Chapter 10: Uncertain Future
Jackie, Jade and Viper were each riding a dromedary, slowly traveling through a desert in Turkey. Jackie was leading the small group, using a map made from Tohru's annotations that would lead them to the Unseen Enclave, an abandoned hideout of mages who had served the ancient Persian Empire. Said mages were the key to Kur-Asan's defeat, the same ones who took the Ring and hid it inside the Chamber of Wishes, since they were unable to destroy it. Hopefully, Solomon's Archive would still be there, though Uncle told them to take everything they could find that might be helpful.
Their time was running out, as the blue skin kept spreading – it now covered Jade's whole right arm, her right leg up to the knee, her left foot, and left forearm. There were also many smaller patches of blue skin across her body. This forced her to wear concealing clothes when she was in public. Fortunately, since they were kilometers away from civilization, it wasn't necessary anymore. And it was a good thing too, since she couldn't resist the desert's high temperatures with so much clothing. Jackie and Viper also had clothes more according to the environment – Jackie was wearing his usual archeologist outfit, while Viper was wearing a beige tank top, dark green shorts, and dark brown boots.
"Are we there yet?" Jade asked.
"If you let me read the map in peace I can tell you," Jackie replied, "Finding ancient ruins is a job that requires a lot of patience, study, and dedication. And the fact that the place we're looking for is named 'The Unseen Enclave' really won't help."
"Jackie, do you do this often?" Viper asked.
"All the time! It's part of my job. Though I usually don't do this alone, since I would get help from other researchers. I'm sure that if Tohru was here, he would be of a lot of help, given it was him who found the references to the Enclave."
"Do you know how we could find this place faster? I could summon my girls and tell them to scout the zone," Jade suggested.
"Jade, you know what I think about the Shadowkhan," Jackie said in a slightly chiding tone, "You shouldn't use them unless it's completely necessary."
"Aww…" Jade said, looking down.
They'd been riding these camel wannabes for hours, without finding any kind of clue. While Jade did bring a couple of comics and a portable console, she couldn't use them while riding. Then the place they were heading to gave her an idea.
"Hey, I've got an idea to pass time! Since we're going to investigate genie magic, I was thinking, if you had a wish, what would you ask for?" Jade asked.
"Well, that's something you have to think carefully about, since there are lots of good things you could do, like wishing for world peace, or the end of world hunger…" Jackie said, "Although sometimes I'd wish to have a normal life, out of this magic madness."
"Not surprising," Jade said, before turning to Viper and asking, "Hey Viper, can you give me a less boring answer?"
"Hey, just because something isn't fun or exciting doesn't mean that it's bad," Jackie protested.
"Come on Jackie, you shouldn't take Jade's comments so seriously," Viper said with a chuckle, "As for what I'd wish for… maybe fix my relationship with my parents. Or being able to re-live my childhood without that damn gymnastics…"
Jade frowned at Viper's answer. "Seriously? I expected that from Jackie, but you?"
"Jackie is right. Sometimes the best things aren't necessarily fun or exciting. I'm sure you'll understand once you grow up," Viper responded.
"Thanks for agreeing with me for once," Jackie told Viper. Then he turned to Jade, "What about you, Jade? What would you ask?"
"It isn't obvious? Infinite wishes! There's very little you can do with one wish!" Jade said.
"That's cheating!"
"No it's not! I was the one who came up with this and I say it's not cheating!"
"Well, imagine then that you couldn't ask for more wishes."
"Okaaaaaaay…" Jade said in defeat as she thought about her wish, "I just can't! One wish is too few!"
"So, there's nothing you'd really want more than anything in this world?" Viper asked, intrigued.
"Well… maybe to be like Jackie. Go around the world beating bad guys and being a hero."
"Don't you do that already?"
"No… I'm mostly his sidekick… well, until now…" Jade replied, looking down, "I would wish my life would be like it is right now… except for the part about being possessed by an evil alter ego."
"I'm sure the time for that will come, Jade. But you'll have to be patient. You're too young to fight against world-level threats," Jackie said.
"Listen to Jackie. One day you will look back and wished that you'd enjoy your childhood while you could," Viper said.
…
Meanwhile, at Uncle's Rare Finds, Uncle had finished the preparations for the ritual: A circle drawn on the floor, with some other symbols around it, as well as bowls with incense and torches. Inside the circle there were Uncle's stuffed lizard, blowfish, and a bag of supplies that he would need for the trip, and a lock of short black hair. And in the middle of the circle, the Sheep Talisman.
There were many ways to wake up somebody from a coma. If regular spells failed to wake up Tohru, then Uncle would go inside his mind and drag him out. It was a good thing that Jackie and the girls didn't take the Sheep Talisman with them, otherwise the spell wouldn't work. Rather than using the Sheep Talisman directly, he was using a ritual that not only would allow him access to Tohru's mind, but he could also bring several items with him, like his chi blasters.
After checking everything one last time, he sat in front of the Sheep Talisman in the lotus position, and recited his trademark incantation:
"Yu Mo Gwai Gui Fai Di Zao, Yu Mo Gwai Gui Fai Di Zao, Yu Mo Gwai Gui Fai Di Zao…"
The Sheep Talisman began to glow with a white light as its powers were activated. The talisman then emitted a powerful blinding white light that illuminated the entire room with such brightness that nothing could be seen by the sheer luminosity. When the light finally faded, Uncle saw that he was still inside his store, unlike what he had expected. However, he realized that most of the ritual's components were gone, except for the chi blasters and the bag of supplies. Did that mean that his spell worked?
Uncle grabbed his two dead animals and his bag, and went outside. He was still in Chinatown, San Francisco, except that it wasn't like the real deal – this one looked more like the aftermath of a war zone, with most of its buildings (his beloved store included) reduced to decaying ruins. People wandered around dressed in rags, reminding the old chi wizard of the clothes human wore in the world dominated by the Demon Sorcerers. The sky was dark, but not dark as in night, but as if the sky was covered with an unnatural veil of darkness. But the detail that caught Uncle's eye the most was a huge tower in the horizon, far away, but it's size made it possible to be seen from a great distance.
"What kind of place is this? Did Uncle enter Tohru's mind, or did he wander into another plane?" the old chi wizard mused.
Soon, he'd find out. He reached into his bag and pulled out a rudimentary compass, which was attuned with Tohru's chi, and would reveal if the Japanese giant was here. After swirling for a couple of seconds, the compass pointed towards the tower. While happy to see that Tohru was here, the prospect of going to that tower didn't appeal to Uncle one bit.
Following the compass, the old chi wizard traveled through the ruined streets of the apparently post-apocalyptic San Francisco. People looked at him with a mix of fear and confusion, since the old man stood out with his clean and intact clothes, as well as the weird artifacts he was carrying. His journey was stopped when he saw a statue that left him frozen in place.
It was a statue of a teenage Jade, wearing a long dress which Uncle recognized as the one she wore during her brief stint as Queen of the Shadowkhan, standing triumphant with her hands on her hips, her face sporting a wicked smile. Uncle looked for any kind of inscription that would reveal more about that mysterious statue, but found nothing. While he wasn't sure about the meaning of that statue, one thing was certain – it wasn't a good omen.
Uncle then remembered what he learned from the research about the Sacred Treasures. The Mirror Yata no Kagami, which represented wisdom, could be used to see whatever you wanted, like a crystal ball, however it also had the ability to show its user visions of the future. So, was this a vision of a possible future? Uncle decided that it was better not to think about it, and focused on his mission, to save Tohru.
…
After what seemed to be an eternity for Jade, Jackie told them to stop, announcing that they'd reached the Unseen Enclave. However, the place was honoring its name, and nothing resembling a mage hideout could be seen, only a vast dry land with a few rocks placed in a circle.
"Well, here we are. Any clues on how are we going to find the Enclave?" Viper asked.
"Maybe it's underground," Jade suggested.
"Probably, but still, there's nothing resembling a door or an entrance, other than this circle of rocks," Jackie said, "If we were in a mountain, we could look for caves or tunnels, but this is a desert. Though there is a small clue to find a Enclave."
"And that clue would be…?" Viper asked.
After rummaging through his pockets, Jackie pulled out a small sheet of paper and read aloud, "It's written in Persian, but the translation would be something like 'The sands of the desert will reveal the doors of the Sanctum when a shadow is cast over the Sun.'"
"Shadow over the sun? As in an eclipse?" Viper asked, hoping that that wasn't the meaning. They couldn't wait until a solar eclipse.
"No, the mages obviously entered this hideout on a daily basis, so they couldn't tie the doors to rare astronomical events. The first line, 'the sands of the desert will reveal the doors of the Sanctum', hint that the Enclave is indeed under the very sand under our feet. The second part is a riddle whose answer serves as the password to open the gates," the archeologist explained.
"So we have to figure out what or when a shadow is cast over the sun, and once we get the answer, what do we do, write it on the sand?" the thief asked.
"Why not? The Enclave is underground, which means that the land here must have some sort of spell that will disappear with the riddle's answer. Either that or we'll have to say the answer aloud," Jade interjected.
"I agree with Jade – it has to be something to be written in the sand. If the password had to be said aloud, it could be heard by unwanted guests, but something written in the sand can easily be erased."
"But we still don't know the answer either," Viper said as she sat down, "When does a shadow cover the sun? An eclipse is the only thing that I can think of, and it isn't even a real shadow, but the moon."
Jade then began to draw something in the sand inside the circle of rocks. It was a circle with some straight lines surrounding it, pointing to several directions; a picture of the sun. Jade stood over the picture in a way that her shadow covered it.
"See? I'm casting a shadow over the sun!" Jade said. However, nothing happened.
"I must admit that it isn't a bad idea, but I didn't expect it to work. The ancient Persians didn't depict the sun that way," Jackie said, crouching over Jade's picture. He removed the sunrays, and made a dot in the center of the circle. "This is one of the most ancient depictions of the sun, used in the Ancient Egypt, Babylonia, the Assyrian Empire and-"
Jackie's explanation was interrupted when the symbol he just drew began to glow and the earth beneath their feet began to shake. The dromedaries ran away in terror, and the humans looked for a safe place. The glowing symbol turned into a hole that started swallowing the sand, and expanded. After a couple of minutes, there was a huge cavity in the ground, looking like a tunnel entrance.
"We did it!" Jade said, jumping in joy and pumping her fist.
"Good job you two. You form a great team," Viper congratulated the Chans, a bit sad that she didn't contribute anything.
"Come on, this is just the beginning. Finding the entrance was just the first part. I wonder what kind of surprises the Enclave has for us," Jackie said as he walked towards the tunnel.
…
After much walking, Uncle finally found the place Tohru was located. The old man was relieved to see that his large apprentice wasn't inside the ominous tower, but in some sort of small fortress that served as a jail. Shadowkhan were carrying many chain-bound people inside.
Uncle did spot several kinds of Shadowkhan during his short stay here, some he already knew, like the ninjas used by Shendu, Jade's kunoichi or Wong's wizards. However, there were other new kinds of Shadowkhan that surprised and, in some cases, horrified the old chi wizard – there was one who looked like the ninja, only with several sharp knives instead of fingers, another one looked like a heavily armored samurai, another one like a bat-human hybrid…
There was no time to think about that. He had to get Tohru out of there if he ever wanted the Japanese giant to wake up. The prison, while small, was heavily guarded. If Jackie or that thief were here, they could easily find a way to sneak in, or fight the guards and get inside by force. But Uncle was too old for that, and the only thing he could think of was being thrown in there.
The old chi wizard began to attack the Shadowkhan left and right with chi blasts. Suddenly he was quickly surrounded. Uncle fell to his knees and held his arms out in surrender, dropping his blowfish chi blaster. He was afraid that the Shadowkhan would kill him instead of locking him up, but that was a gamble he had to take. Fortunately, he was quickly apprehended by a ninja and a samurai, which took him inside the prison, and threw him inside a jail cell. Uncle saw the Shadowkhan taking the blowfish and his bag to some sort of storage room.
Fortunately, the Shadowkhan didn't think about frisking him, because he had his other chi blaster hidden in his pants. After making sure that there were no guards nearby, he quickly blasted the door open with a chi beam, hoping that the noise wouldn't alert the Shadowkhan. Nobody tried to stop his escape, at least for the moment. However, if he ever wanted to find Tohru, he'd need the magic compass. The old man pulled something from a hidden pocket in his waistcoat – the Rabbit Talisman.
Using the talisman's super speed, Uncle found the storage room in no time. He easily dispelled the Shadowkhan guarding the door (these ones were black, vaguely humanoid figures with crab-like pincers) and retrieved his belongings. With the compass now back in his possession, he found Tohru in no time.
The Japanese giant was also in cell, sitting down on the floor looking sad. He was wearing the same rags everybody else was wearing.
"Tohru!" Uncle called.
His apprentice raised his head, and opened his eyes wide upon seeing Uncle.
"Sensei! You're alive!" the sumo said in joy.
"Of course I'm alive! Why wouldn't I be?" Uncle asked, mildly annoyed.
"But… she told me that all of you were dead…" Tohru began.
"Tohru, listen, this isn't real, but a dream! You were left in a coma by the Mirror, and Uncle used the Sheep Talisman to get inside your mind!"
"What? …No, this can't be a dream. I did wish this was only a nightmare, and that we didn't fail to cure Jade…"
Uncle knew he had to get his apprentice out of here as soon as possible, but curiosity got the best of him.
"Tohru, what happened with Jade? How did we fail to cure her?"
"I… I don't remember everything, my memory is a bit foggy… all I remember is that everything went badly after gathering the Treasures. I remember that we tried to stop Wong from acquiring a great power related to the Shadowkhan… we fought with all our might, but we couldn't beat him… it was only thanks to Jade that he was defeated but… but Jade was consumed by the shadows, and became the Queen once again. She claimed the same power Wong was trying to unleash for herself, and covered the world in darkness. There was nothing we could do. And she killed you, Jackie, and Viper among many others… I don't know why she decided to let me live, but given the circumstances, I would have preferred if she had ended my life like she did with the others…"
That was all that Uncle needed to hear. If this truly was a vision from the future, then he'd do everything in his power to stop it. He pulled out his lizard, and blasted the door open.
"Tohru, we're getting you out of here!"
"But where are we going to go? The entire world is under Jade's control, we can't-" Tohru said before being slapped by Uncle.
"I already told you that this is not real! Now come on, we have to find an exit!"
Tohru decided to follow his sensei, mostly because the old man seemed so sure this wasn't real that he may be right, but also because he feared a storm of two-finger slaps if he kept contradicting him. Of course, many Shadowkhan tried to intercept their escape, but the duo was strong enough to deal with them. Several ninja were about to cast a rain of shuriken over them, but Tohru was quick enough to tear apart a nearby door and use it as a shield that blocked the deadly steel stars. Meanwhile, Uncle dispelled the ninjas. They kept advancing, Tohru smashing all the Shadowkhan in his way, and Uncle covering him from behind. In no time, they were out of the prison.
"Tohru, catch!" Uncle said as he tossed the Rabbit Talisman at his large apprentice.
The Japanese giant picked Uncle up and ran off with his super speed. After half a minute of running at imperceptible speed, they reached an isolated alleyway, where they would be safe for some time.
"That was close. Do you see anymore Shadowkhan, Tohru?" the old chi wizard asked.
"No, but there's only a matter of time before they find us," Tohru said while he looked around for possible pursuers. Then he turned to his master and said, "We can't hide in the shadows; they belong to them."
"We're not going to hide. As Uncle has already said, we're going to leave this place," Uncle said as he started rummaging through his bag.
"But sensei, if this is a dream, how is that I can't wake up?" The sumo asked.
"Uncle does not know! But that's not important, finding a way out of here is!" Uncle said, until he finally found what he was looking for – another compass, different from the one he had used to track Tohru, "Somewhere in this place, there is a magic portal that, if we cross it, will lead us back to the real world."
"Maybe you're right. Besides, there are no talking Shadowkhan."
Uncle cast his large apprentice a dubious glare. "Come again?"
"There are Shadowkhan who are sentient… they can speak and have human intelligence. They're called the Higher Shadowkhan, I think. They have control over the minions, just like Jade or Shendu had."
"This vision is proving to be more interesting each moment, as well as more dangerous. Come, we have to find the portal as soon as possible."
"Alright, then let's get moving."
"One more thing! We can't use the Rabbit Talisman, since we'd be moving too fast for the compass to work. One more thing! The compass emits strong good chi magic waves that will reveal our position to the Shadowkhan. We will be like a lighthouse in the middle of the night. But if we keep moving, they'll have a harder time tracking us."
Tohru nodded in response. Uncle activated his second magic compass, and followed its indications, hoping to find the magic gate before the Shadowkhan could stop them.
…
Meanwhile, in the real world, Jackie, Jade, and Viper finally accessed the Unseen Enclave. The tunnel descended until finally opening into a wide passage, whose walls were carved with many pictures of wizards casting spells and fighting against many enemies, genies being summoned, and inscriptions in the Persian language. Jackie illuminated the walls with his flashlight and came closer to inspect the writings.
"Can you translate it?" Viper asked, "Does it say anything of interest?"
"No, these are just tales of past wizards, and some discoveries regarding magic," the archeologist said, "Actually, I was looking for something that would tell us if this place has any kind of guardian."
"Guardian?"
"When we tried to stop Wong from claiming the Ring of Kur-Asan, the chamber that held the ring had a giant scorpion guarding it," Jade explained to Viper, who looked a bit distressed.
"And how did you defeat it?"
"We didn't. It was Wong who destroyed it," Jackie answered.
"But this time will be different. We have three badass fighters, several talismans, and a group of Shadowkhan in case things get really ugly," Jade said, not only cheerful but thrilled at the perspective of a good fight.
"Be careful. There may or may not be a guardian, but I'm certainly sure that this place is infested with traps. For example, do you see those two statues?" Jackie asked, as he pointed out to two statues of wizards at each side of the passage. Jackie picked up a small stone from the floor, and tossed it forward. The moment the stone passed between the statues, the statues' eyes shot powerful heat beams that blew the stone into dust.
"Yeah, crossing that is going to be a challenge," Jade said, raising an eyebrow.
"Less than you think," Viper said as she rushed towards the statues.
"Viper, wait!" Jackie said, trying to grab the thief when she went past him.
Viper quickly grabbed another rock from the floor and tossed it at the statues at the same time she leaped between them, doing an impressive somersault. The heat beams blew up this rock as well, but didn't have time to shoot Viper, who safely passed to the other side.
"See? Easy. I guessed they couldn't aim for two targets at the same time, and I was right," Viper said as she cockily smiled.
"You could have told me about your idea first. You almost gave me a heart attack!" Jackie said, frowning.
"Ancient tombs and ruins aren't that different from museums, after all. Treasures protected by devices meant to keep looters away," Viper casually commented.
"Except that museums' security systems aren't lethal."
"That only adds to the challenge!" Viper replied happily, much to Jackie's chagrin, who sighed in defeat.
"Come on Jackie, she's just teasing you," Jade said. Then she turned to the thief and asked, "So, now you throw another rock at the same time we pass, right?"
"Right," Viper said as she picked up another stone.
Jackie didn't let Jade to jump on her own (despite Jade's protests of having the Dog Talisman), and carried her on his back. After Viper threw the stone bait for the statues, Jackie and Jade were in the other side.
"Shall we continue?"
Of course, there were many other traps set across the passage, such as the classical hidden arrow shooter, crushing walls, and a trapdoor leading to a pit full of nasty looking black bugs. However, thanks to Jackie's vast experience, they avoided them all without trouble, finally reaching a large door. Jackie started to inspect the door in search of hidden switches or the like.
"You know, I could kick that door down," Viper suggested.
"There's no need for that. This place has high archeological value, and if we can get Solomon's Archive without breaking anything, the better," Jackie replied, not taking his eyes from the door.
"Can't help but wonder, why did they put so many traps here? I thought that with that secret entrance it wouldn't be necessary," Jade wondered.
"Who knows, maybe in case someone kidnapped a mage and forced him to reveal the location of this place," Viper replied.
"Too bad Uncle didn't come. He knows pretty much everything about anything magical."
"Still, I'm sure we can pull this one off without his help. I mean, we took down Origami, and neither of us had magic."
"Opened!" Jackie said, after finding a hidden switch that opened the large stone gate.
The stone gate slowly opened with a cracking noise, revealing a huge chamber. Suddenly, several torches lit by themselves, illuminating the entire chamber, which was a huge platform standing on a sea of flowing sand, with three bridges that connected the platform with other sides of the instance, and many sand-waterfalls covering the walls. The group of three advanced towards the center of the platform, where Jackie examined the inscriptions on the platform.
"Alright, according to this symbols, the library is to the left," Jackie said.
Viper and Jade nodded, and followed the archeologist to the left path. And just as Jackie said, they arrived to a large library. Such a place would have marveled Jackie in other circumstances, given the large number of ancient texts, books and scrolls – in fact, he was indeed marveled – but right now his mind was focused on finding the Archive, since it was their only hope to recover the Ring of Kur-Asan, and turn Jade back to normal. Maybe in the future he could come back and examine the place properly.
"Alright, hopefully Solomon's Archive will be here. Let's be patient, it could take us hours before we find-"
"Is this it?" Jade asked, holding up a big, ornamented tome between her hands.
"You have to be kidding me," Jackie said, completely dumbstruck, causing Viper to chuckle.
It was, indeed, the book they were looking for. Solomon's Archive was a book made exclusively from metal (bronze, to be precise), its few pages included. The cover was red, with golden ornaments, the most notable being the Star of David in the center, and another inscription in a language Jackie couldn't read.
"This is Hebrew," Jackie said, passing a finger over the inscription, "We'll need someone to translate it. Fortunately, I have a friend who-"
"It says 'He who gains wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers'," Viper said as she read it, "But don't take my word for it, my Hebrew is a bit rusty." [1]
"You… you know Hebrew?" Jackie asked, even more astonished.
"My father taught me, as a part of my Jewish upbringing. I was born in the States, but he's from Israel, and thought that I should knew 'the language of my ancestors'." [2]
"Didn't know you were Jewish. Not that I have a problem with it!" Jackie quickly added.
"I know you don't. And I have to admit that I'm not very devout," Viper said with a smile, "Anyway, can we leave? My clothes are full of sand."
However, the moment they left the library, a loud, angry, booming voice speaking in an unknown language echoed through the chamber, making it tremble.
"What's going on?" Jade asked, as she clung to Jackie's leg.
"We're being accused of thievery, probably because we took the Archive. The Enclave's guardian will deal with us," Jackie explained, trying his hardest to keep calm.
"Guardian?" Viper asked.
"Please not another giant scorpion, please not another giant scorpion…" Jade pleaded.
A huge fire appeared in the middle of the central platform, and from the fire a figure emerged. It was a red skinned humanoid, with glowing yellow eyes, multiple horns, surrounded by an aura of flames.
"Alright, maybe a giant scorpion wasn't so bad after all…"
"What the hell is that!?" Viper asked as she adopted a fighting pose, even if she doubted martial arts would be of any use against that fire monster.
"An efreet, a kind of genie. I read that magicians of the Middle East sometimes captured or enslaved the efreets to use them for their purposes," Jackie said.
"That's interesting and all, but how do we kill it?" Jade asked, nervous.
"Efreets are immortal, they can't be killed."
"WHAT!?" Jade and Viper asked in unison.
"Then what are we going to do!?" Viper asked.
The efreet generated two wings made of pure fire, and dived at the trio. Jackie grabbed Jade and rolled on the floor, avoiding the flying fire demon, followed by Viper.
"The efreet is this place's guardian, so if we leave this place he will leave us alone!" Jackjie suggested.
They rushed towards the chamber's exit, but the efreet guessed their intentions, and threw a fireball at the roof over the exit. Several rocks fell from the roof, blocking the exit.
"Right, grabbing the book and leaving was just too easy…" Viper said, unnerved.
Jackie and Viper adopted a combat pose. Jade did so as well after transforming into a Shadowkhan. Unimpressed, the efreet threw a fireball at them, forcing them to scatter, and the hellish genie targeted Jackie, who took shelter behind a column near the entrance to the center of the platform. Jackie spotted a shield hanging on a column, and decided to use it to protect himself against the efreet's attacks, but couldn't do much else.
"You leave my uncle alone!" Jade said as she performed several hand seals.
Upon finishing, she placed her hands mimicking a gun and shot a purple lightning bolt at the efreet. This caused the efreet to forget about Jackie and go after Jade. The efreet attacked Jade with fireballs like he did to Jackie before. Jade managed to dodge them, and reply with either bolts of purple lightning, or dark chi blasts. Some of the attacks did hit the efreet, but none of them were strong enough to put him out of commission. The Shadowkhan girl tripped while dodging attacks, leaving her vulnerable for a moment, which was used by the efreet to throw a rather large fireball at her. Fortunately, she was quick enough roll away, and leaped away from the efreet, but she was now away from the adults in one of the bridges.
"Jade! Summon your Shadowkhan and get us out of here!" Viper shouted, who was still in the central platform.
"First we need to be together! Come to me!" Jade said as she summoned five Kunoichi Khan, "Go and distract that monster!"
The five kunoichi leaped at the efreet. The fire monster blasted two of them with a fireball, but couldn't stop the other three, who dropkicked him hard. The efreet then flew upwards, and began to recite an incantation. None of them liked that.
Suddenly, the flowing sand river below them began to shake, and multiple horrifying looking ghouls emerged from it, surrounding the three of them. The ghouls themselves weren't much of a threat, and the three heroes could fend them off rather easily – especially Jade, who was having the time of her life showcasing her magic abilities – but they kept them busy and distracted, and thus vulnerable to the efreet's attacks. The demonic genie seemed to have an irrational hate of Jackie – or maybe not so, given that it was him who took the book out of the library, and the one currently holding it – and flew towards him and bombarded him with fireballs. However, Jackie dodged all the fireballs aimed at him, many of them setting the ghouls on fire. Jackie then threw the shield at the efreet, hitting it in the face, and took advantage of the demon's predicament to quickly run past the ghouls and towards Jade.
Angered, the efreet commanded the ghouls to follow him, as he himself did, but before he could catch Jackie he was blasted away by a fire stream.
"Who would guess? You can fight fire with fire after all," Viper said, as she also made her way towards Jade.
The three heroes finally regrouped, and now Jade could take everybody to safety. She ordered one of her Shadowkhan to drop whatever she was doing – fighting ghouls – and to take them out of there via shadow travel. The remaining Shadowkhan managed to keep the efreet and the ghouls away from the trio, who successfully escaped.
Letting out a roar of fury, the efreet threw a fireball at the spot the intruders had been standing in less than a second ago.
…
Meanwhile, inside Tohru's mind, Uncle and Tohru were traveling the streets of San Franciso, looking for the exit portal. They had to fight some groups of Shadowkhan here and there, but nothing they couldn't deal with.
"The portal is near, Tohru! Keep moving!" Uncle said, checking his compass.
Suddenly, they were surrounded by a large group formed by different Shadowkhan, who glared at them with their red eyes devoid of any emotion. Both chi wizards adopted a fighting pose, ready for the living shadows to attack, but they didn't make any move.
"What are they waiting for? They want us to strike first?" Uncle pondered.
Suddenly, a chill-inducing female laughter echoed through the air. Tohru started to tremble.
"S-sensei! It's… it's her!"
Uncle looked upwards, and saw a Shadowkhan woman floating above them. The woman was wearing a purple leotard and a long black cape split into several parts that seemed to have a life on its own. Upon descending, Uncle recognized the woman in question.
"Aiyaaaaaaah! Jade!"
"It's Empress Jade, now," Jade said.
His great niece had grown up quite a bit, the old chi wizard guessing that she was fifteen or sixteen years old. She had a slender body and glowing red eyes, but the same hairstyle as her preteen self.
"When my watchers told me that you were alive, I didn't believe them, but then I heard news about a good chi wizard wreaking havoc among my Shadowkhan, and had to come to see with my own eyes if you were alive. Guess that you've been hiding all these years preparing your return. Tell me Uncle, how did you survive?" Jade asked.
"That's not important!" Uncle shouted, before he turned at Tohru and whispered, "I'll held her here. You go and find the portal."
"F-fight HER!? But sensei, she'll kill you!" Tohru said.
"You should listen to the fatass, Uncle. I already beat you the last time we fought, and I'm much more powerful now."
"If you find and cross the portal before she kills me, we both will be back in the real world!" Uncle said, "Now go!"
Uncle shot a chi blast at some of the Shadowkhan behind him, creating a gap that Tohru, activating the Rabbit Talisman's super speed, used to escape.
"That was the Rabbit Talisman? Impossible, I have all of them locked up!" Jade said, astonished.
"You always thought that you knew everything, Jade, that you were smarter than everyone else! But you're not smarter than Uncle! One more thing! What do you have against shoes?" Uncle asked, pointing at Jade's bare feet. [3]
Jade clenched her teeth, snaring at Uncle. "Who cares about smarts? I'm much more powerful than you, and that's what it matters! And my feet never touch the ground so I have no need of footgear! And since it pisses you off so much, I will dance over your body with my bare feet before sending you to the afterlife! Shadowkhan, withdraw! I need no help in dealing with this old geezer!"
The Shadowkhan disappeared, leaving Jade and Uncle alone with each other. Jade elevated several meters as she raised her hand and created a purple energy sphere in it. The sphere exploded, releasing multiple purple energy bolts upwards before finally falling over Uncle, like a deadly rain. Uncle managed to outrun the falling starbolts, and shot a chi blast at Jade. However, the Shadowkhan teen parried the attack with her bare hands.
"I already told you, old man, I'm too much for you!" Jade said.
Jade then spread her arms, and the strands of her cape grew in size and launched themselves against Uncle as if they were tentacles. Uncle fended off the tentacles with chi blasts, but a well-timed lashing disarmed the old man, and soon two other tentacles wrapped against him, pinning his arms against his body, and brought him closer to Jade.
"You and your dead animals. You should have looked for better alternatives to cast magic," Jade said as she laughed, "This time, I'll make sure that you stay dead. But there's something I want to know that I didn't have the chance to ask you the last time we met. How does it feel to know that you could have prevented all this?"
"What are you talking about?" Uncle asked. He was hoping that Jade would reveal some crucial moment that would mark the heroes' defeat and her permanent corruption that could be changed in the real world.
"Don't pretend that you don't know!" Jade yelled in his face, "If you had chosen me as an apprentice instead of that lardball, none of this would have happened! I would have been your greatest apprentice! The most powerful defender of good!"
"You talk as if you didn't want this to happen, but you're the one solely responsible," Uncle said. He had to buy some time for Tohru to find the portal before Jade decided to deliver the killing strike.
"I didn't want to… at first. But you rejected me! The shadows welcomed me with open arms when the light turned its back on me."
"You killed Jackie. Jackie was good; Jackie loved you. Why Jade?"
"He was an obstacle to my plans. I didn't wish him his fate, but there was no other option. Besides, Jackie was just one man, something too insignificant to let stay in the way between me and the greatness I was destined to achieve. Even after being turned into a Shadowkhan, he kept fighting me. But don't worry Uncle, since you loved your nephew so much, you will join him soon."
One of the tentacles that formed Jade's cape grew a sharp point, and reared itself backwards.
"So long, old man!" Jade said as she prepared to kill him.
"NYAR!" Tohru roared as he tackled Jade as an amazing speed.
Jade was thrown backwards as if she had been hit by a speeding train. Uncle was released from her grip. Tohru immediately went to check on his master, who rewarded his heroic rescue with a two-finger slap.
"Tohru, why are you still here!? Uncle told you to find the portal!" Uncle said to Tohru in a reprimanding tone.
"I know, but I can't find the portal! It's not here!"
"It has to be here!"
"You… will pay for that," Jade said as she stood up, holding her head in pain. She was sporting a psychotic smile, "Ohhhhhh, how beautiful, the apprentice comes to save his master. I see that you want to die together."
Jade then did a long sequence of hand seals at an amazing speed, and spread her arms.
"I will crush you with a force you can't even imagine!" Jade yelled.
Suddenly, large chunks of the ground and surrounding buildings were torn apart and elevated into the air, until floating rocks and debris blocked the entire street. Jade brought her arms down, and the large rocks, scrap, and debris fell to the ground. Tohru grabbed Uncle, and with the Rabbit's super speed, he managed to avoid the deadly storm. When it finished, there were huge holes in the ground, revealing the sewers. Something caught Uncle's eye.
"Tohru, over there!" Uncle said, pointing to one of the openings to the sewer.
Tohru looked in the direction his sensei was pointing, and saw what looked to be a dimensional gate.
"Is that…?" the Japanese giant asked.
"Yes! Now go!"
"No, you won't go anywhere! Shadowkhan, stop them!" Jade shouted as she summoned an army of many Shadowkhan tribes around her.
"Jade, before we depart, let me tell you something," Uncle said in a soft tone, "Uncle loves you, and will do his best to make sure that you don't turn out like this."
With that, Tohru and Uncle crossed the portal at an imperceptible speed.
"NOOOOOOooooooooo…" Jade yelled as everything faded to white.
…
Two days later, Jackie, Jade, and Viper returned from their trip to Turkey, with Solomon's Archive in their luggage.
"Uncle, we're back!" Jackie said as he entered the store.
"Hello Jackie. Uncle told me you were to look for Solomon's Archive in Turkey. Did you find it?"
Much to everyone's surprise, it was Tohru who greeted them. The Japanese giant was again awake and on his feet.
"TOHRU!" Jade shouted with a squee as she threw herself at his neck and hugged him, "I'm so happy to see that you're okay!"
"We're all happy that Tohru is back," Uncle said as he walked in, "Do you have the Archive?"
"Yes, it's in my backpack. Now if you excuse us, we're going back to Section 13, to leave the book there and have some rest," Jackie said.
"We will go there and examine the book in a couple of hours," Uncle said.
Jackie, Jade and Viper left the store and headed for Section 13, leaving Uncle and his large apprentice alone.
"Sensei… you didn't tell them about the vision," Tohru said.
"No. They were tired; it wasn't the right moment. Maybe tomorrow."
"What if… we can't save Jade, and the future is what the Mirror showed us?" Tohru inquired, unnerved.
"We must save Jade, Tohru. For both her and everyone's sake. Now that we have the Archive, we have a chance to recover the Ring of Kur-Asan. We must not make mistakes, or the entire world will be devoured by darkness."
[1]: Proverbs, 19.8
[2]: In "A Jolly J-Team X-Mas", Viper was hosting a Hanukkah party, hinting that she may be Jewish.
[3]: In China and other parts of Asia, bare feet are considered obscene, almost like if a woman showed her breasts. Or so I heard.
Authro's note: And Tohru is finally back to normal! Yay! And they have Solomon's Archive! Double yay! And apparently their efforts to cure Jade will be doomed to fail and the world will be taken over by her!...yay? So, I leave you with the question of Tohru's vision of the future can be changed or not. Uncle and Tohru barely did anything in the previous chapter, so I hope that all the action they got here made up for that. This chapter also allowed me to dig into Jackie's background as an archeologist, even if not much, as well a develop Viper a bit more (God, I love to write for her) Next chapter will be a little different, as it will explore the Phantom's backstory, and Jackie, Jade and the others won't appear, but I assure you that you won't get bored. So until next Friday! And please, don't forget to review!