Author's Note: Sorry about the lack of breaks in the last chapter, I discovered a bit too late that the Document Manager ate my line breaks. I'll correct that sometime. On another note, the chapters to this story are going to be quite long, so bear with me. Much is happening and I've been eagerly writing this lately. On to the next chapter!

"Sef, what are we supposed to do? We can't fight them off for long, if at all…" Sef didn't think he'd ever heard Jade speak so fearfully or negatively, but the situation unfolding around them was indeed beginning to look bleak.

From the shadows stalked creatures that seemed only born of nightmares, loathsome and livid in their hatred of both mortals and gods, both of which they perceived Sef to be. For an instant Sef cursed his ancestor who had brought upon this fate for him, but immediately felt guilty for being so accusing during possibly his last moments of life.

"The sorcerer said bring the boy alive," one of the demons hissed brutishly, acidic saliva dripping from his slack jaw and many rows of teeth gleaming hungrily, and Jade and the Enforcers suddenly looked even more ghastly than spirits. Their group was so scrunched together that Sef was half-suffocated with their backs pressed against him. He could feel and sense their fear, and though his body could barely register it at this time the fear was welling up to its pinnacle of terror. Even as he remained paralyzed he somehow found the strength to tremble violently.

"Yes, a pity we cannot be the ones to vanquish Wepwawet's host, but the rest will make delicious appetizers to the feast of humans we shall receive from Ganderyn," another, more grotesque beats chimed in with a throaty laugh, and Sef found himself hyperventilating as he thought of something he could do.

If he had been able to move his legs at this time he would have ran, ran away from Jade and the Enforcers if only to give them time to flee as the demons pursued him. But he couldn't, and he was trapped in Jade's arms as she held him a bit closer, hoping to keep him safe. He wanted to feel grateful, but at the same time he thought her a fool for thinking that it would make any difference. He wished she would just leave him and save herself.

"Please Jade, you can't risk your life trying to keep me from Ganderyn's grasp; just put me down and run. You and the others can find some other way to escape! Don't get yourselves killed or endanger yourself again for me! I'm not worth it," he said, but he knew instantly that Jade wouldn't do any of what he had requested.

It was a characteristic he had always wished he could find within himself, the strength and courage she possessed. Being picked on and ridiculed had beaten him down into a rut where he believed himself to be a diminutive being both physical and mentally, and when his father had become ill many of the elders had foreseen it as being Sef's doing. Though neither of them had taken it seriously, Sef had been able to see their prophecy was right; Wepwawet's presence had caused Valmont to hunt him down and do whatever it had taken to possess him. Even now he could hear their premonitions ringing in his ears across the oceans and the mortal world down into the depths of this darkness.

"Now you will be the end of your friends…"

"You…you can't give up Sef. I never gave up when we were facing the Demon Sorcerers, or when Daolon Wong ambushed us. If I gave you up I…I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for whatever Ganderyn and your dark half did to you, and we both know it would be a horrible fate," Jade suddenly said, and Sef looked up at her, surprised that she had even regarded his words in this situation. The demons began to approach, looking impatient to carry out the gruesome fates they had chosen for them. "You need to believe in yourself more. You keep thinking that the only reason you were able to stand up for yourself was through Wepwawet's abilities. And you keep thinking that without him you're powerless. But I know better, I've seen the way you've been brave. You almost killed yourself that night up on the roof with the demon sorcerers. You fought them even though in reality it didn't seem one boy could stand up to them. So why now do you want to give up? We stood up to them, now this time leave it to us," Jade finally concluded, suddenly gaining the attentions of the Enforcers, who looked ready to weep after her inspiration speech.

"Listen guys, I know it doesn't look like we can do much against demons, but then about it: you guys have worked for one for quite a while. Surely you must remember some weaknesses Shendu had, or something that could have fended him off," Jade asked, and it took them a few moments until Finn finally thought of something.

"The light…" he first said, and everyone looked to him. "He hated the light, probably from being down here so long. He did a lot of his business at night, like receiving and delivering stolen items and so on. Maybe these guys have the same sensitivity."

"Jade!" Sef now shouted, and all eyes darted down to him. "I have an old miniature flashlight in my vest pocket! We could try to use that."

Jade pulled out the flashlight, but it was barely longer than her index finger. It didn't seem large enough to provide the debilitating light they needed. She turned to Chow after switching it on. "Give me your sunglasses, we can magnify the light and scare them off," she said, and the Enforcer wrenched off his sunglasses and handed them over, now shining the light into it.

"Let there be light," Jade said, suddenly shining the enlarged flashlight beam towards the demons, and immediately it struck the desired effect. They seemed horrified of it though it had no physical effect upon, but it seemed indeed to blind them and their eyes shut tight. Covering their faces they ran off in different directions, scattering like a herd startled by an echoing gunshot. Jade and the Enforcers laughed after them as Sef loftily swung one of his legs weakly, glad that the feeling was beginning to finally come back.

But their celebration was cut short when Sef's eyes suddenly made out a form standing a short distance away in the shadows, two burning eyes piercing through the darkness. The flashlight suddenly flickered slightly as the rest of them turned to see their newest enemy, and when all eyes had finally fallen upon it, the flashlight died away completely and the abyss returned.

Sef had regained enough control over his body once more to sit up a bit in Jade's arms, staring horrified to where the monstrous being was standing silently and unmoving, as though waiting for a chase until it could hunt them down and devour them. It seemed right when they were about to escape unscathed the situation became horrible

"Please leave us alone, we didn't want to come here. We were sent here by a dark chi wizard back where we come from and didn't want any trouble to begin with," Jade said as she tossed the useless flashlight aside, but the beastly figure's faint, crimson eyes simply blinked lazily and then reopened to reveal a deeper shade of crimson, as though their hunger was intensifying.

The Enforcers suddenly moved, creating a virtual shield between Jade and Sef and their newest enemy, and both children were compelled by their actions. Jade would have thought they'd be the first to cry for their mothers and high-tail it to wherever their feet took them at this point.

"You're going to have to go through us if you want to get to them, and believe me, it took all we had just to keep up with Jade," Finn said with a faltering voice, standing before the others as a leader would and staring down the villain with a bravery unlike they had ever seen in him. "We've seen things just as scary as you, and if we could actually see more of you, maybe even scarier things. But running away has just kept getting us into more and more trouble, and I'm tired of being a coward."

The creature seemed unmoved by his speech but hardly moved at all, instead its expression moving upwards and beyond where they stood, into the abysmal vastness of the forest through they had just journeyed. Sef shivered in the winds that suddenly lashed against them, cold and biting as though they were alive themselves. In this realm, in this horrible world, he knew they potentially could be and held his breath.

Suddenly the creature crouched down and leapt into the air, and Sef and Jade both let out terrified screams at the same time, finding themselves suddenly being protected once more by the Enforcers as they gathered into an ironclad circle around them and shut their eyes, not wishing to see the fates of the others when the beast descended upon them and smite them all.

But they heard a loud, thundering thud ahead of them, off where the monstrosity had been staring, and all looked up to see the demon attacking other apparitions that had obviously been approaching them from behind. The Enforcers shoved several hands over Jade's and Sef's eyes to shield them from the carnage, and closed their own as well.

"And I thought rated R movies were getting gorier…" Finn remarked as an unsettling quiet came over their group once more, and the slaughter before them ended. They reopened their eyes to see the demon once more facing them, now with a rainbow of different bloods down its front as it once again turned to them with an unfeeling stare.

"Are the six of you going to remain there staring at me and be devoured? There are more of those creatures coming at this moment," came a deep, roaring voice from the beast, and for a moment they retreated once more only to see the apparition wasn't coming closer at all. Instead, he seemed to be waiting for them.

"Wait…aren't you going to devour us and then take Sef to Ganderyn to get whatever reward he's offering?" Jade asked, and this time all sets of hands slapped over her mouth alone, even Sef's weakened hands as he felt himself growing stronger with each passing moment.

"Sure Jade, give him ideas," Sef whispered in a fearful hiss as the demon approached, finally walking into the faint light so they could make out what he looked like.

"You need not fear me…" the creature said, walking into the light so they could finally unveil him.

He was fearsome, blood-red skin and piercing eyes. He had fangs that delved from his mouth and hung down, glistening in the faint light that came from some unknown source overhead. The demon's head was topped with matted black hair, and his build was very similar to a human's except for a slight hunch that gave him a more animalistic appearance. He wore only torn clothing where was necessary, and the moment he could be seen everyone was suddenly several yards away, huddled in a shivering, whimpering group.

"I said you need not fear me."

"Yeah, anyone would just up and believe what a demon says," Jade said sarcastically, sticking out her tongue at the end of her statement. If this was to be her end, she was going to be her good old mocking self when it happened.

The demon, however, sighed rather than get angry or launch an attack as they had been expecting. "I suppose this is to be expected. You know not all creatures born of the dark embraced it."

"The elders used to say that, it was their argument for worshipping gods that ruled over the Underworld and darkness. But I never thought…but then, I did have a darker god inhabiting my body didn't I…?" Sef murmured loud enough for all of them to hear.

"So it is true that you are the child that Wepwawet was reborn through. His scent is identical to yours," the demon remarked, and Sef grimaced.

"I'll wear more deodorant then…"

"No, it is why not all demons are hunting you. Your aura carries the feel of power that I recognize as Wepwawet's…"

"I would have thought that would mean I'm dead meat, considering everyone else here seems to loath him," Sef replied, though asking for death didn't register as the wisest action in his mind. The others were staring at him as though he had lost his mind.

"On the contrary, I am one of the few demons in this world that have sworn my allegiance to him. That is why I came to your aid; my demonic energy is enough to frighten away many of the lower-class demons here, but Ganderyn and this evil part of yourself are perhaps more than I can fend off for long. We should make haste once more if we are going to keep ahead of them," the creature said, gesturing for them continue fleeing.

"Continue running? I can't even move my own legs right now and both our enemies are fueled by dark energy! And let's face it, we're currently in the heart of all evil here in this realm. They have an unlimited supply to feed off of; we'll never be able to escape them no matter how hard we try or how much we want to," Sef pointed out, and the creature took a moment to answer with this bold statement from the boy.

"I'll hold them off if they manage to catch up. I've promised my loyalty to Wepwawet and thus to you as well, for you are his incarnate," the demon said with what appeared to be a reverent bow to Sef as he remained limp in Jade's arms.

"What's your name anyways? If you're going to serve me and everything I should probably thank you properly," Sef asked.

"My name is Fai Long, but there is no need for thanks. A promise is immortal and I must uphold it," Fai Long said, and with that their group once again began its progression through the frightening forest, unknowing of the dangers that were all around them.

"So Fai Long…what kind of demon are you anyways?" Jade attempted to start up a conversation but a moment later, finding the impenetrable silence more unnerving that the hungered sounds of creatures all around them.

"I am a demon of the fire element," he replied, keeping his gaze forward and poised for enemies.

"Then do you happen to know of the Eight Demon Sorcerers?"

"Of course, they were our reigning leaders before Wepwawet brought order to the Underworld. They were tyrannical beings; they made all demons their slaves and prey, and that is why I was one of the first to become part of Wepwawet's legion. He may have despised demons, but he showed no cruelty to them so long as they remained within this place. Better an apathetic leader than eight oppressive ones. Wepwawet's power was too great for the demon sorcerers to fend off, so they fled into the mortal realm. But their reign there too was cut short with the human sorcerers casting them back into here, and they were forced to remain under Wepwawet's power," Fai-Long explained, keeping pace with them and remaining lucid to the approaching enemies. He could sense they were weaker creatures and would be easily dealt with.

"Well that certainly explains why they hate Wepwawet so much…and me," Sef said, remembering the ferocity the demons had displayed towards him when they had been attempting to annihilate him. His worst nightmares hadn't even been able to prepare him slightly for the terror he had experienced then, and now he was wishing he were back there again. It was better facing an external evil than one you knew had been born of yourself.

Fai Long looked sympathetic, at least as much as a demon could. "Do not despair child, I shall make sure that Ganderyn does not exploit you," he said, and Sef attempted to look thankful his worry was far too great for him to.

"But how are we going to get out of here? The barrier around the Underworld can only be manipulated by Wepwawet, and with him and me separated there's nothing that either of us can do," Sef said, but Fai Long didn't look so sure.

"I heard what the female said earlier, and you really must believe more in yourself. Wepwawet's abilities belong not only to him anymore Sef Artaxerxes, they belong to you as well. You have to tap into their depths, but it will not be easy, and it requires something that you will not wish to do," Fai Long said, and there was an uneasy silence in the air around their strange group.

"You must surrender to Ganderyn."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How are we going to get into contact with your father? The Demon Sorcerers could be anywhere around the world by this time," Wepwawet muttered to Drago, watching as the dragon scanned the sky quickly as though looking for something important.

"Don't underestimate me, like humans we have connections to our families as well. A simple maneuver on my part should bring them here to us," Drago said, placing the fingertips of his two hands together and closing his eyes.

Wepwawet was impatient enough to feel tempted to criticize him, but the effects of the seemingly useless pose he had taken. As the silent spell began to take place, Jackie finally stumbled out onto the walkway, curious as to what they were doing.

"How is that…?"

"Shhh."

Wepwawet silenced him as the effect began to take place. As Drago stood there motionless a change in the atmosphere began. The clouds above them began to swirl and distort, and suddenly there was a visible gap in them as the evening sky above suddenly appeared.

But before either of them could question the relevance of the gap, Drago suddenly seemed to set himself on fire. Wepwawet and Jackie were forced to back away because of the monstrous heat, but Drago himself seemed unaffected. The flames weaved around him as though he were controlling every fiber of their essence with ease, and without warning they shot from him into the sky, darting through the weak point in Daolon Wong's barrier that Drago had managed to cut.

The flames dispersed into eight different beams of fiery light and look off in parallel paths, heading towards the west as they watched with amazement. The flames disappeared in the blink of an eye, the barrier filled itself in and Drago relaxed, exhaling slowly as he broke the meditative position he had poised himself.

"I just sent a distress signal to them; my father and relatives may not seem the type but we are protective of our dying kind. They will be here in but a short while; their elements allow them to travel swifter than you could ever imagine," Drago said, and both Wepwawet and Jackie were silent as they listened to the winds pick up and the sounds of thunder continued around them.

"Why is the weather suddenly so violent?" he asked, noticing the lightning segmenting the sky in a bitter fashion.

"Daolon Wong's energy is causing the world to slowly decay, and if left unchecked his new abilities will become uncontrollable and destroy this entire world, catapulting it into the oblivion where he sent Sef and Jade," Wepwawet commented, watching as leaves and other light, discarded objects suddenly seemed pulled into the air, vanishing into the thickening sky above. "The process is already beginning. Soon enough entire buildings and cities will be pulled into the Underworld, and the mortal plain will cease to exist."

"Well that puts a damper on all the fun I was planning on having when I finally escaped from the putrid jail cell," Drago said lackadaisically, as though this entire situation were darkly humorous to him, "Now all mortals have been made into slaves and the world is doomed. It figures this all happened the same moment I was freed."

"If this hadn't happened you wouldn't have been freed. Not that it makes any difference anymore; soon all humans will fall victim to demons," Wepwawet said sadly, looking to the ground and clenching his fists tightly. "This is all my doing. I was foolish to think I could remain in this realm any longer. I should have remained banished to my duties in the Underworld as my father commanded me, but I cared for this world too much to ever leave it completely."

"Don't blame yourself Wepwawet, you couldn't have known…" Jackie attempted to comfort him, though Drago's slight laughing didn't serve to help.

"Well, you said you loved the mortal world, now do you love being a mortal? Besides, once the world has fallen to the darkness then you'll be reunited with your host and have all your abilities back. Not that it will matter, considering that there will be no more humans to lead into the underworld once it's within the underworld," Drago seemed to find this hilarious as Wepwawet and Jackie glared at him.

"We'll just have to wait until the Demon Sorcerers come, until then none of us are powerful enough to take down Daolon Wong on our own," Jackie said, and Wepwawet nodded until he suddenly felt a strange feeling go down his spine. He sensed the energy growing stronger, and he suddenly grabbed both Jackie and Drago and pulled them into a nearby alleyway.

"What do you think you're doing?" Drago hissed as Wepwawet let go of them, gesturing for them to be quiet and pointing quietly up into the air. They all looked up to see what he was concealing them from.

Daolon Wong had resurfaced, hovering in midair and facing away from them. Even Drago knew to be quiet at this point, unless they wanted to be discovered and then either enslaved or annihilated. Strangely enough he hovered there silently for a moment, bobbing up and down slightly in the gusts of prevailing winds. The metamorphosis the world was beginning to undergo seemed obvious, but none of them were sure if the chi wizard was aware of what his actions had caused or not.

"This world is beginning to give way to my power, falling into the Underworld it seems. I should have been more careful I guess, but these abilities give me a desire to act upon irrational thoughts," they could hear him saying as they waited silently on the ground, watching up into the sky with unblinking eyes. "I suppose this is the reason humans aren't graced with the power of gods, they would have destroyed their own earth long ago. Perhaps I don't have the appropriate strength myself to harness these abilities. But you do…don't you Wepwawet?"

He suddenly outstretched an arm behind him, never even bothering to look back as he commenced this action. With his palm facing towards them and the swiftest chi spell that any of them had ever heard uttered, a distorted beam of energyquickly gathered against his flesh and then shot out at them, and before any of them knew what was happening the energy struck and dispersed all around them.

Drago and Jackie were thrown to the side by the erupting attack and the shattering sound that followed, having not had the needed time to dodge or defend themselves, and they were thrust against the two brick warehouses belonging to Section 13. Jackie was the first to reopen his eyes as Drago recovered and got onto his feet almost immediately, and he looked on in horror as to what had become of the weakened god.

Wepwawet had taken the full force of the attack as Daolon Wong had obviously wanted, and now hung lifeless in the air surrounded by an orb of the unearthly energy. His body was ravaged with wounds from the piercing attack, and he didn't have the strength either to protect himself from its force. Jackie rushed forward immediately and instinctively, slamming his bare fist against the energy with all the might he could muster, but it did nothing but burn and harm his hand. He yelped and backed away, watching his flesh simmer slightly and small streams of blood emerge. He looked back up in horror to see Wepwawet's body beginning to float away, the other end of the imprisoning energy being towed in by Daolon Wong.

"Now then, I may not be able to control this energy very well but this fallen god may indeed be the key to doing so. All I must do is force him under my control and give him back his energy, and then he will do my bidding for me and keep this merger from happening," he looked back down to Jackie and Drago as he seized Wepwawet's throat and held him loosely in the air. Wepwawet didn't move or resist; he appeared unconscious and unresponsive to anything that was being done to him. "I hope the two of you come up with something soon, or else you as free-minded beings are going to become the sad minority of this planet. You'll be wishing I had allowed the earth to fall into the Underworld when you see what I mold it into." With these last few menacing words, Daolon Wong vanished from sight, taking Wepwawet with him. Jackie had instinctively rushed forwards, thinking he may have been able to do something to retrieve his unconscious ally, but they had vanished into a cloud of smoke as he reached the area below where they had hovered.

Both Drago and Jackie were utterly silent for a moment, still a bit stricken by what had just occurred before them. Then the demon lost his temper immediately afterwards.

"Damn, that stupid Wepwawet had to get himself captured didn't he? This isn't going to make our resistance any easier if Daolon Wong does manage to consume him; in his mortal state it won't be too much of a challenge for him. Wepwawet may be stubborn but that won't be enough to combat his own energy," he scowled, crossing his arms as though disciplining the air into which they had just vanished. Jackie's hand was still throbbing with pain from having tried liberating Wepwawet, and he was becoming livid with how desperate their situation was.

"How are we supposed to fight him now? His power was all but limitless before, and now he has Wepwawet as a hostage and maybe even as a weapon!" Jackie shouted, slamming his once unharmed left fist into the brick wall, and now both his hands were throbbing. He rarely lost his temper or his hopes, but this predicament was becoming too bleak for even him to handle with a straight face. Drago once again scowled angrily, this time at him as his pupils contracted into aggressive slits.

"Getting stupid at this time isn't going to help either you know. Besides, the cavalry's just arrived," he said, and Jackie looked up, noticing he was suddenly bathed in shadow that had not been there a moment ago.

He turned and saw what Drago meant; it seemed a simple distress signal had indeed been enough to call his demon family to his aid. Every one of the Eight Demon Sorcerers stood to his side, looking around and observing what had become of the once bustling city of San Francisco.

Shendu was standing ahead of them, still in possession of Valmont's body and facing towards his son with questioning eyes. "It seems what I feared would happen has indeed occurred. That foolish boy must have lost all control over the god's powers."

"No, this isn't Sef's doing," Jackie suddenly said, considering he was more informed than either of them. They turned their attentions to him and seemed to be resisting their now inborn instinct to attack him. "Daolon Wong stole the amulet from Sef, and then sent his soul to the Underworld along with Jade's and the Enforcers'. Only Wepwawet's spirit was left freed from the amulet, and I helped give him a temporary mortal body using one of the talismans, but now Daolon Wong has kidnapped Wepwawet and intends to control him to keep theearth from falling into the Underworld."

It took a moment for the demons to absorb all this, when suddenly Hsi Wulooked into the sky once more. "These weather conditions don't make well for flying and we've only just gotten back from the Underworld. Wouldn't want to get thrust back in there so soon would we?" Jackie sighed; it was the closest sign of a truce he was going to get from any of them, though he feared what they would do once this alliance had been severed.

"And personally, living in a world under the control of that decaying chi wizard makes me feel ill. He'll probably attempt to manipulate us if we allow him to get too powerful," Bai Tsa commented, and the other demons all had to agree. With the world plummeting into disarray, their supply of vital elements were slowly beginning to wither away as well, making them more and more powerless with every moment they stood around waiting. And if the merger were allowed to complete itself, then there may be nothing left at all, thus ruining any plans for chaos or destruction that they had been contriving during their absence. Jackie, even at this vital moment, still couldn't help but question where they had disappeared to this entire time. But questions such as this had to be put aside until the matters at hand had been dealt with.

"Then we must get to work immediately. Our first priority will be retrieving Wepwawet from Daolon Wong. If we can keep him from possessing the now mortal god then we shall take action again him. We must eliminate the worst of all scenarios first before halting this one," Shendu said, and there was silent agreement amongst all of them. "But do not think that this teamwork goes beyond this struggle Chan. Once Daolon Wong has been defeated you will be the first prey we hunt down."

Jackie gulped but was forced to nod in consent. He had seen this coming but wasn't prepared for imagining himself combating all eight of them once this dilemma had been either avoided or he was forced to endure eternity alongside them in the Underworld.

"Come, time is of the essence at this moment and is slowly dying away. We must take haste if we are going to stop the chi wizard," Tchang Zu suddenly said in an impatient tone, and with another wordless agreement amongst them they opened one of the garage doors into the compound and reentered the stronghold of all darkness.