Glad you guys liked the last arc (Helpless)! Just as a recap to those that chose not to read it:

Jack kidnaps Rai while under the control of a strange Shen Gong Wu, the Trember Trident. Katnappé knocks Jack over the head with the Fist of Tebigong (for some reason) and 'steals' all of the Shen Gong Wu - even the double-up ones from the future! After rescuing Raimundo, she decides that it would be too dangerous to stay with him (what with all the people wanting him dead), and leaves him in a cave with the Sword of the Storm, taking the rest of the Shen Gong Wu with her.

Oh, and I note that an Alert didn't go out for the last chapter of Helpless (7), just in case you missed it.

On with the fic!

&o&o&

"A meeting," said Jack, thumping his fist on the table at which Raimundo and Katnappé sat. They looked doubtful, not fully convinced.

AfterRaimundo had awoken, alone in the cave, he had called together the so-called bad guys, not daring to meet with his former friends - not yet at least. From his manner, Raimundo assumed that Jack had no memory of the past few weeks - a blessing. However, Jack was now trying to rope him and his new partner-in-crime into a crazy plan to take down Wuya, and he regretted coming to find him.

"C'mon, we all want Wuya out of the way, right?" He shot a meaningful glance at Raimundo. "She did try to bump you off, after all."

Raimundo grit his teeth. So now it was all about him. "And you just want to take over the world like it used to be. How exactly is this a united cause?"

"Well... Um..." Jack had hoped that they would just agree. Maybe he should have just hired a mercenary like Tubbimura? Even Katnappé seemed to be taking her cues from the Xiaolin-Heylin Dragon now.

"Didn't think so." Raimundo got up to leave, Katnappé reluctantly slid her chair backwards as well.

"Wait!" cried Jack, the cogs in his head spinning. "You could take the credit!" He paused, then added, slyly. "Your friends wouldn't turn you away if you defeated Wuya, would they? They'd welcome you back with open arms." Raimundo froze in his tracks, his eyes narrowing as Jack continued to talk.

"You could say that it was your idea, that it was the plan the whole time...

Raimundo was swayed. "Fine, call them up." he said, turning back to the table, not sitting down. "But I have a condition."

"What is it?" asked Jack, cautiously.

"Invisibility," Raimundo said.

&o&o&

Jack and Ashley waited in a room of the ruined Temple. There was noises outside - rain noises and rat noises. Soon, the sounds that they had been listening for were heard - human noises. Ashley shivered.

"I don't know, should we really be trusting Jack Spicer?" Kimiko asked her companions.

"No. After what Raimundo has done, we shall not trust anyone else. But we will listen." said Omi, gravely.

"Alls ah know is that this here Ten Thousand Years of Darkness is close to turning permanent, and we still have no idea of how to stop it."

"After what she did to Rai..." Kimiko bit her lip. "I'm surprised that we've lived the past few months."

"She probably no longer considers us a threat" remarked Omi. "It is indeed a daunting predicament."

The arrived at the half open door.

"is this the place?" asked Clay.

"This is where he said to meet, yeah." Kimiko bit her lip again.

"Can we be sure that this is not a trap?" asked Omi, rhetorically.

"Do we have a choice?" countered Clay.

Two pairs of unseen eyes watched them as they entered.

&o&o&