Homecoming
Chapter 1: Closer
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Wuya sat, once again, on the stairs leading into the ocean blue interior of Chase Young’s home. Her half lidded eyes stared blankly at the rock wall that led to the Land of Nowhere and the world beyond. Chase had left again. As always, he had left her alone with no idea of where he was going or when he’d be back. When he had done this the first time she had asked him, but he had shrugged off her questions. The next time she had tried to follow him, but he had teleported away. Eventually, she had seen this as an opportunity to get out of the Land of Nowhere for a bit but Chase’s eternally faithful jungle cats had been kind enough to escort her back inside, and in that moment she knew that somewhere Chase was smirking. Now she simply sat. Sat and waited for Chase to return. Wuya hated this.
“Bored,” She sighed, “So bored.” That was the main downside to being eternally the same; you got bored and that boredom could last for centuries. Her thoughts were interrupted by the click and whoosh of the large stone door swinging open.
“Chase?” she asked rising from her place on the stairs and practically dancing down them to meet the warlord. However the silhouette outlined by the sunset was not that of Chase Young. There was no armor or long dark hair. Instead the silhouette depicted a man with a tall slim build and cropped hair, spiked back at a drastic angle. It could only be one person.
“J-Jack?!” she gasped, her graceful footing faltering for a change.
“Long time no see, Wuya.” He said, steeping into the light. Wuya gasped. He had changed so much; he was so different from the child who had left her so many years ago. Of course his skin was still as white as paper and his hair a shade of red that was only found in autumn leaves. She noted, with mild amusement, that he still insisted on wearing that ridiculous black makeup that streaked down from his left eye. He was taller now, probably taller then her, and it seemed he had lost his baby fat; replacing it with long lean muscle that added a bit of masculinity to his wiry frame. He had changed so much.
She remembered it clearly; the day that he left. Those large expressive eyes of his had been narrowed in unbridled hate and rage and sadness and… and loneliness. Why hadn’t she noticed it before? Why hadn’t she realized that all of their cruelty and abuse would eventually push him away? That day he had stormed out with such pain in his eyes.
“I’m outta here!” he had shouted as he stormed past Wuya and Chase. She had made some little comment about his worthlessness as usual, and, to her shock he had snapped. He had always acted so stubborn and resilient that seeing him in real unguarded pain had really shaken her. She had tried to dash after him, if only to figure out why he was acting so strangely, but Chase had stopped her. He insisted that they let the boy have his pout. He would return back, whimpering, to them. They waited and waited, but Jack did not return.
Chase had erupted into a fury when he realized the boy was not returning to him. His face that day had been more frightening than Wuya had ever seen it before. The fur on his feline warriors had been on end as they slinked into the shadows to avoid their master’s path of destruction. He had stormed around the throne room ranting. Wuya had only half listened, catching bits and pieces of his monologue like, “insolent boy”, “betrayal” and “insufferable!” She hadn’t realized what the big deal was. He would either come back or they would fetch him. It was simple really.
She remembered the way that Chase had paused that day. He just froze in the middle of the hall, his face blank. No anger, no passion, no emotion whatsoever.
“Never Again.” He had murmured with a dark rumble in his voice that chilled Wuya to her core. “Never again will I be made a fool of. Never again will that insufferable, ungrateful worm slither his way back into my life. Jack Spicer,” he hissed the name “will never be welcome in my castle again.”
From that day forward he had been different; colder then ever before, and paranoid. He never left Wuya to her own devices and he hardly left his bedchamber. If Wuya didn’t think doing so would get her killed, she would have said the warlord was sulking, though with good reason. After all, Jack was the one thing that could be really counted on. No matter what happened he always showed up with that same defiant smirk and melodramatic cackle.
Now standing before her was that same boy. His smirk was replaced with a gentle smile and his black cloak was replaced with an oxford, a vest, and jeans. But still, it was Jack.
“Hey! Mind if I crash here for a bit?” he asked with a grin as he crossed across the great hall towards the witch who had introduced him to the Heylin life. Meanwhile she struggled for her brain to catch up.
“Jack, I…”
“What are you doing in my house?!?” Wuya spun around at the sound of that all to familiar voice. There stood Chase Young with long green tinted hair slightly wind blown from his teleportation into the room. On his shoulder his crow shifted from foot to foot, nervously awaiting what he knew was to come. Jack’s grin broadened as he started up the stairs towards the fuming warlord. Wuya’s eyebrows shot up as she watched the youth happily climbing to his death.
“Sup’ Chase! Been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“You disappear for years and now expect us to welcome you back with open arms, Spicer? You’re more of a fool than I thought.”
“Aw, c’mon Chase! I just got here and you’re already gonna throw me out?”
“What do you want Spicer?” he hissed, as Jack reached the top of the stairs.
“I was wondering who was staying in the west room.” he stated with a hint of a smirk. Now that the two men stood on the same dais Chase realized, none to happily, that they were now about the same height.
“No one, why do you ask?” Suspicion laced the man’s voice.
“Cuz that’s where I’m gonna be staying for a while.” In a flash Chase’s hand was around Jack’s throat and the boy was shoved backward; his spine jarring against the stone column behind him. A strangled cry escaped Jack as the Heylin lord drew closer; yellow eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Now listen here you egotistical insect! This is my home, my palace and you can not waltz in here like you own the place! You left the Heylin life, left us, and you can not go back on that!” He threw Jack to the floor. “You have made your choice now get out of my land and never return.”
“Ha!” coughed Jack as he lifted himself off the floor, swaying dangerously before regaining his balance. “Made my choice? Please Chase, that’s bullshit and we both know it!” Jack was shouting now, a shaking finger pointed at Chase. For some reason, Chase whimsically noticed that Jack wasn’t wearing his gloves and the snow white finger that was pointed at Chase was slender and bare. “How many times have you and Wuya betrayed me, huh?”
“That’s beside the point.” Chase murmured, eyes still transfixed on that finger that shook like that last leaf of fall, clinging desperately to its tree, battling with the late autumn wind. The boy was yelling at him? How was that possible? Yes Jack had been mad at him before now and he always ended up trying to double cross. Of course, Jack had always done it just to get Chase’s attention. Was this a new tactic? No, the reality of the boy’s anger was proven there, in that ivory finger and in the way that voice of his shook to match it.
“Beside the-?! Fine have it your way!” Jack exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air with a humorless laugh, “I really don’t know why I’m doing this. I mean honestly! Why am I throwing myself at your feet like it’s junior high all over again?” Chase elegantly arched an eyebrow.
“And we come full circle to my original question. Unfortunately since I am the one who asked it originally I can not answer. However, I can reiterate.” He turned on a heal and started off, with long slow strides, further into his keep. Jack soon caught up and was walking near the man, if not beside him. Jack noted was that Wuya was there too; keeping her distance, obviously confused as to why Chase hadn’t yet killed the boy and instead seemed to be leading him inside. “Why are you, once again filling my halls with your stench, Spicer?” Jack blinked at the teasing way that line had been delivered, and his curiosity defeating his anger, decided to play along.
“As articulate as ever I see,” He snickered. “And though I’d love to regale my years abroad in all their exciting detail, I am wondering why you’re leading me into your house instead of booting me out.”
“Hmm,” Chase seemed to ponder this for a minute before smirking and inclining his head toward the albino youth. “You shouted at me, Spicer.” Those words stopped Jack dead in his tracks.
“Huh?” Chase paused, turned to Jack, and saw those lively red eyes of his wide in confusion.
“No one yells at me Spicer. Especially not you,” Though Chase’s voice was eerily calm, almost to the point of being conversational, his eyes told another story.
“Soooo…. What? You’re gonna, like, take me to the dungeon and strap me to the rack or something?” This earned a quiet chuckle from Chase.
“The rack?” he asked with raised eyebrows “No, Spicer. No torture for you today.” Chase continued walking, obviously expecting the others to follow. “You will be joining Wuya and I for dinner.”
“Poison then.” Responded Jack. Chase glanced at the boy from the corner of his liquid amber eye. His brow furrowed as if he was displeased with the way Jack had instantly responded.
“Why is it that you assume that my only wish is to kill you?”
Jack snorted and rolled his eyes. “I dunno Chase, maybe because every time I cross you, you try to kill me? I think it’s safe to assume that now that my yelling has thoroughly pissed you off, you have a fitting punishment planned.”
“ Spicer, your very existence vexes me, your slang aggravates me, your betrayal enrages me, but your yelling at me? Well, that earns you an invite to dinner.” Chase stated smugly. Jack blinked at him.
“You’re friggin’ insane!” Jack exclaimed in shock pointing and waving his arms for emphasis of the fact. Chase chuckled at the young man’s reaction.
“No Spicer, I’m not insane. However there are some days where I feel like I’m being driven into madness and I find that those are usually days somehow involving you.” Chase turned his head to give Jack a smug little smirk, and the boy scoffed and rolled his eyes. He couldn’t deny the statement though, knowing how often he annoyed the man and how many times he had thrown Chase’s life for a loop in the past. Chase didn’t even break stride as he swung open the large doors that led to the circular dinning hall. The table was laden with exotic food of all different colors, shapes and origins. To Jack’s surprise the table had already been set for three but then he noticed that the crow that Chase had entered with was now perched on the top of Chase’s chair, at the head of the table. At some point in their conversation it must have flown off and given the order to set a place at the ridiculously large table for Jack.
Jack remembered the few times he was privileged enough to sit at that table as a boy. He had never been able to move those ridiculously heavy chairs that he was sure Chase owned just to show off his supernatural strength.
Now Chase reached out his hand, the crackle of dark magic already starting to form as he prepared to magic the chairs so they would pull back for his guests but he paused when he saw Jack’s hand grasp the top of his. The boy pulled it back with ease and plopped down into it as if were a common kitchen chair. Chase flicked his hand absently and Wuya’s chair pulled out for her. All the while his eyes were fixed on Jack who looked extremely pleased with himself. Wuya seemed to forget her strategy of silent self preservation.
“Jack! That’s, that’s not possible. You could barely handle a normal chair when you left! That strength- well it’s just not possible!”
“It shouldn’t be possible.” Chase corrected. His eyes were watching Jack hungrily, as if Jack was a canary and Chase was the cat.
He smirked. “At least it shouldn’t be possible for the likes of Spicer. Perhaps it would be possible for warrior dragon Omi, but never in all my years would I have dreamed that it would be possible for spineless worm Spicer.”
“Ha-ha, Chase,” Sneered Jack, picking up on Chase’s dark humor. “Just like old times isn’t it?” The man gave a nod with an almost-smile as he sipped his Lao Mang Lone soup, savoring it for a moment, before turning his attention back to the youth.
“Now, what’s occupied your life that you’ve found so much better then Heylin life?”
“Not better,” corrected Jack, glad that the man found the flattery amusing. He needed Chase to be in a good mood if he was going to convince him to let him live there. “Nothing could compare to my life here with you.” Chase practically purred as he watched that hero worship return to the boys garnet eyes. “No, my other life was just… different; a change of pace for a while so I could figure some things out. I suppose you had your crow keep tabs on me after I left?” The bird looked up from cleaning his feathers and gave a quiet squawk of distaste at the generic title of ‘crow.’
“No actually. I wanted nothing to do with you after your betrayal.”
“Ah,” Said Jack, sensing the grudge the man still held. “Well, I went back to my place to sulk. When my parents returned from India and saw the, uh, condition that I’d let myself fall into they shipped me off to boarding school in America. At first, I hated it. Like the uniforms; I couldn’t stand wearing the same thing every day.”
“Jack you wore the same thing everyday anyway.” Wuya pointed out in that ‘you-are-so-unbelievably-stupid’ tone that Jack had come to miss.
“Yeah, but my outfit was bad-a**. That stupid thing was argyle and itchy!” He said waving his arms up and down for emphasis. The boy was extremely happy that Wuya had fallen back on her old sarcastic ways, because timid did not suit her. Chase gave a quiet chuckle as he watched that childlike enthusiasm.
“Well as I was saying,” continued the boy swallowing a quickly shoveled mouthful of food. “I hated it there, the curriculum was below my level and the people were shallow snobs and label slaves. Fortunately there was one person who made that hell worth while, Meg.”
“Aw, Jackie went and got himself a little girlfriend!” taunted Wuya.
“Uh, ew, no!” spluttered Jack in revulsion “That’s just… just no.” Wuya cackled at his reaction and decided to press the matter further.
“So you still afraid of cooties then, Jack?” she sniggered, leaning across the table towards him as he did the same.
“Enough.” demanded Chase calmly, as Jack stuck his tongue out at Wuya and she replied the gesture. Chase just rolled his draconic eyes. Separate them and their maturity grew a little, but put them together and they were five again. “Now, Spicer, what significance does the girl have to your story?”
“I was getting to that,” he explained turning to the overlord in an attempt to block out the witch. “We had a lot in common so we became really close really fast. Like me, she had a whole secret villain life except hers involved hacking, extortion, and robbery. She was really interested in my work with robotics so I showed her the ropes and she caught on surprisingly fast. Now, I won’t bore you with the details…”
“Too late.” Wuya muttered, earning her a glare from Jack.
“… but we somehow survived high school together. We planned to meet up two months later in France, which gave me time to come back to China for a bit. My parents were waiting for me when I got back, and were a bit surprised when they found out I wasn’t planning on staying and taking over the family business.”
“Let me guess, they said if you were going to leave then you should never come back?” Chase surmised. That was such a Jack thing to do; he could never stick to the plan, especially if it was someone else’s.
“Sorta,” murmured Jack. His expression had twisted to one of indecision which caused Chase to realize something.
“There’s more. What? Tell me.”
“Well, they were in the middle of yelling at me about wasting my future when my boyfriend dropped in for a surprise visit.”
The only sound was the clatter of metal on porcelain as Wuya dropped her fork. Jack let out a nervous laugh as his eyes darted from Wuya to Chase gauging their reactions to his gay-bomb. Wuya looked as shocked and confused as was to be expected from her. Chase, well, Chase looked cold and focused. As he worked his mind around the boy’s words he stared at him with an intensity that made the boy squirm. He figured that they could use some help.
“Uhm… yeah. So, I like guys.” He admitted shakily before adding. “Surprise!” in that awkward sort of sarcasm that he always used at the worst times.
“But,” started Wuya, almost desperately “your obsession with the monk girl?”
“That’s the thing, I like guys, but I like girls too.” That didn’t seem to help at all. “It’s called being bisexual,” Jack elaborated. “In this day and age it’s not that uncommon.”
“Well, times sure have changed.” Wuya muttered darkly before looking up at Jack. “How exactly did your parents react, and what about that girl of yours?”
“Meg? Oh, she was totally cool with it. In fact, she sorta figured it out before I did. But I guess that’s because she’s intelligent and open-minded, unlike my parents, who threw out their only son because they care more about keeping up their image than they do about me. They think that me liking guys is unnatural and sinful, which, when you think about it is kinda funny considering the fact that they were all behind my plans for world domination.” He looked at Wuya. She still looked fairly confused but seemed to be accepting the idea, more than likely glad that she had a new gal pal to gab with about Chase. Chase on the other hand hadn’t changed his expression a bit. He still sat staring at the boy with those golden eyes of his. The silence continued for a few minutes before his face relaxed. He turned his head to the side and gently stirred his soup, letting his casualness answer for him.
“Continue your story Spicer.” Jack sighed, knowing that there would be no deeper discussion into his sexuality, for now at least. He was glad though, because it would be beyond mortifying to have to explain to the warlord that he’d had a major crush on the warlord in junior high. Chase, however, had known all along that Jack had an interest in men and that Jack had been infatuated with him since a young age. The question was how did Jack feel about him now and how was Chase expected to deal with the boy now that the whole bisexual issue was out in the open. For now, the warlord, decided he’d have to just act as he always had and see where it all led.
“Well, the kicking me out part was great because it meant total freedom, but the disowning part… not so great. Fortunately I had some money in personal accounts that my parents didn’t know about for such a scenario, so I took off for France, bought a house, and rebuilt my lab. Meg and her friend, Louis, moved in instead of touring Europe. It turns out that Louis is a computer programmer and was able to help encode data into my bots! With the three of us working together, well four, but I’ll tell you about the fourth person later, anyways together we were able to really advance my tech and we sold it for huge profits. Now the Spicer Robotics Group is the leader in international tech and my parents are just begging for my forgiveness.”
“Oh? And let me guess Jack, you instantly went running home to mommy dearest.”
“No actually, I accepted their apology but insisted that I wouldn’t have much time to visit because of work and made it quite clear that I would do them no favors just because they were my parents.”
“That’s… actually quite mature, Spicer.” admitted Chase. “Well if you had you’re life set, then why return at all?” Just then a jungle cat slinked up to remove the empty dishes. Out of habit the warlord reached out and ran his gloved fingers through the thick black fur of the panther that drew up beside him. Jack marveled, as he had so many years ago, at how comfortable Chase was with is feline servants. The cats worshipped and slaved over Chase and for it, they were justly rewarded. As a child, Jack had worshipped and slaved over Chase and was unfairly punished.
Chase raised an eyebrow. Jack’s face had always been an open book of sorts; he was never hard to figure out. But now as Jack sat silently staring hard at his jungle cat, Chase couldn’t figure out what was going through the boys mind that distracted him so. His red eyes seemed to have a cold fire in them. Icy as winter, but if you got too close you would surely get burned.
“Jack?” asked Wuya; placing an elbow on the table with her chin in her palm. Her head was tilted slightly as she looked at the boy who had freed her from that damnable puzzle-box, all those years ago.
“I don’t know,” Jack stated in a small voice; his eyes still firmly planted on the cat but with a softer edge now. “I don’t know, I just,” His glanced flickered to Chase then down to his plate. He fidgeted in his seat and his hands clenched into fists. “No matter what I did or what I had it didn’t feel right. It felt mediocre. I’ve always known that I could never settle for a mediocre life and after all these years, I still had you guys in the back of my mind. I tried not to think about you, I… I tried to convince myself that I’d be better off staying far away from you. I guess that didn’t turn out too well, did it?” He laughed bitterly. “So I told you my story and… you know that I… regret leaving. So? What do you think? Can I stay?”
“If I say yes,” Chase grimaced at that obscenely giddy sparkle in Jack’s eye “which I’m not promising, but if, on the off and very rare chance that I do say yes,” Jack bit his lower lip in anticipation “how long would you be haunting my home?” Jack could have laughed. Chase had made a reference to his pale ‘ghostly’ skin. Chase was hitting where it hurt, throwing witty insults at the youth. Jack knew that was a good sign.
“Well Chase, it is your home so you have the right to throw me out at any time you see fit, but I’d really like to rejoin the hunt for Shen Gong Wu. Well, that and I dunno, take over the world?”
“If your ultimate goal is world domination then why, pray tell, should I let you into my home so you can steal it right from under my nose?”
“Chase, it’s a big world out there. I’m sure we could share.” joked the youth casually leaning back in his chair “But seriously Chase, gaining power, let alone keeping power, is not likely to happen anytime soon for me, so I say we fight that battle when it arises.”
“I’ve found that it’s good to enter a battle well prepared.” Quipped the warlord.
“Ah, yes. Well I’ve found that it’s silly to prepare for a battle with an ally that may never arise, when a common enemy is coming at your back. It’s better to turn around and trust that the idiot behind you won’t screw up.” Chase let out a low chuckle at this. Jack calling himself an idiot? That defiantly was a change, especially considering the ridiculous amount of pride the boy had as a child. Chase evaluated the boy for a moment before saying,
“While in my house you will obey my rules, you will keep noise to a minimum, you will NOT torment my feline warriors, you will NOT touch my Lao Mang Lone soup supply, and you will NEVER enter my bedchamber.”
“So this means,”
“Have those infernal contraptions of yours move your belongings to the west room. Then leave me be for the remainder of the evening.” Jack squealed with excitement, jumping out of his chair and tackling the dragon lord in a hug.
“Thank you! Oh Chase! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Chase was once again surprised by Jacks new strength. It didn’t match Chase’s. No, Chase was sure that his strength was still far greater than that of the youth, but there was something defiantly unnatural about it.
“Remove yourself from me this instant!” hissed Chase threateningly. Jack chuckled and pulled back with a huge grin plastered on his face.
“Oh fine Mr. Cranky Claws. Be a grump.” He watched as Chase dusted himself off as if trying to rid himself of any and all traces of Jack. “Stubborn as ever,” Jack mumbled quietly knowing the warlord heard him when his spine stiffened slightly and a low growl of warning escaped the man’s throat. Both Jack and Wuya let out a cackle at this reaction and the witch turned to the boy.
“Well, having you here might not be complete torture after all.”
“Aw, thanks! I love you too, you old hag!” Wuya’s elegant hand swiftly found it’s way to the side of Jack’s head.
“Jack-bots!” he half shouted- half laughed. A pair of classic Jack-bots quickly hovered into the room. “Take all my clothes and stuff to the west room. The tech can wait until the morning.” Jack commanded.
“And your make-up, sir?” asked a robotic voice dripping with sarcasm.
“No back talk number thirty two! Get to work!” The two bots floated away with a metallic snicker. “Robots these days.” Jack sighed with a shake of his head. “Well I’d better get my junk settled in. See you guys later!” he called over his shoulder as he practically skipped to his new room.
As soon as the boy was out of sight Wuya slid out of her chair with practiced grace and sauntered up to Chase. Leaning against the table, she shifted her weight slightly so that the slit of her dress slit perfectly reflected the curves of her legs.
“Well Chase,” she started, her voice full of arrogance. “I am surprised.” He appeared to be ignoring her. “Didn’t you say just short of a decade ago that you’d never let that boy back? Could it be that the great Chase Young is going soft?”
“You misinterpret my actions, Wuya.” Chase stated serenely, which could often be just as frightening as anger when coming from Chase.
“Oh?” she asked, leaning in close. “Then enlighten me.” Her voice had dropped to a seductive whisper, almost a purr as their breath mingled “What is the great Chase Young thinking?”
Chase suddenly stood, toppling the startled witch backwards. He stood there with a wicked gleam in his eyes smirking smugly at the witch’s failed seduction attempt. He turned away from her, crossing the room in slow yet powerful strides. Wuya couldn’t help but let her eyes wander down to the gentle sway of the man’s hips. For a moment, she really thought he would leave without answering her question but then, halfway across the room, he stopped. Turning so that his profile was visible, he addressed the witch.
“What I am thinking is none of your concern. However, I would think the answer is quite obvious Wuya. Can you not see the changes in him? Can you not see that he has somehow become very powerful, very quickly?”
“Well yes, obviously, but so what? You don’t seriously consider the boy to be some sort of threat, do you?”
“Not yet perhaps but I believe that he has the potential to become one. I’ve lost my hold on the boy once before. Then it was only a set back, but now? Well, I think it would be best to keep him by my side. I will not lose control of him this time.”
“Aw, so you keep your friends close but your enemies closer?” He pondered this.
“Perhaps but I see no need to label Spicer as an enemy just yet. No, definitely not. Not when he has finally gained the strength necessary to face enemies and allies alike. There is some hope for the boy and I think he would make a… satisfactory apprentice.” Wuya blinked in shock.
“You’re going to take him on as your apprentice?”
“I don’t see why not. If you’ll recall he was offered the position once before.”
“Well yes but,”
“Wuya, that strength is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I find myself becoming quite intrigued as to where Spicer could have gotten it. I am not saying I will give him a place like the one I offered Omi, but I will take him under my wing for a while, let him grow closer to me, if only to discover the source of that power. Besides, my castle has been quite dull over the past eight years and having that idiot boy here to do my errands will free up some valuable time that can be spent on evil.” He explained calmly, almost smiling at the prospect of Jack bumbling another showdown in Chase’s honor.
“Now,” resumed the warlord. “I will retire for the evening and as I told Spicer I do not wish to be bothered.” And with those words he swept out of the room. When he was gone, the crow flew over to Wuya, turning it’s head to one side in an attempt to let the witch know it’s concern for her well being. She held out a hand with a sigh and the bird hoped up onto her thin fingers.
“Let’s hope the boy’s power is all he’s after,” she said as she slumped into the chair Chase had been sitting in “Anyway, I suppose this could work out for the best. Chase seems to have stopped sulking.” At this the bird let out an indignant squawk. “Oh you know it’s true! And besides that, I might even benefit from Jack’s stay. Who knows, if I play my cards right I may just get myself a little more freedom and a bit more respect.”
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