Yes, yes, I'm starting this up again. Well... sort of - there's some conditions and provisos, since I'm busy and I've already got one fanfic I'm barely updating to worry about - they're at the end. You may have noticed that I didn't actually finish the last episode before starting this one: well, I'm addressing that too.
Disclaimer: Jackie Chan is the property of Jackie Chan, and Jackie Chan Adventures is under the purview of Warner Bros. I own neither.
Previously On The Amazing Chan Adventures:
Episode 1 (The Adventure Begins Again): Our plot begins several years after the final defeat of the demonic dragon Shendu and his treacherous son Drago, as intrepid archeologist Jackie Chan and his adventurous young niece Jade's attempts to enjoy their peaceful lives are ruined when they are sent by a mysterious but wealthy employer - one Tan Xin Gao – to investigate why a team of archeologists have failed to make contact after investigating an ancient ruin deep in the Mexican side of the Lacandon Jungle. Once there they met up with their old friend El Toro Fuerte and his young ward Paco, and made an astounding discovery: the temple, once hidden peacefully from the world, had begun emitting a powerful, destructive light... and Mr. Gao's team had all been slain by something deep within.
As Jackie and El Toro attempted to explore the temple on their own, Jade and Paco snuck along. As is typical, everyone ran into trouble. Powerful and deadly spirits lurked within the temple alongside dangerous secrets, and both groups were nearly killed by the seemingly demonic monsters and traps. After a few close calls and a risky reunion, the Chan and Fuerte clans were able to make it to the center of the ruin where they found an ancient gem – one of many – and learned of its amazing past:
These artifacts, supposedly shards of power splintered from the soul of an ancient good chi wizard, were split around the world to be protected by each of the strongest forces for good of its time – each had its own share of the wizard's unearthly power, and each was guarded by powerful spells that would only be broken by the use of a certain trait that the wizard prized. What's more, they learned that the more the shards were sought by immoral beings, the more the pieces were corrupted by the evil of those seeking them. In the present day, the shards have become twisted and dangerous – and only the actions of a true hero can stop them from tearing the world apart.
In short, it was the start of another globetrotting adventure for the Chans – this time with help, for El Toro and Paco pledged to join in the quest as fully as they could (which, much to Jade's chagrin, meant moving temporarily to San Francisco). However, they were not alone in searching for the shards – for unbeknownst to them Mr. Gao has also set his eyes set on their power, with unknown goals in mind…
Episode 2 (Old Friends and Enemies):
In their second adventure, the Chans are informed soon after their return from Mexico (so soon, in fact, that El Toro had not made plans to leave Mexico yet) that Xu-Lin, Jade's old friend from China, has been attacked by a coalition of a supposedly powerless Daolon Wong and the nameless monk who once threatened her before, back when she was guardian of the mystical Lotus Temple. The Chans immediately travel to China to protect her, but on the way back to San Francisco is becomes evident that the wizards did more than just attack her – they brought the curse of the Lotus Temple back out of her… and the monster that came with it.
While dealing with a friend who could turn into a destructive beast at any time, the Chans attempted to figure out what the wizards were up to… only to learn the truth too late: like Xu-Lin, the monk still had the curse of the Lotus Temple within him waiting to be brought out, and by re-cursing Xu-Lin he planned to remove himself of being the temple's guardian. Then, with Xu-Lin under their mental control, it would be child's play to raid the temple for whatever ancient knowledge they sought – including a way to remove the restrictions Uncle placed on Daolon Wong's power years ago. It was a plan which was all too successful: for our heroes discovered this far too late. Catching the Chans unawares, Wong and the monk took Xu-Lin and nearly trapped her yet again within the temple's walls. It was only with the in-the-nick-of-time help of the Chans and their friends that she was saved, Wong and the monk were defeated, and the temple was left in peace once again.
As the dust cleared, there was good news and bad news. Daolon Wong had access to his full power once again, but was on the run and without allies. The monk broke off their partnership, but got away with exactly what he wanted: a scroll of unknown origin (and unknown to them, he reports directly to Mr. Gao). And, most importantly, Xu-Lin is still cursed. Luckily, Uncle – while unable to save her completely after what the wizards did to her – was able to alter the curse so that it would activate in a situation of her choosing: if her friends were in danger.
The adventure ends with Xu-Lin staying with the Chans for the foreseeable future, and their odd family that much larger for it. Their next adventure will begin as the next step of the artifact hunt begins…
Our Cast of Characters (as introduced thus far):
The Adults:
Jackie Chan: Still an intrepid archeologist, martial arts master and on some bad days the most seemingly unlucky man on the planet after all these years, Jackie would really rather be spending his time basking in the wonders of history and antiquity. So, naturally, he is once again pulled into a battle for his life, the lives of his loved ones, and the fate of the world - luckily, he's still got it.
Uncle: Cantankerous as ever and still abrasively wise, Uncle's wealth of chi knowledge has only grown... now if only all his relatives and their increasing crowd of friends would finally get out of his property. It's said that Section 13 is looking into whose Uncle he actually is… with no success.
Tohru: His mercenary past long behind him, Tohru is far down the path of the chi wizard – and though he is nowhere as skilled as Uncle, he's getting there. Yet despite his size, power and determination, as Jade and Jimmy will attest he's still an enormous softie.
Captain Black: Section 13 is now entirely an agency dedicated to the study and control of supernatural events, which means Captain Black calls upon Jackie and his skills quite often. No nonsense but a lot more fair than anyone else would be in his position, Captain Black still just wishes he could get the hang of this "magic" thing.
El Toro Fuerte: Over the years El Toro has become akin to Mexico's national hero, and scourge of criminals everywhere. He sees the current situation as partially his responsibility, as the threat began in Mexico – and as such has pledged to be more involved in dealing with it than previously.
Viper (mentioned):Ex-super thief, now security consultant, dashing socialite and all around cool-person, Viper has been half-teasingly half-seriously bugging Jackie about their perpetually awkward relationship for a while – and isn't above bringing their friends in on Jackie's embarassment. Last seen somewhere in Europe.
Mr. Gao: A reclusive Chinese-American billionaire with designs on the power the Chi Artifacts hold. Aided by his equally enigmatic personal assistant and whatever expendable personnel he can spare (quite a bit), Gao seeks to unite the artifacts for reasons unknown but decidedly less altruistic than our heroes'. Jackie and co. are so far unaware that Gao is opposing them however…
The Chi Wizard (mentioned): Not much is known about the Chi Master who, thousands of years ago, split his being into several pieces and spread them across the world as the Chi artifacts. All that is known is left to legend: a great ancient evil and a last ditch attempt that greatly increased the hero's power – enough to win, but also enough to fear. To ensure that no evil could ever take his power for himself, Wizard gave shards of his power to his students around the world… and now, someone aims to steal them all.
Daolon Wong: Even more ancient than before, Daolon Wong risked everything to sneak into the Lotus Temple - guided by the mysterious monk - and retrieve an ancient spell that could return his power to him... but in the end, victory was his! His location is currently unknown, and he remains unaffiliated with any other villains.
The Deadpan Monk (First appearance: "The Lotus Temple"): A cunning magician who speaks in riddles and proverbs. What the monk lacks in power as compared with Uncle and Daolon Wong he more than makes up for in resourcefulness, scheming, and knowledge of hidden treasure. At some point, perhaps all along, he was hired by Gao to track down objects of unknown origin - and in the end he managed to steal a map detailing just that around the world...
The Teens:
Jade Chan: The years have been good to Jade: they have brought her more maturity than you might think… but a lot less than she really needs. Still brash, uncouth and impulsive, she nevertheless enjoys the fact that Jackie trusts her more to be involved in his work than he used to. Though she all too often risks that trust and does her own thing, it's nearly always because she follows her heart.
Paco: An street urchin who became El Toro's adopted ward, and one of Jade's closest friends/rivals. Like Jade, Paco has slowly become more involved in his guardian's work over the years – he likes to think himself El Toro's official sidekick… then again, he likes to think he's a lot of things. Yet though his ego is huge, it's nowhere near as big as the heart of gold he keeps hidden away.
Jimmy (first appearance: "J2 Revisited"): Tohru's very own chi apprentice, who usually remained uninvolved in the Chans' more dangerous adventures before now – often either due to fear or because of his family's restrictions. Though he shows great aptitude in chi magic, he is timid around the more ambitious lessons for reasons only known to him and Jade. He is timid and cautious, but can be fiercely determined when his mind is made up.
Xu-Lin (first appearance: "The Lotus Temple"): Jade's longtime best friend from overseas, Xu-Lin was once cursed to be the monstrous guardian of the Lotus Temple before being freed by Jackie and Jade – and she begrudgingly brought with her some of its knowledge. After her curse returned thanks to Daolon Wong, she became stuck with a less unstable version of it. Usually serene (yet with a tendency towards melodrama), she has a way of making sure everyone gets along.
The Chi Artifacts:
The Emerald (Life): A precious jewel found deep within the Mexican jungle. Activated by perseverance, the gem can - in the right hands - accelerate growth and spread life. While corrupted, the gem instead destroyed life, causing sickness and decay to spread in its presence.
Author's Note: So... yeah. We're back with the Amazing Chan Adventures... sort of. Before I start this, there's two things that I'm just going to have to admit to myself: 1) that between this, Wolfbatman and real life I'll have a lot on my plate and 2) if given the choice between this and Wolfbatman, I'd prefer to finish Wolfbatman (which is a much longer story than this one). I'm kind of continuing this on a whim - the first two episodes of this were my earliest stories and I'm not 100% proud of them, but I've always liked the ideas I had for this series, so I'm going to stick with it a long as I can - and if I have to give this up, I'll make sure to at least try for a conclusion.
As for skipping the end of the second story, well... that story just kind of fell out of my brain at one point. I know exactly what was going to happen, but I just couldn't finish it. So I decided to skip it and narrate it in a "previously" section. If anyone was really looking forward to a big battle between the Chans + Tohru and Jimmy, and Daolon Wong, the monk and a mind-controlled Xu-Lin, well... er... sorry. It was really epic in my head, too - but I just couldn't get it down on paper.
As a final note, the characters with "first appearance" notes were initially one-shot characters on the show - so just in case you didn't quite remember them, there you go.