14AN: I missed you guys so much! I had a really good break. I'm fully settled into my new job as a middle school art teacher and my new apartment. Honestly, I'm so glad to be writing again :D
This story was born out of a burning desire for a high school AU, which there is a definite lack of in this fandom. That got me thinking that maybe... Xiaolin Showdown was imagined by children. This story is the result of it.
I hope you all enjoy Wild.
Wild
Chapter 1: New Kid on the Block
Tucked away in a quiet neighborhood in a world not unlike our own, was a long street with a cul-de-sac at the end. The houses were modest, separated by tall wooden fences. Five of them were occupied, leaving one of them, the white one with navy shutters and wildly overgrown flowerbeds, empty. It'd been empty for years.
Or at least, that's what the other kids had told Jack Spicer.
Jack and his family moved to the neighborhood of couple years ago. He got along fine with the other four kids living on the same street but sometimes… It was hard to feel included. Especially looking the way he did.
Jack was albino, white as winter snow and just as delicate. His hair, like his skin, was also colorless. But the most shocking thing about Jack were his eyes. Ruby red. And in lieu of his rather vampiric appearance, he tended to behave like one, shying away from the light, staying up late and sleeping in.
Maybe if he went out more, he'd get along better with the others. But getting along with Omi, Kimiko, Clay, and Raimundo was the last thing on his mind at the moment. Instead, he was far more focused on the moving truck.
The moving truck parked outside the last empty house on the street.
Jack chewed on his thumbnail, staring out the bedroom window. His open notebook and pencil laid forgotten on the desk before him. He'd been drawing, sketches of large mechas littering the page and properly labeled with the numbers 01 through 05. He didn't care what the others said; robots were cool.
But his favorite TV show was driven clean from his mind; a car pulled up beside the moving truck. Slowly, Jack retrieved the pair of binoculars from a desk drawer, raising them to his eyes so he could get a better look. The driver, who climbed out and smiled at the house, was a young woman of Asian descent. She ran a hand through dark bobbed hair, turning to say something to whoever else was in the car.
The passenger seat door opened. Jack gaped. He couldn't help himself. A teenager climbed out, broad-shouldered with waist-length black hair. Jack had never seen a guy with hair that long before. It was absolutely mesmerizing. The teen reached back into the car, tossing a duffle bag over his shoulder.
"What're you dong?"
Jack yelped, jumping and dropping the binoculars. Wuya, his older sister, leaned against the desk, smirking.
"Spying on the new neighbors? That's super creepy, even for you."
"I-I was just curious!" Jack spluttered, going red as she plucked the binoculars out of his hands. "Give those back!"
Something caught Wuya's eye beyond the window and she did a double-take.
"No fucking way…"
Ignoring her brother's protests, she learned against the desk, peering through the binoculars. Her eyes widened.
"That's Chase Young! Holy shit!"
"W-wait, that's Chase Young? The guy you have a big-ass crush on?"
Wuya smacked the back of Jack's head as he snickered.
"He goes to my school, ding-bat. Soon your school."
"He attends Weld-Smith?"
Weld-Smith was an extremely prestigious private high school not too far from the neighborhood. Anyone could get in by passing the entrance exam but it was pretty obvious the school catered to international students, it's ESL program being one of the best in the country.
Jack was due to start in the Fall, having passed the entrance exam with flying colors. Wuya would be a Junior. And apparently, so would Chase Young.
The second Wuya left his room, Jack leaned across the desk again, refocusing his binoculars on the mysterious Chase Young. The teen plopped his duffle bag down on the curb, pulling his hair up into a messy ponytail. He was nodding as the young woman (probably his mother) talked to him. Jack noted he had really pretty eyes. Some odd shade of light brown that seemed nearly golden in the early afternoon sun.
Those eyes suddenly looked directly at him, seeing him through the binocular lenses. Jack squeaked, tumbling sideways off the desk and clutching the binoculars to his chest, heart galloping and eyes wide at being caught. He buried his burning face in his hands with a groan.
What a wonderful first impression. Fantastic.
-oOo-
Chase Young dropped his duffle bag on the floor of his new room. It was in the back corner of the house and had two big windows perpendicular to each other, an accordion door closet, and cream carpets. The room was currently very empty; all his furniture was in the moving van.
Any other teenager would've started mentally decided where everything was going to do. But Chase was far too tired- both mentally and physically- at that point, sitting down in the center of the bare room. A soft knock on his doorframe had him turning his head. His mother, Li Hua Young, was standing there, smiling.
"They're going to start unloading the truck soon, if you want to help."
Help. Right.
"Yeah, sure. Are there any places to eat close by?"
"I guess it is rather late," Li Hua mused, checking her watch. "We didn't really get to stop for lunch… How about this: I'll go out and get food, and you start helping unload the truck. Sound good?"
"Sounds good."
There was a pause where Li Hua looked at Chase, brow furrowed. Chase stared at the carpet. He tried to will his mother out of the room, to try to make her sense he needed to be left alone.
"I know this past week had been hard on you, Chase."
No such luck.
"Mom, please, I really don't want to talk about it," Chase sighed, pulling his duffle bag over to himself and unzipping it, attempting to distract himself.
"… Alright. I'll be back soon."
Li Hua left. Chase leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the floor and groaning, long black hair creating a curling curtain around him. He didn't know how long he'd be able to avoid talking about things with her but he'd play the game as long as he needed to.
He sat up, rifling through his duffle bag. He pulled out a dog-eared paperback of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He opened up to where his bookmark was and started to read, falling right back into the story he'd read at least a dozen times prior.
The moving truck could wait 10 minutes.
-oOo-
June was pleasantly warm but dry. The rest of the kids on the street woke when the sun came roaring through their windows at dawn, prompting them out of bed, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Jack, however, had these wonderful things called black-out curtains.
He fell into his summer routine with delightful ease, staying up as late as he pleased. In the afternoon, he typically went out to belatedly play with the others until sundown. And these hours were decently fun. But his true joy was found at night. These hours were filled with gaming, sketching, anime, and tinkering around with the box of old car parts he'd found in the garage. He loved the night. The night was quiet, peaceful, free from distractions. Sometimes he stayed up all night, crashing as the sun rose.
This was one of those nights.
Jack logged out of his Minecraft server, closing down the laptop. It'd been a gift from his parents for getting into Weld-Smith and the moment he'd booted it up, he'd downloaded some choice games he'd envied for a while. In all honesty, his fingers were itching to take it apart; his head spun with ideas of what he could make with so many parts. But seeing as he'd actually need the laptop for school… He'd have to at least wait until graduation.
He rubbed his eyes, glancing at the clock. It was 5 AM. He leaned on his arms on the desk, gazing out of the window. The street was quiet, the moon a sliver of silver against the dark sky. Thank goodness it was summer.
Movement at the Young residence caught his eye. He blinked. A window on the side of the house had opened, a tall figure slinking out. Jack scrambled for his binoculars. Sure enough, it was Chase Young. What the hell was he doing?
Jack kneeled on the floor behind his desk, ready to duck if seen, staring through the binoculars. He watched as Chase carefully closed the window behind him. Tying up his hair as he went, he strode down the street. Jack stood quickly, leaning over his desk as far as he could go, watching Chase until his disappeared around the corner.
That was weird. Jack lowered his binoculars slowly, frowning. Why would Chase Young be sneaking out of the house at 5 AM? He thought all teenagers slept until at least 10 if Wuya's sleeping habits held any truth to them at all.
Chase was different. Like Jack. But also like… Really cool. Unlike Jack.
He had to be his friend.
-oOo-
"Did you guys see the new kid?"
"You mean the one with the super long hair? Yeah, I saw him."
Raimundo was bouncing a soccer ball between his knees, eyes following its movements. Kimiko was perched on the curb close by, tapping away at her iPod Touch, Omi watching her play Goo Zombies 3 over her shoulder. Clay lay sprawled out in the grass of Raimundo's front yard, searching for shapes in the few clouds above him.
"Daddy would never let me grow my hair out that long."
"That's because your daddy is 'a good Texas gentleman'." Kimiko imitated the drawl Clay and his father shared. Raimundo barked out a laugh, dropping the ball to let it balance on his toe. Clay snorted.
"Can't fight you on that…"
"I think it is most wonderful," Omi chipped in. "It is good to have another Chinese family close by."
"Guan doesn't count?" Kimiko asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He lives two streets away!" Omi whined. "Too far to walk!"
"Dude, we keep telling you, you need a bike."
"My scooter is far superior to any bike."
He meant the Razor kick scooter laying on the curb next to him. It was silver with royal blue handles made of some soft material. After a bit of wheedling, he'd gotten Clay to paint blue waves on the board. Omi loved water in all its forms and was definitely the best swimmer in the neighborhood. His scooter deserved waves. He would never trade it out for a bike.
"I don't think he's gonna play with you, Omi," Kimiko sighed, tucking her iPod away in her pocket. "High schoolers are weird."
Omi frowned.
"Jack plays with us," he pointed out, "and he is almost in high school."
"Jack doesn't count, partner."
"Jack counts when he has juicy gossip for you."
Clay tilted his head back to see Jack had finally arrived. He was wearing distressed black skinny jeans and a black tank top, stark in contrast against his skin. Clay, wearing a pale blue t-shirt with khaki shorts, looked Jack up and down. Raimundo laughed.
"Get lost on your way to a goth convention?" He asked, plucking his own orange and white striped tank top away from his sweaty skin. His own jeans were faded, blue and baggy. He couldn't fathom skinny jeans. Not in June. Not at any time.
Jack rolled his eyes.
"That's original. Think of that one yourself?"
"Boys, cut it out," Kimiko huffed, brushing off her jean shorts and standing with a smile.
Her graphic tee was almost long enough to cover said shorts. Jack personally found this to be a crime against humanity. However, since his own fashion was often criticized, he tended to keep his own mouth shut on other people's choices.
"Jack, what do you know about the new boy?"
Omi, of course, went straight for the jugular with little preamble. This was his way and Jack appreciated him for it. Omi was his favorite of the bunch, honest and always well-meaning, even towards Jack. Today he was clad in jean shorts and a white polo.
Jack grinned.
"Tall, dark, and Chinese is Chase Young," he shared. "He's in the same year as Wuya at Weld-Smith."
"He's in your sister's year?" Raimundo made a noise of absolute disgust. "Poor guy."
"Right?" Jack laughed. "I don't know much else… It looks like it's just him and his mom. Buuut if he goes to Weld-Smith, maybe he can give us some pointers."
"You mean give you some pointers," Clay drawled with a grin. "We still have another year."
"Yeah, so? You have a year, Rai and Kimi have two years- OW!"
Jack rubbed his bicep where Kimiko nailed him with a punch, wincing.
"Don't call me Kimi!"
"Damn, girl, ow! You know I bruise easily!"
"Good!"
"My bad, wow… Rai and Kimiko have two years… Omi still has like… What? Three years?"
"I am going into 6th grade," Omi confirmed. "You are correct. But with my brains, I should skip most of junior high."
Omi was too busy inflating his own already engorged ego to notice the eye-rolls. Confidence would only get you so far and Jack knew it to be a fact.
Jack was smart. What he lacked in social skills, he made up for in brains. His third grade teacher used the term "brilliant". Math came so naturally to him, using a calculator for equations and complex problem solving only got in the way. Again and again, he was told by his teachers he could be an architect, an engineer, a rocket scientist… But Jack had his eyes set on something else.
Jack loved robots. Robots, weapons, and what his teachers called 'superhuman mechanics'. For reasons he couldn't fathom, other kids found his fascinations… Strange.
It caused friction. And often.
"Well, you guys know what we've got to do, right?"
They all look to Raimundo, who spun the soccer ball on his finger.
"Get Chase to hang out with us!"
"And just how do you suggest we do that, partner?" Clay asked. "We know nothing about him."
"Easy," Raimundo said with a shrug. He tossed the ball to Jack, who caught it on reflex. "We knock on the door."
He started across the street. His friends all cried out in pleas and head shakes, but he merely grinned over his shoulder, giving Kimiko a thumbs-up. She groaned.
"What an idiot…"
Raimundo rapped sharply on the front door of the Young residence. The others made their way quickly across the street but stopped short, choosing to stand safely on the sidewalk instead of crossing the lawn. Omi watched curiously. Clay swallowed.
Jack wanted to spontaneously combust.
The door opened. Chase Young was standing there. He was in gray sweatpants and a t-shirt, long hair in a ponytail. In his hand was a bowl, probably cereal, a spoon sticking out of his mouth. He removed it.
"Can I help you?"
Jack nearly melted onto the pavement; his voice was just as handsome as he was. Smooth but with a bite, like the sip of Fireball whiskey he'd nipped from the bottle in his parents' liquor cabinet.
Raimundo smiled.
"I'm Raimundo. We were wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out or something."
"I do not… 'Hang out'. At least, not with pre-schoolers."
Kimiko seethed but Jack couldn't hold back a snort, biting his lip to keep from grinning. Chase's gaze shifted beyond Raimundo to where the rest of them were huddled together on the sidewalk, finding Jack. It was like being x-rayed. Chase's eyes scanned him from head to toe, probably because of his strange appearance. Eventually, he looked back to Raimundo, a slow, lazy grin gracing his lips.
"Why don't you take the Boxcar Children back to the playground?"
And with that, the door was closed again. Right in Raimundo's incredulous face.
Jack couldn't help it. He started cackling so hard he struggled to catch his breath.
"Really, Jack?" Kimiko deadpanned. "Really?"
"S-sorry, but…" Jack gasped, clutching his middle as Raimundo stalked back to the group, grumbling. "Your faces! Oh, jeez! H-he's hilarious!"
-oOo-
Jack stumbled into the kitchen around noon to find Wuya perched on the counter. She was painting her toenails, her cellphone wedged between her shoulder and cheek.
"No, I'm serious, the moving truck got here last week!" She paused to listen to her friend babble on the other side of the line. She rolled her eyes. "Absolutely, I'd know Chase Young anywhere. Do you know any other Chinese men with hair like that?"
Jack yawned, opening the fridge. So he wasn't the only one who had an unhealthy obsession with that dark mane. Good to know. He took a sip straight from the carton of fruit punch, earning a kick to the ribs from Wuya.
"Get a cup, you animal!"
"Bite me," Jack muttered, putting the fruit punch away and getting out the milk. "Don't you have work today?"
"Not until 4. But, no, that's what I'm saying!" Wuya hissed into the phone. "This could be my chance!"
Jack poured himself a bowl of Crunch Berries, batting his sister's legs aside to get a spoon. She scooted aside, smacking his head with a rolled up take-away menu.
"Move your tyrannosaurus ass!"
"Fuck off!"
This was a typical day in the Spicer household. Parents? At work and out of commission. House? Somehow spotless. Siblings? At each other's throats.
Not that they'd ever actually hurt each other. Wuya taught Jack everything, from how to brush his teeth to how to tie his shoes. Having two parents married more to their work than each other did that. They loved each other, really. But they were still two teenagers living under the same roof.
Jack hopped out the front door, tugging on his black and white Vans. The sun was blazing in the sky and he squinted as he made his way around to the garage. Pulling his bike out, he ran with it to the end of the driveway, swinging his leg over the seat and kicking off.
There were only a handful of places he knew the others could be.
-oOo-
The month carried on much like this: Jack woke up at noon, ate something, and joined his friends. If it was Friday, he met them at 7/11. If it was Wednesday, he didn't meet them at all; Clay had youth group and Omi had Kung Fu classes. In the evening, Jack sat down to have dinner with Wuya. If it was a weekend, Kevin and Jillian Spicer were also there.
Jack's parents were ghosts that would come and go, occasionally bearing gifts or take-out boxes. Kevin sold cars, Jillian sold real-estate. Every once in a while, they'd take a wildly luxurious trip somewhere. But most of the time, Jack and Wuya were on their own. And they preferred it that way.
Jack continued staying up late, occupying himself as he waited. Sure enough, at 5 AM on the dot, Chase would crawl out of his window and head down the street. Some nights, Jack wouldn't make it. He'd fall asleep at his desk and slump off to bed, telling himself he didn't care if he missed a night.
Eventually, though, watching wasn't enough. Jack was dying of curiosity, his need to know consuming him completely. He wasn't being creepy, he told himself as he crawled out his own window at 4:45. This totally wasn't creepy.
Was it?
Okay, he finally conceded as he hid behind the bush on the corner of the street. It was a bit creepy.
He waited. Chase walked by. Jack watched him go from the safe confines of branches and leaves. He watched him go through the playground close by and duck under a branch, disappearing beyond the line of trees. Jack scrambled out of the bush to follow. He knew exactly where Chase was going.
Chase was by the lake. The lake wasn't all that big. But it was too big and deep to be considered a pond, and it was decent for swimming in the dead of summer. Jack himself never swam in the lake. But he knew the other kids made good use of it.
Jack stayed a fair distance away behind the tree of a rather large oak tree. What was Chase doing?
He was… Barely moving. His foot slid along the ground, tracing a circle with his tow. His arms moved in arcs. Jack stared, mesmerized by the methodical movements. It was like a dance of sorts, a very slow dance without a partner and without music.
It was utterly enchanting. Jack couldn't help but feel like he'd stumbled upon something incredibly private so he took great care to stay out of sight. Eventually, he backed away quietly, leaving Chase to his early morning ritual.
-oOo-
"Maybe if Chase Young sees how cool the Shen Gong Wu are… He'll play with us!"
"Somehow I doubt that."
"No, really!" Omi insisted, gesturing at the toy sword in Kimiko's hand. It was painted yellow with golden swirls on the "blade", a red cord tied around the handle. They called it the Sword of the Storm. When swung, it created a great gust of wind. "If he held it, he might see how fun it could be!"
"You, uh… You want me to hand Chase the Sword of the Storm?"
"Uh-huh! And tell him you want to Showdown him for it."
"That's never going to work, chrome-dome," Raimundo huffed. "We'll be down an entire Shen Gong Wu. And I worked my butt off making that!"
This was their game. Xiaolin Showdown started off as a way to decide who got a particularly cool rock they found by the lake. Then it grew into competitive games for "magical" items of their own invention and these items, these Shen Gong Wu, gave them tactical advantages in the next game.
It was amazing what you could come up with when your summer world was confined to however far your bike could carry you.
"Rai's right, partner," Clay agreed. "Chase might not give it back."
"No, I do not think Chase Young would do that. Just because he's a teenager does not mean he's a smelly egg."
"That's a rotten egg," Kimiko corrected with a grin, spinning the Sword of the Storm in-between her fingers.
"Same difference! Either way, it worked on Jack!"
"That's because Jack's special."
"Screw you, Rai," Jack groused, sitting up from where he was laying in the grass. On his forehead were a pair of goggles he'd fashioned himself just for the game, yellow with black swirls on them.
Even though he was a bit old for make-believe, Jack played along because… Well… He didn't have any other friends. When they offered him the chance to be a villain, he took the role with enthusiasm. He knew the others still played because they'd all grown up together, practically since they were in diapers. It meant a lot to Omi, the youngest. So they continued to play.
Admittedly, when they all got along, it was actually a lot of fun.
"Do I have to?" Kimiko whined. She was standing in front of Chase's front door, holding the Sword of the Storm, looking like she'd rather swallow a live lobster than do what she was about to do.
"Please, Kimiko," Omi wheedled. "Just this once!"
Kimiko swallowed, knocking on the door resolutely.
When Chase opened the door, he scowled deeply. Kimiko handed him the Sword of the Storm as he opened his mouth, likely to tell her to buzz off. He stared at the toy in his hand. She sighed.
"It's a sword."
"It's a… Stick."
"It creates great gusts of wind! A most valuable weapon in the hands of a true warrior!" Omi pipped up from behind Kimiko. Chase huffed.
"I am not interested in your little magical toys," he grumbled. "There's five of you. Play with each other."
Thrusting the Sword back into Kimiko's hands, he slammed the doors in their faces. Jack snorted.
"You're not going to get him to Showdown with you, Omi," he said, shaking his head. "That man is an island."
-oOo-
AN:Any and all thoughts are appreciated :D
Wild will be updating every other week but stay tuned; I'll be posting another story next weekend ^.^
Glad to be back!
-P3ac3fulFor3st
