Disclaimer: I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures or Sonic and the Black Knight/Sonic Unleashed. Now, on with the story.
The Blue Knight and The Dark Queen
Samurai Ratso
In Section 13, business was going as usual for the agents that worked in the underground base. Captain Black found a box on his desk and when he opened the box he found a red-purple looking mask that resembled the face of a demon with green hair. Besides the mask there was a note which was written by Jackie. Captain Black picked up the note and began to read.
"Captain Black," Black spoke as he read the note, "Do not allow anyone to wear this mask. Please lock it in the vault immediately. Uncle, Tohru and I – along with our new allies Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles Prowler (better known as Tails), and Caliburn the sword – are currently in Tokyo Japan searching for clues to the location of the next Oni mask, as well as a way to save Jade, who has once again been corrupted by the forces of darkness – or, as you would put it, she has gone ninja again."
XXX
Over in Tokyo Japan, the heroes were in a museum housing some valuable scrolls to research documents related to the Oni. Sonic was sitting on one of the display cases with Caliburn in a scabbard on his back with the hilt peering to the right of him so he could see what was going on. The hedgehog was sitting next to Jackie complaining about how slow things were.
"If I had known this would've been so slow then I would've gotten a chilly dog or something to eat by now," Sonic complained to Jackie and Caliburn.
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step Sir Sonic," the sword spoke to the hedgehog who was complaining, "Patience is what will carry us through this journey."
"Sounds like something I would say to Jade," Jackie added as he commented on how the sword was addressing Sonic, "Besides Uncle, Tohru, and Tails are taking this slow and steady."
"Can you not read any faster, Tohru? Cobwebs are forming on Uncle!" Uncle exclaimed as his apprentice was reading very slowly. Tails had taken a more technological approach and created a machine with parts he brought with him to copy the text on the scrolls and store the data in his personal laptop for further translation.
"My Japanese is rusty," Tohru replied simply as Tails continued to scan the parchments while the machine was copying the information and translating it into English.
"At this rate, new forces of darkness will find the masks and corrupt Jade beyond rescue before we even leave this room!" Uncle yelled again.
"Hey you guys!" Sonic yelled from far away as everyone noticed that he was not present and neither was Caliburn. The group all ran – or in Tails' case, flew – towards Sonic, who had led them to a room where there were many masks hanging on the wall. Seeing that he had the group's attention, he then continued, "Why waste time when we can just examine the Oni mask superstore?"
"Sir Sonic believes that the Oni mask has got to be somewhere among the masks in this exhibit," the sword commented again.
"Until a cursed one is worn these are merely masks," Uncle claimed.
"Uh, Uncle," Tails spoke up, "Is it just me or does Tohru seem to be shaking on the spot right now?"
"Hold up," Sonic commented, "Tohru has what Uncle calls the willies?"
"Usually that's a pretty good sign that the King of all Oni is in the house," said a deep voice which turned out be from one of the masks hanging on the wall, which then turned into Tarakudo himself.
"And he's not alone; the Queen of all Shadowkhan is present as well," Dark Jade spoke up as she formed from the shadows and suddenly appeared from right behind the heroes causing them to all yell and jump into the air.
Tarakudo flew right through Tohru and towards the door.
"Hello henchmen," Tarakudo called and they rushed in right away, "Lend a hand will you, and fetch the mask."
"Which mask are we looking for?" Ratso asked as he saw the wall of masks.
"The mask with magical powers!" Hak Foo yelled as he leapt to the wall and tried on a mask. When it didn't fit he tried on another mask and another. Jackie went to stop them but Tarakudo caused a katana to rush towards him. However, Jackie quickly blocked it with a swift strike from Caliburn. Using katana and Caliburn together he attempted to get at Tarakudo, but the King of the Shadowkhan dodged each and every swipe.
"Your technique is worse than that of a knave," Caliburn retorted as Jackie continued to swipe both him and the katana at Tarakudo.
"I'm sorry Caliburn," Jackie yelled in response, "I'm an archeologist, not a samurai or a knight!"
Meanwhile, the Enforcers and Hak Foo continued to try on mask after mask, until Sonic took the initiative to perform his homing attack on the wall itself and bring the whole display down.
"Great thinking by Sonic," Tails told Tohru and Uncle, "He managed to slow them down in the hunt for the Oni mask by mixing them up."
"Yes, he has brought us time to devise a locator spell to find the mask first," Uncle spoke as they were looking for a locator spell.
Meanwhile, Jade noticed a strange purple horned mask that had six teeth sticking out front, and purple eyes. The Oni General spirit within the mask seemed to be calling out to her as if it wanted one of her henchmen to wear its power. She then saw the Enforcers digging through the pile of masks on the floor.
"What are you idiots doing?" Jade asked harshly.
"We're looking for the mask, your highness," Finn said simply, not wanting to anger the queen lest they receive another spanking worse than the one they got while working for Shendu.
"Did it ever occur to you idiots to try the one over there?" the Queen of the Shadowkhan asked as the Enforcers followed her finger to the mask which she was looking at earlier.
"Jackie, do something!" Tails yelled as he saw that the mask they were looking for was revealed.
Jackie then made a move to get the mask from the wall but Hak Foo leaped with grace that could rival a kangaroo.
"Nice grab," Tarakudo said to the spiky haired warrior.
Jackie was just about to stop Hak Foo from wearing the mask but Ratso had caught him by the legs. Sonic then preformed a homing attack on Ratso, but accidentally flung him in the path of the mask and caused the mask to get stuck to his face. After a few minutes, the mask attached itself fully to Ratso's face, giving off traits of both itself and Ratso.
"Sonic!" Jackie and Caliburn yelled at the hedgehog.
"Sorry, I didn't know!" Sonic fired back.
The masked Enforcer was staring at himself in awe and in fascination.
"I wanted that mask," Hak Foo complained as the masked Enforcer was getting comfortable with his power.
"All right I feel like…" Ratso began, impressed with the new power he just gained.
"Summoning Shadowkhan?" Tarakudo asked.
"Yeah. So, do I just yell for them or what?" Ratso asked as Jade walked over towards him.
"You must feel the power Ratso," Tarakudo instructed, "Call upon the darkness within."
"Watch as I do the summoning Ratso," Jade instructed and on cue she summoned about six Shadowkhan and set them after Uncle, Tohru, and Tails in an attempt to stop them from removing the mask.
Ratso was just about to do the same but Jackie interrupted him.
"No, no feeling, no calling!" Jackie yelled in an attempt to stop Ratso from summoning his Shadowkhan, but the masked Enforcer simply threw him aside.
"Shadowkhan!" Jade yelled as she summoned a dozen ninja, "Get him!"
The ninja raced towards Jackie and Sonic as they attempted to dodge the constant attacks while Ratso began to do the summoning process. He was new to the process so he began to contort his body in an attempt to call on the darkness within him.
"We're too late for the locator spell, we must now devise mask removal spell," Uncle said to Tails and his apprentice while observing Ratso doing the summoning process as he hit Tohru with his two finger slap and he pulled out a samurai katana from a nearby case, "Good thing Japanese steel ingredient very handy this time."
"At least let me put together two or more vials of the potion before we add the Japanese steel, just in case something goes wrong," the twin-tailed fox spoke up.
Jackie and Sonic, who had just gotten Caliburn back, were slicing the standard Shadowkhan, hoping to defeat them before Jade and Ratso had completed the summoning of the new tribe. Unfortunately for them, they were too late as Ratso with Jade's help had just managed to summon his first Shadowkhan. The Shadowkhan started out as a pool of darkness that grew into a tall form but different from that of the Ninja Shadowkhan.
The new Shadowkhan still had the typical black Shadowkhan garb, red eyes and traces of a ninja look, but looked less human. Instead, the new Shadowkhan was taller and had a shape of all straight edges and points, from the top of their hoods to the sharp blade like legs that seemed to balance with great skill on the floor without tipping over. Their most dangerous looking quality were their lengthy arms, which ended in razor sharp blades for fingers and thumbs that look as though they could cut through even the strongest of substances with ease.
"Sweet," Chow complimented, already impressed at the sight of the new ninja.
"Go Ratso!" Finn praised as he too saw the new Shadowkhan.
"Nine masks," Tarakudo reminded, "Nine different tribes of Shadowkhan."
"And now these Razor Khan should be more than formidable," Jade commented, "Should be a real party, huh Ratso?"
"Uncle, tell me that removal spell is done," Jackie pleaded to his uncle who had just finished the base potion, which Tails had taken to storing at least two vials of.
"All done," Uncle said as Tohru added the samurai katana, which shined in a green light and was about to fire at Ratso before the light faded away.
"The sword was not effective sensei," Tohru concluded.
"It must be wrong ingredient," Uncle realized, "Each mask must require a different removal ingredient!"
"Which one do we need to remove this mask?" Tails asked the Chinese chi wizard.
"Tohru is Japanese expert!" Uncle yelled while pointing at the Japanese chi wizard apprentice, "That is his department!"
"Ahem," Tarakudo cleared his nonexistent throat as he indicted to Ratso to attack.
"Right. Make poppa proud!" Ratso commanded as he indicated the newly dubbed Razor Khan to attack.
"Yo ugly," Sonic taunted, "You couldn't hit the broadside of a barn!"
The Razor Khan took that insult as a challenge and started to slice at Sonic, but the hedgehog dodged and evaded using his speed and his cunning. Jackie attempted to jump in to help the hedgehog hero, but the new Shadowkhan just threw him aside like a ragdoll. Jackie then got up but found himself surrounded by another twenty or so Ninja Khan, and took the katana he still held in his hand to fight them off. Sonic was still continuing to outwit the Razor Khan but then heard the sound of Uncle.
"Oh Mr. Ninja, eat chi magic!" the chi wizard called and fired a stream of green chi magic at the Razor Khan, only to find that it had no effect.
"Uncle's regular magic has no effect on the new Shadowkhan!" Uncle commented, "We must devise a new stun spell!"
"Come, let us seek more masks while Ratso summons more Shadowkhan and the Queen unleashes more of her powers," Tarakudo advised the Enforcers as they left, while Ratso and Jade were interested in the idea.
"You know what they say about Shadowkhan, don't you Ratso?" the Queen asked.
"The more the scarier," and on cue Ratso began summoning more Shadowkhan in an attempt to overwhelm the heroes.
Back with Jackie, he had just gotten through the regular Shadowkhan when Sonic appeared right beside him.
"Any ideas?" the hedgehog asked Jackie.
"Head for safety and formulate a new strategy," the archeologist spoke as he prepared to get Uncle and Tails to safety while Tohru, Sonic and Caliburn stayed to hold them off. Uncle, Tails, and Jackie found scaffolding outside the museum and prepared to climb down.
"Darkness within. Darkness within," Ratso chanted as he summoned ten more Razor Khan that formed out from the pool of darkness.
"I have got it!" Ratso complimented, then regaining his composure he added as he pointed to the exit sign, "Get Chan and the hedgehog!"
The Razor Khan raced in the opposite direction of his finger towards Tohru, who had gotten on to the scaffolding, but found themselves in the way of Sonic brandishing Caliburn. However, the sword was worried about these odds.
"Sonic, I would suggest we do as the sumo is doing and make a tactical retreat," the sword advised, and Sonic leapt out of the window and into the air where Tails caught him and was bringing him to the safety of the ground. They watched as Tohru attempted to climb down to safety along with Jackie and Uncle, but the Razor Khan jumped onto the scaffolding as well and caused the whole thing to tip over a busy street. Jackie and Uncle slid to safety and landed on a sheet covering a store, while Tohru fortunately fell into something soft… but to his misfortune it was fish. The Shadowkhan had crashed into the building and evaporated into clouds of shadow.
"I hate fish," the sumo complained as he removed himself from the pile.
Back at the museum, Jade and Ratso were overseeing the event.
"Where'd everybody go?" Ratso asked, confused at what just happened.
"Let's go, if I know Jackie, he probably survived and he'll be looking into how to defeat these new Shadowkhan from here on out," Jade suggested as she started shivering.
"You feeling alright?" Ratso asked.
"I think I have the willies," Jade answered, sounding concerned, "I better tell Tarakudo what's going on right now."
Back with Tohru, Jackie, Uncle, Sonic, Tails, and Caliburn, the group was in hotel where Jackie was chopping up some onions for a stew. Sonic was eating a Japanese fish wrap and was polishing Caliburn at the same time, while Uncle was sitting on the couch next to Tails who was just going over the information on his personal computer that he had managed to copy from the scrolls with Tohru's help.
"Sensei, I think I may have a lead," Tohru spoke up, "According to the information that Tails was able to scan and transcribe, there are a set of cards known as the Hana Fuda cards housed in an ancient shrine in Matsuai. My mother told me of these cards."
"Pah, more fairy tales," Uncle dismissed, "Cards not important."
"But according to ancient legends," Tails added, "The cards may indicate that location of the remaining Oni masks and the spells that were used to defeat them originally."
"I am telling you," Uncle argued again, "Cards not important."
Tohru shivered suddenly, causing Sonic to stop polishing Caliburn and look at him in concern.
"Let me guess," the legendary sword indicated, "Tarakudo is in the area and already knows of the Hana Fuda cards by now."
Everyone looked at a photo of a Japanese samurai as the eyes suddenly moved back and forth, causing everyone to gasp as Tarakudo appeared from the face on the photo.
"So you're hoping to find the Hana Fuda cards, huh?" The lord of all Oni interrogated, then as his voice got deeper he added, "Well I can't let you do that!"
On cue he unleashed a massive blast on his mental powers on the entire room, causing the place to shake and photographs to fall down.
"Okay," Uncle realized, "Maybe cards important."
Tarakudo continued to fire his mental blasts at the heroes, until Tohru saw an onion and had one ready to throw at Tarakudo along with Sonic who was brandishing Caliburn to provide back up.
"Onion?" Uncle questioned, "Do not be foolish, use garlic!"
"Easy with that veggie," Tarakudo spoke as he moved away from the group. Then without warning, Tohru threw the onion at him causing him to scream in pain, "My eyes! My eyes!"
"Let us depart before he regains his composure," Caliburn advised as the heroes made a hasty exit out of the hotel.
"Mommy always said the Oni were weary of onions," Tohru revealed to the heroes, "I used to keep one under my pillow at night."
"You're the man Tohru," Sonic complimented as they all left for the train station.
"Yes, he is the man," Uncle said to himself, though Tails had somewhat heard as they were leaving.
"We can offer compliments later, we need to get to Matsuai now before the Shadowkhan destroy the cards for good," Caliburn advised, and without warning Sonic raced away from the heroes with Caliburn in hand.
"I'll be at Matsuai to protect the cards and find the area of the shrine or at least its location to warn the keepers!" Sonic called back as he ran down the streets and into the country, "We'll meet up there later!"
"Sonic, come back!" Jackie yelled after the hedgehog, "It's too dangerous to split up!"
"Sonic knows what he's doing and he's got Caliburn with him," Tails commented, "Right now we need to take the train and follow him so we can at least provide some back up."
Over at the train station the heroes were waiting for the train that would take them to Matsuai and to Sonic and Caliburn, while another train had just appeared on another platform that Uncle was walking towards.
"Uncle that is not our train," Jackie commented.
"It is mine," Uncle said with sadness, "Uncle is going to airport now."
"You're leaving? Why?" Tails asked, "Is it because you feel useless next to Tohru?"
"Tails has revealed my reasons for leaving," Uncle continued sadly while listing his reasons, "Tohru has knowledge of Japanese legends which Uncle does not; Tohru gets willies from Oni whereas Uncle does not; Tohru knows tricks with vegetables which Uncle does not."
"Please sensei, I require your guidance," Tohru pleaded with his teacher. Tails and Jackie nodded, hoping Uncle would listen.
"I offer you my confidence," Uncle said, and with that he boarded his train to the airport as Jackie, Tohru and Tails – who was sitting on Tohru's head while holding his computer and examining the data while cross-referencing current information and locations to come up with some answers – watched on.
"So what do we do now?" Jackie asked the group.
"Well, according to the research I did in the hotel along with analyzing information on the scroll and matching that with present kanji and locations for the shrine, I can deduce that the shine of the Hana Fuda cards is no more," Tails spoke up as the trio went aboard the train heading to Matsuai, "I did however find that the Hana Fuda Car Company was built in its place and bears the same symbol as that of the Hana Fuda Cards. Perhaps the cards are still there."
"If that's the case we better get there before Ratso and Jade find out and destroy the cards for good. Sonic may be tough and he may have Caliburn but even he is not strong enough to take on two Shadowkhan armies alone," Tohru replied as they headed on board the train, not knowing that Jade and Ratso were already heading there just as Sonic had raced across the land with Caliburn to reach the location.
Speaking of whom, Sonic and Caliburn were speaking to the plant manager. The factory owner had thought it odd he was conversing with a talking hedgehog wearing a blue silk outfit like the ones that daimios from feudal Japan wore and a talking double-edged sword, but after noticing the hedgehog didn't mean him any harm he decided to let him into his office. The two of them were sipping some tea made with crushed petals from Japanese Sakura cherry blossoms, giving the tea a distinctive flavor.
"So let me see if I got this right now," the shrine keeper descendant spoke up as he finished his tea, "You are here looking for the Hana Fuda cards along with some friends of yours, who happen to be an archeologist, a sumo, an elderly shop keeper and a talking twin-tailed fox?"
"That's putting it mildly good sir, but yes," Caliburn responded calmly, "We do indeed seek the Hana Fuda cards."
"So do you have any ideas as to where they might be?" Sonic asked as he was comfortable in his present attire, which seemed to fit him like a glove and still allowed him to move like the wind.
"Oh yes, please follow me," the company owner spoke up, only to hear more footsteps heading towards him. Sonic prepared to protect the company president, only to see the footsteps were caused by Jackie, Tohru and Tails. Taking a second look at the trio, the shrine keeper spoke again, "Friends of yours?"
"Yeah, those are my friends," Sonic replied.
"Sonic, how did you get here?" Jackie asked, slightly in shock of the hedgehog's outfit.
"More to the point," Tails asked, "What are you wearing?"
"Well, when I was racing across the land looking for the shrine, some very nice people pointed me in this direction but not before giving me a full plate of rice balls to eat and some to take with me," Sonic answered, "As for the outfit, well I ran into some very nice people who have kids who happen to enjoy my adventures so I asked them about Japanese attire so they told me about the kimono and so here I am wearing the attire."
"We can talk fashion later," Caliburn interrupted, "We really need to see the Hana Fuda cards."
"Oh you mean these cards," the factory owner asked as he walked over to his office where a frame holding the cards was located.
"Those would be the ones we're looking for," Tails commented.
XXX
Over with Uncle, he was on the train heading to the airport when he suddenly had a terrible feeling down his spine.
XXX
Back with the heroes, the car company president was just bringing out the Hana Fuda cards.
"The Hana Fuda cards were handed down from my ancestors," the shrine keeper descendant explained, "As you can see, I have based my company logo on the Hana Fuda. So tell me, why you are so interested in the cards that have been in my family for generations?"
"Have you heard of the Oni?" Jackie asked hopefully.
"Of course I'm familiar with the Oni. My grandmother would tell me tales of the Oni every night when I was a child growing up," the president answered, "What does that have to do with the present situation now?"
"The Oni demons have returned and unless you help us they will attempt to destroy your family's deck of Hana Fuda cards," Caliburn explained, being quite straightforward and causing the company president to laugh.
"Oni are not real," the owner laughed, "They are merely stuff of children's tales."
"It looks like someone has no problems in self confidence," said a terrible, yet familiar, voice.
"Who is there?" the factory owner spoke with the sound of panic in his voice. Everyone present took defensive stances; Jackie got into a fighting pose, Tohru and Tails had onions ready, and Sonic brandished Caliburn.
"Show yourself," the shrine keeper spoke again as he felt all eyes were on him and his deck of cards. The attention was so unwanted and intimidating that he was close to cracking.
"As you wish!" the voice said again, and on cue, six-dozen Shadowkhan formed from the shadows in the factory, with one half being comprised of the standard Ninja Shadowkhan while the other half were the newly dubbed Razor Khan. In the middle of the group was a little blue child wearing black, hovering in the air in with the mark of Tarakudo on her forehead, "The Queen of all Oni is in the house!"
"Oni!" the factory president yelled, and he backed away only to find himself running into a man wearing a suit and tie. Looking up he saw the man's face was purple and had horns.
"Boo!" Ratso said as he brought his fist into his palm in an attempt at intimidation, which caused the shrine keeper to shriek loud enough to nearly break all the glass in the present area.
"Take the cards, they are yours!" Yelled the factory owner as he fled for his safety, as the Queen laughed while the owner continued to scream and run for his life in terror.
"Well, you heard him," Jade said to the Shadowkhan, "Get those cards and destroy them!"
The Shadowkhan leaped into action and began to rush at the group, but Tohru used his new stun spell to beat down all of them.
"Sonic, run!" Tails said as he tossed the frame to Sonic, who caught it with ease.
Jade and Ratso summoned more Shadowkhan to go after Sonic and to beat down Jackie and Tohru, but the sumo had already cleared the area of his Shadowkhan while Jackie was trying to draw the attention of the ninja onto him.
Tohru had found himself in the office of the company president along with Tails, who had somehow managed to sneak the cards out of the frame without anyone knowing.
"Good trick Tails," Tohru complimented, but then he turned serious as he said, "But it's only a matter of time until Jade and Ratso find out we tricked them, so we had best figure out how to find the mask removal ingredient and soon. It is the only way to stop Ratso's Shadowkhan for good."
"Then we had best play and fast. Cards are for games like a puzzle, so this should be like the puzzle box used by the Immortals who defeated the Demon Sorcerers you told me about on the way over here," Tails noted as he arranged the cards, "Perhaps the cards may tell us what mask we're looking for, where to find it, and the key ingredient to remove it from the host."
XXX
Uncle had just arrived in the factory, where the assembly line had somehow started up as both Jackie and the Shadowkhan were battling each other along the assembly line and the assembly line seemed to be winning the three-way battle while Sonic was still dealing with Ratso, who had suddenly managed to gain razor sharp claws to cover his hands in an attempt to slice up the hedgehog after he destroyed the frame, which had contained nothing.
Tails and Tohru had just arranged three cards into a row as Uncle came into the scene.
"Please tell Uncle you have found mask removal ingredient?" Uncle asked the fox and his apprentice.
"We have sensei, observe," Tohru gestured to the cards that were glowing. The first one showed the mask that was on Ratso's face, the second card showed the location where it was, and the third showed the mask removal ingredient, "As you can see, Tails has figured out the secret of the Hana Fuda cards."
"Indeed, and according to this card," Tails commented as he picked up the third card, "The mask removal ingredient is Japanese silk."
"Sensei, do you have any Japanese silk?" Tohru asked.
"Blended wool and polyester," Uncle stated loudly, "Uncle does not wear clothes of movie star or male model!"
"What about from a kimono?" Tails asked, hoping Uncle would have an idea.
"Where do you expect Uncle to get a kimono from?" Uncle asked, only to see Sonic in his new attire rush by with several Shadowkhan and Ratso attacking him, "Oh, then get hedgehog to lend you new attire."
"Sorry, but that's not going to happen," Jade said fiercely as she summoned mass armies of both tribes of Shadowkhan. Snapping her fingers, she sent the tribes of ninja into action.
"Tohru, please tell Uncle you have devised new stun spell?" Uncle spoke as he readied his blowfish. Tohru had already prepared his blowfish with his new stun spell and passed it on to Uncle's fish, and together the duo blasted the Shadowkhan army to dust. Seeing how effective the new spell was Uncle praised his apprentice, "Very good spell Tohru."
Meanwhile, upon realizing that his Shadowkhan weren't doing the job, Ratso had taken to attacking Jackie personally. The possessed Enforcer had used his fists and his strength on Jackie in an attempt to beat him senseless, but the archeologist/martial artist kept dodging and evading every attack possible. Sonic and Caliburn were on the sidelines watching the fight with interest.
"I really hope Tohru and Tails found the mask removal ingredient," Sonic said to the sword, "I don't know how much longer Jackie can keep this up."
"Perhaps we should worry about Jackie a little later," Caliburn answered back as he saw Jade and numerous Shadowkhan made up of both tribes moving in to attack them, "We've got some problems of our own to deal with right now."
"Shadowkhan," Jade instructed, "Destroy the hedgehog and his kimono!"
Sonic dodged attacks left and right while slicing up some of the Shadowkhan with Caliburn. The cobalt blue hedgehog managed to duck and avoid attacks as he saw something green, which turned out to be Uncle and Tohru firing off Tohru's new spell, blast some of them. Tails was standing right beside them with the removal potion.
"Sonic, over here!" Tails yelled as he still had the vial with the removal potion, "I've got the basic potion ready, all I need is the removal ingredient."
"So what is it?" Sonic answered back as he rushed over to the trio, slicing up Shadowkhan and knocking Jade out unconscious with the hilt of Caliburn on the way.
"Japanese silk," Tohru answered looking at him hopefully, "Like the kind used in a kimono."
"Well why didn't you say so in the first place?" Sonic stated as he took the potion and poured it on one of the sleeves.
Back with Jackie, he was continuing to dodge various punches and kicks from Ratso as one of the punches managed to connect and send him straight to the floor. Jackie thought he was done for, but he heard Sonic, Tails, Uncle, and Tohru chanting, and saw Sonic's kimono glow with a green light that found its way over to Jackie and caused his hands to glow green.
Thinking quickly, Jackie leaped into the air and grabbed Ratso by the horns and started to pull on Ratso's mask to get it off of him. Jade had just managed to get awake and started to summon Shadowkhan in an attempt to stop the process, but Sonic – wielding Caliburn powered up by Tohru's new stun spell – easily sliced up the Shadowkhan allowing Jackie to pull the mask off of Ratso's face, thus ending the threat.
"Oh man, what happened," Ratso asked, as he was feeling very disoriented by the experience. Jade growled and summoned two of the Razor Khan to pull Ratso into the shadows and take him to Tarakudo.
"This isn't over," the queen hissed as she warped out of the area, leaving the heroes to triumph alone in the factory.
Back on the rooftop, the other members of the Dark Hand were standing around with Chow and Finn throwing a baseball back and forth while Hak Foo was standing against the wall grumbling about how if he had the mask he would've put Japan under his rule already. Ratso suddenly dropped right in front of them, looking very confused.
"Oh wait, it's my turn at bat," Ratso said excitedly, before turning to see Tarakudo looking very annoyed and in an extremely foul mood.
"It would appear that Chan has the cards since you no longer have horns," the lord of all Oni declared as his voice deepened with fury, causing Ratso to comment on the brutally obvious.
"Oh, right, I forgot," Ratso stupidly spoke.
"Finn or Hak Foo would've done a better job anyway," Jade added, causing Ratso to kneel for mercy out of fear that he may have to endure a punishment. But the Queen's next words caused him to relax and rise to his feet.
"Relax, all is not completely lost," the Queen of all Shadowkhan added as she summoned some Razor Khan and some Ninja Khan, "The General within the mask seemed to be very impressed with my outside the box thinking and how I was able to hold my own in a sword fight, so he let me borrow some of his power. He also mentioned that the other Generals will probably be expecting me though there is one in particular who wishes to have a word with me about my position."
"So what do we do now, boss?" Chow asked Jade.
"Knowing Jackie, he'll probably have Section 13 upgraded with onion magic to keep Tarakudo out," Jade answered, "Fortunately for us the Hana Fuda Cards are similar to the Pan Ku Box of the Demon Sorcerers, so it will take some time for the next Oni mask to be found, which will give me time to work on my powers."
"Sounds like an okay plan to me boss," Finn noted and on cue they left for America by shadow.
XXX
Back with the heroes, the group had just finished placing the Oni mask in the vault on the wall next to the one they recovered from Shendu's palace.
"Two down," Jackie counted, "Seven more to go."
"Sensei, what will keep Tarakudo from penetrating the vault?" Tohru asked as Sonic held up an onion while Uncle was holding Caliburn.
"Oni magic cannot defeat onion magic," Sonic said sagely as Caliburn smiled proudly at his student as he was being held in Uncle's hand.
"A little trick I learned from my apprentice," Uncle added.
"True, but how is Caliburn going to be of much help from here?" Tails asked, worried that Caliburn would fall to pieces with Sonic needing his power in fighting against the remaining seven Shadowkhan tribes, "Caliburn had trouble with Ratso's Shadowkhan."
"Do not worry young Tails," Caliburn answered back as the sword was now sporting a slightly new green aura around the blade and was looking sharper than ever, "Uncle's magic has made my edge sharper than obsidian stone blade and stronger than diamond or steel. I can now cut down through any type of ninja no matter how strong they are."
"Uncle figured we would need all the help we can get saving Jade and sealing the dark forces away," Uncle commented, "So Uncle upgraded Caliburn's cutting power and gave him new abilities that will be revealed in time."
"Sounds to me like those new powers are going to make things fairer around here," Sonic spoke up, no longer wearing his kimono anymore, but was now holding some chilly dogs in his hand and had some rice balls in a box.
Everybody had to laugh at Sonic's wise joke as the hedgehog continued to snack in the process, but for what they knew things were only going to get tougher from here on out.
Next Time on The Blue Knight and The Dark Queen
The heroes and the Enforcers find the next Oni Mask but when it ends up being activate Sonic and Jackie are out matched aganist this tribe forcing Uncle and Tohru to call in some air support in the form of the last animal Jackie would ever expect to see. All on the next installment of the Blue Knight and the Dark Queen. Please leave reviews thanks you that is all.