Hi everyone. Thanks again for waiting, this is one chapter that I've been wanting to write for some time as something very special happens here that was hinted before in the next chapter, and now is the grand unveiling! (No pun intended).
With nothing else needing to be said, let's get started.
Ghosts and Shadows
Caleb climbed the walls of Phobos castle, easily able to scale via a grappling hook that he borrowed from Section 13, while also wearing a parachute on his back. Blunk also accompanied him as he hung onto Caleb's back. They reached the window that they hoped would be their destination.
"You sure this is the window you saw her at?" Caleb asked his Passling companion.
"Blunk totally sure." Blunk nodded.
With that, Caleb had climbed quietly into the room, and hid behind the bed where Elyon appeared to be sleeping. He noticed a pair of guards on the other side, both were asleep as well and somehow appeared to be standing up. Caleb motioned for Blunk to be quiet as he quickly snuck around the bed and right behind the pair of guards to smack their helmeted heads against each other and knock them unconscious. Acting quickly, Caleb took off his belt and used it as a makeshift restraint to bind their arms before making his way to the sleeping princess.
"Sorry to disturb your nap Elyon, but we're outta here." He tried to shake her awake, only for his hand to pass right through Elyon's body before it evaporated into a transparent smoke, much to his and Blunk's shock.
"Looking for someone?" They turned around in surprise to see the Dark Chi Enforcers, with a group of guards, along with the real Elyon behind all of them. Finn, Ratso, and Chow brandished their respective weapons and were ready to charge.
Realizing they had to get out, Caleb quickly grabbed Blunk and leapt out the window, resulting in Blunk screaming as the young rebel tried to release the parachute. "Captain Black said there was a cord!" He exclaimed right before he found said cord and pulled it, releasing the parachute and slowing their descent as they hovered away from the castle.
Earth – Heatherfield
"Wow, look where we are." Hay Lin said as she, along with Jackie, Will, Cornelia, Jade, Irma, Cornelia, and Alchemy were all gathered underneath the main bridge of Heatherfield. "This is where we Guardianed-up for the first time."
"I know it was only a short time ago, but so much has happened… it honestly feels like forever." Taranee said.
"Yeah; if you told me a couple months ago that I'd be fighting evil princes, giant shapeshifters, evil wizards, magic ninjas, and floating demon heads, I would have called ya crazy." Irma commented.
"It certainly feels that way with this type of work. Believe me, I know." Jackie spoke from experience.
"Well it feels like just yesterday for me since I didn't find out about this stuff till way later." Alchemy pointed out. "So, where's Tohru?"
"He, Uncle, and Hay Lin's grandma are at the shop trying to do more research on the Oni-masks." Jade answered.
"And we really should be ready for anything since Phobos and Tarakudo have teamed up." Will said. "And we got no idea what other kinds of Shadowkhan those other masks have."
"So, let's Guardian up and get this practice going." Cornelia urged.
With nothing else needing to be said, Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar and said the magic words. "Guardians Unite!" Much like their first transformations; Will was engulfed in a glowing sphere of pink energy as colorful streams of elemental magic flowed from her to her other friends. A white, windy, stream of magic flowed around Hay Lin before she was engulfed in a white sphere; a stream of fire magic flowed encircled Taranee before she was also engulfed in a sphere of orange energy; a blue, water-like, stream flowed around Irma's body before she was engulfed in a sphere of bright blue energy; finally, Cornelia was encircled by a stream of green energy with leaves flowing around it before her own body was engulfed in a sphere of green energy.
However, that is when something totally unexpected happened. Another stream, this one of light purple energy, with smaller, darker, shadow-like, streams flowed from Will and began to encircle Jade's body, much to her shock and surprise.
"Wha… Uncle Jackie!" Jade cried in distress before her body was encased in a sphere of bright purple energy, much to the shock of Jackie and Alchemy.
"Jade!" Jackie tried to run and help his niece, only for a bright white flash to shine throughout the area as per the typical transformations. Once the light faded, Will and the others had assumed their Guardian forms. However, once they looked at Jackie's shocked expression, all five of them, and Alchemy, turned to see what Jackie was staring at and they all gave gasps of their own.
Jade had also undergone a sudden change. Now she was about as tall as the other girls; her attire had changed from her casual clothes to what she wore as the Queen of the Shadowkhan; from the dark purple, spiked, sleeveless, top to the long black and spikey dress at the bottom. However, her skin was still it's normal color as her hair grew out by a few inches. She also wore black and dark-blue stripped tights with a pair of black boots. But what stuck out the most were a pair of wings that grew out of her back, these wings looked identical to those that grew from the backs of the other girls of WITCH.
None however appeared more surprised than Jade as she looked all over her transformed body. "What… what the hell…?! What happened to me?!"
"Jade!" Will and the others all ran up to Jade as they seemed as surprised as she was. "What happened to you?!" Hay Lin repeated the same question Jade just said.
"Did you just transform?!" Irma exclaimed.
"Jade, you got the same wings we do!" Taranee saw the flapping wings on her back.
"You're tall… your hair's longer… you got the same kind of outfit…!" Cornelia began to list.
"Jade… are… are you… a Guardian?!" Will voiced the question that everyone else was thinking.
As Jade ran to the river to look at her reflection, Jackie was rendered completely speechless. Over a million questions were going through his mind and he probably couldn't find an answer to any of them. However, out of everyone else who was shocked, Alchemy appeared totally amazed.
"Wow! Jade's a Guardia too?! Why didn't you guys say anything?!" Alchemy exclaimed with a wide smile.
"Because… this has never happened before…" Jackie answered, still not over his surprise.
"I… no way! I can't be a Guardian! It's not possible!" Jade exclaimed in total denial.
"Well, you have the look for it." Irma said. "You even got the wings."
"I can't have the wings! I can't fly…!" However, right as she said that, her wings flapped rappildy before she shot herself into the air by accidently, resulting in her screaming as she tried to steady herself, but she was so shellshocked, she seemed unable to as she flew and spiraled through he air randomly.
Will and Hay Lin however were the first to fly up and grab her by the shoulders. "Alright Jade just calm down. Deep breaths, deep breaths." Will told her in a calm and soothing tone. This seemed able to calm Jade down as she stopped herself from hyperventilating.
"Okay, we're gonna slowly head back to the ground. Nice and slow." Hay Lin eased as she and Will helped Jade slowly hovered back to the ground. Once they made it, Jade calmed down quite a bit as she fell to her knees, still not over the shock as everyone else came to help her.
"You alright, girl?" Irma asked.
"I have no idea." Jade replied honestly. "I mean… I can't be a Guardian… can I…?"
"Actually, now that I got a good look… your outfit looks exactly like when you were the Queen of the Shadowkhan." Cornelia pointed out. "But you got the wings and the tights…"
"And your skin and eye-color are normal." Taranee also said. "Almost like a hybrid or something."
"Jackie, maybe we should talk to Uncle and the others about this." Will suggested.
"Yes, that is a good idea." Jackie agreed.
Uncle's Rare Finds.
"AIYA!" Uncle screamed as Tohru and Yan Lin both gasped upon seeing Jade's transformed state, with Will and the others still in their respective Guardian forms, were present along with Jackie and Alchemy. "Why is Jade Shadowkhan Queen and Guardian together?!"
"We don't know, that's why we came here! Duh!" Cornelia pointed out as if it were obvious.
"Will took out the Heart to transform herself and the others, and Jade ended up being transformed with them." Jackie explained.
"Let me take a look. At both Jade and the Heart." Yan Lin stepped up as Will held out the Heart of Kandrakar and Yan Lin began to inspect it before looking all around Jade, taking notice at the wings on her back. "Jade, be honest, do you feel any different?"
"You mean aside from being totally freaked out of my mind?! No, perfectly fine." Jade said sarcastically.
"Grandma, has anything like this happened with you and your team?" Hay Lin asker her grandmother.
"No, this has never happened. Not once with my team, or any of the other previous generations of Guardians." Yan Lin explained. "There have always been five Guardians; and while various allies have assisted and fought alongside them, there has never once been a sixth."
"Perhaps this is the result of the Heart of Kandrakar being used to cure Jade?" Tohru wondered, getting everyone's attention. "Her appearance seems like a cross between her form as the Queen of the Shadowkhan and that of a Guardian. Maybe when the Heart absorbed the magic spell that was used to cure Jade and when it was applied to her, it may have removed the evil influence, but maybe their magics mixed together to create this new form?"
"That… actually does seem to make sense." Taranee noted.
"Sure, if you wanna get involved in all that magic-physics stuff." Irma said sarcastically.
"Perhaps Tohru is correct." Yan Lin seemed to agree. "Combining and mixing the Heart's power with that of the power inside Jade at the time must have created an Auremere attuned to her."
That seemed to confuse the group. "An Auremere?" Will asked.
"You got any idea what they're talking about?" Alchemy asked Cornelia.
"Not a clue." The Blonde replied.
"An Auremere is the source of a Guardian's power." Yan Lin explained. "Each of you has one that is tuned to your specific element through the Heart of Kandrakar." She explained to the five Guardians. "But for a sixth to be created… This has to be more than simply powers mixing together. The Heart of Kandrakar has come into contact with many forms of magic over the years, but only five Auremeres have existed."
As the group tried to think of an answer, Jackie however appeared to have come to some kind of conclusion. "An act of balance."
"What? Balance?" Alchemy asked.
"You got an idea, Uncle Jackie?" Hay Lin asked as Jade paid especial close attention.
"Uncle, you remember what you told me after we first defeated Shendu at his palace?" Jackie asked his Uncle, who nodded in response. "You told me how the universe seeks balance."
"Yin and Yang." Uncle confirmed. "When you defeated Shendu, it created a void that allowed the other Demon Sorcerers to fill when they tried to cross over into our realm."
"Yes, but that was for the Forces of Darkness." Jackie continued. "And if the universe seeks balance, wouldn't the reverse also be possible?"
"Uh Jackie, could you maybe explain in a way we can understand?" Will asked.
"After the defeat of the Demon Sorcerers, it left another void for a new evil to fill." Jackie explained. "And I believe it's safe to assume that evil is Phobos. But, where there is a force for Darkness, there is an equally strong force for Light, a good to match that evil. That force for good, came in the form of you girls." He gestured to the girls of WITCH.
"Don't forget you, I mean you can kick major evil butt too." Cornelia pointed out.
"Yes." Jackie said in acknowledgement before getting back to the main point. "But, the scales tipped closer toward the side of evil, once Tarakudo made his appearance, which became especially prevalent when he joined forces with Phobos."
"Phobos' own ambitions, combined with that of the nine Oni Masks would make him and Tarakudo a threat that could expand well past Meridian and even Earth." Yan Lin said.
"Exactly." Jackie said. "So, in order to balance things out again, to tip the scales back to the Forces of Light… some sort of universal force of nature must have worked through the Heart of Kandrakar to create a sixth Auremere, in order to turn Jade into a Guardian."
Most of the group looked amongst each other as what Jackie told them seemed to process enough to give them a clear enough answer.
"Yeah… I think I get it." Hay Lin said. "Two big bad guys teaming up, so we need a new good guy."
"Okay yeah… can someone say all that for me again in English?" Jade requested in a somewhat irritated tone.
"Things have gotten so bad with the Forces of Darkness that the universe decided to make you a Guardian to even the odds." Irma translated.
Jade seemed to understand. "Oh."
"Well, good news for us!" Alchemy stated with a grin.
"Yeah, this makes J-WITCH official!" Hay Lin exclaimed as she and even Cornelia threw their arms over Jade's shoulder.
"Welcome to the team new Guardian!" Cornelia congratulated. The others were about to join in, but Jade backed away slightly.
"Whoa, whoa, hold on a second!" Jade stopped any kind of celebration before it began. "Okay, I get the whole yin-yang universe thing, but what kind of Guardian am I? I mean you guys got all your powers. Fire, water, earth, air, Will's got heart-powers or whatever that is, but what about me? Am I shooting lighting from my finger tips? What…?!" As she thew her arms out however, she ended up shooting a sphere of black mass, which seemed to pulsate like fire as it was shot at the wall above the counter, causing an explosion and a slight burn on the wall, much to everyone's surprise.
"Whoa…" Irma and Will said at the same time.
"Aiya…" Uncle was about as surprised as everyone else.
But none were more surprised than Jade herself as she looked at her hands and began to concentrate a little bit before generating what appeared to be a black flame over her palms. "Um… what the hell is this?"
The group got a good look at the power Jade was displaying. "It looks like… black fire." Cornelia said.
"Fire can't be black, it's impossible." Taranee commented.
"And shouldn't it be hot?" Alchemy asked as she put her hand hear it, but she didn't feel the least bit of heat.
Jackie stuck the tip of his finger in before pulling it back. "It's cold. I don't know what that is, but it's not fire."
"Shadow magic." Tohru however seemed to know what it was as everyone directed their attention toward him. "Since Jade's appearance is that of a mix between a Guardian and the Queen of the Shadowkhan, I can only assume that her new powers are something similar. Each of you has your own elemental power." He spoke to the individual Guardians. "Taranee is fire, Irma is water, Cornelia is earth, Hay Lin is air, and Will is the bearer of the Heart. I believe that Jade is the Guardian of shadow."
"Is shadow even an element?" Irma asked.
"Certain myths depict shadow, or even darkness, to be an element, the counterforce to light." Jackie explained. "Depending on the myth's origin."
"Shadow powers huh…?" Jade looked to the shadow magic that continued to surge in her hand. One would think that someone like her would be totally excited about having her own magic powers. But if that were the case, why did Jade look so nervous? Something that didn't go unnoticed by Jackie and Will.
Everyone's thoughts were halted when the shop door suddenly opened as they all turned around to see Caleb and Blunk running into the shop. "Guys! Guys!" Caleb exclaimed. "We got a…" However, Caleb gasped the second he saw Jade's transformed appearance. "What the the..!?" He quickly took a combat stance. "Everyone, get back! Jade's turning into the Queen of the Shadowkhan again!"
However, Cornelia quickly ran to grab him by the shoulders. "Take it easy, rebel-boy. Jade's just fine. In fact, she's a Guardian now."
Caleb's eyes were so wide they were almost dinner plates as he stared at Jade almost as if she grew a second head. "She's a Guardian?! But I thought it was only the five of you!"
"Please do not make us repeat all this!" Jade exclaimed as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm a Guardian now, deal with it!"
"Alright, calm down." Jackie put a hand on his niece's shoulder as he spoke to the young rebel. "Caleb, we can explain all this. But before we do, we need you to tell us what the problem you are having is."
Caleb decided to put his questions away as the circumstances surrounding Elyon took priority. "Alright. So Blunk and I were at the castle, trying to get Elyon. But when I tried to grab her, she just vanished into thin air!"
That got everyone's attention as even Blunk spoke in agreement. "Girl there. Then girl not there!" Blunk waved his arms for emphasis.
"Maybe some kind of magic hologram? Something Wong could cook up?" Will asked as she spared a glance at Uncle, hoping for confirmation, but he himself seemed a bit perplexed.
"Hmm. Did Elyon vanish in dark smoke?" Uncle asked.
"No… it was bright." Caleb answered.
"Then it is not the work of Daolon Wong, but Elyon herself." Uncle stated.
"You mean like those astral drop things you said we could do?" Taranee asked.
"Something similar." Yan Lin responded. "Elyon is from Meridian, and now that she is in her birthplace, and fully aware of her status as the princess, her powers are growing with each day she spends there. Under the guidance of Phobos or even Daolon Wong, she will gain extraordinary powers."
"But why a magic hologram?" Alchemy asked.
"Maybe to make things more difficult for us." Tohru assumed. "Phobos and the others know were trying to get to Elyon, so they are making decoys to throw us off. Perhaps the one Caleb and Blunk saw was a test-run of sorts, to see how effective it could be."
"It really did look just like her." Caleb recalled.
"So, they know it works." Jackie said gravely. "Meaning, they could use this to set up traps of their own."
Meridian
Daolon Wong approached the throne of Phobos as the dark prince himself sat upon it, with Cedric, in his humanoid snake form, on his right, along with Tarakudo who hovered on Phobos' left.
"Elyon's decoy worked to perfection." Wong reported. However, before the conversation could continue, they heard the gates opening as Cedric quickly turned back into his human appearance, Tarakudo vanished into the wall, and Phobos threw up the illusion to cover his dark throne room and make it look like a bright and happy one just as Elyon walked in with Finn, Ratso, and Chow right behind her.
"You guys were right; they'll never stop coming for me!" Elyon said. "What can I do?"
"We'll need an army." Phobos answered as he stood up to approach his younger sister.
"Don't you already have one?" She asked her brother.
"Not of guards. Of you." Phobos replied as he ruffled her hair slightly.
"Just do as I taught you, your majesty." Daolon Wong instructed the princess. "Project an image of yourself, only this time, several at once."
"Alright." Elyon began to concentrate on her powers. Already a surge of white energy surrounded her body as she began to create a series of duplicates of herself; much to the surprise of the Dark Chi Enforcers, and the pleasure of Phobos, Wong, and Cedric. By the time it was done, there were more than a hundred identical copies of Elyon occupying the throne room.
"Whoa…" Finn breathed in awe as his friends looked just as surprised before he smirked. "She'd kill it in Vegas."
"How many do you think there are?" Ratso asked.
"One, two, three, four…" Chow began to count. "Eight… nine…"
"Did you count that one?" Ratso asked.
"I think so." Chow muttered. "Hey, will you all stop moving around!?" He exclaimed to all the copies. "It's so frustrating! I think I counted one of you twice!"
"I honestly lost track of the real one." Finn confessed.
'Idiots.' Phobos resisted the urge to blast all three of them for their stupidity alone.
Back on Earth; Jade was in her own room, trying to get a new pair of clothes on as when she and the other Guardian girls transformed back to normal, Jade had actually grown significantly; now she was on equal height with the other girls. Unfortunately, most of her clothes were all at her old size, so it was difficult finding something to wear that could actually fit her. Of course, that wasn't the only thing on her mind.
She was a Guardian now, an actual and official Guardian of the Veil just like Will and the others. It was crazy! What was even more crazy was that she didn't seem all that excited over it. If this had happened about a month ago, when they first started these adventures with the WITCH crew, saying Jade would have been ecstatic about it would have been an understatement. So, why did she seem so… reluctant, now? Was it because she had the same kind of powers as the Queen of the Shadowkhan?
There was a knock on the door when she heard her uncle's voice. "Jade, can we come in?" Jackie asked.
"Eh… not really." Jade quickly said. "I don't really have any clothes on, and none of the stuff I have will fit."
"Sorry, we'll buy you some new clothes later." Jackie said from the other side of the door, and he wasn't alone.
"Hey, we're about to head out to Meridian." Will said as she was also with Jackie. "You coming?"
Jade hesitated for a moment before answering. "Actually, why don't you go without me?"
The looks of shock and surprise on the faces of Jackie and Will could not be described with mere words. Did they just hear right?! Did Jade really just say she didn't want to go on a magical adventure?!
Meanwhile; Caleb, Cornelia, Irma, Taranee, Hay Lin, Blunk, and Alchemy waited for the rest of their group underneath the bridge, but they'd been waiting for some time and were starting to become impatient.
"Where is everyone?" Taranee asked. "Without Will we can't transform."
Hay Lin felt her phone vibrate as she took it out to look at it. "Just got a text; they're having some problems with Jade so it might be a while."
"Well I hope she's okay." Alchemy said.
"Typical girls." Caleb said in annoyance. "Late, late, late."
That really seemed to annoy the group. "Excuse me! We're here!" Cornelia pointed out, referring to herself and her friends.
"And we're outta here." Caleb stated as he appeared to have waited long enough and began to walk away. "Come on Blunk, warm up your portal-sniffer."
Blunk took out the sucker he had in his mouth, which was covered in his slobber and handed it to Irma much to her disgust. "Keep warm for Blunk?" He asked before catching up to Caleb.
"There isn't an 'ew' loud enough." Irma cringed in disgust before throwing it away.
Meridian
After entering his home realm, Caleb and Blunk attempted to disguise themselves with some hooded cloaks as they tried to search for Elyon themselves through the local town.
"What we do when we find Elyon?" Blunk asked.
"First we make sure she's real." Caleb replied. "With this." He showed a frisbee he got from a dumpster on Earth.
The second he saw it, Blunk jumped up to the frisbee and grabbed it with his mouth like a dog. "Blunk fetch!"
Caleb was quick to take it back, however. "You don't even make a cute pet." He said before putting it away. "We throw it at Elyon, okay? If it flies right through her, she's a ghost."
"Or real bad catch." Blunk said as the pair turned the corner, where they appeared to find Elyon at a stand. Caleb was ready to throw the frisbee, but Blunk pulled on his coat to get his attention, having noticed something else. "Caleb, what we throw at her?" He gestured to another Elyon that appeared to be picking some flowers near the field.
"Uh oh…" Caleb grimaced, realizing he didn't think this plan through.
"Uh oh, uh oh, uh, oh!" Blunk pointed to a third Elyon that walked into a nearby forest just outside of town.
"You check out that one." Caleb told Blunk as he pointed to the one that was still in town while Caleb himself ran to the forest to check out the Elyon that continued to move away from the town.
Caleb ran and followed the Elyon into the forest, once he was close enough, he threw the frisbee at her, only for an invisible telekinetic force to block it and send it flying.
"What the….?!" Caleb exclaimed as the Elyon turned around to give him an evil grin before the smoke faded away to reveal the Lord of the Oni himself as he hovered closer to the young rebel.
"So, boy wants to play fetch, does he?"
"Tarakudo!" Caleb shouted, but before he could even attack, Tarakudo shot another psychic blast to send Caleb crashing hard into a tree, causing him to drop the bag of onions he prepared just in case..
"Nice trick, huh?" Tarakudo mused. "Turns out little Elyon is quite gifted. All I have to do is hide in one of those little lookalikes to get the drop on any do-gooders with funny ideas." Caleb tried to reach for the onions, only for Tarakudo to telekinetically lift then into the air. "Sorry, no vegetables for you, young man." He threw them away before picking up the struggling Caleb in his psychic grip.
"Put me down, you… you… floating head thing…!"
"If I had a nickel for every time, I'd be called that…" Tarakudo replied before flying toward the castle, while also carrying Caleb with him, which went completely unnoticed by Blunk
Back on Earth; Cornelia, Alchemy, Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin continued to wait for their friends. Fortunately, they didn't appear to wait so long as Jackie's van pulled up with Will, Uncle, Tohru, and a reluctant Jade, stepping out. Jade also appeared to be wearing some new clothes that Will had to let her borrow.
"What took you guys so long?" Cornelia questioned. "We ran out of gossip! We had to talk about… schoolwork." She shivered at that last comment.
"Hey, it's not my fault my clothes don't fit me anymore!" Jade quickly exclaimed.
"We had to get some new clothes for Jade to wear before she could come. We'll buy her something else later." Jackie quickly explained. Though he left out the part where Jade didn't want to come at first. However, Will and Jackie, and even Tohru, were able to convince her to join them to properly test her new powers as a Guardian, but not before receiving a dope-slap from Uncle for taking too long to decide.
"Where is Caleb?" Tohru asked.
"Went off to Meridian." Irma said before Uncle delivered a dope-slap to her forehead. "Ow!"
"Why would you let Rebel Boy go to Meridian alone?!" Uncle exclaimed. "Caleb is reckless! Recklessness makes easy to capture! Have you not been paying attention?!"
"Well what were we supposed to do? Chain him to a wall?" Taranee questioned.
"Guys, guys, stop!" Hay Lin got in the middle to stop everyone from arguing. "Look we're all here now, let's just go."
Will nodded in agreement as she took out the Heart of Kandrakar. The second Jade saw it, she had a reluctant look on her face as Will said the magic words once again. "Guardians Unite"
The six Guardians hovered close to the ground, just underneath the canopy of the forest they were trekking, to avoid being seen as Jackie, Tohru, Uncle, and Alchemy stuck closer to the ground. The group came to a stop just before the forest ended right at the edge of the town as the Guardian girls set down.
"Hey, I see her!" Alchemy pointed to what appeared to be Elyon at a food table. Cornelia was about to call out to her, but Jade stopped her.
"Don't bother, that's not her."
That caught everyone's attention. "Jade?" Jackie asked.
"How can you tell?" Taranee asked.
"She doesn't have a shadow." Jade replied.
"Wait… you can see her shadow from here?" Will asked.
"No, I can sense it." Jade tried to explain as best she could. "It's hard to put into words but… I can sense the shadows of people that I look at, but I can't sense anything from her."
"All living things cast shadows." Uncle began to explain himself. "Shadows contain half our lifeforce, our chi. If something does not cast a shadow, it has no chi, and is not truly alive."
That actually sent a shiver down most of their spines. "Kinda Dracula-ish." Cornelia commented.
"What about that one by the flowers?" Hay Lin asked, pointing to the Elyon that was currently picking the flowers. All Jade needed to do was glance in its direction.
"Nope, fake." She confirmed, sensing no shadow at all.
"You know, add some bleepy-noises, and this would be a really cool video game." Hay Lin commented.
"There's another one." Will pointed to another Elyon that stood in front of Blunk as he tried to get its attention.
Jade was about to confirm it, but Irma beat her to it. "Nah, she's talking to Blunk like she knows him. Plus, she's not holding her nose."
"They could have these fake-Elyons all over town." Jackie stated. "And I believe that every single one of them could be a trap."
"Which means Caleb was probably captured." Tohru said.
"Real Elyon is likely in castle." Uncle pointed to the castle in the distance. "Where Phobos can watch her closely. She is too important to his plans to let her out his sight."
"Hang on, let me check." Hay Lin began to listen to the air, focusing on the castle as she tried to isolate the soundwaves that were carried from castle by the air. She focused hard enough that she was actually able to isolate the soundwave she recognized as their friend.
"Phobos?"
"Something troubling you?" She heard Phobos' voice as well as she continued to listen to their conversation.
"Well, no… it's just… I left my old sketchbook on Earth and it was pretty important to me. I wish I had it here."
"Then I shall make arrangements to retrieve it. But first, I have something that I wish to show you."
"Got her." Hay Lin told everyone. "She's definitely at the castle."
"Alright." Jackie understood as he began to relay instructions. "Alchemy, go get Blunk and wait for us by the portal. Everyone else, we're going to that castle."
Phobos led his sister into the main hallway of his castle where Cedric and Wong were present, the former pouring some tea, while the Dark Chi Enforcers held a familiar individual by his arms.
"For your pleasure, Princess Elyon." Cedric presented to the girl. "A cup of tea, and a rebel commander." The Dark Chi Enforcers threw Caleb to the ground, his hands bound by dark magic behind his back as a collar of the same substance encircled around his throat.
"Caleb…" Elyon was surprised to see him, but when he tried to speak, the only thing that came from his mouth were a series of gargles. "What's wrong? Why can't he talk?"
"I have placed a spell that will prevent him from speaking any of his lies and deceit." Wong explained. "For you see, this young man was the one who gave your friends the Heart of Kandrakar."
"What?!" Elyon exclaimed before she glared at the struggling Caleb. "You brainwashed my friends?! I can't believe this! To think I actually had a crush on you!"
"I will see to it that he receives the proper punishment, dear sister." Phobos assured as Caleb still tried to speak, but Daolon Wong's spell prevented him from doing so.
"You think he has something do with our parents' murder?" Elyon asked her brother.
"Unlikely, he is far too young to have committed the deed." Phobos replied. "However, that isn't to say he doesn't know who did it. For all we know, the real killer could be hiding within the Rebellion, using those lies and false rumors to justify their cause as they try to seize the throne for themselves."
"They killed my parents, and brainwashed my friends?" Elyon questioned before glaring at Caleb once more. "Caleb, I swear that If you really had anything to do with that… you will pay!"
However, the doors suddenly opened as a guard quickly came running in to alert the group. "The Guardians and their allies are attacking!"
"Escort my sister to safety, we will deal with this!" Phobos ordered the Enforcers.
"No problem, Big P." Finn said as he and his friends began to escort Elyon away.
"Your highness, there's more!" The guard told Phobos as Elyon overheard it as well. "There's another one! Six Guardians!"
"What?!" Phobos exclaimed in shock as even Wong and Cedric were utterly surprised.
"Wait… what did he say? Six of them?" Elyon asked in confusion as the Enforcers tried to urge her along.
"Uh… best let your brother handle this." Ratso said.
"Yeah, you don't wanna get caught in the middle of all that." Chow also said as they escorted her to safety.
Outside; Jackie, Tohru, and the six Guardians were practically in a warzone as they threw everything, they had to beat back the guards.
Tohru ran and charged into a group of soldiers as he swapped his massive arms to beat them all back. Hay Lin provided cover for the big man as she created a series of air-disks in her hands, which she threw at the nearest group of guards to slice their weapons, disarming them and leaving them vulnerable for Tohru to swipe and punch them down with his superior strength.
Taranee thew a series of fireballs to blast away a group of guards, with Irma sending several more crashing along the ground by blasting a stream of water at them. Cornelia also shook up the ground with her own powers to knock a group of guards down before growing several root-tendrils from the ground to ensnare them.
Jackie ducked underneath the swing from one guard's sword before grabbing him by the shoulder and flipping him over himself to knock down two more trying to charge him from behind. Three more guards tried to rush him with axes and swords, but Jackie picked up a spear from a downed guard and spun it like a master staff-wielder before making a confident smile and a hand gesture to bring it on. He then used his new weapon to block the guards' weapon strikes before knocking them down by sweeping the non-lethal end of the spear at their legs.
Will and Jade came back-to-back, as they appeared surrounded by guards. They exchanged glances and nods just as the guards charged them. Both girls locked their arms together before Jade bent her back to bring Will's body up as she spun around, kicking her feet out to knock back all the guards in one single motion. Though Jade was still hesitant about using her new shadow powers, she still knew Kung Fu.
Phobos, Daolon Wong, and Cedric, watched this one-sided fight play out as Tarakudo emerged from the wall next to them. "Well, this is a surprise." The Oni King noted upon seeing the group of heroes. "I thought there were only five Guardians."
"How is this possible?!" Cedric questioned.
Daolon Wong got a good look at the newest Guardian. "That girl… she's the Queen of the Shadowkhan!"
"So, she's a Gaudian now?!" Phobos exclaimed before glaring up at the floating demon head. "Tarakudo, what is the meaning of this?!"
"Let's find out, shall we?" Tarakudo suggested as he flew down to the group as they had just finished dealing with the guards outside.
However, before the heroes could celebrate, Tohru felt a chill down his spine. "Uh oh…"
At this point, everyone else knew what Tohru's shivering meant. "Let me guess: the willies?" Irma gulped.
Suddenly the group was hit with a powerful psychic blast from Tarakudo himself as he roared and shot down at all of them; and he was not the only one as Cedric, having already transformed, slithered down as well with Phobos and Daolon Wong shooting their respective magic blasts at the heroes.
Back inside, Caleb struggled in his magic bonds, but they didn't to budge. He couldn't even call the others for help as the spell still remained around his throat. However, his attention was caught by Uncle, who had climbed over the window now that everyone else appeared to have left.
Uncle said nothing as he brought out his blowfish to zap some chi-magic at Caleb's bonds, freeing not only his hands, but also removing the spell around his throat and allowing him to speak again.
"Thanks." Caleb breathed a sigh of relief, only to be dope-slapped in the forehead by the elderly Chi-Wizard. "Ow!"
"What was Rebel Boy thinking?!" Uncle exclaimed. "Too dangerous to go on your own! No way of knowing which Elyon was real and fake!"
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" Caleb quickly apologized before picking up his downed weapons, which included his sheathed katana. "Now come on, they need our help!"
Cedric roared as he charged Tohru, grappling with the large sumo as they each pitted their own strength against the other. As usual, both of them seemed evenly matched. However, when Taranee tried to fly in and blast Cedric from behind, Cedric actually lifted Tohru's body and turned around, so that the fireball could hit Tohru in the back, causing him to grunt in pain.
"Oh no!" Taranee covered her mouth in shock, realizing she just hit her friend. With Tohru distracted for a minute, Cedric grabbed and lifted him up to throw at Taranee and send them crashing into a nearby wall.
Cornelia tried to shake the ground that Daolon Wong stood on while also trying to ensnare him in a series of root-tendrils; but Wong only needed to blast the roots with his magic to disintegrate him before blasting Cornelia back with a surge of dark magic from his scepter. Irma and Hay Lin tried to combine their powers in an attempt to overpower Daolon Wong with a surging blast of water and wind, but Daolon Wong had already shielded himself with a powerful dome of dark magic before using a spell to sink the two girls into the ground like quicksand.
Daolon Wong gave an amused chuckle. "Your skills have indeed improved. But your crude use of elemental magic is no use to my precise skills." He was then hit in the back by a blast of green magic that sent him rolling across the ground.
"Then perhaps you'd like a piece of Uncle instead." Uncle challenged as Cornelia used her earth-powers to free Irma and Hay Lin from their predicament. "Help Tohru and Taranee. Uncle will deal with Daolon Wong."
"He's all yours!" Irma stated as the three Guardians flew towards Taranee and Tohru, who were still dealing with Cedric. Wong got back up to glare at Uncle, who glared back as they each shot a beam of their respective chi-magics to clash against each other once more.
Jackie clashed his staff against Phobos' sword as the dark prince glared at his foe. "You have a rather bad habit of interring, Chan."
"It's what I do." Jackie said before sweeping his feet to knock Phobos down, but he quickly blasted a point-blank magic attack to knock Jackie back, breaking the staff in half as Phobos quickly got up to try and bring his sword down on him, only for it to be blocked by a katana, curtsey of Caleb.
"I don't think so!" The rebel leader stated as he swung his katana at Phobos, forcing him to block and parry with his own sword, leaving him open for Jackie to get back and deliver a flying kick to send Phobos skidding across the ground.
Jade gazed up in clear feat the sight of Tarakudo who hovered over her. "This day is full of surprises." He gazed down at Jade. "You may not seem like it, but you certainly look the part, Queen of the Shadowkhan." He smirked evilly. "Can I assume this means you're returning to the Forces of Darkness?"
"Hell no!" Will exclaimed as she flew in defense of her friend. "You're not getting your hooks sinked into her again!" She was about to fly and attack Tarakudo, but the Oni King used his psychic powers to blast Will to the nearest wall and pin her there.
"Will!" Jade exclaimed as she saw her friend trapped.
"If I recall, you were the one who turned her back to human." Tarakudo narrowed his eyes at Will.
"Because she's not your little plaything, you got that!" Will glared, only to be pressed harder into the wall by Tarakudo's powers.
"Perhaps she might be more willing to cross over, if she no longer has any friends on the side of light." Tarakudo was ready to launch a powerful psychic blast to crush Will completely.
"NO!" Jade exclaimed as she quickly flew in front of Will, holding her hands out to try and take the attack herself. However, once her hands were thrown out, a large wall of shadow-magic appeared in front of both of them that not only blocked the attack, but even absorbed it so that no harm could be done to either girls.
This act had caught Tarakudo completely off-guard, which was a first for even him. "What?"
Even Jade and Will looked in surprise as the former looked toward her hands and the wall of shadows that she had just created before it vanished. However, before anyone could do anything else, a horn was sounded throughout the castle grounds as several more guards and Lurdens attempted to enter the courtyard.
"It's time to go!" Jackie stated as he, Caleb, Tohru, Uncle, and the other Guardians tried to regroup and attempt to leave.
"What about Elyon?!" Cornelia questioned.
"I'm sorry Cornelia, we'll come back for her. I promise." Jackie assured just as enemy reinforcements had entered the courtyard.
Coming to a reluctant acceptance, Cornelia grabbed Jackie and flew into the air as Hay Lin did the same for Uncle, Taranee and Irma grabbing onto Tohru, and Will grabbing onto Caleb as they flew away from the castle along with Jade and out of range of the archers among the enemy hordes.
As they flew away, Tarakudo looked with interest as he saw Jade fly away, appearing to be pondering just what kind of power she wielded.
"Tarakudo!" Phobos exclaimed, getting his attention as the dark prince marched toward him. "Explain! Now!"
"I'm not entirely sure, but if I were to take a guess; I'd say when the red-haired girl used the Heart of Kandrakar to try and cure the Queen, she might have unknowingly created a new power that enables the young lady to turn into a new type of Guardian." Tarakudo assumed. "At least that's my theory."
"So, to be clear, your attempts to garden a new ally for us, have only succeeded in making our enemies stronger?!" Phobos questioned, clearly angry over this new development.
"A miscalculation." Tarakudo spoke calmly. "One I doubt that nobody could see coming. Even the girl herself seemed a little confused."
"When we joined forces, I had hopped you would provide me with the aid necessary to crush our enemies!" The angered Phobos exclaimed. "But it seems I was mistaken!" He drew his sword from thin air as he pointed at Tarakudo. "Give me one reason why I should allow this so-called partnership to continue…!"
Suddenly, Phobos was sent flying toward the castle wall and slammed against it, via Tarakudo's psychic power that kept him pinned. "As I said, it was a miscalculation." Tarakudo spoke in a seemingly calm tone of voice. "I understand your frustrations, but perhaps it would be more effective to point them in a more productive direction. I consider myself a patient demon, but one thing I will not tolerate is in-fighting among my own side! Rest assured, I have every intention of assisting you, should you and your minions assist me in finding my masks. But, if you dare take that sort of tone to me again, or even threaten me… I promise… I will make you sink into the deepest depths of darkness so horrible; it makes that Abyss of Shadows in your basement seem like a playground by comparison! Am I understood?"
For one the few times in his life, Phobos began to exhibit genuine fear. Though he was quick to try and mask it, Tarakudo could clearly see it in his eyes, yet allowed the dark prince to respond.
"Clearly." Phobos assured.
"Good." Tarakudo accepted as he let go and allowed Phobos to get back to the ground on his feet.
Earth
Upon returning to Heatherfield, night had fallen as the group sat around a bench at the park, along with Alchemy and Blunk, as they tried to think about their next move. During which, Caleb was telling them what he had learned from Elyon.
"She thinks we've been brainwashed?" Cornelia questioned.
"That's right." Caleb confirmed. "She thinks that I gave you the Heart of Kandrakar to control you, and that someone in the Rebellion killed her parents. Can you actually believe that?!"
"Believe it or not, it did seem enough to convince Elyon." Taranee pointed out.
"Phobos and the others must have told Elyon this so that she wouldn't trust us, even if we did have the chance to talk to her." Jackie said.
"Even if we do go back to Meridian, or even break into Phobos' castle, it's almost impossible for us to tell whether it's a fake or the real one." Tohru added.
"Jade could tell the difference." Will pointed out. "That whole Shadow-Sense thing."
"Doesn't mean I know where the real one is." Jade replied. "Heck, she might not even be int eh Castle anymore. Phobos and Company could have moved her somewhere else and we don't even know where!"
"Jade is correct." Uncle agreed. "We have broken into castle before. Phobos is evil, yes. But stupid? No. Castle may no longer be safe place for Elyon. Forces of Darkness could have made new hiding space for her."
As the group tried to think what they should do, an idea came to Hay Lin. "So, anybody know anything about a missing sketch book?"
"No, but you win the random-question-of-the-day award." Irma replied.
"I overheard Elyon talking to Phobos about wanting it." Hay Lin said.
This caused Cornelia and Alchemy to gasp in realization. "Her favorite sketchbook!" They both exclaimed at the same time. "She got that for her from Cornelia on her eighth birthday!"
"If it's still here on Earth, we can use it as bait." Caleb said. "Maybe even get Elyon back here long enough to talk to her."
"After that full-scale assault we did on Phobos' castle? I doubt he's gonna let her anywhere out of his sight." Jade pointed out.
"But maybe we can use her sketchbook to make a locator spell, one that can lead us to the real Elyon." Tohru proposed.
"That could work." Taranee said.
"Section 13 has a surveillance van parked outside Elyon's old home, just in case she ever came back, or if Phobos ever sent someone there." Jackie said. "They should be able to let us inside without a problem."
"Do not just stand there!" Uncle said to everyone. "Get cracking!"
In little time, the heroes had made it inside the house and had spotted Elyon's room. Cornelia had opened the door, but before the group could walk inside however, Uncle stopped them.
"Uncle?" Jackie looked to him with concern, as well as everyone else. Uncle said nothing as he pulled out his blowfish and shot into the room, with a single chi-blast hitting the wall before it revealed a dark blue magic barrier that surrounded the walls, ceiling, floor, and everything else in the room.
"Dark magic." Uncle identified. "Daolon Wong must have cast a spell over Elyon's room some time ago, to prevent us from using anything of hers to create chi-spell."
"Do you think we'll be able to create a counter-spell, Sensei?"
"Uncle have ingredients back at shop." Uncle explained. "Jackie, Tohru, Caleb, Blunk, come with me to shop. Girls, search room for sketchbook."
"Wait, why I do have to go and make a spell?" Caleb questioned. "I should stay here and help… Ow!" He felt a familiar slap on his forehead.
"Boys not search in girl's room!" Uncle chastised. "Is Rebel Boy a pervert?! No? Then do not enter girl's bedroom!"
Pretty much all the girls snickered in amusement as even Blunk chuckled. "Oh, Caleb naughty boy."
Caleb however looked completely mortified. "What?! I'm not a pervert! We're not looking through her clothes! Just…!"
Jackie stopped his rant by putting a hand on his shoulder. "Let's just head back to the shop and work on the spell, I'm certain the girls can handle this." He then looked to the seven girls. "But, if something comes up, don't hesitate to call."
"You got it." Will nodded.
"Just make sure this guy doesn't go into my room." Jade joked, referring to Caleb, resulting in the other girls laughing as Caleb grumbled while he and Blunk followed Jackie, Uncle, and Tohru back downstairs and out of the house.
Once they were gone, the girls wasted no time in searching Elyon's room. Though the spell Daolon Wong had casted prevent any sort of chi-spell from being used on any object in the room, it still seemed to allow them to at least touch everything else physically. Cornelia and Alchemy looked inside Elyon's closer, Hay Lin and Jade searched under the bed, Irma looked around her desk, while Will and Taranee searched her two separate dressers. But so far, they have come up empty.
"Not under here." Will said.
"Nothing." Cornelia also said. "Except for the shoes she borrowed last year."
"If this sketchbook is pretty important, you'd think it be somewhere she can easily get it." Jade commented.
Hay Lin's phone then began to ring. "It's Dad. We're supposed to be having that fake-sleep over at home." She answered her phone. "Coming, Dad! We're just… leaving the mall now." She hung up.
"So, that's it? We just leave?" Alchemy asked.
"Jackie and the others are working on that counter-spell, remember?" Taranee asked.
"But what if the bad guys show up before they have that spell ready?" Alchemy asked.
Will took a glance at Jade before an idea came to her. "Tell you guys what, Jade and I can stay here and keep looking."
"We will?" Jade asked in surprise.
"Yes, we will." Will stated more firmly as she put a hand on her shoulder. "If we find it, we'll call you guys."
The others seemed to accept that. "Alright, see ya guys." Irma waved as the girls began to leave before Cornelia showed them a stuffed kangaroo toy.
"If you guys get lonely, the kangaroo talks." Cornelia pulled on the string.
"G'day, mate. My name's Joey."
Right as the girls all left, Jade gave a sigh. "Why do I get the feeling you wanna talk about something?" She asked as she sat on the bed.
"Jade, what's going on with you?" Will asked as she sat down next to her. "I'd thought you'd be super excited about having your own magical powers now, considering you keep 'borrowing' the Talismans from Section 13 all the time. Now you just seem so… so… not excited. That's not like you."
"Yeah, you'd think." Jade began. "Honestly, if I had like maybe lightning powers or something, I'd actually be a little excited. It's just…"
"it's because it's so much like the Queen of the Shadowkhan thing, right?" Will seemed to figure it out.
Seeing no point in denying it, Jade only hung her head. "Yeah."
"Look, you might have the same clothes and all, but so far as I've seen, you're still the same Jade." Will told her.
"Am I?" Jade questioned, her fears becoming evident. "I don't even know anymore. I became the Queen of the Shadowkhan twice, and now I got the same kind of powers as a so-called Guardian!? You know, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I just got this bad streak in me. I mean, how many times as Jackie told me to stay back where it's safe, and I just ignore him and end up right there in the danger zone. Heck, some of those problems are even my fault, all because I just want part of the action! Yeah, maybe I do help but… is that why I'm even doing it? Am I helping because it's the right thing? Or am I just looking for a thrill? Am I… am I really just selfish? And maybe that Queen of the Shadowkhan is really who I am deep inside? Am I just… just a bad person?"
"No, you are not!" Will took her friend by the shoulders and looked her right in the eye. "Jade, you are not a bad person! I mean, yeah, you're not exactly perfect, you might be reckless and even make a few mistakes. But it all comes from a good place: you just want to help us. And even if it's something silly, like trying to make yourself taller with magic, you're not actually trying to hurt people. You want to help, in your own mischievous way."
Jade looked at Will with shaky eyes as the redhead pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar and showed it to her friend. "Look, I'm not exactly an expert on this cosmic-Yin-and-Yang thing, but everyone is saying how the Heart is good, and the Guardians are a force for good. And now, you're a Guardian too. Yeah, your powers might be… different than the others, but that could just be a coincidence because you were brainwashed before or something. Look, the point is, for all your flaws, you are a good person. So good, that the freaking universe gave you your own magic powers. And you're not alone in this, you got both your Uncles, you got Tohru, you got the other girls, and you got me. You and Jackie helped me get used to all this magic stuff, so I'm gonna be here to help you every step of the way. Because that is what best friends do." She finished with a smile.
Jade had never felt so moved before in her life. Despite all the concerns and fear she had for her new power, Will had just told her that she is a good person and she would never let her feel alone in this world. This was enough for Jade to smile as she tried to push back the tears she had in her eyes. "Thanks, Will."
"Anytime." Will said before they shared a hug.
However, the tender moment was brought to a halt as the Heart of Kandrakar suddenly began to glow brighter. "Uh… Will…?" Jade looked toward her with concern.
"That's not me." She replied.
They both turned to see the closet beginning to shake before the doors burst open to reveal an active portal. Acting quickly; Will and Jade ducked and rolled underneath the bed to avoid being seen as the Dark Chi Enforcers stepped out of the portal and into the room.
"Well we're here." Chow said. "What are we looking for again?"
"The kid's sketchbook. It's gotta be here somewhere." Finn said as they began to fan out and search for it.
"Hey, why didn't Elyon come with us?" Chow asked. "Ain't it her book?"
"Phobos is already in enough of a bad mood, you wanna make him even more mad?" Finn questioned as he searched in her desk. However, he noticed an uncertain look on Ratso's face as he wasn't searching. "What's up?"
"Uh… this is kinda awkward." Ratso confessed. "We're looking through a little girl's things… We might be bad guys, but we're not pervs."
Chow shivered. "Yeah, tell me about it. In fact, I'm not even gonna do this." He stopped searching. "Why not have Phobos and his pals look for it themselves?"
Even Finn was in agreement. "You know what? You guys are right. I don't care if they zap us, we're not pedophiles."
"Glad to know you guys have such high standards."
"Gee thanks." Ratso replied before their eyes all widened, realizing who's voice they just heard. Suddenly a bright light shined out from underneath the bed before Will and Jade, both in their respective Guardian forms, appeared before the Enforcers.
"Since you guys don't wanna be here, why don't we show you the door?" Jade suggested as she delivered a roundhouse to Ratso's face to send him crashing into the dressers.
Finn and Chow immediately pulled out their respective weapons as they went on the offensive. Chow swung his staff at Will, who backed toward Elyon's desk before using her enhanced strength to pull off the top from it and use it like a makeshift shield to block Chow's staff, while Jade was on the defensive from the slashes of Finn's bladed weapon. Jade tripped backwards as she backed into an ottoman but acted quickly as she kicked with both her feet at the ottoman to trip Finn up and knock him onto the ground.
However, Ratso quickly got back on his feet and pulled out his hammer to slam it onto the ground, shaking up the entire room as Will and Jade were sent crashing out the window and outside.
"Dude, you just trashed Elyon's room!" Finn told his friend as Ratso winced at the sight of the damage he just did.
"Oh… sorry." Ratso looked down before accidentally stepping onto the stuffed Kangaroo.
"G'day mate, my name's Joey."
However, once they heard the kangaroo toy, they looked down to see something sticking out of its pouch. Chow quickly picked it up. "Hey, it's a sketchbook. We found it!"
"Thanks! We'll take it!" Will said as she and Jade had flown back up to try and grab the sketchbook, but Chow kept his grip firm as Ratso and Finn tried to help him in pulling it. The two Guardians and three Dark Chi Enforcers were locked in a game of tug-of-war for the sketchbook, but it lasted only a few seconds before something tore from it, causing the two girls to go flying back as the Enforcers had the sketchbook.
"Come on, let's get out of here!" Finn stated as they ran back into the portal.
"Call Jackie?" Jade asked as she helped Will to her feet.
"Call Jackie." Will confirmed as she pulled out her cellphone.
The Dark Hand trio had given the sketchbook to Phobos as they met with him in the bunker where Elyon was currently staying.
"The Guardians were there?! You certain!?" Phobos questioned.
"Two of them, but yeah." Chow nodded.
"And hey, next time you wanna search through your sister's stuff, do it yourself!" Finn stated.
"Yeah, we ain't pedophiles!" Chow also stated.
"You should apologize to us." Ratso also said
However, this only seemed to irritate Phobos even more "You three will guard these tunnels for your lives, or I will obliterate you! You'll wish you were facing Chan and the Guardians again once I'm done with you!"
"Apology accepted!" Ratso quickly said as he and his friends backed away in slight fear.
"Works for me!" Finn also said.
"Hmm, mmm." Chow nodded.
Putting on a happier demeanor, Phobos entered his sister's personal bunker deep inside. "Elyon, I brought you something." He walked up to her and presented her the object in his hand.
"Oh wow! My sketchbook! Thank you!" Elyon smiled as she gave her brother a grateful embrace before pulling away to look at some of the drawings she had already done so far. But her smile faded in confusion once she noticed that one of her drawings was torn in half.
Will and Jade had presented the other half of the paper to the other girls, the rest of the Chan Clan, Caleb and Blunk, the Passling helping himself to a half-eaten candy bar that fell out of the kangaroo toy.
"This is Elyon's sketchbook?" Caleb questioned skeptically. "Half a picture of a horse?"
"Hey, it was all we could get!" Jade protested. "You try fighting off three super-powered Dark Chi dudes in a tight space!"
"And it's not a horse, I think it's a face." Will said.
"Or a map of Spain." Cornelia also guessed.
"I'm sure they did the best you could." Jackie assured. "And even if it's only half a picture, we can still use it. Right?" He asked his Uncle.
"Yes." Uncle confirmed. "Uncle has prepared both counter-spell and locator spell. Tohru, assist." He instructed his apprentice as he took the picture himself.
"Yes, sensei." Tohru nodded as the master-student duo sat in the room with the picture laid out in-between of them. Uncle held out a blowfish while Tohru took out a dried lizard as they both pointed to the half-sheet of paper and began to chant simultaneously.
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao." As they chanted, beams of green energy shot from their respective blowfish and lizard at the paper to not only remove Daolon Wong's enchantment, but even cast the locator spell onto it, which was evident by the green glow that surrounded it.
"This will lead us to the real Elyon." Tohru said as Uncle took the picture while Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar to transform Cornelia, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Irma.
The group consisting of the Six Guardians, Chan Clan, Alchemy, Caleb, and Blunk all stepped out of the portal and onto what appeared to be a mountain top as they followed Uncle, who held the locator spell as it shinned brighter the closer they got to a large boulder.
"Elyon is in here." Uncle pointed to the boulder.
"Uh, Uncle, you sure your spell thing isn't expired, cause that's a boulder." Irma pointed out.
Blunk took a second to sniff the boulder. "Blunk smell Elyon, and scary orange men from room. They in there." He pointed to the boulder.
"I've heard stories about Phobos having an underground bunker." Caleb said. "Tohru, help me move this!"
"I don't think that's really necessary." Tohru said. "Cornelia, I think this is your element."
"Why thank you, Tohru." Cornelia smiled. "At least someone knows how to be a gentleman." She sent that snarky remark in Caleb's direction.
"Oooh, burn." Alchemy smirked as Caleb grumbled.
Cornelia walked toward the boulder and need only trace her finger down the middle of its surface, channeling her earth-magic into it as a crack formed from where she dragged her finger before she stopped and the entire boulder broke in half, revealing the entranceway to said bunker.
Once they got a good look, the group could see a series of tunnels that led in virtually every direction. "It's like a maze down there." Will said.
"Maze not important." Uncle stated. "Locator spell is. It will lead us to real Elyon."
"Perhaps, but we're too big of a group." Jackie said. "Uncle, may I see that picture?" Uncle handed Jackie the picture, which Jackie folded into four ways before tearing it into four even-sized pieces of paper, all of which continued to glow. "We'll split into four groups of three. Will, Jade, and myself; Cornelia, Caleb, and Alchemy; Hay Lin, Tohru, and Blunk; Irma, Taranee, and Uncle. We'll look for five minutes before meeting back up here. We have no idea what's down there."
Everyone nodded in agreement as they all went down into the bunker and split off into their respective groups to go in four different directions.
Tohru held one piece of the locator spell as he tried to guide the way for Hay Lin and Blunk, but he quickly pushed them back around the corner to avoid being spotted by a group of patrolling Lurdens.
Two guards slept, while somehow standing up, around one corner of the tunnels. However, a pair of hands came up to squeeze them at their respective shoulder-neck areas, causing them to fall unconscious, curtsey of Uncle. The elder chi-wizard held one piece of the locator spell as well as he led Irma and Taranee further into the tunnels.
Jackie held another quarter of the locator spell as he led Will and Jade down a tunnel that appeared lined with priceless portraits and treasures. "Looks like we found Phobos' treasure vault." Will commented.
"Let's keep looking." Jackie told them.
However, Jade came to a sudden stop as she felt a chill down her spine. "Uh guys… I think I… have the willies."
Before either Jackie or Will could ask what she was talking about, the eyes on one of the portrait moved toward Jade before Tarakudo himself phased out of the portrait to reveal himself.
"Welcome back." Tarakudo greeted the shocked trio. "Why don't we shake things up a little bit?" He then generated a powerful psychic blast to send all three of them flying.
Cornelia, who held the last quarter of the locator spell, led Alchemy and Caleb into a certain chamber that served as some kind of bedroom for someone of royal standings.
"This looks like a good place to a put a princess." Alchemy observed.
Cornelia took a look at the locator spell. "I don't know exactly how this works, but I think Elyon might have been here recently."
"Meaning she might be somewhere else, let's keep looking." Caleb was about to leave when Alchemy noticed something on the desk.
"Hey guys, look!" She pointed to something familiar that she and Cornelia both recognized, prompting them to run quickly toward the desk, with Caleb close behind.
"It's her sketchbook!" Cornelia exclaimed as she saw the torn picture in the sketchbook. She brought her quarter-piece of the torn paper serving as the locator spell close to the torn picture and realized she had one piece of said picture.
However, a sudden horn-noise sounded throughout the entire cavern, startling Cornelia and Alchemy.
"They know were here!" Caleb exclaimed. "Let's get out of here!" But before they could move back up the stairs; a group of soldiers and Lurdens had entered the room and approached the trio.
"Hold on!" Cornelia grabbed both Caleb and Alchemy and flew upward toward the ceiling, while using her earth-powers to create a large enough opening for them to fly into and escape. Though it wasn't big enough for them to fly, they were still able to climb back up to the surface. Cornelia came first as she helped Alchemy before pulling up Caleb next.
But, once she pulled him up, the two suddenly realized just how close they were to one another as they ended up staring into each other's eyes.
"Um guys… I hate to interrupt the moment, but we got company!" Alchemy brought them out of their short-lived fantasy as they noticed they were quickly surrounded by Cedric, Daolon Wong, and a large group of guards and Lurdens.
"Leaving so soon?" Cedric hissed.
However, before the bad guys could attack; a series of chi-blasts, fireballs, gusts of wind, and steams of water shot down from the hill behind them as Taranee, Irma, and Hay Lin flew down, with Uncle and Tohru running below them, and Blunk sliding down the hill. The four Guardians got to work blasting away all the guards and Lurdens as Tohru leapt at Cedric and tackled him down the hill, crashing the shapeshifter into a large rock near the bottom of the hill. Uncle shot a series of chi blasts at Daolon Wong with his blowfish, who erected a barrier of dark magic to block the attacks as returned fire with his own dark chi blasts.
"Thanks guys." Alchemy regrouped with everyone.
"Hey, where's' Will, Jade, and Jackie?!" Cornelia questioned upon seeing who was missing from their group.
Almost in direct response to her question; a powerful blast erupted from the ground on the other side of the hill as the aforementioned trio was sent flying out before sliding on the snowy ground as Tarakudo appeared in the air to snarl at them. However, before the Oni-King could attack, his attention was caught by a series of fire-blasts from Taranee who tried to throw her attacks at him, but Tarakudo caught the fireballs with his psychic powers before throwing them at both Taranee and Cornelia to send them back.
Hay Lin and Irma also tried to provide some help as the later shot a powerful surge of water to try and encompass Tarakudo right as Hay Lin inhaled to send a cold stream of air from her mouth in an attempt to freeze Tarakudo. However, he erected barrier with his own powers to block the attack and create a wall of ice in front of him before he broke it apart into several smaller chucks and send them flying at the pair of Guardians, who found themselves unable to avoid it as they were hit and sent crashing into the recovering Cornelia and Taranee.
"Guys!" Jade exclaimed as she saw her friends hurt.
Tohru, Uncle, Caleb, Blunk, and Alchemy also saw what was happening and wanted to provide help, but they were each stuck in their own predicaments. Tohru was locked in another brawl against Cedric, Uncle was still engaged in a wizard-duel against Daolon Wong, and Caleb was using his katana to block and parry the weapon strikes of the small army of guards, doing his best to protect Alchemy and Blunk.
Jackie tried to reach into his coat-pocket and pull out an onion, but Tarakudo had already grabbed him with his powers and slammed him into the incoming Will before pinning both of them hard on to a large rock, much to Jade's shock as she heard them groan in pain.
"Out of all my new enemies, you two have been the most persistent." Tarakudo commented as he used his powers to pry a series of icicles from a nearby rocky-ledge and aimed them at the trapped duo. "I think it's time to put an end to that, don't you?" He sent the icicle's at them with the intent of skewering both of them.
"NO!" Jade screamed as she flew in front of them, instinctively using her powers in the form of a black wave of shadow that not only obliterate the icicles but even struck Tarakudo to send him crashing onto the ground, much to the shock of not just Jade, but also Will and Jackie; and everyone else, be they hero or villain.
"Did… did she just… hurt Tarakudo?" Taranee asked.
"Her powers are like his, aren't they?" Hay Lin questioned. "You know, fight fire with fire?"
"Or shadow with shadow." Irma smirked.
Jade looked at her own hands as she had shadows pulsating in both her palms. She could actually hurt Tarakudo without an onion! This caused her to smirk almost evilly as she eyed the recovering Tarakudo.
"Oh, I know that look." Will smirked as well, having a good idea what was about to happen next.
Even Jackie had a smirk of his own. "I don't normally encourage violence but… go and kick his teeth in, Jade."
With that, Jade flew straight for Tarakudo, shadows coating both her fists with her shadow magic as she decked him across the cheek to send him spiraling through the air. Jade pressed the advantage as she flew at him, laying multiple punches across his face before coating her right foot in the same way and delivering an axe-kick in-between his eyes to send him crashing to the ground.
Tarakudo tried to recover as he launched a psychic wave at Jade, but she created a barrier of shadow magic in front of her to neutralize the attack before exploding the barrier in the form of similar shadow-like waves that hit Tarakudo and sent him skidding down the hill across the snow.
"This is for brainwashing me!" Jade exclaimed as the shadows around her hands began to take shape in the form of razor-sharp claws as she slashed at his face, causing Tarakudo to scream in agony before Jade kicked him into the air. "This is for trying to kill my friends and family!" She dealt a powerful uppercut into Tarakudo's jaw to send him flying further up into the air. But Jade wasn't done yet as she threw out a cluster of shadows to completely encase Tarakudo in a sphere of shadow magic before attaching a tether of the same substance that she connected to her hands. "And this is for being so damn annoying!" She used her own enhanced strength, combined with the gathered momentum she got as she flew back down to the surface as she swung the trapped Tarakudo like a makeshift weapon right into Cedric to send him crashing and rolling across the ground, smacking him into his soldiers before he fell on top of Daolon Wong.
"Whoo! Go Jade!" Hay Lin cheered.
"Kick his butt!" Irma also exclaimed as the heroes began to regroup behind her.
"Even though he doesn't have one!" Alchemy also exclaimed.
Cedric, Wong, Tarakudo, and all the guards and Lurdens groaned as they saw Jade hovering over them, glaring daggers at every single one of them.
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Hold on sec!" Tarakudo tried to plead with her as he hovered closer toward her. "You have such incredible power! Why waste it with them! Do you really think they can help you to master it? Come with me and I can help make you into something far greater than just a simple Guardian!"
"Okay." Jade said simply, causing most of her friends to gasp.
"Really?" Tarakudo asked with a hopeful smile.
"Hell no!" Jade quickly exclaimed. She then channeled her powers into all the shadows that she sensed around Cedric, Wong, and the guards and Lurdens before she actually controlled all the shadows and began to pull them from the ground, wrapping around all the villains as some of those shadows took the form of tendrils to ensnare Tarakudo and pull him back down to the villains before they were all encased in a massive sphere of shadow magic, which Jade lifted into the air with her own powers.
"Enjoy the trip down!" Jade exclaimed as she sent the sphere of shadows rolling down the mountain, all the villains inside screaming as it continued to roll and probably wouldn't stop till it reached the very bottom. Once it was out of sight, Jade fell to her knees in both exhaustion and satisfaction. "That felt good."
"That was so awesome!" Alchemy squealed as everyone came around Jade in celebratory fashion. "You kicked all their butts!"
"Shadow powers for the win!" Irma pumped her fist.
"We won't be seeing them anytime soon." Taranee smirked.
"Shadow girl cool! Blunk like!" Even Blunk hopped up and down in excitement.
"Let's hear it for the newest Guardian, Jade Chan!" Hay Lin lifted Jade's hand into the air like one would do with a heavy-weight boxing champion.
"Yeah, not bad, not bad at all." Caleb nodded in approval.
"Way to kick their teeth in, girl." Cornelia congratulated.
"Magic has defeated magic." Even Uncle approved.
"Great work, Jade." Tohru put a hand on her shoulder.
"See, what did I tell you?" Will reminded her friend as she smiled at her. Jade smiled back, even as she glanced toward Jackie as he smiled and gave a thumbs up of his own.
"Thanks guys." Jade was more than happy to receive all their praise. "Come on, let's go home."
"Wait, what about Elyon?" Cornelia reminded everyone as she took out her piece of the locator spell, only to find it was no longer glowing. Tohru, Uncle, and Jackie each brought out their own pieces to find they were not glowing either.
"Spell has indicated that Elyon is no longer here." Uncle assumed.
"They must have moved her once the fighting started. Right under our noses." Jackie said in a minor scowl, causing Cornelia to look down in sadness. "I am sorry Cornelia." Jackie told her as he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I promise we will get Elyon back."
"Yeah, we will. All of us." Alchemy said as she wrapped her arms around Cornelia's right arm in support.
"You still got us." Taranee said in support
"Eh….yeah, me to." Even Caleb offered his support. "As long as you don't want to talk about make-up and, ya know, girly stuff."
"Thanks everybody." Cornelia said to the group with a sad, yet appertained smile.
"And hey, next time we see that jerk of a brother of hers, we'll both kick his teeth in. Deal?" Jade smirked as she offered her hand for a high-five.
Cornelia smirked back as she exchanged the high-five with Jade. "Deal."
"Come on, let's go home." Jackie said as the group was about to head back through the portal, but as they began to leave, Cornelia paid one final glance toward the hole she made that led into the underground bunker.
A little bit after everyone had left, Elyon reappeared inside her room within her bunker, with Finn, Ratso, and Chow right by her side.
"Looks like all the fighting's over." Chow said.
"You know, we could have gotten your sketchbook for you." Ratso told the princess.
Elyon smiled at the trio. "Thanks guys, but I can handle it. It wouldn't have even been two minutes, just a quick in-and-out, you didn't have to come with me."
"We're your guards, so it's kinda our job." Finn replied. "Besides, don't wanna get on your brother's bad side."
"Yeah, you know how over-protective siblings get." Ratso added. "My sister was a handful when we were kids."
"Well, it all comes from a good place." Elyon said. "He might be a bit protective, but Phobos is sweet."
The Dark Hand trio tried to hide their winces. They could all agree that Elyon was a sweet kid and they felt bad lying to her like this, but given they were directly under Phobos' control, through Daolon Wong, they didn't necessarily have a choice. However, they noticed something odd from the nearby desk.
"Uh why is the sketchbook glowing?" Chow asked as Elyon looked in minor surprise to see faint green glow coming from her desk.
Elyon walked closer toward it, and the closer she walked, the brighter the glow was. She looked to see four smaller pieces of torn paper just below the larger torn piece in her sketchbook. Though she wasn't aware of it, it was apparent the locater-spell was still active, and it appeared to have found the real Elyon. She attempted to touch it, but the second she did, there was a bright flash as the entire torn sheet of paper was somehow mended into the single drawing of her best friend, Cornelia's face. This caused Elyon to gasp slightly as she looked at herself in the mirror with an uncertain expression on her face.
Done.
So, J-WITCH is now official as Jade has become the sixth Guardian. And her power comes from shadows; not just her ability to generate dark attacks from her hands, but also to sense and control the shadows of other living beings. Though she's still getting used to it, Jade will soon find that she has probably the greatest out of all the Guardian powers, equal to that of Will's once her own full power is unlocked later on.
Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Next chapter, we finally get back into the quest for the Oni Masks as I've got more than a few surprises as to who wears those masks. Some might be the same as in the JCA cannon, others might be different. Either way, lots of fun in the future and I look forward to writing all of it. Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there.