A/N: WOO HOO! :D Here's the next chapter! What will happen? Find out! :D
Chapter 9 – Working with the Kaftar, dark selves
Lei, Jia, and the Kaftar tumble into darkness, Lei lit up his Orb and sees rock snakes along the walls, the Kaftar held them tight, he grabbed the wall and stopped them from falling for a minute. Then the ledge gave way and they began falling down once again!
"Oh! This isn't the time for me to die!" Lei cried. The Kaftar knew that Lei couldn't die. He began looking around, he grabbed the wall again, his claws created sparks along it as he held them while sliding down the wall. Then he said, "We're not dying now!" Then he kicked the wall a huge chunk came out of the wall and it crumbled when it hit the ground 30 feet below. The Kaftar let go and he landed on his feet with a boom. Jia forced herself out of the Kaftar's arm saying, "Keep your hands off me you idiot!"
"Huh..." the Kaftar said as he let Lei go, "Is that how you say 'thanks' to someone for saving your life?" Jia scoffed and said, "Saving my life?! I don't owe you, shapeshifter."
"You don't trust anyone."
Jia snarled and looked away. Lei began looking around as he walked up to Jia, he put his hand on her shoulder, but she swatted it away. Lei gave Jia her Orb and she took it, stuffing it into her bag. Lei sighed, feeling uneasy around the Kaftar. He turned around and faced the hyena who looked directly into his eyes.
"Jia's right, Nightfall," Lei said, "She has a right not to trust you, and I can't trust you after what I heard about you." The Kaftar looked got a little closer to Lei and said, "You may not. But the enemy's not me."
"How can I rely that you'd help us out?" Jia asked, not looking at all.
"Because Lei is the Eternal Light, I've been down here before ever since my last defeat," the Kaftar explained, "And, this world is dark and scary...Yue wants us to stay together." Lei crossed his arms and the Kaftar continued, "I may seem what I am, but truly I am your only hope of getting back. I know the traps." Lei glared at the Kaftar.
"You've tried to kill my mother and father in the past, you're a villain, a big one," he said, the Kaftar nodded, "I may have done wrong in the past, things aren't ever the same at second glance." Jia snarled and shouted, "I'm NOT following you!" She lunged for him, but Lei stopped her, "Why are YOU helping him?!"
"He's not the enemy!" Lei said desperately. Jia snarled as she formed an angry look, she pulled away from Lei and snarled. Lei looked at the Kaftar and said, "This is hard for me. I can't trust you...and yet you're the only hope out..."
"Sometimes you have to make hard choices to get out of situations," the Kaftar said, he looked up and then he shouted, "Look out!" He pulled Lei away before he destroyed a rock snake! Lei pulled out his Orb, it glowed bright and there're hundreds of rock snakes!
"Run!" the Kaftar shouted. Lei began running and Jia did as well, but there're hundreds more in front of them! Lei shone his Orb very brightly and it took out a bunch of them, the Kaftar continued to lead them while Jia got down on all fours and ran along Lei's side. The Kaftar took out three snakes and threw one into a group of 10 of them. Jia jumped into the air and saved Lei from being bitten by one, who knows what their venom can do. More and more kept coming and there're thousands of them now! Lei's heart raced, if he tripped, he would be eaten alive. The Kaftar narrowed his eyes and then he shouted, "Jump!" They all jumped high into the air and landed on a pillar. They looked back to see that the snakes couldn't reach them, but they began slithering along the walls! Lei charged up again and then he did some arm movement, then he unleashed the Red Flame of Justice, knocking them all down and killing lots of them. Jia gasped while the Kaftar's eyes widened. The pillar began giving out, the Kaftar grabbed Jia and Lei before they landed on safer ground. Jia broke free and the three figures ran to a safer location. Well...nowhere is safe. Jia stayed beside Lei as the Kaftar hid himself and them behind rocks as demonic wolves ran beside them, everything is so dark with dark and purple clouds swirling above them.
"Nightfall," Yue said through his mind, he slightly jumped, "Nightfall...are you there? Please be okay..."
"I am here Madam Yue," the Kaftar replied through his mind as he looks around for danger, "We're okay. Lei and Jia are unharmed as am I."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Yue replied, full of relief, "Where are you? I can't find you."
The Kaftar smirked and said through his mind, "We had a little run in with thousands of snakes and some demonic wolves."
"Oh! I'll find you ASAP, move forward a bit and I'll meet up with y'all, stay alert and safe!" Yue said.
"Right," the Kaftar said through his mind. Yue left his mind and he looked to face the others.
"Madam Yue just contacted me and told us to move forward," he said. Jia snarled at him while Lei crossed his arms.
"You sure about that?" Lei asked, "I don't know..." The Kaftar looked at Lei and said, "Lei, I'm serious, she wants us to move forward and we'll meet her up ahead." Lei raised an eyebrow, he knows the Kaftar is a real trickster, can sound sincere.
"Lei, follow Nightfall, I'll meet you up ahead," Yue said through Lei's mind, he jumped, he looked at the Kaftar who raised an eyebrow at him. Lei nodded and said, "Let's go." Jia widened her eyes in anger.
"NO! Not with him!" Jia said, Lei's eyes widened and he said, "Shh! We don't want anything to find us!" Jia closed her eyes, holding her anger, she knows Lei's not her enemy, she's most loyal to him. Lei saw a rock spider next to Jia, his eyes widened in fear. He whispered "Don't move" to Jia. She raised an eyebrow and then Lei knocked away the spider. Lei stood up and the ground began shaking, the ground began splitting up and they began running, Jia had no other choice.
While the Kaftar lead them to where Yue wants them to meet her, Yue along with Biyu, Vanessa, and Tai Lung run behind Yue as they avoid twisting and turning rocks.
"Madam Yue! Lei and Jia are in the hands of that Kaftar! He can't be trusted!" Vanessa shouted.
"I know!" Yue said, "I didn't anticipate on this happening! We'll save them!"
"If it's not too late!" Tai Lung said. Yue lifted them all up with her Light and herself and they hovered above the twisting and turning rocks. With the Kaftar, Lei, and Jia, they continue to move forward, Jia and Lei both jump over a hole hundreds of feet deep, the Kaftar took out a demon wolf, but it got back up and began chasing them again! Lei fired a beam from his Orb and the wolf dissipated into nothing. The ground went up into the sky, blocking them from escaping! Lei used his Orb and made a hole through it, the Kaftar grabbed him and Jia and threw them onto the top, he climbed up after them as the ground began cracking, Lei grabbed Jia's paw before they both ducked under another Pteranodon. Jia's Orb slipped out of her bag, the Kaftar shouted "Dang it" he went after it while Jia avoided another rock scorpion! The Kaftar ran on all fours after the Orb, a scorpion came along and struck him down!
"AAGGGHHHHH!" the Kaftar roared in pain. Lei saw the Kaftar was a little too far, he groaned before he ran after him, Jia had to stay with Lei or the darkness will consume her. Jia's Orb was heading for a cliff, the Kaftar didn't see it, he managed to grab the Orb, then the ground gave way beneath him! Lei jumped for him and grabbed his cloak before pulling him back to safety. The Kaftar began leading them again while holding his arm in pain, Lei took the Orb from him and gave it back to Jia.
With Yue she's frantically looking for Lei, Jia and the Kaftar, she prayed that they're okay, and she knows the Kaftar's a real trickster. She narrowed her eyes, seeing some dark energy swirling in the distance. Her eyes widened as she thought, "No way..."
"Madam Yue! There they are!" Vanessa shouted. Yue looked around, Vanessa pointed to them and she saw a glimpse of them. She began heading to them in a hurry while the ground began erupting dark energy, trying to get rid of them! Yue sensed the dark energy around them and swerved around certain areas to avoid a dark energy eruption. Biyu saw the dark energy has converted into something...something very bad! Then a demonic version of the Jersey Devil appeared out of the darkness! Yue gasped, she narrowly avoided it, but she hit a rock and they all tumbled onto the ground! Yue turned around to see the Jersey Devil with its dragon wings, short arms with claws, long legs with horse hooves, a long tail with spikes at the end, and a very mean looking face, its red beady eyes glared at Yue as it flew closer, it roared as they all got ready to fight it. With Lei and the other two figures, Jia destroyed a scorpion while Lei took out a demon wolf with his Orb. The Kaftar held his arm as blood oozed out of it, he cringed in pain. Then they all fell into a hole. Lei screamed and then they landed on the bottom in a second.
"Uh...I just reacted..." Lei said with a cough. He sat up as he held his Red Orb tight. He looked around, there was not a sound but a few clattering rocks from above, they're in a big opening, Lei looked around, getting a bad feeling as Jia sat up while holding her side. As Lei looked around he heard a mournful roar, he looked around to see the Kaftar in pain, his arm has blood streaming down it with a big gash in his bicep. Lei knew the Kaftar was a villain, but he's suffering. Lei closed his eyes tight, he cringed and said to himself, "I must be out of my mind..." He held his Orb close to the Kaftar's arm, red light touched it and it healed his arm in a few seconds without a lick of pain.
"Lei...you..." the Kaftar said, slightly surprised, Lei put his hands on his hips and said, "I couldn't let you suffer...not in this situation." The Kaftar nodded and smirked, Lei helped a bad guy in a tough situation, and even Jia is slightly surprised. Jia looked around, then she saw a dark figure, her eyes widened as her brows raised, "No...no way!"
"What? What?" Lei said, looking around fast. Then he saw the dark figure and he gasped out of shock and horror, the Kaftar looked and he said, "Oh...oh my..." It's a darker figure of Lei! The figure is surrounded by dark mist with yellow glowing eyes, glaring right into Lei's horrified soul, then a Dark Jia came and she gasped out of horror and even worse...a dark version of the Kaftar. They all stood by one another's side as Dark Jia pulled out a dark machete. Jia snarled, she lost her machete. Dark Lei charged for Lei. Lei gasped and began blocking his attacks while Jia and the Kaftar fought their dark selves. Lei threw different punches and kicks at Dark Lei but Dark Lei kept blocking them, Lei did a backflip and avoided Dark Lei's punch, Dark Lei began throwing punches and kicks while Lei kept blocking and dodging them, Dark Lei has the same moves as Lei does, same with Dark Jia and Dark Kaftar. Jia knocked Dark Jia's machete out of her hand but then it regenerated back! Jia roared at Dark Jia and they began fighting like wildfire while the Kaftar had his hands full with Dark Kaftar.
While Lei and his gang continue to struggle with their dark clones, Yue, Biyu, Vanessa and Tai Lung continue to fight the demonic Jersey Devil. It roared at them all while Yue fired her beams at it, she glowed and her light knocked it to the ground, Tai Lung and Vanessa began attacking it, the creature roared and knocked the two felines away. Biyu spun around fast and unleashed a shockwave to damage the beast's wings. The Jersey Devil roared and it regenerated its wings! Biyu gasped, it swiped its claw and knocked her to the ground. Yue charged forward with a bright flash of light, she hit its chest and knocked it over onto its back. Vanessa fired her grapple gun and it wrapped around one of the wings, Tai Lung kicked one wing and it broke. Yue glared at the Jersey Devil before her staff fired a huge beam at its chest and Tai Lung kicked it down into a deep abyss. It roared as it fell down.
"It will be back, let's find the others, ASAP," Yue said. Tai Lung nodded, "I think they're that way." Tai Lung ran off and the others followed him.
With Lei, he continues to fight off his dark self, he throws several punches but Dark Lei continues to block them, Lei is getting exhausted and annoyed at the same time. He began charging up to fire a yellow ball at Dark Lei, but Dark Lei began charging up a dark ball! Lei gasped in horror, he launched the ball and Dark Lei did the same, they both collided with a CRASH creating a shockwave, knocking them off their feet. Lei sat up and faced his dark self.
Lei snarled, "You...are one annoying..." Dark Lei charged again and Lei blocked his attacks, he kicked his stomach before he jumped to his feet.
Lei began attacking again, he jumped over Dark Lei, he managed to punch his face once but then Dark Lei punched him quite a distance from him. Lei slowly sat up, his dark self is stronger! He sat up to see his dark self skating on a skateboard. Lei made a move and he knocked Dark Lei off the board, he grabbed the board and it changed into a black skateboard with flames.
"Dashing..." Lei said as he briefly looked at it. He hopped onto it and Dark Lei's board regenerated. Lei skateboarded to Dark Lei and they threw punches, Lei went up a ramp and he did a trick in the air. He came back around and circled around Dark Lei, he saw Dark Jia, he jumped while holding his board and kicked her down. Jia saw Lei doing skateboard tricks, he's a skateboarder? Lei charged for Dark Lei and they began fighting as they skated alongside one another. Lei ducked and dodged Dark Lei's punches, he threw a punch to Dark Lei, knocking him off his skateboard. Lei went up another ramp, came back and charged at Dark Lei again. He jumped off his board onto his feet and the board hit Dark Lei's face, knocking him out. But just for a second, he sat up and shot a deep glare at Lei. He charged for him, Lei pulled out his Orb and fired at him, Dark Lei was knocked down once again, but he stood back up! Lei gasped and shouted, "No way" before Dark Lei knocked Lei's Orb out of his hands! Lei scampered after it, Dark Lei jumped into the air, Lei grabbed his Orb and Jia shouted, "Lei, watch out!" Lei whirled around, Dark Lei almost got him, but a light beam whacked him smack into a wall. Lei looked up to see Madam Yue standing on the top of a cliff. She fired her dark beams at the Dark Kaftar and Dark Jia, punching them into a wall.
"Madam Yue! Thank goodness you're here!" Lei said, full of relief.
"Glad to have saved you," Yue said as she jumped down to join them, "Mogui created dark clones of you, I see..."
"Yeah," said Jia as she cracked her back, "They fight just like us!" Yue nodded, "They do, and we have another situation..." The Jersey Devil came out of the shadows, Lei screamed before they all ducked and it crashed into the wall.
"We have that..." Yue finished dryly. Lei recognized it, he's read upon that legendary creature in school before. The Jersey Devil charged for them as it wings went, "whoosh, whoosh." Yue jumped into the air and fired a beam at the Devil, it roared in pain, Lei jumped up and fired a red beam from his Orb before kicking its eye, making it roar, it crashed to the ground and ran into a wall. Dark Lei came back and began fighting Lei, Biyu saw him and began helping Lei while the others faced off with the Jersey Devil. Biyu launched her beams at Dark Lei, the regular Lei fired a beam from his Red Orb. Dark Lei roared and charged, only for them to dodge him and for him to ram into a wall. Dark Kaftar showed up, Jia snarled at him, she ran on all fours at him, she avoided his kick and her hands glowed. She roared before she punched him, and a bright yellow flash came from her hands on impact, sending him flying away into the dark clouds. The Kaftar held in a gasped as he slightly cringed.
Lei faced his dark self again alongside with Biyu, the ground erupted in dark energy, sending them all of them off their feet. Yue stood back up, she glowed fiercely and she fired a huge beam at the Jersey Devil, it roared in pain as it disappeared some, then it fell back into the dark abyss, roaring in pain until it faded away. Dark Jia came along and began fighting Jia, Dark Jia cute Jia's arm, she winced in pain but Yue fired a dark beam and she crashed into a wall. Lei kicked his dark self and Biyu punched him away, knocking him down into the abyss. But what they didn't know is that he had managed to grab a ledge, he began working his way up.
Lei walked over to Yue and hugged her, "Thanks Madam Yue...you came at just the right time..." Yue hugged back and said, "I was praying that I would..." Tai Lung glared at the Kaftar.
"And you..." he snarled, "Stay away from Lei."
"Tai Lung, don't be mad at him," Lei said, Tai Lung looked at him with a serious look and said, "Lei, he's a bad guy! He could be involved with Mogui."
"He is not," said Lei, "His arm was badly injured by a scorpion and I healed it." Yue stepped forward and said, "And I made sure Mogui had no touch with him, and he hasn't. But Nightfall is still under monitor." Tai Lung looked at the Kaftar with a serious look, telling him that he won't trust him no matter what.
"Let's get a move on," said Yue. Then Dark Lei showed up and then he grabbed Lei's arm!
"Lei!" Biyu shouted, Lei tried breaking free, but Dark Lei had him tight, they both stumbled backwards, and then they fell down the cliff!
"NOOOOOOOO!" Vanessa shouted out of horror while the others watched with horror as Lei fell in through eternal darkness...again!
A/N: Lei and the gang faced off with their dark selves! Oh, how dramatic!
And for those who don't know, the Jersey Devil is a real legend and it's rumored to live in southeast New Jersey. Look it up. REVIEW! :D