It was the morning of the summer solstice. The preperations were all complete. There was no point in hiding anything anymore.
Bai Tsa had told them where the portal would be opened, the only location it could be opened, no matter how much power Drago brought to bear. Ironically, it was the same place the final battle against him had taken place all those years ago, when he and his father were dragged back into the netherworld by Uncle and Tohru's reversal spell.
They were assembled there: Jade, the sword unwrapped and strapped to her back; Hsi Wu, disguise dropped, standing with his arm around her; Viper, dressed for combat, with a few enchanted tools; El Toro and Paco, ready to wrestle the demons into submission; Tohru, his spell ingredients prepared, his magic primed; and Tso Lan, floating over them in his natural form.
Hsi Wu turned once a gain to Jade. "I wish you didn't have to be here," he said, not for the first time.
"Hsi," Jade said, "I'm not running away. I'm not hiding. I'm going to stand and fight, just like all of you." She was in her combat suit she got from Captain Black. She was a little unnerved at how well it fit her.
Hsi gave up. She was such a stubborn girl. "All right. Just...be careful, okay?"
"Promise, love." Leaning over, she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
The sky started to ripple. "Here it comes!" Tso Lan shouted.
The sky ripped open, and six figures came through the portal before it closed.
Drago floated in the air, along side his father Shendu and his uncle Tchang Zu the thunder demon. Po Kong landed heavily on the ground, with Xiao Fung the wind demon landing lightly on her shoulder. Dai Gui the Earth Demon landed heavily next to his sister.
Drago glared down at Hsi Wu and Tso Lan. "Last chance to rejoin the family, traitors."
Tso Lan glanced at Hsi Wu, and Hsi spoke for both of them. "You can take your offer, and-" he used words that weren't english. Jade remembered them from her mind speak with Hsi, and while they didn't translate very well, it was incredibly rude, not to mention anatomically improbable. Po Kong had a very hard time keeping a straight face, and Xiao Fung laughed aloud.
"I have to admit, brother," he said to Hsi Wu, "you have always had style. It will be a shame to destroy you." And he leaped forward, and the battle engaged.
Before anyone else had a chance to react, Tso Lan demonstrated his mastery of Gravity by lifting Po Kong and Dai Gui into the air, seperating them from the power of their elements, weakening them considerably. While they still had their spells, he was able to handle both of them, although it took all of his magic and concentration.
Hsi Wu battled fiercely with Xiao Fung. Their battle took them through the skies, where Hsi had an advantage. Unfortunately, Xiao was tricky, and caught Hsi in several spell traps before he became more careful.
Tohru went spell to spell with Shendu. Although Shendu was quite powerful, he relied heavily on his talismans to see him through, and Tohru had spent some time crafting shield spells to negate the more devastating of their effects. As such, they were evenly matched.
Jade squared off with Drago. For some time, they simply stared each other down, knowing that, with this fight, the first mistake could well be the last.
El Toro, Paco, and Viper squared off against the demon minions that had been summoned, their mystically enhanced combat methods dealing swiftly with them, although there always seemed to be more.
Tchang Zu reared a hand back with lighting, intending to take pot shots on the other battles...only to be hit in the back by a metal clad fist. Turning, he saw Captain Black in a metal robot. "Looking for a fight?" Augustus asked.
"Too easy," Tchang said, and threw a lightning bolt at the robot, expecting it to fry. Instead, to his surprise, the robot absorbed the electricity.
"Thanks for the charge!" Captain Black shouted, and the robot discharged a laser right into the demon's face.
Jade drew her sword. Drago conjured one of magic. Charging forward, they clashed blades. Jade recognized a critical error in the design of the sword. A human could not wield its magic against another human. Drago used his human chi to shield himself from its more devastating magic. Fortunately for her, the sword shielded her from his magical attacks, and they were about even where it came to sword skill.
The battle continued, seemingly for ages. The first to fall was Captain Black. Tchang Zu ripped an arm bodily off the robot and used it to smash the machine to pieces. "This ends now!" he shouted, gathering a huge blast of electricity. He saw that Tso Lan was weakening, and knew this blast could take out Captain Black AND his traitorous brother.
Suddenly, before he could release it, a voice screamed out, "LEI SHWEI ZAI!" and something glowing blue ripped out of Drago, as he lost his water demon chi, making him stumble. The energy flew over...and fused into Bai Tsa. Raising her arms, water roared from out of every manhole, every lake, every toilet and sink. It arose in a torrent and covered Tchang within moments. He screamed as his electricity backfired in the water, overloading him and knocking him out of the fight. Turning, Bai held him in a sphere of water, and used the rest to hold up Po Kong. "Allow me to help you, brother," she said to Tso Lan.
"Bai Tsa!" Dai Gui shouted. "What do you think you are doing?"
"Protecting the future," she said criptically, before swimming through her water to slap his face repeatedly with her tail.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Tso Lan used the opening Bai had created in Drago's defenses to take back HIS demon chi fragment. Once it remerged with him, he took a deep breath. "My power returns!" he shouted, and smashed Dai Gui into Po King's head, dazing them both.
"NO! I'm too close! It can't end like this!" Drago turned in fury on Jade. "I may lose this battle, but so will you!" Turning towards Hsi Wu, he pointed and chanted. "Mimi ya go mina michi wa...Mimi ya go mina michi wa..."
Hsi Wu's body began to glow, and he screamed in pain as he fell from the sky, his chi weakening.
"NO!" Jade shouted. She wouldn't let Drago devour Hsi Wu! Chargin in, she thrust the sword into Drago's chest and...twisted and pulled.
Drago screamed. A glowing image of a flute flew out of his body and merged into Hsi Wu, who regained his flight as his chi levels returned to normal.
Everyone stared at what happened next. Energy seemed to be streaming out of Drago and into the sword. His body shrank as demonic features fell off of his body and were absorbed, no devoured, by the sword. His scales broke away. When Jade finished pulling the sword out, there was no wound...but there also was no demon.
Sitting where Drago had stood was a human in his mid-20s with red hair and green eyes, and Drago's facial features. He stared at his hands and screamed, and it was Drago's scream.
"You bitch!" Shendu cried out, knocking ohru aside as he charged. "What have you done to my son!" Charging forward, he punched Jade in the gut with all his strength.
She flew backward and landed heavily on the ground, somehow maintaning her grip on the sword. Bai Tsa gasped, her hand going to her mouth.
"Jade!" Hsi Wu cried out. Abandoning the battle, he flew to her. When Xiao tried to interfere, he was seized in a bubble of water by Bai Tsa.
Reaching Jade's side, Hsi began to check her over. First he checked her breathing, her heart beat, her chi levels. Everything seemed normal, but...
Only Bai understood what happened next. After checking Jade's physical status, he paused, his ears twitching. In seeming desperation, he put his ear against her abdomen, ears twitching, trying to catch the slightest sound. After a few minutes, tears fell from his eyes, and he rounded on Shendu, his eyes glowing a blood red deeper than anything the sorcerers had seen.
"YOU!" Hsi Wu shouted out in a voice as deep as darkness itself. "DO you know what you have cost me? Cost us?" The sky ripped open, and a howl of ancient fury could be heard. Hsi Wu lunged for his brother.
Shendu tried to fight back. "Be reasonable, Hsi Wu. YOu saw what she did to my son! GYAH!" He screamed when Hsi Wu ripped his arm off.
"And so you kill my unborn daughter!" Hsi screamed in fury, smashing the arm into Shendu's face.
Bai started to cry. The other demons and humans stared on in shock. Shendu found all the demons turned on him, and he stood alone against his brother's vengeance.
"I...I didn't know she was-" he was silenced as Hsi Wu ripped out his tongue.
"Your talismans will not protect you from my vengeance now, Shendu!" Hsi plunged his hands into Shendu's chest, and the dragon screamed. "I will rip your soul from your body and tear it to pieces!" He began to chant. "Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao...Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao..." The green lines appeared on his body, and Shendu screamed in agony as good chi burned his very soul.
"ENOUGH!"
Everyone turned as that voice split the air. A bolt of black lightning came down between Hsi Wu and Shendu, forcing them apart. When the smoke cleared, a creature from nightmare's stood there.
He was 100 feet tall, garbed in black armor that seethed and shifted. His face was hidden behind a war helm that had obviously been designed by someone having the nightmares from several exotic substances, and had tried to create something that would scare those horrors away. All that could be seen were the being's glowing red eyes...all 13 of them. Huge bat wings spread, and the being raised its four arms and brought them down. All demon power ceased to function as the demons all fell to the ground.
Tohru spoke up. "Chaos..." he whispered, as though naming a dark god.
Only Tso Lan spoke then, and the one word he spoke sent chills down everyone's spine. "Father," he said simply.
The father of the demon sorcerers turned to scan his offspring, contempt radiating from him in waves. He inhaled, preparing to speak, but before he could, Hsi Wu recovered.
"Womb breaker! Soul Slayer! Child Killer!" He lunged forward, but was held back by Bai Tsa. He pointed his hand at Shendu. "May your crime haunt you forever! May you forever be plagued by what you have done! May all who meet you see it in you, the blood that is on your hands! May you never again know the joy you have taken from me! -Ishtok Marzak Trex!-" As he spoke the last three words, a black lighting bolt leaped from his hand and struck Shendu full on, and he screamed.
The being Tso Lan called father turned to Bai Tsa. "Is what he speaks true, daughter?"
Bai Tsa nodded. "The girl there-" she pointed at Jade "-carried Hsi Wu's unborn child, and I could feel the altered flow of chi around her. I feel that no more. The child is gone."
Jade had come to in time to hear this, and let out a choking sob. Curling up, she placed her hands disbelievingly on her belly. "Our baby..." was all she could get out as the tears poured down her face.
With a wail of grief, Hsi Wu ran to her and wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight, sheilding her in his wings.
Chaos turned on Shendu. "You know the ancient law, Shendu. The unborn are untouchable. You know the punishment for breaking this law, especially when it was one of your own family!"
Shendu began to beg. "But father...I did not know she was with child. And...and look what she did to my son!" He pointed to Drago, who still stared in dibelief at his human hands.
Chaos looked for a while, then glanced towards the sword. One eye changed to a blue glow as he scryed the recent past. Then it changed back. "How fitting. I think...that since you knew not, I shall show some leniency." As the other sorcerers gasped, the sword floated up from the ground. "I shall let your brother's curse be your eternal punishment!" The sword slashed once, and when it passed a human floated where Shendu had been, one with pale white hair and blood red eyes. "Begone, fallen one, while I leave you with your life!"
The human who was once Shendu the demon fled, screaming, into his living hell, leaving his demonic arm behind.
Chaos turned towards the demons who had fought along side Shendu. "I am most displeased. You could see the disease in Drago's mind, yet you did nothing. YOu fought alongside him. I am dissapointed." He raised a hand. "Consider yourselves grounded." With a flick of his wrist, he sent them back to the netherworld. Then he turned to the others.
Hsi Wu faced his father down defiantly.
Chaos sighed. "Hsi Wu of Sky...what would you do now?"
"I'm not leaving Jade...not ever. And it will take more than YOU can bring to bear, Father, to take me from her."
Chaos chuckled sadly. "I wager you are right. Very well. Your life is your own, to do with as you see fit." Although nothing was visible, there was a sense of a smile in his voice. "I am proud of you, son." He turned to the remaining two. "And you?"
Tso Lan spoke for both of them. "We stand with our brother in his grief."
"And what will you do when it has run its course?"
"Bai Tsa has found a place she wishes to settle down in...and I think I would like to go to Vegas to make my way and fortune. I think my powers might just be a good business venture, if utilized right."
Chaos chuckled. "Very well. As you choose. Come here, Bai Tsa." He lowered one hand, and Bait swam onto it. He lifted her up to his face.
"It was a hard choice you made, trying to protect the future by turning against your brothers. You never did like to take sides when you all fought. I am glad to see you have found the strength to be your own demon."
She smiled. "Thank you, Father."
One hand reached up and tickled her gently. "But you're still my little girl."
Bai Tsa giggled. "Father..."
Gently, he set her down. "My blessing on you my children." He glanced towards Jade, and something changed in his eyes. "Your mother's blessing, too, apparently." Laughing to himself, he faded from sight, and the sky and world returned to normal.
Quietly, everyone began to pick up the pieces. They had won, but for some...the price of victory was far too high.