"Dragon up!" Jake transformed into his alter ego and went to work. He slammed into Slipstream with his tail, then headbutted Motor Ed.
"One thing still puzzles me" Fu said, "how'd Hannibal find this place anyway?"
"A couple pals of mine spied on ya" Hannibal replied, "your dragon friend might remember Ember McLane. I tried asking those Oracle Twins, but they wouldn't tell me anything I wanted to know. So I sent 'em to be thrown into the Hudson river."
"What?" Jake exclaimed, only to be caught off guard by a blast from Ember and knocked behind the main desk.
"Now whatta we do Jakey?" Trixie asked.
"You guys get down to the Hudson river and save the Oracles" Jake answered, "I'll cover you."
"But how are we gonna handle those freaky crook dudes?" Trixie asked.
"Take Fu with you" Jake explained, "I'll hold these guys off as long as I can."
Ember tried to blast Jake again, but he avoided it, then knocked her into several of the other villains.
"Go!" Jake exclaimed.
Trixie and Spud didn't hesitate and ran for the door, with Fu in tow.
"You dudes aren't going anywhere, seriously!" Motor Ed replied, blocking their path. But Jake tackled him , and his friends fled.
"Forget them" Hannibal said, "find the amulet!"
The Ottoman and Gearhead began looking for the amulet, while the other Bean Brigade members held off Jake. And with the powers of wind, music blasts, and earthquakes, that was wasn't hard to do.
"You've lost boy" Hannibal said, chuckling, "you're a disgrace to the name of dragons. Your grandfather didn't take that long to defeat me."
"Nor will I take that long again, Hannibal Bean" came the familiar voice.
Hannibal looked in the doorway and saw Lao Shi, a shopping bag in hand. "I step out for a moment to buy groceries and this is what happens?" he asked.
"So, Lao Shi, we meet again" Hannibal said, "I believe we have some business to finish."
"Indeed" Lao Shi said, "I have to take care of you."
"You've got to be kidding me" Hannibal said, "you're old, you barely defeated me when you were in your prime."
"Maybe so" Lao Shi replied, "but that doesn't mean I can't try."
With that, he transformed into his dragon form and made a beeline for his old foe.
Meanwhile, Fu and the kids had taken a magical taxi to get down to the Hudson river. They crouched behind some old crates, as they watched Control Freak and the Herring tie large concrete weights around the girls' ankles.
"Any last words?" Control Freak asked, pulling down Sara's gag.
"You're going to get hit in the stomach," she said.
"Oh really?" CF asked, "and who, may I ask, is going to do that?"
"I am!" CF barely had time to react before Trixie came into view, burying one of her fists into his portly chest. He went down like a sack of potatoes.
"What the?" Herring asked, before Spud jumped on him.
"Ew, he's all slimy, like a fish" Spud commented.
"That's cause my suit is coated with jelly to keep people like you off of me" Herring said, shaking to and fro to remove Spud.
"Aaaah! Trix, do something!" Spud yelled, his group loosening.
"Okay fish man, drop the idiot" Trixie announced, "or you gonna get a face full of my kung-fu."
"You do realize I have guns in my eye sockets, right?" Herring asked.
"I kinda forgot about that" Trixie replied, "uh, forget all that stuff I was saying about kung-fu and everything."
Before Herring could do anything else, Spud slipped off him and tripped him up.
"You're fish food dude!" Spud said, "actually, that doesn't sound right."
"Let's just get out of here!" Trixie exclaimed. She grabbed the two Oracles and they fled to the nearby taxi.
"Man, the boss is not going to be happy about this" Herring said, "but I'm not telling him."
Back at Canal Street, Lao Shi & Hannibal were engaged in battle. The elderly dragon matched his younger adversary move for move, plus his tail allowed him to get in some extra strikes.
"You haven't lost a step since the last time we fought" Hannibal commented, "but that still doesn't mean ya can defeat me. And without yer little grandson ta help you, I shall be victorious!"
"You always did claim victory before you won" Lao replied, blocking another strike.
Elsewhere, Jake was still pinned against the wall by the combined assault of Slipstream & Temblor.
"Not so tough now, are you dragon?" Temblor asked.
Jake looked around, hoping to find something that would allow him to escape his predicament. Glancing upward, he saw a shelf of TV's; slamming his tail against the wall as hard as he could, he knocked the sets down, sending them on the heads of his oppressors.
"Don't you guys know that two much TV can rot your brains?" Jake asked, knocking over the disoriented villains.
Unfortunately, he didn't see the guitar blast by Ember, that knocked him into the opposite wall.
Ember floated over to him, "here's my new ballad, dragon boy" she said "and this one's a killer!"
Jake moved out of the way and avoided the blast, knocking Ember off balance with his tail. Another crescendo ushered forth from the guitar shattering the glass of the display cases.
"I'm going to make my new guitar case out of your skin!" she exclaimed.
Jake looked around for something to use, and rolled into the back room where Fu kept his magical items. He dug around in one of the boxes until he found what he was looking for.
"Where are you dragon?" Ember asked, craning her head around.
"Right here!" Jake shouted.
Ember didn't even have time to react before she was blasted with whatever Jake had.
"I knew that paralyzing stone Fu had would come in handy" he said, before rushing off to help his grandfather.
Elsewhere, Hannibal had gotten the upper hand on his opponent and was about to deliver a blow with claws on his left hand.
"I've looked forward to this for a long time, Lao Shi" he said.
"Well you're going to have to wait a little longer chump!" Jake said, knocking Hannibal aside with his tail.
Hannibal was slightly dazed, but he quickly got to his feet, only to find himself battling two dragons.
"Can you beat two of us pal?" Jake asked.
"Doesn't matter if there's two or a million of you" Hannibal replied, "I'll destroy ya all!"
He ran forward to engage the dragons and kept pace with them both.
"Man, this dude's good" Jake commented, "he's blocking all our moves!"
"That's cause I know every move ya stupid dragons can make" Hannibal replied.
"That's what you think" Jake said, rearing up on his tail.
Hannibal readied himself to block a kick, only for Jake to surprise him by sweeping with his tail, then grabbing him and lifting off the ground.
"Miserable dragon" Hannibal shouted, "I'll destroy you all!"
"Maybe, but you're not gonna be doing any destroying today" Jake replied, "now take your pals and get out!"
Using all of his lower body strength, Jake hurled Hannibal out the door, just as Fu and the others had pulled up to the door.
"Whoa, watch what you're doing there Jake" Fu said, "ya coulda hit me."
Hannibal tried to get up from the ground, only to see that Jake & Lao Shi were ready to fight.
"You win this time" Hannibal said, "but you haven't seen the last of Hannibal Roy Bean! Retreat!" he ordered, as the members of the Bean Brigade scattered into the night.
"Should we go after them?" Jake asked.
"No young dragon" Lao Shi replied, "something tells me their humiliation here is punishment enough. Despite his threats, I doubt Hannibal Bean will be causing us any more trouble."
A few hours later, Jake and his friends were cleaning up the mess caused by the attack on the store.
"Will ya look at all this huh" Fu said "perfectly good TV sets gone to waste."
"What're you complaining about?" Jake asked, "you didn't have to fight these guys off."
"Yeah, well I still had to deal with a dude dressed as a fish" Fu said, "and that was no easy task, let me tell ya."
"Yeah it was" Spud said.
"Could ya knock it off, huh kid?" Fu asked "jeez, I'm trying to tell a friggin story here."
"Whatever happened to that crazy death amulet thing anyway?" Trixie asked.
"Well, when Hannibal and his men attacked the shop, I had Fu Dog stow it away in his wrinkles" Lao Shi explained.
"Yeah, the best thing about being a pug is that you have lots of room for things" Fu explained, "although ya should probably wash yer fur before you put anything in it. Just a word of advice, trust me."
"The point is, the Amulet has been saved and will soon be delivered to a safe house" Lao Shi replied, "and I'm proud of you young dragon. You held your own against impossible odds and outsmarted one of the most diabolical villains of all."
"Yo, it was nothing gramps" Jake replied "that dude didn't know what he was getting into when he messed with the Am Drag."
"Yes, well don't get cocky" Lao Shi replied, "there will be many more challenges coming your way, and they will be far more difficult."
"Aww man!" Jake exclaimed.
Back at the Bean Brigade's secret headquarters… "the American dragon may have won this day" Hannibal ranted "but when we meet again, and we will meet again, he will be very sorry."
"We're really sorry you didn't defeat that dragon boss" Control Freak said "I wish I had been there, maybe I could made a difference."
"Don't concern yerself with the past, boy" Hannibal said "instead, we need ta start looking towards the future. The Bean Brigade is still strong, and that means big trouble for everybody on the Earth." Then Hannibal broke into his nefarious laugh.
Next Time:
Tired of constant defeats at the hands of the Teen Titans, Control Freak persuades members of the team to help him defeat them. However, Hannibal has an ulterior motive; he wants to use Titans member Raven to resurrect her evil father, the powerful being known as Trigon. Can the Titans save their teammate and the world? Find out in the next adventure of the Bean Brigade.