Hi everyone, welcome back! I know this seems a bit quick for an update as I usually update my other stories before coming back. However, since this is not only a brand-new fic for me, but also part 2 of the premiere, I thought I'd make an exception. So then, without further delay, let us continue with J-WITCH
It Resumes
The tyrannical Prince Phobos sat on his throne with the Dark Chi wizard, Daolon Wong standing at the side of the stairs leading up to the black throne. They both watched as the massive humanoid serpent named Cedric enter the throne room.
"Report." Phobos told him.
Cedric transformed into his humanoid form as he kneeled to Phobos. "We have the rebel leader. But I was ambushed at the portal by the Guardians."
"The guardians are old women, Cedric." Phobos said.
"Oh, not so, my prince." Cedric replied. "They are now young girls."
Phobos' eyes widened as he gazed down to Wong. "So, it would seem you were correct."
"Indeed." Daolon Wong nodded. "I told you I had sensed a pulse from the Heart of Kandrakar, even across the veil. When a pulse of pure magic that strong is felt across worlds, it can only mean the torch has been passed to a new generation."
"And they were not alone." Cedric said, getting both their attention. "A pair of warriors were by their side as well, in addition some kind of wizard."
"What sort of wizard?" Wong asked with a raised eyebrow.
Cedric lifted the sleeve of his robe to reveal his right arm with a burn mark across it. "Due to my own abilities as a serpent, I can heal from most injuries rather easily. However, this mark has taken longer than normal."
Wong approached Cedric and inspected the wound. He held his left hand as the palm actually had a fanged mouth that opened up, a faint green wisp of smoke emanated from the wound as Wong narrowed his eyes.
"This is good Chi Magic. It would seem a powerful Chi Wizard has allied with this new generation of Guardians as well." Wong stated.
Phobos placed a hand on his chin. "So, these new Guardians appear to be mentored by this wizard and his warrior companions." He theorized. "This could complicate the search for my sister. Finding her is essential if I am to maintain my power over Meridian."
All three of the villains turned to see Caleb being dragged in chains into the throne room by a large blue hulking individual who bowed once he set down near the throne, followed by a pair of guards.
"The trouble-maker Prince Phobos."
"Thank you Vathek." The Prince turned his attention to Caleb who glared at him. "You seem rather young to be leading a rebellion, far too young for you to waste your life on such a meaningless pursuit. However, that need not be the case. I am willing to overlook your transgressions, and all you need do is reveal to me the location of the other rebels. Do this, and I shall grant you a full pardon. So, what do you say? I'm making you a rather generous offer."
"You can take your pardon and blow it out your robe!" Caleb exclaimed. "You'll get nothing from me!"
Phobos glared at that comment. "Wong."
The Dark Chi wizard pulled out a small twisted wooden staff with a blackish-indigo orb embedded into it as he began to recite a dark magic chant and a dark blue light shot from it to envelop Caleb.
"Tell me your secrets." Wong said in his spell as Caleb was telekinetically lifted into the air, but the youth struggled against the dark magic trying to invade his psyche. Wong glared as he stopped his spell and Caleb fell onto the floor.
"For one so young, his will is iron-clad. It will take some time before I can extract any useful information." Wong informed Phobos.
"Very well. Escort him to the oubliette, perhaps the despair will soften him up."
As per Phobos' command, Vathek and the guards dragged Caleb out of the throne room.
Earth – Heatherfield
Despite it only being a day since their arrival in Heatherfield, the Chan Clan was already able to find a decent sized apartment for all of them. Captain Black helped pull some strings so that they could get something very nice. It was a pretty spacious with a large living area with a connected kitchen; and two separate bathrooms. There were three bedrooms as well. Jade would get one to herself, as would Jackie. Tohru and Uncle had to share one, but that was alright. There was furniture already placed there, including a television. They'd still have to buy some food, but that be fine.
Just below the apartment however was an empty space that would soon serve as the newest location of Uncle's Rare Finds. Tohru and Uncle were both on the phone with Captain Black about moving all of the merchandise from the store in San Francisco, with Uncle making certain to handle all the magic books and items with absolute care.
"One more thing. Do not read spells! Uncle does not want frogs in antiques!" Uncle said over the phone.
As they did, Jade sat on a coach thinking about what went down yesterday. "So, Jackie, what do you think about all this? Kinda cool that your training superheroes!"
Jackie gave a small sigh as he sat down next to his niece. "Jade, this isn't a game. These girls are becoming involved in some sort of magical war, battling forces they can barely understand.
"And that's why we're here, right?" Jade asked. "I mean, compared to Shendu and his family, this Phobos guy should be a real cake-walk. Plus, this is you we're talking about! Look how well you trained me! I'm sure you can have these guys cranking out magic Kung Fu in no time!" She excitedly got off the coach and made several chops and kicks.
"Jade, these girls are not like you." Jackie tried to explain. "This is all beyond new to them, they're scared."
Jade's excitement faded. "Yeah, I could kinda see that. But… I think they're gonna do okay."
"What makes you say that?" Jackie asked.
"Cause, they got you to teach them." Jade said. Jackie couldn't help but smile at that as Jade continued. "I could probably give them a few pointers to, not to mention they got Tohru who's about as strong and nice as they come, heck even Uncle might be able to help."
Jackie honestly felt very proud of Jade at that moment. It was no secret that she has always been impulsive, but she was right. These girls, despite being scared, were not alone in this. Not if any of them had anything to say about it.
Sheffield Institute
At the same, the five girls in question were eating lunch in the quad outside, talking about what they saw yesterday as well.
"That poor boy. I wonder who he was." Will said.
"I wonder what that thing did to him." Hay Lin said.
"It's what it could have done to us that worries me." Taranee stated. "I mean, that's what were supposed to fight with our so-called powers?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm far too pretty to end up as snake crap." Cornelia pointed out.
"Good thing Jackie was there, I mean seriously, did you see him?" Irma recalled. "He kicked that thing right in its face!"
"Oh, and that Tohru guy!" Hay Lin pointed out. "You see how big that kinda stuff he threw at it?"
"I definitely wouldn't wanna challenge him to an arm-wrestling match, that's for sure." Will said.
"I probably wouldn't mess the old guy either" Taranee said. "I mean, he's a real-life wizard!"
"That and he slapped Cornelia on the head." Irma snickered, causing the other girls to laugh expect Cornelia herself who merely pouted.
"Jade seems pretty cool to." Will said. "From the sound of it, she's actually used to all this magic stuff. Kinda nice to know that we're not the only ones stuck with this." She looked into her backpack to see the Heart of Kandrakar inside, still finding it difficult to believe that all that power came from something so small. At the same time, she also can't help but wonder what happened to that boy they saw yesterday.
Meridian – Phobos' Castle
Caleb was still in chains as he was being escorted by several guards, Vathek included, underground toward the dungeon. But he wasn't about to make it easy for them. He shoved his elbow into the guard on his right and used the sudden surprise to slide underneath the guard holding his chains and shove up both his feet into the chest of the guard in front of him before jumping up and over the guard he slid under, landing on his head to knock him down.
He dropped and rolled out of the way to avoid an axe-slice from another guard, only to jumped onto by a Lurden and later several others. Within minutes, Caleb had been detained.
Caleb was placed in a small cage that was being lowered down into a deep pit. Once he reached the bottom, the floor in the cage opened and he fell onto the ground as the cage began to rise up.
"Let's see how eternity in the oubliette suits you, traitor." Vathek said to Caleb before slipping a key into a half-loaf of bread and dropped the bread into the pit before walking away with the rest of the guards.
Caleb reached for the bread, but a pair of slimy green hands also reached for it. Caleb pulled the wrists of the hands to toss the creature the hands belonged to; revealing a small, green-skinned, goblin-like, creature.
"Blunk not steal! Trade!" The creature named Blunk pulled out a dead rat. "Rat for bread? Good deal, yes?"
"Blunk?" Caleb recognized the name. "You're that smuggler!"
"Businessman." Blunk corrected as he held the bread in his hands.
"I didn't fight for freedom this long to die in a hole with a talking pickle!" Caleb stated as he looked around at his new surroundings.
"Pickle?" Blunk questioned.
Caleb looked up the walls as he spoke his thoughts aloud. "Saw the new Guardians. It looks like a long wait to get rescued. I'll have to get out of here myself."
Blunk picked up a skull. "Same thing he said. He mostly out of here, aren't you?" He laughed as he used the skull like a puppet. "Yes I am."
Caleb tried to actually climb the wall. "I've been in tougher places than this. Okay… not smellier places…"
"Too high. Never make it." Blunk said as he began to eat the bread.
"Have you even tried….!" The young rebel yelled as he slipped and fell back down.
"Thirty-seven hundred times." The little creature answered before biting down on something hard and spat it out, revealing it to be the key as it landed near Caleb. Blunk then threw away the loaf of bread.
"Keep it." Caleb said as he used the key to unlock his chains. "I don't plan to still be here for dinner."
Phobos' Throne
"Cedric, you are certain you saw the faces of these new Guardians?" The prince asked his right-hand, still in his humanoid form.
"Yes, my prince." He confirmed.
"Then find the one who bears the Heart of Kandrakar and bring her to me."
"As you wish."
Earth
School was over as Will, Cornelia, Taranee, Hay Lin, and Irma walked along the sidewalk of the streets. Hay Lin seemed pretty more chipper than usual.
"So, when do we go? Tonight?"
"Whoa, slow down Tinker Bell." Cornelia told her. "Tomorrow's picture day, remember? Maybe we can rescue this rebel leader after, right?"
Taranee seemed to agree. "Call me a wimp, but in the school yearbook, I'd still like to have a face."
"Forget picture day." Irma stated. "I don't care what I look like. I care about who I am. Let's go kick some evil butt!"
"I wanna go, but I don't know how much help we're gonna be by soaking him and covering him with garbage." Will said. "Let's just talk with Jackie and everyone before we do anything crazy. Taranee, don't you normally go this way?"
"My dad's cooking tonight. I'm eating at Hay Lin's place."
"So am I." Cornelia said.
"Same here." Irma said. "You wanna come Will?"
"Eh, maybe later." Will told them.
"Alright, see you tomorrow." Taranee waved off as the four girls turned around and walked away.
As Will saw them leave, there was a tinge of sadness inside her chest. A part of her wanted to go with them, but it still felt a little awkward. Despite sharing the same experience as yesterday, she still felt a bit of an outsider. So, with a sigh she decided to head down an alleyway to take a shortcut.
Further down the street, Jade was skating along the sidewalk, using a hockey-stick to play around with a puck when she saw Will walking down the alleyway.
"Hey Will!" Jade called to her.
The red-haired girl heard her name being called and was about to turn around, when suddenly a pair of hands grabbed her with one clasping over her mouth to prevent her from screaming as she was pulled into the alleyway.
Jade's eyes widened before she skated into alley. Once she got there, she looked in surprise to an open portal with Will's backpack laying on the ground in front of it. Jade considered reaching for her cell phone and calling Jackie, but the longer she waited, the more danger Will was in. Besides, considering all the tough spots she was in, she could probably find Will and get out before the bad guys did anything. So, she jumped into the portal after her.
However, right as she did, she failed to notice a shocked Taranee looking in the direction Jade leapt: her destination being another realm.
Silver Dragon
"Okay, so how many adventures have you guys all been on?" Hay Lin asked Jackie, Uncle, and Tohru excitedly as she sat down with them at a table, along with Cornelia and Hay Lin. "Have you been on them with Grandma before? How many bad guys did you beat up?" She kept asking as Yan Lin brought out some tea for everyone.
"Please slow down." Jackie said in a humble tone. "I've been on so many adventures, I've lost count."
"So, are you a wizard to, Jackie?" Irma asked.
"No, only Uncle and Tohru use magic." Jackie answered before being slapped by Uncle. "OW!"
"Tohru is only an apprentice! He has yet to utilize spells in combat!" Uncle stated. "One more thing, where is Jade?"
"She went out for some street-hockey. At least that's what she said." Tohru pointed out.
"Well where's Taranee?" Cornelia asked. "Wasn't she right behind us."
Almost on cue, the bespectacled girl in question came running in through the front door, holding Will's backpack. She was out of breath having ran all the way.
"Whoa you just got back from a marathon or something?" Irma asked.
"Will's backpack…!" Taranee said in-between her breaths. "I found it right by a portal. I… I think she was kidnapped by that snake thing from before!"
"What?!" Jackie questioned as everyone looked in surprise.
"And… I saw Jade go in after her!"
"Jade went in!?" Tohru questioned.
"Aiya!" Uncle exclaimed.
Jackie slapped his hand against his face. "Jade, not again!"
"Again?!" Cornelia questioned.
"She has done this sort of thing before." Jackie said. "Always getting herself into trouble, despite my insistence otherwise."
"Is the Heart of Kandrakar still in Will's backpack?" Yan Lin asked.
"Uh… yeah... I think so." Taranne reached in and pulled out the crystal in question.
"That could be the reason Will was kidnapped." Yan Lin said. "Phobos seeks power, and if he could obtain the power of the Heart, his own power would double, perhaps even triple."
"So it's a good thing he doesn't have it? Right?" Cornelia asked a little nervously, trying not to sound insensitive.
"Forget the crystal!" Irma exclaimed. "Our friends are stuck in another dimension! What are we waiting for?! Let's Guardian-up and…OW!" Uncle had slapped her on the forehead.
"You cannot use Guardian powers!" Uncle exclaimed. "Will is bearer of the Heart, so only she can use it!"
"Not even you could use it Sensei?" Tohru asked. "Despite being a Chi-Wizard."
"Uncle is a Chi-Wizard, never a Guardian! I could never access its power!" Uncle stated.
Jackie sighed. "Then we'll have to go and get them. Taranee, do you know where the portal is? Perhaps it's still open."
"Yeah… yeah I know where it is." She nodded.
"Good, then you will lead me, Uncle, and Tohru there." Jackie said. "We will find Will and Jade and bring them back."
"Wait… what about us?" Hay Lin asked. "We can't just sit here!"
"Yeah one of our friends was kidnapped and another is risking her life to save the other!" Irma stated.
Taranee, despite still being scared, was in agreement. "I want to come to. We might not have Guardian powers, but if we get Will the crystal, we should be able to use them, right?"
"We must go! There is no time to dilly-dally!" Uncle stated as he stood up.
"Wait… hold on!" Cornelia stopped everyone. "This is crazy! You guys are seriously going to jump into some evil magic world to save some people we hardly know!"
"Cornelia, their names are Will and Jade and they're in horrible danger!" Irma told her.
"Yeah, last year, I was the new girl." Taranee added.
"If you do not want to come Cornelia, you don't have to." Jackie said. Despite Jackie being honest, Cornelia gave way to her friends' peer pressure.
"Okay! I'll come! Guilt me, why don't you!?"
"What about you Grandma? You coming to?" Hay Lin asked her Grandmother.
"Unfortunately, I can't." She said with reluctance. "I would only be in the way."
"But you are former Guardian, aren't you?" Tohru asked.
"Yes, however once the Heart was passed onto Will and the others, any connection I may have had was severed. Any magic I use drains my own life force." Yan Lin explained. "If I went, I'd only be a liability. I am sorry."
Jackie seemed to get it. "Very well, we will be back."
"Why are we standing around!?" Uncle exclaimed as he was already out the door. "By time we finish conversation, Will and Jade will be enveloped by Forces of Darkness! Hurry!"
With that; Taranee, still holding the Heart of Kandrakar, led Jackie, Irma, Tohru, Cornelia, Uncle, and Hay Lin in the direction of the portal she saw; while Yan Lin had a concerned expression on her face. All she could do was hope for their safe return.
Meridian – Phobos Throne
Phobos and Wong both watched as Cedric, along with a pair of guards, enter the large chambers, along with the captive Will with both her hands tied behind her back and a thick cloth tied over her mouth. She was dragged in and forced onto her knees just before the throne.
"The bearer of the Heart, Prince Phobos." Cedric presented with a hiss.
The bound and gagged Will looked up in fear towards Phobos. Despite appearing as a normal human, there was something very intimidating about him. Looking into his eyes was almost like looking into an empty pit.
"Release her bonds." Phobos ordered as the two guards came by to untie her hands and remove her gag. "I apologize for such a rough treatment, my dear." Phobos tried to put on a sincere act, but that didn't make Will any less afraid.
"Please… please just let me go…" She shook with fear.
"I will, provided you give me the Heart of Kandrakar." Phobos told her. "Hand me the crystal, and I promise you will be returned home safely."
"But…I don't have it." Will stuttered as Phobos narrowed his eyes. "I swear… I don't have it! I don't know where it is!"
"Wong?"
Once Phobos said his name, the Dark Chi Wizard in question lifted his specter and enveloped Will in a dark blue light, which vanished shortly after.
"She speaks the truth, my Prince." Wong said. "She does not possess the Heart, nor does she know its location? Perhaps it was lost in-between worlds." He glanced smugly at Cedric who glared in response.
"Well, then I guess she's free to go!"
This came from Jade as she swung down from the ceiling on a vine of thorns before slamming her feet, still with her skates on, right into Cedric's face to knock him down before smacking Wong across his face with her hockey stick. She used this sudden surprise to quickly skate and slide to kick the two guards down.
"Jade?! How did you…?!"
"Talk later! Let's go!" Jade took Will's hand and was about to run out until she was enveloped in a dark yellow light and telekinetically pulled towards Phobos who rose from his throne.
"Jade!" Will was about to try and help, but Cedric had already recovered and ensnared her with his tail.
"Who is this?" Phobos questioned as Jade struggled in his magical grip. "Another Guardian?"
"I cannot sense the Heart's power emanating from her." Wong said as he tried to feel the crystal's magic. "So, she is not a Guardian."
"She was with them when I was ambushed at the portal." Cedric reported.
Phobos brought Jade closer. "I'm impressed someone so young was able to infiltrate my castle without setting off the alarm."
"You think you're the only bad guy I've seen, pal? Compared to them, you're pretty small time." Jade cracked.
"You would do well to watch your tone, child." Phobos warned.
Jade gave her titular scoff. "Please. I've been face-to-face with dragons and demons; an emo pretty boy in a fancy bathrobe doesn't scare me." Right when she said that, Phobos had flung her to the pillar along the wall, causing her to groan in pain as she slid down.
"Jade! Stop it!" Will begged, only to moan as Cedric squeezed her even tighter.
"Take them both the oubliette with the rebel leader." Phobos ordered. "I do not tolerate defiance."
The guards did as their prince requested as they picked up the downed Jade along with Will and escorted them out of the chamber.
Earth
Taranee had led the group of fighters and newly christened Guardians to the portal she found in the alleyway, the one she saw Jade jump into after Will was grabbed.
"Will and Jade are on the other side of that?" Hay Lin asked nervously.
"Sensei, once we go into the portal, how will we know where to find Jade and Will?" Tohru asked.
"Once we enter Meridian, the Heart of Kandrakar will seek its owner." Uncle responded. "The crystal will lead us to Will, and by extension Jade."
"I will go first and check for any danger." Jackie said. "Once I say it is clear, you will all follow in behind me." Jackie walked into the portal.
"Is he going to be okay?" Irma asked with concern.
"He's been through stuff like this before, he'll be fine." Tohru responded.
Jackie's head popped out of the portal a few seconds later. "There is a small drop below here, but otherwise it appears to be safe." He went back in as the others began to follow suit.
"I'm not going in first." Cornelia said right as Uncle, Taranee, Hay Lin, and Tohru entered the portal. "But if I'm last, I'll just chicken out!"
"Well I won't, I'll go last." Irma said.
"Then you'll have to push me." Cornelia told her.
"Okay." Irma smirked as she pushed Cornelia into the portal before jumping in herself.
Meridian
Cornelia screamed as she fell into the pond and came out with an octopus-like creature on her head. "Gross! Gross! Gross!"
Irma jumped in and landed with a slash next to Cornelia. "Wow! That really wakes up your underwear!"
"Is everyone accounted for?" Jackie asked to the whole group.
"Here!" Hay Lin raised her hand.
"Present." Taranee said.
"Right here." Irma nodded.
"Uncle is here." The old man said with Tohru nodding.
"So, this is Meridian?" Tohru looked around.
The dark and grim setting of this magical world made each of the four girls nervous. Jackie and Tohru, however seemed to steel themselves, this was not the time to be scared. Uncle seemed unphased, however.
"Uncle, where do we go from here?" Jackie asked.
"We must follow the Heart of Kandrakar." Uncle said as Taranee took the Heart out again, and it pulled itself toward the dark castle that laid far out in front of them, right as a bolt of lightning flashed around it for dramatic purposes.
"Uh… I think we found Sauron's vacation home." Irma joked a bit to try and lighten the dark mood they were all probably feeling right now.
"You're saying Will and Jade have been taken there?" Cornelia questioned.
"You could always jump back into the magic swirling portal if you want." Hay Lin said. Cornelia gave a scowl in response.
"Everyone, stay close." Jackie told the group. "Let's hurry." The group then began to make their way towards Phobos' castle.
Oubliette
"I'm gonna have to trust you." Caleb told Blunk.
"Trust Blunk. Yes!"
Caleb held the chains he was cuffed to previously. "Put your foot, or hoof or whatever it is in here." Blunk did as he said as Caleb continued. "When I count to three, jump as high as you can. I'm gonna throw you out and…
"One… two…!"
"Listen!" Caleb exclaimed. "You're gonna find a rope and lower it."
"Rope. Yes. Good plan!"
"No, terrible plan." Caleb knew this was probably not gonna work, but he was out of options. "But even if you betray me, at least it'll smell better down here."
Blunk frowned as Caleb readied the chains.
"One… Two… THREE!" Caleb threw the chains up as Blunk jumped. The green creature screamed as he was flung all the way toward the top and he grabbed the ledge. However, he lost his grip on the ledge and fell back down onto Caleb and bounced off him before landing on the floor.
"Sorry, let's try again."
Before they could however, the two looked up once they heard the cage being lowered down. "That's right, Guardian of the Veil. You're going down there, with the rebel leader." Vathek said as the cage was lowered down. The cage opened as both Will and Jade fell out and landed on Caleb before the cage was pulled back up.
Both girls got up to see Caleb standing up as well. "Wait… you're that guy from yesterday!" Will recognized him.
"You're not one of the Guardians I saw. Where's your older sister?"
"Oh, she's a Guardian alright. Who are you, pal?" Jade questioned.
"My name is Caleb, I'm the leader of the rebellion." He answered.
"Wait… you're the rebel leader? What are you rebelling against? Diaper rash?" Will questioned.
"Hey girly-girl, I'm fifteen!"
"You're fifteen?!" Jade questioned. "You look like you're in your twenties for crying out loud! You must really pack your protein meals here."
Caleb shook his head. "Never mind that, just activate the crystal and fly us out of here."
"Uh… we don't exactly have it." Jade said, causing Caleb to look in disbelief.
"What do you mean you don't have it?!"
"Hey, give me a break, will ya?!" Will exclaimed. "Just yesterday, I was a normal girl who found out I have some kind of magic powers. Now I've been kidnapped, dragged through a magic portal, tied up, interrogated by a psychopathic prince, and dropped into the bottom of a hole! Not exactly used to this kind of stuff!"
Blunk walked toward them. "Why catch them? Not catch Blunk?"
Will screamed as she hid behind Caleb, while Jade looked a bit confused. "Uh… what is that? Some kind of gremlin?"
"Not gremlin, passling!" Blunk stated. "We trade stuff." He held out the chains Caleb previously had to Jade. "Trade chains for hoodie. Good deal, yes?"
"Eh, now thanks." Jade shook her head.
Caleb sighed. "Great. I need a rope, some kind of weapon, but what do I get? Some new Guardian who forgot the source of her own power, and a little shrimp with attitude."
Jade choose to ignore that comment. "Eh don't worry. Jackie will rescue us."
"Jackie?" Caleb questioned.
"Her uncle." Will said before looking toward Jade. "And Jade, no offense to Jackie, but were kinda stuck in a hole, in an evil castle, in another dimension. The odds of him getting us out of here is pretty slim."
Jade scoffed. "I got stuck in another dimension before, filled seven super-powered, man-eating demons. I'm sure he'll be around, then he can kick Phobos' butt and we'll be out of here like that!"
"Kick Phobos' butt?" Caleb questioned. "I doubt that. You don't know Phobos. He's enslaved and ruled over Meridian for over a decade. We've been fighting non-stop and barley made a dent. I don't see what good one uncle is gonna do."
Jade smirked. "I might not know this Phobos guy, but he doesn't know Jackie Chan."
Jackie Chan, along with Uncle, Tohru, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin had made it closer toward the castle, they were right at the edge of the moat surrounding the dark fortress. Hay Lin looked into the water and saw something moving.
"Oh, fishes." This proved to be incorrect as a massive serpent-like monster came out of it. Hay Lin screamed as it was about to bite down onto her, but Tohru quickly ran in front of it and held its jaws back with pure strength. This kept it busy long enough for Uncle to blast it with Chi-magic from his blowfish, to knock it back into the water.
"Thanks guys." Hay Lin smiled as Tohru helped her up.
"Swimming is out of the question." Jackie stated.
"Then how are we gonna get across?" Taranee asked.
"Well, I sort of have an idea." Cornelia said as the other girls, even Jackie, looked in surprise. "Oh, don't look so surprised."
Cornelia climbed on top of a large thorny root and outstretched her hand to concentrate her powers. She was able to pull a vine from a small outpost near the bottom of the castle. She smiled at what she accomplished as everyone else seemed impressed.
"Nicely done, Cornelia." Jackie nodded.
"Now let's get swinging!" Irma stated.
"Aiya! Do I look like Tarzan?! I am too old to swing from vines!" Uncle protested.
"Oh, come on!" Cornelia moaned.
"All of us together are too heavy for this single vine to support." Jackie said. "We'll have to go in groups. Tohru, take Uncle and Hay Lin. Cornelia, Irma, and Taranee are with me."
Tohru grabbed onto the vine first as Uncle and Hay Lin both hung onto Tohru himself. He took a running start before jumping and swinging, for some reason, Tohru gave a 'George of the jungle-cry' as he swung. When he reached the outpost, he grabbed the ledge with his right hand and pulled himself along with Hay Lin and Uncle.
"See, that wasn't so bad was it?" Hay Lin asked Uncle, who merely looked away.
Tohru sent the vine back to Jackie as he grabbed onto it; followed by Taranee, Irma, and Cornelia. "Everyone, hang on tight." Jackie said before the four of them swung from the ledge toward the outpost. Thought they made it, Cornelia, being at the bottom, accidentally landed face-first into the brick wall.
Irma and Taranee were already up as Jackie helped Cornelia get up as well. However, right as the group walked into the castle, they failed to notice something was watching them. A massive cyclops that appeared to be made entirely out of rock looked down from the wall he was embedded into and saw them enter.
Throne Room
Wong held out both his hands towards the floor as a magical projection of what the monster outside was seeing was shown to him, as well as Phobos and Cedric. Wong's eyes shot open as he felt a familiar presence.
"The Heart of Kandrakar is here, along with the other Guardians and a few of their allies." Wong said.
"Excellent." Phobos smiled. "Those two girls served their part as the bait. Now for the trap."
Cedric hissed before transforming into his massive serpent-like form. "It's lunch time."
This time, Jackie held the Heart of Kandrakar as he took point along with Uncle, letting the crystal lead them toward wherever Will and Jade were. Tohru hung in the back with the four girls in the center. They walked through the darkened tunnels with the crystal being the only illumination for them.
"Okay, so once we find Will and Jade, then what?" Taranee wondered.
"We leave, obviously!" Cornelia stated. "This place is too gross and scary to stay for any extended period of time."
"What if we run into that snake-man thing again?" Irma asked. "We'll have to fight, won't we?"
"Snake-man not important." Uncle stated. "Finding Jade and Will is."
"Uncle is right." Jackie agreed. "Once we find them, we leave. I'd rather we not stay in this place longer than we have to."
"No argument here." Taranee nodded.
"But how much further till we find them?" Tohru asked.
"The Heart senses Will's presence. We are close." Uncle observed how the Heart was glowing as the group exited the tunnels and entered the dungeon area. Once they entered, the crystal pulled even harder as Jackie followed it and was led toward a pit.
"Jade!" Uncle called down.
"Will!" Hay Lin called as well.
"Uncle Jackie!" Jade called back from the bottom of the pit as she, Will, Caleb, and Blunk looked up to see the group.
"Hay Lin! We're down here!" Will called with a wide grin, never being so happy to hear some familiar voices.
"Jackie, release the Heart." Uncle told his nephew, who let go of the crystal and let it fall into the pit and toward Will.
"Watch this. This is so cool." Jade told Caleb, having a good idea what was gonna happen next.
"Guardians Unite!"
Will was enveloped in a pink flash of light that shined straight upward to envelop the other girls as all five of them had transformed into their Guardian forms. Caleb looked in surprise.
"Whoa." He breathed in awe.
"Toldya." Jade smirked toward him.
"Grab on!" Will told Jade and Caleb as they both held onto her body. Using her wings as well as her enhanced strength, she took flight with both of them, along with Blunk who leapt onto her and caught her legs.
She was able to fly up in no time where she was warmly greeted by everyone. "You guys really came!" Will said elated. "You really are my friends."
Jackie put a hand on her shoulder. "I told you would not be alone." Will smiled back as Jackie turned to his niece. "Jade, are you alright?"
"Please that pretty boy looser couldn't give a little kid nightmares." Jade scoffed, though she was inwardly glad Jackie helped find her.
"Who is this?" Jackie asked, referring to Caleb.
"The rebel leader, believe it or not." Jade responded.
"You're the rebel leader?" Cornelia asked him. "He's actually kinda cute." She thought.
"I am. And you are the new Guardians. And the rest of you?" Caleb asked.
"I am Jackie Chan. This is my Uncle, and Tohru."
"A pleasure." Tohru bowed his head while Uncle just waved his hand.
"Look, we're all happy to see each other, but how about we save the greetings for after we get out of here?" Irma said.
"That is a good idea." Jackie said.
"Take Blunk!" The passling revealed himself. "Blunk knows tunnel. Secret way out."
"Awe, who's this little cutie?" Hay Lin gushed.
"Careful Hay Lin, you don't know where that thing's been." Will said.
"And what exactly… is that?" Jackie asked, referring to the creature.
"Something called a passling." Jade answered.
"I've heard of them in my readings." Tohru said. "Magical creatures that specialize in trading."
"So were gonna rely on a walking talking toad to get us out of here?" Irma asked.
"Blunk not toad! Blunk passling! Blunk not want to stay in castle, I know way out." Blunk stated.
"The day I trust a passling is the day I die! You can't trust… OW!" Caleb's protests were cut off by Uncle delivering a dope-slap to his head.
"Has rebel leader forgotten where he was?!" Uncle questioned. "We are inside evil castle ruled by evil prince! Does rebel leader wish to escape? Yes? THEN WE FOLLOW PASSLING AND REBEL DOES NOT QUESTION!"
Caleb was rendered silent before stepping aside.
"I really like your uncle, Jade." Irma whispered to her.
"Hell hath no fury like a pissed off Uncle." Jade smirked.
"Well if we are all agreed, let us go." Jackie said. "Eh… Blunk was it? Lead the way."
"Yes trust Blunk. Blunk lead you all out of castle." The passling took the lead and the group was about to follow, that is until Uncle stopped in his tracks.
"Aiya…!" He uttered as he felt a chill go down his spine, catching Tohru's attention.
"Sensei, what is it?"
"Uncle has… the willies!"
That statement confused most of the group before their attention was caught by a large plum of blue smoke that appeared from the other side of the dungeon, once the smoke cleared, it revealed the huge snake-man known as Cedric and the dark Chi-Wizard Daolon Wong.
"Leaving so soon." Cedric hissed as all five girls were taken aback, besides Jade who glared while Jackie, Caleb, and Tohru took combative stances, even Uncle pulled out a blowfish.
"So, you are the new Guardians of the Veil." Wong said to the girls. "Soon to be the last, for none of you are leaving here alive. Gan! Ren! Chui!" Wong held up his scepter and shot out three plums of dark smoke that took the form of three humanoids wearing black clothes, dark orange skin with glowing blue marks on their bodies. One was bald while the other two had dark red hair. All three of them had pitch-black eyes as they each wielded a staff, a hammer, and a massive shuriken respectively.
"Whoa! Where did those guys come from?!" Hay Lin exclaimed in shock.
"They are warriors made of Dark Chi!" Uncle said before he gasped and looked toward Wong. "You are a Chi-Wizard!" Wong gave a sinister smile in response.
"Oh, they are but the least of your worries." Cedric sneered with a hiss, right before over two dozen guards and Lurden soldiers poured into the dungeon via the stairs along the walls or descending on the chains from the ceiling.
Within seconds the group of Guardians, warriors, and wizards were surrounded by their enemies in large numbers.
"Uh… why do I have the feeling these guys were expecting us?" Taranee gulped.
Jackie sighed. "Bad day."
"Attack!" Cedric ordered as the horde of enemies charged towards the group. The five Guardians took flight, with Will grabbing Jade, and Hay Lin grabbing Blunk.
Tohru charged back as he ran and used his massive hands to sweep away several Lurdens. Caleb ran towards a guard that tried to swing his sword down on him, but Caleb ducked and grabbed the guard by his arms and threw him back into a group of guards. Caleb picked up the downed sword and used it to block an axe-strike from another guard.
Jackie ran to avoid the charging guards and Lurdens before running straight towards the wall and actually ran up the wall, much to the guards' surprise. He jumped down and landed in the middle with his hands before sticking out his feet and spinning them like a helicopter blade to knock them all back. Jackie however had little time to rest as he just barley jumped back to avoid a hammer strike from the Dark Chi Warrior named Chui.
Jackie picked up two downed shields from the guards he just took down and used them to block more hammers swings from Chui.
Uncle took out a blowfish in one hand and a dried-up lizard in the other. "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao." He recited his spell as he blasted several stun-spells at the incoming guards and Lurdens, knocking each down with a single blast before coming face-to-face with Wong and took a stance.
"Step aside wizard." Wong demanded. "Your tepid spells cannot stop me."
"Be warned. I was a student of Chi-Master Fong." Uncle warned.
"And I am Daolon Wong. The Dark Master who defeated Fong." He said with an evil smirk.
Uncle gave an audible gasp. "You will pay for that!" Uncle blasted a green chi-magic beam at Wong who responded with a dark blue beam from his scepter as the magic beams collided.
Irma flew in the air as several Lurdens tried to swing at her via the chains, but Irma blasted water out from her palms to knock all the creatures off the chains, though she could just barley avoid the Dark Chi Warrior Gan who jumped and grabbed her by the legs to throw her toward the ground, but Irma flapped her wings to stabilize herself just before she could hit the ground and faced Gan who wielded his staff.
"You gonna fight me with a stick?" Irma questioned. "May wanna rethink that."
In direct response, Gan's 'stick' actually converted into a three-chain-linked weapon that he spun almost like a nunchuck before charging at Irma as she instinctively brought up a wall of water to try and shield herself, but the attack slashed through the water like nothing and knocked Irma back toward the wall.
"Okay…" She rubbed her head. "Guess with evil, sticks are all the rage." She quickly flew again to avoid another attack from Gan.
Hay Lin flew around higher into the dungeon, with Blunk holding on for dear life. The girl looked toward the ceiling to see the doors where several more soldiers were pouring in. Hay Lin inhaled and blew a large gust of wind into one doorway to blow all the soldiers further back inside before closing the gate and wrapping a chain around it to lock them up. She turned around to see more gates were still open and more soldiers were pouring in.
"They just keep coming!" She called to everyone. "Cornelia, can you use vines to wrap up the gates?!"
"I'm coming!" Cornelia flew toward one staircase along the wall and landed to see several guards coming her way. She placed one palm on the stairway, in less than a second, several vines and plant tendrils shot out to ensnare several of the guards, which crawled up towards the gate to close and wrap shut.
Taranee threw out a flame from her hand to blast away several incoming guards and landed on the ground to come back-to-back with Caleb as they were surrounded by several more guards.
"Hey, duck!" Taranee said to Caleb. He did just that as she raised both her hands to create a single flame which she expanded and exploded outward like a circular wave of fire to blast all the guards away.
"Nice one." Caleb smiled.
"Thanks, I… Look out!" Both she and Caleb were knocked back by a tail strike from Cedric as he loomed outward them. He gave a loud roar as he shot directly at the pair.
Will flew around as she still held Jade by her arms. "Man, wish I had some fancy elemental power. All I can really do is fly."
"You can punch to you know? Just… WHOA!"
Will pulled her and Jade up as they barely avoided a bladed attack from the shuriken tossed by the Dark Chi Warrior Ren. The weapon returned to him like a boomerang before he tossed it toward the two girls, forcing Will to fly down to the ground where she set Jade down as Jade herself took a combative stance.
"Okay, you hit him high! I'll hit him low!" Jade said, before Will pushed her out of the way to avoid a close-ranged attack from Ren who jumped towards them and slashed his weapon at them. Will flew backwards and picked up a downed shield to block the slashes and blade strikes from Ren as the Dark Chi Warrior forced the Guardian close towards the pit, she was previously imprisoned in.
"Will! Fly now!" Jade called as she ran and did a flying kick to Ren's back, just as Will took to the air. The kick knocked Ren down into the pit, once he landed, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Ah yeah! Jade and Will, what a team! High-five!"
Will was a bit surprised but returned Jade's high-five. "Think I could probably use some Kung Fu training myself."
Jackie continued to use his dual shields to block the relentless hammer-strikes from Chui, as he backed and found himself back-to-back with Uncle who was still in a magic-beam-clash with Wong.
"Uncle…! What are these things?!" Jackie asked as he continued to block more of Chui's attacks.
"Warriors made entirely out of Dark Chi." Uncle answered as he continued his struggle against Wong.
"So, who do we stop them?!" Jackie questioned.
"They can be beaten by receiving a fatal blow, or by defeating their master." Uncle replied.
Jackie soon got an idea. "Uncle, switch!" He blocked another hammer-strike with one shield but used the second one like a blunt weapon to knock Chui back before backflipping over Uncle who turned around and zapped Chui with a good chi magic blast to evaporate him.
Wong was taken by surprise by Jackie's intervention that he couldn't block Jackie's flying kick to knock him back. Wong struggled but growled as he blasted more Dark Chi magic from his scepter, which Jackie used his remaining shield to block before pressing the advantage.
Taranee shot out another flame towards Cedric to knock him back, before Caleb tried to press the advantage with his sword. But Cedric used his tail to grab Caleb by his ankle and used him as a weapon to smack Taranee back and knock them both down. He then grabbed both of them with his massive hands and pinned them to the wall and hissed with delight, ready to devour them whole.
"CEDRIC!"
The snake-man turned around to see Tohru, standing admits a large pile of ten unconscious guards and Lurdens.
"Pick on someone your own size." Tohru challenged as he cracked his knuckles.
"As you wish." Cedric glared at him as he dropped Taranee and Caleb before turning around to charge at Tohru with a roar as the sumo-sized man ran toward Cedric in response.
Once they met, Tohru was the first to attack with a punch towards Cedric's face to knock him back. Tohru then delivered an elbow to Cedric's chest and followed with several more punches, until Cedric caught Tohru's next punch in his hand before delivering a punch into Tohru's large chest to knock him into the air and send him rolling back towards the wall.
Cedric slithered his way towards Tohru, who spotted a chain attached to the wall he was at. Right as Cedric closed in, Tohru pulled the chain from the wall, with a large section of stone still attached to the end. He used it like a make-shift club to slam the stone across Cedric's face, shattering it and knocking the snake-man back before Tohru slung the chain over both his shoulders and held the ends out as they draped down his sides.
Both Tohru and Cedric glared at one another as they charged at each other once more. Tohru flung the ends of the chain at Cedric like a pair of whips that knocked him back and even cut him across his body, spilling drops of his blood over the floor. After the fifth strike, Tohru threw one end towards Cedric's neck that wrapped around it as Tohru pulled the chain in, pulling Cedric's face towards Tohru's fist. But as Cedric reeled back, he raised both his fists into the air and slammed them onto Tohru's back to knock him down before Cedric flailed his tail to knock Tohru back towards the wall. Tohru stood up to catch his breath as he rubbed some blood from his mouth before charging at Cedric again.
Irma thrusted both her hands forward to send a torrent of water directly at Gan, but he spun his three-section staff like a helicopter blade to block the attack. Irma tried to press the advantage, but this seemed to leave the Dark Chi warrior open for a flame attack courtesy of Taranee to knock him back towards the wall where Caleb raised his sword to bring down onto Gan, where he vanished into a puff of smoke.
"Thanks guys." Irma breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hey, what are friends for?" Taranee said with a smile. Caleb couldn't help but smile after all. Maybe these new Guardians weren't so helpless after all.
Wong meanwhile continued to blast Dark Chi magic at Jackie who ran, ducked, and jumped to avoid each blast, while also using his shield to block the attacks.
"Your shield cannot protect you forever, mortal!" Wong exclaimed.
"No, but can you protect yourself from this?!"
Wong turned around in surprise to see Hay Lin coming in and blowing another gust of wind from her mouth at Wong to send him hurtling into the air, straight for Cornelia who motioned her arm with a wave, causing a large plant-tendril to ensnare the Dark Chi Wizard and slam him against the wall to knock him unconscious.
"Well done, both of you." Jackie congratulated the Air and Earth Guardians as they set down.
"Well of course. Did you expect anything less?" Cornelia said cockily, while Hay Lin had a beaming smile.
Meanwhile, the only ones still going at it were Tohru and Cedric as they locked hands and attempted to press against each other. Their strength seemed rather equal as neither appeared to gain a concrete advantage over the other.
"I must admit, I'm impressed." Cedric hissed. "You may be the strongest man I've ever faced. But are you strong enough?" Cedric pushed forward, causing Tohru to slide back and loose some ground.
The Guardians, Jackie, Uncle, Jade, and Caleb noticed the trouble he was in and were about to help. But Tohru wasn't done yet. He dug both his feet firmly into the ground before he actually pressed forward, ducking under Cedric's arms and grabbing his chest. The mighty Tohru gave a loud and powerful warrior's yell as he actually lifted Cedric into the air with his bare hands.
Everyone stopped and looked with wide-eyes and dropped jaws. Jackie, Will, Cornelia, Uncle, Hay Lin, Irma, Taranee, Caleb, even Jade and Blunk couldn't believe what they just saw. Not even Cedric himself could believe it as this man, this mighty and strong man, actually lifted the snake-man, who was almost twice his own size, into the air.
Tohru however struggled to hold him this high, Cedric was very heavy. He spotted the hole that Jade and Will were once trapped in. "Shakes… should go back to where they belong…" Tohru grunted as he walked toward the pit. "Down under!" Tohru then threw Cedric into the pit, the snake-man yelled as he fell and smacked across the wall before landing painfully on the ground.
Tohru fell to his knees in exhaustion as he tried to catch his breath. Everyone else came to him.
"Tohru, are you alright?" Jackie asked.
"Yes… I will be fine…" Tohru said in-between breaths.
"That… was… AWESOME!" Jade and Hay Lin shouted at the same time.
"You are like… like Superman-strong!" Hay Lin bounced with joy.
"You owned that guy! SLAM!" Irma shouted with happiness.
"He was like twice your size and… and… that was just incredible!" Taranee beamed.
"Bad guys are gonna think twice before messing with you!" Cornelia smiled.
"Big strong man beat Cedric!" Blunk jumped up and down. "Big strong man super good!"
"Tohru… you are…. Just plain incredible!" Will said with a grin.
Jade ran underneath Tohru's arm and lifted it in the air like he was the winner of a heavy-weight boxing match.
"The Champion!"
Tohru blushed as he smiled at all their praise, even so when Jackie placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and smiled with a nod. Caleb didn't say anything as he still found it very hard to believe. Cedric was Phobos' right hand, one of the most dangerous monsters in Meridian, yet Tohru beat him single-handedly. He smiled, this Tohru could be a great ally to the rebellion.
"Yes, we are all very proud of Tohru, my apprentice." Uncle gave a small smile to Tohru. "But we are still trapped in evil castle! Passling, lead us out of here!"
Everyone was brought back to reality with that statement, as well as the moans and roars from the closed gates sealed by Hay Lin and Cornelia previously.
"Follow Blunk! Know way out! This way!" Blunk ran on his hands and feet out one doorway into a large tunnel where the Guardians, Chan Clan, and Caleb all followed, just as many more Lurdens broke through the gates.
As they made a turn and ran or flew deeper into the tunnels, all the Lurdens, caught up and would be right behind them in seconds. Cornelia turned around and slammed the massive gate shut behind her with her powers and grew a large and thick root-vine from the ground to seal it shut. That would stop the horde of Lurdens for the time being.
The group made it further down the tunnel as Blunk made a turn into a broken and abandoned cell, everyone followed him. "Tunnel, yes! Under moat!" Blunk moved a large piece of wood he used to hide the tunnel, only to find it blocked by bars. "Bars! NO!" Blunk cried in despair.
"Um… I don't think I'd fit anyway." Tohru pointed out.
"Cornelia, can you try and make it bigger for everyone?" Will asked the Earth Guardian.
"Hang on." The blonde stepped forward and concentrated her powers. The wall shook as a larger hole was made, breaking down the bars. But she had to push further to make the rest of the tunnel big enough for everyone else.
Back at the barred gate, the Lurdens tried hard to tear the gate down, but had no luck at all. However, they ended up stopping and stepping aside as Prince Phobos himself walked onto the scene. He growled slightly as he saw that both Cedric and Daolon Wong had been defeated. Perhaps he underestimated his enemies.
"If you want something done right." Phobos said as he used his powers to blast the gate down.
The group all heard the explosion and looked back in surprise. "They're coming!" Hay Lin exclaimed.
"Come on, move faster!" Taranee said to Cornelia.
"I'm digging as fast as I can!" She pushed further, making the tunnel even bigger, but they were still a long way to go.
Jackie Chan looked to the shield he was still carrying and out the cell where he heard the horde of monsters coming closer before a determined look formed on his face.
"I will buy you time." He said, getting all their attention. "Keep waiting, do not wait for me!"
"What… Jackie!" Jade tried to stop him, but he was already running outside.
"I'll be right behind you Jade! GO!" Jackie ran out and back the way they came to intercept their pursuers.
Jade was about to run after him, but Tohru stopped her by grabbing her by her arm. "Jade, no!"
"But we can't just leave him!"
"We're not going to!" Will stated. "We'll finish the tunnel and be back for him!"
"Is he seriously going by himself?" Caleb questioned.
"Yeah he is. He's buying us time so we can get out, let's not waste it!" Taranee stated.
"But…" Jade tried to protest.
"Jade, you have seen first-hand what Jackie can do." Uncle told his great-niece. "No evil can best him. He will be fine."
"Yeah, you of all people should know how awesome your uncle is." Irma said as well.
"If anyone can do this, it's him." Hay Lin nodded.
"The sooner we get this tunnel done, the sooner we can be back and help him." Cornelia pressed forward, making the tunnel even bigger.
"Brave man." Blunk said, referring to Jackie. "Brave men never last long… OW!" Blunk was shut up by Uncle's dope-slap.
"Jade, didn't you yourself say Jackie would rescue us?" Will asked her. "Well that's what he's doing right now. I doubted him but… now I can see otherwise. I know I only met him just a day ago but… that's gotta be one of the greatest guys I ever met in my life. I trust him completely, do you?"
Jade looked with obvious concerned, but she knew they were all very much right. Jackie has gone on par with the likes of Shendu and every one of his siblings before. He can handle something like this. She smiled. "Yes. I do."
As Cornelia continued to dig, Caleb silently admitted just how beyond impressed he was. This man had no magic powers, yet these new Guardians seemed to trust him completely, and he saw how well he was holding his own back in the dungeon. If they truly trusted this man the way they did, then maybe Caleb could trust him to.
Jackie had ran out into the tunnel, and quickly flashed his shield in time to block the magic blast from a certain tyrant. Jackie looked to see the man in royal robes, with his Lurden horde behind him.
"Prince Phobos, I presume?"
"And just who might you be?"
"My name is Jackie Chan, and I am going to stop you."
"Oh?" Phobos raised an eyebrow. "And just how are you going to do that?"
Jackie ran directly at Phobos in response who shot another magic blast at him, as the martial artist used the shield to block the attack and press forward. Once he was close enough, he jumped into the air and delivered a flying round-house kick to Phobos' face to knock him down onto the ground.
The Lurdens all backed up in surprise, Phobos was actually knocked down! Phobos sat up with a surprised look on his face. He felt around his mouth to find a small drop of blood before staring at Jackie Chan. He glared daggers at the man who took a combative stance to prepare himself.
Phobos materialized a sword out of thin air into his hand, which he slashed at Jackie who blocked it with his shield. After the second slash, Jackie jumped back a distance away as Phobos threw another magic attack at him, only for Jackie to duck and throw his shield frisbee style, forcing Phobos to duck.
The Lurdens all roared and were about to jump in when Phobos flashed his hand at them. "No! Do not interfere! He is mine!" Phobos then flew directly at Jackie with his sword, which he swung at him relentlessly, but Jackie was able to avoid each attack with his superior agility, as well as parry his hands against Phobos' wrist.
When Phobos went in for a vertical slash, Jackie blocked Phobos' wrist to stop the attack before sweeping his feet to knock Phobos down before he ran further down the tunnel.
"If you want me, then come and get me!" Jackie challenged as he ran away. Phobos gnashed his teeth as he got back up and pursued after his foe.
At least twenty yards away from the castle, just past the main moat, a large hole imploded from the ground as the dirt fell inward. All five of the Guardians flew out as Blunk, Caleb, Tohru, and Uncle all climbed out.
"Okay everyone here?" Will asked as she tried to do a headcount. "Everyone here except…" She noticed however someone was missing from their group. "Where's Jade?!"
Everyone looked around to see the girl in question was not with them. "Jade! Where'd you go!?" Hay Lin called out to her.
"But she was right here!" Tarenee stated.
"Where did the hell did she run off to?!" Cornelia questioned.
Caleb seemed to have an idea. "Well… she did say how concerned she was for her Uncle so…?"
Both Tohru and Uncle slapped their faces and groaned as they knew where she'd be. "Aiya. What is Uncle going to do with that girl?" The old man questioned.
"You guys head for the portal! I'm going after Jade and Jackie!" Will told everyone.
"What about you?" Irma asked.
"I'll meet you guys there, don't worry." Will said. She flew back towards the castle as the rest of the group began to make their way back to the portal.
Jackie ran and jumped to avoid the relentless volley of magic blasts that Phobos shot at him. Their battle had continued into a dark and red-walled cavern as Jackie ran up the walls and jumped to leap from stalactites on the ceiling with his hands, still avoiding the blasts Phobos threw at him as the tyrant hovered in the air.
Phobos shot a much larger blast at the ceiling where Jackie was, causing it to fall down as Jackie grabbed two stalactites before falling with them. However, as he fell, he threw the stalactites he had at Phobos, who waved his hand to create a magic barrier to block the attack just as Jackie landed on his feet and ran further down into the cave. But he had to stop as he actually came before an abyss that appeared bottomless.
"Nowhere left to run." Phobos stated as he caught up with Jackie. "They say that the Abyss of Shadows is bottomless. Let us see if that is true."
"Why don't you see for yourself?!"
Phobos turned around in surprise to see Jade coming in with an airborne kick to Phobos chest to knock him back. Jackie took advantage of this and ducked his body so that Phobos could trip over it and fall into the Abyss himself.
"Jade!" Jackie exclaimed as he stood up. "You were supposed to go with the others!"
"Yeah, but I decided I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you." Jade said with a smile to Jackie. Her uncle meanwhile sighed but smiled himself as he patted his niece on the head.
"How very touching."
Both Jade and Jackie turned around in surprise to see Phobos hovering out of the Abyss, both his hands surging with large amounts of magic power. Jackie immediately put Jade behind himself as he took a combat stance, ready to fight.
"But… futile! If there is one thing I do not tolerate, it is open defiance!" Phobos was ready to lash out all the magic he could muster, but this left him vulnerable for Will to suddenly fly in and grab Phobos by the shoulders, flying at high-speeds to slam Phobos face-first into a stone wall.
"Come on!" Will extended both her hands as Jackie and Jade jumped toward her. Jackie caught her right hand and Will caught her left as Will flew down toward the abyss and toward a small opening along the side, back toward the outside.
"I can't believe you Jade!" Will exclaimed. "I even gave you a heart-warming speech for crying out loud!"
"Yeah, that was a pretty good speech." Jade said. "But nothing beats seeing Jackie beat the crap out of the bad guys."
"Well, that's true." Will admitted.
"Will, thank you." Jackie said to her.
"Hey, it's like you said; you won't be doing this alone." Will smiled at him, as Jackie nodded.
As the trio made their escape, Phobos fell to his knees as he pulled himself from the wall. He growled; his body filled with rage. "You will not escape…" He telepathically contacted his pet. "Gargoyle! Do not allow them to escape!"
Outside
Blunk, Uncle, Caleb, and Tohru ran towards the open portal with Cornelia, Hay Lin, Irma, and Taranee flying just above them. Will was quickly able to catch up to them, still carrying Jackie and Jade.
"There's the portal!" Jackie exclaimed.
"Hell yeah! We are home free baby!" Jade shouted with joy.
However, right as she said that, a massive cyclops monster that appeared to be made out of stone. It's left hand was bone-think, while its right hand was massive. It had a large left leg with a skinny right leg. This was the monster known as Gargoyle.
"Oh, come on!" Jade exclaimed as everyone scattered to avoid the massive arm swipes and stomps from the giant monster.
Uncle ran along the water as he took out his blowfish and shot a Chi-Magic blast at Gargoyle, disorienting it briefly before it tried to lash out at him with his massive hand.
"Sensei!" Tohru pushed Uncle out of the way as used his hands and strength to keep the Gargoyle's hand back. But the monster was clearly stronger than Tohru, who was still tired from his fight with Cedric as he was being pressed down.
"Get away from the big-guy!" Irma shouted as she created a large water-ball with her hands and threw it right at Gargoyle's eye, knocking it away from Tohru. Hay Lin followed through with a gust of wind from her mouth before flying around Gargoyle to create a whirlwind, which actually began to blow back the large monster and knock it over onto the wet ground.
Cornelia was next as she pulled out a massive gathering of mud from the ground around Gargoyle and lifted it into the air before dropping it onto the behemoth with the snap of her fingers. Taranee delivered the finishing move, producing a flame and throwing it at the mud-covered Gargoyle, while telekinetically moving the hot flame around him to quickly heat and solidify the mud into thick rock to imprison the monster.
"Whoa. Go Guardians." Jade said with a grin.
"Don't celebrate just yet." Caleb advised as they all saw the rock-prison beginning to crack as Gargoyle broke out with a loud and booming roar.
"Aiya!" Uncle exclaimed.
"Go! Go! Go!" Jackie shouted to everyone as they all made a break for the portal, with Gargoyle close behind them. Caleb was the first to enter the portal, followed by Blunk, Taranee, Uncle, Hay Lin, Will, Jackie, Jade, Cornelia, and Tohru.
Everyone made it back to Earth, with Irma being the last, but she screamed as Gargoyle's massive hand reached through the portal and grabbed her. "HELP!" Irma screamed as she was about to be pulled back into Meridian.
Jackie quickly ran and jumped onto the stone hand and ran back into the portal, and back into Meridian. Gargoyle looked in surprise to see Jackie running up its arm where he jumped and delivered an airborne punch to its eye. Gargoyle stumbled back as Jackie fell backwards into the portal and back to Earth.
Irma was released from Gargoyle's grip as Jackie fell back through the portal. Will acted quickly and pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar to close the portal shut.
With the crisis now adverted, and everyone back home safe and sound, with the Guardians turning back into their normal forms. Jackie suddenly cried "OW!" as he waved his right hand, clearly in pain after punching solid stone with his bare knuckles.
Suddenly Irma enveloped Jackie in a big hug. "You just saved my life! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"Can you believe what we just did…?!" Cornelia breathed, still feeling the adrenaline.
"We came, we saw, we kicked evil's butt and in the face!" Jade shouted as she jumped in the air. "Chan Clan and Guardians, one; Phobos, nothing!"
"That was so amazing! We do make an amazing team!" Taranee seemed just as excited.
Will laughed a bit as well but noticed Cornelia's bruised face. "What happened to your face?"
"When we swam across the moat, Cornelia 'George-of-the-jungled' into the wall. Wham!" Hay Lin chuckled, still in a hype herself.
"First we get all these amazing powers…" Irma began to say excitedly. "Then we storm evil and kick it's butt! Tohru totaled snake-boy! Uncle's a badass wizard! And Jackie punched a stone cyclops in the face! So UNREAL!"
Tohru shared smiles with Jackie, and even Uncle grinned a bit. The old man gave a nostalgic sigh, clearly remembering his younger days with Yan Lin and her team of Guardians, and all the fun adventures they had together.
During this, Blunk looked around at his new surroundings before crawling toward the empty street and crawling down into the sewer drain.
Caleb stood up. "I suppose I should thank you all for saving me." He sounded a bit humble as Jackie walked toward him and extended his hand to shake.
"Welcome to Earth, Caleb." Jackie smiled. Caleb smiled back as he shook Jackie's hand.
Later that night – Silver Dragon
Everyone had regrouped at the restaurant as Yan Lin served them tea; though many of them were still excited about what they just went through.
"All the flying and zapping was amazing!" Jade continued to exclaim. "Big snake-man, old dark wizard, and the big bad Phobos were tough, but they were no match for the Guardians and the Chan Clan!" She and Irma high-fived.
"What about that Blunk guy who slipped into the sewers? Do you think he'll be okay?" Hay Lin asked.
"Passling are resourceful creatures. At least that's what I read." Tohru answered. "I'm sure he'll be fine."
"If he comes up through the girls' bathroom, I'm switching schools." Taranee said.
"Ditto." Cornelia agreed.
"Hey guys, look what I figured out our initials spell!" Hay Lin showed them what she wrote on her hand: J-WITCH.
"Where does the J come from?" Will asked.
"J for Jackie, and for Jade to." Hay Lin said.
"J-WITCH, huh? Sweet! We got our own super-hero team name!" Jade pumped her fist.
"For several young girls who have no experience with battle or magic, I must say you have all done very well." Jackie told them all. "If this is what fate seems to have in store for all of you, then I look forward to training and working with all of you." He smiled.
"Awe, we love you to Uncle Jackie!" Hay Lin hugged the man's arm.
"And the important thing is, the bad guy didn't get our new best friends." Irma said, referring to Jade and Will as they were both enveloped into a group hug.
However, Yan Lin put the celebrations to an end. "Oh but Phobos wasn't after Will or Jade themselves. He was after the power of the Heart of Kandrakar."
"But he didn't get the Heart." Will said.
"He may have failed this time, but he will try again." Caleb pointed out as he looked out the window toward the night sky. "He's nothing if not persistent."
"One more thing." Uncle began. "Phobos doesn't just seek the Heart of Kandrakar. He is also looking for the heir to Meridian, whom is somewhere here on Earth."
"So, we will have to find the heir before he does." Jackie said, getting serious.
"Indeed." Yan Lin confirmed. "We may have won the battle, but the war has only begun."
Though the group looked on in seriousness with that statement, Jade actually seemed more excited than before.
"Yes! New Adventure! Uh-huh!" She sang and practically danced. "Find the heir! Beat Phobos! Yeah!" Jackie couldn't help but sigh in exhaustion. Well, time to save the world from the Forces of Darkness again.
Done.
Okay, now that was a fun chapter! I thoroughly enjoyed writing every word of it, and I hope you all have just as much enjoyment reading it. The Chan Clan and Guardians have had their first battle against Phobos, Daolon Wong, Cedric, and their forces; but it's only the beginning. Things are going to get harder as they all meet new and old faces, some are friends, others are foes. Lines will be drawn as the clash between good and evil only intensifies.
I will now begin updating my other stories before I continue writing this story, but I plan to update at least on a monthly basis, whenever I am available. Thank you all for your support and I will see you with the next chapter soon.