Demon Inferno
Chapter 4: The Rise of Sapphire Jong
At Jack Spicer's lab, Wuya surveyed the Shen Gong Wu that Jack and Shendu stole. Jack was combing his hair in the mirror. It was a bit hard to do it since Shendu was still inside of him and his reflection overshadowed Jack's. "Are coming out me or what?" asked Jack. "I'll come out when I'm good and ready." Suddenly the mirror turned red and seven more demon faces appeared in it. Jack screamed and fell over. Shendu took control of Jack's body and got up. "Brothers and sisters," said Shendu. "What a pleasant surprise." "Shendu where have you been?" asked Bai Tza wriggling her tentacle-like hair. "You have been missing your daily disciplines," said Xiao Fung. "How did you get back into the human world?" demanded Tchang Zu. "And what are you doing in that scrawny little human?" asked Hsi Wu. "I can explain," said Shendu. "This Heylin witch named Wuya released so I can help steal some Shen Gong Wu." "The Shen Gong Wu?" questioned Tso Lan. "We have never needed those trinkets." "But these 'trinkets' can ensure your freedom. I have been looking through this mortal's mind and I have learned about a particular Shen Gong Wu called the Golden Tiger Claws. Whoever wields them can create a portal to any location they chose. Even your dimension." "And once you those Claws we'll be free to eat any human we want," said Po Kong licking her enormous lips. "This better work Shendu," said Dai Gui, "or else you will receive all of the punishments you missed out on." "I will not fail you siblings," said Shendu. The mirror then returned to normal. "You're going let them all out?" asked Jack. "Just be glad you are on my side," said Shendu. "Jack get out here!" yelled Wuya. Jack left the bathroom back into his lab.
Wuya had all of the Shen Gong Wu that Jack had stolen from the Temple as well as some of the Wu he already had. "What do you want Wuya?" asked Jack. "I want you to arrange some of these Shen Gong Wu in a certain way," said Wuya. "You mean like Mala Mala Jong?" "Sort of but first, Shendu get out of Jack." Shendu readily left Jack's body and floated over to Wuya. "I'm glad to be out of him," said Shendu. "Believe me," said Wuya, "even I wouldn't want to possess him even if I could." "Do you mind?" said Jack. "I'm trying to work here." Following Wuya's instructions Jack wrapped the Third Arm Sash around the Two Ton Tunic and hanged it over the right side. He then attached the Shroud of Shadows to the back of the Tunic like a cape. He then placed the Fist of Tebigong on the left side of the Tunic and the Jet Bootsu underneath below it. But instead of putting the Eye of Dashi on the chest of the Tunic and Helmet of Jong above, he place the Star Hanabi and the Visuvius Skullcap in their respective places. And just as he was about to put the Heart of Jong into the Two Ton Tunic, Wuya cried, "No! Equip the Heart to the Mala Mala Cannon and put the Sapphire Dragon in the Tunic!" "Are you sure?" asked Jack. "Yes I'm sure just do it." Jack equipped the Heart to the Mala Mala Cannon and as he was putting the Sapphire Dragon in the Tunic he asked, "Say Wuya, how comes the Sapphire Dragon needs to be covered with soot now?" "Excellent question?" said Wuya. "The reason is that when it first activated, the Sapphire Dragon had been restless of 1500 years of disuse and was releasing its pent up energy. And since it had, it will remain dormant until it is manually activated." Jack nodded in understandingly and put the Dragon into the Tunic. "Now equip yourself with the Emperor Scorpion and fire the Mala Mala Cannon at the Shen Gong Wu formation." Jack put the Emperor Scorpion on his wrist and picked the Mala Mala Cannon. Aiming at the Wu he had put on the table he said, "Mala Mala Cannon." The Cannon fired out a multicolored beam that was covered in bright green flames. The beam hit the formation, particularly in the chest. The beam stopped but the green flames still covered the Sapphire Dragon inside. Suddenly, the eyes of the Sapphire Dragon lit up and it let out a roar and blue flames. The Two Ton Tunic hardened into its armor form as the flames filled it up. But unlike with Mala Mala Jong, a sapphire coloring spread out from where the Sapphire Dragon was and spread to the rest of the Two Ton Tunic and the Shroud of Shadows and Star Hanabi that were attached to it. Then the blue flames shot out of the left side of the Tunic and hit the Fist of Tebigong. The Fist bonded to the flames and turned blue. Then the flames spread along the Third Arm Sash until it had all become the same sapphire blue. Then the flames came out of the leg-holes of the Tunic and struck the Jet Bootsu. The Jet Bootsu became sapphire and bonded to the flames. Finally the sapphire flames erupted from the head-hole of the Tunic and covered the Visuvius Skullcap. The Skullcap turned blue and disattached a piece of itself that positioned itself to form a lower jaw. Then the Shen Gong Wu lifted themselves off the table and let out a loud roar. What stood in front of Jack was what looked like a duplicate of Mala Mala Jong. But instead of being the different colors of the Shen Gong Wu, it was all a sapphire blue and instead of wearing the Eye of Dashi on its chest and the Helmet of Jong for its head, it had the Star Hanabi and the Visuvius Skullcap respectfully. Nevertheless, it was scary enough to make Jack scream. Even Shendu was impressed with the warrior. "Behold," said Wuya, "Sapphire Jong!" Sapphire Jong looked down at Jack and opened its mouth to breathe sapphire flames at him. Jack yelped and said, "Emperor Scorpion!" Sapphire Jong stopped just before the flames erupted. "What makes him so different from the original Jong?" asked Jack. "All in good time, Jack," said Wuya.
At the temple, Master Fung pulled out a scroll from the ancient archive. Before he opened it, he asked the Xiaolin Warriors, "Do you remember the Fearsome Four?" The Warriors nodded. "What you are not aware of is that they were not at their full strength. Mala Mala Jong was because he had more Shen Gong Wu than before. The other Jongs did not have enough Shen Gong Wu." "They're going to rebuild the Fearsome Four?" asked Omi. "Not quite, they plan to rebuild the Fire Jong in his true form," he unfurled the scroll showing a picture of the creature that Jack had just made in his lab, "Sapphire Jong. Not too long after the original Mala Mala Jong was first created, the Heylin forces created a duplicate of Jong in a different way. They used the Sapphire Dragon, which originally had the same animating powers as the Heart of Jong to bring it to life. Sapphire Jong rained great destruction on the world, turning most of it to sapphire with both his breath and his touch. It took an accomplished Dragon of Fire to defeat Sapphire Jong. Afterwards when he was disassembled, the Sapphire Dragon's power to reanimate inanimate objects was removed and placed in the Heart of Jong. Also more safeguards were placed on the Sapphire Dragon to make sure that it and the Heart of Jong may never be used together." "That's why the Sapphire Dragon is weak against fire," said Kimiko. "If it was used the Heart, its power would be canceled out." "So could they make Sapphire Jong now?" asked Raimundo. "There is something about the Mala Mala Cannon I have not told you. If equipped with any other magic, like a Shen Gong Wu or an element, the Cannon's beam would contain the primary effect of the equipped magic." "So they must have combined the Cannon and the Heart in order to bring the Sapphire Dragon to life without torching it." "Precisely," said Master Fung. "One more thing," said Uncle. "There is still Shendu that we must be aware of. One more thing we must not let him the Golden Tiger Claws." "Why not?" asked Jade. "The Golden Tiger Claws allow one to create a portal to any location they choose," said Master Fung, "as long as they know where that location is." "And since Shendu has been in the Demon Realm…" said Tohru. "He could use them to unleash his siblings," finished Jackie. Uncle smacked Jackie on the forehead and said, "Do not interrupt!" "We must prepare for Sapphire Jong," said Master Fung.
Meanwhile at Jack's lair, Jack was admiring the power of Sapphire Jong. Then he remembered something, "Wuya, why did you have us steal the Serpent's Tail? We didn't use it build Jong." "Oh that one was for me," said Wuya. "I thought I told you that I won't do it till I'm at a higher position of power." "But you are," said Wuya. "You have control over the most powerful fire demon in the world." "Ah-hem," said Shendu who was floating right by Wuya. "Er, I mean second most powerful fire demon in the world. Trust me, Chase Young will agree." "Alright but first I want you to sign this," said Jack holding up a piece of paper. "What is it?" asked Wuya. "It's a contract that says that you can't betray me once I have solidified you." Wuya grumbled and had her Hand-bots sign it. Then Jack put the Reversing Mirror on one side of the room and stood at the other end with the Serpent's Tail. Wuya floated in front of the Reversing Mirror and said, "Now Jack! Use it!" "Serpent's Tail!" said Jack and he started flying towards the Reversing Mirror in his ghostly form. Wuya prepared to activate the Mirror, "Reversing Mir-" Shendu pushed Wuya out of the way and said, "Reversing Mirror!" Jack couldn't stop in time so Shendu got the full blast. His form grew larger as he became more solid. Arms came out of the sides of his body, as his torso became more muscular. The tendrils formed into a pair of shorts as he grew legs. Finally, his coloring became more solid and let out both a blast of fire and a loud roar. The Reversing Mirror caught the reflection of a 15-foot, dragon-like fire demon wearing maroon shorts before it snapped into several pieces. "Shendu, we had a deal!" said an outraged Wuya. "We did, you promised to restore me to the physical plane. But I am no fool. I knew that the Reversing Mirror could only stand the stress of restoring one of us to full power before breaking. If you had gone first, I would have been stuck as a spirit while you became flesh." Shendu then looked down at Jack who was cowering under a table. "You aren't going to eat me, are you?" whimpered Jack. "No," said Shendu. "You have restore me to my true form. I never destroy those who help me. Besides, you don't look that appetizing at all. Besides, I did you a favor." "Huh?" "Wasn't it obvious that Wuya would turn on you the second she was solid again?" "But she signed the contract." "No, her Hand-bots signed the contract. It's null and void. Now let us go to the Xiaolin Temple. I desire to gain the Golden Tiger Claws and free my brethren. Then I will destroy Jackie Chan." Shendu made a large enough hole in the wall for him to go through and went outside. Jack turned to Wuya and said, "Is this true?" "Of course not," said Wuya. "I don't know where Shendu got that idea." This seemed to satisfy Jack and he and Sapphire Jong left through the same hole as Shendu. As soon as Jack was out of hearing range, Wuya muttered, "Curses, foiled again," and flew after Jack.