatic grin.

Jack eyed his overlord with an unwavering stare. "So, nudge me," he said without hesitation.

"Return to the basic questions," Chase said.

"…but…"

"What is it?"

"We were just there," Jack pointed out. "We just talked about that and didn't get anywhere…"

"We got nowhere, yes," Chase agreed easily, "but you didn't have answers for every question, now, did you?"

Looking positively perplexed, now, Jack stared at his lover. "Yeah," he confirmed, "I don't know the 'how.' That's what we're supposed to figure out."

"Before the 'how,' you must have the 'why.'" Golden eyes, a predator's eyes, flickered over the seated youth, sizing him up; appraising his worth. "What is your 'why,' my Jack?"

"I… What do you mean?"

"Conquering the world isn't the average pastime for prepubescent boys, Spicer," Chase pointed out. "Why was it—and is it—yours?"

"Why do you need to know?"

Jack's tone was suddenly frigid and guarded, his shoulders tense. One look in his eyes, those perfectly clear windows into the evil genius' heart, mind, and soul, told Chase of the insecurity that seemed to block the answer from escaping his lips.

Jack had not told his 'why' to anyone, before. He wasn't certain he wanted that to change.

"'Why' is just as important as 'how,'" Chase said calmly. "In fact, exploring the 'why' often leads right to the 'how.'"

There was a pause as Jack considered this, curling in on himself subconsciously as he acknowledged the point. "Do I have to explore it out loud?" he asked eventually. "Couldn't I just…think about it?"

Chase nearly winced at the blatant vulnerability he heard in his consort's voice. Such open susceptibility would do Jack no favors if he wanted to rule the planet.

"You could," he conceded, "but then, I would be unable to help you."

Jack said nothing.

"That," Chase continued, "and I am honestly curious."

Jack looked up.

Chase felt his consort's eyes on him, inspecting him, adoring him, taking all of him in.

"It's…"

"What?" the dragonlord wondered when the pause trailed off into a definite silence.

"It'll probably sound stupid if I say it out loud," Jack admitted. "I don't…I don't want you to think of me like that. Stupid."

"If I considered you to be stupid, I would not have made you mine," Chase spoke honestly. "Your reasons are your own and I will respect them."

Jack wavered, but held strong: his lips yet remained sealed.

"I have no room to speak of stupid decisions," Chase pointed out. "I sold my soul to a bean, Spicer. I have yet to truly regret it and the power and immortality I gained from it, but the decision itself was a stupid one. I swear on my honor that whatever reason you have for wanting the world, I will not sneer at it."

At that, Jack broke: he knew that Chase would never break his word, not once he'd sworn on his honor.

"It's because I'm…lonely," he said meekly.

"Lonely?"

Immediately, Jack's walls were going back up; closing himself off to head off any hurt or insult before it came.

Chase put a stop to it quickly. "I'm not criticizing you, Jack," he promised. "I'm merely curious. What do you mean, you're lonely?"

The defenses eased back again. "Just that. I'm lonely. The usual stupid fare," Jack shrugged with half of what might've been a mirthless chuckle. "Mommy didn't love me enough, daddy's never home, the kids at school are mean to me… It's all really cliché and emo, I guess. Stupid."

Chase shook his head. "It's far from stupid," he assured. "It's a stereotype and made light of these days, but people overestimate emotional resilience and underestimate the toll that emotional unavailability of family and peers can take."

Relief in those lovely red eyes: not stupid for being so hurt by others, for wanting their attention anyway, for not being able to 'suck it up and deal with it, crybaby.'

"Really?" he wondered aloud. "It's not…I'm not…?"

"Not at all," Chase promised him.

Jack sighed almost inaudibly. "That's… I… Good."

Chase smiled. "Really, consort, you should know better than to think I would look down on you for having feelings and having them damaged. That's hardly any fault of yours. If anything, it's their fault."

Their fault. Them.

Both knew who they were: everyone who had ever scorned Jack; ever hurt his feelings, ever called him names or done him injury. Anyone who had looked down on him, or told him he was stupid, or failed to be there for him when he needed it.

They were anyone who had ever made Jack feel lonely.

"Yeah," Jack slowly agreed, "it is. The whole damn world's fault. I know that."

Chase grinned wider. "Of course you do," he said. "That's why you want to rule them. You want to subjugate everyone and make them pay attention to you. You want to show them how wrong they were to ignore you and mistreat you. You want them all to see how great you are."

Jack's gaze flicked over to the armchair. "…Are you making fun of me?"

"Certainly not."

Chase allowed himself to look at his lover; truly look.

His eyes followed the long, folded legs up and down to slender hips that fit his hands perfectly. A slim torso branched out into the long and graceful arms yet wrapped around his knees, and the dragonlord couldn't help but remember all the wonderful, wonderful times those arms had been wrapped around him, blunt nails digging into his back while cries of, 'more' and 'harder' teased his ears with the almost-musical timbre of Jack's voice.

His face was hardly awful on the eyes; far from it. Chase loved to look at his consort's face, especially now that manhood had changed him for the better. Without baby-fat, Jack's face was a thing of aristocratic beauty: all high cheekbones and full lips and a straight, elegant nose, not to mention how nicely his features were accentuated by his red eyes and white skin.

Had Jack been around in his time, Chase surely would've mistaken the young man as some sort of prince or demon, possibly both.

Of course, he was more than just his beauty. His mind was what really attracted the dragonlord.

Jack truly was a genius. Such an interesting intellect he had and such skills it gave him! His mastery of mechanics was decades, perhaps even centuries ahead of its time, and Jack himself…

Well, Chase had known from the moment he'd met Spicer that no one quite like him would come along again for thousands and thousands of years; possibly even never again.

Unique, intelligent, beautiful, magnificent in bed…

"I'm not making fun of you at all, Jack," Chase confidently assured. "You are truly great and I should be far less surprised than I am that no one in this world of fools besides myself has yet realized that."

The blush was back, and Chase smirked. It was so terribly hard to embarrass Spicer: his physical resilience after being beaten down in a fight combined with both his obliviousness in social situations and his bold personality made it thoroughly difficult to discomfit the youth.

It was most definitely a source of pride for the dragonlord that he could make one comment and Jack's cheeks would redden like a schoolgirl with a crush.

"You're right," Jack admitted, only to become flustered. "Oh, wait, no—I don't mean you were right about me being great! I mean…well, I'm not not great, but I-"

Chase laughed. "Spicer, truly," he said, "don't attempt to be modest on my account. You never are, and for good reason: it doesn't suit you at all."

Jack gave up. "Okay, fine," he agreed, "I am great. And you're right. I do want to show them that. I want to prove that I'm great. I don't want there to be any doubt anywhere that Jack Spicer is totally awesome in all ways possible."

"That's more like it," Chase smiled. "So, my great and beloved consort wants to show the world how 'awesome' he is. What in particular do you want to show them?"

It seemed that this was something that had not been considered before, because there was a long pause as Jack appeared to think it over.

"Well…" he said eventually, "I'm a genius. Should we start with that?"

"We can start wherever you'd like, Jack. It's your conquest, after all."

The albino nodded. "Okay, then, let's start there. How do I show people I'm a genius?"

"Turn that question back on yourself," Chase suggested.

"But…I don't know," Jack frowned. "That's why I asked you."

"I promise you that you know the answer," Chase enigmatically assured. "You've always known. Ask yourself; why do you think you're a genius?"

"…because I am?"

"Deeper," the warlord urged.

Jack stared hard at his knees as he struggled to answer his master's question to him. Chase could tell immediately that he was searching his mind for some life-changing, ground-breaking revelation that he had never thought of before and coming up with absolutely nothing.

"You're over-thinking this," Chase said. "The answer is exceedingly simple. What is it that makes you a genius?"

Biting his lip, Jack made a face. "Um…" he began uncertainly, "I dunno…my IQ…?"

"Which is how high?"

"312, you know that."

"I do," Chase agreed. "And what is the average IQ for everyone else on the planet?"

"Like, 100-ish," Jack shrugged, "what does that have to do with-"

He cut himself off, eyes wide in revelation and Chase grinned.

"If other people knew my IQ, they'd freak," Jack declared.

"Now, you're on the right track," his lover praised.

"Nobody's ever had an IQ as high as mine before," he continued, more to himself than anything. "If it gets out, I'll make headlines everywhere. I'll be breaking records, doing interviews on television, getting fan-mail… I'll be famous."

"And what comes with fame, my Jack?" Chase wondered, clearly not for his own benefit.

"Fortune," the goth answered automatically. "I'll get even richer than I am; my own money instead of my parents'. I'll be rich in my own right."

"And what comes with money?"

A deliciously evil grin came across Jack's face, one that made Chase thoroughly proud to call the youth his consort. "Power," he answered. "With that kind of finance and reputation backing me up, I could do anything. I could bribe world leaders, blackmail people in higher and lower standing than me…" Abruptly, he looked up, locking his intent gaze on his master. "Chase, I could be the typecast billionaire-supervillain character—but for real!"

"You could be even more," Chase suggested. "Don't forget your extraordinary talent with machines and robotics."

By now, Jack had definitely caught onto the idea and seized this fact immediately. "You're right," he eagerly nodded to himself. "I can market my inventions! Not the really good ones; those I'll keep for private use, but I can sell the rest to corporations and the public."

"Why?" Chase knew this answer already, of course, but he just knew Jack would want an excuse to say it.

"Because it'll boost my reputation even more," he replied, clearly excited at the prospect. "I'll make more money, get even more famous, and then…"

"Then?" Chase prompted.

"Then, I'll have machines and robots distributed worldwide," Jack declared. "People today are lazy: they like machines to do their work for them. I just have to take advantage of that. If everybody knows what a genius I am, there's no way they'd mistrust something I'd designed and produced. The public, private companies, everybody who can will buy from me and rely on my robots for anything they can be relied on for. And then, when my machines are everywhere-"

"They'll rebel at your behest," Chase finished. "As their creator, their deepest loyalty will have been programmed to go to you. No one on the planet has yet mastered robotics on the scale that you have, so it will be all but impossible for anyone to reprogram them against you, and besides that, the mechanical uprising would happen too suddenly and unexpectedly for anyone to even think of that."

Jack nodded, grinning widely. "Human soldiers would be no match against my bots, of course. Not after their most recent upgrades."

Chase offered a wry smirk in return. "Are you referring to the new tungsten frame that keeps them from being destroyed by any kind of external damage, or the new weapons system you've installed that should rightly be in the dictionary under 'overkill'?"

"Why not both?" the genius laughed. "Either way, nothing will be able to stand against them—or me, for that matter."

"What of the world's nuclear weapons? I can think of several world leaders who would consider the lives of hundreds of thousands of people a necessary sacrifice if it meant taking you and your robotic legions out, as well."

"I'll be capturing and/or killing the world leaders first," Jack assured, easily waving away any concern over that. "And if anybody else tries to initiate a nuclear strike against me, they've clearly never had to contend with my hacking skills. I could break past government firewalls and redirect nukes wherever I want; maybe the Xiaolin temple, if I haven't leveled it already by the time I seize control of the globe."

Utterly proud of his lover and minion, Chase smiled. "Congratulations, Jack," he practically purred, "you have your 'how.'"

"I do, don't I?" Jack grinned, obviously elated. "You're good at 'giving nudges.'"

"Naturally: I've had centuries of practice at it."

"Devious bastard," the goth chuckled. "You can be my right-hand man in my new world order. Maybe I'll even let you be my consort!"

Chase laughed. "Very well, master," he teased. "And when should I expect to assume this position for you, O Great Emperor of Earth?"

Jack hummed thoughtfully. "That's a good question. I guess it depends."

"On?"

"How soon I can put things into motion, how long it takes for people to really take notice, how quickly I can get the money and the rep to start producing machines globally and people will actually buy them, how long it'll take for said products to be distributed just about everywhere… Several factors, actually."

Chase nodded, acknowledging this. "What do you think?"

"Well," Jack said, "I could start as soon as tonight, although this plan isn't particularly time-sensitive; so long as I get the ball rolling before mankind catches up to my level of robotics, and that'll be decades in the future. Still, the sooner, the better, right?"

"Knowing you? Certainly," Chase agreed.

"As for how quick I'll get noticed for being a super-genius, that'll probably be a matter of hours thanks to the interwebs. A strategic information leak to a few of the right sources," he explained, "and I could be all over the news by morning; one of those, 'overnight sensation' deals."

"Money and reputation will take a bit longer than that," the dragonlord warned. "Not too terribly long, but certainly more than a few hours."

Jack nodded. "Definitely. I'd say months for that part. Four or five, maybe six, and then a few more for distribution. From there, it'd pretty much be a handful of days until I have complete control and…"

Chase watched as Jack trailed off, only to laugh out loud a moment later.

"Holy crap," he grinned, "this is gonna happen in less than a year. Eight years of failure and then you talk to me for an hour and, boom! Global conquest before the year is out!"

Jack uncurled from his position on the couch, making a beeline for Chase in the armchair. The everlord was utterly pleased to see the usual love and admiration in his red gaze, mixed with anticipation and glee.

Chase was kissed deeply on the mouth and responded eagerly, uncrossing his legs and straightening up into the kiss while affectionate white hands played briefly with his hair.

"You know I love you, right?" Jack cooed at him, his tone sultry and warm.

Chase smirked. "I should hope so," he said. "You certainly tell me often enough."

His Jack smiled at him and kissed him again, dipping to nuzzle at his neck just so before pulling back.

"I'm gonna head down to my lab and see what I can do to get myself out there," he said. "Then, I'll be back up and we can celebrate my soon-to-be victory with a bottle of wine and a movie or something."

And with that, he was off, practically skipping out to go and conquer the world.

Chase watched him go with less of a smirk and more of an honest smile. Earth was in need of new management and Jack…

Well, Jack was the perfect candidate for it: it would most certainly do Chase's Heylin heart good to see such an evil, talented young man appointed its ruler.

Pleased with himself and his consort, the dragonlord returned to his home to browse through the selection of wines he'd accumulated over his many years of living.

After all, only the finest of wines would do in order to toast the beginning of a glorious new era.

-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N: This all started kinda randomly. I was talking to Silvarbelle about the third movie in the Mummy franchise, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I was watching it at the time hoping to be inspired to write Chack, because I was having creative urges and nothing was coming to me.

In any case, I was mentioning that a downside of the film was how little time is spent with the Bad Guy. All the focus was on the Good Guys; nothing wrong with that per se, but it's hard to root for said Good Guys if you don't really have a feel for how bad the Bad Guy really is.

Having seen it three or four times prior to the rewatching, I could hardly even remember what was so bad about the guy. I knew it was something about gaining immortality and taking over the world, but that's the cookie-cutter parameters for a generic Bad Guy.

It's when you flesh out the Bad Guy from those parameters and give him/her depth and substance that they become an awesome villain. Example: Chase Young.

And that's when inspiration struck: I realized I'd never really written a fic that explored the motives for villainy before, which is kinda ridiculous considering that my favorite pairing are two villains.

Chase's motives and methods for being evil are pretty much explained in the show, and I felt that to write a fic solely about that would be a little redundant.

Jack is a different story: we know he wants to be evil (and unfortunately, fails very badly at it), but not really why.

So, here's Jack's tribute-fic: a why/how he wants to/can be truly evil. :)

Thanks for reading (and thanks even more if you read the whole mini-novel in this A/N! XD), and I hope you enjoyed it! :D