Hi everyone, thanks again for your patience. This particular chapter you may find to be even more exciting than the cannon one, as it's got plenty of extra characters that are sure to give this adventure an extra 'oomph' to it. So, anyways, with that being said, let's get started.
A Chantastic Prison Break
Cavigor prison, arguably the most secure prison in all of Meridian, even more so than the dungeon in Phobos' own castle. It was almost completely underground, save for the entrance at the top. It held over a hundred prisoners in total, and most who entered this prison never returned, and it would seem that Cavigor was about to get a new resident.
This new prisoner was a large, well-built, man. His hands were tied in front of him, with rope tied around his waist as four guards held and escorted him. However, he was not about to let himself be thrown into a cell and rot away. Using his own strength, he pulled on the rope behind him to slam the rear two guards into each other and knock them down before leaping backwards to get some distance and barrel his way through the last two guards and make a run for it.
He ran out the door of one of the upper floors before making his way up the stairs, hoping to get to the exit at the very top, unfortunately it would seem that the guards previously holding him were in pursuit. Once he made it to the upper floor, which appeared to be the armory, he spotted two guards at the doorway. He quickly leapt up to deal a kick to one before he brought his tied hands down onto the second. He grabbed the sword from one of them and threw it at the wall with the handle sticking out before using it to cut his own bindings.
By the time the other guards caught up in the armory, the prisoner was already half-way up the final staircase that would lead to the top floor, and hopefully his escape. However, once he made it to the top, he did indeed find the only way out of Cavigor… a hole in the ceiling thirty meters above him, with no means to climb out. The prisoner fell on his knees in despair as the guards caught up to subdue him. It would seem escape from this prison was all but impossible.
Phobos' Castle
"Elyon's power continues to grow at an exceptional pace, my prince." Daolon Wong reported to Phobos, with Cedric and Tarakudo present as well. "And her mastery over her own power grows as well."
"With the time of the coronation approaching, we need to be extra careful around Elyon." Phobos told his cohorts. "Chan and the Guardians will no doubt continue to interfere."
"With an Oni mask under our control, we can better guard the palace." Cedric commented.
"But only two remain." Phobos reminded. "And given your track record, it seems unlikely the mask will fall into our possession and remain so." This really seemed to irritate Cedric, who did his best to hide it.
"Oh, don't you worry about that, Phobos." Tarakudo told him. "I promise, when all is said and done, you'll be far from disappointed."
The quartet heard the door open, causing them to halt their conversation as the Oni king vanished from sight so that the approaching Elyon could not see him as she entered, along with the Dark Chi Enforcers.
"Hey guys, I was going to head out and do some sketching. Wanna come?" She asked.
"With the coronation approaching, I have a lot to attend to, Elyon." Phobos said.
"And with the frequent insurrection of the rebellion, I would not recommend venturing outside the castle grounds." Daolon Wong advised. "My apologies, your majesty."
"Eh don't worry about it, boss man." Finn brushed off.
"Yeah, we got the kid's back." Chow said.
"Ain't no one gonna hurt a hair on this cute kid's head." Ratso added as he ruffled Elyon's hair, causing her to giggle slightly.
"Aw, you guys are sweet." She said to the Enforcers before turning to her brother. "Look, this is you Phobos." She showed him a well-drawn sketch of him in her sketch book.
"Ooh, you're quite talented." Phobos complemented. He truly did admire her artwork, he'd even say she'd be able to paint masterpieces when she'd entered adulthood. He browsed through her other sketches but came to a stop once he saw the sketches of her adoptive parents from Earth, both in their human form and their real ones as natives of Meridian.
Judging by the expression on his face, Elyon realized her brother saw the sketches of her adoptive mother and father. "I wanna see them."
"Elyon, I've told you; your Earth-parents are fine." Phobos said as he put a hand on her shoulder, while the Dark Chi Enforcers eyed him with suspicion.
"They were a part of my life for twelve years." Elyon said sincerely. "I've known them since I was a baby! They raised me! I don't like that they lied to me about my true identity, but I still love them."
"Aw, that's cute." Ratso practically gushed.
Elyon smiled appreciatingly toward him before turning to Cedric. "I know you were pretty upset with them, Cedric."
"Because I had believed they were part of the rebellion." He replied. "However, after questioning them, we believe that may not truly be the case."
"What do you mean?" Elyon asked.
"After the death of our birth parents, chaos ensued throughout Meridian." Phobos began to explain. "We believe that in the confusion, you were carried across the veil to Earth, where Alborn and Miriadel, the true names of your adoptive parents, took you and raised you as their own."
"From our questioning of them, we believed they were told the same lie the rest of Meridian was exposed to about your brother assassinating your parents." Daolong Wong spoke to Elyon as well. "They did indeed lie about your heritage, but they truly sought to protect you. If you can find it in your heart to forgive them, then so can we."
"Once I learned of their innocence, I made the arrangements for them to live in a cottage in the mountains." Phobos continued. "Though I've had it guarded and it is some distance away, if only to keep them safe should the rebels attempt to get to them. But for you, my dear sister…" He kneeled down closer toward her. "I'll have them escorted here."
"Really?!" Elyon said excitedly before hugging her brother. "That's so great! Thank you!"
However, while Elyon herself seemed excited, the Enforcers looked at the prince with caution as they recognized the sinister glint in his eyes.
Earth – Heatherfield
At the moment, the girls were spending their downtime in a bowling alley, with Jade sending her ball down the lane to score yet another strike.
"Boom, baby!" Jade pumped her fist. "Top that, blondie!" She challenged Cornelia, who was at the lane next to her.
"Oh, you are so on." Cornelia smirked as she sent her ball down her lane. "Come on, baby. Make me proud. Come on, come on!" She prayed, right as the ball hit and scored a strike herself. "Strike!" She laughed as she gave a teasing smirk to Jade. "It's all in the shoes, little Jade."
Jade, in response, rolled her eyes. "Ugh, only you would turn a fun game into something lame with fashion."
"Hey, fashion is not lame!" Cornelia pointed out. "That is blasphemy, right there!"
"Okay, okay, let's break it up, it's all just a game." Taranee eased as she and Alchemy tried to stop what they thought was a fight.
"Relax, I was only busting her chops." Jade assured. "But I still think fashion is lame."
"Let's agree to disagree." Cornelia replied.
"Guys!" Irma stated as she and Will were both sitting down in the chairs behind them. "Why are we bowling when we know what the bad guys are planning to do to Elyon? And don't we still have two more Oni masks out there?"
"Well, the attack date's set." Will assured her teammate. "We've got a little more than two months before the big battle, that's plenty of time to find the other masks."
"Plus, Jackie and the others told us to take a break." Alchemy added. "And after all the fighting we've been doing, I'd say we earned it."
"Yeah, just pretend the bowling pins are Tarakudo." Jade also said to Irma.
It was Hay Lin's turn to bowl as she sent her ball down the lane, only for it to veer into the right gutter. "Yes! Wahoo! Gutter ball! Wahoo!" Hay Lin cheered, even though her ball completely missed the pins.
"You do realize the object is to hit them, right?" Taranee reminded.
"Anyone can hit the pins. There's like, ten of them." Hay Lin replied. "How many of them, can miss them, huh?"
Jade chuckled. "And they say I'm a rebel." However, as she reached into the pinspotter to get her ball back but ended up grabbing something a little squishier and slimier. "What the… Blunk?!" She quickly tried to shove him back inside so that no bystanders saw him. "What are you doing here?!" She questioned in a harsh whisper.
"Caleb tell Blunk to find girls. Found Elyon parents." Blunk informed.
That got everyone's attention. "What?!" Cornelia exclaimed.
"Elyon's adoptive parents!?" Jackie exclaimed as Caleb informed him, as well as Uncle, Tohru, and Yan Lin in the Chan family show.
"Alborn and Miriadel." Caleb confirmed. "They're alive and being held in Cavigor prison. It's the most secure and heavily guarded prison in all of Meridian, even more so than Phobos' own dungeon."
"How did you find out about this?" Tohru asked. "I thought you no longer had spies in Phobos' army."
"There aren't any." Caleb confirmed. "But Aldarn got a tip from a maid named Trill who works in the castle and overheard what Phobos said. He passed the tip to me, and I now to you."
"What do you know of Cavirgor, Caleb?" Yan Lin asked.
"Very little." Caleb answered. "Vathek wasn't in that high of a position when he spied for Phobos, but he did get a little information. Cavigor is designed around one principle: easy to get in, impossible to get out. A thirty-meter drop to the first floor, even the guards can't leave. They bring a rope ladder for shift changes."
"Anything else?" Jackie asked.
"No." Caleb shook his head. "That's all I know… Ow!" He felt his forehead where Uncle delivered his titular dope-slap.
"We cannot break into prison if we don't know what prison is like! We only know first floor, but not the rest!" Uncle chastised.
"Jin is right." Yan Lin agreed. "Without more information, we'd be running blind."
Jackie then took out his cell phone and began to dial a number. "I'm going to call Captain Black. I think I have an idea on how to scout it."
Meridian – Cavirgor Prison
The largest of the chambers, which appeared to be the main prison-area, was massive. Over a hundred meters from the previous roof to the bottom. The cells appeared to be lined along the circular walls, with a series of bridges connecting the opposite sides together, making it easier for guards to patrol the area.
"Last day before the shift-change, and some fool tries to break out." One of two guards huffed in annoyance.
They then heard an animalistic growl coming from below. Looking over the bridge, the pair spotted a large hole in the middle of the floor that appeared to stretch down into a pit beneath the prison level.
"The Scuttlers are getting restless."
"Should we feed them?"
"You do that against orders, it'll be us they're feeding on."
As they walked away, their conversation did not go unnoticed by Jackie Chan, who appeared to be in his Astral form, like that of a ghost, completely invisible and intangible to everyone else as he hovered in mid-air.
'Scuttlers?' He asked himself as he hovered down toward the hole at the bottom to get a closer look. However, once he saw the monstrous creatures, he instantly regretted his curiosity. They were giant insect-like monsters, and he could have sworn he saw bones and even a few skulls on the ground around them.
'Those are definitely going to be a problem' Astral-Jackie thought to himself as he hovered up a little higher to get a good look at the chamber, he was in. 'The first floor seems to be only the entrance, the second is the armory, this must be where the cells are. But where are the cells?' He questioned as he floated around one of the walls to see nothing that resembled any kind of cell, he was familiar with.
He then spotted a single guard walking toward one of the walls with a bucket in hand, before stopping at a pillar when it suddenly moved upward almost automatically, revealing a cell with a single prisoner inside that looked like he hadn't been fed in a long time.
"Here, dinner." The guard said as he carelessly tossed the bucket toward him, the prisoner grabbing the bucket and eating whatever was edible inside. The guard left him be as the pillar lowered itself.
'So that's how it's done.' Astral-Jackie thought to himself as he looked around a bit more. 'Too many to search, and I don't want to take any chances there are magical traps or anything that I may set off. But we will rescue Elyon's parents, and everyone imprisoned here.'
He then flew straight up, unaware that in one of the cells behind him, Alborn and Meridien slept, trying to find what comfort they could in each other's arms despite the horrid conditions they faced.
Uncle's Rare Finds
An active portal shined in the backroom as the group consisting of Will, Jade, Irma, Uncle, Hay Lin, Taranee, Alchemy, Cornelia, Tohru, Yan Lin, and Caleb, sat around a bed where Jackie's unconscious body laid, with the Sheep Talisman in hand. Blunk was present, but he seemed to be preoccupied with eating some beef jerky, only for Scruffy to leap up and take a piece from Blunk's hands.
"No! Bad dog! That Blunk's!" The Passling chastised as he tried to take back the piece of jerky, which Scruffy pulled back on with a growl, prompting the two to engage in a game of tug-of-war for the meaty treat.
"So, he's asleep?" Alchemy asked, trying to understand what was going on.
"Not quite." Tohru replied. "The Sheep Talisman has the ability of astral projection. It allows your soul to leave your body in the form of an astral spirit, not too dissimilar from a ghost. However, your astral form is completely invisible and intangible to everything else on the earthly plain."
"Making it the perfect power for scouting." Caleb deduced.
"Correct." Tohru confirmed.
"But there's a catch." Jade said. "Your body is still vulnerable in the real world. So, if it dies, you die to."
"Yeah, I can see why you guys haven't used the Sheep Talisman before." Will understood. "Not exactly handy in a fight."
"Perhaps not, but it does serve a purpose here for us." Uncle said.
Right as he said that the invisible and intangible form of Astral Jackie flew through the portal before descending back into his body, causing him to wake up.
"Jackie, your back!" Hay Lin stated with a wide smile as Scruffy leapt up to give Jackie a series of doggy-kisses.
"Yes… Yes… I'm back." Jackie laughed between the licks as Jade pulled Scruffy away.
"So did you find Elyon's parents?" Cornelia asked.
"I'm afraid not." Jackie shook his head. "There were over a hundred cells in that prison, but I do have a layout of the entire building."
"Good, which means we should have a plan then." A familiar female voice spoke up, causing Jackie to look in surprise as he saw from the entrance of the back room a familiar trio of allies.
"Viper? El Toro?"
"And don't forget, El Paco Fuerte!" Paco announced his present as well.
"What are all of you doing here?" Jackie asked.
"Jade called us for assistance." El Toro began to explain. "You are about to break into a heavily fortified magical fortress, and we will provide what aid we can."
"Speaking as someone who's broken into all sorts of high-security places on a regular basis, this seems up my alley to." Viper added.
Despite his surprise, Jackie smiled in appreciation. "Thank you for coming. Yes, we could use your assistance with this one."
"Hey, I just realized something." Hay Lin pointed out. "This whole gang hasn't been together since that whole thing with Valmont's auction."
"Yeah, good times." Irma smiled reminiscently.
"J-WITCH and the J-Team together again." Jade smirked. "Time to get to work."
In a short amount of time, Jackie had brought out a large whiteboard with a marker as he began to draw out a series of pictures to illustrate what he found with Cavigor to the rest of the group.
"From what I was able to find, Cavigor is a massive prison built underground." Jackie began as he drew a basic model of the prison itself. "It's layout seems rather simple with four floors. There is the top floor, which has a thirty-meter drop with no stairs, ladder, or anything of that nature. Below that, is the armory, it's also the common area where the guards appear to have their meals, as well as dormitories for them to sleep. The third and largest floor appears to house the cells; there are over one hundred window-less cells from top to bottom. The cells are completely sealed by stone. Finally, the basement, which appears to house these insect-like monsters the guards called 'Scudders'."
"I've heard of them." Caleb said. "They're giant man-eating bugs. Very nasty."
"Well, that's just great." Viper said with annoyed sigh. "I'm not the biggest bug-fun."
"It's kinda ironic." Taranee pointed out with a smirk. "Considering your namesake can eat bugs."
"Yeah, well I'm on a low-tick diet." Viper replied in a slight joking sense of her own.
"So now that we can open portals with the Heart, can't we just go in, get everyone, and get out?" Jade asked.
"Too risky." Uncle disagreed. "If we open portals willy-nilly, Forces of Darkness will realize we have Seal of Phobos."
"Yeah, it's probably safer to keep that handy trick a secret for now." Will seemed to agree.
"Then why don't we use the Infinite City?" Cornelia suggested. "I can use my powers to dig our way up from there."
"What is this Infinite City?" El Toro asked.
"It's basically an underground maze that stretches in all directions throughout Meridian with no end in sight." Tohru replied. "Theoretically, we could go directly under the prison from there."
"I remember you telling me that in one of your letters, Jade." Paco pointed to his pen pal. "Is it really endless?"
"So far as we can tell, yep." Jade confirmed. "It's got a real good echo vibe to it though. You could have a wicked concert down there."
"But, if we're too careless, we could risk exposing the Infinite City, which could put the entire Rebellion in danger." Caleb pointed out.
"Then why don't we go all-out with a full-assault?" Irma asked. "I mean, we got numbers, we got power, and we got the Talismans. We could probably bowl-doze our way through all the guards."
"Considering all the attacks we've dealt to Phobos before, even those on his own castle, he may very well expect a frontal assault on Cavigor." Yan Lin replied. "So, I don't think that is the best idea."
Alchemy then snapped her fingers. "What if we do both?"
"What do you mean?" Taranee asked.
"We could split into two groups." Alchemy began. "One group attack from above, to draw out all the bad guys; while the other one comes up from underground, sneaks in, and gets Elyon's parents and all the other prisoners. Then Will can use the Heart to open a portal, we sneak everyone out, and no one's the wiser."
"That's…. actually, a great idea!" Will realized as everyone came to the same conclusion.
"Misdirection." Viper nodded in agreement. "I've pulled a few similar stunts before, works every time."
"But how will we find Elyon's parents?" Cornelia asked. "We won't recognize them in their Meridian form."
Jade gave her titular scoff. "Uncle could just whip up a locator spell from one of their things left behind at their house, duh."
"Yes, that is something Uncle can do." The elderly chi-wizard confirmed. "However, there is also the possibility that Daolon Wong could have enchanted the prison."
"Then we have Blunk the bloodhound sniff them out." Jade pointed to the aforementioned passling, who stood up to salute.
"Blunk report for duty!"
Scruffy then ran up to Jade's side and barked with anticipation. "Looks like Scruffy wants in on the action too. Don't you boy?" Hay Lin gushed.
"If we're really doing this, then we cannot afford to hold anything back." Jackie said as he brought out a metal briefcase and placed it on the table in the middle of the group. "I know I've always said how we should exercise restraint, but given all that is at stake, not just Elyon's parents, but possibly over a hundred more innocent lives, I believe we may be justified to forgo restraint just this once." He opened the case to reveal all the remaining Talismans, which shined brilliantly.
"Snake as my name on it." Viper took the Snake Talisman with a smirk.
"I will take the Ox." El Toro also took the Talisman of super strength as his own.
"And I will take the Rabbit." Paco tried to imitate El Toro by taking the Talisman of speed.
"I call Dragon and Rooster!" Alchemy plucked both Talismans in her hands.
"Scruffy will hold onto the safety dog and get a little extra muscle to add onto it." Jade attached both the Dog and Monkey Talismans to his collar as he barked with anticipation. "And, since Jackie said we could go all out here…" She pulled out the Rat Talisman before glancing with a smirk to the Super Moose toy sitting on the shelf in the corner. She pointed the Talisman at it to shoot magic and bring it to life.
"Moose is in on the loose!" The animated toy Super Moose announced dramatically.
At the same time, Tohru drew the Pig Talisman while Jackie took the Horse. "I will take this just in case Elyon's parents or any of the other prisoners are seriously hurt." Jackie said.
"Alright, here are the teams." Will began. "Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Tohru, El Toro, Paco, Alchemy; you guys are part of the distraction team with Scruffy and Super Moose. Jackie, Viper, Jade, Cornelia, Caleb, Uncle, Blunk and I will sneak in from the Infinite City below." She held out the Heart of Kandrakar, which already began to shine. "Time to get to work."
Cavirgor Prison
Alborn and Miriadel continued to sit in their cell as the door opened and a guard came in with a tray of food. "Dinner, traitors." He set it down and began to leave.
They both looked in minor surprise to see instead of the usual mess of scraps, it was actually a nice and well-prepped meal. "Why?" Alborn questioned
"Guess you got friends in high places." The guard replied before closing the door. Alborn looked skeptically at the food, but Miriadel placed her hand on his.
"Alborn, we need our strength. We have to eat." She said, which seemed to be enough for him to sit down and begin eating the food along with her.
"Alright, so everyone knows the plan?" Will asked the group as she, along with Irma, Hay Lin, Jade, Taranee, and Cornelia all donned their respective Guardian forms and stood with Jackie, Uncle, Caleb, Tohru, Viper, El Toro, Paco, along with Blunk, Scruffy, and Super Moose. They were all just outside the hidden entrance to the Infinite City. "We all got our Talismans and Section 13 communicators?"
"All right here." Taranee confirmed as she and everyone else showed their chosen Talismans, with each person having an earpiece to communicate with over a long distance.
"Good. It is important we maintain constant communication with one another." Jackie instructed. "Good luck everyone."
With that, the group split off. Jackie, Will, Jade, Cornelia, Caleb, Viper, Uncle, and Blunk went down into the Infinite City, while Hay Lin, Taranee, Irma, Alchemy, and Super Moose took to the skies, along with Scruffy taking the form of a giant pterodactyl to allow El Toro, Toru, and Paco to climb on and fly with them.
It didn't take long for the attack-group to get to Cavigor, and just as they planned, began to hover directly over the hole.
"Will, we're directly over the hole." Taranee contacted her leader. "Standing by to attack when you give the signal."
"Rodger."
"Whoa…" Viper looked around at the endless tunnels that laid before her and the rest of the stealth-group. "And here I thought the name was just a metaphor for something."
"I just got word from the others, they're directly over the prison and standing by." Will said as she held out the Heart of Kandrakar.
"How exactly does this work again?" Viper asked. "Just so that I can understand it."
"The Heart of Kandrakar connects all six Guardians together." Jackie tried to explain. "Since Will is the bearer of the Heart, she herself is able to connect to Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee despite how far away they are from our location."
"And we use that to locate the prison from underground." Viper deduced with a smirk. "Clever."
"Thank you." Will smiled as the Heart began to shine, streams of blue, orange, and white energy shot out in one direction, pointing to where the three aforementioned Guardians were currently located. "This way." She led the group in the direction the Heart pointed to her.
Meanwhile, Elyon sat in the gardens of the castle, practicing her magic on her own as she focused it on a single closed rose. With a just a tiny bit of effort, the rose opened up without her having so much as touched it. She quickly sketched it in her sketchpad.
"You've improved so much." Phobos pointed out as he appeared behind her and she looked up to him with a playful smile.
"I know. Back when you first told me I had all this power, I was scared." Elyon began. "But now... it just feels so natural."
"As it should." Phobos replied. "This power is a part of you, and you will do great things with it."
"I certainly hope so." Elyon said as she stood up. "Maybe I can help you end all this fighting."
"One can hope." Phobos nodded. "But in the meantime, Cedric and Wong are off to retrieve your adoptive parents."
"Great! Thanks again, really!" She smiled as she looked in the direction her brother was looking, where they saw Wong and Cedric leaving the castle grounds, with a small army of soldiers behind them, much to her own concern. "Why so many soldiers?"
"If the rebels or the Guardians were to get a hold of them, I'd… I'd never forgive myself." Phobos said in a seemingly assured tone.
"Okay, I get it." Elyon seemed to understand. "Oh, I'm gonna make some decorations for their room. And I guess I'd better clean my room. For some reason, they were always bugging me about that on Earth."
Phobos chuckled slightly. "Our birth mother was the same with me when I was around your age. I was… quite the slob in my youth."
"You? A slob? Get out of here." Elyon laughed as she playfully pushed his side, causing him to smirk in response.
Back in Cavigor, the cell that belonged to Alborn and Miriadel opened as the guard that delivered their food entered to see they had eaten everything, and had dazed expressions on their faces, almost as if they were hypnotized.
"Oh good, you've eaten. We need to have a talk about your wonderful new life, so you can tell Princess Elyon all about it."
Infinite City
The streams of blue, white, and orange energy that shined from the Heart of Kandrakar shot straight up toward the ceiling.
"Okay, we're directly underneath Cavigor." Will said as she and the rest of the stealth-group got ready, with Jackie accessing his communications device.
"We're in position. Begin the distraction now." Jackie told them.
"Give em hell, guys!" Jade cheered.
"Oh, you got it." They heard Irma's response and could already imagine the smirk on her face.
"Cornelia, you cannot push the rock up into the prison." Caleb told the blonde. "You've got to lower it, quietly."
"Hey, I'm blonde, not dense." Cornelia stated.
"I'm just saying." Caleb said.
"I know." Cornelia replied.
"Those two are not good at this at all, are they?" Viper whispered to Jade with a smirk.
"Nope." Jade shook her head while Blunk laughed.
"Ow!"
"Ow!"
Both Cornelia and Caleb felt their foreheads where Uncle delivered his dope slap. "Flirt later, break into prison now! So do not just stand there, get cracking!" Uncle chastised
"Okay, okay, I got it!" Cornelia then channeled her power directly into the ceiling above her, causing it to crack as she began to telekinetically lower the boulders and rocks to the ground as slow as she could. "Is that quiet enough, for you?"
Back in Phobos' castle, Elyon worked alongside Miranda, Finn, Ratso, and Chow, and several maids, to get the room prepped for Alborn and Miriadel's arrival.
"They are going to love this!" Elyon stated with an excited smile. "Thanks for helping, Miranda."
"Oh, no problem." Miranda replied. "I heard it's a long trip, they're gonna be tired when they get here. You shouldn't ask them too many questions."
"I get it." Elyon nodded in understanding before turning to the Dark Chi Enforcers. "And you guys too, thanks for your help."
"Hey, least we could do for a sweet kid like you." Ratso ruffled her hair, causing her to chuckle.
"I've been meaning to ask you guys, you're not from Meridian, are you?" She asked, causing the Enforcers to look in surprise. "I've kinda noticed how different people in Meridian act from those on Earth, and you act like you're from there."
"Well, that's cause we are." Chow replied as he and his friends tried to explain without revealing certain details that made them uncomfortable. "We weren't always…. Orange."
"Yeah, in fact, this is us." Finn reached into his clothing to pull out an old picture of him, Ratso, and Chow in their human forms and handed it to Elyon.
"So how did you guys end up like this?" She asked, referring to their current appearances.
"Well… a whole bunch of crazy stuff happened, and we got sucked into this world where Wong enslaved…." Ratso tried to explain but was quickly interrupted by Chow.
"Enhanced us! Yeah, he super charged us with magic and we're like this now."
"Kinda like my friends and how they can transform?" Elyon asked, referring to the Guardians.
"Something like that, only we can't change back." Finn replied as he gave a small sigh. "But I do miss being human, I kinda miss the old days when we wouldn't have to deal with all this magic stuff. Life was a lot simpler back then."
"Let me guess, you sang in disco bands at weddings, right?" Elyon asked almost playfully.
"How'd you know?" Finn replied with a smile.
"I was employee of the month at Sunglass Shack, three times!" Chow revealed.
"I studied theoretical physics." Ratso added.
"No offense, Little E. But this whole magic stuff might seem kinda fun to you, it's… kinda caused us more headaches than we would like." Finn said.
"And broken bones." Chow added.
"And literal scars." Ratso also added.
"Oh… I'm really sorry to hear all that." Elyon said sincerely before trying to perk them up. "But, hey for what it's worth, I'm glad you're here with me. I think you guys are pretty awesome." She wrapped her arms around Ratso in the form of a hug, surprising him and his friends before Ratso patted her head.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again, you're the sweetest thing we've met." Ratso said with a warm smile, but Finn and Chow looked toward each other with concern, knowing that there were other forces at work here that may harm Elyon. That's when the two, along with Ratso, shared serious expressions, silently vowing to each other that they would not let any harm come to Elyon. She was a sweet kid, and they would not let anyone hurt her; be they Phobos, Cedric, Daolon Wong, or even Tarakudo.
"Do really you believe Mr. Chan and the Guardians will attack your prison?" Tarakudo asked the dark prince as he sat on his throne.
"I may not have any proof of it, but I wouldn't put it past them." Phobos replied. "They have a proclivity for showing up at the most unexpected of times. Which is why I need you there, as well."
"Then it shall be done." Tarakudo nodded as he vanished from sight. It pleased Phobos to know that he had a partner that he could actually depend on, which is more he could say for two certain individuals that he began to suspect were never truly loyal to him to begin with.
"Time to make some noise." Taranee said as she launched a series of fireballs into the prison via the entrance hole, with Alchemy backing her up with blasts from the Dragon Talisman, while Hay Lin and Irma combining their powers to create an icy storm before blasting it into the prison entrance. Meanwhile, Tohru, El Toro, Super Moose, and Scruffy, in the form of a gorilla, began to throw a multitude of rocks into the prison. Even Paco threw several smaller rocks to contribute.
The commotion already shook up the upper levels of the prison, alerting all the guards present before drawing their weapons and sounding the alarm to call the remaining guards as they made their way upstairs.
"Yeah, that should get their attention." Irma smirked.
"Here they come!" Hay Lin pointed to more than two dozen guards that already made their way to the upper floor.
However, before they even began to attack, they were more than shocked to see Scruffy, in the form of a pterodactyl yet again, flying in with a screech. El Toro, Tohru, and Paco were on his back before jumping off to the sides when they got closer to the ground. Scruffy then transformed into the form of a tiger before pouncing onto a shocked guard with a growl.
"Heyoo!" El Toro sounded his titular luchador call before leaping forward headfirst to deliver a powerful headbutt with super strength to send one guard crashing into the group behind him. Several more tried to surround the luchador, but he easily overpowered them with his Talisman-enhanced strength to throw them all over the place.
Tohru, meanwhile, grabbed one guard to lift him up and throw him into three more before using the Pig Talisman to blast heat-beams from his eyes at several others, while using his own physical strength to keep any guards that got close to him at bay.
Several newly arrived guards tried to keep their distance as they made their way to the farthest wall and aimed their arrows at the attackers, but Paco, using the speed of the Rabbit Talisman, zoomed in to swipe the bows and arrows from them in a blur.
"No weapons inside the ring!" Paco chastised before rushing toward one guard to leap and wrap his legs around his face, pulling him down with his Talisman-enhanced speed to flip him over and into several more guards before zooming around each of the others to unleash a series of amateur luchador moves with such speed that the guards had no idea what hit them before it was too late.
But, several more guards continued to climb up the stairs as they tried to overwhelm the intruders, but before they could even attack…
"Du, du du, du, du, du! Antler Action!" Super Moose flew in with Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Alchemy flying alongside him to unleash blasts of their respective elements, or Talisman power in Alchemy's case, to blast many guards back while Super Moose used physical attacks on the guards they missed.
"Alright guys, we definitely got their attention!" Hay Lin said over their communications device to the stealth-group. "You guys do your stealth-thing, and don't worry about us, we got plenty to keep us busy."
The alarm's sound had reached well past the perimeter of the prison, straight toward the approaching army being led by Cedric and Daolon Wong, which the former halted at the sound of the alarm bell ringing.
"There's something going on at the prison entrance." Cedric commented.
Wong then waved his scepter to create a flat magical projection to show them the situation taking place, causing him to sneer in annoyance. "The Guardians and their allies!" He hissed. "Zen!" He summoned Hak Foo to his side, just as Cedric transformed into his humanoid serpent form.
"Charge!" Cedric ordered as the army began their advance toward the prison.
Meanwhile, in the lowermost level of Cavirgor, a hole suddenly formed as the stealth-group flew their way up from the Infinite City; Will carried Jackie, Jade carried Viper and Uncle, Cornelia carried Caleb with Blunk hanging on to her.
"Nice work, C." Will congratulated Cornelia once they arrived in the smelly pit.
"Why thank you, W." Cornelia replied.
"Cornelia, seal the hole now." Jackie ordered, to which Cornelia nodded as he began to use her earth powers to close up the hole behind them.
"Ugh! Gross!" Viper covered her noose. "This place smells worse than a back-alley dumpster!"
"And I'm guessing they're why." Jade pointed in a nervous tone toward the large group of Scuttlers that crawled out of the shadows and made their way towards the group, hungry for their next meal.
"Scuttlers, right?" Will asked nervously.
"Yep." Caleb confirmed as he drew his katana.
"Really seeing why you don't like bugs." Will said to Viper.
"I like normal bugs just fine, it's only when they're the size of a car and want to eat you that I have a problem!" Viper commented.
"Bah, this is how Uncle sprays for bugs!" Uncle drew his blowfish to blast a stun-spell at the closest Scuttler.
"Everyone, scatter!" Jackie ordered. "Give them multiple targets!"
With that, everyone ran off in separate directions. Uncle used his blowfish to fire many more a stun spells, blasting back any Scuttlers that tried to get close. Jackie picked up a large stick from the pile of halt-eaten filth and plunged it into the mouth of the closest Scuttlers, the large insect tried to push back, but Jackie flipped over to land behind before running toward three more that tried to get to him. He then jumped and landed on the top of one and allowed the other two to leap toward him before he leapt off, causing them to pile over each other.
Viper found herself cornered by four Scuttlers, but she quickly used the Snake Talisman to turn herself invisible, confusing the massive insects as their prey vanished from sight. One felt a powerful kick across its side, causing it to instinctively leap toward where it thought its prey was, only to end up crashing into another one of its own. Another Scuttler felt an invisible strike at its face, and the final one felt its antennas being pulled by the same force that pulled it into the disoriented one, knocking them both down.
Jade flew down to cover Caleb's back, the later holding his own katana while the former drew her own shadow-katana as five Scuttlers surrounded them. One leapt toward Jade, but she slice it's face off with her own shadow-katana, while Caleb used his to impale the second. He then slid around the third to slice at its side, while Jade decapitated the fourth with her shadow-katana before morphing it into a spear to impale the final one as it leapt toward her.
Blunk clung to Will for dear life as she delivered a roundhouse kick to one Scuttler back before flying up to meet Cornelia in the air.
"These things are a lot tougher than the look." Cornelia commented. "Don't suppose there's a giant gate nearby and we can pull a Luke Skywalker vs. Rancor on them?"
"No, but maybe you have the right idea. Try caving in the entire chamber, crush them or bury them alive." Will instructed.
"You got it." Cornelia concentrated her powers all around the chamber, which already began to shake violently.
"Everyone out! Now!" Will shouted as she flew down, with Blunk screaming the whole way, to grab both Jackie and Viper, while Jade grabbed Uncle and they flew upward just as the walls around the chamber began to collapse, the largest of the debris began to crush several of the remaining Scuttlers while the rest were being buried alive.
The group was able to fly out of the hole and into the main prison level just as a massive dust cloud come out.
Viper was the first to sigh in relief. "Glad that's over with. Give me high-tech security over man-eating bugs any day."
"Let us find Alborn and Miriadel, and then we will liberate everyone else." Jackie stated as Uncle pulled out a dried lizard, which was already glowing green with chi-magic.
"Locator spells says this way." Uncle began to lead the way, while Blunk also pulled out a shirt and began to sniff it.
"Blunk also have sent. Same direction. Show time." He and Uncle lead the rest of the group toward the cellblocks.
Back in the top floor, nearly every single guard that had occupied the prison now laid in a large pile, beaten and bruised, most unconscious, others groaning in pain, but all were soundly defeated as the group consisting of Irma, Taranee, Hay Lin, Tohru, El Toro, Paco, Alchemy, and Super Moose stood proudly, even Scruffy barked in excitement.
"Yeah, who's a good evil butt-kicker? You are! Yes, you are!" Hay Lin gushed as she scratched Scruffy behind the ears in congratulatory fashion.
"You think there's a record for how many bad guys beaten up in one sitting? Cause I think we just broke it." Irma said with pride.
"All in a day's work." Super Moose said in the same tone.
"We must not rest on our laurels. The battle is not over." El Toro told the group.
"Agreed, we still have our mission to complete." Tohru said.
Suddenly, Scruffy began to growl as he looked directly up, much to everyone's surprise. "Scruffy? What's wrong, boy?" Taranee asked.
"Everyone, something is coming!" El Paco pointed directly up toward the entrance in the ceiling where they could all see a faint blue light, growing larger and larger, until it was revealed that it was actually coming closer, almost like a meteor falling from the heavens.
"Meteor Brings Mass Extinction!" The Dark Chi Hak Foo exclaimed as he fell, surrounded by intense dark blue magic, gunning straight for the heroes.
"INCOMING!" Alchemy screamed as they all tried to clear the way, but it was too late as Hak Foo fell completely through the hole and straight onto the ground of the main entrance with such explosive results that it not only blew the heroes, and the downed guards away, but caved in the entire floor that sent every individual falling and screaming toward the armory.
Fortunately, Hay Lin was able to act quickly as she blew a massive gust of wind toward the floor of the armory to halt and cushion the descent of all her friends to avoid any fatalities.
"Ugh… what hit us?!" Irma questioned as they tried to recover.
"I did." They looked in shock to see Hak Foo standing tall admits a pile of rubble, and even several guards that were hurt even further, or no longer lived. And he wasn't the only one, Daolon Wong also appeared in a puff of dark blue smoke, and even Cedric roared as he began to crawl down from the main entrance at the top, all the way down to the second floor, followed by the army of guards that dropped down via ropes.
Tohru, El Toro, and Super Moose were the first to get up and take a solid stand against the new wave of enemies, even Scruffy got read as he transformed into a Cerberus once again. But, while Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee, Paco, and Alchemy were also back on their feet, they looked more than a little nervous.
"Bad day…" Hay Lin gulped.
Meanwhile, back in the cellblocks, Uncle and Blunk continued to lead Jackie, Will, Jade, Cornelia, Viper, and Caleb as Uncle's dried lizard glowed its brightest at one of the cells.
"Elyon's parents are here." Uncle said.
"Are you sure?" Cornelia wanted to be absolutely certain.
Blunk took a sniff to be certain. "Yes! Here!"
"Good, cause we got more trouble." Will just got off her communication's device. "Cedric and Wong just showed up with a small army. The others are holding them off, but they might need help."
"Then let's get everyone out of here so we can help them." Jade said.
"Agreed." Jackie turned to Cornelia. "There is a way to open the cells, but you should be able to do it yourself."
"Got it." Cornelia channeled her earth power onto the stone cell, which caused the pillar to lift to reveal Alborn and Miriadel, with oddly content looks on their faces.
"Oh, hello. Are you delivering the fresh cream?" Miriadel asked politely.
"Are you sure this is them?" Viper asked.
"I'm certain." Jackie nodded. "I saw them once in their true forms, this is them." He quickly went to the pair. "Quickly, Alborn, Miriadel, we must leave now!"
"Leave?" Alborn asked, speaking in a trance-like state. "Why? We live in such a beautiful mountain."
"Mountain?!" Jade questioned. "Uh, hello?! We're a few hundred feet underground in a prison full of monsters!"
Caleb had noticed the tray of food in the cell and picked up a bowl for a quick sniff. "Phobos put something in their food!"
"He drugged his sister's adoptive parents?" Viper questioned before a disgusted look fell on her face. "Wow. I've seen a lot of scumbags, but that guy takes the cake."
"Can't you make some kind of spell to fix them up?" Will asked Uncle, while Blunk helped himself to some of the leftover food on the tray.
"No. Without knowing what Phobos had used, I do not know what ingredients used to make a cure." Uncle replied.
"You won't have to." Jackie said as he brandished the Horse Talisman.
"But I thought the Horse Talisman can only heal people." Caleb recalled. "And they don't look injured."
"It can also cure diseases." Jade pointed out.
"When someone is drugged, their nervous system is often damaged in some way." Jackie explained. "Though it can be used for medical treatment, the drug itself causes damage. And the Horse Talisman can repair that damage."
Jackie placed the Horse Talisman on Miriadel's shoulder first, causing an aura of the Talisman's magic to spread around her and purge the drug from her system. She gave a gasp as her hallucination came to an end.
"Wha… where…?!" She looked around in shock before Cornelia put her hands on her shoulders.
"Mrs. Brown! It's me, Cornelia! Do you remember me?" She asked as Jackie quicky used the Horse Talisman to purge Alborn of the drug as well.
"Yes, I remember." Miriadel responded as Alborn came to his senses and they were helped outside of the cell.
"Thank you." He said to Jackie. "But there are other prisoners here."
"We know, and we're going to free all of them." Jackie assured.
"And we gotta hurry, because the bad guys upstairs might have something to say about that." Viper commented.
"They're not the only ones." Jade said as she felt a shiver down her spine. "Cause I got the willies."
That got everyone's attention. "Which usually means…" Will said with a wince.
"That you are in the presence of the king!" A pair of yellow eyes appeared along the stone wall before the face of the Lord of All Oni emerged to reveal himself.
"Tarakudo!" Jade, Uncle, Jackie, Will, and Caleb all screamed, while Viper made a combat stance and Alborn and Miriadel clung to each other in fright.
"Oooh… pretty smiling sun…." Blunk said in a dazed expression as he now appeared to be drugged by the food.
The Oni-King tried to unleash a powerful psychic blast, but Jade quickly conjured up a wall of shadow-magic to block it.
"Jackie, you know where the thing is to open up all the cells, right?" Will asked as Jade flew out into the open, with Tarakudo chasing after her.
"Yes?" Jackie responded with an unsure nod. He knew where the mechanism was from his earlier scout but wasn't sure he liked where Will was going with this.
"Then take Viper, Alborn, and Miriadel with you and get all these cells open. The rest of us will keep Tarakudo busy." Will said.
"What?! I can't leave you here!" Jackie stated.
"You have too!" Will stated. "We can keep the bad guys occupied. You're fast enough to get everything else done. Open the cells, and tell everyone else to meet us here, we'll have a portal ready."
"But…" Jackie still tried to protest, but Viper put a hand on his shoulder.
"Jackie, they're right." She told him. "I've seen them a few times to know they got this, and you should to. You trained them, after all. You know they can take care of themselves, so it's time to let them."
Though his protective nature told differently, Jackie's heart knew Viper was right. He had seen how strong each of these girls had grown, even Jade. They were still young, but they were not kids anymore. They were Guardians.
"Alright, just be careful." Jackie nodded. He then turned to Alborn and Miriadel. "Let's go." He began to run with the pair. However, the drugged Blunk continued to look dazed.
"Nice goat…" He petted what he thought was a goat, but was really thin air, before Viper pulled him away and followed after Jackie, Alborn, and Miriadel.
Jade blasted a column of shadow-flame at Tarakudo, which he blasted away with his own psychic powers before unleashing another powerful wave at Jade to send her flying back, but she quickly stabilized herself.
"You've grown strong, my fallen queen." Tarakudo commented. "It's a shame you choose to stay with your worthless friends rather than with me."
"Please, I didn't have a choice in the matter, you freaking brainwashed me!" Jade exclaimed. "And you only did that because you know I wouldn't join you on my own terms! And I never will!"
"Cause she's got real friends by her side!" Tarakudo looked from behind to see Cornelia use her powers to telekinetically launch a volley of large rocks at him, but the Oni King used his own powers to shatter the rocks to dust. However, that dust actually served as the perfect smokescreen for Caleb to leap up and slice at Tarakudo, effectively scratching him just below the eyes and causing him to hiss in pain.
"Ugh! What?! What is this?!" Tarakudo winced as Caleb landed on the bridge below him.
"I coated my sword in onion juice before I came here." The young rebel revealed with a smirk. "We kinda had a feeling we'd run into you again."
"Oni magic must be defeated by onion magic!" Uncle stated as he stood from the other side of the bridge, wielding a dual pair of dried lizards, glowing with green chi magic.
"You're pretty powerful Tarakudo." Will said as she flew by Jade's side along with Cornelia. "But we know your kryptonite, and when you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."
Tarakudo narrowed his eyes in return. "Fine then. Time to take off the kid gloves." He then began to unleash one of the most powerful psychic waves he could muster. So powerful that it began to shake up the entire prison.
Back in the armory, as well as the shaft that consisted of the first and second floors, it was an absolute warzone as the heroic and villainous forces threw everything, they had at each other. Hay Lin spun herself around to create a massive tornado to blow back as many guards around her as she could. Alchemy kept her covered by hovering in place with the Rooster Talisman and blasting any guard she saw with the Dragon Talisman. Paco continued to run at super speeds thanks to the Rabbit Talisman, while unleashing whatever luchador techniques he knew to disable any guard that was in his way. Even Scruffy, still in his Cerberus-form, pounced on every guard he saw, lashing out with literal tooth and claw.
"Antler Action!" Super Moose announced as he flew to a guard to deck him in the face and send him flying. He then flew over the sword slice a second before flying back down to smack him on his helmeted head. "Can you feel the love? Can you, punks?!" He questioned as he flew toward another group of guards to deck the one up front first.
At the same time, Irma brought her hands to the wall to blast out a massive current of water toward Daolon Wong, who quickly erected a barrier of dark magic to shield himself and allow the water to veer around him. However, this also left him vulnerable for Taranee to throw a series of fireballs at him from above, resulting in a series of explosions that Wong could barely shield himself from. However, he was able to recover quickly enough to go on the offensive and blast bolts of dark magic at the two Guardians that dared attack him.
Meanwhile, El Toro and knocked down one more guard before he found himself face-to-face with the Dark Chi Warrior, Hak Foo, who took a martial arts stance before making a 'come here' gesture with his hand.
El Toro took a solid luchador stance in response and flexed his joints before readying himself. "Come." He challenged, resulting in Hak Foo attacking.
"Dragon Charges Bull!" He charged at Hak Foo, his body coated in surging dark magic like a meteor, but El Toro stood his ground as he held Hak Foo back. Though the impact caused El Toro to slid back slightly, he dug his feet in, thanks to the strength of the Ox Talisman before lifting Hak Foo over his head and flipping him behind to the ground. However, Hak Foo proved quick enough to recover and leap over him before going on the attack again. "Demon Crushes Bison!" He tried to bring both his feet down onto his enemy as he fell, but El Toro leapt back to avoid the crushing impact before jumping backwards towards the wall, landing his feet on it before jumping forward to propel himself with a powerful headbutt to send Hak Foo flying and crashing into the wall.
Though Hak Foo was able to pull himself from the wall, he fell to his knees slightly as he glanced up to see the smirking El Toro, ready for round two.
"El Toro Battles El Diablo." He smirked, using Hak Foo's own shtick against him, causing the evil martial artist to roar with fury as he leapt at his opponent.
At the same time, Tohru appeared to be in a stare-down of sorts as he glared at the humanoid snake that was known as Cedric. Cedric, in turn, glared daggers at Tohru. Both giants narrowed their eyes at each other before making the first move to charge at each other. They grappled with each other at first, pressing their respective strength against the other. However, rather than push back against him, Cedric lifted Tohru off his feet, taking him by surprise before he snapped his tail to send Tohru rolling across the ground. Before he even had the chance to get back up, Cedric was already on him as he grabbed him by the throat with both his hands and slammed him against the wall in the attempt to strangle him.
"I admit I underestimated you, warrior." Cedric hissed. "But that will not happen again. This time, I'll squeeze the life out of you! And all your little Guardian friends will be next!"
The mention of the girls coming to harm caused Tohru to glare hatefully at the humanoid snake. "Burn!" He blasted Cedric with heat-beam eyes, thanks to the Pig Talisman he still had on hand, causing Cedric to roar and hiss in pain as the painful blast not only burned him, but also sent him crashing back onto the ground.
Back in the cell block, Jade tried to lash out with shadow-claws at Tarakudo, but he hovered above her before blasting her with a powerful psychic wave that sent her crashing through one bridge and landing on one below. Will tried to come in with flying roundhouse kick of her own, but Tarakudo grabbed her telekinetically before tossing her into a pillar hard along the cell wall.
Tarakudo was put on the defensive as he felt a pained-sensation on the back of his head, courtesy of Uncle with his anti-Oni stun-spells. However, after the first blast, Tarakudo flew to avoid the others before prying a series of rocks from all over before bringing them together in the form of a large shield to protect himself. But this left him vulnerable from behind again as Caleb tried to rush toward Tarakudo from the bridge under him, leaping toward him to slash with his katana, only to find the same invisible force grabbing hold of him and preventing him from falling or moving any further.
"Nuh, nuh, uh." Tarkudo snook his head. "I know better to mess with that sword now. So go take five, kid." He sent Caleb flying hard to crash into the cell wall as well.
"Oh no, you didn't!" Cornelia exclaimed as he flew straight toward Tarakudo, throwing a series of small objects of him, before clenching her fist to use her power and crush the objects, creating a powder that spread all around Tarakudo.
"Really? A smokescreen? Getting desperate, aren't…?" Suddenly, Tarakudo began to cough. "Getting… desperate…" He struggled as he not only coughed, but his eyes began to 'water' with green energy as he felt a familiar stinging sensation. "Get… not…!" He cried out in pain as he flew out of the smokescreen. "That's not smoke!"
"Nope, onion powder." Cornelia smirked as she carried a set of onions that hovered around her. "I'm the Earth Guardian, and onions are vegetables. What do vegetables grow out of again?" She crushed the onions into powder with her powers and sent the cloud of powder straight for Tarakudo, causing him to cough and cry again from the painful sting.
"Clever! But cleverness only gets you so far!" Tarakudo exclaimed as he unleashed one of the most powerful psychic waves possible to blast the cloud back, as well as Cornelia.
"Then how about a straight-up beat-down?!" Jade exclaimed as she shot straight toward Tarakudo, shadow magic coating her fists as she went on the offensive.
Meanwhile, Will pulled herself up from where she was tossed as Uncle approached her. "Ugh, I know I talked a big game earlier but… I don't have a single thing that can actually hurt him. I don't know chi-spells, I can't control onions… I mean I can throw them, but that's about it." She turned to Uncle. "You got any bright ideas, because I don't?"
"Yes, I do." Uncle said as he took the Heart of Kandrakar in his hands. "Heart of Kandrakar is comparable with chi-magic, you've seen it before. And Uncle may know a spell that will enable you to battle the Oni." He finished with a smirk.
"Really? What do you got?" She asked, ready for anything at this point.
Tarakudo continued to blast wave after wave in a near-desperate attempt to keep the heroes at bay, which seemed to be working as they were knocked down and blasted back for the umpteenth time.
"I'm starting to get annoyed with these little tricks!" Tarakudo stated. "What else can you…?" However, he was interrupted as he happen to overhear a familiar chant from a level below him.
"Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku." The Oni King turned in surprise to see Uncle and Will reciting the chant, the Heart of Kandrakar in both their hands as the crystal began to change from its normal pink glow to a bright green. "Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku."
Tarakudo's eyes widened, realizing what was going on and tried to unleash a powerful psychic wave in a desperate bid to stop them. But it was too late, a powerful surge of good magic shined around them to shield themselves from Tarakudo's attack. When the light subsided, Will's hands were glowing with the same kind of green magic that was currently shinning with the Heart of Kandrakar.
Uncle smirked toward Will. "Go kick his butt."
"With pleasure." Will smirked back before shooting straight toward Tarakudo, who was so stunned that he was unable to defend himself against a solid punch from Will, her fists surging with good magic, which sent the Oni King flying and crashing hard against the wall.
"Whoa!" Jade exclaimed as she, Cornelia, and Caleb were more than a little shocked at what just happened.
Will hovered over Tarakudo in an almost menacing fashion as she cracked her magically enhanced knuckles. "What were you saying about 'kid gloves', Tarakudo?"
Meanwhile, perhaps the only remaining two guards in the prison, stood guard over the central lever that opened and closed all the cell doors thought Cavigor. They heard the entire prison shake and looked more than a little nervous.
"Think we should go? Sounds pretty intense out there." One guard questioned.
"How?! There's literally no way out of this dump!" The second one exclaimed before rubbing his hand down his face in emotional exhaustion. "I need a better job."
"Yeah, you do." A female voice said, one they couldn't identify as nobody else appeared to be with them. They looked around in surprise, only for an invisible force to grab them by their helmeted heads and slam them together to knock them out. The assailant revealed to be an invisible Viper, who turned back to normal as she smirked over them. "Might wanna mull it over while you're out." She told them with a smirk as Jackie, Alborn, and Miriadel entered the room, along with the still-drugged Blunk.
"Pretty mountain stream…" Blunk said in a daze.
"This is it." Jackie found the lever and grabbed it. "Once all the cells are opened, tell every person to meet at the upper most floor of the cellblock, that's where the portal will be."
Both Miriadel and Alborn nodded as Jackie pulled the lever, triggering the chain reaction in Cavigor's systems that would open all the cells.
Back outside; Will, Caleb, Cornelia, Uncle, and Jade looked around to see the cells open, and all the prisoners walk out in confusion, some looking like they haven't been fed properly in a very long time, all wondering what was going on.
"The cells are open!" Caleb called out.
"Then it's time to end this!" Will stated. "Cornelia, get the others above us! We'll finish things here!"
"Got it." The blonde nodded before flying straight up.
"You aren't going anywhere!" Tarakudo tried to pursue her, only for a lasso of shadow-magic to wrap around him and halt his advance.
"Neither are you!" Jade pulled down on the lasso to slam Tarakudo hard onto a bridge. Before he even had the chance to recover, Will flew out to dish a series of punches and chops across his face, dealing significant damage thanks to the good magic that surged with them. After the seventh punch, she dealt an upper cut to sent him flying before shooting up herself to meet him, cupped her hands together, and slammed them down to knock him abck down again. He didn't even have time to register the next attack as Caleb already rushed him to slice his katana across his face, cutting him across the eyes in the process.
"UGH! AAAAH! GAAAH!" Tarakudo cried out in pain before he vanished in a wave of green energy.
"Did that do it?" Caleb asked. "Is he beaten?"
"No." Uncle said as he walked forward. "These spells and onions only serve to repel the Oni. He will recover and return. We must research way to truly defeat Tarakudo."
"Right, but let's get all these people to safety first." Will said as she flew toward the upper most floor of the cellblock, took out the Heart of Kandrakar and used its power to open a portal.
Back in the armory, most of the soldiers had been defeated, all save for about five, along with Cedric, Wong, and Hak Foo, all of whom were literally backed into a corner as Irma, Tohru, Hay Lin, El Toro, Taranee, Alchemy, Paco, Super Moose, and Scruffy, still in his Cerberus form, loomed over them.
"You want some more? Huh? You want some more?" Super Moose challenged as the other heroes were more than ready to continue the fight.
While the soldiers looked more than a little frightened; Cedric, Wong, and even Hak Foo practically snarled at their foes.
"We are not beaten!" Cedric hissed. "We will fight to the last…!"
Suddenly the entire ground exploded upward, sending the villains flying in all directions. Even Hak Foo landed on a downed spear that was pointed up, causing him to poof, while everyone else was knocked out as Cornelia flew out of the hole.
"Nice timing." Alchemy commented.
"Thanks." Cornelia smirked. "Come on, we're getting out of here."
"Let's go, the portal is only one floor up, we're almost there." Jackie helped an injured man to his feet as Alborn and Miriadel all did the same, along with Viper who was helping an elderly woman.
"Hang in there, we're almost out." She assisted. Even Will, Uncle, Jade, and Caleb all spread out to help the people. The rest of the Guardians even flew down, along with Alchemy and Super Moose, to guide any stragglers toward the portal as well.
It didn't take long for all the prisoners to make it through the portal, even the one that tried to escape in the beginning. Soon, all of the Guardians, the J-Team, and their allies were at the portal as Paco arrived in a blur of super speed.
"All of the cells are empty. The people are safe." Paco reported.
"Good work Paco." El Toro nodded. "Then it is time for us to take our leave as well."
"Not just yet." Will said as she looked out toward the prison. "All these cells are empty now, but Phobos could fill them back up in just a few days. Best to make sure that doesn't happen ever again."
"Yeah, let's tear this place down to the ground." Jade agreed before glancing toward her uncle for final approval. "Jackie?"
Jackie gave a small sigh. "Normally, I would not approve of something like this. But you are right. Phobos could imprison many more innocent people here, we need to see to it that it never happens again. Do what you will."
"You heard the man! Let's tear this place down!" Irma stated as all six Guardians flew around, even Alchemy joined in as she shot blasts from the Dragon Talisman into multiple cells to destroy them. Taranee did the same with a series of fireballs in the cells below. Tohru even lent Will the Pig Talisman to blast heat-beam eyes into many more cells, causing them to collapse inward.
Jade, Irma, Cornelia, and Hay Lin each flew down toward the ground, each one of them at a separate corner where several support pillars were built into the walls. Jade materialized a shadow-katana in her hands and began to cut down at her pillar; Irma fired a stream of water so condense that it cut through the stone of her pillar as well. Hay Lin created a pair of air-disks for a similar effect of cutting through the third pillar, while Cornelia channeled her earth powers into the last one to weaken the foundation, causing it to collapse. Soon, all four pillars gave way and fell apart; causing many of the floors, bridges, and walls around all the cells (intact and destroyed alike), all began to collapse.
As the entire cellblock was on the verge of annihilation; Viper, El Toro, Caleb, Paco, Super Moose, and Scruffy were the first to enter the portal, followed by Tohru and Uncle, though Jackie waited for the girls to all fly back up as they entered the portal one last time. It would close behind them as the rest of the cellblock, and most the prison finally collapsed in on itself. While the outside of Cavirgor appeared to remain intact, the inwards of the prison were nothing more than a massive pile of rubble now.
Infinite City
"Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku." Uncle and Tohru both chanted as they were near the entrance of the Infinite City, before pointing their respective blowfishes, which shot a beam of green magic toward the entrance, causing it to glow the same color before vanishing.
"Spell will prevent Tarakudo from entering Infinite City." Uncle said.
"Which means for the moment, it and all these people are safe from the Forces of Darkness." Tohru said as the rebellion worked to help feed and nurse the escaped prisoners back to health; with the J-Team, the rest of the Chan Clan, as well as the Guardians lending a hand as well, with which the Horse Talisman especially came in handy.
"No, no, you're not on a beach, Blunk." Caleb tried to tell the Passling, who was still drugged, but the young rebel couldn't stop himself from laughing.
"Green fishy." Blunk said in a daze.
"That's your foot. Hey, can I get the Horse Talisman over here?!" Caleb called out.
Meanwhile, Jackie and the girls were talking with Alborn and Miriadel as the Meridian couple extended their most sincere thanks to them.
"We… can't thank you enough." Alborn said. "You hardly know us… and you went to all this trouble."
"You don't have to thank us." Jackie assured. "It was the right thing to do."
"And you raised our best friend, we owed you guys." Cornelia added.
"And we'll make sure to get Elyon back." Alchemy stated.
"You guys are going to see her again, we promise." Will assured.
"Please, don't let anything happen to our little girl." Miriadel said.
"We won't." Jade stated with a nod.
"Girls… listen." Jackie got all their attention as he smiled toward them. "I just wanted to say, that you have all grown so much in such a short time, and I'm proud of each and every one of you."
"Awe, we love you too, Uncle Jackie." Hay Lin was the first to hug him, which he was happy to return.
"Come on, everyone get in on this!" Irma stated as she, Will, Taranee, Cornelia, Jade, and even Alchemy joined in giving Jackie a massive group-hug.
"Well, someone's popular with the ladies." Viper approached with a teasing smirk before giving him a kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush with a smile; followed by teasing giggles and 'awes' from the other girls as they broke off from the hug.
"And I wanted to thank you all as well for your help today." Jackie said to not only Viper, but also El Toro and Paco who joined in.
"Of course, my friend. We are always happy to help." El Toro said as he shook Jackie's hand.
"Yeah, you guys really are something else." Caleb said to them. "I'm hoping the J-Team can provide more aid to the Rebellion in the future, maybe even in the final battle against Phobos and his forces."
El Toro and Viper shared expressions before smiling toward the young rebel leader. "We would be honored." They said simultaneously.
"Well Jade, El Toro may be the best…" Paco began with a smirk.
"And Jackie may be better…" Jade continued with their usual shtick with a smirk of her own.
"But J-WITCH and the J-Team are the greatest!" They said in unison before exchanging a high-five.
Phobos was livid. No, that wasn't even coming close to describing the raw fury that was building inside him as Cedric and Wong kneeled before him as they gave their report of what just happened at Cavigor.
"So… not only have the Guardians, Chan, and their allies liberated every prisoner from Cavigor, but you don't even know how they entered the prison in the first place?!" He practically screamed at them in rage.
"Unfortunately, no." Wong reported. "The damage to Cavigor was substantial, the prison has been almost completely destroyed."
"Any evidence that we could find to know how they entered is buried with the rubble." Cedric added. "We will be unable to repair the prison before the coronation."
Phobos was tempted to lash out at both of them. He had just lost his most secure prison in all of Meridian. News of this will spread like wildfire, which will cause the rebel forces to attack much more boldly. Once again, the Guardians and Chan have proven to be the most painful thorn in his side imaginable. However, he was forced to quell his rage as he heard the throne doors open, prompting him to throw up the illusion once again as his sister entered the throne, along with the Enforcers acting as her dutiful guards.
"You're back!" Elyon said excitedly upon seeing Daolon Wong and Cedric. "Where are my parents?"
Cedric tried to put on a face of remorse. "I'm… so sorry to have to tell you this… we were ambushed on our return. The rebels… took your parents."
Elyon gasped in shock. "What will they do to them?!"
"I don't believe they will do any harm to them; I assure you, your majesty." Wong spoke to her. "They know you have a close bond with your parents and will likely use them as hostages or bargaining chips to get to you. I realize this sounds bad, but they have more reason to keep your parents alive."
Though that was good to know, Elyon was beyond distraught at the idea of the man and woman who raised her being used as hostages.
"Hey don't worry kiddo." Ratso was the first to try and comfort her. "We'll get your parents back."
"Yeah, nothing will happen to them, we promise." Chow also said.
"Indeed." Phobos added as he stepped down to meet his sister. "I promise you, Elyon. We will retrieve your parents, and those who took them, will pay dearly."
"In the meantime…" Finn put his hand on Elyon's shoulder protectively. "We'll make sure nothing happens to you, Little E. Nothing at all." He gave a somewhat subtle glare in Phobos direction at that last comment, causing the dark prince to discreetly narrow his eyes in return.
Done.
Yeah, I had an absolute blast writing this chapter. The heroes having needed the aid of the J-Team for this one; and it more than helped. Unlike in the cannon, where the Guardians alone were stuck on the defensive throughout the prison-break, with way too many close calls, the extra aid from the Chan Clan and the J-Team, along with some extra Talisman power, helped them to bulldoze their way through the entire army of guards in the prison, as well as the reinforcements that arrived to reinforce it. They even made sure to destroy Cavigor to make sure Phobos could never use it again, further damaging his grip over Meridian.
And now, it looks like the J-Team has agreed to join J-WITCH and the Rebellion in the upcoming final battle.
But… Phobos is not done yet, he and Tarakudo still have more tricks up their sleeves, with two more Oni masks still out there. But before we get to the next Oni episode, we have one more chapter based on the WITCH series, which should be a particularly interesting one as I have special plans in mind.
However, it also seems that the Enforcers have become so fond of Elyon, that they are now going to truly protect her, even from the bad guys that keep them enslaved. Maybe there is a possible redemption in their future? :)
Until the next update; stay healthy, happy, and sane out there. Love you guys.