Sef let out a muffled scream, though it hardly seemed necessary to show his fears. As the demons all turned to look at him, he recoiled against the cement barrier of the building. It was either face them, or plummet to his doom. He was still contemplating which one would be more painless for him to endure.
He couldn't have imagined more fearsome creatures if he had tried, varying in size and appearance but not in the amount of power they possessed he theorized, recalling vaguely his study of the demons of different cultures in history. Since they played such a large role in the ancient writings and beliefs of the Egyptians, he had expanded his research just to satisfy his curiosity as to why mortals of the past feared such mythological and seemingly imaginary creatures.
Now he knew why firsthand...
"You are telling us that this small child was the one responsible for setting us free?" Bai Tza said in sheer disbelief as Sef managed to regain his footing. Shendu laughed softly as Sef staggered out of fear and weariness from the severing ceremony, his legs trembling violently. Some of his brethren found it amusing as well and laughed alongside him.
"It is ironic isn't it, that it took the force of eight powerful and great human sorcerers of the past to seal us away for what they believed to be forever, only to have us freed by a small, weak child," Shendu laughed as Sef was forced to keep himself erect by leaning on the barrier, looking at them through his disorientation. Somehow he could sense that his death would be upon him soon unless he thought of something to do.
"How did you know you could use the child to severe the barrier Shendu? It seems illogical you could simply find him in an entire world festering with humans," Tso Lan asked, crossing his arms and watching Sef intently as he tried to keep standing.
"It was simple. The human Valmont did some business with the child's father and I caught sight of the amulet around his neck. It bore the symbol of the ancient god Wepwawet, who had control over the Gates of the Underworld, and when I did some research upon it, I found out about the entire story of a pharaoh's debt to the god, and how he promised the soul of one of his descendants would be sacrificed to provide a vessel for the god when the ancient beliefs had died away. And thus I arranged everything, Sef's father becoming mysteriously ill and then having him come here, though I would have rather he'd belonged to a more tolerable family," Shendu explained, and it made Sef's blood boil slightly to hear the story again of Shendu's treachery.
"How...how could you? Why did you have to hurt my father...?" Sef asked weakly, falling back onto his knees when he attempted to walk on his own again only to face more humiliation.
"Because he wished to free us you little whelp. It was a needed sacrifice for us to finally walk upon this earth again," Hsi Wu said, stretching out his wings by swooping down in front of Sef, who yelped and attempted to flee from him. But the demon reached forward and grasped him by the collar of his vest, yanking him into the air viciously as the young boy fought futilely.
"It feels so good to be standing on solid earth once more instead of in that horrible abyss of a realm. It seems you finally did something right Shendu, especially after all the other failures you needed to endure in attempting to free us," Xiao Fung said, the winds suddenly increasing slightly in response to his words as Sef continued to try and make His Wu let go of him.
"Let me go you overgrown bat!" Sef spat, but Hsi Wu responded to his resistance by taking off into the air back towards his comrades with Sef in tow, who was none to happy to suddenly be lifted into the air.
"No! No! I'm afraid of heights!" he shouted childishly, covering his eyes as Hsi Wu let out a laugh at his cowardice.
"It will be the least of your fears in a moment," he hissed, suddenly tossing Sef like a rag doll towards the ground, right into the center of a circle that had formed of the awaiting demons. Sef hit hard, his already pained body suddenly in utter agony as he let out a strangled cry and shook violently where he landed.
"It would be only proper to give the mortal responsible for freeing us a quick and painless death, unlike what we have planned for the rest of your filthy race. I suggest we bury him alive," Dai Gui snapped, making Sef cringe as he imagined such a fate and held his breath in preparation.
"No, a quick death would be a swift strike of lightning. I can feel a storm approaching so you are in good fortune child," Tchang Zu said, listening as thunder sang over the horizon, and again Sef reacted with a fearful, short scream. His fears of thunderstorms would definitely be unbearable should he ever survive this event, which was looking more and more impossible with each moment that passed.
"Don't waste such a delicious mortal with such powerful attacks. I shall simply devour the little morsel," Po Kong said, shifting her enormous body in his direction and suddenly reaching down to grasp him. He wedged his head up between two of her fingers, gulping as she brought him far up into the air.
"You...you wouldn't want to eat me. I'm barely even as big as your finger! Besides I'm all skin and bones, there's not even a bit of fat on me at all," Sef said in a nervous fit, finding his lungs compressed in her hand as he tried to writhe his way free. 'Thank God for my family's small body structure and abnormal amount of metabolism in this case...'
"Hmm, I do wish you were a bit meatier than you are, but you'll have to do for an appetizer of what I'll be consuming soon enough," she said, opening her mouth to swallow him whole when suddenly Shendu intervened.
"Wait, do not devour him yet Po Kong. I have yet another use for him before you can do whatever you wish to him," Shendu said, and Po Kong sighed with a disappointed tone and simply dropped him back to the earth. He rolled along her pompous flesh and found himself at the base of her a moment later, his face planted into the earth as double vision now plagued him.
"Oh great, now there's two of every demon..." he said incoherently to himself as he stood again and saw Shendu approach swiftly, preparing to grasp him once more. But Sef realized this and began to flee, running towards a nearby gap in the circle of demons, but before he could reach it, flames shot up from the roof of the building and encircled him as well, trapping him into a small cage of fire. He looked around desperately for a way to escape it, but he found himself utterly trapped once again and could only watch the demon come closer.
"You continue to underestimate me Sef. While I will admit at times you have managed to evade me you will not escape me this time. I still have another task for you to completely, very similar to the first one," Shendu said with a horrendous grin, and Sef shivered but held his ground, feeling somewhat protected by the flames. At least now the other demons couldn't lunge for him any longer.
"What are you talking about, another task for me to complete? Whatever it is, I won't comply! I won't help you free any more demons or horrible creatures from that oblivion!" Sef declared, getting as far away from the demon sorcerer as he could while at the same time putting on a defiant gaze. If he was going to die, he sure wasn't going to reopening that portal once more.
But that was exactly what Shendu had in mind for him. "Oh, you needn't worry about that young Sef. I do not wish to release any more demons from that place. I wish to reopen it so I can cast Jackie Chan and his accursed family into it and be rid of them forever!" he proclaimed with a venomous shout, and Sef's once brave features melted into ones of absolute terror as he realized the fate he would condemn them to.
"Never! I would never do that to Jackie or Jade or any of them! You may as well kill me or torture me or devour me now, cause I refuse to do your bidding any longer Shendu!" Sef said, suddenly feeling protectiveness mostly for Jade rushing through his blood. If he was forced to die at their hands, he was going to be fighting to keep their own lives preserved.
But Shendu smiled at his meager stand against him, and the flames died down suddenly as he took a step forwards with his hand opened to receive him. "Come now Sef, you wouldn't want me to cast you in there as well, for if you continue to resist me, I will see to it that you join them!" he declared, reaching out to grip his throat once more and force him back towards the weak point between the realms. The other demons murmured their approval of these fates coming into the making, and Sef could feel his blood turning into frigid ice as he contemplated what he could do to prevent it.
Suddenly he dropped to the ground, his sparse karate techniques flashing through his mind instinctively. He swung one of his skinny legs around and managed to kick out Shendu's legs, and the demon fell to the ground as he sprinted up from the ground and tried to get as far away as possible. He headed for the gap between the demons, his eyes unfaltering in their view of his escape route.
Hsi Wu flew down upon him first, attempting to seize at him before he could get far, but Sef ducked out of the way and instead leapt into the air, wrenching his arms around the demon's throat and recoiling them tightly. Hsi Wu choked a bit from the force, but his wings managed to loosen Sef's grip enough so he could breath once more. Sef eventually let go once the demon had indirectly flown out of the area where the demons were gathered, sprinting across the rest of the flat surface as the other demons unleashed their abilities upon him.
He felt himself suddenly lifting off the ground, heading feet first into the dark night sky above as he saw Tso Lan chanting something rhythmically and Sef realized he was responsible for the manipulation of gravity around him. Pulling off his headband, he flung it at the demon with all his might, and it made contact with the demon right at his own forehead, breaking his concentration long enough for Sef to come back to the earth and face the onslaught of the others.
Po Kong attempted to grab him again but he dodged to the side, running instead towards the barrier around the roof so he could get down to the lower ledge and find another escape route. Bai Tsa had reached the door leading back into the building and was summoning whatever water she could grasp from within it, flooding the surface of the roof until it was deep enough to slow his progress. He was right about to reach the barrier when suddenly a fierce wind hit him from behind.
He turned to see Xiao Fung grinning evilly just a few yards behind, stirring up the winds and lashing them out against him fiercely. Sef realized in horror what was about to happen as he felt himself sliding across the water with his sneakers unable to keep friction with the ground any longer. He was attempting to push him over the edge! A laugh emitted from the demon, who seemed already to be expecting victory from his actions.
Sef couldn't manage to stop himself, suddenly making contact with the edge and leaning over as he bent to the winds and groaned weakly with his efforts to resist it. He felt himself being slowly lifted into the air and knew he would soon fall to the ground below, where all the people were gathered unknowingly of what was happening.
He was right about to plummet when suddenly he felt several hands grab him and pull him back onto the roof, and he turned to see a some surprising faces there beside him.
"Hey kid, we thought you could use some help considering it's eight against one," Finn said as the four of them helped him back onto the roof, and a fierce cry suddenly emitted from behind them as Shendu stepped forward.
"You will pay for this betrayal by joining Chan and the others in the netherworld! And you..." he said, turning his direction towards Sef, "You will be tormented until you beg for death child!" he proclaimed, suddenly lifting his hands directly into the air and towards the darkening skies. The storm that Tchang Zu had predicated was indeed beginning to form in reaction to the demonic aura outpouring from atop the roof.
Suddenly, from the tops of the barriers around the roof crimson flames appeared, towering into the sky and denying them an escape route or perhaps a swifter end than the demons had in store for them. Sef and the four Enforcers cowered beside one another as the demons approached.
"Uh, anyone got any bright ideas on how we escape this alive?" Chow asked, removing his broken sunglasses shattered in from Shendu's aggression towards them earlier. The other three Enforcers immediately shook their heads in defeat, unable to devise any scheme that could possibly save them from eight powerful demons.
"The five of you are looking rather pale. Bow before our immense power!" Dai Gui declared, the ground beneath them suddenly beginning to shake as he utilized his ability to control the earth below their feet. The sounds of the horrified crowds sang from the ground, echoing into the air as the demons seemed to relish in the fear and panic.
"Ah, the sweet chorus of frightened humans," Tso Lan said as they began to move forward, all of them seeming prepared to send them into their own personal abysses in the aftermath of their abilities.
Sef couldn't believe this was the end. There had to be something he could do to save himself as well as the Enforcers and Jade and the entire world. If he didn't, then everyone was doomed to suffer the wrath and hunger for human flesh of these beasts, and he would spend every waking moment of his shortening life feeling guilty of having sentenced the earth to this fate. A string of furious lightning suddenly shot from overhead, scarring across the sky and gaining his attentions regardless of the fear pouring through him.
His eyes widened as an idea suddenly came to him, though it could very well end up killing himself and the others anyways. But it was the only option he could think of, and he had to attempt it since their fates would be no different regardless.
He turned to the Enforcers first to give them a word of warning. "While I have them distracted, I want all of you to move over to the small compartment and get on top of it. There's a ladder sitting next to it so you can," Sef whispered, and all the Enforcers stared back with looks of bafflement upon their faces.
"We can't leave you kid, you'll be killed for sure," Finn said, and Sef knew that in the wake of his plans he would be, but he couldn't let them think that or he wouldn't be able to protect them.
"Just do what I say and do it quickly. Oh, and thanks for what you guys did for me earlier again. I know you didn't want me to suffer this fate," Sef said, suddenly stepping away to the side and watching as the demon's eyes followed him and ignored the others.
He plastered a cocky smile upon his face, roughly masking the fear he felt as he watched the Enforcers slowly slip to the side and out of harm's way as he had hoped.
"I find it pitiful that I've managed to survive so far against eight powerful demons such as yourselves. If you are indeed so strong you should have smite me almost immediately, but you have failed to so far," Sef said, striking a nerve in all of them as Ratso adjusted the ladder against the side of the compartment and they began their swift ascent. Sef managed to make his smile far more at ease when he saw they were nearly out of harm's way.
"You little brat. If we didn't need you to catapult Chan and the others into the abyss we were sentenced to, I'd drown you where you stand," Bai Tsa said, a bit more water flooding onto the roof as she spoke. Sef's grin only grew wider as he let out as pompous a laugh as he could muster.
"I find that doubtable in what you have revealed to me so far," Sef said, suddenly turning his attentions to the demon who had claimed to control the power of thunder and lightning, "I bet you couldn't even strike me here where I stand, even with the storm overhead."
Tchang Zu clenched his fists, bearing his jagged teeth as his anger got the better of him and he defied Shendu's previous wishes. "You stupid little brat! I will obliterate you here and now!" he shouted, and suddenly the clouds darkened overhead and a large bolt of lightning surfaced, so warm it glimmered with a light blue color as it streaked towards the earth. The other demons watched in amazement as he summoned the energy and brought it down upon Sef in an excruciating spell, who stood there watching in the blink of an eye as it approached.
"Perfect," was all he said with his grin still upon his face just before he stepped away, the lightning striking the ground just beside him where he had previously stood.
With the water that Bai Tsa had brought upon the roof earlier, the electricity suddenly spread at a colossal rate, traveling throughout the entire roof and channeling into the several beings standing upon it. The demons let out cries of agony as the lightning poured into them, as well as Sef as he was electrocuted with the bulk of it from being so close.
The Enforcers watched with horror as this occurred, suddenly realizing why Sef had given them his command. "He...he wanted us to get up here so we wouldn't be hurt by the lightning since there's no water up here..." Finn barely got out, all of them suddenly blinded as the lightning finally dissipated and vanished into every direction.
The demons had all fallen to the earth, stirring only slightly as they remained in the tremulous waters and still reeling from the attack. The Enforcers looked to where Sef was, laying into the water with his frozen expression into the sky and hardly moving, his body only twitching with the electricity still coursing through his being.
Without warning the door suddenly burst from down below them, and Jade was the first one to rush out onto the roof, brandishing a rather unthreatening toy gun as she came to his rescue.
"Sorry it took so long but the elevator was...out...of...order..." she said, suddenly surveying the scene of the disoriented and wounded demons and finally catching sight of a small form lying motionless in the shallow pool of water. Her eyes instantly welled up with tears as she dropped her artificial weapon and stared in silent terror.
"No, Sef!"