Hi everyone. Thanks again for your patience. With this chapter, we finally learn the identity of the true heir to Meridian's throne. I hope everyone is doing alright with all the stress we've been experiencing due to this pandemic. It's my hope that my updates are able to lift everyone's spirits. So, with that being said, let's get started.
The Star of Threbe
The Volcano of Threbe, or at least what's left of it, had been completely gutted, to put it mildly, after the volcano itself had been rendered extinct many years ago. Now the only activity occurring there was a Lurden mining operation. Their Prince had ordered them to locate something of incredible value hidden in this extinct volcano. Something that could help him locate his sister. One would say however that this was a fool's errand because the only proof of this item's existence was mere stories, probably to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. But even if this item didn't truly exist, the mineral known as Threbite could still serve him so either way, Phobos would benefit from this operation.
The Lurdens continued to dig and chip away at the inside of the volcano, pulling out large rocks to be broken where the mineral Threbite was extracted and separated from the stone. However, one Lurden struck a wall with his pickaxe, but as he did, a bright green glow shined, getting the attention of every Lurden in the mine. The source of the glow was a seven-pointed stone star that glowed green. This was it! This is what Phobos had ordered them to find! And they had succeeded!
Earth – Uncle's Rare Finds
Uncle read the contents of the spell book carefully as he relayed the instructions to his nephew, great-niece, apprentice, and even a certain rebel assisting them.
"Three newt eyeballs." Uncle instructed.
"Check." Tohru poured a vile of three newt eyeballs into a cauldron of bubbling green liquid.
"Dried hair of Chinese fox." Uncle continued to read.
"Check." Jackie pulled out some of the aforementioned hair before dropping it into the cauldron.
"Three quarts of eel saliva." Uncle said.
Jade held a vile of the contents. "Where do you even get eel saliva?"
"Have the old man pull his tongue out of his mouth and ring out the spit." Caleb joked. "OW!" He rubbed his forehead where Uncle delivered his titular dope slap.
"Does Rebel want to protect missing heir from Forces of Darkness? Yes? Then do what Uncle tells you!" Uncle exclaimed.
Jade poured the final ingredient into the cauldron, where there was a bright flash of light before a small plum of green smoke lifted from the stabilized liquid.
"The spell is complete." Uncle said. "Once the heir drinks it, she will be protected by any and all forces who wish to do her harm."
"Yes, but this spell won't do us much good if we can't find the heir." Tohru said.
"After our attempt at a locator spell with Phobos' hair failed, I had it sent to Section 13 to see if Captain Black could find any matches." Jackie revealed. "However, we still need access to the heir's DNA for confirmation."
"What's DNA?" Caleb asked.
"It's like a piece of someone." Jade explained. "Like a hair, fingernail, or a drop of blood. And since our missing person is Phobos' sister, they should have similar DNA."
"Yes, but we are still no closer to finding her." Jackie said. However, a foul stench filled the air, causing everyone to pinch their noses in disgust.
"Ugh! Uncle! If you're gonna make a spell that smells like crap you could at least warn us!" Jade complained.
"Uncle's spell not source of smell!" The old man replied.
"It's smells worse than rotten fish." Tohru waved a hand in front of his face.
Caleb scowled in annoyance. "I know that smell. It's dirty, it's vile…" They followed the stench outside the backdoor toward a back alley behind the shop. The source of the stench was coming from a dumpster right behind the door, with the contents inside shifting as if something was alive inside. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was. "It's Blunk."
Blunk came out of the pile of garbage with a friendly smile. "Blunk new pad groovy, huh?"
"I think you mean, gravy!" Jade waved a hand in front of her face to block out the stench. "You smell worse than demon breath!"
"Thank you. Blunk tries." Blunk poured some rotten gravy over his body while pulling out an old cell phone. "Flip-flop tongue scrapper!" He literally scraped the old phone on his tongue.
"Blunk, we're incredibly busy." Jackie said. "And it's difficult to concentrate with your… your…" He tried to sound sincere, but Uncle beat him to it with a blunt statement.
"Passling smell terrible! Take a bath!" Uncle stated.
Blunk looked in horror at the mention of that word "Bath bad!" He hid in the garbage.
"No. Soapy-water-bath good." Caleb told him in annoyance. "Stinky-stink, bad!" He tried to pull Blunk out, but he seemed too deep. Tohru motioned for Caleb to step aside as he actually lifted the dumpster up, flipped it, and shook it; causing all the garbage and Blunk to fall out.
"AAAH!" Blunk screamed upon being found out. He desperately pulled out an old fish. "Give Tohru free treasure! Old fish!" He threw it at Tohru's face and quickly made a break for it, much to everyone's disgust as Tohru fell flat on his back.
The group helped the sumo back on his feet as he rubbed the grime from his face. "I hate fish."
"Pretty sure everybody hates rotten fish." Jade commented.
"Uncle, please tell me you have a spell that can clean him." Jackie hopped.
"Magic must defeat magic! Not smelly Passling!" Uncle stated.
The Next Day – Sheffield Institute
"Hey, don't forget guys, practice today by the river." Will told the other girls, including Jade, as she put her stuff away in her locker.
"Before we get into all the cool magic stuff, I need you guys' help." Jade said.
"With your hair, make-up, and fashion sense?" Cornelia commented in a mocking joke. "I thought you would never ask."
Jade rolled her eyes but chose to ignore the blonde. "Blunk's been hopping from dumpster-to-dumpster all across the city. He's stinking up our shop worse than Uncle's garlic breath."
"He even stopped by my restaurant one time." Hay Lin pointed out. "And my mom and dad have the health inspector coming."
"So, we got a common enemy them." Jade said. "As much as I love the old toad, he needs a serious bath."
"He's willing to take a bath?" Taranee asked.
Jade scoffed. "About as much as Uncle is willing to admit he's wrong about something."
"Yeah, this sounds serious." Irma got the message.
"Okay, we'll do it before practice." Will said.
Cornelia groaned. "Why can't we have regular problems? Like 'are my shoes so retro they're not cool? Just plain old?' No! We have to give a sponge-bath to a barf toad!"
"As much as he stinks, it could still be worse." Jade said.
"How?" Cornelia questioned.
"Try clipping Shendu's oversized toe-nails." Jade shivered. "I still get nightmares about demonic toe-jam."
The other girls cringed in disgust. "Thanks, so much for that image, Jade." Irma said sarcastically.
Meridian – Phobos' Throne Room
The dark prince himself held recently excavated the seven-pointed star in his hands. "The Star of Threbe!"
"Are you certain?" Cedric hissed in wonder.
"I can sense the magic of the mage." Daolon Wong said. "As well as the residual energy similar to that of the Heart of Kandrakar. Without a doubt, that is the Star."
"Indeed." Phobos agreed. "After a decade of searching, the Star will bring my sister to me." However, though Phobos wouldn't say it aloud, there was some reluctance upon using it. This was the same artifact that saved his mother's life back when she was still a child. However, given the persistence of Jackie Chan and the Guardians, as well as the resources they have on Earth, it was the only way for him to find his sister. And he will use it.
Earth – Heatherfield
Blunk continued to scavenge through piles of trash and filth, looking for whatever 'treasures' he could trade, while also deeply enjoying the filth he was practically swimming through. However, he looked in surprise to see the six girls on the other side of the alleyway. Will, Jade, and Irma held large brushes in their hands as Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin carried buckets of soap-water.
"Bath time, Blunk." Jade smirked as she wore a pair of sunglasses. Without warning, the six girls charged at the smelly Passling. Hay Lin, Cornelia, and Taranee threw the soap-water over him as Jade, Will, and Irma tried to scrub him down. However, Blunk's head stuck out of the soap bubbles as he somehow wore a diver's suit, complete with a snorkeler and goggles.
"Is that a wet suit?" Will questioned in surprise and annoyance.
"Or trash-bag suit." Blunk said, as his body was protected from the cleanliness the girls were trying to force on him. He then rushed past the girls upon seeing a garbage truck. "Buh-bye!" Before they could even react, he dove into the dumpster the garbage truck was collecting and dumped back into the even bigger pile of garbage as the truck drove off.
"That guy's more slippery than Jade!" Cornelia stated.
"And that's saying something." Jade herself commented, not denying Cornelia's comment.
"He's heading for the river!" Will stated as they saw the garbage truck heading in that direction.
"We'll never catch him!" Hay Lin exclaimed.
"Not in human form." The leader of the Guardians said, getting all their attention.
"Oooh, does that mean what I think it means…?" Jade smiled eagerly.
"Okay, this is only supposed to be used for fighting evil, but that smell is as close to evil as I wanna get!" Will pointed a finger at Jade's face. "Do not tell Jackie!"
"My lips are sealed." Jade smirked as Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar and said her two favorite words.
"Guardians Unite!"
After yet another flashy transformation, that Jade honestly still couldn't get enough of; Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin had transformed into WITCH. They immediately took to the skies.
"Time to go catch a Blunk." Irma said.
"Way ahead of you guys!" Jade stated as she was also hovering in the air with them, much to their surprise.
"Jade?! How are you…?!" Taranee exclaimed.
"Rooster Talisman for levitation plus and Rabbit Talisman for speed equals flight." Jade revealed the two aforementioned Talismans she had in her fingers. "Figured catching the stinker wasn't gonna be easy. You can't leave the J out of J-WITCH."
"Aren't those supposed to be locked up in Section 13?" Will questioned.
"How you managed to sneak in and out of a secret government facility, I'll never know." Cornelia commented.
"You guys wanna talk all day or you wanna catch Blunk before he becomes the world's biggest stink bomb?" She questioned before she used the two Talismans to fly after the garbage truck. The five Guardians shares shrugs while Will just sighed and shook her head before they flew after her.
Meanwhile, Cedric, in his human disguise as 'Rick Hoffman' hung the Star of Threbe up at his window display. One would assume it was a simple decoration, but truthfully, it carried a much more sinister purpose. It soon began to emanate a faint green glow.
At the same time, in a separate location of Heatherfield, Elyon Brown felt dizzy for a moment as she briefly placed a hand on the wall to steady herself. Before she could even register what was going on, her body moved, almost on its own. She walked down the street, as if something was calling her.
Blunk had made it to the river, specifically toward the park at the bank of the river. Currently, he was inside a trash can, helping himself to the garbage inside as a snack. "Snack-hat. Yum." He ate the banana-peel that was on his head.
Suddenly, Blunk gave a yelp as he was telekinetically lifted into the air, curtsey of Jade with the Rooster Talisman as she hovered in the air alongside the WITCH girls in their Guardian form.
"You've been jacked, by J-WITCH." Jade smirked.
"And it's bath time!" Will practically sung, much to Blunk's horror.
"NOOO!"
"I wash, you dry." Irma said to Hay Lin, but Cornelia had a better idea.
"Oh, why waste our powers? Let's just throw him in the river." The blonde suggested.
"Cannon-ball Blunk!" Jade telekinetically through the Passling into the river. Though the Passling was capable of swimming, he did not like that all his hard-earned filth was being washed away.
"Okay, when he swims to shore, then we'll give him a proper scrubbing." Will said.
However, that did not prove to be the case as a garbage-barge sailed along the river, which was the very thing Blunk swam toward and climbed up into. Once he dove back into the filth, he didn't hesitate to not only cover himself in the garbage again, but even eat some of it. "Ooh! Salad bar boat!"
"Oh no!" Taranee groaned in annoyance along with the other girls.
"Toad's more slippery than me!" Jade stated.
"And that's saying something." Cornelia said.
Meanwhile, Elyon found herself practically sleepwalking toward the bookstore. It was almost as if she wasn't even fully aware of her actions, almost as if something else was telling her to come to this place. She walked inside, finding herself drawn straight toward the Star of Threbe.
Without even a single thought, the young girl took the so-called ornament and placed it around her neck before walking outside. This did not go unnoticed by the disguised Cedric who could only sneer evilly.
"So, the sister of Phobos is finally identified. Now it's only a matter of time."
However, Cedric was not the only one who took notice of this. Less than a block away, further down the street, a single black van remained parked along the side. But this wasn't just any ordinary van, it was a small observation point controlled by Section 13. Ever since it was revealed that the bookstore was built on an inversion point between Earth and Meridian, Jackie had talked with Captain Black about a possible hiding spot for Cedric. So, the head of Section 13 had an observation team placed there to keep tabs on who goes in or out. So far, they have not seen the owner's face, and it only seemed like citizens would come in-and-out so far. But that still didn't stop them from taking pictures of each person, which included Elyon wearing the Star of Threbe around her neck.
Meanwhile, back at the river, the Guardians and Jade hovered in the sky above the moving garbage barge where Blunk was practically nesting.
"Oh well, I guess we could swoop down and give him a good scrubbing." Will suggested.
"But he'll see us coming a mile away." Taranee said. "And so will the guys on the barge."
"No problem." The hovering Jade brandished a third Talisman, the Snake Talisman. "That's why I brought this puppy."
"The Snake Talisman?" Hay Lin exclaimed.
"Jade, how many Talismans did you steal?!" Cornelia exclaimed.
"Not stolen, borrowed!" Jade corrected. "And it's only these three."
"You know we're gonna have a serious talk once this is done." Will's eyelids lowered.
"Says the girl who transformed everyone else into Guardians." Jade replied with a scoff.
Rather than continue their argument; Will and Irma joined Jade's hands, as Taranee held onto Will's hand, and Cornelia hers, while Hay Lin held onto Irma's hand. Jade activated the Snake Talisman's power and all six of them turned completely invisible.
"Let's get the little stink-ball." Irma said as they flew straight down toward the barge.
Meanwhile, at least a mile away, the Star of Threbe around Elyon's neck began to glow green and emanate an invisible green pulse which shot out like lightning. It stretched all the way from her location straight toward the river.
As the six invisible girls drew closer toward the barge, they failed to notice the green energy surging through the skies to zap all of them. The Heart of Kandrakar, as well as the Snake, Rabbit, and Rooster Talismans all briefly glowed green before the six girls turned visible and fell into the river.
Blunk couldn't help but laugh as he saw the girls all fall. "Blunk dry! Girls bath!"
"What the heck just happened?!" Jade exclaimed as their heads popped out of the river.
"Maybe you dropped the Talismans." Hay Lin said.
"Nah, got em right here." Jade held up all three of the Talismans in her hand. "Now come on, he's getting away!" She tried to jump, trying to use the Rooster's power to levitate, only to fall back into the river. "What the…?"
"Jade?" Taranee asked in worry.
"Uh, you might wanna check the batteries on the Talismans." Irma said in a nervous tone, despite the joke.
"Okay, invisibility!" Jade held up the Snake Talisman, only for nothing to work. "Super speed?" Still nothing with the Rabbit Talisman. Her face practically paled in horror as none of the Talismans were working "Uh… this is bad..."
"Let's get back to shore." Hay Lin tried to fly up, but her wings didn't flap and she was unable to pull herself from the water, much to her surprise. "Guys… I can't fly!"
Now the group was getting more than a little nervous. "Irma, clear us a path to shore." Will told her. Irma held up her hands to try and clear the water away, only for nothing to happen.
"Nothing's happening! Will, we've lost our powers!" Irma exclaimed as all six girls gasped.
"Okay, okay, let's not panic. Let's not panic!" Will said as they swam to shore.
"Not panic?! Your powers aren't working, and the Talismans are suddenly duds!" Jade almost shouted. "I'd say it's a pretty good time to panic!"
"But why don't we have a panic attack after we change back to normal?" Cornelia suggested.
Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar, which had ceased its vibrant glow. "Change back!" Nothing happened. This caused all six girls to look in absolute fear as it would appear that even the Heart of Kandrakar was rendered powerless. "Bad day."
Meridian
What could be considered a relatively peaceful day in Meridian, grew much more ominous as dark clouds fell over the castle town. All the people looked up toward the dark clouds as thunder rolled and lightning struck. It would seem that a storm was coming, but not a natural storm.
Phobos and Daolon Wong stood on the balcony as they observed the change in scenery.
"Clouds of thunder that do not bring rain." Wong observed. "Often portrayed as an omen of a growing darkness."
Cedric, in his monstrous serpent-form, came onto the scene. "Tell me!" Phobos demanded. "Tell me the Star of Threbe has located the girl!"
"She took it placed it around her neck." Cedric confirmed with a hiss.
Phobos couldn't help but chuckle. "Soon, all of the power of Meridian shall be mine!"
As Phobos basked in his apparent victory, he failed to notice a dangerous glint on Wong's eyes. 'Yes, saver this small victory fool. But you will soon learn that it is not you whom this realm will bow to, but me!'
Earth
With Jade's cellphone, the girls were able to call Jackie to pick them up from the park, where he drove them back to Uncle's Rare Finds where Uncle and Tohru were waiting. Yan Lin had also been called in as well once she heard the situation. Of course, the girls had to explain to Jackie why they were stuck in Guardian form, and why Jade had three of the Talismans. Though Jackie was disappointed with them, that was not even the worst part of the scolding.
"Ow!"
"Ow!"
"Ow!"
"Ow!
"Ow!"
"Ow!"
Will, Irma, Cornelia, Hay Lin, Taranee, and even Jade, all rubbed their foreheads as Uncle delivered his titular dope-slap to all six of them.
"How many times must Uncle tell you?! Magic must defeat magic! Not smelly Passling!" the elderly chi-wizard shouted.
"Yeah, we get it, we're bad Guardians." Cornelia said. "But what the hell happened to our powers?! Even the Talismans don't work!"
Jackie just got off the phone. "I just spoke with Captain Black. It's not just the ones Jade took; the other Talismans are not working."
"All of the Talismans?!" Tohru questioned in surprise. "How is this even possible?"
"But I didn't even have the other Talismans on me!" Jade complained.
"You were not supposed to have any of them on you, Jade!" Jackie scolded. "How many times must I say that the Talismans are only supposed to be used for emergencies!"
"Well…" Hay Lin said nervously. "You did notice how bad Blunk stunk up the neighborhood, and my parents had the health inspector coming. So, it might not have been Phobos or Valmont or anything, but it was kind of an emergency."
"Jackie, look." Will began. "I know we all screwed up here, Jade especially."
"Hey!" Jade protested.
"And we're sorry, but we had no control over our powers suddenly turning off on us." Will continued. "We really need your help if we're gonna fix this."
"Of course." Jackie assured. "But we need to know what the problem is before we can solve it."
"Well don't you guys have a chi-spell, or a cream, or roll-on or something?" Irma questioned, only for Uncle to dope-slap her once more. "Ow!"
"How can Uncle prepare spell if we do not know what problem is?" Uncle questioned.
"He does have a point." Taranee seemed to agree.
Yan Lin began to think. "Hmm, you've lost your powers, as have even the Talismans, and we know that Phobos is searching for his heir."
"Phobos is responsible for this?" Jackie questioned.
"Could this also be the work of Daolon Wong?" Tohru also wondered
"Perhaps neither of them directly." Yan Lin explained. "There is a story of a long-lost stone. Back when Meridian was a peaceful, happy place, a young girl, Weira, the heir to the throne, and Phobos' mother, wondered from her parents and was lost. Her parents were frantic and beseeched the Mage for help. The Mage used the Heart of Kandrakar to create a locator stone: a seven-pointed star. This star had the power to summon one who is lost and render powerless anything or anyone that may prevent that person from returning home. But if activated, the Star could never be destroyed and might one day serve their enemies. Despite the risk, Weira's parents used the Star's power. Weira was drawn to the star, it guided her safely back to her family. Her father threw the Star into the volcano of Threbe, hoping to destroy it, or at the very least keep it away from their enemies."
"I am assuming that this not merely a legend." Jackie had a bad feeling he knew what was coming.
"Correct." Yan Lin confirmed in a grave tone. "If Phobos found it, this explains the loss of your powers. The Guardians are trying to prevent his sister's return home."
"But what about the Talismans?" Jade asked. "And how come they're all not working?"
"It is possible the Star senses the power of the Talismans as a potential threat to missing heir." Uncle assumed. "And thus, all twelve are rendered powerless with the Heart of Kandrakar."
"How long will they be powerless?" Hay Lin asked.
"It could be an hour." Yan Lin replied, much to the relief of the girls, as well as Jackie and Tohru. "Or it could be forever." That stuck all of them like a horror show.
"You mean the… really… long forever…?" Cornelia stuttered in fear.
"Loss of power not important." Uncle quickly stated. "The reason for loss of power is. With the power of the Star of Threbe, the Forces of Darkness have likely found the loss heir to Meridian's throne."
It was then, they all knew the gravity of their situation. "Bad day." Jackie said.
"I already said that." Will commented.
Sometime later, Caleb had arrived at Uncle's Rare Finds once Yan Lin called him. After telling him about the situation, the young rebel was more than willing to help, albeit showing off his pride as well.
"So, you came to me for help." Caleb commented. "That was smart, real smart."
"Now if only you were smart, real smart." Cornelia grumbled.
"That's enough." Jackie broke up the disagreement before it could start. "Caleb, can you tell us anything about the Star of Threbe?"
"I don't know much about the Star, only the stories around it." Caleb began as he pulled out a map of Meridian and placed it on the counter. "But I do know about Phobos' mining operation at the Volcano of Threbe."
"How can you mine a volcano?" Jade questioned. "Wouldn't you get burnt alive by the lava?"
"The volcano's been extinct for years." Caleb explained. "And it seemed Phobos was digging for Threbite, it's a fuel, but it seems that wasn't his main target."
"Then it would seem the Star of Threbe was Phobos' true objective." Tohru concluded.
"So, how do we get our powers back?" Irma asked.
"The legend of the Star says that the only way it's power can be removed once the Star is passed onto a new owner." Caleb answered.
"So, there is no other way?" Jackie asked. "Uncle, there is no spell that can cancel the affects or restore the girls' powers?"
"The Star of Threbe is ancient and powerful magic, constructed from the power of the Heart of Kandrakar itself." Uncle said. "All other forms of magic, good and dark, are powerless against it. The only way to restore the power of the Guardians and the Talismans is for the current holder of the Star to surrender it willingly."
"So, we can't just take it." Hay Lin assumed.
"Correct." Uncle confirmed.
"What about Phobos, Wong, or the other bad guys?" Taranee asked. "Wouldn't they be powerless to?"
"Phobos and his allies seek to bring the princess back to Meridian." Yan Lin explained. "Though it is for evil purposes, their objective fits the Star's requirement, as such the Star of Threbe does not consider them a threat."
Jackie gave a sigh as he knew what that meant. "So, while the Guardians and Talismans are powerless, Phobos and forces aren't."
"Oh, that's just great." Will muttered sarcastically.
Meridian – Phobos Castle
Daolon Wong stood before a large magical map of the realm of Meridian as he had something to show Phobos.
"My prince, the Shadowkhan have discovered a new portal." The dark wizard pointed to the location on the map. "It is just outside the Earth city within solid rock."
Phobos smiled evilly as this was the perfect opportunity. "If the Star has chosen correctly, the Guardians are powerless, even with human lives at stake."
"My sentiments exactly." Wong agreed. "What should you have me do, my prince?"
Phobos took out a potted plant which appeared to carry a form of Venus Fly Trap, only the 'mouths' were much more active, looking to bite and devour anything that wondered into their jaws. "Put this through the portal, use your magics."
"As you wish." Wong sneered.
Earth
Daolon Wong appeared in a small puff of blue smoke, having passed through the portal onto Earth. The dark chi wizard appeared to be below a train-track bridge. He took out the plant Phobos had given to him and threw it toward the ground. Wong then began to recite a dark chant before he cast his dark magic from his scepter onto the plant, causing it to grow exponentially. The massive, carnivorous plant coiled itself like a snake around the brick abutment and began to devour the wood and metal on the bridge.
Meanwhile, Blunk dug through an old cart filled with coal when he heard a monstrous call. The Passling ran out of the tunnel he was in and saw the giant plant beginning to devour the plant as well as the laughing Daolon Wong below the bridge.
"Not good."
Uncle's Rare Finds
As Uncle worked with Tohru and Yan Lin to prepare a special type of chi-spell, Jackie had provided some tea for the young girls in order to ease some of the stress they had been feeling.
"Thanks for the tea, Jackie." Taranee said. "Even though we messed up."
"While I will say that I do not approve of the reason you choose to use your powers, it was at the very least for a relatively good cause." Jackie said. "As opposed to cheating or anything like that. And to be fair, I cannot stand how Blunk currently smells either."
"Thank you!" Irma exclaimed. "Glad to know it's not us."
"So, what's Grandma, Uncle, and Tohru up to?" Yan Lin asked as they looked towards the back.
"Though they might not be able to restore the power of the Heart of the Talismans, they're working to prepare a special chi-spell that will still enable them to fight if Phobos or anyone tries to take advantage of this situation." Jackie explained.
"Yeah, cause if I were a bad guy, I would totally do something bad right now." Jade added.
Cornelia found herself looking into one of the mirror-antiques in the shop. "Maybe older boys will like me like this." She said, almost as if she was ready to accept being in her Guardian form permanently.
"Really? That's what you're worried about right now?" Will questioned irritably. However, an odd and unwanted stench soon filled the air. "Hey, does that chi-spell happen to smell like garbage?"
However, that was not the case as everyone recognized the smell. "He's back." Hay Lin said as the six girls and Jackie walked out the backway and opened the back door to see Blunk holding a trash-can lid up like a shield.
"Big bad thing! Important!" Blunk shouted urgently.
"What?" Jade scoffed as she and everyone else kept their noses plugged. "You stole crap from the sewers to?"
"For news, trade? No bath!" Blunk stated.
"Fine, no bath, for now." Jackie accepted. "What is so important?"
"Bad wizard! Giant plant! Eating train tracks!"
"Bad wizard…?" Will's eyes widened, as did everyone else. "It's Wong!"
"Girls, get Uncle and Tohru!" Jackie told them. "I will call Captain Black for help!"
Jackie drove a van as fast as he could toward the spot Blunk had previously told him and the girls. The occupants of the van were Jackie, WITCH, still stuck in their Guardian-forms, along with Tohru, Caleb, Uncle, and even Blunk.
"Yes Captain." Tohru was on the phone, speaking with Captain Black. "Yes we…. What?! You can't stop it! Alright, we'll get to work!" He hung up.
"So, what's the damage?" Will asked.
"Captain Black was able to stop all trains from proceeding down this track." Tohru informed. "But he couldn't stop an active train which should cross by the bridge Blunk told us about. Its already enroot."
"How long do we have?" Jackie asked as he continued to drive.
"Less than ten minutes." Tohru replied, causing the girls to gasp as Jackie drove even faster.
"Oh, I feel awful!" Hay Lin exclaimed in shame. "A few hours ago, we had our powers, and we were using them…"
"To wash a large rodent." Cornelia grumbled, also feeling just as ashamed as the others.
"And now that we really need them…!" Taranee said in the same tone.
"Hey, people do amazing things every day without powers. Just look at Jackie, Tohru, and the rest of the J-Team!" Jade said, popping up from the back.
"That doesn't mean it'll be easy Jade." Jackie said, only for him to gasp as he and everyone else looked in surprise. "Jade!"
"How'd you even get in here?! Weren't you supposed to stay at Uncle's shop with Miss Lin?!" Will questioned.
"Well, I'm kind of just as responsible as the rest of you." Jade confessed. "If I wasn't screwing around with the Talismans, we might be able to use them now."
"It is nobody's fault." Uncle spoke, in an unusually sincere tone. "It is the fault of the Forces of Darkness for using Star of Threbe!"
"For once, the old man's right." Caleb agreed. "Blaming ourselves now is not going to change what we need to do. We'll just have to solve this without using powers. Which really isn't all that different for me."
Jackie continued to drive the van down a hill when he spotted the bridge, as well as the enormous and carnivorous plant that was continuing to devour it. "There!" Blunk hopped onto the back of the driver's seat and pointed to the plant. "Big hungry plant!"
"I see it. But where is Daolon Wong?" Jackie stated. However, it would appear he got a response in the form of a dark magic blast that knocked the van on its side.
The back door was punched open by Tohru, as it would appear, he used himself as a make-shift airbag to protect Uncle, Caleb, and the girls. Jackie was also able to front door which was pointing upward, allowing himself and Blunk to climb up and out.
"Yeah, I think we found him." Jade pointed nervously toward the dark chi wizard that faced them
Daolon Wong chuckled once he saw all of them. "So predictable. Even without magic powers, you cannot help yourselves when it comes to innocent lives. And your heroic selflessness will be your undoing. Gan! Ren! Chui!" In three puffs of dark blue smoke, the Dark Chi Enforcers had been summoned to the battlefield. "Destroy Chan and the Guardians!"
"Dude, do you always summon us just for that?" Finn asked.
"Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to call us just for lunch or something." Ratso agreed.
"Lunch you say?!" Wong questioned irritably. "I will personally feed you to Phobos' river beasts if you do not crush these fools!"
"Yeah, you know what, lunch is overrated." Chow said in a frightened tone as he and his friends brandished their weapons to face the heroes.
"Girls, take Blunk and try and stop that plant." Jackie told them. "Uncle, Tohru, Caleb, and I will deal with this." He said as the four charged at the enemy.
"How the heck are we supposed to do that?" Irma questioned.
"Duh!" Jade pointed toward a pile of tools consisting of pick-axe spades. Wasting no time, the six girls and the Passling each grabbed a tool and began to climb up the bricks toward the plant while Jackie and the others dealt with Wong and his Dark Chi Enforcers.
Jackie ducked underneath Finn's multiple slashes with his bladed weapon before grabbing his arm and flipping him over his shoulder. Finn however quickly recovered and threw his massive shuriken at Jackie, though he ducked to avoid it, the rapid-spinning weapon turned around and gunned straight for Jackie like a homing missile, much to his shock as he quickly ran to try and avoid it.
Caleb quickly grabbed a pickaxe from the ground and clashed it against the staff wielded by Chow. They clashed and parried their respective weapons, but when they locked with one another, Chow swept his feet to knock Caleb down. Chow then leapt into the air to drive the staff onto Caleb, but he rolled out of the way to avoid the otherwise painful strike. Caleb quickly got back on his feet and raised his fists before going on the defensive from Chow's continued strikes.
Tohru charged straight for Ratso, but the Dark Chi Enforcer swung his mallet into Tohru's gut, sending him flying across the area and rolling onto the ground. The sumo groaned as he rubbed his head but was quick to react upon hearing Ratso's charging yell. Right as he was about to swing his hammer down on him, Tohru grabbed Ratso and used his own momentum to haul him over his shoulder, sending him crashing onto the brick wall. However, it would appear Ratso was much stronger as a Dark Chi Warrior, because he was quickly able to get back up and attack Tohru once more.
At the same time; the six girls and Blunk had made it closer toward the top where the massive plant had coiled itself around the train tracks. They didn't waste any time to try and hack at the plane with their make-shift weapons. However, while they were able to cut through the outer layer, it was quite tough and would take more than a few hits to deal any significant damage.
One of the plant-heads was about to chomp down on the only non-Guardian girl present. "Jade, look out!" Cornelia called just in time as the head thrusted at Jade, but she was able to beat it back by swinging her shovel.
"Back off plant-man! I got a shovel and I'm not afraid to use it!" Jade swung it again, only for the plant-head to duck and headbutt Jade, sending her falling off with a scream. Fortunately, she didn't fall very far as Will had reached over to grab her by the leg and pull her back up. "Thanks, Will."
"No problem." Will replied before the two resumed their attempt at cutting the plant.
Blunk appeared to be next as he to tried to cut the plant with his pickaxe, only for a separate plant-head to ensnare him with its elastic tongue and attempted to devour him. "It ate Blunk!" Irma exclaimed.
However, the plant-head didn't appear to like the taste of Blunk's unhygienic form before it literally upchucked and spat Blunk out like a loogie all the way to the ground, much to the Passing's own disgust, and the girls' surprise.
"Huh, guess it's a good thing he didn't take a bath." Hay Lin observed.
"Less talking, more cutting!" Will exclaimed as the girls continued to try and cut at the roots of the plant while also fighting back the hissing plant-heads.
Daolon Wong laughed as he saw not only the Guardians in such a predicament, but even his Dark Chi Enforcers having Jackie, Tohru, and Caleb apparently on the ropes. "Who would have thought, that the meddlesome Jackie Chan and even the mighty Guardians of the Veil would be bested by a simple plant."
"Hothca!" The dark chi wizard saw Uncle standing in front of him while also aiming a dried lizard at him, but Wong didn't appear the least bit intimidated. "I can see where Chan got his foolishness from. What hope can a powerless novice like yourself possible…!" He was quickly cut off by a blast of green chi magic from Uncle's dried lizard, knocking him down.
"Dark wizard talks too much." Uncle said. "But I will shut him up by giving him a piece of Uncle!"
Wong got up and looked in surprise. "How…? The Star of Threbe should have…"
"Star has power to prevent outside forces from harming missing heir." Uncle said. "But this stun-spell was made after Star's power was activated. And is not being used to harm heir, but to kick evil butt!"
Wong snarled. "Clever, but it'll take more than a simple stun spell to defeat me!" He threw out his scepter to blast multiple dark magic bolts, but Uncle proved nimble enough to avoid the bolts as he shot more stun-blasts at Wong.
Meanwhile, Jackie continued to dodge Finn's attacks and found himself backed into a literal corner as Finn tried to slash his weapon down on him, but Jackie grabbed Finn by the arms and tried to press back against his own strength. However, Jackie soon heard the sound of the incoming train. It would be hear in mere moments, causing him to look rather nervous.
Back at Cedric's bookstore, the disguised shapeshifter turned around when he heard his store's door open to reveal Elyon wearing the Star of Threbe around her neck as she walked into the store. "May I help you?" He asked with a knowing smile.
"I… I think I stole this jewel from your window display." Elyon confessed in an embarrassed and ashamed tone, looking at the Star.
"Oh, it's not a jewel. It's practically worthless." Cedric said, trying to sound forgiving, while also hiding the fact that it was currently negating the Guardians' powers in their life-and-death situation they were facing at this very moment.
"I don't know why I took it, it's not like me." Elyon removed it and handed it back to Cedric. "Here, it's yours."
"No!" Cedric voiced in surprise, but quickly hid it. "You… should keep it."
"Nuh uh." Elyon shook her head as she backed away. "It kind of freaks me out." She however, spotted something on a table that caught her attention. "Are those school year books?"
Cedric hid his frustrated expression, no doubt the Guardians would get their powers back since Elyon willingly gave the Star away. But it was a small defeat, since he knows who his target is now. He put the star away and put on a friendly façade as he answered the girl.
"Yes, I believe so. I'm afraid I'm rather disorganized. I could certainly use someone like you to help me part-time?" He offered.
"Really?" Elyon asked in excitement. She took out an old yearbook with a small laugh. "Now, don't laugh, here's what I looked like last year."
Meanwhile, back at the train tracks, there was a bright violet glow coming from the Heart of Kandrakar that got everyone's attention, both good and evil. Will's wings flapped, as did the other Guardians. "Our powers are back!"
Jade took out the Rooster, Snake, and Rabbit Talismans she still had on her and could feel the power, evident as she used the Snake Talismans to turn invisible briefly. "Hell yeah! J-WITCH is back baby!"
"Alright; Jade, you and I help Jackie and the others!" Will instructed her friends. "Everyone else, time for some weed-whacking!"
All six of the girls took flight as Will and Jade shot down while Irma, Cornelia, Hay Lin, and Taranee flew around the plant that desperately tried to chomp down and bite on them.
Chow had Caleb pinned to the wall with one hand as he readied his staff in the other "Hey shades! Head's up!" Jade called as she flew straight at Chow's face, foot first. She flew at such intense speed that one kick sent him flying pretty hard.
At the same time, as Jackie continued dodge Finn's strikes, Will flew down and delivered a punch to Finn's face and knock him down, while also kicking the downed bladed weapon away. Though he quickly got back up, he was now stuck on the defensive from both Will and Jackie as they lashed out with punches and kicks, which he could barely block and avoid.
Tohru, meanwhile, was struck down by a hammer-strike to his face from Ratso's large mallet. But, before Ratso could press the attack, Jade ran at super speed all around Ratso. It made the Dark Chi Enforcer dizzy just trying to find her, but that wasn't Jade's objective, it was to kick up a dust-cloud to completely blind Ratso.
"Hey…" He said in between-coughs. "I can't see anything…!" However, as the dust cloud around Ratso cleared, he failed to notice Tohru getting back up from behind. And when he did turn around, the only thing he could register was an uppercut from Tohru's massive fist to send him flying.
"Looks like someone's blasting off today." Jade smirked as she hovered near Tohru, via the Rooster Talisman, as they shared a high-five.
Meanwhile, the other four Guardians continued to fly around the massive carnivorous plant as it desperately tried to bite down on them. Cornelia however was able to pull a large rock from the ground and telekinetically throw it into one of the plant-heads' mouths. The weight of the boulder pulled the entire head down and crushed it onto the ground, leaving only two remaining heads.
"Plants are ninety-five percent water." Irma smirked as she and Hay Lin both flew around the massive plant like a tornado, while combining their respective elements. Irma used her powers to magically extract nearly every drop of water from the mouths of the remaining two plant-heads. This not only severely dehydrated the plant, but the water propelled the heads in a motion to completely unwind themselves from the train track, sending the massive plant plummeting onto the ground, to crush and poof Finn, Ratso, and Chow.
Now it was Taranee's turn as she created two large flames in her hands to completely burn and incinerate what was left of the plant. However, now was not the time to celebrate.
"Girls! The train!" Jackie exclaimed as they all heard the train's engine coming closer.
"Oh man!" Jade exclaimed. "I knew I should have brought the Ox Talisman!"
"Don't worry Jade, we got this." Will said. "Tohru, we might need your help."
Tohru nodded in understanding "Alright, get me up there." Both Will and Jade grabbed onto him, and though Will was much stronger than Jade in her own Guardian form, the two of them together were able to quickly lift the large Sumo up onto the ruined train-track. The bridge was still in relatively good shape, but the steel rails needed to be fixed as they were bent all out of shape.
Will and Tohru wasted no time in using their own strength to press the rails down while Taranee produced a flame on her finger to try and weld one rail together as the train was only seconds from arriving. Taranee just finished welding the final rail as she and Will grabbed Tohru and pulled him out of the way just as the train passed by. This caused all the flying girls and Tohru to breath a huge sigh of relief.
"Wow, just in time or what?" Hay Lin said.
"Save the celebration, we're not done yet." Will told everyone as they looked directly downward to their only remaining enemy.
Daolon Wong and Uncle clashed beams of their respective chi-magics while reciting their own chants. And even though Uncle could only manifest stun-blasts, this was enough to keep Wong occupied and leave him open for an attack.
"Daolon Wong!" The dark wizard turned to the side to see a flying kick from Jackie to hit and send him skidding across the ground. Wong soon found himself at the feet of Caleb with Blunk standing over his shoulder. Wong tried to pull himself up, only quickly found himself surrounded by Will, Irma, Jackie, Cornelia, Jade, Taranee, Hay Lin, Uncle, and Tohru as well.
"You can run Wong, but you can't hide. From J-WITCH." Jade said with a triumphant smirk as Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin readied their respective elements.
"Your powers have returned." Wong observed, although he didn't appear the least bit intimidated or angry. "No matter, the Star has served its purpose. Saver this empty victory, for it will likely be the last you will ever experience!" He threw his scepter out to cast some dark blue smoke to envelop himself right before he vanished as it cleared.
"Oh yeah? Then why are you running away?" Cornelia called out to him despite the fact that he was gone.
"Because he was correct." Uncle said in a gravely serious voice. "If your powers have returned, it is because the current holder of the Star of Threbe has given it to a new owner of her own accord."
"Which would mean, that Phobos has learned the identity of his sister." Tohru said in realization.
"And we still have no idea who she is." Jackie added in an equally grave tone. It was then that any celebratory mood any of the heroes had, quickly died, realizing that while they have won the battle, they might have just lost the war.
Meridian – Phobos' Castle
Both Daolon Wong and Cedric had returned to Meridian to report to the dark prince. The massive humanoid serpent had provided Phobos with a picture of Elyon, whom he could now say for certain is the missing heir to the throne.
"Your sister, the Princess." Cedric informed as he and Wong both bowed.
Phobos couldn't help but let loose the loudest and most booming and triumphant evil laugh he could muster, one that echoed throughout his entire throne room.
Earth - Silver Dragon
Despite the Guardians' being able to return to their mortal forms; Will, Irma, Cornelia, Taranee, Hay Lin, and even Jade looked borderline depressed as they sulked at a table. Yan Lin was quick to provide all six girls with some tea. "There is nothing for you girls to feel ashamed of." She told them.
Jade scoffed slightly. "We screwed around with magic and were completely helpless because of that. Now that bad guys have found the missing heir!"
"Even if you hadn't used your powers, Phobos would have still likely found his sister either way." Jackie said as he, Tohru, Caleb, and even Uncle joined them. "We had no knowledge of the Star of Threbe or what it could do."
"Maybe, but that still doesn't change the fact Phobos found his target and we have no idea who she is." Will said.
"I might have an idea."
The group turned around to see Captain Black himself enter the restaurant. "Captain Black? What are you doing here?" Caleb asked in surprise.
"How are the other Talismans?" Jade asked.
"All the Talismans appeared to have returned to normal." Captain Black assured. "But that's not why I'm here." He reached into his black overcoat to pull out a file folder, which he reached inside to pull out a photograph of a new bookstore, which he put on the table. "I trust you girls recognize this place."
The six girls did indeed recognize it. "Hey, it's that new bookstore that opened up." Hay Lin pointed out.
"The same one that also pulled us into that labyrinth that led us into Meridian." Taranee recalled.
"After that incident, I found it somewhat unusual that a store would be built on an inversion point between Earth and Meridian." Jackie explained. "So, I told Captain Black and asked him to keep an eye on it."
"I had an observation team watching the store twenty-four-seven." Captain Black explained. "I've seen some customers come in-and-out, but I never saw the owner of the store."
"So, unless he had a back door, or he was actually living inside it…." Will seemed to be able to put the pieces together just as Captain Black pulled out another photograph, this one of Rick Hoffman.
"That's him!" Cornelia pointed out. "That's the owner! I saw him when we first went into that store!"
"I had also sent an agent posing as a customer to get his name. Rick Hoffman." Captain Black continued. "I did a background check, and I found absolutely nothing. No birth records, no address of residency, no family backgrounds, nothing. Up until that store opened up, he didn't even exist."
"Phobos sent Cedric to Earth and Cedric is a shapeshifter…" Caleb said.
"Wait, that's Cedric?!" Irma exclaimed.
"it would appear so." Jackie nodded as he, Caleb, and Tohru narrowed their eyes at the photograph.
"Huh, for an evil shapeshifting man-snake, he looks pretty good." Jade commented.
"Okay, but how does that help us find the missing heir?" Taranee asked.
Captain Black pulled out another photograph. "This one was taken earlier this afternoon. And you said the artifact that nullified the Talismans' magic was a star? Would this be it?" He showed them the photograph of Elyon wearing the Star of Threbe.
"A seven-pointed star… that has to be it." Yan Lin stated.
"But… isn't that Elyon?" Will asked in surprise as her eyes widened in realization. "Wait… don't tell me…"
"If she is wearing the Star of Threbe, and if the legend about it is true that all other forms of magic used to prevent the heir's return to Meridian is true…" Tohru began as it all began sink in for the entire group.
"ELYON IS PHOBOS' SISTER?!" Jade practically screamed as all the girls gave audible gasps, the most shocked appeared to be Cornelia. "OUR CLASSMATE IS A MERIDIAN PRINCESS!?"
"No… No! That's impossible!" Cornelia exclaimed in denial. "She's my best friend! I've known her forever! Elyon was born right here in Heatherfield! There's no way she's Phobos' sister!"
"Which is why I'm going to conduct a thorough background check on her to make absolutely certain." Captain Black assured.
"You still have Phobos' hair?" Jackie asked.
"I do." Captain Black confirmed.
"How the heck do you have Phobos' hair?" Irma questioned.
"I kinda took some off him when we fought him in that labyrinth." Will explained. "I figured we could use some kind of fancy magic spell to track and find his sister, considering relatives share DNA."
"When that failed however, we handed it to Section 13." Tohru continued to explain. "So that if we got an idea as to who the heir was, we'd be able to make confirmation through matching their DNA."
"I'll perform a test and a background check now that we have a possible suspect." Captain Black said but caught a brief glance from Uncle. Black held out a hand defensively. "I know, I know, magic must defeat magic."
"Which is why you must make certain Elyon is the missing princess." Uncle told him. "If she is indeed Phobos' sister, her life is in grave danger."
Everybody present looked towards each other with serious expressions. On the positive side, they might have an idea of the identity of the true heir to Meridians' throne. However, it might also be one of their closest friends, especially to Cornelia. If this was true, they had to keep a very close eye on the girl. However, their thoughts were quickly brought to a halt by the sound of a familiar Passling laughing.
The six girls, along with Jackie, Yan Lin, Uncle, Captain Black, Caleb, and Tohru all ran outside to see Blunk riding in a dumpster down the street past them. He laughed as he gave a wave toward them. Most of the girls were about to run in pursuit when Will stopped them.
"Hold on a second." She said with a smirk. "Look where he's heading."
The group looked on and shared smirks of her own as they saw Blunk riding his dumpster straight into a carwash at the other end of the street. Blunk screamed and tried to get out, but it was too late. After going through the cleaning cycle, the dumpster rolled out, clean as a whistle with Blunk completely covered in smoke and squeaky clean.
"Now that is a clean Passling." Jade said as she pulled the cleaned Blunk out of the dumpster, with the group having already made it to the other side.
"Clean and Passling are two words that I thought would never come together." Caleb joked, resulting in most of the group laughing.
"Hey Jackie." Will said to the man, getting his attention. "I believe you told me once that the greatest victory is the battle not fought, right?"
Jackie smiled at the red-head girl. "Right." He ruffled her hair with a proud look on his face.
Meanwhile, back at Cedric's bookstore, Elyon had just walked in to greet the owner. "Hi again. It's Rick, right?"
"Yes, well uh… Cedric, actually."
"Oh, I like that better." Elyon said with a friendly smile. "So, were you serious about that part-time job thing?"
Done.
So, yeah, it would seem that both the heroes and villains have learned Elyon's true heritage as Phobos' sister and the true heir to the throne of Meridian, with the heroes learning that Rick Hoffman is really Cedric in disguise. (Of course, Captain Black will need to make a confirmation as they still have Phobos' hair from the "Labyrinth" chapter.) This might come as a surprise to many of you since the Guardians found out too late about Cedric's true identity, but considering they're working with the Chan Clan, and Jackie is personal friends with a government agent who has considerable resources at his backing, it only made sense for them to put the pieces together.
But that doesn't mean that Elyon is safe. We all know how resourceful Phobos, Cedric, and Daolon Wong are. Things are going to get rather interesting from this point forward.