Hi everyone, how are all of you holding up with the coronavirus looming over us? I'm sorry if many of you are sick, have loved ones that are sick, or are being affected financially or suffering from any other form of stress due to the crisis were in. Hopefully this chapter will help to levitate some of the stress you're all feeling, it's supposed to actually be a fun episode that I've been looking forward to writing. So without further delay, let us begin.
Big Trouble, Bigger Jade
Meridian – Phobos' Castle
"And the Guardians know nothing of this new portal?" The Dark Prince asked for confirmation as he helped himself to a cup of wine with Daolon Wong giving his report.
"I have sent my Dark Chi warriors through the veil for confirmation. Neither the children nor Chan know of its whereabouts." Wong informed. "And with Cedric remaining in hiding to allude the Earth forces, so only I will be able to locate the young rebel leader on Earth."
"Remind those three buffoons to be careful." Phobos warned. "I've underestimated Jackie Chan and his allies far too many times. Even without the Guardians, he is still dangerous."
Earth – Vandom Residence
Will was alone in her room, practicing some Kung Fu on a punching bag she recently bought. She focused more on her legs and kicks for a couple of minutes before taking a break to help herself to a bottled water.
"Will?" She heard her mother come in. "I got your report card and…" Mrs. Vandom looked in minor surprise to see the punching bag and Will herself covered in sweat. "What are you doing?"
"Practicing." Will answered in between breaths.
"Practicing what? Kick boxing?" Susan questioned.
"Eh, Kung Fu." Will replied. "Jade's Uncle Jackie is teaching me and a bunch of our friends. And you don't have to pay or anything it's free."
"Kung Fu?" Susan gave her daughter a questionable look. "Will, you're not picking fights, are you?"
"What?! No!" Will immediately stated. "Mom, it's just self-defense! Trust me, Jackie made that very clear. Plus, I get to hang out with my friends to, so it's a bonus."
Susan sighed. "Well, alright if you say so. Anyway, I got your report card; you got three Bs, but a C+ in Math."
"Yeah… sorry." Will winced. "You know Math's not my best subject."
"But, to be fair, it's still an improvement." Susan acknowledged. "But you still could do better."
"So… the movie? You did promise that if I didn't have any Ds, I'd get to go." Will asked.
Susan began to think slightly, mostly playfully as she smirked. "Alright." Will smiled before her mother turned to her with a stern-yet-playful expression. "But you stay with your friends at all times. Don't want anything to happen to my pink-perky-kung-fu-pumpkin."
Will's face turned red with embarrassment. "Mom…" She groaned as Susan just chuckled.
Chan Residence
"Come on…" Jade muttered as she pressed her back against the wall, her fingers crossed. Jackie held a ruler over the top of her head, before using a marker to mark her height. Jade turned around with a hopeful smile, only for it to dash as her height had only increased by about half-an-inch at best.
"No!" Jade exclaimed in disbelief. "The whole time I've been in America, I haven't grown one inch! I'm never gonna grow up, Jackie!"
"Patience, Jade." Jackie told his niece. "Enjoy your childhood while it lasts."
Jade scoffed. "I have a billion years of school left, I can't reach anything in the freezer, I never get invited in all these magic missions! Way enjoyable!" She was about to walk out.
"Jade, where are you going?" Jackie asked.
"Gonna hang out with Will and the others. Take my mind off this." Jade answered before leaving.
Jackie shook his head slightly; he was glad to see Jade having some good friends, but so far, it looks as though they haven't helped Jade too much in the patience department.
Sometime later; Jade had meet up with Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay-Lin just outside the movie theater.
"Okay, I get it's an action-flick and all, but why do you wanna stay out all night?" Jade asked the girls. "You can see it any time you want, it's not like it's a one-time-showing."
"What part of 'staring Vance Michael Justin' do you not understand?" Cornelia asked.
"The part where he's no Clint Eastwood." Jade pointed out.
Will looked to Jade in minor surprise. "I didn't know you were into him."
"The guy's a badass, both in character and in-person. What's there not to like?" Jade asked.
"I hear ya." Irma smirked before putting on an Eastwood impression. "'You gotta ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well do ya, punk'?" She and Jade both snickered.
"You guys can keep that old man." Cornelia said as she leaned dreamily against the poster for the movie. "I just cannot help screaming his name!"
"Over, and over; it's a movie-screen, VMJ can't hear you." Hay Lin pointed out.
"He hates being called VMJ." Cornelia replied.
"And broccoli, and girls who wear too much makeup." Taranee, Irma, and Hay Lin all said at the same time in a playful mocking tone.
"So, you guys are coming, right?" Taranee asked Will and Jade.
"Yeah, mom said it was okay." Will confirmed.
"Sure, why not." Jade shrugged.
"It's the premiere. Be prepared to spend six hours in line, with superfans." Irma said as the group began to walk away.
"Bundle up, bring cocoa, and ear-plugs." Taranee advised.
Cornelia leaned against the movie poster once more. "Our love will keep me warm."
Jade shook her head as she and Will walked slightly behind everyone else. Will noticed the mood she was in. "You alright Jade? You seem a little… grumpy."
The black-haired girl gave her titular scoff. "You'd be grumpy to if you learned you'd be stuck as a shrimp forever. I mean, I'm twelve years old and even Hay Lin is taller than me!"
"Wow, that does sound like it sucks." Will commented. "But, nothing wrong with being short; I mean Napoleon was about as tall as a baby."
That didn't seem to cheer Jade up. "Easy for you to say. You got magic powers that make you super tall!" An idea soon came to her. 'Bet I can do the same thing.' She thought to herself with a small smirk on her face.
Meanwhile; Caleb looked around the alleyway behind the movie theater. "You sure this is where you smelled the portal?" Caleb asked as he moved a dumpster, only to find that the Passling named Blunk had completely vanished. "Blunk!" Caleb sighed, thinking he probably ran off to steal something. "All I smell is rotten eggs, which is actually an improvement over smelling you." He saw a rat on a dumpster. "You're not Blunk, you're too clean." Caleb said.
The young rebel leader looked to see Jade, Will, Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee walking past the alleyway and decided to see what they were doing here, not noticing however that he was being watched by the Dark Chi Enforcers.
"Well there's the kid, let's get em!" Chow stated from around a smaller alleyway.
"Hold up, those fairy girls are here to." Finn stopped his friend from acting rash. "Let's wait till he's all by himself." The trio clung the wall and watched as Caleb approached Cornelia continued talking to the movie poster.
"Oh, you just haven't tried broccoli the way I make it, Vance Michael."
"I didn't know you and the poser were dating." Caleb teased, startling Cornelia.
"Caleb!" The blonde exclaimed. "Sneaking up on people might be okay in Meridian, but here it's just… like, rude!"
"I don't get why girls here fall for a picture of a guy pretending to be an elf." Caleb said upon seeing the movie poster himself.
"He is not an elf!" Cornelia replied. "He's a trendelbloten; a tribe of incredibly good-looking pixies who bravely battle the forces of Flundar." She said before walking away.
"Hey! I'd like to see Vance Michael what's-his-face tango with a giant lizard and a dark wizard!" Caleb exclaimed. "Cause… cause I do that, you know! Everyday!"
Suddenly, a taxi came zooming in through the streets, causing several other cars to veer or come to a halt to avoid being rammed into the by the out-of-control public transport before it spun and came to a sudden halt only three feet away from the startled Caleb. The passengers in the back ran out of the yellow car for their lives just as the window lowered to reveal a laughing Blunk in a hotel uniform.
"Yo! Want ride?" Blunk offered Caleb.
"Blunk you stole a… a taxi…?!" The young rebel honestly did not know what to make of it.
"Not steal." Blunk explained. "At hotel, hear people say, 'take taxi', so Blunk take taxi."
Caleb opened the driver's door, forcing Blunk to stumble out. "Caleb take taxi back hotel." Caleb said in a Blunk-impression as he sat down, with Blunk getting in the back. Even though Jackie had given Caleb a few basic instructions on how to drive a car, in the event of an emergency, it was still a bit more complicated than riding a horse or any other steed in Meridian.
"How do you start it again?" Caleb asked himself as he turned on the ignition and attempted to drive the taxi away, having a difficult time controlling the speed. This only served to surprise Finn, Ratso, and Chow as they stepped out of the alleyway.
"There he goes!" Chow exclaimed.
Ratso turned around to see the movie poster. "Oh hey, Vance Michael Justin's playing tonight."
"Dude, we got job! Focus on this VMJ guy after we catch the rebel-kid!" Finn told him.
"He hates being called VMJ." Ratso said as they attempted to run and catch the speeding taxi themselves.
Silver Dragon
"All night?!" Hay Lin's father exclaimed after the girl herself told her parents about the movie night she and her friends were going to. "You're only twelve!"
"But all the other kids' parents are letting them!" Hay Lin protested. "Even Jade's Uncle is letting her go and she's twelve to!"
"All of them?" Her mother asked for confirmation.
"Uh… yeah…" Hay Lin tried, only for both parents to shake her head, causing Hay Lin to pout. This was going to be harder than she thought.
Meridian
"They spotted the rebel leader near the portal." Daolon Wong informed Phobos as the Dark Chi enforcers had returned after failing to catch Caleb.
"Why did the fools not follow him?!" Phobos exclaimed as he petted a snake-like creature curled around his arm.
"Uh… he took a taxi….?" Finn laughed nervously.
"Kid drove like someone out of a 'Die Hard' movie." Chow said.
"Speaking of movies, think we can get a break?" Ratso asked. "Vance Michael Justin's new movie is playing."
This only served to irritate Phobos as he used his own magics to increase the size of his snake-creature as he threw it to the ground. In less than a second, it was twice as big as Cedric in his own transformed state. Finn, Ratso, and Chow could only scream as the monster lunged down to bite and poof the Dark Chi enforcers.
"Those three are pathetic." Phobos muttered.
"My Prince, I shall take the Tracker and cross the veil myself." Wong said. "We'll find the boy and remove him from our side once and for all."
"Go but take reinforcements." Phobos told him. "Just in case you run into Chan and the Guardians again."
Earth - Chan Residence
After 'borrowing' a spell-book from Uncle's library, Jade sat in her room, attempting to prepare her own spell that should solve her current problem.
"It's not much, just two years." She said as she poured a little magical elixir into a vial to mix with another potion. "Hopefully by then I'll gain an extra foot at least." After mixing the spell thoroughly, it gave a small poof, indicating it was ready.
Jade then poured the potion on top of her head, where it soaked into her body. She looked at herself after a couple of seconds, only to see she was still the same age and height. "Oh, come on, work already!" She heard a knock on her door. "Just a second!" Jade quickly hid the spell-book and her supplies before opening the door. "Hey Jackie."
"Jade, if you're planning on going to this movie, you need to stay with the others at all times." Jackie told her.
"Since when do I ever go off on my own?" Jade asked, only for Jackie's eyelids to lower. "You know, when there's not a magical mission involved."
Jackie sighed. "Just be careful."
"Careful's my middle name." Jade said as she ran out the door.
Meanwhile; Caleb did his best to steer the taxi while avoiding crashing it into the other cars on the street. While he had the basic idea on how to drive a car, Jackie had yet to teach him road laws. It was really a miracle Caleb wasn't currently being chased by any police cars, even as he ended up circling back the way he came, right near the alleyway behind the theater before stopping to get outside and regain his senses, but also get out of the repulsing stench of Blunk's vomit that soaked up the entire back seat.
"More! More!" Blunk exclaimed, almost like a child getting off a roller coaster. "Blunk not throw up again! Promise!"
Caleb opened the backseat's door to let Blunk get out. "Ugh! I'll just call Jackie and have Section 13 take care of this…" He said in frustration, only to look in completely surprise as a portal suddenly revealed itself near the far end of the alleyway. Caleb could just barely see some silhouettes coming out of the portal, revealing themselves to be Daolon Wong, alongside the Tracker with his bloodhound, Sniffer.
Caleb immediately ran from the portal; positive he couldn't take those two on by himself. Blunk followed him, but not before grabbing the air-freshener from the taxi. "Snack for later!" He ran to catch up with Caleb just as the dark wizard and his minions stepped out of the portal fully.
"Run all you like boy." Wong sneered. "You cannot escape the Tracker!" He stated as Sniffer gave an eerie howl for emphasis.
Lair Residence
"Babysit?! But the premiere's tonight!" Irma protested as her parents were ready to leave the house.
"So's the patrolman's ball." Mrs. Lair told her daughter as she and her husband walked out the door. "Have your brother in bed by eight."
Irma could only sigh in reluctance as she saw her eight-year-old brother Chris zoom through the living room and the kitchen on his tricycle, crashing knocking down multiple items all across the floor, even running over Irma's foot, much to her irritation.
"Ugh, I gotta find some sucker, I mean sitter, to cover for me." Irma was already on the phone when she heard her doorbell ring. She opened it to reveal Caleb and Blunk outside, much to her surprise, and it looks like they both ran half-a-marathon.
"Saw your parents leave…" Caleb said, out of breath. "Just need a place… to hide… a couple hours…"
Irma smirked, having found her sucker. "Come right in." She closed the door as she saw Caleb looking out the window. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing much, we just have a Meridian search party after us." Caleb answered causally.
"What?!" Irma exclaimed, getting back on her phone. "I better warn the others!"
"No, no, no. I ditched them." Caleb assured as Chris continued to ride his tricycle around the living room.
"You sure?" Irma asked.
"Please, the Tracker?" Caleb dismissed. "Even with Daolon Wong, it's like outwitting a six-year-old." Right on cue, Chris ran over Caleb's foot on his tricycle. "Ow!"
"Chris, Caleb; Caleb, Chris." Irma introduced.
"Your doggy stinks." Chris said upon seeing Blunk sitting at the coach with the TV remote in his mouth.
"Blunk isn't a dog Chris, he's a…" Irma said as she saw Blunk accidentally turn on the TV and hide behind the coach, apparently never having seen a TV before. "A costumed-miniature-clown, yeah!" She wrote down a brief list of the rules and handed it to Caleb. "Bedtime's at eight, here are the rules, bye-bye!" She immediately left the house, leaving Caleb and Blunk alone with the toddler as he ran over Caleb's foot once again.
All the other girls had met up outside the Silver Dragon, waiting for Hay Lin to come out and join them.
"You guys are lucky your mom and Uncle Jackie aren't as strict as Hay Lin's folks." Taranee told Will and Jade.
"She's fine, so long as my grades are good." Will said.
"Yeah, same with Jackie." Jade agreed. "Just as long as I 'stay with the group'." She used air-quotes for emphasis.
Hay Lin quickly hurried out the door. "Hurry! Before they change their minds!" She exclaimed as she and the other girls ran down the sidewalk toward the theater just as Hay Lin's parents came out.
"Hay Lin, be careful!" Her father called to her.
"Be safe! And stick together!" Her mother called out as well.
"I'll be fine!" Hay Lin called back as they continued to run, but quickly stopped once they heard Hay Lin's cell phone ring, which she answered. "Hello? Dad?" She turned around to see her father with his own cell phone.
"Just checking."
The six girls made it to the tether to find dozens of other kids all in line, and nearly every single one of them wore some kind of costume like a knight, a prince or a princess, a troll, or some other form of magical creature; with the exception of seemingly all the J-WITCH.
"Uh, we're the only ones who didn't dress up." Will observed.
"Correction, you're the only ones." Cornelia took off her coat to reveal a costume of a fancy dress that a princess would wear.
"Somehow, I'm not surprised." Jade's eyelids lowered.
"Yeah this girl never misses a chance to be a princess." Taranee agreed.
Lair Residence
As Blunk found himself practically hypnotized by the television, Caleb did his best to keep the brat known as Chris from destroying the house any further as the eight-year-old played hockey with the fishbowl.
"Whoa, Chris! Enough fish-hockey!" Caleb stated. "You know what's fun?! Sitting still!"
Chris only smirked evilly as he pucked the fishbowl into the air, which Caleb was able to barley catch while sliding on the floor, only for Chris to jump and skate off his back.
Meanwhile as the six girls continued to wait in line, Hay Lin's cell phone rang yet again, which she promptly answered. "Yeah Dad." She said impatiently. "I'm even more okay than I was nine minutes ago." Will however felt a very familiar pulsing in her coat pocket, which caught Hay Lin's attention. "Your Mom."
But it was not Will's cell phone pulsating, but rather the Heart of Kandrakar. "Worse. It's the Forces of Darkness calling."
Not far down the road, Sniffer tried to catch the trail of the young rebel as he sniffed the street, and soon found a familiar scent coming from underneath a car; which Daolon Wong telekinetically lifted with his dark magic as the Tracker picked up the item in question, the half-eaten air freshener from the taxi Blunk and Caleb used before.
"And what do we have here?" Wong mused with an evil grin.
"The scent of the passling…" The Tracker answered with a hiss.
Daolon Wong snickered. "I chose wisely when I made you. I created you from the bodies of the greatest hunters and trackers in all of Meridian, and now you serve my whim. Now, find that Passling. Wherever he is, the young rebel will surely be."
Meanwhile; Will showed the Heart of Kandrakar to the other girls, where they all gave gasp as they saw Wong, the Tracker, and Sniffer in it. "Is that who I think it is?" Will asked in surprise.
"Quick, hide!" Taranee stated as she saw the dark wizard and his zombified tracker turning around the corner. The six girls turned their backs, hoping to blend in with the crowd so that neither Daolon Wong nor the Tracker would notice them as they passed by. Fortunately, since Sniffer was focused solely on Blunk's trail, neither his master nor the dark chi wizard noticed the six girls. Though a few of the kids in line gave some awes and complements on their 'costumes' which they elected to ignore as they walked past the streets.
"Don't know what the Anti-Uncle and zombie-boy are up to, but it can't be good." Jade observed.
They saw the villains turn the corner. "What's in that direction?" Cornelia asked.
Irma's eyes widened. "Um… Caleb and Blunk… babysitting Chris."
"You left your little brother with them?!" Will exclaimed. "With a dark wizard and zombie-tracker on their tail!?"
"Now that's just cruel." Taranee said.
"To Caleb and Blunk." Hay Lin joked, adding a little bit of humor in this otherwise tense situation.
Uncle's Rare Finds
Jackie had walked into the back room of the shop where Uncle and Tohru were working on a spell. "I just got off the phone with Captain Black; we might have a possible location narrowed down on where Cedric may be hiding in Heatherfield."
"We've also been trying to do the same thing with Sensei's spells." Tohru informed Jackie. "But we've been unsuccessful so far."
"Daolon Wong must have placed his own Dark Chi spell to protect Cedric's location from good magic." Uncle assumed.
Jackie soon heard his cell phone ring and quickly answered it. "Hello? Will? What is… wait… what!? Why are they…? Why is Caleb with…? Okay, okay; we'll handle it." He hung up. "Daolon Wong and the Tracker are in the city; they are heading for Irma's house where she left Caleb."
"Aiya! What is foolish rebel boy thinking?!" Uncle exclaimed.
"Daolon Wong and the Tracker together, that can't be good." Tohru was already on his feet.
"Then we had better get going before they reach their destination." Jackie said as the trio left the shop.
Will just hung up her phone. "Alright, Jackie's on his way."
"I also called Grandma and she said she'd try to get to Caleb and help him out with Chris." Hay Lin hung up her own phone as well.
Jade gave a slight scoff. "We can just take care of those two guys ourselves. Just Guardian up and heyah!" She gave a roundhouse kick for emphasis.
"Uh Jade, you're not a Guardian, remember?" Taranee reminded, but once she got another good look at Jade, the bespectacled girl looked in minor confusion. "But… is it just me or… have you gotten taller in the last few minutes?"
"Wait… I am?" Jade asked in elated surprise as she pulled out a tape-measure, which she just so happened to have on hand, and quickly measured her own height. "Two whole inches! I'm getting older! My grow up spell's working!"
"Grow up spell?!" Will exclaimed in surprise as the other girls looked at Jade in shock.
"You cast a spell on yourself?!" Taranee questioned.
"What? You like Clint Eastwood so much you wanna be just as old as him!?" Irma questioned as well.
"No! Just a few years!" Jade stated. "I'm sick of constantly being treated like a kid!"
"Because you are a kid, Jade!" Will told her, sounding somewhat disapprovingly. "Can't believe you actually mess with magic! I mean, you know how dangerous that stuff is!"
"And you actually want to be older?!" Hay Lin questioned as well. "I'd kill to be kid for a few more years!"
"Well, I mean not everyone can pull of such a fab body." Cornelia said, sounding quite shallow, only to get elbowed in the arm by Will. "OW!"
"Look forget it, alright!" Jade stated. "Now that I'm older, I can help kick evil butt!"
"We already called Jackie." Will told Jade, who was now just as tall as Will herself. "He, Uncle, and Tohru are on it."
"Yeah; between them against Wong and the Tracker, I think they'll be fine." Taranee said.
"Awww." Jade pouted as she simply looked away with crossed arms.
Daolon Wong walked alongside the Tracker as Sniffer continued to follow the trail near a large construction site. "We are getting close." Wong sneered. "Nobody can hide from my Tracker."
Suddenly, a van zoomed in from around the corner and came to an immediate halt in front of the villains; the doors quickly opened to reveal Jackie Chan, Tohru, and Uncle as they got out and ready for a fight.
"Whatever it is that you two are looking for, you will not find it!" Jackie stated. "Leave Earth now or face the consequences!"
Sniffer growled, along with the Tracker himself. However, Daolon Wong merely chuckled. "So, Jackie Chan chooses to stand in our way yet again. Unfortunately for you, this wasn't entirely unexpected. Gan! Ren! Chui!"
Daolon Wong had summoned the Dark Chi enforcers by his side, but they weren't the only ones. All the shadows in the area moved in from all around and surrounded the group before they materialized to reveal at least two dozen different Shadowkhan. But it didn't stop with just them; Wong threw his scepter up in the air, creating a massive plum of dark blue smoke as he had actually summoned the massive cyclops beast known as Gargoyle who roared for emphasis.
"Aiya…" Uncle uttered in fear as even Tohru gulped.
"Bad day." Jackie muttered.
Lair Residence
The house was in a state of complete chaos as Chris jumped up and down on the coach in the mess of a living room, at the same time, Blunk ran around the room, carrying an expensive-looking vase.
"Blunk, put that vase down!" Caleb exclaimed, only to look even more frustrated as Chris ran with Blunk riding on the boy's shoulders and balancing the vase on his head. "Chris, put that Blunk down!"
The two however ended up tripping and sent the vase flying through the air, which Caleb was able to barley catch before it would shatter on the ground. There was a sudden knock on the door.
"Guys cool it, that could be the tracker and his wizard pal." Caleb told the two.
While Blunk ran to hide, Chris actually looked excited. "A wizard!? Yay! A wizard's here! A wizard's here!" Chris ran to the door and opened it.
"No!" Caleb tried to stop him, but when Chris opened the door, it was revealed to actually be Yan Lin.
"Are you a wizard?" Chris asked.
"Worse." Yan Lin answered as she walked into house. "A grandma."
Back at the movie theater; Will looked into the Heart of Kandrakar and saw the trouble Jackie, Uncle, and Tohru were all in; practically facing a small army of enemies.
"Uh oh, they're in trouble." Will said as the other girls saw it as well.
"What are we waiting for then?! Let's go help them!" Hay Lin stated.
"And loose our place in line?!" Cornelia questioned.
"Seriously?" Irma, Taranee, and even Jade's eyelids lowered.
"I'm just saying, do we all have to go?" Cornelia asked.
Will sighed as she rubbed a hand down her face. "Fine, you can stay Cornelia, just so you can keep an eye on Jade."
"What?" Jade questioned.
"Don't act so surprised; you cast a spell on yourself just to make yourself older! How do you know there aren't any side effects?!" Even Taranee seemed to agree.
"You if you keep aging till you're as old as Grandma!?" Hay Lin added.
"Or you age even further until you're dust in a jar." Irma pointed out.
"But I can…" Jade tried to protest.
"No arguments, Jade." Will said sternly. "Cornelia, make sure she doesn't run off. Handcuff her to your wrist if you have to."
"Yeah, alright." Cornelia kept a firm grip on Jade's wrist.
"Awww." Jade moaned. "You're starting to sound like Jackie."
"I'll take that as a complement." Will smirked as she, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Irma left the line and turned down one alleyway as Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar and said the magic words once more…
"Guardians Unite!"
Jackie, Tohru, and Uncle ran into a large and vacant construction site as the behemoth known as Gargoyle kicked down a fence; allowing the Tracker, Dark Chi Enforcers, and the Shadowkhan to pour in; where the most agile all jumped and landed in front of the Chan Clan trio to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Several Shadowkhan punched and kicked at Jackie, forcing him on the defensive as he tried to block and parry their attacks; while several more attempted to pile on top of Tohru, as he tried to shrug them off with is physical strength.
Uncle took out his blow fish to blast and zap any Shadowkhan that approached him into oblivion with chi magic, only to be blasted back by a bolt of dark chi magic.
"Novice." Wong sneered as he approached the downed wizard. "If your master cannot defeat me what hope do you have?" Suddenly Uncle's foot shot up to Wong's face, knocking him back as Uncle was back up on his feet.
"Because old dark wizard doesn't have knowledge of martial arts." Uncle stated. "Now, do you want a piece of Uncle?" He made a combat stance as Wong narrowed his eyes and opened fire with his dark scepter.
Meanwhile; Tohru and Jackie found themselves back-to-back as they tried to push back against the Shadowkhan; only to be blasted back by Ratso with his magic hammer to send them both flying onto the ground. Suddenly Tohru's wrists were ensnared by a magic flail courtesy of the Tracker as he pulled the large sumo down onto the ground while Sniffer pinned Jackie down and growled.
"Heh, heh, nice doggy…" Jackie laughed nervously. "Do you want a treat?"
However, before Sniffer could even bite down onto Jackie, Will suddenly flew in from behind her Guardian form, grabbed the hound by his tail and spun him around before sending him flying into a group of Shadowkhan that vanished. Hay Lin also came in to blow a gust of wind and knock Finn, Ratso, and Chow back while Irma shot her hands to blast Tracker back with a stream of water as Taranee flew in and threw a fireball at Gargoyle's eye, forcing the giant monster backwards, deeper in the construction site.
The four Guardians flew down and helped Jackie and Tohru get back up. "Sorry to make you do our work for us, Jackie." Will said. "We didn't know it be so bad."
"There is nothing wrong with asking for help." Jackie assured. "Thank you for coming."
"Hey, it's what friends do!" Hay Lin beamed.
"However, we are going to have a talk about you laving Caleb and Blunk at your house, Irma." Jackie said seriously to the girl who winced.
"Yeah, my bad." Irma said.
Tohru looked around and noticed that two certain girls were missing from this group. "Where are Jade and Cornelia?"
"Don't ask." Taranee replied.
Back at the theater, as Jade and Cornelia continued to wait in line, the self-proclaimed older girl hadn't stopped complaining.
"This is so unfair! I'm finally older, so why doesn't everyone take me seriously?!" Jade questioned.
"Because you messing around with magic just to get older was incredibly reckless!" Cornelia replied.
Jade scoffed. "You're one to talk miss 'Oh, I just have to fall in love with rebel boy because I'm so pretty blonde'!"
"First, I do not sound like that!" Cornelia argued. "Second, that's got nothing to do with this! At least I'm not stupid enough to play with magic!"
"You grow plants and move rocks with your mind! Of course, you play with magic!" Jade argued back.
"I only use magic in a fight!" Cornelia exclaimed. "You think I'm shallow, I'm not the one who's trying to skip over her childhood just to feel appreciated!"
"Well I…" Jade's retorted didn't fall through as she suddenly gripped her stomach; causing Cornelia to look in worry.
"Jade are you alright?" The blond disregarded their argument and kneeled down to help her groaning friend. She helped her back up to her feet as Jade continued to hold her stomach. "What did you drink the spell or something?"
"No I poured it on my head…" Jade groaned. "I… I really don't feel so good."
"And that's what we've tried to tell you." Cornelia muttered as she tried to help Jade move through the line, much to the frustration of the other kids. "Sorry! Sorry! Got a sick friend!" She made it to the door and knocked on it, which an administrator opened.
"The movie's not ready yet."
"I know, but my friend isn't feeling well, we just need to get the bathroom!" Cornelia stated as Jade continued to groan.
"Alright, bring in her in." The administrator let Cornelia bring Jade inside.
Cornelia helped Jade into the women's bathroom, which fortunately didn't have anyone else inside. Once they were in, Cornelia turned around to lock the door, but as she did, Jade's body began to glow with a faint orange aura. When Cornelia turned around, she could only gasp as she saw Jade had grown; not in age, but in size, and was already fifteen feet tall.
"Cornelia… do I look older to you?" Jade asked, more so nervously as she looked at her own body.
"No…. but you're definitely…. Bigger." Cornelia stuttered as Jade looked into the mirror to see her changed stature.
Jade gave an annoyed scoff. "This is so not the growing up I had in mind."
Cornelia rubbed her forehead in annoyance. "Maybe you should have actually read the spell before you used it?"
Suddenly, Jade's body began to glow again, causing her to back up as he actually began to grow in size even more; but since the bathroom itself was so small, Jade ended up tripping and falling back, causing the wall to break down as Jade stumbled backwards out of the building and into the alleyway behind the theater.
Jade chuckled nervously as Cornelia ran out through the hole and looked in even further shock to see Jade was now at least thirty feet tall. "Heh, heh, woops?"
Cornelia groaned even further until a flash of blue light caught hers and Jade's attention, as they looked further down the alleyway to find an open portal, the same one Wong and the Tracker used to travel to Earth.
"Well, at least we know how the bad guys came here." The giant Jade said as she stood back up. "Now come on, Jackie and Will…"
"You're not serious, are you?!" Cornelia exclaimed. "You're not even supposed to…"
"I know I'm not a Guardian or anything!" Jade exclaimed. "But don't you think it be easier if I used this to help our friends! Every time I want to help; I always hear you guys and Jackie saying, 'it's too dangerous', 'you're not old enough', is it wrong that I want to help?!"
Cornelia sighed. "There's nothing wrong with that. It's just… look, Jackie's your uncle, your family, so of course he's going to be protective of you. You want to help, that's fine, but you also have to be responsible. And that means you can't sneak off or use magic as a shortcut. That's kind of what growing up is."
This seemed to calm Jade down, as she sighed and realized Cornelia was right. And it wasn't just with this, she had been doing this all the time where she snuck off to try and help Jackie, and while she has helped at times, it's more so gotten her into even more trouble than normal; case in point being stuck in the Netherworld with Shendu's siblings.
"Okay, maybe I can try to be a bit more… responsible." Jade admitted.
"Good." Cornelia smiled slightly. "And the first step is turning your little mishap into an advantage to help our friends."
"But, what about…?" The giant Jade asked.
"It's just a movie." Cornelia dismissed. "Even if we miss the premiere, we can just see it some other weekend or something; friends are more important." The blonde smirked. "Now, what do you say we go kick some evil butt?"
Jade smirked back as she offered her large hand for Cornelia to climb on as Jade put her older friend on her right shoulder. "You even need to ask?"
Back at the construction site; Will parried the punches and kicks from some nearby Shadowkhan as Jackie did the same while the two came back-to-back when they were surrounded by at least ten of them. The two exchanged looks as they nodded right when the Shadowkhan all leapt at them; Jackie ducked as Will flew slightly over him for a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree roundhouse kick with her superior strength to knock all the Shadowkhan back.
Meanwhile; Uncle and Daolon Wong both appeared to be locked in a duel as Uncle blasted good chi magic from his blowfish while Wong blasted dark chi magic from his scepter and the two recited their respective chants; but the duel came to an end as Gargoyle loomed over Uncle and roared at the old man.
Uncle gasped as he was forced to end his duel early and quickly run to avoid being crushed by Gargoyle's massive foot. Wong laughed as he witnessed Gargoyle chasing the rival wizard.
"Yes! Crush him Gargoyle! Crush that fledgling novice into paste!" Wong's laughing was cut off by a blast of water from Irma that sent him skidding across the ground.
"You wanna talk about paste, just look at your skin." Irma commented. "I mean, have you even heard of moisturizer?" She then flew up to assist the fleeing Uncle as she quickly flew in front of the pursuing Gargoyle to blast a stream of water in the monster's face and cause it to stumble back; but this only served to irritate Gargoyle as it swatted it's hand to knock down Irma into Uncle on the ground.
At the same time; Tohru had picked up a steel pipe as he used it to parry the strikes from Chow's own staff, while on the defensive as Hay Lin flew down to blow a gust of wind to literally blow Chow back.
"Hay Lin, duck!" Tohru pulled Hay Lin down in time to avoid being decapitated by Finn's spinning blade which he threw out before it returned to Finn like a boomerang.
Hay Lin breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks, Big T."
"Need a haircut?" Finn cracked as he and Ratso charged at them both. However, Taranee landed in front of them to halt their advance as she threw a series of fireballs at them, while she also controlled the flames themselves and manipulated them to form a ring of fire around the two Dark Chi enforcers and trap them.
"What's the matter? Can't take the heat?" Taranee joked.
However, the flames were quickly blasted away as Ratso slammed his hammer onto the ground to create a large shockwave that not only blew away the flames, but also knocked back Taranee, Hay Lin, and Tohru quite a bit.
Meanwhile; as Will and Jackie dealt with the last of the Shadowkhan; the two suddenly found themselves entangled by the flail belonging to Tracker as he pulled it down to slam both of them onto the ground as Sniffer pounced at them to keep them pinned, while Jackie and Will each wrenched a free arm to keep the snarling and biting hound at bay.
Daolon Wong had recovered as he approached the entangled pair while Tracker kept a firm grip on his flail. "A valiant effort, but all in vein I'm afraid." He opened his hands to reveal a series of fanged mouths in the palms as dark magic began to swirl around them. "I may not get the young Rebel, but with the power of the Heart of Kandrakar flowing through my veins, I shall become invincible! Not even Phobos will defy me!"
However, the ground began to shake, getting the attention of everyone present as they all stopped their fighting only to look in shock to see Jade, who was now fifty feet tall, enter the construction site, with Cornelia riding on her shoulder.
"Say hello to my friend Flicker." The giant Jade knelt down to literally flick the Tracker away and send the zombie flying and crashing into a pile of steel girders.
With the Tracker disposed of, Will and Jackie were able to free themselves from the flail that entangled both of them; but they could only look in absolute shock at how big Jade had was. They were joined by Tohru, Irma, Uncle, Hay Lin, and Taranee who shared jaw-dropped expressions as they saw Jade help Cornelia down onto the ground.
"Aiya…" Uncle muttered.
"Got that right." Hay Lin said with a nod.
"Jade…?" Tohru muttered as his jaw had dropped.
"I'm guessing that 'grow up' spell was taken in a literal sense." Irma muttered to Taranee.
"Uh… Cornelia…?" Will hoped the blonde had some kind of explanation.
"She wouldn't stop growing." Cornelia merely shrugged.
"Jade! What happened to you?!" Jackie practically screamed.
Daolon Wong growled. This was unexpected, but he wasn't about to give up yet. "Attack!"
"Talk later!" Jade said to Jackie as she saw the Dark Chi Enforcers running straight at her with their weapons at the ready.
"You're going down, Queen Kong!" Finn exclaimed.
"The bigger they are, the harder they…" Ratso was cut off as he, Finn, and Chow were literally stomped out by Jade's foot.
"Just call me, Jadezilla." The fifty-foot Jade said with a smirk. She looked towards the recovering Tracker and Sniffer that joined Daolon Wong. "Might wanna clear out, tiny!"
"Oh? Perhaps you should be picked upon by something your own size." Wong challenged as Jade and the others heard some large steps from behind, where they all turned around to see Gargoyle roaring challenging at Jade.
"Right, forgot about him." Hay Lin winced.
Jade however wasn't the least bit initiated. "I got this, guys!" She stated as she made a Kung Fu stance. "You take his little buddies."
"Jade…!" Jackie tried to protest.
"Hey, how about we argue later and focus on the bad guys right now!" Cornelia exclaimed as the Tracker roared and unleashed a large swarm of bats from his cloak at the group, which Taranee and Hay Lin tried to force back with blasts of fire and wind respectively.
Jackie sighed. "Alright, but we are going to talk about this later."
"Yes, we are." Will gave Cornelia a small glare before she used the Heart's power to transform Cornelia into her Guardian form before the five Guardians, Jackie, and Tohru charged at the Tracker and Sniffer; leaving the giant Jade to duke it out with Gargoyle.
"Okay handsome, this town ain't big enough for the both of us." The fifty-foot Jade said as she ran at Gargoyle who tried to punch and grab her, but Jade parried each strike with her own martial art skills before landing a solid kick to knock the monster back slightly before Gargoyle roared and grappled with Jade, before she ducked underneath its grab to deal yet another kick into Gargoyle's chest and actually knock it down.
At the same time; the Tracker's swarm of bats flew around Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee as they took to the air and kept the swarm at bay with blasts of their respective elements while Will landed a flying kick on Tracker himself to knock it back. Jackie ran to try and help, but Sniffer was on the attack once more as the hound lunged at Jackie, but Jackie had grabbed a steel pipe from the ground which Sniffer bit on and tried to pull it out of Jackie's hands. Jackie tried to wrestle with the hound as Sniffer seemed to be about as strong as three pit bulls put together.
The Tracker flew out its flail again to entangle Will's ankle and pull her in, but she didn't struggle alone as Tohru came in to grab the chain and used his own strength to pull Gargoyle in; but Gargoyle appeared strong enough to resist Tohru's pull, albeit being dragged along the ground as Tohru appeared to be slightly stronger even as Will came in to help and pull on the chain.
Daolon Wong growled as he saw how easily his own forces were about to be overwhelmed, however, before he could even attack, he turned and looked in surprise to see Uncle preparing a spell.
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao! Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao! Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao!" Uncle held a dried lizard in one hand over a brick in the other as he hoped from his left foot to his right and back-and-forth.
Wong realized what he was doing. "Stone magic?" He telekinetically pulled his own brick into his own hand. "I shall immobilize you first!" Wong began to mimic Uncle's actions, holding his scepter over the brick he was using, reciting his own dark chant, while hopping from his left foot to his right and back to his left.
As they both activated their spells, a bolt of green chi magic shot from Uncle's brick, right at the same time a blue bolt of dark chi magic shot from Wong's brick. Both bolts intercepted each other before reflecting back onto the respective users. This resulted in both Uncle and Wong being immobilized in the exact same stance, standing on their left and right leg respectively as they could only move their eyes and couldn't even talk.
Meanwhile; the giant Jade was forced back to an old and abandoned building as Gargoyle ran towards her, but the large girl pulled the fire-escape from the old building and used it as a makeshift weapon to slam against Gargoyle's face. "In case of an emergency, use the fire-escape!" She pressed forward with her make-shift weapon, forcing Gargoyle back as Cornelia landed behind the monster.
Cornelia then used her own powers to raise two large roots which entangled each other, creating a trip-trap that Gargoyle tripped back on as Jade pressed forward, causing the giant monster to fall back onto a wrecking ball vehicle. The vehicle itself was crushed, but the wrecking ball was sent flying up briefly before it fell back down and crushed the large stone hand on the beast; reducing its entire right hand to rubble as Gargoyle roared in agony.
"Oooh!" Cornelia winced. "That's gotta hurt."
"Well, this is a construction site." Jade cracked.
At the same time; Hay Lin had created a large tornado around herself, Taranee and Irma to protect themselves from the bat swarm, but their defense turned into an offense as Irma and Taranee threw their water and fire into the tornado, creating a powerful and deadly vortex to kill all the bats that were surrounding them.
Jackie meanwhile was pinned to the ground, using the steel pipe to keep the snarling Sniffer back, but he wouldn't have to worry as Irma flew down to blast Sniffer back with a stream of water.
At the same time; Will and Tohru continued their game of 'tug-of-war' with the Tracker; but the combined strength of the red-haired Guardian and the sumo was enough to overpower the Tracker, and with a single heave, the zombified hunter was pulled in as Tohru and Will both dealt a single punch to the Tracker's face and send the monster flying along with Sniffer into the immobilized Daolon Wong, knocking down all three of them, and even the immobilized Uncle as well.
Will, Jackie, Irma, Taranee, Tohru, Cornelia, and Hay Lin, as well as the fifty-foot-tall Jade approached the downed group of villains as Jade picked up the immobilized dark wizard.
"Now I know what you're thinking punk." Jade began, putting on a Clint Eastwood impression. "'But they're the good guys, they wouldn't hurt a fly'."
Cornelia flew up beside Jade with a smirk as she spoke next. "But, seeing how many times you've tried to kill us, and as you are right now, you probably got like one good spell left in the tank; you gotta ask yourself a question. 'Do I feel lucky?'"
"Well, do ya, punk?" Jade asked as well.
Wong used this as his cue, and while he was still immobilized, he used his only remaining spell to teleport himself, Tracker, Sniffer, and even the single-handed Gargoyle away from the area.
"Guess he wasn't feeling lucky." Jade observed. "But I thought you hated Clint Eastwood." She said to Cornelia.
"I said I liked Vance Michael Jackson; I didn't say I didn't like Clint Eastwood." Cornelia smirked as she and the fifty-foot-tall Jade exchanged a high five.
"Well, looks like we won!" Hay Lin stated.
"Yeah, but we probably missed the movie." Will observed.
"Perhaps then you could likely provide an explanation as to why my niece is fifty feet tall?" Jackie asked.
"It's my fault, Jackie." Jade said for the others.
"How about you explain it as I concoct an antidote." Tohru proposed.
"She isn't the only one." Irma said as she picked up the still-immobilized Uncle.
"Actually, can we leave him like that?" Cornelia asked. "I think l like him better this way... OW!" She felt a slap on her forehead as Uncle was somehow able to deliver his traditional dope-slap to her, despite being immobilized.
Sometime later; Tohru and Yan Lin were able to make a chi-spell antidote that not only returned Jade to her normal size, but also restored Uncle's maneuverability. Jade and Cornelia told Will where to find the portal Wong and the Tracker used to get to Meridian, which she sealed, while Cornelia used her Earth-powers to fix the hole in the wall Jade accidentally made as she grew in size. By the time Jade had given an explanation to Jackie; the group were outside Irma's house with Caleb as she looked inside to see her younger brother finished cleaning up the mess he had made.
"What'd you do? Cast some old chi spell on him?" Irma asked Yan Lin.
"Nah, ancient grandma trick: cookie bribe." Yan Lin answered. "Which I also used to ensure that he tells your parents that it was you who watched him all night, instead of Caleb."
"Thanks, I… OW!" Irma felt her forehead where Uncle dope slapped her.
"What was girl thinking?! Leaving reckless rebel at home with Forces of Darkness tracking him?!" Uncle questioned.
"Who are you calling reckless… OW!" Caleb was also dope-slapped by Uncle.
"How was rebel boy foolish enough to think he can outwit dark wizard and tracker, while also carrying a smelly passling?!" Uncle exclaimed, referring to Blunk who only smiled apologetically.
"Sorry I got a little… big for my britches guys." Jade apologized before she too was dope-slapped by Uncle. "OW! So that's what it feels like." She said, as that was actually the first time Uncle had given her a dope slap.
"Magic is not to be trifled with!" Uncle stated. "It is used to battle evil, not pubescence!"
"I'm sorry I guess I just… felt if I was a little older, you guys would take me seriously." Jade confessed.
Jackie sighed. "Jade I…"
"I know, I was irresponsible, and it wasn't the first time." Jade acknowledged. "Cornelia already told me. But I promise, I'm gonna be try to be more responsible from now on."
Jackie could tell that Jade was honest and truly meant what she said. "And perhaps I can stop being so strict from time-to-time. So, if you promise to be truly careful, I may let you accompany me and the girls on certain missions."
"Really?!" Jade exclaimed with a hopeful smile.
"As long as you promise to be careful." Jackie said before turning to the others. "And that you all promise to watch over her as well as yourselves."
All six of the girls looked at each other with smiles and nods before they raised their hands in the form of a scout's honor salute. "We promise." They all said at the same time.
"But first, perhaps we could enjoy that movie you missed." Jackie proposed. "I'll take you all tomorrow morning and I'll even buy the tickets."
That earned wide smiles from all the girls present. "Uncle Jackie, you're the best!" Hay Lin exclaimed as she, and all the others, including Jade, practically leapt at Jackie with a group hug; while Tohru, Yan Lin, Caleb, even Uncle and Blunk had small smiles.
Done.
So, how'd you like this chapter? To be honest, the original episode was not one of my favorites, which doesn't necessarily mean I hated the episode, I just felt they could do better; so I chose to add some JCA elements to mix things up; such as 'Jadezilla' vs Gargoyle, which resulted in the monster getting his hand crushed. (Along with a Clint Eastwood line thrown in just for fun).
Oh, and now you know the Tracker's origins: he is a zombie, made from the corpses of Meridian's best hunters and trackers and brought to life by Daolon Wong's dark magics, Frankenstein-style. And it seems that Wong has ambitions of his own as he tried to gain the power of the Heart of Kandrakar for himself, as opposed to giving it to Phobos.
I enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it just as much. Stay safe and stay healthy out there. Peace out!