"Well, this is awkward." Finn piped up as everybody stared at one another. There had been a tense silence for what seemed like an eternity, and nobody really wanted to make the first move. That meant retaliation times two.
"Bah!" Daolon Wong pointed a bony finger at the assembled Dark Hand. "What are you doing here, Demon Sorcerers?"
Shendu and Bai Tsa exchanged glances and then turned their attention to the aged Dark Chi Wizard.
"For most likely the same reason that you are here, ancient one," Shendu snarked. "But it appears we were the last to get here…"
"Only by a couple minutes!" Jade chirped happily. Then her expression became serious again. "We were here first, so back off!"
"I might've missed an episode, but who's the old guy?" Finn addressed Jackie, who shrugged helplessly, as he didn't know, but Uncle sure seemed to.
Ice pointed accusingly at Daolon Wong.
"Red's right for once, yo! Who's the old geezer?!"
Uncle had been about to explain, when Daolon Wong cut him off.
"I am Daolon Wong, Dark Chi Master! Student of Master Xie, and defeater of Master Fong!"
"Feh! You did not kill Master Fong! It was Uncle's sibling students!" Uncle derisively pointed out.
Daolon Wong snarled at the correction, but did not argue the point. MC Cobra threw his arms up in the air.
"Can we get on with this?! We're packing more heat than anyone else!" He said in regards to the two Demon Sorcerers that were on their side.
"Hmph! None of you will stop me!" Daolon Wong waved his staff around, causing bluish smoke to swirl around him. "Gan! Ren! Chui!"
And just like that, there were three additional people in the room. They were all orange, and all dressed in black and had crimson red hair – except for the bald one.
"Why do they always gotta be modeled after us?" Ratso muttered, comparing him, Finn, and Chow to the Ice Crew and the new warriors in the room. True to his query, each party had one shorty, one medium, lanky guy, and a bigger guy that was obviously the muscle of each trio.
But unlike the Ice Crew and the Aides, the new trio of warriors was packing weapons. Gan, the shorter henchperson, had a bo staff that appeared to have three sections to it; Ren, the medium, lanky henchperson, had a boomerang blade that looked similar to a windmill shuriken; and Chui held a huge sledgehammer in his hands. Ice flailed his arms about as he threw a tantrum at seeing the weapons that the Dark Chi Warriors were wielding.
"Not. Cool, dawg! How 'bout we take on gramps, while you take on those orange warriors, Shendude? C'mon!"
Shendu glared at Ice.
"As you are probably well aware, Ice, I cannot do that! Chan is around, as is the accursed Chi Wizard! Sister Bai Tsa and I will likely have to deal with them…"
On the other side of the room, Finn was muttering plans with Jackie.
"What do we do, Mr. Chan?"
"We play defense," Jackie stated. "Without Tohru here, we will have a rougher time of it, especially with more enemies this time around. Be careful."
And without further fanfare, the room descended into chaos. The Dark Chi Warriors and Hak Foo charged at each other simultaneously, Shendu breathed fire towards the Chans, and contrary to Shendu's musings, she aimed a blast of water towards Daolon Wong himself. Daolon Wong made a sweeping gesture with his staff, releasing a steady stream of blue, electrical energy as he chanted. The energy eventually settled on clashing with Uncle's attack, a continuous stream of green energy emitting from a newt. Shendu's fireball dissipated upon crashing into Uncle's attack, and so the Ice Crew took this time to charge the Chans. The Aides ran to meet them, contradicting Jackie's earlier order a little bit, but Jackie had no time to complain, as Shendu had leaped into the air and was soaring straight for him.
Deciding that it would probably be best to go after the Chi Wizard that would most likely seal her away, Bai Tsa made a beeline for him. Noting this, Claire lightly pushed Jade by the shoulders and a nervous grin played on her lips.
"Let's get out of the way, Jade," Claire pressed. Jade, of course, did not listen.
"No way!" Jade exclaimed and ran to help out Finn, Ratso, and Chow against the Ice Crew.
"Jade!" Claire called out, and sighed wearily when she did not listen. "Well, might as well make the best of it."
Claire pulled up one of her sleeves and began chanting something quietly. Soon enough, the charm bracelet around her wrist began to glow and shoot out a rapid ray of light that hit Bai Tsa dead-on and made her bounce back to the opposite wall and become a puddle of water.
Uncle stared at Claire in shock as he continued to combat Daolon Wong.
"You still remember Master Fong's teachings?!"
Claire gave Uncle a contented grin.
"You think the only daughter of Master Fong would forget a thing or two about Magic? I might be out of practice, but I haven't forgotten all that father had to teach me!"
Uncle smiled at that, but was blasted back by Daolon Wong's Spell thanks to his concentration being disturbed. Daolon Wong turned his attention to Claire.
"Ah ha! You are the heir to the illustrious and deceased Master Fong! I hear that you are his only surviving family!" He sounded more amused than impressed.
Suddenly Wong found himself against the same wall as Bai Tsa, courtesy of a magical blast from Claire's charm.
"Don't underestimate me!" Claire shot Daolon Wong a disarming smile; in return he gave her a scowl and a derisive snort.
Shendu manhandled Jackie and deftly threw him into the air; Jackie angled himself and continued to rise until he reached the ceiling of the room and bounced off it at an angle to avoid an incoming fireball from Shendu.
"You cannot defeat me, Chan! You would not appreciate the raw power that statue can wield!"
"Then enlighten me!" Jackie taunted as he rushed Shendu again. Shendu aimed to punch him once he was within distance, but Jackie ducked at the last second and, angling his elbow, struck him in the chin, causing the Demon-possessed Valmont to launch upwards and twist in the air until he landed in a crouch.
Jackie straightened into a fighting stance, and Shendu hissed irritably at him. Seemed Chan was going to be a thorn in his side, as always. Spitting out twelve fireballs in continuous succession, Shendu observed Chan dodge them all neatly, and then lunged forward when he was in midair and incapable of dodging him. They tumbled to the floor and rolled about it as they wrestled. Jackie kneed Valmont in the gut harshly and made Shendu get off of him. The Fire Demon grudgingly obliged as he nursed the wound. Jackie took advantage of the momentary distraction and with a sweeping kick, swept Valmont from under his feet. Jackie leaped to his feet and put up his dukes.
"Now, let's try this again…" Jackie said as he carefully observed the Demon-possessed crime boss sprawled out on the floor.
The Aides and the Ice Crew had moved their battle beyond the room housing the statue by this point. It all began with Jade stepping on Ice's toes – literally. He'd lashed out at Jade, but was intercepted by a roundhouse kick from Finn, which kicked him a few feet away. DJ Fist was shoving Ratso, who was evenly shoving him back, so neither of them was going anywhere, and Chow was dancing around MC Cobra as he tried to get a hit in – but wasn't quite managing it.
Jade randomly bolted from the room when Ice got back on his feet, prompting the lead enforcer to chase her, and Finn to chase after him. MC Cobra spun around and tried to go aid Ice, but he was delivered a swift uppercut from Chow, who proceeded to go help Ratso. He dealt an airborne kick to DJ Fist's ribs, resulting in him being sent flying away from Ratso. Then, the two Aides proceeded to run after Finn and Jade. MC Cobra and DJ Fist didn't stay down long, and the two soon gave them chase in order to assist Ice.
So, in the end, the seven of them were running amok in the bowels of the Palace, trying to trip each other up and eliminate the competition.
Hak Foo was doing battle with the Dark Chi Warriors. It was an even battle so far, in spite of the three-to-one odds; Hak Foo was a formidable warrior. The three Dark Chi slaves of Daolon Wong faced Hak Foo in an uneven line, and Hak Foo faced them in a crouch, ready to pounce at any unexpected moment. Ren threw his boomerang blade at Hak Foo again, and Hak Foo lunged toward Gan and prepared to deliver a harsh blow with the flick of his arm; yet Gan blocked it with his staff, and Chui lunged at him with his sledgehammer held over his head. Hak Foo leaned backward and performed three successive backflips to gain distance from the two Dark Chi Warriors. Gan stepped aside just in time to avoid being hit by his ally, and so the ground was left with a heavy indent courtesy of Chui's hammer.
Ren maneuvered his tri-bladed weapon to fly straight toward Hak Foo from behind, and Hak Foo reacted by leaping into the air and gracefully twirling with arms crossed over his chest to fly right over the weapon. Hak Foo landed on his feet and snarled when the weapon came around again, intent on impaling him. He performed another huge jump and headed straight for Ren. He succeeded in tackling the crimson-haired Chi Warrior and pinned him to the ground as the tri-bladed weapon soared over both of them.
Hak Foo rolled to the side as Chui came in swinging his hammer again, as did Ren, and so Chui ended up narrowly missing both of them. Gan spun the top half of his bo staff as it loosened, and Gan maneuvered the chain within the staff to come out more and wrap around Hak Foo's ankle, forcibly dragging the Black Tiger towards him. Hak Foo growled, and retaliated by forcibly yanking the chain and bringing the Dark Chi Warrior down to his level. Hak Foo violently punched his incoming opponent. Gan winced and went soaring away without his weapon.
Hak Foo resumed standing once he had untangled his ankle, and then fluidly used it to swat at the incoming Chui right in the face; Chui was distracted, but did not fully stop his charge, and he attempted to bring down his hammer again, but Hak Foo viciously kicked him in the chest, sending him reeling.
"Stubborn Mule Kick!" Hak Foo finally declared, unable to take the silence anymore. These three were worse than Chan – at least his taunts fueled his fighting spirit. But with these guys, they were quiet, and had no qualms with taking him out. Actually taking him out; not knocking him out.
Hak Foo instinctually stepped to the side as Ren's tri-bladed weapon went sailing past him again. He could keep it up all day, dodging, but he would eventually tire, and Shendu needed his muscle to boot out the rest of the enemies here. The Enforcers were only good as cannon fodder, typically; the only reason Shendu kept them around was because they at least provided distractions. He needed more than one set of hands to handle the Panku Box, after all.
The Black Tiger leaped into the air once more when Ren's weapon came in again for another attack; and while he was in the air, Hak Foo located Ren with his eyes and threw Gan's bo staff at him once he snapped it back into a single, complete staff again; not broken up into parts. The red-haired man smirked as the staff inched closer and closer to Ren, but at the last second, the staff changed course and went back to Gan. Hak Foo could only scowl at that. The boomerang blade went back to Ren, and the three Dark Chi Warriors once again faced him stubbornly. They would not go down so easily.
Hak Foo knew he had a long battle ahead of him, so he multitasked by charging and thinking up a plan as he went along. That's how it normally went against Chan anyway…
Daolon Wong scowled as Bai Tsa sprayed torrents of water at him, showing no signs of letting up. He had eventually retaliated by returning fire with his magical blasts, but they were still not enough to halt all the water from reaching him. He noticed Uncle preparing a Chi Spell out of the corner of his eye – he could see a gourd.
"Sister in Darkness, why do we fight?" Daolon Wong asked of Bai Tsa as they continued to squabble. "Can't you see that the Chi Wizard is plotting your demise? Let us call a temporary truce and deal with him posthaste!"
"I do not like striking deals with humans…" Bai Tsa snapped. "No matter how you may argue that you are above the old Chi Wizard, you are still human. I remember hearing about that old fool Xie centuries ago; so it's very possible that he may not be human any longer, if he is still around, but he is the exception that is truly above humanity! But even he cannot compare to the power of a Demon Sorcerer, and I would not trust him, either!"
Daolon Wong scowled at Bai Tsa insulting his old Sensei, but did not move to defend him. Master Xie was strong, and Wong still held respect for his former teacher, but he did not mindlessly follow the man like he once had. Xie was self-motivated, looking out for only himself. Wong knew that he had many disciples over the centuries, but even they were sometimes sacrificed for his survival.
Wong was just one of the fortunate ones.
"If you do not care for self-preservation, that is fine with me!" Wong pointed a bony finger towards Uncle, who was nearly done readying the Chi Spell. Bai Tsa hissed and generated a wave of water that would swamp the whole room; Claire noticed this, and brought Uncle behind the statue with her to avoid most of the watery attack.
"That will not save you!" Bai Tsa declared as she became one with the water and flooded the room. No one appeared content with the change in the battlefield, but once they had recovered from their initial shock, they all resumed fighting.
Bai Tsa suddenly appeared in front of Uncle and Claire, and she wrapped like a coil around Uncle, who was then forced to drop the ingredients for his Chi Spell. Claire retaliated by blasting Bai Tsa with the charm on her wrist, but Bai Tsa only tightened her hold on Uncle.
"That Spell may sting," Bai Tsa conceded, "But I have your precious Chi Wizard! I will not be expunged from your world!"
Claire grimaced and brainstormed a way to fight back. There had to be something.
Now left to his own devices, Daolon Wong took in the swamped battlefield and chuckled darkly.
"I must thank you, Sister of Darkness," Daolon Wong spoke grandly as he levitated over the water. "Water is the perfect medium for me to attack from as well!"
He began chanting and pointing his staff at the water below; the electrical blue energy shot out from it and lit up the room in an eerie blue light as the Spell coursed through the water and attacked all of his foes – minus his own minions, who he levitated with his other hand. The attacks might as well have been electrical shocks; they hurt that much, and would not let up.
Bai Tsa eventually forced up a pillar of water and made it slam into Daolon Wong, making him go back down along with his Dark Chi Warriors. Bai Tsa moved away from Uncle and Claire and went back to attacking the foolish Dark Chi Wizard that thought he could capitalize on her terrain and get away with it.
Uncle recovered his bearings and picked up the gourd and vials of ingredients that he dropped when Bai Tsa attacked him.
"We must leave room so Uncle can safely prepare Chi Spell," Uncle insisted as he watched Bai Tsa and Daolon Wong go at it again. Claire nodded in agreement.
"Right. Although… She will probably notice us leaving…" Claire pointed out. The now-waterlogged room was to her advantage.
Uncle and Claire then proceeded to move out of the room as quietly as possible; a nearly impossible task, as every time they took a step, water sloshed beneath their feet. Indeed, it was going to be very hard to make it out of the room without being seen…
Shendu was a very surly dragon. His 'beloved' sister had just made him and everyone else very wet, and Shendu hated getting wet. Especially having to fight in a waterlogged battlefield; that just wasn't fair! Nevertheless, with Bai Tsa in control of the environment now, the tide of battle would swiftly change in their favor. Even if that foolish Dark Chi Wizard also could take advantage of it…
"Feeling a little wet, Shendu?" Jackie egged him on as they continued their squabble. Shendu hissed.
"Seeing you dead at my feet would make me a very happy dragon…" Shendu deadpanned as he attempted to breathe fire, but was only capable of choking out smoke.
"Oh, but then you wouldn't have anything to do!" Jackie taunted as he roundhouse kicked Valmont's body into the water. One thing for sure, the Dark Hand's leader would not be happy about his suit.
"Silence!" Shendu raged as he got to his feet again and lunged at Chan, who simply sidestepped and made him splash into the water again. "Come on! Aren't there some dragons that like the water?"
Jackie's teasing was pushing Shendu to his limit; and that was never good for anyone. Of course, in his rage, Shendu could hardly control his violent actions, and eventually, this cost him. Jackie came down on him with a harsh kick to the head, and he was rendered unconscious before he could attempt to fight more. Looking around the room, he could see Hak Foo continuing to fight with the Dark Chi Warriors, and Daolon Wong fighting Bai Tsa. Uncle and Claire were nearly out of the room when he spotted them.
"Uncle!" Jackie called over in a hushed voice and walked over to them. "What do you need me to do?"
"You must battle Bai Tsa long enough for Uncle to complete Chi Spell," Uncle replied. "Daolon Wong will turn her focus on us again, and Uncle needs to prepare!"
"Understood." Jackie replied. He turned to Claire. "Keep Uncle safe, and keep an eye out for Jade, okay? She is likely with Finn, Ratso, and Chow."
"I know." Claire gave him a reassuring smile. "Now go! We'll just step out of the room for a minute and be right back!"
With that, they parted ways.
- Upstairs –
When Jade had gone further into the castle, she had to ignore the tacky décor initially because Ice was hot on her tail; she only perceived it as tacky, because she didn't like the interior design when she got a closer look. It was really just a matter of opinion. When Jade saw another big chamber, she ran into it without hesitation and ran up the spiraling staircase that circled around the room and went higher and higher up. Looking up, she could see a chandelier hanging above it all; it was the biggest chandelier that Jade had ever witnessed. From her view on the stairs as she ran up, the gigantic piece of decoration blotted out her view of the ceiling; it appeared to be made of crystal or glass, and had lit candles that circled around the top of it, which showed through the transparent material and cast an eerie glow about the tall, wide room.
Jade kept running up even as Ice finally reached the first steps, and didn't look back down after she saw him running up them in big strides. Because of that, she missed him jumping toward the wall and bouncing off it and up to a higher elevation. He repeated this over and over until he leaped in front of Jade and sneered.
"Got ya now, shrimp!" Ice cackled. "Gave me quite da chase!"
Jade kicked him in the shin and punched him in the gut; he winced from both, but he did not let her pass. He growled irritably and tightly grasped the top of her head.
"Let me go!"
Ice chuckled at that despite the pain he was feeling, and he picked her up and held her over the side of the rail. Jade had made it quite a ways up the steps, so a fall now would grievously wound her, no doubt about that.
"Dis is what you get for messing with the Ice Crew, twerp!" Ice prepared to release his grip on the squirming girl, when he saw a blur out of the corner of his eye and was tackled unexpectedly. Jade flailed about in the air temporarily, but managed to latch onto the railing and avoid the fall that Ice wanted her to take. She struggled to work her way up and over to complete safety, and that's when she spotted Finn sitting on top of the shortest Enforcer.
"About time you caught up!" Jade smirked, but found out she couldn't quite climb over the rail with her small muscles. "Uh, a little help?"
"Sure, squirt!" A voice replied beside her, and Chow lifted Jade up over the railing and set her safely on the steps. Jade blinked and realized that Chow and Ratso were there as well.
"You guys made it, too! Awesome!"
"I dunno about that…" Ratso said as he pointed to the other two Enforcers that were making their way up now. He turned around and prepared to intercept them, as did Chow. Jade turned her attention back to Finn, who was effortlessly slapping Ice's hands away every time he attempted to get free. He was situated on Ice strategically so Ice couldn't get him with his legs; a strategy that greatly irritated the leader of the Enforcers.
"So what now?" Jade asked.
"Now… Well…" Finn slapped Ice's hand away. "Hmm. The usual." Slap. "Y'know, knock 'em out." Slap. "Maybe get them arrested this time." Slap. "All depends-" Slap. "On Mr. Chan-" Slap. "Beating Shendude-" Slap. "As usual." Slap. "Will you cut that out?"
Finn groused at Ice, who was doubling his efforts to retaliate but still failing. Finn eventually slugged him in the face, and Jade helped by booting him in the face, effectively knocking him out. Finn couldn't help but smile at that, as he said, "Thanks, kiddo!" with a cheesy smile on his face.
MC Cobra and DJ Fist reached Ratso and Chow, but eventually, Ratso threw MC Cobra over the edge of the rail, and Chow flicked DJ Fist in the forehead, causing the Enforcer to tumble down the stairs, an action that provoked nostalgia, as Jade recalled good ol' Tohru tumbling down the stairs once or twice before. She grinned at the memories; but mostly at DJ Fist taking T's place this time.
"So, wanna check out upstairs?" Jade posed the question as Finn bound Ice's hands with a coil of wire that he happened to have on hand in case they battled the Dark Hand… And they did.
"Can't yet, squirt." Finn ruffled her hair. "We gotta get back to the battles downstairs!"
"But if we hunt for clues upstairs, we might find stuff that could help us out! Weapons, Spells… Anything, really."
"She does have a point," Ratso agreed.
"True." Chow chimed in. "Fighting the Water Demon unarmed is painful. She's as bad as Shendu, if not worse."
"Oh… Fine." Finn gave in, and they made their way to the top; Finn slung Ice over his shoulder in case DJ Fist and MC Cobra came back up and tried to free him.
Ratso and Chow kept an eye out for the other two Enforcers as well. The 'moral high ground' was literally theirs, but that wouldn't stop the Enforcers from trying to fight back. As they reached the top, there had still been no attack, and passageways led in four directions, evenly spread around the top level. The chandelier seemed even bigger close up; the fact that it was hoisted up by support ropes that were tethered around pillars that supported the ceiling and were attached to the railing that circled above the stairs was even more impressive. It looked so heavy. The thought of one of the ropes snapping and causing the chandelier to fall down sent chills down everyone's spines. It would cause a great deal of damage, and no one wanted to imagine what Uncle and Jackie would say if that happened… This Palace was invaluable to them.
Finn shook his head to clear it of those horrific thoughts. He noticed Jade looking down below, and noticed a bizarre symbol on the floor that he had missed in his hurry to rescue Jade; It depicted a spiral that looked like it could go on forever, if one stared at it long enough. Again, Finn had to clear his head before speaking up again.
"Anyway… Let's get this investigation over with. They're not gonna wait for us down there!"
Everyone was in agreement, and they followed Finn down the closest corridor. Candles cast their light so they wouldn't go down the hallway blind, and they noticed paintings that depicted the town, and Jade couldn't help but wonder if the town looked a bit too similar to the paintings here. Of course, it all could've just been a coincidence, but Jade wasn't so sure. Fosh Scotathi was suspicious from the start, and now they were getting to the nitty gritty. Why did Fosh Scotathi look well-maintained when there wasn't anybody home? What happened all those centuries ago that seemed to unnerve some of the townspeople and not others? Who were the Grand Masters, and why did this place become abandoned and forgotten in the history books?
As Jade pondered these constant queries, they reached a set of double doors. Ratso and Chow helped Finn by opening the doors for him, and they all stepped into a well-lit, nicely decorated room. No suits of armor in this room, but there was another, smaller chandelier, and the floors were so polished that they cast a perfect reflection of what was above it.
"It's a dance hall. Huh." Ratso muttered.
"Nice luxurious red carpeted hallway… and a spotless dance hall. Me like!" Chow chuckled. "The people here sure were rich… Or at least influential enough to get the people to build them all this…"
"Seems about as empty and lonely as the rest of this place, though," Finn rubbed his chin. "Seems a bit colder, I guess. Been so long since anyone used it; only natural that there's a chill in the air."
"I wouldn't have minded seeing this place in its heyday," Ratso muttered. "No TV or modern stuff meant this was a fun way to spend your time…"
"Yeah…" Chow crossed his arms. "Let's go check elsewhere!"
"C'mon, Jade!" Finn said as he walked out of there with Ratso and Chow. Jade, however, lingered, because she thought she could hear the faint echo of music. Of sitars, flutes, and other woodwind instruments.
And just like that, there was a flash of light, and the room was filled with people in various forms of formal attire; it was a dance ball, and couples were dancing about in a refined manner, nothing like the dancing that Jade had seen except in her history textbook. Musicians were on the edge of the room and playing in the background for those in attendance. Jade wondered how everybody suddenly appeared as she wandered about the room curiously. Eventually, her eyes rested on a woman that appeared kindly and serene. Her smile was so beautiful; Jade felt fixated on that alone.
"Hey! It's the girl from that one torn painting!" Jade mused as she reflected on it.
The woman was the only one who lacked a dancing partner, though she was occasionally approached for a brief dance as the guests exchanged partners from time to time. Jade had been about to approach the woman and try to talk to her, when she was shaken out of her stupor by Chow, who looked slightly concerned. Jade then realized that she hadn't moved from her initial spot; the people were gone, too.
"You alright, kiddo?"
"Er… Yeah." Jade mumbled as she tried to reflect on what she just experienced. Chow pulled her along by the arm.
"C'mon, we found a library down another corridor. Hopefully we'll find something of use there…"
"Yeah…" Jade trailed off as she glanced back at the dance hall; though the images of the people were gone, Jade could still hear the faint echoes of joyous music that had once echoed through that very room…
Back downstairs, Hak Foo was finally making progress against the Dark Chi Warriors. After landing a lucky flying kick on the hammer-wielding Chui, the Black Tiger had sent him careening into a wall, thus making him finally disappear in a puff of smoke. Gan and Ren had naturally retaliated by double-teaming him, but it had been totally worth it. He knew the warriors could be beat now, and it would only be a matter of time before he got rid of Gan and Ren. The Black Tiger squatted to avoid Ren's boomerang blade again, and then he proceeded to dish out a volley of kicks and punches at Gan, who deflected them with his bo staff by twirling it like a fan.
Hak Foo eventually ceased as Ren's tri-bladed weapon maneuvered behind him to skewer him, when he got out of the way at the last moment and allowed the weapon to impale Gan instead, again narrowing the playing field as Gan disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Black Tiger Slaughters Little Lamb!" Hak Foo charged for the remaining Dark Chi Warrior – Ren. But Ren didn't try and take on Hak Foo head-to-head. Instead, he leaped over Hak Foo, which caused the Black Tiger to stop in his tracks and turn right around, but that was his mistake. Ren delivered a sweeping kick to his face when he did, and Hak Foo went crashing into a wall with enough brute force to render him unconscious.
Having won his battle, Ren expertly grabbed his tri-blade as it went by. Valmont lay unconscious a distance away from where Ren surveyed the room, and Wong had his hands full with Bai Tsa and Jackie Chan. Deciding that it was probably for the best to help his master by taking out the other enemies, he left Wong to battle the two alone.
Water was the most useful element, in Bai Tsa's opinion. It could do so much, and there were so many ways of attack when the playing field was soaked like this. The only drawback… was that it could not grip anything… A fact she came to loathe with Chan moving about nimbly, dodging her and any nasty surprises. Battling him while bonded with that ice continent had been far easier than this.
A spray of water later, and Bai had distracted Jackie long enough to overwhelm him with a medium-sized wave. Once Chan was on his backside, Bai maneuvered over to him and prepared to claw his eyes out. But suddenly she was blasted in the back and turned into a puddle once again by that foolish Dark Chi Wizard…
It wasn't that Daolon Wong cared to save Jackie Chan from a horrific fate… He was just the only thing keeping the Water Demoness from focusing on only him. He became slightly nervous when Bai Tsa didn't resurface right away; Jackie got back to his feet, and he, too, wondered where the main threat went off to.
And then the water began rotating around them. She was making a miniature whirlpool around them! Daolon Wong did not seem too worried as he levitated over the water in response to Bai Tsa's latest assault; Jackie attempted to latch onto him, but was blasted away in retaliation. A mistake on Wong's part, because it gave Bai an opening to attack him; she reached up with tendrils of water, wrapped them around Wong's arms, and waved him around in the air like a rag doll, eventually throwing him forcefully into a wall.
Jackie had been blasted closer to the exit thanks to Daolon Wong, and he was intent on getting out of there while she was focused on Wong. He had stalled long enough for Uncle, and he did not want a repeat of Antarctica. Of course, as with many things in Jackie's life, nothing went as planned. Bai Tsa could sense him attempting to escape, and she let out a shrill laugh.
"Don't think I've forgotten about you," Her voice echoed around the room,
Jackie tensed as the water began to 'multitask'. Pillars of water rose up at various points to block his path; tendrils of water would randomly appear to try and ensnare him; and the water became more tumultuous overall. When Jackie successfully got within a few feet of the archway, bars of water arose to attempt to bar his way out of the room, but having taken a running start at it, Jackie rolled right through the last water blockade and began running when he didn't see Uncle anywhere outside the chamber.
Bai Tsa screeched in outrage and swiftly went to pursue Chan once she separated from her battlefield; using all of that water to pursue Chan would be satisfying, but it would only slow her down. Chan ran further into the Palace; ran for his life with Bai Tsa hot on his heels. Back in the chamber holding the statue, Daolon Wong finally got back on his feet, grumbling as he did so. Now would be the perfect time to claim the statue as his own, but he was not naïve; Shendu could regain consciousness at any time, and Wong was not in the mood to battle the Fire Demon so soon after battling the Water Demon, even if he was considerably weaker than his sibling in his current state.
So in the end, Wong decided to inspect the Palace's archives; The place had to have some ancient knowledge stored away somewhere; knowledge was power, and Daolon Wong was going to find it. Maybe he would deal with that Chi Wizard along the way; or maybe he would let the annoying man seal away the Water Demon. He hadn't quite decided what would be more satisfying.
Uncle and Claire were doing some running of their own; Ren had come out of the chamber holding the statue earlier, and he had immediately attacked them. Uncle would have taken him out with his Spells, but he was busy making the final preparations to seal away Bai Tsa, and Claire's Spell would only do so much against the Chi Warrior. It wasn't as strong as the Spell that Uncle used to clash with Daolon Wong earlier. So all they could do was flee.
Of course, things don't remain simple forever. Uncle and Claire reached the chamber with the winding staircase, only to meet up with the Aides and Jade.
"Hey, Unc! Ya gotta check out the library upstairs!" Finn piped up, not noticing the frantic looks on Uncle and Claire's faces. At least, not right away.
"Yeah, there was this huge room of Spell books and stuff," Ratso backed Finn up. "Couldn't make heads or tails of it, though…"
Chow scratched his head and stared at Uncle and Claire, who appeared to be in a hurry and not in a mood to chat.
"Why do you guys look so…?" Chow was unable to finish his sentence as something could be heard sailing through the air towards them.
"Duck!" Claire yelled, and all of them obliged. Ren's boomerang blade soared right over them, and they all turned to see Ren running toward them from the way that Uncle and Claire had been running from.
"Let's get 'em, guys!" Finn declared, and the Aides all rushed the last Dark Chi Warrior standing.
Ren's weapon made an arc in the air and came flying back at Uncle and Claire, but Claire instinctually blasted it with her charm. The tri-blade bounced up and sloppily flew through the air, like the Spell had inadvertently caused Ren to lose control of it. And that's exactly what happened. The tri-blade continued to fly up until it reached the top of the room, where it randomly flew around up there. Until finally, the bladed weapon cut clean through one of the support ropes to the big chandelier, causing the ornate piece of decoration to clumsily swing and crash into the other side of the remaining side that kept the chandelier suspended in the air. This led to the remaining supporting rope to snap of its own accord. With nothing holding up the chandelier anymore, the force of gravity did its worst. The chandelier slid down the cylindrical-like room and crushed the stairs and cracked the walls without much resistance.
Needless to say, all of this did not go unnoticed by Claire and Uncle; or even the Aides and Jade. As soon as the chain reaction started, the Chans all ran as fast as they could away from the structure in free fall. Jackie had been about to pass by them when Ratso snagged him by the sleeve and passed Bai Tsa, who continued into the stairway chamber and then immediately realized she had passed her prey. Daolon Wong entered the room soon after her, and the two looked up in shock as the chandelier fell down on them. Bai Tsa let out a shriek, and then the chandelier slammed into them and the floor, cracking it and going through it upon impact. Daolon Wong went 'poof', as did Ren when his master was defeated, and Bai Tsa was turned into a puddle of water.
Shockwaves were sent throughout the whole Palace, and it mysteriously fell apart like the building wasn't as strong as it appeared to be. The Ice Crew, who had all been upstairs when the Palace began to crumble, was jolted awake, as MC Cobra and DJ Fist had attempted to free their leader one more time and had their butts handed to them by the Aides, and they had been left tied up in the library so that they wouldn't cause any more trouble. Of course, now they were stuck on the upper level of a collapsing structure, and they were bound and unable to move. They needn't have worried, though; Shadowkhan came to collect them before the library fell apart, as they also collected Hak Foo and Shendu in the statue chamber.
In minutes, the whole Palace was a big pile of rubble; the Chans had watched the destruction from outside the Palace in awe. It painted a beautiful, tragic image, because the sun was just beginning to rise as the last of the rubble fell onto the pile. And as they looked around, the Chans were even more awestruck; the town of Fosh Scotathi drastically reduced in quality. The torches that had lit up the town during the night had immediately faded as if they never existed, and there were clear signs of destruction all over. Big holes in houses, leaning towers… it looked as if the town had been the victim of some kind of attack, and the attack was not recent.
It was as if with the rising of the sun, and the destruction of the Palace, the true state of Fosh Scotathi had at last come to light.
"This is more along the lines of what I was expecting…" Chow murmured as he took in the sights. Finn and Ratso silently agreed with him.
"Almost like they wanted people to remember this place as it was, and not how it ended up," Jade muttered.
Uncle numbly trotted over to the ruins of the Palace.
"Such powerful Magic… And now we will never know what happened here…" Uncle said in a quiet, strained voice. He had been dying to find out the secrets of Fosh Scotathi, but now with the city revealed to be in this state, there was little chance that anything of worth had survived the sands of time.
They might've had a chance if the illusion had stayed in place.
"Whoa! That was some powerful mojo!" Finn exclaimed as it hit him that the Spell had lasted for centuries, and that it had made a whole city seem rejuvenated and looked after. "How'd they come up with a Spell that, like, gave the city eternal youth?"
Claire shook her head.
"That was only part of the Spell," She corrected Finn. "Look around you; this place should have been much worse, but there are still buildings standing, and you can see the close resemblance to the illusion. That Spell preserved Fosh Scotathi so that it could be found someday. With the Spell removed, time will eat away at it faster, unless we inform people about this hidden city…"
"I will contact the museum in San Francisco," Jackie asserted. "Maybe we can unearth some artifacts still; it's worth a try."
"Uh… Guys…" Jade pointed at something that was still standing despite the fact that the Palace had come down around it. "I don't think that statue was a part of the illusion…"
Everyone turned and stared at the still-kneeling statue in surprise. They made their way over to it without delay.
"Extraordinary…" Claire murmured as she touched the statue. Something about it seemed to resonate within her, but Claire wasn't sure why she felt some sort of connection to the statue. It was very weak, though, so Claire couldn't say for sure that she wasn't imagining things.
"How'd the statue not crumble with the Palace? It made of a really durable material or something?" Chow wondered.
"Statue is reinforced with Magic!" Uncle snapped at him. "Now let Uncle work!"
Everyone stayed silent as Uncle cleared away rubble to decipher whatever text was legible. Unlike most text that they had come across, this was in ancient Chinese, so Uncle could read it, more or less. After being given time to research the text, Uncle made known his findings.
"Statue was forged by the two Grandmasters," Uncle began to explain. "It was token of goodwill for future cooperation between the two. Either Grandmaster could wield statue; statue could be used constructively or destructively – for building city or for war. Enemy nations would attack city, and statue was used for defense until enemies were defeated."
"What kind of Magic controls it?" Jade queried.
"That Uncle does not know. Wording was very vague."
"Based off of the constructive or destructive use, doesn't that imply that both kinds of Magic could use it?" Jackie asked Uncle for confirmation.
"No… That is impossible." Uncle's voice wavered.
"You don't sound so sure, Uncle." Claire pointed out. "If this was the birthplace of Chi Wizards, then that would imply that both kinds lived here – or that Dark Magic was invented here. Given how much destruction this place suffered, I'm convinced Dark Magic was here at some point."
"Why else would the Dark Hand or that Daolon Wong guy want it?" Ratso chimed in.
"In any case, shouldn't we get this thing back to Section 13?" Finn jabbed his thumb at the statue. "We don't want Shendude getting his grubby paws on it."
"Or Daolon Wong." Chow agreed.
"Right, I'll call Captain Black and request he send something over to transport this. Let's go to a nearby city to rest; it's been a long night."
There was some objections, as everyone feared the statue being taken if they left the area, but Jackie argued that it was highly unlikely that neither the Dark Hand nor Daolon Wong would be back to claim the statue. Eventually, everyone agreed they needed to sleep after pulling an all-nighter, so they went searching for a nearby city.
Without their knowing, Bai Tsa slinked away having heard their very fascinating conversation… She would simply have to inform Shendu of the development. After tearing him limb from limb for abandoning her… Again…
- A little later… -
When the Chans had departed, Teku approached to the stationary statue. Teku, facing the statue, declared, "You may come out now." And immediately, Specter emerged from some nearby shadows among the rubble, the rest of the Jyutlong with him.
"That certainly took a while…" Xie muttered in his raspy voice.
"But now the statue is ours!" Specter's smooth voice declared gleefully. His rough voice added, "Let's get this thing to a secure location first, then we can celebrate."
"More importantly, we will need to make it undetectable… Uncle is tenacious." Mallah pointed out.
Lin rolled her eyes.
"Get moving, then. Save the dillydallying for the Dark Hand."
After she said this, Specter ambled over to the statue and teleported it away; Mallah and Xie went along with him. Lin glanced over at Teku, who had resumed a solemn silence.
"Teku… are you coming?"
Teku didn't respond right away. He clenched his fists and took a wistful look up at the sky.
"Soon, all of our goals will be achieved. We will be doing battle with Uncle soon enough…" Having had a brief time for reflection, he turned to Lin with a neutral expression. "Let's go."
With a steady march, they strode into the shadows and were teleported away by Specter…
And so ends the adventure in Fosh Scotathi. Yup, the Jyutlong now possess the statue. The statue will not resurface for some time, but do not forget this two-parter; gonna be referenced to later. ^^
Next week we return to the Demon Portal Hunt with Xiao Fung. What will the Demon of the Wind have in store for our heroes…?
Thanks so much for the feedback, guys!
Review Replies
Alana Fox: It's only a week's wait this time! Gives you something to look forward to every week, I hope. Thanks for the Review!
nightmaster000: Thanks!
D.J. Scales: Hahaha. Neither of those – the city of Fosh Scotathi was actually inspired by something else. I'm not at liberty to reveal my sources of inspiration yet, because they could potentially, unintentionally spoil future plot bits… Ehe. ^^;
ultima-owner: Good theories! I will neither confirm nor deny any of them! Haha. This will be revisited later; I don't intend for there to be loose ends.
goldenpurple: Dialects are a little hard to write – sometimes I wonder if I'm doing it right. Particularly in regards to Uncle and Ice. Ehe. ^^; Main villains… What do you mean by that? Do you mean the Jyutlong, or the big, bad manipulator of everything? The Jyutlong will take a more active role next Season, but they won't completely steal the show from Daolon Wong. If anything, this three-way battle is a preface for Season 3, because there are going to be a LOT of three-way battles there… If you're referring to the manipulator, everything will be revealed in Season 5, if not partially explained up until then.
bladewolfzic: Welcome! Thanks!