Hi everyone, thanks for waiting. So, in this chapter, both sides have absolute confirmation that Elyon is indeed the lost heir to Meridian's throne. Now the matter is who is able to get to her first? So, with that being said, let's begin.
Revelations
Caleb ran as fast as he could through a twisted forest, his pursuers being a small group of Shadowkhan, and huge and grotesque caterpillar-like monster. Caleb might be a proud individual, but even he knew he was no match for his pursuers like this. The insect-monster roared as it curled after him, with the Shadowkhan leaping in the trees above him.
However, Caleb soon found himself at a roped bridged just by a waterfall. The bridge couldn't contain the weight of the monster, and the Shadowkhan likely couldn't leap over it, so Caleb assumed he was safe as he began to trek across the wobbly bridge, with his pursuers coming to a stop just before it.
Unfortunately, the young rebel leader found the other end of the bridge bared by a series of Lurdens. Caleb was trapped, and it seemed as though his enemies had no motives of self-preservation as the Shadowkhan, Lurdens, and even the caterpillar-like monster all slowly climbed onto the bridge, which was already beginning to crumble from their combined quake.
Fortunately for Caleb however, he spotted an open portal just below the bridge on the other side. Using this as his chance, Caleb wrapped his arm around the rope and drew his sword.
"Too bad, this used to be a nice bridge." Caleb sliced off one of the rope-supports, causing the bridge to shake, while knocking the Lurdens and Shadowkhan off balance. The caterpillar-monster tried to shoot a ball of webbing from an opening on its chest to stop Caleb, but he moved out of the way for the webbing to ensnare the Lurdens behind him. Caleb then sliced at the boards before slicing at the final rope to cut the bridge in half.
The giant caterpillar-monster clung to its end of the bridge and survived, while the Lurdens and Shadowkhan fell to their demise just as Caleb had swung into the open portal.
Earth – Heatherfield
Jade, Will, and Cornelia had entered an alleyway were an open portal was waiting for them. "Wonder what scary monster's gonna come out of it this time?" Jade asked excitedly.
"Well whatever it is, it'll have to find another portal, because this one is closed." Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar and was ready to seal it up when Cornelia spotted something in the portal, however.
"Wait, hold on a second! Something's coming!" The blonde stated as they looked in surprise to see Caleb go flying out and skidding hard across the ground before crashing into a wall.
"Caleb!" Cornelia exclaimed as she and Jade ran to him. Will used the Heart of Kandrakar to close the portal to make sure no monsters followed him through before she joined Cornelia and Jade on checking out Caleb, who appeared to be unconscious.
"Is he okay?" Will asked with concern.
"Does he look okay?!" Cornelia questioned, referring to his scrapped-up body. "Jade, tell me you stole the Horse Talisman!"
"Hey, I don't steal any Talismans, I borrow them!" Jade protested.
"Well did you 'borrow' the Horse one?" Cornelia questioned impatiently.
"Eh… not this time, sorry." Jade laughed nervously.
"Relax Cornelia, pretty sure your boyfriend isn't on death's door." Will joked.
"He's not my boyfriend! And he's hurt!" Cornelia protested. "Caleb!"
"Caleb! Caleb!"
Caleb's eyes opened about half-way as he heard a familiar voice, but it didn't belong to Cornelia. "Oh… Uncle…"
The young rebel appeared to be in a dream-like state as he saw Uncle's head floating above him. "What happened? You were supposed to get into Phobos' castle but you got such a whooping!"
"I… I wanted to inform him… that we might have found the Princess… but the castle was… too heavily guarded…." Caleb replied weakly.
"One more thing." Uncle said. "Since you are on Earth now, you must protect Elyon herself."
"But, aren't I dead?" Caleb asked weakly.
"Aiya! How can you be dead?! You swung into the portal!" Uncle stated.
"Oh… right…" Caleb recalled.
"One more thing." Uncle's hand suddenly appeared to deliver a dope-slap to Caleb's forehead and wake him up.
"Ow!" Caleb woke up as he held his forehead, only to look in minor surprise as he saw the three girls gather around him.
"Caleb, you're okay!" Cornelia exclaimed in relief.
"Of course, I'm okay…" He tried to act tough. "It's gonna take more than that to kill me…. Ow!" He winced as he held his side.
"Oh yeah, you are a real Han Solo." Jade remarked with joking sarcasm.
"Come on, let's get you patched up." Will said as they helped him to his feet.
Meridian – Phobos' Castle
Phobos had threw a plum of magic sand onto the ground which began to take shape and project the image of his newly identified long-lost younger sister. Among those present were Daolon Wong, Cedric, and several guards, including the undercover Vathek.
"The face of my sister." Phobos said with a sinister smile. "After all these years."
"I've successfully won her confidence." Cedric hissed. "Her Earth-name is Elyon Brown."
"Elyon, hmmm." Wong mused. "A name that expresses majesty and humility at the same time. She'll make quite the addition to our little 'family', won't you agree, my prince?" He asked Phobos.
"She will indeed make an excellent princess… for a while." Phobos smirked as all three of them shared an evil laugh, not apparently noticing the serious expression on Vathek's face.
Earth – Silver Dragon
Caleb was led to the restaurant's basement by Will, Jade and Cornelia, where Irma, Taranee, and even Jackie had met up with them as he told them what had happened.
"…So, what do I do?" He told his story dramatically. "Cut the ropes and I swing… shoo! Magnificently right into the open portal!"
"Then you skid magnificently across paved sidewalk and into a wall." Cornelia smirked as she tended to some of the scrapes on his face.
"Ow! Careful!"
"Yeah, be careful Cornelia." Jade teased. "High and mighty hero is more fragile than one of Uncle's artifacts." This resulted in laughs from all the other girls present, including Cornelia, while Caleb just had a smirk.
"Caleb, why were you trying to get into Phobos' castle to begin with?" Jackie asked seriously, getting right to the point.
"I was trying to get in contact with Vathek about the heir's identity." Caleb answered.
However, before their conversation could delve in even further, Hay Lin quickly came in running downstairs. "Guys, guys, guess what?!" She got everyone's attention excitedly. But she noticed Caleb and his condition. "Wow, what happened to you?"
"Standard hero injuries." Cornelia answered simply.
"Huh, anyway, Elyon got a guy!" Hay Lin revealed, much to the girls' surprise.
"A guy?" Taranee questioned.
"Who?" Irma asked.
"She didn't tell me!" Cornelia shot up.
"Well it just happened!" Hay Lin continued. "This guy, Bryan, he's a dog-walker. They met when a Pomeranian stopped to sniff her ankle! Is that cute or what?"
"Does dog-boy know he's dating a magic princess; whose brother is one of the world's biggest jerkwads?" Jade questioned.
"We don't know that!" Cornelia stated, still in denial.
"She did have that magic star around her neck." Taranee pointed out.
"It must have been just a mistake! Maybe she took it because it looked cool!" Cornelia did not like this idea one bit, but no matter how much she tried to deny it, it was something they all had to consider.
"Then how come our powers wore off when she took put it on?" Irma questioned.
Before Cornelia could protest again, Jackie put a hand on her shoulder. "Cornelia, I understand if this is difficult, but we need to accept the possibility that Elyon might indeed be the lost heir."
"Well, have you heard anything from Captain Black yet?" Will asked.
"Not yet." Jackie replied. "These kinds of things have to take time. Not just DNA testing but looking into her family as well."
"So, if Elyon really is Phobos' sister, then who are those people she thinks are her parents?" Hay Lin asked.
"Maybe they adopted her." Taranee assumed. "She could have been dropped off at an orphanage when she was just a baby."
"You got any ideas rebel boy?" Irma asked Caleb.
"Honestly, I don't." The young rebel replied. "Nobody in the Rebellion knows who brought the missing heir to Earth."
"Really? They didn't come back and join the Rebellion or whatever?" Jade asked.
"No." Caleb shook his head.
"Well, even if she is Phobos' sister, we also know that bookstore owner is really Cedric. Let's go bring him down!" Cornelia stated.
"Patience, Cornelia." Jackie said. "We can't afford to charge in recklessly. They aren't aware that we know of them, for the moment we have the element of surprise."
"So, when the time does come to drop-kick Snake-boy, hiya!" She jumped in the air and delivered a kick for emphasis.
Cornelia couldn't help but look down at this. She had known Elyon since they were little kids, she was her best friend. So, the idea that she was some magical princess was news enough, but for her also to be the sister of Phobos?! That was mind-blowing. Well whatever the case, Cornelia was now a Guardian and she would protect Elyon with all her being if she had to!
Meridian
Much like before, Phobos bathed in the waters at the very bottom of his castle to replenish his own powers with that which lies within Meridian's natural landscape. Whenever that happened, the massive roots around the castle-town below all began to glow, something the people were all well used to.
"He takes our very life force." One woman said in disgust as she went to a fruit-stand which appeared to be run by Trill.
"Did you hear?" Trill asked. "They say the Princess has been found! All our troubles could be over!"
"I hope for my children's sake, it's true."
Blunk walked up to the pair with a backpack. "When trouble's over, have feast!" He took out a pair of ice-skates. "Cut food with these! Feet-knives!"
Meanwhile, as Phobos continued to bathe, Daolon Wong and Cedric reported to their prince an interesting piece of news.
"It's the guard, Vathek." Cedric reported. "He left the castle."
"The guards have permission to patrol the village." Phobos dismissed.
"He didn't leave to patrol, my prince." Wong said. "He took a day's food with him and left his weapons behind."
Phobos' eyes narrowed. "So, Vathek is the spy we've been seeking. Meaning, he framed Raythor who was wrongfully cast into the Abyss of Shadows!" His fists clenched with anger in the water.
"There is nothing that can be done about Raythor, other than avenging him." Daolon Wong stated. "I will retrieve Vathek so that you may have the pleasure of punish him personally!"
"I cannot leave this to you alone, wizard!" Cedric hissed, resulting in a glare from Wong. "Chan and the Guardians must not know the princess' identity before I'm ready to take her!"
"Both of you will retrieve Vathek!" Phobos stated. "Take the Shadowkhan! Take the Larvek! Do not let him reach Earth!"
"As you wish." Both the shapeshifter and dark chi wizard bowed to Phobos before Wong swung his scepter and they both vanished in a puff of dark smoke.
Meanwhile, in the Castletown, Blunk began to demonstrate how his 'feet-knives' worked by skating up and down across a watermelon with a surprising amount of skill. "Slices. Dices. Chops. And…" He kicked a sliced piece into his mouth. "Come with own fork!"
The people around him all clapped, apparently quite impressed with his demonstration. Blunk bowed after his performance, but once he felt a hand on his shoulder, he entered his 'panic-mode'.
"Blunk do nothing! Businessman!"
This person however turned out to be none other than Vathek, who was currently wearing a hood. "Do you remember me?"
"All big blue things look same." Blunk stated.
"I helped Caleb escape the oubliette." Vathek reminded him.
"Oh yeah! Good blue thing!" Blunk did indeed remember him now. He picked up a piece of the sliced watermelon. "Fruit?'
"I have important news for Caleb!" Vathek said in a hushed whisper. "I need to find a portal!"
"Blue thing's lucky day! Blunk having portal special!"
"Special, huh?" They both looked upward in surprise to see the Dark Chi Enforcer Finn standing on a rooftop, alongside Ratso and Chow. "We got a special for you to."
"A special beat-down!" Chow said as the three of them leapt from the rooftop to face the surprised duo of Vathek and Blunk, causing all the people in the area to run away in fright.
"AAAHHH! Orange men! Very bad!" Blunk screamed.
It wasn't just them however, Cedric also came around the corner alongside Wong who held the Larvek with a chain of dark chi magic from his scepter. "There he is!" Cedric pointed out.
"AAAHH! Snake-man and bad wizard! Even more bad!" Blunk screamed again.
To add onto that were the moving shadows in the area which quickly surrounded the frightened pair and molded themselves to reveal a group of at least a dozen Shadowkhan.
"AAAHHH! Shadow men! Even more, more, bad!" Blunk screamed once more before Vathek ran and plowed his way through a few Shadowkhan, while Blunk also made a bolt for it.
"You three, take the Larvek and go after the Passling!" Wong ordered his Dark Chi Enforcers. "Cedric and I will take the Shadowkhan and stop the traitor!"
"Sure, thing boss." Ratso said. "But we expect a bonus for riding with the scary caterpillar."
"Go! Now!" Cedric roared, causing the frightened Dark Chi Enforcers to ran after Blunk along with the Larvek which Daolon Wong set loose, while Wong himself followed Cedric along with the Shadowkhan in the direction Vathek ran.
Blunk ran down the street with the Larvek in close pursuit, however, the Passling didn't have far to run as Finn, Ratso, and Chow leaped in front of him with their weapons in hand. Already getting desperate, Blunk threw his backpack at the Dark Chin Enforcers, which Finn sliced away with his weapon, before Blunk ran up to the Larvek and leapt over it's thrust to skate on top of it with his ice-skates. He leapt onto a cloth's line before it snapped, and he used it to swing away.
"I got em! I got em!" Ratso ran backwards to try and catch Blunk only for the Passling to land on top of him feet (and ice-skates) first, knocking Ratso down before Blunk actually skated on the ground with Finn, Chow, and the Larvek after him.
Finn and Chow both threw their respective weapons which spun like large shurikens. Blunk tried to turn his skates to the right down the road, but the weapons followed after him like homing missiles. Blunk saw an abandoned food stand and steered himself in that direction, skating underneath it, allowing the weapons to hit it and stop their pursuit. But Blunk didn't have time to celebrate as the Larvek was already over him.
At the same time, Vathek ran as fast as he could, with the Shadowkhan running and leaping on the rooftops over him. They tried to throw their shurikens at him, but Vathek quickly spotted a cart and used his strength to pick it up and use it as a shield to block the shurikens before throwing it at the Shadowkhan, which they easily avoided as Vathek continued to run.
As he turned one corner, he noticed Cedric slithering after him from behind. Vathek ran into a small alleyway, which Cedric just narrowly squeezed through, but Vathek wasn't done yet. The large blue humanoid spotted a large pile of barrels and tipped them over to block Cedric's path as he was already stuck in pretty hard. But once Vathek made it to the other side, he gave a gasp as he saw Daolon Wong appear in front of him in a plum of dark blue smoke. Wong tried to blast him with dark chi magic, but rather than avoid it, Vathek ducked under the blast and actually ran toward Wong, much to his surprise, before knocking Wong down into a mud puddle before resuming his run.
Meanwhile, Blunk continued to skate across the food in the food stands with the Larvek plowing through the stands after him. However, once the line of stands came to an end, Blunk gave a scream as he saw the Dark Chi Enforcers standing in his way. Fortunately for Blunk, the last stand had a cloth-roof over it, which he leapt onto and bounced off before bouncing onto a cloths-line and bouncing off that toward a building. He climbed up the downspout and onto the roof.
"Huh, you know for a little frog-guy, he's pretty good at parkour." Chow observed.
"Hey, don't let him get away!" Finn stated. "If we mess this up, Phobos will have our hides!"
"No kidding, last time I brought him the wrong tea and he turned me into an ottoman." Ratso said.
The Dark Chi Enforcers saw the Larvek beginning to climb up the wall in pursuit of Blunk, so the three of them clung onto the Larvek's back and rode it as it climbed.
At the same time, Vathek continued to run, doing his best to dodge the dark-chi blasts shot at him by Daolon Wong as he rode on Cedric's shoulders. However, Vathek soon found his path barded by the Shadowkhan. So, he turned around and climbed up the boxes near a fence and leapt over the fence, which was blasted away by Wong's magic as they continued the chase.
It would appear however that Vathek would find sanctuary as he hid behind the door of a nearby blacksmith shop. It would appear that Cedric and Wong didn't notice him as they passed the shop. Vathek noticed the blacksmith inside look at him curiously, Vathek soon brought his finger to his lip, silently telling him to be quiet.
However, the blacksmith gasped as the shadows in the shop moved on their own before they began to take the form of four Shadowkhan. The blacksmith screamed as he ran out of the shop as the Shadowkhan closed in on him. Vathek however wasn't about to go down without a fight as he quickly grabbed a tool with a red-hot end from the burning coals and thrusted it in the chest of the first Shadowkhan to destroy it. He swung it several more times and was able to successfully destroy the remaining three, but the commotion drew the attention of Wong and Cedric as they blasted their way into the building.
"Stay back!" Vathek held out the tool in front of him.
Cedric didn't appear the least bit intimidated. "It will cool."
At the same time, Blunk was already on the roof with the Larvek right behind him. "Nice buggy thingy." He said as he tried to get away, running on the girders, while also avoiding the Dark Chi Enforcers as they leapt after him. He ducked underneath Finn's legs, jumped over Chow to land on Ratso and climb off his shoulders before sliding away down the roof on his skates, while also avoiding the web-shots from the Larvek's lower regions.
"Oh, that is just wrong." Finn shook his head in disgust with his friends at seeing the Larvek's webbing.
"I thought spiders shoot webs." Ratso said. "And doesn't it always come from their butt?"
"Don't even wanna know." Chow commented.
Meanwhile, back in the blacksmith shop, Vathek continued to hold his make-shift weapon in front of the evil duo, however Wong merely shot a dark spell from his scepter that caused the tool to disintegrate in his hands.
The dark chi wizard laughed. "Did you really think an imbecile such as yourself could escape our grasp?"
Cedric shot his tail to ensnare Vathek by the throat and bring him up to his face.
Back up on the rooftops, Blunk continued to skate up and down the slopes of the roofs, unfortunately, he was ensared in the Larvek's webbing and pinned to the roof. Finn, Ratso, and Chow appeared around the squirming Passling as Finn picked him up. "Whoa, hey, will you stop your squirming?!" Finn exclaimed only to yell as the Passling clung to his face, and got the web stuck on him as well.
Ratso and Chow tried to pry Blunk off Finn as the Larvek came in from behind. However, the three Dark Chi Warriors tripped on the Larvek and almost slipped down on the roof, but Ratso instinctively reached out to grab the Larvek, the weight of all four of them ended up pulling the Larvek down with them as all five fell and slid down the roof with a simultaneous scream.
Vathek was thrown against the wall as the evil duo loomed over him. "You won't win!" Vathek stated in defiance. "Caleb and the Guardians will defeat you and return to the princess to the throne!"
"But you are the only one who can tell them the girl's identity." Wong pointed out.
"And you aren't going anywhere…" Cedric hissed with an evil smile.
However, before either villain could act, the entire rooftop collapsed as the Larvek, Dark Chi Enforcers, and Blunk all fell into the shop, burying the shocked shapeshifter and wizard underneath the rubble, while also poofing Finn, Ratso, and Chow.
Vathek himself was nothing short of stunned, even more so as Blunk emerged from the pile of rubble. "Blue thing! Follow!" Blunk told him. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Vathek followed the Passling out of the blacksmith shop, barreling his way through a couple of Shadowkhan that attempted to block his path.
However, with a blast of dark magic to obliterate the rubble; Daolon Wong, Cedric, and the Larvek all rose and were less than pleased with these developments.
Vathek continued to run as he followed Blunk, who followed his own nose to the nearest portal, which happened to be in a nearby alleyway, behind a series of boxes. "Go! Go!" Blunk exclaimed as Vathek pushed away the boxes and the duo ran into the portal just as Wong, Cedric, and the Larvek turned the corner.
The portal the Earth-side led out near an abandoned train track on a hill just above an open carnival. Blunk and Vathek were the first to emerge from it, but they couldn't stop now.
"This way! This way!" Blunk led Vathek into a nearby forest and would lead him to Heatherfield.
By the time Cedric, Daolon Wong, and the Larvek had emerged from the portal, their quarry had already vanished.
"Their gone!" Wong exclaimed in frustration as he chained the Larvek with dark magic once more to keep it from running wild. Cedric had undergone another dramatic transformation to assume his human disguise of 'Rick Hoffman'. "Chan and the Guardians will know now of the Princess' identity."
"But they don't know of mine." Cedric commented. "And that may be all the advantage we may need."
Heatherfield, Uncle's Rare Finds
A knock was heard on the back door, Hay Lin and Jade opened it but looked in surprise at who it was. "Captain Black!" Jade stated
"Hey kids, is Jackie here?" Captain Black asked.
"Yeah, so are Caleb, Grandma, and the other girls." Hay Lin answered.
Blunk suddenly appeared out of the alleyway. "Girls! Chan clan!"
"Sorry Blunk, but you know you can't touch Uncle's stuff." Jade told the Passling.
However, once Vathek stepped out into the open, the group was put on alarm as Captain Black pulled out a pistol, Hay Lin and Jade made martial arts stances. "Monster alert! Monster alert!" Hay Lin exclaimed, prompting Jackie, Will, Irma, Cornelia, and Taranee to run out, Will immediately brandished the Heart and was ready to say the magic words.
"No! No! No! Good blue thing!" Blunk quickly said.
"Oh, right. Caleb's friend." Will remembered him now, as did everyone else. "Vortook, right?"
"Vathek." The blue giant corrected.
"Jade?" Captain Black looked at the girl for an explanation.
"Double agent in Phobos' castle. Had to bust in and help him out." Jade gave a quick explanation.
"So uh, how ya been?" Irma asked. "You look uh… blue."
"I must speak with Caleb!" Vathek insisted.
"Is it about the heir?" Jackie asked, to which Vathek nodded, as well as Captain Black in confirmation is well. "Come on inside."
The group went inside where Caleb, Tohru, Uncle, and Yan Lin were as well. Though they were surprised to see the large blue humanoid with them, none was more surprised than Caleb. "Vathek! What are you doing here?"
"Caleb, Phobos' sister has been identified!" Vathek revealed.
"Elyon Brown, correct?" Captain Black asked, completely catching Vathek off guard.
"How could you have possibly…?"
"We did a little digging of our own here on Earth." Will revealed. "Friends in high places and all that."
Captain Black pulled out a photograph taken much earlier of Elyon wearing the Star of Threbe and handed it to Vathek. "Yes, that's her!" He recognized her as well as the artifact she was wearing. "Is that…?"
"The Star of Threbe." Yan Lin confirmed. "It is how Phobos was able to locate the heir."
"I went to Meridian this morning to try and warn you, but I was chased out of the castle before I could find you." Caleb said to his friend.
"So, I take it you have confirmation?" Jackie asked Captain Black.
"Yes." The head of Section 13 pulled out a series of files and laid them on a table for the group to look at. "Elyon Brown, daughter of Thomas and Eleanor Brown."
"Her parents, I know them." Cornelia said. "They're really good people."
"But they're also not from here." Captain Black continued. "There's no family records with either of them, no school records or birth certificates, up until a little more than twelve years ago, neither of them existed."
"What about Elyon?" Taranee asked.
"Her birth certificate is forged as well." Captain Black continued. "It says she was born in Heatherfield Memorial, but the hospital doesn't have any records regarding her birth. Ultimately however, thanks to that hair sample of Phobos you gave me, I've confirmed their DNA. Phobos and Elyon are, in fact, brother and sister."
That hit all the girls, especially Cornelia, real hard. They had suspected it, but to hear confirmation that one of their closest friends was both a princess and Phobos' sister, it was almost too much for Cornelia to process as she almost fell back had Tohru not caught her from behind.
"So, now what do we do?" Will asked.
"Protect her! Obviously!" Cornelia stated. "If Phobos knows she's his sister, he could send those Shadowkhan creeps to grab her and… OW!" She felt her forehead where Uncle just delivered his dope-slap.
"Phobos cannot take Elyon against her will!" Uncle stated. "Elyon not important! Her power as the true heir, is."
"Jin is correct." Yan Lin added. "As the true heir, Elyon's power cannot simply be taken. It must be given willingly. If Phobos were to simply kidnap her, she would never trust him, and her powers would be inaccessible to him."
"So, Phobos will try to sway Elyon to his side then?" Tohru assumed.
"Yes." Yan Lin nodded. "We must not underestimate his cunning."
"We also know that Cedric is in disguise here on Earth." Jackie added. "And we know who he's posing as."
"So, we jump Cedric and Elyon is safe. Problem solved." Cornelia said immediately.
"Earth to Cornelia, when do the bad guys ever give up?!" Jade questioned. "Phobos and his cronies will just send someone else to try and turn Elyon to the dark side!"
"Jade has a point. Cedric isn't the only shapeshifter in Meridian." Caleb said. "Phobos could employ a number of them and we'd never know."
Hay Lin gasped. "What if her new boyfriend is also a shapeshifter!?"
"Which is why Elyon must take this." Uncle took out a vile of a green liquid. "Special chi-spell, once she drinks this, all those of ill-intent will be incapable of touching Elyon."
"And how exactly do we get her to drink a magic spell?" Irma questioned sarcastically.
"Just mix it with water or soda." Tohru replied. "She'll never know."
"So where is Elyon now?" Captain Black asked.
"She and her boyfriend are at the carnival right now." Will answered.
"Carnival? That's where portal!" Blunk revealed, much to everyone's surprise.
"Alright, here's the plan." Jackie began. "Will, take the girls and Caleb to close the portal and meet Elyon at the carnival. Give her the spell and watch her carefully. Tohru, you and Uncle go with them just in case anything from Meridian came through."
"Got it." Will nodded.
"No problem." Jade gave a thumbs up.
"Understood." Tohru nodded as well.
"What are you going to do?" Taranee asked Jackie.
"I'm going to have a little 'chat' with Cedric." The martial artist answered as he knew exactly where to find him.
"Not by yourself you're not old friend." Captain Black said with crossed arms and a smirk.
"I'm coming as well. I myself have a few choice words I'd like to give to that snake." Yan Lin offered.
"I will come as well." Vathek offered.
"I am sorry, but you must stay." Uncle told the large blue humanoid.
"I cannot!" Vathek stated. "After years of searching, we've found the true heir to the throne and Phobos will do anything to get his hands on her! I cannot just… OW!" Vathek felt his forehead where Uncle had just dope-slapped him.
"You stay here! Someone must watch the shop!"
Vathek looked nothing short of stunned. "Don't bother arguing with him Vathek, trust me you'll never win." Caleb sighed and told his friend.
The carnival was in full-swing, rides and games everywhere, even clowns wearing long stilt-legs paraded through the streets. Elyon appeared to be waiting by herself when her date, Bryan, joined her with a handful of tickets in his hand.
"Twenty tickets, should be good for about an hour." Bryan said. "Race ya to the roller coaster!" The two laughed as they ran toward the ride.
Meanwhile, on the hill just above the carnival, Will had used the Heart of Kandrakar to close the portal as she, Jade, Irma, Cornelia, Tohru, Taranee, Uncle, Hay Lin, Caleb, and Blunk.
"Okay, portal is now closed." Jade commented. "Mission accomplished."
"Not yet." Will said as the group looked down at the carnival below. "It was open for too long, something else might have gotten through."
"Anyone see Elyon?" Cornelia asked as they tried to find her.
Hay Lin saw her standing in line for the roller coaster with her date. "She's right there, with Bryan!"
"Boy look shifty." Blunk commented upon seeing the kid.
"Look in a mirror lately?" Jade's eyelids lowered.
"Will, why not just touch him with the crystal and get it over with?" Cornelia asked the red head.
"Because I can't reveal a beast in his true form in front of in front of a thousand people." Will stated.
"We also don't know for certain that he's a shapeshifter." Tohru commented. "He could just be a normal person."
"So how can we tell the difference?" Irma asked.
"With the spell." Uncle took out the vial containing the chi-spell. "If boy touches Elyon, he is normal. If he cannot, then he is evil beast."
"So, all we have to do is get Elyon to drink it, no problem." Taranee said.
Uncle handed Cornelia the spell as she took out a bottle of purple soda. "Grape soda, it's her favorite." She said as she opened the bottle and poured the liquid spell into the soda. It flashed green briefly before dissolving.
"Alright, here's the plan." Will said. "If he's not a beast; Cornelia, Jade, Caleb and I will stay close with Elyon and make it look like we're hanging out. Hay Lin, Taranee, Irma, you guys keep an eye on things around the carnival. Just because he's not a shapeshifter doesn't mean there aren't any bad guys around."
"Sensei, Blunk, and I will stay up here, just in case we see anything from this height." Tohru said as even Uncle nodded in agreement.
"Good plan." The elder chi-wizard said.
"And if he is a beast?" Caleb questioned.
"Then we pull him to the side and kick his butt!" Jade stated as she delivered an airborne kick for emphasis.
"We'll work out the details later, let's go." Will said as the girls and Caleb all ran down the hill, leaving Uncle, Tohru, and Blunk to watch over things from their end.
"Hey Elyon!" She heard her name being called as she turned around to see some of her friends greeting her.
"Oh, hey guys." Elyon greeted and then began to introduce them to her new boyfriend. "Cornelia, Will, Jade, Caleb, this is Bryan."
"Nice to meet ya." Bryan greeted.
"Yeah you to." Will said, acting casual.
"Oh, uh Elyon, thirsty?" Cornelia offered her the soda bottle that also contained the chi-spell mixed into it.
"Grape soda! It's my favorite! Thank you!" Elyon took it without hesitation and drank it, along with the chi-spell, with no issue at all. However, she did notice something in it. "Tastes a little… funny."
"Eh, probably hasn't been reirrigated in a while. But it should still be good." Cornelia said.
"Thanks anyway." Elyon smiled, nonetheless. "We're gonna check out the bumper cars! Come on!" She grabbed Bryan's hand and ran off in the direction of the cars.
The four of them saw how Elyon could touch Bryan's hand and there was nothing odd from that. "See that?" Jade told them. "She touched him."
"So, he's not an evil beast." Will concluded.
"That's a relief." Cornelia said with a relieved smile.
"But that doesn't mean she's out of danger. Keep an eye out." Caleb told the group as they followed Elyon and Brian.
Meanwhile, on the other side of a booth, Hay Lin had observed everything as she reported to Irma and Taranee who acted casual to avoid drawing attention. "She drank the spell and touched his hand. Bryan is not evil."
"Great, so now we only have to worry about the thousand other people around here that might be a shapeshifter." Irma said in sarcastic humor.
"You heard what Miss Lin and Uncle said." Taranee commented. "The bad guys can't just grab Elyon, so they can't exactly make a move here."
"Speaking of which, I wonder how Grandma and Jackie are doing. Think they can handle Cedric alone?" Hay Lin asked
"Well considering they're being backed up by Section 13, I don't think we have anything to worry about." Taranee said.
Cedric, still in his human disguise as 'Rick Hoffman' was in the backroom of the bookstore that served as his cover as he reported to the spectral image of Phobos, completely unaware that Jackie Chan had entered the bookstore and was hanging back by a bookshelf near the semi-open door to the backroom.
"My prince, we were unable to capture Vathek, and he has made it to Earth along with the Passling." Cedric reported.
Phobos looked more than a little frustrated. "Which would mean Chan and the Guardians now likely know of my sister's identity as well."
"No need to worry, my prince." Cedric assured. "They are unaware of my identity, and I have won Elyon's trust. I may have to step a little more carefully, but I will secure her for you."
"And what of Wong?" Phobos questioned.
"Keeping a close watch over the princess, as we speak." Cedric said, causing Jackie's eyes to widen slightly while also keeping quiet.
"Good. Do not make any rash actions and await my next command." Phobos instructed before his spectral image vanished and Cedric stood up to walk out of the backroom.
"Finished speaking to your master?" Jackie questioned, revealing himself.
Cedric's eyes widened, while keeping his back turned, but put on a friendly smile as he turned around. "Ah, Mr. Jackie Chan, I didn't hear you come in."
"That's rather funny." Jackie said. "I don't recall the two of us meeting before, yet you know my name."
"Oh, well your niece speaks rather highly of you." Cedric tried to maintain his façade. However, Jackie wasn't buying it as he glanced behind Cedric to the semi-open door leading to the backroom. Jackie tried to rush past Cedric and get inside, but he quickly kicked the door back to slam it shut, causing Jackie's knuckles to impact the door hard.
Jackie winced as he waved the pain from his knuckles before turning to face the shapeshifter in disguise. "No more games! I know who you are, Lord Cedric!"
Cedric gave an audible gasp as his own eyes widened. A scowl soon formed on his face as he casually took off his glasses. "For you to discover my identity so quickly, I admit that I gravely underestimated you Chan." His eyes turned into slits as he underwent the dramatic transformation to reveal his massive humanoid-snake form, which loomed over Jackie who made a Kung Fu stance, ready to face him. "A mistake I will not make twice!"
Cedric roared as he lunged a punch at Jackie, who backflipped to avoid it as it crashed through the floor. Jackie flipped and landed at the top of a large bookshelf, which he tipped over by placing his hands on the celling while pushing his feet to tip the self over Cedric, causing all the books to pile on top of him. However, as Jackie landed on the ground, Cedric emerged from the pile with a roar before swinging his tail at Jackie, which he flipped to avoid.
As Jackie flipped backwards toward another shelf, he quickly began to grab several books and threw them at Cedric. While this would normally be considered a desperate act, Jackie threw with incredible force, and amazing accuracy, to hit Cedric repeatedly in the face, disorienting him as Jackie continued to throw, some of the pages cut Cedric's face slightly as blood began to ooze.
"Paper cut. It's the worst, isn't it?" Jackie said with a grin.
Cedric hissed before swinging his tail to smash Jackie's head in, though Jackie was able to avoid the devastating strike, he was put on the defensive as Cedric tried to deliver more devastating punches, while also tearing up the entire bookstore as they continued to fight. Jackie leapt over a table and quickly flipped it to act as a makeshift shield to block Cedric's next punch. Though the humanoid snake was able to shatter it, it left him open for Jackie to leap into the air and deliver a punch to Cedric's face, knocking the shapeshifter down to the ground. Jackie however winced as he waved the pain off his knuckles. However, this also left him open for Cedric to smack him in the back with his tail and send him crashing into the remains of one bookshelf.
Jackie pushed some of the rubble out of the way, only to look in surprise as Cedric loomed over him, raising both his fists with the intent of crushing him, only for Cedric to howl in pain as he felt stinging chi-blasts from behind. The one responsible was none other than Yan Lin holding a blowfish in her hand. With Cedric momentarily distracted, Jackie leapt to deliver a flying kick to Cedric's face and send him crashing through several more ruined bookshelves before Jackie landed by Yan Lin's side.
"Miss Lin, you can use chi-magic?" Jackie asked in surprise.
"Only the basic-stun spell." Yan Lin commented. "When your ex is a chi-wizard, you tend to pick up a few tricks."
However, their banter was interrupted as Cedric emerged from the rubble once more with a powerful roar. Jackie quickly picked up the elderly woman and leapt out of the bookstore and onto the street. Cedric wasn't too far behind, breaking through the glass windows and doors to get outside. However, Cedric soon came to a halt as the entire area was surrounded by at least two dozen Section 13 agents in SWAT uniforms, along with a couple high-tech vans which they used to transport themselves in. The large humanoid snake was covered with multiple laser-targets as each agent aimed a rifle at him.
Captain Black walked up without even a hint of fear in his eyes. "Mr. Hoffman, you're under arrest."
Cedric's eyes narrowed. "Am I?"
Right as he said that, multiple shadows from around the block all began to move on their own along the ground and even along the side of the building before they surrounded all the agents of Section 13, along with Jackie and Yan Lin. The shadows took the shape of more than two dozen familiar ninja-minions.
"Shadowkhan!" Jackie exclaimed in surprise.
"Attack!" Cedric ordered the Shadowkhan as they leapt at the agents, who immediately opened fire with their guns. Though bullets would cause a few of the Shadowkhan to poof away, several proved too fast for even gun fire as they dealt with the agents with hand-to-hand combat. Captain Black, Jackie, and Yan Lin came together to knock back the Shadowkhan with fists, guns, or chi-blasts, but Jackie saw Cedric using this as his opportunity to escape as he slithered into an alleyway.
"He's getting away!" Jackie stated.
"Go after him! We got this!" Captain Black stated as he shot one Shadowkhan, with Yan Lin backing him up with stun-blasts of her own.
Jackie nodded in understanding as he ran in pursuit of Cedric in the alleyway. Seeing the snake-man already making considerable distance, Jackie ran up the wall toward a nearby fire-escape, before swinging on the metal ladder to give him a boost as he landed a flying kick to Cedric's back and knock him down.
But Cedric wasn't done yet as he quickly grabbed a dumpster and threw it at Jackie, who could just barely avoid it as he rolled out of the way. However, this gave Cedric an opening to transform back into his humanoid appearance, where he quickly lifted a manhole cover, which he threw at Jackie, who ducked to avoid it, while also giving Cedric a chance to jump into the sewer below.
Jackie quickly ran to the exposed manhole and looked down to see Cedric completely vanish. The martial artist gave a disappointed sigh as he pulled himself back up. Cedric had managed to get away, but there was something more important that he had to worry about. Daolon Wong was near Elyon right now, as were all the girls along with Uncle, Tohru, Caleb. Jackie quickly took out his cellphone and sent a mass-text to the group to let them know.
Just outside the carnival; Tohru looked at the text he got on his own cellphone. "I just got a message form Jackie." He said, getting Blunk and Uncle's attention. "Cedric was able to escape, and Daolon Wong is somewhere in the carnival."
"Aiya!" Uncle exclaimed. "Girls cannot transform into so many people! But evil has no such regards!"
"Blunk see bad wizard!" Blunk exclaimed, getting Tohru and Uncle's attention as they looked down to see Daolon Wong sneaking into the backdoor of the haunted house attraction.
"Blunk, go get the girls, but tell Caleb to stay with Elyon." Tohru told the Passling. "We can't risk this being a set-up." He said as he and Uncle ran toward the haunted house attraction with Blunk going off in a separate direction.
Uncle and Tohru ran into the haunted house attraction through the backdoor, finding themselves in a graveyard-like setting as both of them appeared on guard. "Be ready Tohru, the Forces of Darkness could descend upon us at any moment."
They both heard a familiar chuckle belonging to Finn, who leapt down from the ceiling with Ratso and Chow. "Consider yourselves descended upon, grams." And it wasn't just the Dark Chi Enforcers either, right behind them, the giant centipede monster known as the Larvek roared as it appeared behind the elder chi-wizard and his apprentice.
Uncle's Rare Finds
Meanwhile, Vathek sat alone on the floor of the Chan's family shop. With nothing else to do, the large blue humanoid decided to skim through Uncle's spell books, however, he did find some things that he found a bit interesting.
"Chi spells? Hmmm." Vathek rubbed his finger under his chin, quite intrigued as he continued to read.
Carnival
As Taranee, Hay Lin, and Irma kept their distance but watched over Elyon and Bryan very carefully; Jade and Caleb hung around closer toward the pair, pretending to hang out. All the while, Cornelia had pulled Will back behind a stand to talk with her in private.
"Why are we still following her when she's already drank that chi-spell thing?!" Cornelia questioned.
"In case you've forgotten Cornelia, Phobos has his own wizard to. Who, by the way, we just found it is somewhere here in this park!" Will pointed out as she showed her the mass-text she got from Jackie.
"Then let's track him down and not Elyon!" Cornelia argued. "No more bad guys, no more lying to our friend!"
"What do you think we've been trying to do this entire time?!" Will argued back. "We're not ready to beat them yet!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry I disagree with you Ms. Sealer-of-the-portals!" Cornelia exclaimed.
"Look, I like Elyon to, but…" Before Will could voice her argument, they heard a familiar scream and saw Blunk running toward them. "Blunk, we told you to stay with Uncle and Tohru!"
"Found bad wizard!" Blunk stated as he pointed to the haunted house. "Big man tell Blunk to get all girls!"
Multiple people screamed as they tried to run out of the haunted house from the roaring Larvek, whom Tohru was directly challenging. Meanwhile, Uncle faced off with the Dark Chi Enforcers.
"You want a piece of Uncle?!" He exclaimed as he drew a blowfish and a dried lizard, only for the Dark Chi Enforcers to draw their much larger weapons in response, much to Uncle's comic surprise. At the same time, the Larvek shot some webbing out of its chest at Tohru and tried to yank him in, despite the large sumo holding his ground.
"So, something did come through the portal!" Caleb stated.
"Uh, duh! That's kinda what Uncle Jackie just texted us about!" Jade reminded as she showed her mass text.
"Old man say Caleb stay with Elyon." Blunk told Caleb.
"I don't take orders from a Passling."
"The 'order' came from the same old man who'll probably smack you upside the head again for disobeying him." Irma reminded.
"Seriously Caleb, you have to stay with Elyon. We'll handle this." Cornelia told him.
"Right, got it." Caleb nodded as he walked off to find the girl, leaving the six girls as Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar.
"Guardians Unite!"
Back inside the haunted house, both Uncle and Tohru were completely ensared by the Larvek's web as the creature itself, as well as the Dark Chi Enforcers stood over them.
"Sorry Tohru." Ratso apologized. "But we got our orders."
"For what it's worth though, we really did like ya. Even after you became a good guy." Chow commented.
"Aren't I lucky?" Tohru said sarcastically.
Fortunately for them, salvation came in the form of Guardians, along with Jade, whom Taranee carried, as they busted in through the windows above to face the Dark Chi Enforcers and Larvek.
"Anybody call for a helping order of J-WITCH?!" Jade called excitedly.
"I got the bug!" Will stated. "Taranee, Jade, help Tohru and Uncle! Everyone else, take down the dark chi stooges!" She flew directly at the Larvek as everyone else scattered around the area. Will delivered a flying kick to the monster's face to get its attention as it roared and crawled after her as she flew away.
Hay Lin, Irma, and Cornelia flew directly at Finn, Ratso, and Chow as Hay Lin shot a powerful gust of wind from her mouth to literally blow away all three as the three girls landed and took Kung Fu stances. The Dark Chi Enforcers were quick to get back up as they ran and charged the girls.
Meanwhile, Taranee had set Jade down as she tried to pry the webbing off Uncle and Tohru. "Okay, since when do caterpillars shoot web? I thought that was for spiders!" Jade stated
"I'm not even gonna question it." Taranee said as she used her fire to burn it away while also being careful not to burn Uncle and Tohru by accident.
"Less talk, more fire." Uncle stated as Jade and Taranee were successful in freeing the elder chi-wizard and his apprentice.
Back outside, Elyon and Bryan continued to wonder the carnival as Caleb kept a close watch over her, while also keeping his distance. However, he didn't appear to notice someone else watching Elyon from the shadows underneath a ride.
'So, this is the true heir to Meridian's throne.' Daolon Wong thought to himself as he 'scanned' her, so-to-speak, with his magic scepter and he could practically see the magic energy surging off her. 'So much power…' He sneered with a grin. 'Equal to that of the Heart of Kandrakar! And soon, it will be mine! But first, she appears to still have a series of anchors to this world.' He noted upon observing Bryan. 'It is time to begin severing those anchors.'
With a wave of his scepter, Daolon Wong had created a small booth which appeared to be something that of a fortune teller, complete with a crystal ball. Daolon Wong himself had donned a hood that completely masked his face.
Elyon noticed the new stand and actually looked excited. "Oh wow, a fortune teller! Let's go check it out!" She grabbed Bryan's hand as they ran toward it. Caleb still kept watch over the two, but he didn't seem to notice this was another trick from the dark chi wizard.
"Come young ones, look into this crystal ball, so that you may gaze upon your future." The disguised Wong said as he began to recite his dark magic chant, which went unnoticed by the two kids in front of them. Elyon looked excited, while Bryan actually looked nervous. As dark clouds formed in the crystal ball, Elyon looked and saw she was a princess. However, this was a mere illusion spell Wong was conjuring as his chant was actually focused on Bryan, who's eyes began to glow a faint blue.
Back in the haunted house, Will continued to fly and avoid the clumps of webbing the Larvek continued to shoot at her. However, one was able to successfully hit her, sending her crashing and sticking to the ground, keeping her arms stuck to her body as she struggled in the stinky substance.
The Larvek loomed over and lunged down at her with the intent of devouring her alive, fortunately salvation came in the form of Tohru who had appeared just in time to hold the massive insect back before delivering a powerful punch to its face to knock it back. It reeled back but snarled at Tohru, but before it could attack again, the Larvek roared in pain as Uncle blasted with multiple stun-spells from his blowfish and dried lizard.
As Uncle kept the Larvek distracted, Tohru was able to pry the webbing off of Will and free her. "Thanks, Tohru."
"Your welcome." Tohru smiled before they both turned to charge back at the Larvek and provide Uncle with some support.
Irma shot her hands forward to send a gust of water at Chow, who spun his staff like a helicopter-blade, acting as a makeshift shield to block the blasts of water before charging at Irma, swinging his staff at her, which she just barely avoided before shooting up into the air, while Chow jumped after her.
"Hey shades! Head's up!" Jade tried to deliver a flying kick to Chow, but he was actually able to catch Jade by the foot before throwing her at Irma, who flew in to catch Jade, but this left her open for Chow to strike her and Jade with his staff and knock them both down.
At the same time, Taranee threw several fire-balls at Finn who was able to block and slice through each of them with his bladed weapon before he threw it at Taranee like a large shuriken, which she ducked to avoid before flying into the air, unfortunately the weapon appeared to be tracking her like a homing missile, which Taranee tried to knock away with a stream of fire form her palms. The fire just barley slowed it down as it managed to hit Taranee with explosive results and send her crashing to the ground. However, she was able to roll away from a flying kick from Finn before he chased after her.
Hay Lin, meanwhile, flew into the air to avoid what would have been a devastating hammer-strike from Ratso. He then threw his weapon at her and, much like Finn's weapon, the hammer tracked Hay Lin no matter which way she flew. However, she got an idea as she flew down, straight back towards Ratso and over him. Ratso gave a gasp as he saw his own hammer coming after him, however we able to duck and avoid it just in time as it crashed through the wall.
"Whoa, that was close." Ratso said as he rubbed his forehead.
Cornelia saw this as her opportunity, using some minor control over wood, she telekinetically pried the wooden boards from the tracks and sent them at Ratso. However, Ratso retrieved his hammer again to bash through each wooden board before leaping into the air and bring the hammer down onto the ground to blast both Cornelia and Hay Lin back.
Soon; the five Guardians, along with Jade, Uncle, and Tohru circled up as the Larvek came in from one direction, with the Dark Chi Enforcers in the other.
"We're surrounded!" Will exclaimed.
"Got that right." Finn said. "I see a hospital in your guys' future."
Suddenly however, a large van came bursting in through the wall before the back opened to reveal Captain Black, along with multiple armed Section 13 agents running out, each armed to the teeth.
"And I see prison stripes in your future!" Captain Black stated. "Aim for the creepy crawly!" He ordered his men as they immediately opened fire onto the Larvek, filling it full of holes, but it wasn't enough to kill it as it painfully and angrily roared at them before attacking the agents, who scattered along with Captain Black.
"Whoa, who called in the cavalry!?" Jade exclaimed as all the heroes were more than a little stunned.
"I did!" Jackie stated as he ran onto the scene. "Girls, you deal with the Enforcers. Uncle, Tohru, we will assist in Captain Black against that bug monster."
"Got it." Will said as they all nodded and split off.
The Dark Chi Enforcers were so caught up in the surprise arrival by Section 13, they failed to notice the Guardians flying directly at them until it was too late. Hay Lin and Irma combined their water and wind powers for a powerful storm of icicles which blasted and impaled Ratso, poofing him, while forcing Chow and Finn to scatter.
Chow was blasted away by a ball of fire from Taranee that likewise poofed him, while Will and Cornelia grabbed Finn by the arms and threw him directly at Jade who was already leaping at him with another flying kick attack, that was enough to poof him as well.
At the same time, the agents in Section 13 continued to shoot at the Larvek, who retaliated with more blasts of webbing to ensnare more than half of them. Although the creature already looked gravely weakened from all the oozing bullet holes it was now covered in. Captain Black however appeared cornered by the creature, fortunately Tohru quickly came in from behind to grab the creature by its tail and, with his own incredible strength, pull and swing the Larvek right into the wall. It was then pelted once more by several chi-blasts from Uncle before it reared its head straight up for a howl of pain before Jackie leapt up to deal the finishing blow with a punch right into its right eye.
This was enough to kill the Larvek as its lifeless body now fell to the ground. Jackie pulled out his hand which was now covered in bug-eye goo. Which he tried to wave off with disgust. "I don't suppose Section 13 has a disinfectant for massive magic bugs." Jackie said for a just a little bit of humor.
Captain Black chuckled. "Pretty sure your Uncle has one though." He said with a smile, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder as everyone else worked to free the Section 13 agents from their sticky predicaments.
Meanwhile, back outside, after paying a visit to that odd fortune teller, Elyon and Bryan continued to walk through the streets. Jackie, Will, Jade, Irma, Tohru, Cornelia, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Uncle had just arrived when they met up with Caleb.
"So, do you want to do anything tomorrow night?" Elyon asked Bryan.
"Elyon, your very nice but…" Bryan began, trying to sound sincere. "You just got too many crazy friends… I'm sorry." He walked away, apparently breaking up with her.
"Hey, how's it going?" Hay Lin walked up to try and speak with Elyon, but she said nothing as she ran away, crying.
But while the girl did indeed cry, from the shadows, Daolon Wong snickered evilly as he waved his scepter to vanish into a puff of dark blue smoke.
Captain Black drove his van while Guardians, Chan Clan, Caleb, Blunk, and Yan Lin all talked about their current predicament.
"So Cedric escaped." Caleb said in a grim tone. "Well, can't say I'm surprised."
"Even if he makes it back to Meridian, he won't cause trouble here again." Captain Black said. "I have Section 13 agents coming the city. If they spot his face, human or otherwise, they'll notify me immediately."
"Well that solves one problem. But what about Elyon?" Tohru asked.
"If she's in danger, how can we know that and not tell her?" Cornelia questioned.
"What do we tell her?" Jade asked. "Hey Elyon, how are you doing? Oh, did you know that you happened to be some kind of magic princess, and you have an evil older brother that wants to kidnap and brainwash you?"
"Well, no not like that!" Cornelia said. "But we should at least tell her about us!"
"I'm with Cornelia." Irma agreed.
"If we tell her about all this, she'll think we're crazy!" Taranee contradicted.
"Yeah, I gotta go with Taranee on this." Hay Lin agreed with the bespectacled girl.
"Not if we show her our magic powers and prove that it's all real." Cornelia argued.
"No, we can't tell her." Will said. "Even if she does believe us, she'll freak out and panic. How does that help her?"
"Come on Jackie, you're with me on this, right?" Cornelia pleaded with the older man, almost desperately.
Jackie sighed. "I agree with Will." The blonde looked shocked, almost betrayed by this. "Not everyone is capable of accepting such impacting news, especially with their life in danger."
"Jackie is right." Even Yan Lin agreed. "Elyon will find out eventually, but now isn't the time."
Cornelia simply scowled as she looked away with crossed arms. "Fine."
"Besides, now she's protected by a chi-spell, right?" Jade reminded. "So, problem solved."
"Problem not solved!" Uncle stated. "Elyon is protected right now. But Forces of Darkness still loom over her like a storm cloud. We must be very cautious going forward."
"Well, at least this gives us some time to find a more permanent solution." Caleb said as the van came to a halt in front of Uncle's Rare Finds. The group soon entered the shop but looked in minor surprise at what they saw inside.
Vathek was hopping on one foot, shaking a blowfish in one hand, while holding a spell book in the other and reading a spell aloud. "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao…." Vathek's eyes suddenly widened as he was engulfed in a bright flash. The entire group of heroes looked nothing short of stunned to see Vathek's clothes fallen over his new form as a blue frog.
"Ribbit."
"Ooh, big blue thing Passling to?" Blunk asked in surprise as Jade, Uncle, Tohru, Captain Black and even Jade face-palmed while Yan Lin simply sighed as Caleb, and the other girls were merely stunned.
Elyon didn't feel like going home to her parents. Instead, she went to the bookstore where someone she truly trusted worked. However, her teary eyes widened in shock as she saw the bookstore in ruins with police tape and officers around it on the radio.
"What in…?"
"Elyon, over here."
The girl turned around to an alleyway around the corner to see Cedric, in his human disguise, waving for her to follow him, which she did.
"I'm sorry we had to meet under such… stressful circumstances." Cedric tried to sound sincere as they were deep in the alleyway.
"Cedric what… what the heck happened to your store?!" Elyon exclaimed. "Looks like a bomb went off in there!"
"That's more-or-less what happened." Cedric lied. "I had left a kettle of tea on and there was a gas leak so…"
"Oh, I am so sorry!" Elyon said sincerely, buying Cedric's lies.
"It's nothing to worry about, thankfully nobody was hurt." Cedric replied.
"Well, I was hoping I could talk to you, but… you seem to be having problems of your own so I won't bother you." Elyon was about to walk away.
"If you'd like, we could talk at my home. It's not far from…" However, once Cedric put his hand on her shoulder, a spark of green energy shot into his hand, causing him to hiss in pain as he pulled his hand away.
"Cedric, are you okay?" Elyon asked with concern.
"Yes… I'm fine. Just a bit of static, is all." Cedric brushed off, hiding his smoking hand behind his back. "Listen Elyon, I hate to leave you, but there is something urgent I must attend to, my insurance payments for what has happened to my store. But I assure you that I will reach out the second I am available."
"Okay, I'd like that." Elyon smiled as she turned around to walk away.
Once she was gone however, a scowl appeared on Cedric's face as he looked to his hand to see some burn marks. 'A spell? Most likely that old wizard. This is going to be more difficult than I thought. But… not impossible.'
Done.
So, good news. Elyon is protected by a chi-spell to prevent the bad guys from touching her, for the moment at least. And Cedric has been ousted by Jackie Chan and Section 13.
Bad news however, Daolon Wong and Cedric are not willing to give up. Cedric still has Elyon's trust, and Wong has already begun to create a rift between Elyon and her friends. He even hypnotized Bryan to get him to break up with Elyon (total dick move, but very in-character for the dark chi wizard).
So, what's going to happen next? How can our heroes protect Elyon while also keeping her in the dark at the same time? Find out next time on J-WITCH!