The first thing Kimiko noticed was that her shoulder was all better, like it had never been dislocated. Which technically was true, she supposed, but also technically not.

She opened her eyes. They were back in Jack's basement lair. In front of her, Raimundo was holding Jack up by his jacket, but as the situation caught up to him, he let go. Behind her was Clay, who seemed to be struggling with the hard reset as well as the sudden lack of the powers he gained from the soup. His stunned petrification gave Dojo the perfect opportunity to flip off his hat and whack the bag of Wu into the air.

The bag expanded back to its full size with a shout of "Changing Chopsticks!" upon which Clay, shaking himself active out of necessity, grabbed Dojo and threw him against the floor with a snarl.

"I got it!" Raimundo declared, backing up as the bag arced downwards. But Clay simply used the Golden Tiger Claws to tackle him from behind. He straightened up to catch the bag, but it had sailed right over him and exploded against the ground, scattering magical objects everywhere. Jack instantly scrabbled on the floor and grabbed whatever he could.

"Aw heck," said Clay in exactly the same manner of a mother surveying a child's messy room. And then Omi kicked the Golden Tiger Claws out of his hand. Before they could even clatter on the concrete, Clay tried to snatch them out of the air – but was stymied by a kick to the head that sent him sprawling. The Claws skittered somewhere out of view.

"I suggest that you pay attention," Omi said, his mouth set in a determined line. "Otherwise, you may suffer much harm."

"Well I suggest that you git outta my way, else I'll pound yer bulbous head intuh paste!" Clay roared back.

Both Kimiko and Raimundo slid to either side of Omi, arms raised for a fight. "Not likely," Kimiko shot back. But Omi threw his arms up in front of them.

"Leave Clay to me. You must find the Ying Yang Yo-yos!"

"But – "

"Do not worry," he interrupted, puffing out his chest. "I will be able to handle Clay on my own." The next second, Clay slammed into him like a train that was high off coal, and the two of them collided in the far wall. Raimundo and Kimiko stood frozen, watching as the dust cleared, until they saw Omi flip off of Clay's back and sweep his feet out from under him. Both of them let out their breaths in a light sigh and then proceeded to crawl around, looking for either of the Yo-yos.

Omi, in the meantime, found himself struggling. This was nothing like fighting Sabini, who only knew how to use Clay's weight and brute strength to simply bear the brunt of any attack and return with twice the force. Clay, on the other hand, dodged and blocked and weaved and feinted – he never had any of the speed and flexibility of the others, but he was perceptive. He kept his distance and predicted Omi's attacks and waited silently for an opening. Omi, of course, knew how to fight opponents many times bigger than himself – but only when those opponents let him use their weight against them. Clay wasn't giving him any opportunity at all. And it didn't help that sometimes he would abruptly run off to look for the Golden Tiger Claws, stopping whenever Omi gave chase to deliver a powerful blow that he had to struggle to dodge because of his own momentum.

It happened again, after Omi tried to deliver a high kick that Clay simply ducked under before sprinting away, eyes scanning the floor. Omi paused when he landed. Repeating the pattern of 'chase and get punched' was not very savory to him. So when he noticed that his foot was brushing against a certain snake-like Wu, he took the chance with great enthusiasm.

"Lasso Boa Boa!"

Clay spun around at the invocation but couldn't stop the Lasso from constricting around his ankle. He fell to the floor jaw-first.

Omi gave a wide smirk from the other end of the Lasso Boa Boa. "You shall have to deal with me first," he said, which probably would have had a stronger effect had he said it after the first time Clay tried to flee rather than the fifth.

In response, Clay jerked his leg upward, pulling Omi to the ground as well, and then jumped on top of him. "Sure, I'm willin' t' oblige," he said, punctuating his sentence with applied pressure on Omi's spine.

The petite monk flailed, feeling something buckle, before twisting around and pounding at Clay's side. At least he was keeping Clay from going for the Tiger Claws; if he got them again, it would be over. Although it would be nice if somebody found one of the Yo-Yos already. But glancing around the room, Omi couldn't help but notice that his friends were still busy on the ground.

And then Jack straightened up, arms fully loaded with Wu. "Sweet! Tiger Claws!" he crowed, loud enough to catch Clay's attention.

Omi would have smacked his forehead if Clay didn't do it for him, smashing it against the ground in an attempt to force him into a concussion. Without even checking if he was successful, he jumped to his feet, shaking off the Lasso Boa Boa, and charged towards Jack.

Being a technological genius, Jack had developed a bit of a problem-solving ability. Unfortunately, it applied more to programming problems rather than human walls approaching much too fast for comfort. So, faced with a pissed-off Texan, Jack's first instinct was to shriek and throw the Golden Tiger Claws in a direction that was away from him. "Okay, okay, take it! Please don't hurt me!"

"Jack, you idiot," Kimiko screeched as Clay instantly changed course and made a jump for the flying Claws. She abandoned her search to make for them as well, but she already knew she was too far away. Clay's fingers were already brushing the Wu.

It was at this moment that Raimundo straightened up. He flung something straight at the spot where Clay would have to land. "Ying Yo-Yo!"

There were many things Clay could do, but changing his trajectory wasn't one of them. He disappeared into the portal along with the Golden Tiger Claws, the curse he spewed out cut short when it closed behind him.

Now that the threat of Clay escaping was over, Kimiko was free to give Jack her full glare. "Why didn't you just use the Golden Tiger Claws to leave?"

"Uh," said Jack, hugging his acquired Wu tight. It would take the remainder of his dignity to admit that it had simply not occurred to him.

Raimundo hadn't paid any attention to any of this and instead had gone back to scanning the floor. His eyes brightened when he spotted the Yang Yo-Yo and he scooped it up and opened another portal. "Check on Dojo and Omi," he barked over to Kimiko almost as an afterthought, and then he disappeared before she could even offer to go with him.

"Oh my god." Kimiko rubbed her forehead, because boys. If Raimundo had just stopped for a second and thought, maybe he would remember Clay's chronic chivalry. Maybe he would have realized that she was really the best choice to go. But no.

Jack shifted his arms so that the weight of all the Wu was spread more evenly. "So I can keep all of these, right?"

The Ying-Yang World greeted Raimundo with a floaty embrace that carried him lovingly to a ground he couldn't exactly see. Dust billowed from nowhere when he landed like a feather and when it cleared, he saw absolutely nothing.

"Where'd he –" Raimundo managed before he was tackled from behind. Clay bowled him over completely and in surprise, he let go of the Ying Yo-Yo.

"No!" Despite the weight on top of him, Raimundo pulled himself closer towards the Yo-Yo and slammed his hand on it. But Clay's reach was just as long, if not longer, and his meaty palm slapped down on the Ying Yo-Yo's string.

"I challenge you t' a Xiaolin Showdown," he growled as Raimundo snapped his neck upward. "My Tiger Claws 'gainst yer Yang Yo-Yo."

"W-wait," Raimundo said, his expression a mixture of panic and pain. He tried to shift the arm that held the Yang Yo-Yo, but it was utterly pinned.

"Th' game's pick th' Wu outta buncha fakes."

Raimundo bit his lip and tried to yank the Ying Yo-Yo out, but Clay's grip remained firm. "I…alright. I accept." The last word clung to the walls of his throat and ripped away the lining as it was dragged out. Neither one said anything as the Ying-Yang World distorted into something that was rather similar, because not even a Xiaolin Showdown could make it any more bizarre. The Ying Yo-Yo flew up and popped into disappearance and at the same time, several copies blended into existence around their feet.

Clay fired off a grin. Raimundo flinched. "Gong Yi Tampai!"

The showdown started with Clay's shoulder slamming into Raimundo's nose like a shuttle slamming into the Earth's atmosphere. Raimundo could do nothing else but crumple and slide backwards, straight through fake Yo-Yos that fizzled out of existence as soon as he touched them. Using his momentum to flip back to his feet, the Brazilian clutched at his nose. It didn't feel like it was broken but still, when he pulled down his armor's mask, his hand came away covered in blood.

"Woah, woah! This isn't a fight, dude!"

Clay rolled his shoulders and wiped his hands on his jeans. When he leaned forward, Raimundo could clearly see his familiar smile. "Yeah, well, while we're here an' all." Then, with a force that displaced all manner of dust, he launched himself into a terrifying sprint.

Raimundo resisted all instincts to run away. Planting his feet on the ground, he watched as Clay approached with all the inevitability of the future. Then, he flung his hand out. "Yang Yo-Yo!"

Without even slowing down, Clay made a quick slash in the air and instead of sliding out of the Ying-Yang World, slid into Raimundo's back; once again, Raimundo's face found itself meeting the ground.

"Aw, c'mon! Y'didn't reckon I'd fall fer th' same trick twice, didja?" Clay's laugh was absent of any cheer. When Raimundo pulled himself to his feet again, he saw that Clay's smile had entirely disappeared. "That's almost insultin'."

If his hood wasn't in the way, Raimundo's hair would have stood on end. But instead, he shifted to a more stable stance, his eyes flitting around the sea of Yo-Yos. He didn't actually need to win the showdown, he just had to find a good opportunity to use the Yang Yo-Yo before Clay won.

With another swipe of the Golden Tiger Claws, Clay disappeared into a portal and instantly reappeared above Raimundo, who was able to dodge before all one-hundred-and-seventy pounds of Clay landed on his head. But he didn't escape completely; before he could spin around for a counterattack, Clay's hand snaked out and grabbed his hood. Raimundo soon found his legs pinwheeling in the air as he struggled not to choke.

"Y'know, you'd prolly have more luck if y'all jus' used that Yo-Yo fer teleportin' 'round 'steada tryin' t' git me all caught up in it," said Clay, holding Raimundo out at arm's length without any sign of tiring. Swinging, gaining momentum, Raimundo managed a desperate bicycle kick that connected with Clay's chin. This didn't elicit much reaction beyond a thoughtful rub at the injured area and another ruthless toss against the ground. Raimundo was getting very tired of skidding everywhere. He was starting to get carpet burn.

"Why're y'all tryin' t' use it on me anyways?" Clay asked, approaching with an unnaturally casual air.

Raimundo jumped up again and backed away, his feet dispersing countless holographic fakes. "We're just trying to get you normal again," he finally spat out in sheer frustration.

"Ah, I understand." Clay's boots, previously stepping soundlessly, started to thump. "'S long as I ain't a pushover, I ain't normal, huh?"

"What are you even talking about?" Raimundo shouted back, shooting a blast of wind in order to push Clay backwards, or at least halt his advance. "What does that even have to do with anything?!"

For a few seconds, Clay was frozen in place, unable to move forward and unwilling to step back. But then with another portal, he was behind Raimundo. The two exchanged several blows before Raimundo flung the Yo-Yo out again, forcing Clay to jump back so he didn't fall out of the Ying-Yang World. "As soon as I'm actually getting' my foot in th' spotlight, soon as I'm succeedin', I gotta go back t' 'normal.'"

"Succeeding at what?" Raimundo shot back, flipping backwards even when Clay made no movement towards him. "All you did was beat some people up and turn into a crazy monster thing!"

"I was gainin' power!" Clay roared back, his thick arms looking eager to strangle anything in range. "But you were afraid of that, huh? 'Fraid I'd take over as leader?"

"Clay, you're not even making sense," Raimundo said, trying to sound firm in his denial, but falling short. "Listen to yourself, dude."

"How 'bout you listen?" Clay sneered, starting to circle around. Raimundo moved the other way, keeping Clay in front of him at all times. "Th' only reason you got chosen was pure luck an' circumstance. Yer a lazy ass an' a screw-up, Rai. You never deserved th' position."

Raimundo didn't have time for a retort, not even for chewing on his lip, before Clay rushed at him. Aiming a burst of air at the ground that pushed its way across the floor in a wide radius, Raimundo propelled himself upward and hung there, far above Clay's reach.

The Yang Yo-Yo burned in his grasp. This wasn't working, not with Clay on his toes like this. The Golden Tiger Claws weren't helping matters either. He needed to surprise him, and he just couldn't.

The only way he could think of was if he used the Yang Yo-Yo to pop in behind him. But that wasn't an option for him. At all.

The sound of a tear opening in space brought him back to earth in an unfortunately literal way – Clay had dropped from above to deliver a devastating axe kick all the way to the ground. Raimundo bounced twice and found himself unable to get up. At least, not steadily. His entire body grimaced when he forced it up on his feet and checked on his nose. Definitely broken.

"Anyways, this has been fun an' all, but I think it's time t' end this."

"What?" was Raimundo's intelligible reply as Clay opened another portal. He could see the other end appear next to a distant Ying Yo-Yo. And then, scanning the floor, Raimundo realized that it was the only Ying Yo-Yo. "W-wait, but where – "

"Y'think I were jus' tossin' y'all 'round fer fun?" Clay rubbed at his bruised jaw and smirked. "Though it was fun."

Raimundo took a step and his knee half-buckled. "Wait! We're not done!"

"We are," said Clay, reaching for the rip.

Raimundo made one last throw. "Yang Yo-Yo!" The small Wu flew through the air, but Clay simply leaned to the side and it passed by, into the portal.

"Y'know, if y'all jus' keep doin' th' same – "

Raimundo rammed his head straight into Clay's chest with surprising force, considering that he had just crashed several feet into the ground. He was in no state to tackle anybody, which meant it was the perfect moment to tackle. Even if it meant popped knees and a split skull.

The two of them fell through the Claw-made portal, after which Raimundo fell back to the floor with a horrible headache. Clay continued to stumble backwards, and when Raimundo looked up, he was gratified to see the look of utter shock and confusion before Clay toppled into the Yo-Yo-made portal and fell straight out of the showdown.

The gratification fell away when he saw what was left behind – as Clay had passed through the threshold out of the Ying-Yang World, something like a dark skin peeled off, unable to follow. It was thin and smoky, yet viscous at the same time, and as he watched, it coalesced into a horrible, demonic form that towered and snarled.

A bird's cry shifted Raimundo's attention upwards, and he saw a small, familiar form drop. As soon as it landed, it was as though a very selective vacuum had turned on, and the black, sticky stuff was sucked away.

Hannibal stood in front of Raimundo with that ever-present smirk that both frustrated and sickened anybody who saw it.

"Well, that was in'erestin', wasn't it? Not as much chaos as I'd like…but in'erestin'.

"I knew it," Raimundo said, trying to sound impressive. It was a bit hard when he could only manage to get to his knees. "You lost, Hannibal. I stopped whatever your stupid plan was."

Hannibal rubbed his non-existent chin with an earthy tendril. "True, I was hopin' t' come outta this with one-a y'all dead. But fer one, you look 'bout half-dead already." Raimundo raised a hand to his head and gave Hannibal the satisfaction of seeing him wince. "An' fer another, I figure I'm still gettin' away on top."

The bean reached out and touched the Ying Yo-Yo, and the Ying-Yang World thrummed as the showdown ended. Raimundo blinked, feeling the Yang Yo-Yo disappear in his hands.

"Y'all oughta pay more attention, boy." Hannibal turned around with a snicker. "Ying Yang Yo-Yo!"

"No!" Drawing from strength that wasn't there, Raimundo lurched up and managed to dive into the portal after Hannibal before it closed. Before he even hit the floor, before he could even properly see his surroundings, he shouted out, "Stop him!"

But the sound of a "Golden Tiger Claws!" and two subsequent thuds told him that nobody could. And with that, he simply didn't feel like getting up, not when the world was full of pain and failure. So he stayed on the floor.

"Rai! Are you okay? What happened?" Kimiko, who unfortunately wasn't a mind reader, pulled Raimundo up. Light pierced through his eyelids and forced him to confront consciousness. But he rebelled by keeping his eyes firmly closed for the moment.

"Clay…is he alright?" he managed.

"Well," said Omi, and the way his voice distanced itself from the question made Raimundo's eyes snap open and search his surroundings.

It was hard to miss Clay. He was on his feet, thankfully, but had dragged himself over to Jack's table and slumped over it, head in his hands, fingers furiously entangled in his hair. He was uninjured, but Raimundo could easily see that his breaths were shaky at best. And yet, he made no sound.

"He's," said Kimiko, and she trailed off into a full stop.

The door to the basement opened and Jack came in with a bowl of pudding. "Are you still here?"

The first day back at the temple was for recuperating, not only for Raimundo but also Clay, who had refused to (or couldn't) say anything and who had instantly gone to his room and didn't come out for anything. Not even for dinner. And when he refused the food they took to him, Omi wondered out loud if perhaps he was still not himself until Kimiko elbowed him into silence.

The second day was also for recuperating, or so Raimundo assumed, but he woke up unnaturally early and because staring at the ceiling until the sun rose didn't sound like fun, he slid out of bed and limped around the grounds. Granted, jolts of dull pain running up and down his legs weren't fun at all, but it was something.

He wouldn't exactly call his stroll calming, but it was satisfying, in the sense that he was doing something that didn't require thought or even any modicum of attention towards his surroundings. That changed when he passed by the vault – the light breeze flitting out the door scratched at his mind as though it was a chalkboard, and he found himself peering through the doorway just in time for Clay to walk straight into him.

Raimundo sprawled to the cobblestone and felt his head split all over again. Clay seemed to bounce rather than fall, and because of this he was instantly back on his feet and pulling his casualty up. "Sorry, sorry," he repeated, like a lamentation. When Raimundo's vision swam back into focus, his eyes couldn't help but flit to something in Clay's arms. There was a bit of a delay before his brain managed to place the visual input – it was the Longi Kite.

"What're you doing with that?" he snapped and immediately regretted it. He had acted on instinct, reacting on the assumption – no, the fear – that Clay still had some lingering evil in him. But the way Clay fidgeted, the way his face contorted in uncomfortable guilt, it was clear that this wasn't the case. Raimundo tried to relax. "Sorry, I meant, um." He rubbed at his eyes with his palm as though he were rubbing away his thoughts. "Look. Let's just both get some sleep, okay?"

"I gotta go." The words stumbled out in a collapsing conga line. Raimundo whipped his head upwards much too fast and ended up dizzy and light. When he could see clearly again, Clay was looking down to the side so that any glare directed his way would be deflected by his hat. Raimundo glanced down again and noticed that Clay was holding something else – a laundry bag. It didn't look very full. There was probably enough space for, say, a change of clothes.

"Where? Why?" he added, deciding that the latter was probably the more important question.

Clay's grip tightened around the Longi Kite enough that, if it hadn't been a magical artifact, he would have surely crushed it. "I, I cain't stay. It's jus'…you…I don'…I shouldn' be here."

Seeing the way that his body tensed for motion, Raimundo grabbed Clay's arm before he could do anything. It was almost unfair. Clay couldn't even wrench his way out of Raimundo's grasp without hurting him. "Look, if this is about all that stuff you did, that wasn't you. None of it was your fault, so just forget it."

"Y'all don' understand," said Clay, calm, measured, nothing at all like the way people said it in overdramatic soap operas. "Everythin' I did, everythin' I said, I meant it, Rai. I meant t' do those things an' I wanted t' do 'em."

"But that's 'cause you weren't yourself, man."

"I wasn't bein' possessed. I wasn't controlled or brainwashed." As the list continued on, Clay tipped his hat lower and lower until Raimundo could barely see any of his face at all. "It wasn't Hannibal doin' all that, it was me."

"But you – "

"None a' that came outta nothin'," Clay said, his voice starting to rise as he shuddered. "All Hannibal ever did was…give me th' freedom t' act on what I've wanted t' do. I'm…" And here he chuckled, a wry laugh that covered up a choke, "I've been rotten on th' inside all along."

There was not much that Raimundo could say to this. It wasn't that he couldn't understand; he understood perfectly the feeling of hidden resentment bubbling out of your control, the constant battle against secret, horrible desires, the thought that maybe, just maybe, you weren't really a good person after all, because what kind of good person would think these things? And there wasn't really a solution because you weren't in control over your thoughts, but you were in control over yourself and that's what mattered in the end, right?

But he didn't know how to put it into words and instead he stood there, hanging onto Clay's arm because if he let go, he was sure a wall would be thrown up between them.

Clay sighed and finally looked down at him. His hair seemed carefully positioned just so Raimundo couldn't see his eyes. "Jus' let me leave."

"No," he said, fingernails digging into Clay's sleeve. "I didn't get my butt kicked from here to Timbuktu just so you could run away!" In exasperation, Raimundo threw his other arm into the air, which was an inadvisable move on his part. Clay moved closer in worry when he winced in pain. "Who cares if those were your secret thoughts or whatever! That doesn't mean they're your actual thoughts, y'know?" His hand was starting to ache, but he only made his grip tighter. "Are you afraid that we'll hate you or something? 'Cause everybody already forgives you! I forgive you! You know that, right? You aren't just gonna go away when we went through so much trouble getting you back, are you?"

The Longi Kite dropped to the ground. At first, Raimundo was worried that he had said something wrong, that maybe he pissed Clay off somehow. But no. Clay was crying, with short sharp breaths as he tried to hold in his tears, which of course only served to make him cry even harder until he simply gave up and started to bawl.

This shocked Raimundo into tears himself and he let go to wipe at his eyes. "Was – was that too harsh? I didn't – "

"No, I'm sorry," Clay said in between hiccups, and Raimundo could see a smile spread between his fingers. "I-I'm…I shoulda…I'm sorry," he repeated, because apparently that was the only thing he could express at the moment. But Raimundo understood, and he enveloped Clay into a hug – or at least enveloped as much as he could – partially to hide his own tears in Clay's shirt and mostly out of sheer gratefulness. A few seconds later, Clay's arms encircled him as well, wet with snot. But neither of them said a thing, preferring to just stand there for a while as the sun rose.