24Hey homies. This is my newest project, and I'm working on a couple others too.
… Don't expect any updates any soon.
Chase silently cursed himself. He knew he shouldn't have shown up at today's showdown, and oh how he regrets not following his instincts! And now here he was, standing over an unconscious, naked albino toddler, glaring over his shoulder at the fleeing Xiaolin Monks. Sighing loudly, Chase looked back over to the small child curled up on the forest floor that they were in.
He squatted down and picked the boy up from under his arms, putting him not quite so gently over his shoulder. He wasn't aware of what exactly happened to Spicer, as he had been somewhat tardy to the showdown, but Chase had no doubt it had to do with some odd and very idiotic Shen Gong Wu combination from those imbecilic monks. As soon as they saw Spicer collapse, Chase later learned from Wuya, who left just before the monks when she too saw the young male fall, they grabbed the Wu and fled on Dojo.
Yes, he was evil, but Chase would never stoop down low enough as to let an unconscious and unarmed child alone in a forest infested with several beasts and creatures… even if it was that insolent brat Jack Spicer. Leaving a child to fend for himself? Those Xiaolin monks… good?Ha! As soon as Chase picked up the little Spicer and what was left of the formerly young man's clothes, he teleported back to his lair. Now carrying him like a parent would their kin (the infant's legs straddling the torso with arms supporting under the bottom and the head), Chase strode into the main entryway ignoring the curious stares of his various giant cats that hung around.
It was then that Wuya decided to make an appearance. "Oh, what is that?" she asked curiously. When she got closer, her face contorted into one of disgust. "Oh, what is that?" she spat. "If you had bothered to stay for a few more moments at the showdown, you would know that this is, in fact, Jack Spicer," he thrust the boy into Wuya's arms, and she almost dropped him in both fright and disgust. "Why is he naked!" she yelled, holding him as far away as possible from her. "Obviously, his clothes are too big to fit, Fool," Chase smirked. "Go make yourself useful, woman, and go buy him a new outfit," he ordered. "What?" Wuya hissed. "You don't plan on keeping him here do you?" she asked.
"No, I don't. I shall clean him up and then take him to his home for his parents to take proper care of him. Maybe they won't be such failures this time around and have him grow up with some skill," smirking once more, Chase sat upon his throne. "Now go. I do not enjoy looking upon his naked body, or you. Just set him down somewhere before you leave," he waved a hand at his cats, silently telling them to keep their paws off the child as Wuya propped him up against a wall. Glaring at Chase, she teleported away.
Wuya returned a short while later with a pile of shoplifted clothes. Chase looked over the top of the book he had picked up to read. "You may go place those on your bed and dress him in an outfit now. He shall be staying there for the night until he is once again conscious," this upset Wuya something fierce. "I will not-!" she began to yell but abruptly stopped when Chase snapped his fingers and she found herself surrounded by growling jungle cats. "Fine. Fine," she snarled, waiting for Chase to send the cats away so she could proceed to clothe Jack. Once that happened, she grabbed Jack up and stomped away.
The next time Chase saw Wuya was at dinner. Not much was said except what was to happen to Jack the next day. "I will rouse him from his slumber, take him to outside his mansion and drop him off with a note. Problem solved, and we shouldn't have to deal with the nuisance for many a year," after that was said, Chase left to his own bedchambers, ignoring Wuya's question about where she was to sleep.
It was too god damned early to wake up. Too. God. Damned. Early. Especially for a Saturday. Sitting up, Chase rubbed his eyes and combed his fingers through his hair. Not caring if still in his sleepwear, he stormed out of his room and into the one that contained the commotion that woke him. When he found out what it was, he was absolutely furious. Jack Spicer was running around his dining hall, playing tag with a few tiger cubs. A four year old was playing a childish game with his minion's cubs. Chase let out a deafening roar, catching the attention of all those in the room.That was not a good reason to be woken up for! Jack, who was dressed in a black and white striped shirt, beige shorts and black shoes, fell onto his bottom. Looking at Chase, instead of being scared, grinned and waved.
"Hi there, mister! Are these your kitties?" he asked, bending over sideways and hugging one of the black jaguar cubs. Seething, Chase teleported (he was that lazy in the mornings) over to the two, forcefully grabbed Jack up by an arm and teleported outside the Spicer mansion. He dropped Jack on the doorstep and glared at him. "You are to stay here until your parents find you. Do not move from this doorstep until that happens or you will be severely punished, is that clear you stupid child?" he growled. Jack, eyes wide, nodded. Nodding in return, Chase left back to the Lair.
And so that was the last Chase saw of little Spicer.
… For about two days, that is. Monday afternoon was a very boring time for Chase, and he had nothing better to do than check up on Jack, after seeing what the monks and Bean were plotting (which was nothing. At all). Consulting the Ying-Ying Bird, he sat with a glass of wine on his throne, expecting to see a spoiled toddler playing with piles upon piles of toys. What he found though was quite the contrary. Jack was no longer sitting on the doorstep, but the grass of his huge front lawn, shivering, dirty, tired and hungry. He was playing with the grass, it seemed, picking at it and mumbling to himself, yawning every so often.
It was then that Chase realized he had forgotten one huge problem with taking Jack to his own home: his parents were never, ever at the household and there was no longer a nanny to take care of him, seeing as he had been old enough to take care of himself (albeit not properly) only three days prior.
Frowning, Chase stood up, put his glass of wine down and teleported to where Spicer was sat. Startled at the sudden appearance of Chase, little Jack jumped, eyes wide. As soon as he comprehended who it was, he leaped up and practically sprinted over to the doorstep. Unfortunately for the toddler, he tripped in the process of running, scraping his chin on one of the stone steps. He quickly got back up though as if nothing happened, and sat on the top step, sitting in a direction that didn't require he face Chase. Said evil overlord rolled his eyes and walked up to the boy. Chase grabbed Jack's hair and forced him to stand up before teleporting them back to his lair.
When they arrived, they were in one of Chase's luxurious restrooms. "Bathe, then we will have lunch," he told little Jack, turning to start the water for him. "There are towels under the sink," he snapped his fingers and one of his jungle cats strode in, sitting down by the toilet. "When you are dried off and dressed into a clean pair of clothes Caligula will escort you to the dining hall where we will feast," With that, Chase turned to leave.
"Wait!" Jack suddenly shouted, reaching out for Chase. Chase turned, an eyebrow raised. "…Yes, worm?" he questioned. Jack hesitated. "Uh… can I have bubbles?" he asked loudly. Chase's left eyebrow joined the other raised one. "… I… don't see why not," he replied, snapping his fingers. A bottle of bubble bath appeared on the edge of the tub. "Anything else, Spicer?" he watched Jack make a ridiculous face that he supposed meant that the boy was thinking. "Nope, I don't think so!" Chase nodded curtly and turned to leave again.
"No, wait!" Chase immediately halted in his tracks. He didn't bother turning around nor answering. He was glad Jack was smart enough to figure out that just stopping meant for him to continue. "Can I have some toys, too?" after a moment Chase snapped his fingers again. A few rubber ducks, a plastic sailboat, and some rubber sharks, squids and dinosaurs suddenly appeared in the bottom of the tub. Chase then teleported away, having more important things to do than hang around a child.
Caligula had chosen wisely to sit as far away from the bathtub as possible, because Jack loved to splash about. After learning that it was best to just ignore the roaring sounds Jack made as he had a giant rubber shark eat a duck while being mauled by the squid, Caligula thought about the things he had done that day. It wasn't much, seeing as it was only the afternoon. Suddenly, he noticed silence from his right. He turned his head in that direction, only to find the little Spicer staring straight at him.
"You're named after the Roman emperor, aren't ya? That's so cool, I'm jealous," Jack sighed and put his chin in his hands, his elbows propped on the side of the tub. The giant cat tilted his head to the side. 'Jealous? He would rather be named after an insane Roman emperor whom had a thirst for blood? … But then again, this Spicer has always been a bit odd…' he thought.
Jack suddenly disappeared under the water again, only to return seconds later, his soaked red hair covering the top half of his face. "'Kay! I'm done!" he grinned, climbing out of the tub one small leg at a time. Caligula grabbed a big, fluffy towel with his mouth and tossed it to Jack. Jack grabbed it and quickly bundled himself in it. "Ok let's go!" he happily yelled.
Seemingly forgetting all about his sleepiness, Jack sprinted out of the bathroom, Caligula quick to follow. He made sure to stay just behind the boy instead of mauling him, at least until Jack tripped epically and face planted into the ground. Howling in pain, Caligula skidded to a stop (he would never admit that he was getting an adrenaline rush from the chase) and padded over to the sobbing child. Picking up the boy by the towel, he slowly walked the rest of the way to his waiting master in the dining hall.
The second he pushed his way through the door, Chase looked irritated. "What is the meaning of this?" he growled. Chase had whipped out the only Shen Gong Wu he always had on his person, the tongue of saiping. "He had been running and tripped, landing on his face," Caligula told him. Chase gave Jack a blank look. "Insolent fool," he hissed after a moment. Standing up, he walked over to his (secretly, don't let the others know they'd be jealous) favorite jungle cat and took the howling child from its jaws.
He held Jack up in the air away from his body and frowned. "Spicer. You will cease your sniveling," he hissed. Chase was honestly surprised when Jack followed the order. The boy examined the overlord curiously, analyzing Chase closely. "Wuya!" Chase suddenly snarled. Loud crashing and clanging noises were heard from somewhere in the lair. A few moments later Wuya appeared, tripping over her own feet and a sauce pan.
Chase stared blankly at her for a few moments. "I do not wish to know," he finally said. He not-so-carefully placed the naked Jack on the ground and pushed him roughly towards Wuya. "See that he gets clothed," Little Spicer stumbled, falling on his hands and knees. He quickly got up though. Wuya glared at Chase but nonetheless obliged the order. Picking up Jack as if he were a used condom, she stomped off towards the room where she had dumped the stolen clothes.
Not long after, they had returned, Jack fully clothed and tear free. She dropped him, and he landed on his hands and knees again. He did nothing though except quickly stand back up and run to a dining chair. All his attempts to pull out one of the huge stone sitting device were in vain. Chase rolled his eyes and Wuya, now seated, scoffed. Chase snapped his fingers, and the chair slid out. Jack scrambled up onto the chair, and he had to sit on his knees to properly see everything.
After about five minutes of an empty table (Wuya and Chase were conversing quietly, leaving Jack to simply be observant), Jack piped up. "Uh, why are we just sittin' here? There's nothin'-" Chase looked at him before interrupting. "Silence. My warriors are preparing our food this moment," he said. Jack looked awed. "You have warriors?" he asked.
"My jungle cats, they were once great warriors until I turned them into what you now see them as," Chase explained. "Um… isn't that kinda un-hi-jen-ic?" Jack counted the word's syllables with his fingers. "I mean, having bunches of kitties in your kitchen?" Chase just looked annoyed now.
"Yes, that is true, unless the 'kitties' are in their human form while they are doing the cooking," he growled. Jack looked down at the tablecloth and picked at it. "Oh, yeah, that makes sense, yeah," he mumbled, scrunching up his face when his stomach growled. Chase sighed. "Wuya, go see what is taking so long with our meal," he ordered. As usual (as of late, anyway), she glared at him but complied.
"Um, hey! Can you ask the kitties to make me a peanit butter bananana-bananarama-bananoramuna-"
"Banana. A peanut butter banana sandwich," Chase told her. Although he wasn't too surprised that even as a child Spicer adored bananas, but it did that even as eloquent as he was for a four-year old, he couldn't even pronounce 'banana'. Wuya had continued walking away, but halted when Chase called out to her. "Why don't you throw in a banana pudding cup, as well?" he suggested (pffft, 'suggestion' is just another term for 'order').
Jack gasped loudly. "Really?" he yelled. Chase nodded once. "Settle down, or I'll eat it myself," he threatened. Jack, whom had stood on his feet in his excitement, immediately sat back on his knees. "Yeah ok. … I really want that pudding," he whispered. Not five seconds later, Chase's warriors walked out with a butt load of food. Jack gasped again and stood on his knees as a polished blue glossy plate holding his sandwich was placed in front of him. "Thank you, kitty!" he yelled to the warrior serving him. The warrior just grunted. Chase dismissed them all and watched as Jack ripped his sandwich into four triangles.
"Enjoying it?" he asked him when he began eating the second triangle slice. Jacked smiled broadly. "Mh-hmm!" Wuya again made a condescending noise. "Just like himself, such a pig!" she was talking about how Jack managed to get peanut butter all over his face and in his hair as he ate. Chase looked at her. "I've tired of your presence. Leave," he calmly told her. She was flabbergasted. "I've barely eaten anything!" she screeched. "And whose fault is that?" Chase asked, lifting up his bowl of lao mang lone and drinking from it. Jack tried to imitate him by picking up his up of pudding and eating it with his face. Chase again ordered a snickering Wuya away before taking another bit of his salad, Jack again copying him by eating his last sandwich slice. Chase raised his eyebrows and slowly reached for his chalice filled with wine. Jack slowly reached for his glass of milk.
After putting his drink down, Chase put his hands in his lap. Jack did the same. Wuya, much to Chase's chagrin, was still there and was now giggling at what was transpiring. Chase glared at her and snapped his fingers, making all the food disappear and poor Jack yell, "My pudding!"
Chase ignored Jack and continued to glare at Wuya. "You, leave, now," his gaze shifted to Jack. "You, come here," he stood up as he said this, and didn't wait for Jack to follow his orders. He appeared suddenly by the boy and grabbed his arm, pulling him to his feet. He ignored Jack's whine from the pain and he continued to drag the boy along to where his stolen clothes were lying.
"Take what you want or what you can carry," he said. Jack was confused, and opened his mouth to question what he was supposed to be doing, but was interrupted. "Hurry up or you'll have nothing and these will be burned," Chase growled. This made Jack run to the bed and, with much struggle, climb up onto it. He pulled as many of the clothes as he could into his small arms. "Are you done?" Chase asked him sharply. Jack nodded. "Yeah-ow hey!" Chase grasped Jack by his hair and teleported them to the Xiaolin temple. Once there, Jack was dropped to the ground to collect all the clothes into one pile and soothe his aching scalp.
Standing before them was none other than the Xiaolin warriors, who paused in their chores to give notice to their sudden uninvited visitors. "Chase! What are you doing here, with an innocent child no less! Give us a good reason or prepare to fight!" Raimundo shouted, and he plus the other three quickly got into battle stances.
"Stand down, fools. I am here because it is high time you start taking responsibility for your idiotic mistakes, starting with Spicer here," Chase explained. He gestured to Jack, who waved at the monks and greeted them with a simple 'hi'. The monks were confused and it showed on their faces. "There is no way that can be Jack! Jack is around our age, give or take a few years older than us!" Kimiko snapped. Chase growled at her. "Like I said, whelp, I am leaving him, Jack Spicer, in your care. It is your faults he is a stupid, sniveling child once more and you shall deal with what you have caused," he nudged Jack with his foot, then disappeared back to his lair.
Clay slowly made his way to Jack, and kneeled down in front of him. "Hey there lil' pardner,"
"Hi!" Jack smiled at him with a sweet smile, making Clay shiver. He definitely wasn't used to that kind of smile from Spicer, even if he was just a toddler. He still had to make sure.
"Are you really that good-fer-nothin' Jack Spicer?"
"Ummm, yup! That's my name! … how do you know me, I don't know you! …I-I'm not a bad boy, promise! Don't listen to what my momma says, it's not true, really!" Jack cried.
"Aww, It's all right, pardner, I believe ya," Clay patted Jack reassuringly on the head.
"Clay, what are you doing? Don't talk to him, that freak. We can't let Chase Young order us to take care of this thing!" Rai demanded. "Wait a minute my friends, we must think about this! If we have Jack Spicer in our care as a child, then we have the opportunity to raise him on the side of good! He is at a very impressionable age now. With Jack Spicer on our side, we will be able to use his technological genius to help us in our quest to find the shen gong wu and fight against the heylin!" Omi said. Clay nodded in agreement. "That's a great idea, I reckon," he said. Rai and Kimiko were quick to disagree.
"There is no way we're going to let him stay here with us!" Kimiko yelled. "Well, partners, we really don't have no other choice," Clay said. "I do believe that is quite true! Chase Young will unwillingly take him back, and no one will be at Jack Spicer's home to take care of him!" Omi added, walking over to Clay and Jack.
"Oh and you seem so sure about that," Rai said smarmily, folding his arms. Kimiko put her hands on her hips. "Oh, but I am. I have had my fair share of conversations with Jack Spicer and he had once told me of how he was raised by only a nanny. She won't be there to care for him now," Omi, who was pretty much the same height as Jack, hugged the boy.
"Um, that hermit guy with the whole bunch of big kitties? Yeah, he didn't know that Miss Tammy only comes around every now and then either. He left me at home for two whole days b'fore he found out and took me back to play with his kitties!" Jack told them. The others stared at him.
"So you just hung out in your house for two days? That doesn't sound too bad at all," Rai scoffed. "Oh, no, I was outside playing with the grass!" Jack didn't seem too concerned about this. "Outside, alone? Oh no, poor Jack Spicer! You must have been scared, were you not? What with all the squirrels lurking about!" Omi hugged Jack's head to his chest and Jack giggled and hugged back.
"Well then… I guess we have no choice. Spicer will just have to stay with us, if Master Fund approves that is," Raimundo sighed. Kimiko looked horrified. "What?"
"Kimiko, it's three to one, just give it up. Besides, partner, he can't be half as bad as he is any other given day," Clay said, glancing at jack who, while still in Omi's embrace, had his eyes trained on a fluttering butterfly.
Suddenly, Dojo appeared on the scene, a scroll in his hands. "Hey you guys! I have your list of today's chores-hey, who's this?" he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Jack. "I'm Jack Spicer, I'm awesome!" the boy declared. "Jack Spicer! No way! What happened to you, kid?" the others then explained how Chase had appeared blaming them for what happened.
"Well, if he's going to stay here with us, you're going to have to ask Master Fung permission, you know," Dojo said. Raimundo nodded, "Yeah, we were about to do that," he said. All in agreement, the five left with Jack to confront their master.
"Good afternoon, young monks. Who is this you have with you?" Fung asked, quickly taking notice of Jack, who was on Clay's shoulders. "Well this here's-"
"I'm Jack Spicer, I'm awesome!" Jack yelled, interrupting Clay and giving a silly grin. Fung raised an eyebrow, and again the monks explained what was going on. "He has no where to go?" Fung asked. The others shook their heads.
"Then I will allow it,"
So for the next week or so, Jack got comfortable with his new living quarters, slowly being taught the ways of good. He would watch them train, and sometimes even he would join them in stretching by standing next to them and trying to imitate the monks' interesting poses. He would often fall flat on his bottom, though.
One day, Chase decided to check up on Jack, out of sheer curiosity and boredom. What he saw was Jack managing to catch a butterfly. He looked at it through his cupped hands before giggling and crushing it. This made Chase smirk. It disappeared though when Omi ran onto the scene and scolded Jack. He made the boy bury it and everything.
When Jack gave the butterfly a ridiculous and tearful eulogy, Omi presented a sobbing Jack with a monkey plushie. Jack's expression was that of someone winning the lottery. He was so happy, it disgusted Chase. He proceeded to go deeper and deeper into that pit of disgust as he witnessed Jack's 'evilness' unwinding day by day as he helped someone make muffins or he picked flowers for everyone. It had been the last straw when one day, Jack drew a ridiculous picture featuring the monks, Dojo, Fund and himself surrounded by flowers and hearts.
Without standing up, Chase teleported to the Xiaolin temple. He grabbed Jack by the forearm and tugged him to by his side. "What you are doing to him issickening. He is mine," he barked at the monks. Not waiting for a response, he teleported with Jack back to the lair.