A/N: Hello fellow readers. Prepare for some more action and drama. And if it seems that I'm not up to date on my JCA fandom, please forgive me and I'll try to do more research. Prepare for some more thrills.
Back at Uncle's Rare Finds, Jackie was dressed and walking downstairs to greet his Uncle, who was manning the register. "Good morning, Uncle." Jackie smiled before he was met by a two finger smack from Uncle.
"Nephew did not make coffee this morning!" Uncle barked. "Coffee is what keeps Uncle's heart beating! Do you want a dead uncle? No? Then make coffee!"
Jackie sighed. "OK." Jackie said.
"One more thing: University called about new exhibit this month. They want you to go over the research." Uncle informed his nephew.
"OK." Jackie said before they heard the back door open. "What was that?" Jackie then went over to the back to investigate. He found nothing there. The door was shut. He just shrugged and walked back to make coffee for Uncle.
Right behind a coat rack, Jade breathed a sigh of relief as she heard her uncle leave. "OK, try to be more quiet." Jade whispered to herself. "You don't want yourself getting caught." She then slowly moved her way around Uncle's shop before going upstairs, and into her guest room. Jade then glanced at the alarm clock. It was 6:45. "Good. Now I just gotta get clean and make sure to get rid of the smell."
Back downstairs, Jackie delivered a cup of coffee to Uncle. "Here you go, Uncle." Jackie smiled. "Oh, better go see if Jade's up." He then went upstairs and walked towards Jade's room. He opened the door but didn't see Jade there. "Jade?"
"I'm in the shower, Jackie!" Jade called from the bathroom. True to her own words, Jade was in the shower, trying to get clean enough to make sure Jackie didn't notice that she smelled like garbage.
"Oh, OK. What do you want for breakfast?" Jackie called back.
"Maybe some toast. I'm not that really hungry."
"OK. Come downstairs when you're ready." Jackie then went downstairs to make Jade some breakfast.
In the shower, Jade breathed a sigh of relief before shuddering, already getting the Willies. She turned her head around, trying to see if any ninjas were ready to attack her. But there was no one there. She would breathe easily, but she still felt like there was a cloud of darkness over her, making her more scared than she had ever felt. After she was clean enough, she got out, got dressed in her usual clothes, then put her garbage smelling night shirt in the washer.
She then went downstairs, still feeling a little scared. "Good morning Jade." Jackie smiled, but Jade just gave a little smile and waved. Jackie and Tohru noticed the change is Jade's demeanor as she got herself a bowl of cereal. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah. Why?" Jade asked, a bit uneasily.
"You seem a little bit on edge today." Tohru commented. "Like you're in a dark mood."
"Ch, no I'm not. Just had a rough night. That's all." Jade said before covering her mouth, hoping she didn't expose what happened to her last night. Jackie and Thoru arched eyebrows at each other before turning back to Jade. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Jade, you should know if something is truly bothering you, you can always come to me, your uncle, for help." Jackie said with a reassuringly smile, but then Jade angrily grabbed his shirt. "BWAH!" Jade then brought him closer to her face which already had eyes of rage.
"I said I'm FINE!" Jade said, in a voice that deeper and more evil than hers. Now Jackie trembled as his mouth hung open, remembering that voice before. It was almost like the voice that encompassed thw last Oni Mask that both Jade and Valmont wore. Jade then blinked and then noticed her uncle's mouth still open, and saw that Uncle and Tohru had the same expression. She then realized that she grabbed Jackie in a fit of rage, and quickly let go. "Sorry. That was out of line for me." There was an awkward silence between the four. "I better get going." She then got up, but stopped when Jackie grabbed her arm. She gulped, expecting a serious lecture or punishment for yelling at him.
"You don't have to go today," Jackie said with concern in his voice, clearly not angry. "If you don't feel that well, you could stay home and we could play video games together."
Jade smiled a little at that, but then looked down. "Don't worry. It's fine. I gotta study for a test anyway." She said before picking up her backpack and exiting the shop, with Jackie, Uncle, and Tohru looking on with concern.
"I haven't Jade act like that since she stuck the other half of the last Oni Mask on her face." Jackie said.
"I sure hope she's alright." Tohru commented.
"It appears that forces of darkness are now at work to encompass young Jade's mind in ways that we might not even have enough tools to fight back." Uncle said, already getting up from his seat. "Come Thoru! We must do research!" With that, both Uncle and Tohru left to go read some more books to hopefully help Jade, while Jackie remained concerned for his niece.
Jade kept to herself while on the bus and while entering school, still shuddering with fear and tension, expecting a ninja or Tarkaudo to come out of nowhere and kidnap her. She hoped that last night was just nothing, and she wasn't starting to become possessed again. She then entered the classroom and sat down at her desk. Jade didn't hear much of Miss Heartless lesson as she was still shuddering, and now her head started to hurt, filled with evil whispers. She rubbed her head, hoping to make them go away. "Jade?" Miss Heartless asked. When she didn't get an answer, she raised her voice. "Jade!"
"Yes, Miss Heartless?" Jade asked as the voices subsided.
"Perhaps you might have the answer to the question: what year did the American Revolution began?" Miss Heartless asked.
"I don't know...1776?" Jade asked to which she was met with loud laughs from her classmates. Her heard was then again filled with the evil whispers.
"Kill them...kill them all...make them suffer…" the whispers echoed in Jade's brain. It was almost too much for the eleven year old tomboy.
"Would you all shut up?!" Jade barked, allowing the laughing to stop. The classmates thought Jade told them to shut up, when in truth, she just wanted the voices to stop.
"Young lady, if you're having a bad day, I understand, but we do not tell an entire classroom to 'shut up'. That is rude and dis-respectable." Miss Heartless said sternly.
"Sorry Miss Heartless. I just got a really bad headache." Jade said with her head down. "May I go to the restroom?" Miss Heartless nodded as Jade got up and walked out, with Simone looking on with concern for her friend.
Inside the girl's restroom, Jade just washed her face. "OK, something's happening to me, and I don't like it. I hope I'm becoming possessed again." Jade shuddered. "But if I tell Jackie, he'll think I've just been fooling around with magic and I'll get grounded. What am I gonna do?"
"Kill him." the Queen of Shadowkhan smiled evilly, her face appearing in the mirror.
"BWAH!" Jade screamed, frightened again. "No, you're not real. I'm just probably having a really rough day. There's no way you're back."
"Oh yeah? Look at your ankle." the Queen smirked. Jade checked her right ankle and gasped at what she saw: the infamous tattoo of Tarkudo's face, clearly identical to the one she made for herself a few years earlier. Jade was absolutely speechless. This wasn't a dream after all. She was becoming possessed again! "Yes, it's coming back. Slowly, but surely. As the mark grows more powerful, so will I. And once the possession is complete, I will inhabit your body and reunite with my king. Then we will cover the world in darkness with our Shadowkhan!"
Jade was terrified, but she then smirked with a little confidence. "Ch, not if the J Team can whip up that potion that put the lights out on you last time!" Jade smirked.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." the Queen of Shadowkhan smirked back. "My beloved king works in very evil ways. And I'm sure he's cooking up something to make the mark so permanent that no potion will ever remove it. Anyway, onto new topics: those kids and the teacher didn't treat you very nicely. I could use my powers to help you deal with them."
"Forget it!" Jade said with more confidence. "I'm not gonna hurt my class or my teacher. That's so low."
"Maybe, in your world, but with my powers, I can easily make your problems disappear by not even laying one finger on any of them." the Queen said, mysteriously.
"OK, I know you're evil, but now you're losing me." Jade said confused. The Queen of Shadowkhan then used her powers to show what appeared to be Jade getting hurt by Miss Heartless, when in truth, she hasn't laid one hand on Jade. The whole class of kids glared at their teacher. Then, she was handcuffed by police with a sad look on her face, making Jade shudder even more. "Whoa. That's beyond low."
"You see? Without me, you're weak. You can't even take on my Shadowkhan by yourself." the Queen smiled evilly. "But with your brains and my powers, we can be unstoppable. When you're ready to talk, you know where to find me." The Queen's face disappeared from the mirror. Jade shuddered some more, knowing this was serious before going back to class.
It was now lunch time, and Jade just kept her head down as she entered the cafeteria, got her lunch, and tried to find a place to sit down. She kept shuddering, still hearing the evil whispers in her head before noticing Simone approach her and smiled. "Hey, what's up with you? You've been acting a little off today." Simone said with concern.
Jade, still having the Willies, looked around for the Queen, Tarkaudo, or any Shadowkhan hidden, hoping she wasn't being watched. When she spotted no darkness, she breathed with relief. "Let's go sit down and we'll talk." Jade said, to which Simone nodded.
After finding a table in the back, Jade explained everything leading up to school so far. Simone's mouth dropped, knowing it was serious. "No way! You woke up in a dumpster?" Simone asked in disbelief.
"Yep. And man was that smell nasty." Jade concurred.
"Well at least you got back without getting busted." Simone said with a small smile, making Jade smile back.
"But that's not all." Jade shuddered before showing her friend the Tarakudo tattoo. Simone has seen it before when she was trying to outdo Drew's tattoo, but then a few days later, it was gone.
"Isn't that the…" Simone asked.
"Yes!" Jade exclaimed. "Now that the tattoo's back, I'm becoming possessed again! And who knows what Tarkaudo is gonna do to me to get back her queen?!"
"You have to tell your uncle Jackie about this." Simone said with concern.
"No! I can't!"
"Why not?" Simone asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Because after all the mischief I've caused with the Talismans and Uncle's spell books, how in the world is he gonna believe me when I try to tell him I didn't do this on purpose?!" Jade exclaimed.
"Because it actually is the truth this time!" Simone exclaimed. "And I'm sure he, Uncle, and Tohru will be able to help you. What else are you gonna do?"
"I don't know." Jade shrugged before shuddering again. "All I do know is that I've never been this scared before. I feel so shaky." Simone then hugged her friend, making Jade smile as she temporarily let her fears go away.
It was now recess, and on the playground, Jade sat by herself before Drew came up to her. "Hey Jade, the King of Ninjas called for you. He wants his hoodie back!" Drew insulted.
Jade growled to herself as Drew laughed, but did nothing. "Just ignore him. Keep walking." Jade whispered to herself as she got up and walked away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Drew asked as Jade kept ignoring him. "Hey, come over here and face me, ninja fighter!" Jade still didn't do anything. "Oh, I see. You're scared. Face it Jade. You're nothing but a coward who likes to make up stupid stories." Jade then growled louder before turning around to face her classmate, but that was the last thing she remembered doing before blacking out.
After what seemed like forever, Jade groaned before awaking on the ground. She tried to sit up, but found it very painful. She then felt that she had a bloody nose, black eye, and bruised lip. Jade then heard police sirens and the sound of her classmates muttering to themselves, not sure what to make of what they've just saw. But what did they see? What happened with Jade between the time she faced Drew and the time she blacked out. She then found the more she tried to remember, the painful her headaches became as she fell unconscious again on the grass.
Next chapter, Jade partially learns what happened to her, then tells her uncle Jackie the truth. When they see that Jade's becoming possessed again, it now becomes a race against time to return her to normal. But that very night, Jade has another nightmare, and this one will have Jackie come face to face once again with the Queen of Shadowkhan.