Mumbling incoherently, Daolong Wong sprinkled black seeds from some plant or another into his golden basin. It was filled with dark vapors, which were lit by a fell light as they churned and swirled. Across the room, the three dark warriors stood, trying not to shiver. Strikemaster Ice often fancied that he feared nothing, and maybe that was true. But the way shadows seemed to move and dance on the edge of vision, reaching and twisting in ways that no natural light could have caused, was plenty reason to be on edge. Drago had wielded magic, but nothing like the power here.

"Yo, Ice, you don't suppose..." started DJ Fist, but Strikemaster Ice never found out what he didn't suppose, because an abrupt gesture from the dark wizard silenced his friend. The sorcerer's blue eye rotated to glare angrily at his henchmen, while the grey one stayed fixed straight ahead. That particular disturbing tendency; one of many, was really starting to make Ice wish he'd stayed in jail.

Suddenly, Wong fell silent. He raised his hands high, one holding a scrap of orange cloth, the other a lock of black hair. Slowly, he lowered them into the mists. It climbed up his arms, and circled his brow before sinking back into the bowl. He lifted the cloth and held it out towards his minions. It fluttered, pushed by a nonexistent draft, or at least no draft Ice could feel.

"You three are going to track down our escaped prisoner. This locator spell will bring you straight to her. There may be a boy with her as well; dark, spiky hair, shouldn't be too hard to find. I want them both alive, but do whatever you think necessary to seize them. Most of all, do not fail me, I do not give second chances without adequate punishment..."

Ice took the cloth gingerly; it strained against his hand, and he stuffed it into his pocket, "What are you doing, er...Master Wong?"

In response, he slowly drew his other hand up from the bowl, and smiled in satisfaction as what followed made his minion's eyes bulge, "I have an exchange to make; I would not want to disappoint them."

"Uh...sure...whatever you say boss..." Ice walked as quickly as he could out of the room; Fist and Cobra followed close on his heels. Knowing that Daolong Wong was powerful was one thing, but actually seeing it in action was quite another.

Jade leaned back and sighed in contentment, her stomach comfortably filled. Across from her, Hsi Wu was savoring the last few crumbs from his french fries, taking care to mop up every single one.

After a moment, he looked up at her, "So what are we going to do now?"

"Well, we need to find out exactly where we are, so we can call Jack-OH NO!" Jade sat bolt upright, and then slid off the chair and ran for the door.

Hsi Wu chased after her, "What is it? Jade, wait for me!"

She didn't slow until she reached a white box mounted on a short post, a payphone, and started to explain as she fished in her pocket for change, "The dark wizard was supposed to trade me for my uncle! Jackie doesn't know I escaped, so he's probably heading to the exchange place right this moment! It's probably a trap!"

She quickly inserted the coins and dialed Jackie's cell phone. "Please be somewhere with a signal..."

Jackie could barely see anything; a thick fog lay on Yellowstone park, far denser than any meteorological phenomena could account for. Evidently Daolong Wong was trying to avoid attention, though the thought that he was strong enough to raise such a mist was disconcerting. What other powers had he gained? Why did he have any magic at all? Jackie supposed Tohru and Uncle were more qualified to answer those questions than he was.

Captain Black appeared out of the fog, coming from the direction of the parking lot where he had had a sort of command center set up. He didn't look happy.

"Weather reports show this fog rolled in early this morning, and has only gotten stronger. I was hoping to catch Wong on satellite surveillance, but we're blind in this. He probably intended that."

"It doesn't matter...the locator spell in Uncle's glasses will track him. I'm just worried something will go wrong and Jade or Uncle will get hurt."

Uncle materialized out of the gloom, causing both of them to jump, "Jackiee! Tohru will go with Uncle to trade, and bring Jade back! Make sure she does not sneak off! One more thing, we must hurry! It is time!"

Tohru, turning a blowfish over nervously in his hands came forward, "But Daolong Wong never said where we were supposed to meet him...this park is huge!"

Uncle turned around angrily and opened his mouth to speak, but then shuddered, "Daolong Wong is heere...Uncle has the willies..."

Holding his lizard, which gleamed faintly, he turned around, then strode off into the fog, "One with so much dark Chi will not be hard to find."

"Wait for me, Sensei!" Tohru lumbered after the old man, and both disappeared. Jackie and Captain Black decided to wait near the van, as there was a chance they might need a quick escape. Jackie's ears picked up soft music from somewhere. He was wondering about it, when Black poked his head out the door.

"Cell phone's ringing, Jackie," he announced, handing the device to his friend.

"Thanks! Hello, Jackie Chan speaking. Who is this?"

"JACKIE! It's Jade! Where are you?!"

He almost dropped the phone in shock, "Jade!? How-never mind, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine; I escaped! But if you're still meeting with Daolong Wong, you're the one in danger!"

Jackie's mind hadn't fully caught up with what was happening. "Wait...what? Why are we in danger?"

"Think! If I'm free, Daolong Wong doesn't have anything to trade! It'll be a trap, if anything!"

"Trap?" Jackie glanced off into the fog, "I've got to warn Uncle!"

"Yeah! Hurry!"

"Captain Black! Daolong Wong doesn't have Jade, it's a trap!"

The kung fu master ran off into the fog while his friend scrambled out of the van. Captain Black checked that his handgun was loaded, then gave chase.

Tohru sighed and tried to see farther ahead, but it was useless; the fog was too thick. Next to him, Sensei stood calmly, as if waiting in line for something. He wished he could have that much self-discipline.

Suddenly, the old man started, "They are here!"

Out of the gloom emerged two figures, one large, one small. Daolong Wong came first, strutting forward with the arrogance of a king, he even had some sort of crown on his head. Jade followed with her head down and her hood up; shivering, with her arms wrapped around her body. The wizard smiled and spoke, "Ah...here we are. I think the terms of our agreement are still mutually acceptable, yes?"

"Aiya! They are horrible!...but we have little choice...Jade, are you alright?"

The forlorn figure merely nodded. Daolong Wong was the one who answered, "The child has contracted some sort of fever...nothing serious, but I do not think she is very happy right now. Let us do this now! I do not think she would survive my dungeons if you broke the deal."

Uncle sighed, and placed his lizard and blowfish into Tohru's hands, "Take good care of Jade, and remember; you are a full Chi wizard!"

"Yes, Sensei."

As he strode towards Daolong Wong, the dark mage shoved Jade gently forward. The two had almost reached each other, when hurried footsteps announced the arrival of Jackie. He was clutching a phone to his ear, frantically waved to them, "STOP! Uncle! That's not Jade!"

Uncle had just drawn even with the hooded figure. He raised his hand and pushed back Jade's hood. Jackie stopped abruptly; even from a distance with the fog, the raven black hair and golden eyes obviously belonged to Jade. But her voice coming through the phone still against his ear told a different story, "Jackie?! What's going on? Did you stop him?"

Uncle studied her; there was something off...a tingling of the spine generally associated with dark forces. No one moved as he studied her. The eyes. There was no life in them, just a blank stare.

"AAIYAAH!"

Galvanized into action by Uncle's shout, everyone tried to make up for lost time. Tohru fumbled his blowfish out and began a Chi incantation, Jackie dashed at the thing-that-was-not-Jade, and Captain Black finally caught up, charging out of the mist with his handgun at the ready.

Something silvery flashed in the not-Jade's hand, and only Uncle's long-practiced reflexes got him away as a knife that would've killed him whipped past. He stumbled backwards as Jackie engaged the not-Jade, then ran towards Tohru, "My blowfiish! Quiickly!"

His apprentice fumbled in his pocket while finishing the spell one-handedly. A blast of green light leapt towards the construct, but she, or whatever it was, nimbly dodged aside.

Jackie attacked, feinted left, then kicked the blade out of the not-Jade's hand and off into the fog. The doppelganger turned, and tried to run after it, but before it could take more than two steps it was simultaneously hit by two chi-blasts. The green energy seemed to permeate the being, lighting it up from within as it's flesh crumbled into dust. Only a lock of black hair remained.

He turned back to Uncle and Tohru, "What was that thing?!"

Uncle shrugged, "It was dark chi construct, but that is not important. Where is Daolong Wong?"

In the confusion, the dark wizard had vanished. Uncle raised his blowfish, "He is still here...be veeery careful..."

Suddenly, there was a noise like a small avalanche passing overhead, and something big and black with many claws swooped through the mist. Jackie spun as it whipped by overhead, then screamed as a burning lance of pain exploded in his shoulder.

"AIIYAAAA!" Uncle was rising into the air, not of his own accord. The creature had him in its claws, and in grabbing him, had knocked the blowfish from his grasp. Tohru began a new spell, but the deafening report of a gunshot shattered his concentration.

Whatever had attacked them roared in pain, and dropped the old man to the ground as Captain Black fired again. Leaving a shower of dark blood, it winged its way east and soon could no longer be heard. Black lowered his gun, "See, mundane weapons are occasionally good for something..."

Uncle crawled out of the bush he had landed on, and dusted off his jacket, "Hmmmph...Daolong Wong has new tricks...he should not have been able to summon a wyvern...such beasts are the servants of powerful demons alone."

Tohru nodded, "The creation of ...whatever that thing that looked like Jade was, is also a bit beyond normal dark magic."

"I hate to interrupt," interrupted Captain Black, "But Jackie's hurt."

The two turned, and rushed over to where Jackie sat, staunching the wound on his shoulder. Uncle ignored pulled his hands away to examine it, "Hmmm...you have been stung. We will have to reseaarch antiidote for wyvern venom..."

"Venom?! You mean I'm poisioned?!"

"Don't worry, wyvern venom is veeeerrry slow-acting!"

Jackie sighed, "That's not very reassuring."

"I said do not worry! It will be a few days before poison becomes a problem. First things first, if Daolong Wong does not have Jade, where is she?"

"Jade? Oh! I dropped my phone, where'd it go?"

A brief search located the cell phone, aided by Jade's voice still coming through, demanding to know what was going on. Jackie held it to his ear, "Hello? You still there Jade?"

"Of course I'm here! What's going on?! Did you stop Daolong Wong?"

"Err...yes, but he got away..."

"Oh well...but as long as he didn't take Uncle with him, everything's good, right?"

Jackie briefly considered mentioning his poisoned wound, but decided that would only alarm her. Uncle didn't think it was a problem, so he saw no reason to worry Jade, "Um...yes, everything's fine. But where are you?"

Jade took a moment to glance around at the license plates of nearby cars, "Looks like...Virginia? Wow...no wonder it seems like it shouldn't be so dark, I'm four time zones off!"

"Never mind that! Can you figure out a more exact address?"

"Let's see...ooh, we're near interstate 495, and...route 50!"

"Who's 'we'?"

Jade cringed, she didn't want Jackie to know about Hsi Wu yet, all he'd do is freak out, and she wasn't sure she could convince him that the demon was totally under her control, "Sorry, I meant 'I'..."

"Oh, I see," Jackie looked up, "Captain Black, can you go find out where interstate 495 is?"

"That's easy, it's DC. I'm always over there for to meet with my superiors."

"Thanks," He put his mouth back to the phone, "That's right by Washington DC. It might take some time to get out there."

"Hey, isn't Viper near here on some security contract?" Jade asked.

"Oh, yeah, she might be able to look after you until we can pick you up!"

Jade grinned, "I haven't seen her in forever, that plan sounds good to me!"

Jackie rolled his eyes, "Since when is two weeks "forever"? I'll call her. You just stay right where you are and wait."

"Ok, Uncle Jackie! I saw a library a ways down the road. Tell her I'll be there!"

Jade hung up the phone, and looked at Hsi Wu, "Let's go. Try not to stand out too much, I'd hate to have to banish you; you've been kinda handy to have around so far."

Hsi Wu grimaced, "I fooled you last time, didn't I? I should be alright this time too. Just stop glaring so much, or you'll be the one attracting attention."

Still arguing, the strange pair headed off down the road.