Disclaimer: I own neither the WITCH cartoon-show nor Jackie Chan Adventures; they are the property of their respective creators, writers, and producers.
Author's Notes: It seems that I'm concentrating in this story more than in my other ones, but to be fair this is due to a serious writer's block I'm having with them, among other things. This chapter is another step before the chapters of Torus Filney, dedicated to build things even more and actually having just a couple of action scenes, even if big ones. Having said that, many thanks to all the reviewers that take their time to read this and leave their opinions, follow this story and/or favorite it. Enjoy your read and please, leave a review.
Guardians, Wizards and Kung-Fu Fighters
Episode Nine
Chaotic Magical Rumble
Japan
Tohru had to admit that he had missed his motherland. He had missed the bustling yet organized streets of Tokyo, the smell in the air, the sounds that the wind made and that sounded different to his ears than the ones of San Francisco, Heatherfield or any other American city. He had left way too many years ago, when he was much younger, seduced by the promises of a good life for him and his mother that cruel men had proposed to him. The sumo had started doing simple things, usually serving as muscle for some robberies, protecting the above-average thug as a bodyguard… then Finn showed up one day, the Irish-American man telling him that the 'Big Shot' wanted to see him. And so Tohru entered into Valmont's service. The first months were actually way better than the rest of the time Tohru had spent immersed in the criminal underworld of America. Then came the jobs that he and the enforcers had to do for Valmont in person. Tohru hated himself both for the fact he had carried out those orders, and because he hadn't been able to protest. So many years in the service of the Dark hand had made him to grow cynical, and to accept his fate as if the only way out was prison. Then Jackie, Jade and Sensei had come tumbling upon his life and had given him a second chance. And he loved each one of them for that; he loved them as if they had been his family since the moment he gave his first steps.
His mother, however, was a completely different story. At each moment the mountain of a man looked behind, he spotted the thin old Chinese man that his teacher was in constant debate with a short, overweight Japanese woman of advanced age, albeit not as old as Uncle. Dressed in a maroon coat over a white shirt, a maroon dress, and black shoes; the Japanese woman had black hair which she wore tied in a topknot, and possessed facial features that clearly proved her family relation to Tohru, only complemented by a small mole under her left eye. This was his mother, the woman who gave birth and raised him; the woman he had called after spending several days in Japan without finding anything related to the Oni or those Masks. As it turned out, his mother had a contact with a woman in Tokyo that seemed to be an expert in Japanese folklore and legends.
"We don't need legends!" Uncle yelled, moving his arms up and down incredibly fast. "We need facts, formulas! And we are wasting too much time! Uncle knew that following apprentice's mother was a bad idea!"
"And I told the talking goat to stop complaining and to walk faster!" Tohru's mother yelled back.
"Uncle's not a goat!" the other elder retorted.
"Oh, I think he is a goat," the short Japanese woman said mockingly. "He is an old, angry goat that talks and owns nothing but an overrated shop!"
Uncle's eyes widened in anger as he had felt that his beloved antique shop had been insulted. "Apprentice! Tell your mother to take back what she saaaaaid about Uncle's shop!"
"I'm not taking it back, goat!" the woman shot back. "I will never understand how my son has been able to tolerate you this long, magic or not!"
Tohru shook his head in exasperation. Yes, of course he had told his mother about magic, his apprenticeship with Uncle and the Dark Hand; hiding those facts anymore would have been pointless. Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), his mother had been way angrier at him for the fact that he hadn't told him right away than for the fact itself. Not confused, not shocked... a couple of simple spells and a couple of tales were enough to convince her. Rough as she was, the sumo knew his mother was a kind and understandable soul.
"Mrs. Higashikata!" Tohru heard his mother's surname being called ahead, trying to not let the discussion behind him to get on his nerves.
At the entrance of a small restaurant, he saw a Japanese pale woman in his late twenties with wavy black hair falling over her shoulders and dressed in a pair of light blue jeans and a simple T-shirt of an orange tone. Accompanying her was a tall, slim blond man with dark skin and deep green eyes, his hair falling; dressed in a pair of black pants and a formal shirt; carrying a brown leathery briefcase in his right hand. He was clearly not Japanese, yet Tohru couldn't exactly discern from where he was. Middle-eastern, maybe? He couldn't be sure, as he couldn't figure his exact age either, even if he looked to be around his companion's age. There was something about the man that bugged him. No willies, so no danger; but there was something... mysterious.
"Finally! Decent bystanders!" Tohru's mother said. "Hello Mariko. Son, this is the daughter of my good friend Foreman Takeda: Mariko Takeda," she said while signaling the young woman, "and her fiancé," the short woman said, pointing to the man; "Liam."
"Good morning," the young man said politely.
"Hello!" Mariko said happily. "So, Mrs. Higashikata told me you were interested in something concerning the legends of the Oni..."
"Yes!" Uncle said, eager to get to the matter, advancing quickly towards Mariko, putting his hands over her shoulders and shaking her. "Anything regarding them, eeeeverything!"
"Sensei!" Tohru called for the elder, stopping him before he made the young woman puke. "I'm sorry," the sumo apologized; "he is just... too much of a lover of the subject."
"So am I," Liam said with a warm smile. "I'm actually quite thrilled to discuss this theme with you."
Tohru and Uncle stopped their movements and focused in the man in front of them. "You are the expert?" the sumo asked in a puzzled tone.
"Well, yes;" Liam answered.
"Then..." Uncle said, while his and Tohru's faces looked towards Mariko.
"Oh, I'm a doctor," Mariko answered. "Just like my dad... that's how I met Mrs. Higashikata. I helped her getting rid of a virus by using applications of my father's theories... Why don't we talk while having lunch?" Mariko said, noting how awkward the situation was getting.
"Excellent idea!" Tohru's mother sentenced, heading inside the restaurant. "Today's menu is in the goat!"
"Everyone's but yours!" Uncle retorted in a yell.
"Ha! So you admit being a goat!" the short Japanese woman said, while Uncle yelled something in Cantonese and Mariko contained a snort.
Liam gestured towards the entrance. "After you," he told Tohru. The sumo headed inside while rubbing his temples. This was going to be long...
Thankfully, lunch had turned out to be quite pleasant. Aside from the time-to-time bickering between his mother and his sensei, Tohru had been able to enjoy the conversation they had with the young couple. Mariko had turned out to be a cheerful and kind young woman, while Liam was very calm in comparison, a man of few words in Tohru's eyes.
Mariko had met his mother due to some rare disease that the old woman had contracted almost a year ago. Mariko, a talented and successful doctor thanks to the applications of her father's theories on cryogenics to medicine; had come to her help, curing her in no time.
Liam, in the other hand, had met Mariko two years previous to the sumo's mother illness. He had apparently come to Japan in pursue of information on the country's myths and legends due to an analysis he did for some newspaper, meeting and falling in love with Mariko in the process. Deciding that he loved her more than anything, he had moved to Japan and settled down here alongside Mariko. And so, the expert they had been waiting for was him. Knowing that, it was only a matter if time before the conversation took in only one direction.
Oni.
Liam had pulled out documents from his briefcase and had started with what Tohru and Uncle already knew thanks to their investigation and the sumo's own knowledge in the subject due to his childhood stories; retelling that Oni were humanoid beings from the legends that resembled ogres and that possessed inhuman strength and a driving desire for battle. However, as the young man continued their explanation, his words started to dwell into a much more interesting subject. And in the moment the words 'Shogunate of Shadows' left Liam's mouth, Uncle interceded, asking for more detailed information on that term.
"The Shogunate?" the dark-skinned blond asked. "Oh, but that's just a very old and ridiculous legend. I mean, it mentions Murasaki Shikibu fighting against the Oni."
"The poet?" a confused Tohru asked, having studied the name of the famous woman long ago.
"The very same," Liam said; "I don't think it can be of any use..."
"Uncle would like to listen to that old and ridiculous legend!" the elder proclaimed loudly, earning himself a couple of glares from the other customer that he obviously ignored and didn't apologize to. Privileges of being a senior.
Liam shrugged and pulled more papers out of his briefcase. "I suppose it's not a problem... why so interested in it, anyway?"
"Oh, Uncle has received antiques related to Oni myths in shop," the elder lied. "He needs more information in order to know how valuable they are."
Tohru directed a sly gaze to his mother, who was still finishing her dish. She didn't seem in any urge to say anything. Good, the last thing that they needed now was to have to explain about magic to two complete strangers.
"Well, the legends regarding the Shogunate of Shadows," Liam explained; "start with a tale about a single Oni and how he gathered a group of other nine around him. It's pretty vague about how, but they were able to master control over something called... eh..." Liam searched through the papers once again before finding what he was searching for. "Ah! Here it is, by mastering something called Jigoku no Kage, they were able to conquer much of Japan from the hands of the Emperor of the time and establish a Shogunate... but according to the tales they were expulsed from Japan and never seen again. There is mention of some masks and a group of famous Hana Fuda cards... yet very little else."
Jigoku no Kage… Shadow of Hell. Because the whole situation wasn't problematic enough, that had to pop out. Had the power to summon Shadowkhan not originated from the Oni? And those Hana Fuda cards, Tohru had read about them about them somewhere, and if there was a relation... Master and apprentice shared a momentary look and both decided that they had enough to work with.
Rest of their meal's conversation revolved around trivialities, and when it finally ended Uncle did treat them all, to Tohru's mother amusement. After saying their goodbyes, the two wizards departed alongside the short woman, leaving the young couple alone in the restaurant enjoying a couple of drinks. And as the two of them drank, they noticed how the people around them were acting in a strange manner... or rather weren't acting at all. As if they had been frozen, unable to move. However, this didn't seem to surprise the young couple, as Liam just rolled his eyes and continued drinking, while Mariko let out a long sigh and leaned back in her chair.
"What did you do now, stop time?" Mariko asked.
"Stopping time is beyond my abilities," a woman's voice said, and shortly after a purple butterfly descended towards the chair Tohru had been sitting in, a whole swarm of the insects following it until the guise of Nimue was at the table with the couple. "Even I have my limits, and those include playing with something as strong as time. I just ordered their minds to tell their bodies to stop moving, seeing and hearing. It's pretty useful, even if only works with the weak minded and the unaware of magic's existence. But you should now; you have been my best pupil in decades, Mariko. And seriously, no greetings for the woman who taught you how to fight? I was expecting better manners from Foreman's and the White Queen's daughter."
"Yes, yes... sorry about that;" the young woman said as she stopped leaning back in her chair and eyed the purple eyed woman dressed in white. "It's just... I'm still a bit angry about this whole mess."
"Because I made that woman grow ill with a sickness only you could cure? I told you, it was necessary, and there was no real risk. At that time that family had just defeated the Fire Demon, and that monster's siblings were starting to join the game. I was busy dealing with that stupid Cult of Nihila back in Egypt, and we needed to get close to that family."
"I do understand," Mariko said; "but it goes against everything a doctor must do." The young woman let out a long sigh again, knowing that her mentor had the reason there. "Anyway, we did good sending them after the Hana Fuda, right?"
"Absolutely," Nimue said. "That set of cards was designed in order to have a defense mechanism in the case a Mask got stuck into someone's face, and that should help them."
"But the goal is to destroy the Oni inside the Masks;" Liam stated.
"Of course," Nimue confirmed. "And that I shall do, when the appropriate time comes. It would be way easier if the Masks are gathered in one place and without Kandrakar's interruption." Enough has Himerish done to hinder my task over the passing centuries to have him stick his self-righteous and controlling nose into all this, she added in her thoughts. With a Veil around Meridian and Earth so near to that world, travel between the Infinite Dimensions is incredibly hard, as you can attest, Liam."
The dark skinned blonde rubbed the back of his head. "Yes, that I can do. For thirteen years I have longed to return to the Fast Realm, but I won't complain about," the man said, eyeing his beloved Mariko; "the task Lady Arkaam gave me."
"Yes, yes; I know you are grateful to mother for making both of us meet…" Mariko said, smirking a bit and pocking the young man in his cheek. "You adorable and sexy bodyguard boyfriend of mine."
Nimue let out a small laugh, but quickly returned to the matter at hands, putting an end to the lovers' flirting before it escalated. "I need to return to Heatherfield after this. I was able to locate another Mask, yet someone got to it before me and changed its whereabouts to Heatherfield, where it has been hidden. Which means I need you two here to make sure nothing bad happens to those two Chi Wizards."
"Will I need to put on the armor?" Mariko asked, and after getting an affirmative nod from her former tutor, her confusion grew. "Why? I mean, it's supposed to be used against really strong magical users."
"I have been having a strange feeling lately," Nimue spoke; "as if something or someone has crossed to this plane. It's similar to the feeling an opened Portal leaves… just weirder, older; not from any of the worlds I know about. I don't like it, it could be a problem."
"Mariko and I will look into it, Lady Nimue;" Liam told her. "But I'm curious, who would take a Mask just to hide it again?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Nimue said, starting to break into purple butterflies that quickly disappeared out of sight. "Someone that needs the Mask as bait."
Heatherfield; Ludmoore manor
Today is full of surprises, and oh do I love those; Charles Ludmoore thought while sitting behind his desk and as his almost completely blackened eyes surveyed the trio of people in front of him; the golden dots in that blackness that served as his pupils shifting between the guises of Daolon Wong, Tristan and Roberta. Night was starting to fall over Heatherfield, and even he wanted to get a bit of free time in order to proceed. Then again, work was work. Well, let's see if we use this man like we have used the boisterous one. If what young Miranda wrote a few days ago was true, these two are Changelings…
"What can I do for you, Archmage Wong?" Charles inquired in his faked cold and emotionless voice.
"Weeks ago," Wong said, hands resting over the twisted root he used as a magic staff; "you found a Mask containing the power of one of the Nine. If you were able to get a hold of one, then you should be able to get a hold of another, correct?"
Charles tilted his head in the slightest of manners. Truth to be told, behind his usual mask of coldness the spark of curiosity had ignited with fury upon the old man's words. Considering the previous conversation he had today around the Masks, this was too much of a coincidence, yet it couldn't be anything else. Maybe fate was conspiring in his favor? "I thought that, after the problems that the last Mask gave its user, the Prince wasn't interested in them anymore. Unless… it's not the Prince but you who is interested in the Mask."
Wong narrowed his eyes upon his interlocutor's comment and accusation. Charles Ludmoore never employed an offensive tone of voice, and his phrases passed more as mere observations than anything else. Yet Daolon Wong was no man that took lightly to taunts and accusations, no matter how light they are.
"The reason for this does not concern you, King Smuggler," Wong told Ludmoore. "I'm prone to pay generously, so give me an indication and I shall take my leave."
Ludmoore hold the ancient man's gaze for a few seconds before snapping his fingers and materializing a map over his desk. It was a map of Heatherfield and its surroundings, representing thus a large area. Ludmoore pointed to a small mountain that was part of a massive mountain range. "I didn't put much effort into it, but supposedly, there is another Mask hidden within this mountain range, near the feet of Mount Thanos. Since both sides lost interest in them, I don't know exactly where."
My spells should do the rest, Wong thought, memorizing the image Ludmoore had provided. However, a small doubt was born within him upon knowing this. "How do you know where it is?"
"Because it's my work, Archmage Wong;" Ludmoore answered without really answering. "If I told you how I know things, then my existence wouldn't be needed. And I can't make a profit if I'm dead, don't you think?"
"Indeed," Wong answered after a while. "But I feel considerably convenient that there is another of the Nine so close to this city."
Ludmoore shrugged. "Heatherfield has always possessed a strong affinity for magic. The fact that the entire last two generations of Guardians had been born here is proof of that. I suppose that's the reason my ancestor decided to establish himself here. "
Wong didn't push the matter anymore. No matter how much he tried, men like Ludmoore were more reminiscent of tombstones than of regular people. No secret or word that Ludmoore let out his mouth was going to be something useful against the so-called King Smuggler. Due to his ancestry, Wong always felt respect for him; yet through that respect came along the acknowledgement of the threat that an unknown factor like Ludmoore, with so many secrets, so many deals; was. A threat that nobody else seemed to acknowledge. No, they only saw the greedy man... yet Wong could see more. Ambition, yes; yet not for mere power... there was something else there, a desire for something far beyond such paltry things. Was it because he, with all his experience, was also not seen as a threat either?
Deciding that those thoughts were better reserved for another time, Wong searched in the bag he was carrying and pulled a small, spherical orb of dark purple crystal out of it. He proceeded to hand it to Ludmoore that looked at it with a pleased glint in the golden dots of his eyes.
"This should suffice as payment," Wong explained, turning around and taking his leave; the scorpion and bird Shapeshifters following in tow. I have to get that Mask. If what I have investigated in those scrolls of the Fire Demon Sorcerer, then there is a way to siphon the power of a Mask without wearing it; and that combined with my own powers, the small team of Shapeshifters, even if Jordan has been lost... that pathetic Escanor brat! Wong's hand shot instinctively to his chest, the burns under his robes, product of the ire of the Prince upon his creations' defeat against the rebels and Guardians. If he was so tired of failures, then why didn't he take to the battlefield himself? Who does he think he is?! I bring the Changelings back from the verge of extinction; if not for that Ben-Shui girl I would have obliterated the Guardians on my own! But nothing is enough for that arrogant boy! Yet he is stronger than me... an Escanor is an Escanor, even while being a failure. But when I have that Mask…
"Ah, I almost forgot;" Charles said while inspecting the sphere and the energy within it. "A man named Hak Foo was here before, asking for the Mask too. He paid, so I indicated the way to him." The King Smuggler pointed to the orb. "So the only thing I have to do is break it and the energy will summon..."
"You did what?!" Wong exclaimed, eyes lighting in dark chi. "How dare you?!"
"A client is a client," Ludmoore retorted calmly; "and he is a normal human being, which means that he will waste a lot of time getting there. While you can..." Ludmoore explained, but before he could end his phrase, Wong waved his staff angrily in the air, enveloping him and the pair of Shapeshifters in dark bluish smoke and disappearing out of sight; "do that. These wizards of Chi Magic and their theatrics..." Ludmoore threw the sphere to the air and caught it with the other hand. Whistling, he sat up from the desk and started to walk around it, playing with the sphere as if it was a ball. He concentrated magic for the briefest of moments and materialized the blue book over the desk.
"Cyrus, can you talk?" Charles inquired to the blue book.
"Briefly," the voice of Charles' youngest brother emerged from the book. "The Infinity City has been pretty busy these days. There are more and more rebels as each day that passes, mainly villagers from the borders that have grown angry of their homes being transformed into prisons or being destroyed."
"And the medium ring?" Charles asked. Meridian had always been divided in three rings, an external one, medium ring and central one.
"Nothing," Cyrus Ludmoore's voice came from the blue book. "The nobles hold it pretty tight. No opposition to Phobos, yet only the smallest support in order to guarantee no retaliation from the Prince."
"That's a problem, and you know it," Charles said, still playing with the ball.
"Our attack over Torus Filney is imminent," Cyrus explained. "And that Viscount lives there. According to Cedric, he's the key to the nobles' success in holding this whole business together. We take him out, and the conflict escalates into a real war. We will need to thank Caleb about that eventually, you know? This whole operation has been his sole idea, even if he doesn't know anything about what he's going to accomplish with this."
"Excellent," Charles congratulated his youngest sibling. "I will inform Cedric about this, he has been too busy with the Princess as of late."
"Speaking about Cedric," Cyrus' voice continued to come from the book; "has little Miranda asked you about him lately?"
"Constantly," Charles said, putting the sphere under his jacket.
"Do you think... she will be, you know; 'the one'?"
"I told Cedric not to rush things with her," Charles explained; "but in the end that will be his decision, not mine. I'm going out, Cyrus."
"You are going to get involved? And going out at this hour of the night…" Cyrus asked. "All this you have planned just for a sword..."
"Not a mere sword," Charles said as a smirk formed in his lips. "The Sword of the Berserker, of old Thanatos."
"Cheetah dashes across the land!" Hak Foo yelled as he ran over a road. Evading cars and the like in the approaching night, the redhead and muscular man was back in his usual bodysuit, moving in it much easier that he did in that horrible formal suit Chang forced him to wear. He saw a car's lights ahead, and he heard the surprised and angered driver to sound the claxon with fury, and even if Hak Foo couldn't see him, he was sure that the driver was calling him crazy. "Monkey evades rhinoceros!" Hak Foo said as he jumped over the car, and as soon as he hit the ground again he continued to run. Some may call him inane for making all the way from Heatherfield to the nearby mountains by feet, but the enforcer considered it a good warm up, a testament of his strength and skill, which he had been honing since his more tender childhood.
Yes, since he had use of reason, Hak Foo had nothing but one goal in his mind, to become the ultimate warrior, the most prominent and powerful master of martial arts in the world. Of course, he had grown up to know that training alone was not the mean to achieve this, he needed to prove that he was the best, the strongest; and for that only defeating the strongest was an option. So Hak Foo had been fighting without rest, always seeking the strongest warriors, defeating each one of them until his body had been tampered into becoming the ultimate weapon! At least until he had met Jackie Chan. It hurt his pride to admit it, but Hak Foo was conscious of his adversary's superiority. Each time they had met, Chan had bested him. Even his old and frail Uncle had bested him once! But Chan seemed to have grown stronger with each clash they had, while Hak Foo had only grown… weaker? No! That was ridiculous! Yet a possibility that haunted him day after day. And now Chan was part of the same organization he served, and considering Chang's politic of no in-fighting, he couldn't just challenge his nemesis to another duel. But Hak Foo knew there were mightier foes than Chan. Yes, his discovery and acceptance of the existence of magic had made the enforcer realize that the world and the universe were populated by far mightier creatures, waiting to have their thrones taken by him. But the existence of said mightier beings had made Hak Foo realize that he was just a human competing against titans. At first he had refused the use of magic, judging it as a weakling's trick… but reality had proven him wrong. And he had started to ask himself, what could have happened back when Shendu had first possessed Valmont, if he had been disposed to use the most powerful Talismans? What could happen if someone as him who already was the pinnacle of human prowess, used magic? Wouldn't he become a titan too?
Yes, that was the conclusion he had reached long ago. That was the reason he had entered into Chang's servitude, a man more willing to use magic in his favor than to serve a magical being. That was the reason he had wanted that Mask… and that was the reason he wanted this one too. That was the reason he had made no questions when Ludmoore had come to him with the information of another Mask laying around near Heatherfield. He had just paid the man and ran out of the building in search of his ticket towards his upgrade.
The thought of finally transcending the limits of the human body made his lips to form an animalistic smirk. He looked onward and, even if it was night, his eyes could distinguish the form of the mountain range ahead, crowned by Mount Thanos. Reports indicated a blizzard that night, but a mere storm wasn't going to stop a man like the Black Tiger. His prize was waiting for him, and a new horde of mighty adversaries that would make him grow as a warrior were waiting alongside it.
"Tiger pursues his prey!" he yelled as he increased his pace, running through the road at night.
"Are you sure you have nothing else to tell me?" Quentin Ross asked of a man tied to a chair in front of him. The violent agent of Section 13, wearing the same attire as the day he had met Jackie, was sitting in front of his source of information, the scum's comrades already knocked out around them. The agent had to admit, these Talismans really were a help in order to take info from some thugs. Snake in order to get close to them without being seen, Pig and Dragon if he wanted to create a fire and drive them out, and Roaster… well the roaster had turned out to be his favorite one. "I'll ask again. Dark Hand, Bartholomew Chang. Information, now." Quentin touched the Roaster Talisman inside his right pocket, where he usually kept it alone. The neck of the thug in front of him tensed up and soon the scumbag found himself gasping for air as he was choked by the telekinetic power of the Talisman. The eyes of the thug bulged a bit until Quentin stopped the magic, making the man able to breathe once again. The agent had been doing this since around an hour, only starting making questions
"I told you already, you crazy asshole!" the thug yelled between a couple of coughs. "We don't work directly for Chang! No one works directly for the Dark Hand!"
"But you can know who does, don't you?" Quentin asked, this time getting up and approaching the captive, taking the man's right hand's fingers. He took the index one. "And who's the easiest one to approach, right?" he twisted the finger upwards, making the thug to let out an agonizing scream. "And where to find that…"
"Hak Foo!" the thug yelled in pain. "It's Hak Foo, that guy is batshit crazy, believes himself to be some kind of shitty comic book villain! He's gone to the mountains! Please, no more voodoo shit, please!"
"Mountains?" Quentin asked as his hand shot instinctively to his pocket. "Are you sure?"
"Yes!" the thug answered, and as a retort, Quentin shot a quick and strong punch towards his face, breaking his nose and sending him and the chair to the ground, the scumbag unconscious. The agent turned around and left the place while searching inside his coat and taking a small notebook and a pen out. He looked for the final entry and continued writing where he had left it.
Diary of Quentin Ross. Entry 137
Assaulted a nest of scumbags today, nothing serious, only thieves. Got a man tied in a chair, made him talk. Choked him, broke his finger and nose. Felt good. Better answers than in the last two, Talismans continue to make the job easier. Part of me doesn't like that, another part likes it. Still not allowed to dispose definitely of scumbags, Chan insists. And I respect Chan. He's still undercover, better if we met only a few times. Never know when they are watching. I got a name this time, Hak Foo. Chan talked me about him. Strong, resilient, fast… stubborn and determined; but he'll talk, like the rest do. Mountains, what's in the mountains? Better get going. Talismans should help me to get there. Roaster is pretty useful for that, and the most versatile.
Diary of Quentin Ross. Entry 137, End.
Japan
A bit of investigation had given Uncle and Tohru the exact whereabouts of the Hana Fuda cards they needed to find. Apparently, the cards were in some kind of holy shrine... or at least they used to be. Because after two trains and a walk, the two wizards and Tohru's mother (who had insisted into accompanying them because 'her baby boy wasn't around enough' and she wanted to be with him) were met not by the sight of a holy shrine, but by the one of...
"A car company?" Tohru asked aloud. Indeed, it was as the sumo had just said, in the place of the holy shrine used to stand a car company had been built; a proof of Japan's continuous growth and advancing development.
"Aiyah!" Uncle yelled, taking his hands to his head. "How are we supposed to find cards now?! We have lost to Forces of Darkness!"
"Well, why don't we go inside?" the sumo's mother said. "Maybe the loud goat is just exaggerating, and we won't lose anything for asking, will we?"
Tohru proceeded to watch how his mother took the lead and his annoyed sensei followed her reluctantly, not wanting to recognize that the woman had made a good point. Shaking his head, the sumo started to follow the pair, but he halted momentarily. A shiver ran all the way up his spine, his muscles tensing, and eyes growing wide for a second. And as soon as it had cone, it disappeared, the Chi Wizard in training looking around as if searching for something in the area that could have caused that reaction. But he saw nothing. Still suspicious, his hand searched in his pocket for his faithful blowfish, gripping it with strength. Even if small (especially in one of his enormous hands), the trinket he used to cast spells gave him confidence.
And maintaining vigilance for any incoming attack or enemy, Tohru restarted his walk; not able to see the pair of feline eyes of a yellowish color following him and his two companions from the shadows.
The insides of the car company were mostly silent. Fitting, considering the trio had spent almost the entire afternoon collecting information about the Hana Fuda, locating the shrine and travelling to it; thus giving enough time to the sun to disappear into the horizon. There were no workers, the machines deactivated and not moving, and the only person in the building a man in his forties that clearly was the lead of the company; who always was the last man leaving the place, using a couple of hours of the night to fill some paperwork. He wasn't accustomed to have any visits during this time.
That was the main reason he was so surprised when a man as large as a sumo fighter, a short wrinkled woman and a Chinese old man walked into his factory. Being a man that valued politeness and civism above all else; the owner of the company stopped what he had been doing until then and exited his office, slowly walking towards the three visitors.
"Good afternoon," the owner of the company; a short and scrawny Japanese man dressed in a formal shirt and a pair of pants; with dark curly hair and a Van Dyke styled beard of the same color, greeted them. "Do you need something? Because I'm afraid we're closed. You will have to come in another moment..."
"We don't have another moment!" Uncle yelled, taking a few step ahead. "We need to obtain Hana Fuda cards in order to stand against Oni!"
The owner found himself speechless, mouth slightly opened over hearing the elder's proclaim. Oni? As in… the mythological creatures? Oh for the love of… was this a joke? He didn't have time for some weird prank perpetrated by some weird old man, a sumo and a woman that could be the big man's mother! He had work to do! Yet he was a civic man, and if this was a joke… better to react to it as you were supposed to. So the man laughed, maybe a bit forcedly, but laughed. "Oni? Oni are nothing but a children's tale, things that people invent so their sons and daughters go to sleep with their teeth washed. My family has owned the Hana Fuda cards since we bought the shrine that was here before this building, and I still have them in my office, since they are a rare and valuable object… but Oni? Look, I don't have time for this kind of games. Oni are not real."
"I take objection to that."
Before Uncle could start one of his usual rants, or before Tohru or his mother could step in and try to obtain the cards without recurring to something as to tell the truth right away, which both believed wasn't going to convince anyone; the voice made them all stop. It was a deep, sonorous voice, but what made the two wizards realize that they were about to be attacked was that the voice remembered them about the ones of Shendu and his siblings. It clearly wasn't the voice of a human being. And in that moment, upon hearing that voice, the shiver returned to Tohru's body with a much greater strength that it had done before, or in the battle against Uta. The shiver ran through his spine as if a lightning had struck him, and his head was clouded by fear.
"Apprentice…" Uncle directed himself to the mountain of man. "Are you… having the willies?"
Tohru didn't answer to his mentor; the willies were being too strong this time. Whatever was coming, the sumo knew it to be powerful. Directed by his magical instinct, Tohru looked towards the ceiling, where traces of Dark Chi had started to manifest, making shadows to move towards a single point. In that point, the shadows joined and merged with the Dark Chi, moving and bending until their shape formed a symbol. A symbol Tohru and Uncle had seen before over the cover of Shendu's Demon Archive; the same face-shaped mark that had given Jade power over the Shadowkhan and corrupted her. However, this time the symbol, very similar to a face in its own, started to gain depth, quickly getting itself out of the ceiling and descending over the people below it. Except it wasn't a symbol anymore, this time being a large, brownish-orange floating head with yellowish eyes. The head had a large white beard with what seemed to be unruly eyebrows and a mustache of the same color, black marks decorating the corners of the mouth and eyes. And the head was alive, looking at them with an expression in between of amusement and slight anger.
"Oni aren't real?" the floating head told the owner of the company. "Fool! Know me and know that my race has never been more real! Bow before Tarakudo, King of all Oni, Shogun of Shadows, and Master of the Shadowkhan!"
The boisterous proclaim of the floating head hit the owner with all the strength it was supposed to inspire, making the mind of the man, too accustomed to numbers; to revert to the one of a young boy and reacting as such.
"O-Oni?" the owner asked in fear. "Hiaaaaah! Take the cards, take anything! Please don't eat my soul!" the man said while quickly running out of the scene and the building.
Tarakudo looked at how the man ran cowardly with a quirked eyebrow. "Uhm, perhaps I overdid it with my entrance? Ikazuki always told me that yelling my titles was the best way of announcing oneself…" the self-proclaimed Shogun of Shadows looked towards the other three human beings. "And what do we have here? Two wizards and an old, ugly woman… not the best of receptions, I must say."
"Who are you calling ugly?!" Tohru's mother asked, enraged and offended.
"The symbol of the Shadowkhan…" Uncle muttered, not paying attention to his friendly adversary's complain. He knew that the Demon Archive hold many secrets about ancient Dark Chi Magic, but this was something he had not been able to predict. Even with the discovery of the existence of Oni, the fact that the Mark of the Shadowkhan was based upon the face of one of one of them was something the elder couldn't have predicted in a million years.
"Oh, I'm much more than a simple symbol, believe me;" the King of all Oni asked as he looked in the direction of some car doors that had yet to be assembled to a car. The floating head narrowed his eyes towards the doors, and then space seemed to distort around the head, a telekinetic wave shooting from Tarakudo and making the doors to float and be shot towards the trio, sifting in the moment they collided with them and trapping the three. Then they elevated both the wizards and the short woman; gluing them to one of the assembly lines in the place. With another telekinetic wave, Tarakudo turned on the machinery, making the assembly line to advance and the cutting lasers used to start working, putting the three humans in an advancing path to their doom. "I usually don't go out of my way in order to kill women and elders, but those Hana Fuda cards aren't going to get in my way."
"Apprentice, with me!" Uncle called for Tohru. "At the count of three, lesson thirty four, seventh spell practiced!"
"Understood, sensei!" Tohru answered, and started to concentrate. One, two…
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai…" the two of them chanted, their hands charging in green chi that quickly extended to the bent around them and the sumo's mother.
Three!
"Fai Di Zao!" the two of them exclaimed, and the iron shot from their bodies, shattering into a million pieces charged in green chi towards Tarakudo, who let the attack to pass through him. After all, one of the biggest advantages of being something in between and astral projection and a material being was that there were very few things able to harm him. However, as the holes that the charged shards had left in his body closed, Tarakudo noted how the trio had descended from the assembly line.
"Impressive casting of the spell," Tarakudo praised the wizards as Uncle readied his blowfish towards him. "You aren't a mere novice, aren't you? Perhaps a Chi Master, like the ones of ancient China?"
"Is floating head interested in Uncle's private life?" the old Chinese man asked. "Or does he want a piece of him?!"
"A piece?" Tarakudo said, showing his fangs in a bloodthirsty grin. "I shall take the whole thing, wizard! Show me that modern time has not weakened the likes of you!"
Green beams of chi were shot towards the floating head of the King of all Oni, while Tohru had taken his mother and pointed her towards the office of the now-in-the-run owner. "Mother, take the Hana Fuda cards, sensei needs my help!"
"What?!" Mama Tohru exclaimed. "My boy is not getting into a fight with an Oni!"
"Mother, I'm not a child;" Tohru told her. "And I know a way to fight back the Oni, remember?" Tohru said as he searched inside his clothes and pulled a round onion from them. "You taught me."
The lips in the woman's face formed a warm and proud smile. "That I did. Just be careful when saving that old goat's ass;" his mother told him before going in the office's direction, where a small framework holding the cards inside hanged from the wall.
Meanwhile, Tohru had turned his attention towards the battle between his mentor and the self-proclaimed King of the creatures that terrified him as a child. Uncle was trying his best, but each one of the chi beams he shot towards Tarakudo were either evaded by the floating head or passed through him without leaving a mark. The Oni counterattacked from time to time with a small telekinetic wave, but it was clear that the King was just playing with him. The sumo looked at the onion in his hand and prayed to any deity he knew about that this old trick could work. Without losing more time, Tohru started to charge the onion with his chi, just like he had learned to do with the blowfish, lizard, or even an octopus' tentacle.
"Is that all?" Tarakudo asked of Uncle as the next of his chi beams passed through him, leaving no wound. "Have you considered adding Japanese Chi spells to your arsenal? I bet they could do a better job at harming me than your little Chinese tricks." Tarakudo's only answer came in the form of another beam from Uncle, which made the Oni to roll his eyes. "Not that this hasn't been a good exercise to stretch my 'astral muscles', but I'm growing tired of playing with you. Behold the true power of Oni royalty!" Tarakudo exclaimed as he roared and unleashed another telekinetic wave, this one mixed with powerful Dark Chi, that not only shot Uncle backwards, but also started to shake the whole building, cracking its walls and ceiling as if an earthquake was happening.
"Tarakudo!" Tohru yelled then, grabbing one of the pillars of the building in order to not lose balance. In his hand, the onion had been charged with chi to its limit, and the wizard in training tossed it as strongly as he could towards the floating head.
"Onion? Tohru, use garlic!" Uncle yelled, but his protest proved to be erroneous when Tarakudo interrupted his attack and looked at the incoming vegetable.
"Oh, you have to be kidding…" Tarakudo said until the onion hit his face, exploding and blinding the Oni with chi, the magic stuck into his face. "My eyes, my eyes!" the King of all Oni proclaimed in agony, moving over the place in circles and yelling in pain. "MY EYES!" he said one last time before dashing towards the nearest shadow, entering it and disappearing. Once he was gone, the building stop shaking, the power of the Master of the Shadowkhan gone.
"Is that awful and disrespectful head gone?" Tohru's mother asked as she exited the office, the frame holding the Hana Fuda in her hands.
Uncle sat in the floor, taking air in and out. He was growing too old for this. Fortunately, it seemed like his apprentice was set on the right path to succeed him. Tohru meanwhile, looking around and tried to feel if the presence of the Oni had completely banished. The willies were gone, but he still could feel something, especially from the shadow Tarakudo had used to escape.
"Tarakudo is gone," Tohru said; "for the moment."
In a hill nearby the car company, Liam was looking at the scene with a pair of binoculars. At his side was Mariko, clad in a black full-body armor designed to look like a metallic dress that hid her appearance behind a mask with a pair of crystal optics that served as binoculars too. She was leaning against a staff which top looked like a circle with a small dot in the middle.
"It seems that they didn't need our help after all;" Liam told his fiancé. "Maybe Lady Nimue exaggerates with this threat?"
"No," Mariko answered, taking her helmet off. She hated to put on the armor for nothing, but she had to admit that this could have unraveled much worse. "That onion thing was a lucky shot. If I had intervened, my clash with the Oni would've destroyed the whole building. And this is an Oni King we're talking about, and I bet he's weakened from having woken up recently. We should inform Nimue in the moment her business on Heatherfield ends."
"Agreed," Liam said, getting close to his lover. Then Mariko hit the ground with her staff three times, and the two disappeared in a glow of white energy.
Shadow Realm
"My eyes, my eyes, my eyes..."
Tarakudo flew through the Shadow Realm as best as he could considering his current state of blindness. The magically empowered onion had hit him hard, pain coursing through his eyes and nose. However, he knew how to get better.
Once deep in the Shadow Realm, Tarakudo halted and called for the power he had attained long ago. The Jigoku no Kage, or as he knew for its real name, Aidia no Kage; came to him and enveloped his form in a cocoon of shadows. He emerged from the cocoon seconds after, completely healed, any traces from the enchanted onion removed from him. Tarakudo was quick to summon more shadows, forming a window that let him see the humans he had just clashed with. They were leaving the building now, the Hana Fuda in hand. The King supposed they would now go to find rest, enjoying their earned victory. For a second, the King looked serious, eyes narrowed at the image his shadows were letting him see... but then his face suddenly turned into one showing entertainment.
"Bwahahahaha!" Tarakudo laughed. "An enchanted onion! That old trick! Bwahaha! I knew this age wasn't going to disappoint me!" The King dispelled the shadows he had conjured as his laughter died out. "Ah... now that's what I call a warm up. And a measurement of half the enemy's forces..." the King of all Oni called for more shadows, these ones showing him a considerably different image. The one of the Guardians, Jade, Matt and their classmates skiing and playing with the snow while up in the mountains. "Now, for the other half..."
Heatherfield's mountain range
"Snow!" Hay Lin cheered rather childishly as she took a handful of the white matter in her hands and tossed it in the air. "Who wants to make a snowman?"
"I do!" Alchemy answered, joining Hay Lin in gathering snow in a large ball.
"I'll help;" Jade said, joining the two other girls. "But I swear, if you think I'll call it Olaf..."
"Ah, c'mon Jade, I liked that movie;" Alchemy told her classmate. "The music was really good."
"Yeah, the music was good;" Jade said, giving the girl the reason there. "Hey, how're those violin classes going on?"
"Meh..." Alchemy told her. "I started them 'cause my mom told me so... do you think I should change to guitar? I've been given it some practice after violin, and I really like it, but..."
"If you like it, you should do it;" Hay Lin told her. "That's what my dad says."
"Hey, how do you think the others are doing?" Jade changed the theme of the conversation as the three of them finished putting together the lower half of the snowman.
"Knowing Cornelia..."
"And that's how you make a Hoffman zig-zag while making sure you don't lose the Beckman posture while descending," Cornelia spoke after executing an almost perfect descent with her skis. In front of her, Taranee, Irma, Elyon and a bunch of other Sheffield students looked at her with their jaws dropped. "Yes, yes, I know;" the blonde said while waving her blond mane, only the top if her head covered in a wool cap. "I'm just too good," she proclaimed haughtily.
"I thought you only do ice skating!" Taranee shouted towards her friend.
"Yes, but I've got practice with skiing and snowboarding too," the blonde cleared out. "I'm not as good as with ice skating, but I can defend myself. Dad even calls me his 'little Ice Princess'.
She's gonna be calling herself that all the time we spend here, doesn't she? Irma thought, not very hyped to stand the Earth Guardian's bravado during the whole trip.
"Can't we just practice something more... simple?" Taranee asked. "Like... just learning how not to fall from the skis?"
"Alright," Cornelia said. "Now everyone, pay attention!"
"I swear, Knickerbocker owns us an entire day without classes for enduring Miss 'I'm so better at everything than everyone else'," Irma said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Right, Elyon?"
"Uhm?" the other blonde asked, not paying too much attention. "Oh yeah, sure."
Irma tilted her head at the girl's down mood. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, yes; don't worry Irma," Elyon told her, putting on her best smile. "I'm alright." But Elyon wasn't alright. Even since that day she had almost passed out in Ye Olde Book Shop, she had been feeling different. And the world around her had started to act different too. Sometimes, if she was angry or too excited she was sure she could do... things. If she was just upset, a mirror or a window would simply crack. But a few days ago, she had been distracted while crossing the street in her way from the bookstore to her home, and a car had come directly towards her. She had screamed, raising her arms in a desperate attempt to protect herself... and the car had stopped, literally hanging in the air, as if sustained by an invisible force. The phenomenon lasted until Elyon got out of the way, and then the car was left over the road again, driving off as if nothing had happened. These continuous experiences had left Elyon scared, uncertain of what was going on. At first she had thought they had been coincidences, but now she was sure she was the one provoking them. The question was... how? And why?
While Cornelia had been instructed by Knickerbocker to take care of half the group that had decided to actually learn to ski during the trip dedicated to skiing instead of simply playing with the snow, the other half was in the care of Sheffield's principal, the students that had some experience in the winter sport helping out the ones that hadn't touched snow in their lives. And for a certain redhead, that had turned out to be a bliss.
"And now, you only have to maintain your back tensed up, legs arched like that…" Matt Olsen instructed Will Vandom as he guided her body with his hands. "That's it, I think you have it."
Will struggled a bit in order to maintain balance over her skis, the fact that Matt had to touch her legs from time to time not helping a lot, actually. Every time he came in contact with her made her blush and lose a bit of concentration. The guy had turned out to be even nicer than she had anticipated, the trip on the bus to the mountains being quite entertaining. Mostly composed about trivialities at first, their conversation then had evolved into talking about their hobbies, references, families… they had ended sharing a lot of information with the other about themselves. Matt had lived here in Heatherfield his entire life, with his parents and his grandfather who, as Will already knew, owned a pet shop in which Matt helped out from time to time. The boy had even offered her to accompany him one day after school, since she had mentioned that she liked animals. Of course, she had accepted. A part of Will had been insecure about this, thinking that Matt had been just playing nice with her about the whole 'let's go together in the bus' thing; but she had been proven wrong. And now, she had a new friend. Maybe with the possibility of developing into something else?
"Like this?" the redhead asked, changing weight from one leg to another, and then losing balance and falling backwards over Matt. "Ouch! Sorry…"
"Don't worry; these things happens at first," Matt told her. "But you seriously should stop this habit of yours of falling on top of me;" the teen said, and shortly after both of them shared a laugh.
"Okay, everyone!" Mrs. Knickerbocker called for the students. "Get off from the skis and let's meet with the group we left behind and prepare to have lunch!"
Matt helped Will to incorporate and descend from her skis, the redhead thanking him for the help and the little class before running towards the group composed of Irma, Taranee, Elyon and Cornelia. This left Matt alone until Nigel and another boy came to him.
"Hey Matt," Nigel greeted him. "How did the date go?"
"It's not a date, Nigel;" Matt told his friend with a bit of annoyance, albeit one part of him was not so sure of his own words anymore. "A boy and a girl can't spend time together and not be a date?"
"Nope," Nigel told his friend. "Not when the boy is touching the girl's legs and half of our class is talking about that."
"Wha-?!" Matt choked, blushing like a tomato. "I was helping her with her skiing!"
"Sure, sure…" Nigel said with an amused grin. "Anyway, it's unch time, and I'm starving! So let's move!"
"Yeah, sure…" Matt said before looking over to the other boy accompanying them. He was a boy around their age with slightly tanned skin and deep black hair cut in a way that resembled one of those military haircuts. "Excuse me, who're you?"
"What?" Nigel told Matt. "C'mon man, he's Reggie!"
Matt looked over the other teen for a few seconds before something seemed to spark in his mind. He then proceeded to face-palm himself. "Oh right. Sorry Reggie. How could I say something like that?"
"Hey, don't worry man," Reggie told the other teen. His voice was something really hard to interpret, sounding between masculine and effeminate. "I usually go unnoticed."
The insides of the inn Sheffield had reserved in the mountains in order for the classes the school had sent to the trip were comfortably warm, almost the entirety of the place belonging to the students. Sitting around a table, the girls were drinking hot chocolate and exchanging their experiences of the day. How the snowman had turned out, how much Taranee and Irma wanted to get changed from skiing practice group, and how Will's little 'no-date' had turned out.
"So, can we make your dating Matt into an official thing?" Jade asked of Will, the redhead sipping from her cup.
"We aren't dating," Will told the Air Guardian. "We're just…"
"Bus-partners?" Hay Lin suggested, making the other girls laugh.
"I was going to say friends, Hay Lin;" Will told her hyper-energetic friend.
"I'm going for more chocolate," Cornelia said then, rising up from her seat and approaching the bar.
"And ask for extra sugar!" Irma told her as the blonde walked way. "You really need it, Ski Sergeant!"
"Oh, don't be a baby!" Cornelia told the Water Guardian, who had grown rather tired of the blonde's way of teaching ski.
Cornelia approached the bar and asked for another chocolate cup. She waited leaning her arms over the wooden bar, making her eyes to go back from time to time towards her friends, still sitting around the table. Now, this was the kind of moments she liked the most. No evil princes, no mad wizards, no giant snakes… just her and her girls, having fun. And what the hell, it was funny to have Irma to be forced to obey her, she enjoyed that. And Will had time to actually be herself and spend some time with the boy she obviously had a crush on. Now, if only she could do that too… but she had to be realistic, what chances were for Caleb to magically appear in that inn?
"Cornelia?" she heard at her back. Maybe her mother really had some reason in telling her she sometimes obsessed over boys. She could almost hear his voice. "Cornelia," the voice called again.
"Cornelia!" the voice said a third time, this time accompanied by a hand stroking her shoulders. Perhaps the chances weren't so unrealistic after all?
"Caleb?" the blonde asked, turning around and meeting face to face with the rebel boy. "What're you doing here? How are you even here? The inn's supposed to be only for us!"
"The owner said the same, but told me he could change his mind if I paid enough," Caleb told her. "This place must be really cheap if he was able to get me in only for two gold coins."
"Gold," Cornelia repeated the word. "You gave gold, to the owner."
"Yes," Caleb told her. "What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing," Cornelia said, shaking her head. She supposed that Meridian wasn't aware of how much gold was valued in Earth, especially if you were just the owner of an inn in the mountains. "Why are you here, anyway?"
A shadow of worry crossed over the boy's green eyes, and as he rubbed a hand over his brown hair, Cornelia saw how the rebel leader Caleb took control over the teenager Caleb once again.
"We have problems," the rebel leader told her.
"Wong's here again? Agh... that creepy guy doesn't know when to stop or what?"
Now out of the inn, the Guardians and Jade had met with Caleb and Blunk at the back of the building, the small Passling sitting around with a half-rotten apple in his hands, eating it while waiting separated a bit from the group. There, all the attendants shared Irma's opinion on the Dark Chi Wizard's insistence on attacking their world.
"Hey, maybe he likes getting his ass handled to him;" Jade commented, grinning while remembering her first violent encounter with Wong.
"Okay, okay; I'm going to be the voice of reason here;" Taranee said, raising her hands in front of her face; "and ask why, of all places in Heatherfield and its surroundings, Wong has decided to come to these mountains? How could he know that we're here? How have you gotten in here?" the Fire Guardian asked of the rebel leader.
"The Mage has an infiltrate in the palace's kitchens named Trill," Caleb explained. "She told us that Wong took two of the new Shapeshifters and exited the palace via Ludmoore's Portal. Blunk and I crossed here in the moment we found a natural Portal, and when Blunk tracked you in the same direction as Wong's trace, I asked the Mage to cross to this realm and teleport us to these mountains."
"But Wong hasn't attacked us," Will said. And she was really grateful for it, the last thing they needed was for any attack over the students.
"Oh, Blunk hasn't smelled bad man here," the Passling said. "Blunk's smelled him in caves, under big mountain."
"Then he isn't after us," Will said, taking a hand to her chin. "He would've attacked already if that were the case."
"But if he isn't after us, then what's he doing there?" Cornelia asked, but the Passling just shrugged, not knowing the answer.
"What do we do?" Hay Lin asked preoccupied.
"Duh! We stop him!" Jade declared, eager to go into battle.
"How?" Taranee asked. "We can't transform here, everyone would see us!"
"We'll transform after knowing exactly where Wong is," Will said. "Blunk, can you lead us?"
"Yes, Blunk will help nice girls! Because girls are nice to Blunk!" The Passling narrowed his eyes at Caleb for a second. "Not like others."
"Did... did you do something to the little guy?" Irma inquired of the rebel leader, who just sighed while he looked at the Passling walking away.
"I... may have told him to stay out of battle when he wanted to help," Caleb said, earning himself a small poke from Hay Lin; "but only for his own good!"
"You made him feel bad!" the Air Guardian reprimanded him. "Go and apologize!"
"Okay, first wizard from another world, then apologies;" Will told her teammates. Her hand gripped the Heart of Kandrakar as they started to march, the jewel beating against her chest. She had a bad feeling about this.
Quentin Ross was a man that had forced himself to be accustomed to surprises. To roll with the punches and whatever bullshit life threw at him. However, even he had his limits.
He had been able to track Hak Foo all the way down to these mountains, just by asking bystanders if they had seen someone matching that description. Of course, a man with an enormous spiky red mane dressed in a blue bodysuit stood out well enough to be easily localizable. Following his steps in the snow was as easy, even if the past night's blizzard had done a good job at covering the initial ones, alongside slowing him down, power of the Roaster making him fly or not. And so the agent had been able to follow the trail up to one of the mountains that formed a ring around Mount Thanos, Heatherfield's biggest peak. Using the Snake Talisman to sneak around the students that were having a field trip, the Roaster making him able to float over them, he landed in front of the entrance to the cave (or more likely subterranean net of tunnels) which the enforcer had apparently entered. This was the moment in which Quentin, still invisible thanks to the Snake, was surprised or even shocked.
In the tunnel, he spotted a group of teenage girls and a boy. At first he thought they were just a group of teens that had separated from their main group. Then he spotted Chan's niece among them. He knew of the girl's insistence to pop out in missions she wasn't supposed to be in, but she couldn't possibly knew of this one. Not even Jackie knew of this one! And then the agent saw the Passling. Of course, he didn't know what a Passling was, so he just saw a small, green and weird creature guiding the girls through the tunnels. The fact that the boy was carrying a sword didn't pass unnoticed to the agent.
This... I don't know what this is; the agent thought as he took the Dragon Talisman from his pocket. But better be ready for when the scumbag shows up.
"Sniff, sniff… Blunk said he find bad wizard, and bad wizard's here," the Passling whispered, hiding behind a rock and peeking through a hole to the enormous cave that was below. The Guardians, the Shapeshifter Ben-Shui incarnation, and the rebel leader approached the hole too and looked below, kneeling in order to not be spotted.
The hole led them to an enormous chamber inside the caves, numerous tunnels connected to it that formed paths to the exterior and the further insides of the mountain. And in said chamber was Wong, accompanied by the already transformed Tristan and Roberta; the bird Shapeshifter flying around as high as she could (which wasn't very much thanks to the size of the cave) and the scorpion walking at the Dark Chi Wizard's side. Wong was pointing his staff in every direction, waiting for the dark magic tat pulsed inside it to light up or not. In the moment it lighted up, he walked into that direction, repeating the process shortly after, until he halted, the staff having suddenly stopped doing its work.
"Something wrong?" the girls and the invisible Quentin (patiently waiting behind them in the tunnel) heard Tristan ask of the Dark Chi Wizard.
Wong looked at his staff, scratching his chin with his long nails as he did so. "Uhm…" Phobos' Archmage muttered. "Interferences…?" Wong looked around, and in a sudden movement of his arm, pointed his staff directly at the hole the girls were in, firing a beam of dark chi towards them, hitting the bottom of the tunnel's entrance and destroying it, making the girls, the rebel leader and the Passling to fall.
Ross, however, maintained himself in the air thanks to his faithful Roaster Talisman; floating over the scene as the girls fell down to the floor, and jaw dropped in surprise at seeing how Chan's niece became a ball of black fur in midair, and instead of her what landed in the ground was a wolf way bigger than usual to be a normal one. Okay, that was weird even for him. And that was not counting the enormous bird, the giant scorpion, and the wrinkled guy doing his best Palpatine impression. What was going on here? And where was his objective?
"Guardians, Uni-!" Will started to say, pulling the Heart out of under her clothes and raising it, but her hand was quickly hit by one of Wong's beams. "Auch!" she shouted in pain, the Heart being shot due to the impact force of the shot.
"I'm not as old as to not learn from my own failures, Keeper of the Heart;" Wong told the redhead. "The Guardians don't unite today."
Oh, crap; Will thought as she saw how Wong, Tristan and Roberta lined in front of her and her friends. She looked back, trying to spot the Heart in the chamber, but she wasn't able to find it.
"Will, find the Heart!" Cornelia told her, as she moved her hands towards the ground and made two chunks of it to levitate around her. "We can hold them until then!"
Wong cackled a disturbing and dark laugh. "You can? Do you think you can compete with me in your human forms? Such a pathetic thought!"
"Oh yeah?" Jade said, dashing towards Wong, claws extended and already charging in her white chi. "I think I already defeated you once!"
Tristan and Roberta separated from the wizard, the scorpion quickly advancing towards Caleb and the falcon starting to fly; but Wong stood still, rising his staff and muttering an incantation. A powerful shield of dark chi formed in front of him, Jade impacting against it. Her claws imbued in the Ben-Shui's especial kind of degradation chi started to eat away the wizard's dark magic, but Wong quickly fired another powerful shot towards the wolf, sending her flying a few meters back, smoke rising from her fur, a growl escaping her mouth as she showed her fangs. The attack had clearly hurt her.
"A correction, young heir to the Ben-Shui;" Wong told her, charging more chi in his staff and free hand. He started to create an incantation circle like the ones he had used in their last battle. "You defeated a tired me. But can you hold back Daolon Wong, Archmage of Meridian, most magnificent of Dark Chi Wizards?"
"I do!" Jade replied, this time charging her entire body in white chi, mouth opened towards the wizard. "But the completely dated presentation? I think you'll need some therapy to get rid of that!"
"Insolent youngling!" Wong yelled, unleashing his spell at the incoming wolf. "Lost Art of the Great Demon Dragon number 53! Ránshāo dì dìyù!"
The dark purple flames of Wong's attack shot towards the wolf, meeting against the improvised armor of white chi she had formed around herself. The two energies met, collided and fought against one another, until they ended creating an enormous explosion that send both wolf and wizard flying in opposite directions. They got quickly to their feet and continued to clash, while the four untransformed Guardians dealt as best as they could against the bird Shapeshifter and the rebel leader parried with his sword the incoming stinger tail of the scorpion. Ross continued to survey the fight from above. This was chaotic. How could have this happened?
Explosions were heard across the rest of the tunnel network of the mountains, the galleries trembling due to the intensity of the fight that was happening above them. Walking through one of these tunnels, Charles Ludmoore stopped his walk and touched the wall, focusing. Discerning the magic he was searching for was more difficult more, the presence of the hidden Mask, the Heart of Kandrakar, and the clash between Wong's and the young Chan girl's chi creating a strange mix of different powers that seemed to musk the atmosphere in a thick mist. Everything was according to plan, the Guardians intercepting Wong and creating enough chaos for him to access this part of the mountain unnoticed. His first plan had been for Hak Foo to find the Mask and unleash its power, maintaining the Guardians occupied with that, but Wong's interference had turned out to be a better distraction.
I hope they don't bring this mountain down before I find the sword… Charles thought as he restarted his walk. And among the thick mist of multiple magic, he was unable to sense the small purple butterfly that was following him.
"Die already, you rebel scum!" Tristan proclaimed as he tried one and again to pierce Caleb with his tail. The rebel leader, however, was slowly yet relentlessly in the path to meet the Shapeshifter's desire.
Focusing only into parrying the stinger Tail, Caleb had to let his body absorb the blows from Tristan's pincers and legs. It hurt, and he knew that probably a couple of his bones had been broken by the blows. He would need for Sephiria to heal him later, but right now the best way was to ignore the pain. This couldn't be so hard, this… chld, for the lack of a better term, was not the better of Cedric, and he had survived the Snake of Cavigor once, more or less.
Tristan took advantage of the rebel's growing tiredness and took the blade of his sword between his pincers, pulling from it and swinging Caleb up, throwing him across the air towards one of the tunnels. Caleb landed there, rolling in order to distribute the strength of the impact. He had the strange sensation he had broken something else there. What was wrong with this Shapeshifter? He was acting against all logic, focusing solely on him while his companion was dealing with four, albeit weakened, Guardians; and Wong was fighting against Jade.
"I have you now!" Tristan shouted in joy as he climbed to the tunnel, breaking Caleb's sword between his pincers as he entered. "Prepare to die, rebel scum! Die, in revenge for Carhaiz's pain!"
Carhaiz, Carhaiz… there it was once again! Caleb incorporated slowly, pain coursing through his body; yet he was able to withstand it. This did little more than amuse Tristan, however.
"Haha! Look at the precious and brave leader of the rebels, making a last stand!" the Shapeshifter mocked him. Then he jumped over him and pinned Caleb to the ground using his six legs, stinger pointing towards his face. "Any last words?"
"What… happened in Carhaiz?" Caleb asked between panting. The question, which he was actually not expecting to receive any answer, made the Shapeshifter to halt his tail.
"What do you mean 'what happened'?" Tristan asked. "You are the rebel leader, you know very well what happened!"
"I have been the rebel leader for a short time, my father Julian, who lost his life in Carhaiz, hold this position before me!" Caleb told him. And for the briefest of seconds, the rebel saw a mix of emotions to cross over the Shapeshifter's eyes.
"You… you are Julian's son?" Tristan asked; the bravado in his voice gone. He then roared and his stinger tail lowered, Caleb closing his eyes instinctively. But the stinger didn't impact against his face, instead hitting the ground below. Tristan had failed the shot, on purpose.
The Shapeshifter let Caleb go and turned around, leaving the rebel over the ground. Caleb incorporated mildly and looked at Tristan, confusion painting his face and green eyes.
"Just this time, rebel;" Tristan told him, narrowing his eyes. "In honor of your father's memory;" he said before jumping out of the tunnel.
"Wait!" Caleb called for him, but the scorpion was gone. And so the rebel waited there, in the ground of that lonely and dark tunnel. And the question came back to him, haunting as a trickster ghost that laughed at him from behind, but that disappeared anytime he turned his head back.
What happened in Carhaiz?
"Is that all you got?" Jade yelled at Wong, the two of them still exchanging magic attacks. But even if it hurt to admit it, she was growing tired, despite her last statement of defiance towards Wong. She was a close combatant, while Wong, much like Uncle, preferred to fight from a distance. And so, anytime Jade was able to evade or block the wizard's attacks and close the distance between them, Wong would disappear in a cloud of smoke, and put distance between the two again, restarting the process once again.
"I have enough to deal with a brat that doesn't know her place!" the wizard proclaimed arrogantly. However, Jade had noted how the attacks of the wizard were becoming weaker and weaker as the time passed, which meant he was also tiring out. And so their battle had become one of pure resistance in contrast with one of might.
The girls, on the other hand…
"Fall you bird bitch!" Irma yelled as she shot a ball of water towards Roberta, who just flew towards it and broke the attack with her peak.
"This is getting us nowhere!" Cornelia said, conjuring as many vines as she could from the ground while being in her human form, which weren't enough to deal with Roberta, as she quickly proved by breaking the vines as soon as they wrapped around her. "Will, hurry up!"
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…" Will said while her friends dealt with the Shapeshifter and she searched for the Heart within the ground. The progressing fight and the continuous explosions Wong and Jade were provoking weren't helping at all. "C'mon, I can't let them down like…"
"Is red girl looking for this?" she heard behind her. Turning around she saw Blunk, holding the Heart in his hands.
"Blunk, you're awesome!" Will said, too wrapped in happiness to not stop herself before kissing the Passling's head. The redhead took the jewel, the familiar beat pulsing through her hand and ran towards her friends, jumping in the air in the last moment. "Guardians Unite!"
The flash of light blinded Roberta for a second, and as it died out, she found herself meeting the quintet of girls again, but this time they were flying at the same altitude as her. The Guardians, now in their appropriate forms for battle, looked at the bird Shapeshifter with amused smirks in their faces.
"I'm normally against any form of animal cruelty," Taranee said, while her hands became fists and they ignited in fire, her eyes doing the same. "But I'll make an exception with you!" the Fire Guardian said while shooting fireballs towards the falcon, who proceeded to evade them the best she could. However, as Taranee's grin was testimony of, this had been planned.
"Take this!" Hay Lin said, creating a tornado between her palms and shooting it towards the Shapeshifter, making her lose balance and smashing her against one of the cave's walls. The Air Guardian proceeded then to high five with Taranee. "Yay! Teamwork!"
"You could've just burn her," Cornelia told her companion.
"Yeah, waves of fire in a mountain composed mostly of ice?" Taranee told the blonde. "Not the brightest of ideas."
"Oh, right." Cornelia said, imagining an avalanche coming down to them.
Roberta, meanwhile, was able to get to the air once more, and soon she was joined by Tristan in ground. Noticing this, Will directed herself to her friends, confidence renovated. They could win this, and since there was no Portal near, maybe deal with Wong once and for all!
"Taranee, Hay Lin, go and take the scorpion!" Will commanded. "Cornelia, find Caleb! Irma, with me!"
"Got it!" her friends said in unison and ach flew into the direction they had been ordered to, Irma and Will facing against their flying foe.
"Now, birdie…" Irma said, charging water in her fingertips, emulating a gun. "I've a very hard morning, my friend's quite the bossy one… and I don't want to say that I'm going to let my frustrations out with you, but that's what gonna happen! So prepare to get…"
"GREAT EAGLE SMASHES FALCON!"
Roberta, the two Gaurdians facing her and everyone in the cave looked up, stopping what they were doing; only to saw a blur coming from above and clash with Roberta, sending her to the ground and creating a cloud of dust when impacted.
"I was going to said 'a bath', but smashed against the ground it's also good," Irma commented, as the dust cleared out.
In a small crater in the ground, Roberta lied unconscious, reverted to her human form. Over her, eyes jumping from one enemy to another, Hak Foo stood proud and strong. Cracking his neck and stepping out of the crater, completely ignoring the unconscious girl he was leaving behind, the Black Tiger roared in anger.
"WHERE'S MY MASK?!"
"Hak Foo?" Jade said in complete shock. What's he doing here? And a Mask? There's another Oni Mask here? Oh, mega-bad day…
"This must be the man Ludmoore spoke about…" Wong commented for his part. I cannot let him to have my prize; else this whole operation will be in vain! "Gan, Ren, Chui!" The three Dark Chi Warriors appeared then, materializing out of smoke I order to service their master with everything he asked. "Deal with the red-haired man!"
The trio of Wong's servants launched themselves towards Hak Foo, the enforcer looking at them and readying a combat position. Chui tried to hit him with a descending blow of his hammer, but Hak Foo evaded it with ease.
"Kangaroo kick!" Hak Foo proclaimed, kicking the bald warrior in the middle of his stomach, sending him to the ground. He then proceeded to dodge the weapons of the other two, jumping in the air and raising his arms. "Mantis cuts through enemy!" he said as he delivered a powerful attack to his foes' necks.
"Whoa, he's good;" Will commented as she saw how he fought. His style was way different from Jackie's, much more focused into fierce attacks than in defense, but the redhead could see that he was strong.
"Yeah… but what's up with the weird names?" Irma told her. "What do we do?"
"Help the others," Will commanded. "He's helping us for the moment."
"Ha!" Hak Foo proclaimed as he stood against the trio of Dark Chi Warriors. "Is that all you can do? It seems you are no better than the average fighter!"
"Then why not deal with me?" Quentin Ross said then, finally stepping into the battle and letting the invisibility of the Snake to wear off.
"What?!" Hak Foo asked, surprised to see a man appearing from thin air. "Who are you?!"
"The Law," Quentin answered bluntly. Then he raised his right hand and in it Hak Foo saw how the Dragon Talisman ignited, shooting a powerful beam of concentrated flames towards the enforcer, sending him flying towards the wall, piercing through it and landing in its other side, alongside the debris. The Dark Chi Warriors, still acting under the command of attacking Hak Foo, went into that same direction, decided to kill him.
Was that... the Dragon Talisman? Jade thought. "Okay, what the heck is going on?!" she yelled. The Talismans were in Section 13, that's where they were supposed to be! This guy couldn't have them! Unless... unless he was Section 13.
The power of Combustion? Wong thought for his part. Yes, now that I focus... one, two, three, and four! One third of the Twelve Powers that the Fire Demon possessed! Excellent! If I cannot find that Mask until these younglings are dealt with then... "You! Hand the Talismans over, rabble!"
"Make me, scumbag;" Quentin met the wizard's insult with his own. He didn't know exactly who or what this guy, the flying girls, the scorpion they were fighting or Chan's niece were; but they were getting in his way. Fortunately, the objective had been put out of commission.
Or so it seemed.
"Heron pierces crab shell!" Hak Foo shouted as he broke through the rocks that had fallen onto him. His body was hurting, and he was sure he had a burn over his chest, product of the power of the Dragon Talisman.
Magic, always magic! He could heard noises at his back, and peeking over his shoulder he saw the trio of humanoid magical creatures entering the tunnel he had accessed. Those creatures... he had put every inch of his strength on those attacks, he knew they could have broken any normal man. Yet they had only disturbed those three men. He punched the ground with anger. This was unacceptable! He, the Black Tiger, reduced to this?! He hit some of the rocks away. How was he supposed... to... wait, what was that just now? His eyes had taken a glimpse of something... something between the rocks. He started to search as the trio of Wong's magical servants approached. His hands caught onto something that clearly wasn't a rock or anything similar. Could it be...?
Yes! Yes it was!
"Caleb, just let me help you!" Cornelia told the rebel boy, who was trying to stand on his own.
"I said... that I can do it," Caleb told her while getting up; "myself."
However, Cornelia quickly took him, putting one of his arms over her shoulders. "Stop being an arrogant doofus, and let me help!"
Caleb snorted, knowing that discussing with this girl was a dead end. Prideful as no other, firm as steel in her decisions. That was Cornelia. So he yielded and let the Earth Guardian to carry him.
The cave was in complete and utter chaos. Taranee and Hay Lin were fighting against Tristan, the scorpion's fast movements making him able to dodge their attacks, the two Guardians knowing they couldn't unleash a firestorm due to where they were. However, Ross wasn't having such a dilemma, shooting fire with the Dragon Talisman and using the Pig to accompany eye-beams to it.
Blocking and counterattacking was Daolon Wong, this leaving an opportunity for Will, Irma and Jade (now back in human form and carried by the redhead) to join and fly towards them. As soon as they met with the blonde and the brunette boy, Will called for the Fire and Air Guardians, the latter unleashing a current of air that struck the scorpion Shapeshifter and gave them time to flee. Tristan decided to shift back to human form and ran to Roberta's aid, not willing to leave a teammate unconscious in a war zone.
"What's going on?" Cornelia asked.
"Well, first; guy who screams attack names appears and defeats the bird bitch, then Wong attacks him with his creepy henchmen, then this guy shows up and starts firing freaking laser beams from his eyes!" Irma explained in an incredibly fast fashion.
"I don't know who this guy is, but he's using Talismans," Jade explained.
"Those things from that dragon you and Jackie defeated?" Hay Lin asked. "So, he's a good guy?"
"Or he could've stolen them," Taranee pointed out.
"We can't be sure," Will said as she looked at the clashing adversaries. "Let them fight."
"Wait, what?" Taranee asked. "Will, you can't be serious, these guys are going to bring the whole cave down!"
"They'll tire before doing that," Will told her friend. "And we can use a few minutes to catch our breaths. How's everyone?"
"Caleb has some bones broken," Cornelia informed her leader.
"I'm in a perfect..." Caleb started to say, just for Cornelia to poke at his ribs, making him to squeal in pain. "I... may have broken something in my fight with the Shapeshifter."
"Alright, Caleb, stay out of this," Will ordered, looking back at the fighting wizard and agent. "Everyone, be ready to step in."
"Fall, you worthless rabble!" Wong proclaimed as he shot beam after beam of dark chi towards Ross.
The agent met the beams with his own, thanks to the power of both Dragon and Pig Talismans. This old man was firing too fast, thus preventing him from changing from one Talisman to another. Ross was sure that he only needed one quick telekinetic wave of the Roaster and he could send Wong flying.
"You fool!" Wong continued his rant. "In the moment my warriors came back from dealing with that man, I shall teach you your proper place!" And four of the Twelve Powers will be mine! The Mask will be mine! Meridian will be mine! I have had enough of playing second fiddle to idiots that don't know how to properly recognize my genius! "To me, my warriors!" Wong commanded.
And the warriors came, except not in the way Wong was expecting. The three orange-skinned humanoid creatures appeared from the hole they had entered in Hak Foo's pursue, except they didn't land on their feet, instead falling without grace to the ground, unconscious and beaten, becoming clouds of smoke shortly after, their wounds too great to maintain themselves in this plane. The balls of smoke returned to Wong's staff, the wizard looking at this fact with a dumbfounded expression. "Warriors?" he asked.
"They were defeated by their better!" Hak Foo's voice came next, except it sounded... deeper, less human. The enforcer was the one to step out of the hole now, looking exactly the same as before... except for the face. All present looked in horror as how Hak Foo's face was now covered into what undoubtedly was an Oni Mask.
Specifically, a red Oni Mask, no horns or any other distinctive mark at exception of two hairy eyebrows, yellow eyes and a mouth full of fangs exhibiting a grin. The color and scaly skin of the Mask in conjunction with Hak Foo's own red moustache and long hair; gave the enforcer a fearsome and demonic appearance, almost as if his whole cranium and mane had become some kind of crimson carapace.
"I feel like I could shatter a mountain!" Hak Foo proclaimed proudly. He then looked at the wizard and the agent, proceeding to shift his gaze to the Guardians after that. "But why keep all the glory for myself?" the Black Tiger said, extending his arms forward. "Demon summons soldiers!"
Shadows stirred all over the place, and ten puddles of shadows formed around Hak Foo, a creature appearing from each. They were Shadowkhan, no doubt about that, but they were enormously different from the ones Jade had previously seen and was accustomed to. They were tall and slender creatures standing over four sharp legs with tiny spikes all over them. Their arms were thin and long, and where hands should be, they had two long and curved claws reminiscent of some kind of insects. On the top of their triangular torsos the creatures' triangular heads, garbed in dark clothing, looked at them with just one, big and narrowed red visor that seemed to be their only eye.
"Those are Shadowkhan?" Cornelia asked. "Ugh! They look like giant bugs!"
"They look like... mantises?" Taranee said, not without a bit of doubt. Why would Shadowkhan look like bugs?
"They're Mantis Khan!" Irma, Hay Lin and Jade said in unison.
"More!" Hak Foo commanded, and another ten of the Mantis Khan appeared to join the previous ones. In each of the tunnels, shadows started to move and produce more of the creatures. In a matter of seconds, Hak Foo had raised his own small army. "Attack like warriors!" the enforcer ordered, and more than two dozens of Mantis Khan launched themselves with the intention to cut to shreds anything that wasn't their master.
"Okay!" Will said, giving a few steps back. "We maybe should be thinking about an escape route!"
While the four-way battle progressed, Ludmoore had finally reached his destination; a chamber deep within the mountain, sealed centuries away. A couple of his spells were enough to get rid of the already damaged wards, time having taken its toll on them. No spell was infallible, no incantation eternal. In the end, everything must wither and gave path to something new.
There we are; everything as it had been planned; Ludmoore thought as he looked around the chamber, his eyes quickly ignoring the statues of medieval knights around and focusing into the small altar that was in the center. Over the altar was a tomb modeled after some dead knight clad in a black armor that resembled a strange kind of hound, and in that knight's hands was a bastard sword, its blade black and the hilt modeled after some kind of roaring beast. The Sword of the Berserker… Ludmoore thought as he approached the altar.
"Do you know the story behind that blade?"
Ludmoore froze. Stopping in his tracks, the well dressed smuggler narrowed his eyes and let his hands to become fists, dark blue sparks of Raw Magic coursing through them. Of course it couldn't be so easy. Okay, remember to not lose control of the cold personality and…
"I'm afraid I don't know all the details;" Ludmoore answered, maintaining the faked cold demeanor he had been using with anyone that wasn't part of his family. "I know that it is the Sword of Thanatos, the twin brother of Hypnos. Just like his sibling created a Horn that could enthrall masses to the one blowing it, Thanatos created a sword that could kill anything just by piercing it, the user becoming as strong as a demon. So the legend says."
"Oh, that's just half of the tale;" the voice, a woman's voice if Ludmoore was certain, said. "You see, Hypnos and Thanatos were the children of a meridianite nobleman, cousins to the Princess and later Queen of their time. While Hypnos was completely dedicated to the matters of court, Thanatos was to the battlefield," a purple butterfly descended from above, flying around the sword. However, it avoided touching its hilt or any other part of the weapon. "In order to further their goals, they purchased parts of deceased demons' bodies, and forged the Horn and the Sword from them." More butterflies appeared and joined the first one, until a swarm was flying in front of the sword, taking the shape of a body. "But while the Horn could entrance the masses, they needed constant command; and while the Sword gave its wielder immense physical strength and the ability to kill almost anything that moved… oh, that power came at such a high price. That's the reason is more known as Sword of the Berserker than Sword of Thanatos," the butterflies flew out, leaving Nimue behind, the woman standing in front of Ludmoore with her arms folded over her generous chest. "I won't let you take it, King Smuggler. The fight above us, the Mask that was relocated here… those were your doing, weren't day?"
"I needed a distraction," Ludmoore told the woman while retaining his cool. "May I know your name? Since you already known mine, apparently."
"Men like you don't need to know anything," Nimue threatened him. "Look at you, the cold and greedy man playing with things he doesn't understand. You don't understand what those Masks really are. You don't even plan to use this Sword yourself, do you? You just want to sell it, either to that Escanor boy or those rebels… and you don't give a damn about what you can unleash as long as you can make a profit. Sometimes I wonder why men like you can't simply know their place."
Ludmoore didn't answer to the woman. He was putting each bit of his effort into not letting his mask of coldness to crack and be broken. This was the type of people that Charles Ludmoore despised the most. Men like him didn't need to know anything? Ah, the King Smuggler could read between those lines very well. Of course men like him didn't need to know anything, because people like her were already there to know for him; to act for him, even if he didn't desire so. It was people like this woman who were a hindrance to change. She had called him greedy; well, he could call her arrogant!
"Nothing to say? Then go away, little man. I have bigger fishes to deal with." Nimue asked with an amused grin as she thought about the Oni mask above. She could feel its power being used, which meant that someone was suing it. She hoped the wearer wasn't a good man, otherwise she would feel incredibly bad by killing him.
Ludmoore pointed a palm towards Nimue, shooting a ball of dark blue magic towards her. The woman answered by raising her left hand and blocking it with her own stream of raw Magic, of a light purplish tone. She counterattacked shortly after with a purple lightning, which Ludmoore blocked by holding up both hands and muttering some words on Latin. The lighting struck a wall of deep blue and shattered.
"Ohoho! Someone knows a couple of big spells on Raw Magic!" the woman commented. "That was based on Crowley's studies, wasn't it? Yes, just like those roses on your home, so problematic if I want to take a peek inside… But if I can't use Raw Magic against you…" Nimue raised her right hand and muttered a couple of incantations in Mandarin. Chinese words appeared on the air, surrounding Ludmoore. "Then Chi Magic should suffice!"
The King Smuggler didn't have time to think about anything useful or conjure another of his shields before the explosion hit him. And as Nimue stood where she had been the whole time, the dust resulted of the impact cleared, and Ludmoore was seen, barely maintaining himself over his feet, his entire upper body bathed in blood, the jacket and shirt of his suit blown to bits. Panting and gasping for air, his left hand was gripping the black orb Wong had given him before.
That… that was Chi Magic! Ludmoore thought in disbelief. "How… can you…?"
"Use both types of magic at the same time?" Nimue finished his question for him. "Oh, at its core, both Raw and Chi Magic are founded over channeling one's life-force in the form of spells. Of course, if you learn and accustom yourself to one, then it's pretty difficult to learn to use the other, especially in just one lifetime. Of course, that's not a problem for me!" Nimue said proudly, charging more magic in her hands.
This is a battle I cannot win, if it can be called battle at all… Ludmoore thought, just to threw the black orb towards her as his train of thought progressed. But if Raw and Chi Magic are the same at their cores… then it means Chi Magic must follow similar rules to Raw Magic! It means… it must also follow oaths! What an amazing discovery I have made… the black sphere cracked and exploded in a cloud of dark purple smoke, something taking form behind it as the King Smuggler started to teleport away. It seems that thanks to this defeat, I can guarantee future victories…
Nimue didn't pay too much attention to the teleporting knowledge broker. No, she wasn't one to pay attention to that kind of threats. Demons, monsters, and their servants, those were her enemies. Could a human bring more harm than a demon? No, she thought not of it. Let Kandrakar and its likes to deal with Ludmoore and Phobos, her aim was pointed towards much bigger beings. And speaking of bigger beings…
"GROARGH!" the enormous ogre that had emerged from the smoke roared at her. The witch surveyed the creature with a quirked eyebrow and the same amused grin she had been sporting through her whole clash with Ludmoore. She proceeded to stretch her limbs and take a huge breath in. Then she let a battle cry escape her throat and, empowering her whole body with magic, she launched herself towards the ogre.
"Demon breaks through dragon flames!" Hak Foo exclaimed as he charged into another blast of the Dragon Talisman, his body instinctively surrounding itself with protective magical shadows. He broke through Quentin's attack and appeared right in front of the agent. "Titan shatters human!" the Black Tiger exclaimed, punching Quentin in the gut and sending him flying this time.
Around the two clashing men, the Guardians, Jade (again in her wolf form), Wong and his two Shapeshifters (Roberta again conscious and transformed) fought against Hak Foo's Shadowkhan, the horde growing in number as time passed. The Mantis Khan had turned out to be even stronger than they had firstly appeared to be; being quite fast, their insect-like claws able to cut through almost anything that was thrown at them and their four legs making them able to climb over the walls and ceiling of the cave. If not as versatile as the Ninja Khan, the Mantis Khan proved to be much more oriented into the attack department, which went very well with the personality of the man wearing their General's Mask now.
"Demon tears weak human!" the empowered Hak Foo shouted as he delivered a kick to Quentin's left arm, sending the agent to the ground totally defeated, albeit still conscious. A small, hexagonal rock fell from his hand and rolled over the ground then. However, as Hak Foo loomed over him prepared to dispatch the finishing blow, the earthquake came.
The walls cracking, the tunnels collapsing, the whole cave trembling. Even someone as arrogant as Hak Foo knew that not even with his new powers could he survive being buried in rocks.
"Another time then," the enforcer said. "Demon retreats to the shadows!" Hak Foo called for a retreat, two Mantis Khan appearing at his side and helping him to enter a puddle of darkness that formed at his feet. The army of Mantis Khan disappeared too, following their commander.
"Archmage!" Tristan, again in his scorpion form, screamed while he and Roberta dodged falling debris. "We must flee!"
"I know!" Wong answered as he kneeled and took the Talisman that had fallen from Quentin, the agent slowly coming to his feet after the beatdown he had received from Hak Foo. At least this is better than nothing, he thought. Then he waved his staff, and the old wizard disappeared alongside the two Changelings.
Ross, still with the Roaster Talisman in his power, from that he was sure; started to levitate away towards one of the tunnels, leaving the girls and Caleb behind.
"Nice girls!" the Keeper of the Heart heard Blunk's voice. Below them, the Passling was waving at them from what looked to be the less damaged tunnel. "Over here, follow Blunk!"
"Cornelia, cover us!" Will yelled to the Earth Guardian.
The blonde did as been told, stopping the collapse of the cave as best as she could. She was the last one entering the tunnel. Then her hold over the cave disappeared. The cave collapsed, rocks covering the entrance to the tunnel.
And darkness was everything that was left.
"Light of Meridian!" Tristan screamed as Wong's teleportation brought him, the wizard and Roberta out. "What was that?!"
"A totally different tribe of Shadowkhan," Wong explained while his two companions reverted to their human forms. Roberta tumbled a bit over her feet, her body still pained from Hak Foo's attack. "One much more oriented to aggressive offensive, akin to cavalry, and that should have been in my possession..." Wong looked down at his palm, where a Talisman with the drawing of a magenta pig waited. "But this shall do as a good consolation prize. Now hold your voices, I need to concentrate."
You won't have any problem with that, Tristan thought. Roberta didn't even say a word, and he had a lot to think about. Julian's son. The rebel leader was that man's son. Had... had Julian been the leader before him? Had he ordered...? But if he had, then why do that in order to save...?
"Yes..." Wong's voice took him out of his thoughts. The Dark Chi Wizard was holding the Pig Talisman in one hand, while in the other's palm had opened a circular, worm-like mouth. It was disgusting. Wong pointed the mouth towards the Talisman, and soon energy started to be siphoned from the hexagonal rock towards the mouth. When the process ended, the mouth closed and the Talisman crumbled into dust. Wong stood up and his eyes lighted in yellowish energy. I would have preferred the power of the Dragon, but... He proceeded to fire his new eye beams towards the sky.
"The power of the Pig Talisman is mine!"
Inside the mountain
"Please tell me everyone is okay," Will's voice sounded through the darkness.
"Alive and breathing, captain;" Irma's snarky comment came, proof of her wellbeing.
"Me too!" Hay Lin said. "But there's something very heavy over me! Like a rock but... soft?"
"That's me!" Cornelia protested. "And who're you calling heavy?"
"Oh, my poor head..." Taranee complained with a dizzy voice. "Who's hand is that?!"
"Oops, sorry friend;" Jade's voice came next.
"Can someone please light a torch or something?" Caleb voice was the next one, after which he coughed a couple of times.
"Not a torch, but..." Taranee opened her hand and created a fireball over it that casted light over them. The Guardians, Shapeshifter and rebel leader were still in the tunnel they had entered as the cave collapsed, the entrance sealed by rocks. All of them must have fallen over one another due to the tremor, because aside from Blunk, they were all on top of one another. It took them a couple of minutes to come to their feet.
"And now... what?" Hay Lin asked.
Will looked up and at her sides. "Taranee, can you hold on that flame in human form?"
"I think so."
The redhead held the Heart up. "We're de-transforming. This place is too small to fly and we need to catch our breaths."
There was the usual flash of pink, and in the blink of an eye, the Guardians were five normal girls again.
"Someone, help out Caleb to move;" Will instructed, knowing already that Cornelia would be the one to help him. "Okay," she said looking ahead. "Blunk, guide us to a less damaged part of the mountain. Once there, Cornelia; I need you to open a tunnel."
"No problem," the blonde told her as she put Caleb's arm around her shoulders again. Without the body enhancement of being a Guardian, she noted how he was much heavier that he let on.
Ah… that's what I call a real fight! Nimue thought as she looked at her fallen foe, the enormous ogre lying on the ground of the chamber, having been killed by the witch. "An ogre from old Tibet, if I'm not mistaken… Ludmoore probably took it from Wong as payment. Those greedy men and Dark Wizards… dealing with demons would be half the work without them around."
The witch approached the altar in which the Sword of Thanatos was still waiting to be picked up by anyone that had the bravery (or maybe idiocy) to hold it. Instead of picking it up, Nimue summoned a white blanket that wrapped itself around the weapon and lifted it in the air.
"I came here for a Mask… but I suppose taking this thing is more important. You were made from the remnants of Abbadon, weren't you, my little sword? Uhm… you aren't a demon per se, and you could be useful for something I have in mind. Now the question is; is out there someone with enough strength of will to hold you?"
The purple butterflies returned to her then, enveloping both her body and the covered sword. And so they disappeared, leaving only the corpse of a giant ogre behind.
Without the sound of the battle going on around, the party found itself walking through silent and dark tunnels, Taranee's fireball their only source of light and none of them very prone to talk. Many were tired, others were worried about the fact that they had spent around an hour fighting and of how Knickerbocker was going to react once they returned. And Jade… Jade wanted to talk with Jackie. Not only because Hak Foo was in Heatherfield and had gotten his hands (or rather, face) into an Oni Mask, which was incredibly problematic on itself; but because of the mysterious man that had appeared using Talismans. And a part of her was suspicious that her uncle knew something about that. She needed to have a talk with him.
"Here, here!" Blunk said cheerfully. "Blunk found a very good spot!"
The girls and rebel teen approached the spot the Passling was pointing to. It was a tunnel, a tunnel in almost a perfect condition that leaded upwards, and at this end, light could be spotted. It was an exit.
"Thank you, Blunk;" Will thanked the greenish dwarf. "You're a life saver."
The girls, rebel and Passling entered the tunnel and walked up it until they exited to the exterior again. Once there they breathed fresh air in and decided to return to the inn, hopping that Knickerbocker wouldn't have noticed their absence.
A long walk and a reprimand later
"You're in detention during recess for the rest of the week?" Matt asked Will as the two of them were taking their backpacks and heading back to their bus.
"Not only me," Will told the boy. "All of us, and just because we were out during only an hour!"
"You were missing after the whole hour after lunch," Nigel, walking alongside Matt and her, told the redhead girl. "I find pretty normal that Knickerbocker was worried about you."
Wasn't this guy supposed to be some kind of 'screw the rules' boy? Will thought. Goss, he sounds just like Taranee…
"Hey Nigel, where's Reggie? He was also missing after lunch and I didn't hear anyone asking about him," Matt told his best friend.
The male redhead, however, raised an eyebrow in pure confusion. "What're you talking about man? Who's Reggie?"
Matt wanted to told him about all the good times they had passed with Reggie… but he found himself unable to remember anything. He couldn't even remember the boy's face! Almost as if he had never know him, which was the only explanation. Yeah… who the hell was Reggie?
"Sweet Jesus…" Quentin said as he made the last rock blocking his path to levitate away with the help of his faithful Roaster talisman. He had exited the mountain's tunnels on the exact opposition that the girls had done, and since he had no way of having an empowered body, he felt completely worn out. He had been able to use telekinesis to more or less put his left arm's bones together, but he was sure that he would need to go to the hospital. Why hadn't he picked the Horse Talisman? Why in the name of the Good Lord hadn't he picked the damned Horse Talisman?! Still, the pain didn't stop him from taking out his notebook and write something down with his good arm.
Diary of Quentin Ross. Entry 138
I've gone to the mountains. Found Hak Foo. Found a weird looking old man that could fire laser beams. Found Chan's niece with her new friends… who can transform in a giant wolf and pixies, respectively. Gotta ask Chan about that. Engaged Hak Foo and the old man in a fight with Talismans. Easy at first. Then Hak Foo got this weird mask that summoned weird bugs… beat the crap out of me. In the confusion, lost the Pig Talisman, Wong took it. Still got the Snake, the Roaster and… wait.
Wait.
He was searching in his pockets now. Where was the Dragon? Where the hell was the Dragon?!
The Dragon Talisman was way too far from Quentin Ross. It was currently in the streets of Heatherfield, going up and down in the air while being thrown upwards by no other than Reggie, the teenager looking at his little prize with a happy and malicious grin.
"I cannot believe how incredibly profitable this little trip has been," Reggie said as he entered an alley. There, a circle of light started to travel all the way up his body, until the glamour covering it faded away, revealing Nerissa Crossnic's form. "And to think I followed my boy all the way up to the mountains just to see what Wong was planning and gather a bit of information in the new Guardians' combat progression… Ha! A little glamour here, a little mind-trick there, a small invisibility spell, and no one paid attention to me taking this… Talisman, was it? No, they were fighting, those idiots."
Nerissa looked at the Dragon Talisman, the rock resting over her flesh hand. She thought for a moment before pointing her index finger towards a spot in her metallic left forearm. "Quintessence," she whispered, putting the smallest amounts of energy in the spell. Whitish blue sparks formed in her wrinkled and dried fingertip, and a part of her metallic forearm melted and formed a hexagonal hole. She put the Dragon Talisman there, the object fitting perfectly.
The overly old woman looked then with amazement as how the drawing of the dragon in the talisman lighted up, energy coursing through her body. She pointed her flesh arm towards a small trashcan in the alley, firing a beam of flame that enveloped and melted it. And she knew that was not even a ten percent of the power this little rock had. I was not Heart, but it was an advantage anyway.
Nerissa let out a sinister, triumphal laugh and waved her staff, opening a Portal in the Veil. She crossed it victorious, the fallen Guardian happy with what she had obtained. After all, if there was someone able to gain advantage even in the middle of utter chaos, that was Nerissa Crossnic.
The key to tip the balance of any situation in your favor lies into introducing an unknown factor. Do something unexpected and chaotic; even if at first it seems to not favor even yourself. Watch from the sidelines how it develops, and when everyone is confused and tired, then step in and you will be able to gain the most of them all. Bartholomew Chang.
A/N: I bet that no one was expecting for Hak Foo to get a Mask that it's not the one of the Leech/Mini Khan. Anyway, I used the Mantis Khan Mask because… because I actually wanted to see it in action in the show, and it got the least screen time of them all. Next chapter should be way smaller than this one, and with not so much chaotic action.
Anyway, great news everybody! Thanks to the awesome Zim'sMostLoyalServant, this fic has now a TvTropes Page! Hurray! It's pretty small for now, but if you want to give it a look or contribute, there it is.
And I suppose that's all. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope you'll leave a review to tell me how you have seen it.
Bye, bye!
