Hi everyone, thank you once again for your patience. We are now entering the final battle of this amazing story. I know I've probably said this before but thank you all for your support and praise. When I first started writing this story, I never imagined it would be so popular, so thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I am truly grateful. I have been waiting to write this chapter since I first started writing this story, and now we are finally here. It's sure to be one hell of a ride as the forces of good and evil collide in an epic showdown. So, without further delay, let us begin.
Twilight of Darkness
Jackie Chan, Will Vandom, Jade Chan, Irma Lair, Taranee Cook, Cornelia Hale, Hay Lin, Uncle Chan, Tohru, Caleb, Alchemy, and Blunk all stood together inside the vault at Section 13 as Uncle placed the ninth and final Oni Mask on the wall alongside all the eight that they've collected so far. Once all nine were in place, most of the group looked rather pleased with themselves.
"And that makes nine." Cornelia said with finality in her voice. "I'd like to take this time to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done."
"You pat yourself on the back for pretty much everything you do." Irma snarked. "But yeah, I'd say this time around, it's earned."
"We've traveled all over the planet to find these things and faced all kinds of monsters we'd never thought we'd ever face… and we came out on top each time." Taranee smiled herself.
"I am so proud of us!" Hay Lin beamed.
"So, our… quest is complete." Tohru said, still feeling uneasy for some reason.
"As you have researched Tohru, nine masks, nine demon generals." Jackie replied, gesturing to the masks.
"You mean nine demon general butts we've kicked!" Alchemy stated as she shared a pair of high-fives with Cornelia and Hay Lin.
"Ha! Blunk show demons!" Blunk blew raspberries at the masks.
"Which means we won't be needing these Hanafuda Cards anymore." Will said as she put the deck of said magic cards away in her bag.
Uncle gave a slight gasp. "Then why do Tohru and Jade have the willies?" Uncle asked, referring to his niece and apprentice as they both felt a shiver down their spine.
"Probably because of that!" Caleb pointed toward the masks, causing everyone to gasp as they saw all nine masks beginning to glow with bright energy surging around each of them. Cracks began to form on all the masks before they all exploded with a powerful enough shockwave to knock all the heroes back, Taranee bouncing against the pedestal that kept all the Talismans.
When the light faded, the heroes were beyond shocked to find that all the Oni Masks had been shattered, their fragments scattered across the ground.
"What the heck…?" Taranee questioned.
"The Masks… are destroyed…?" Jackie voiced his surprise.
"That's a… good thing… right?" Jade wondered.
Almost in direct response to that statement, nine shadows began to emerge from the remains of each mask before shooting up and taking solidified forms of nine demons. Each one of them was dressed in black and dark grey Japanese armor near-identical to that of samurai, but they each had a different skin color and body build to them.
The purple one was among the tallest, with razor sharp claws for hands and spiked feet. The yellow one had a large pair of bat-like wings on his back. The red one had spikes for hands and a pair of mantis-like feet. The fourth was dark yellow with a single horn on his head, and a body-build similar to that of a sumo. The green one had the most muscular build to him and was clearly the largest and possibly physically strongest of the group. There was a black one with hardened skin like a shell, and a pair of lobster-like claws for hands. The orange one had purple hair and a serpent-like lower body with four arms. The eight one had a darkened pink-like tone to him with a more humanoid build and long green hair. The ninth and final one had blue skin and appeared to look most like a samurai, this one was none other than Ikazuki, the second in command of the Oni generals.
"Oni…!" Tohru gasp as his blood ran cold. Blunk screamed as he hid behind Tohru while everyone else looked in shock and even borderline horror.
"The Oni Generals?!" Will exclaimed. "They're free?!"
"B-but how?! How is this even possible?!" Caleb questioned.
"Uncle not sure, but it must be your fault!" Uncle exclaimed to the young rebel, much to his gobsmacked surprise.
Hay Lin recognized the Oni second-in-command. "Uh… Hi Ikazuki." She greeted, barley hiding her frightened tone. "Long time no see. You're… not still upset about… the whole butt-thing, are you?"
Ikazuki chuckled evilly as he stomped on the remains of his own mask. "I hold no grudge, not when you mortals were directly responsible for our freedom. So many thanks."
"What?!" Jackie, Cornelia, Taranee, and Irma all exclaimed at the same time.
"But now the time has come to surrender yours!" Ikazuki declared as he and his fellow Oni Generals went on the attack.
Alchemy however quickly noticed the downed Talismans and swiftly drew the Dragon Talisman. "Eat dragon breath, freaks!" She blasted a large wave of combustion that stunned and blasted back all the Oni.
"Go! Go! Go!" Jackie urged as everyone picked themselves up as Alchemy quickly gathered the remaining Talismans before the heroes all made it outside the vault just as the Oni recovered and attempted to follow them out, only for Jackie to kick the vault close and lock it shut.
Trapped inside, Ikazuki pounded his fists on the vault door before turning to his fellow Oni. "Summon the dark ones!"
Back outside, the heroes didn't make it far as they looked in shock to see more than three dozen different Shadowkhan emerge from the walls, floors and ceiling. Every type of Shadowkhan they've faced before was present from the largest Sumo Khan to the smallest Shadow Eaters, along with Crab Khan, Mantis Khan, Bat Khan, Squid Khan, Razor Khan, the most intimidating Samurai Khan, and even the classic Nina Khan.
"Heh, Shadowkhan's greatest hits." Jade gulped.
Will narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, well we got our own tune to play, too!" She brandished the Heart of Kandrakar and said the magic words. "Guardians Unite!" As she, Jade, Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Cornelia underwent their usual and flashy transformation into J-WITCH, Caleb drew his katana as Alchemy tossed the Ox Talisman to Jackie, the Rabbit Talisman to Tohru, and even the Rooster and Pig Talismans to Blunk, while keeping the Dragon Talisman for herself.
The Shadowkhan went on the attack, as did the heroes. Will flew directly toward an incoming Razor Khan to kick and knock it back, before finding herself being attacked by two Ninja Khan, using her arms to block and parry their strikes before grabbing one by the wrist and sweeping her feet to knock him down and proceeded to stomp and crush him while delivering a punch to the face of the second Ninja Khan and send him crashing into the wall. She was then suddenly ensnared by the tentacles of a Squid Khan and pulled closer toward it.
Fortunately, Jade came to Will's rescue by impaling the Squid Khan from behind with a shadow-katana before using it to defend herself against the sword slices of a Samurai Khan and the claw-swipes of a Mantis Khan. But she quickly jumped back and blasted them both with a steam of shadow-fire to destroy them.
Uncle drew a pair of blow fish and blasted stun-spells at a group of incoming Bat Khan, Squid Khan, and Crab Khan, while Alchemy quickly covered his rear with blasts of her Dragon Talisman to blast back an incoming Sumo Khan. Caleb used his katana to parry the strikes of two Razor Khan and one Mantis Khan, finding himself literally backed against the wall; but Cornelia channeled her powers on the ceiling above them to drop some debris onto all three of them and crush them.
Tohru used the Rabbit Talisman with his own strength to speed his way to a pair of Sumo Khan and bulldoze his way through, but was flanked and talked by a group of Ninja Khan and Crab Khan that tried to dog-pile on him; but a twister formed around him to blow all the Shadowkhan back, courtesy of Hay Lin who flashed Tohru a smile and a thumbs up, which he returned with one of his own.
Taranee set the ceiling a blaze with fire as a pair of Razor Khan climbed on it and a few Bat Khan flew over, but they were quickly burnt away. Irma went for something more precise as she concentrated a steam of water with so much pressure that it cut away a Samurai Khan, three Crab Khan, a Squid Khan, and even a Sumo Khan. Suddenly however, another Sumo Khan appeared before the pair and pulled them both into a crushing bear-hug as a Mantis Khan made its way toward them before raising its clawed arm to slice.
However, Jackie came to the rescue to pick up the Mantis Khan with his Ox Talisman-enhanced strength and drive it into the ground, allowing Blunk to fly in with the Rooster Talisman and grab the Sumo Khan holding Irma and Taranee by the face and blast it with heat-beam eyes from the Pig Talisman, destroying it.
"Thanks guys." Taranee smiled. Jackie nodded as even Blunk hugged Taranee in gratitude. However, Irma looked on the ground and noticed at least ten Shadow Eaters were ready to pounce with open teeth on each of their shadows.
"We got Mini Khan!" Irma alerted.
"I'm on it!" Jade used her powers to extend all living and non-living shadows in the hallway and mixt them together to completely cover the floor in shadows, preventing the Shadow Eaters from munching on their life-force. Jade then shot up spikes of shadows from the dark covered floor to impale and destroy each Shadow Eater before returning the shadows to normal.
"Is that all of them?" Caleb questioned.
"Blunk no see more shadow monsters." Blunk pointed out as he continued to hover in the air with the Rooster Talisman.
Suddenly, the vault door began to budge as a large pounding sound could be heard from the other side, no doubt the Oni Generals were trying to bust their way out.
"That'll hold them, right?" Hay Lin hopped.
"Only magic can defeat magic! Uncle has told you all a thousand times!" Uncle exclaimed.
"So… no, then." Cornelia grumbled.
"Alright, when they bust down that door, hit them with everything you got!" Will said as everyone prepared their respective powers or weapons, prepared to lash out the second the vault door was open.
However, the pounding suddenly stopped, much to everyone's confusion. They each shared nervous expressions as Jackie and Caleb were the first to slowly approach the vault door. Caleb pressed his back against one side while Jackie did the same with the other, quickly imputing the code into the vault while swiping his own key-card to open it. The second the vault opened, Jackie and Caleb stood ready for battle, with everyone else right behind them.
Only to find the vault was completely empty. No sign of the Oni Generals anywhere.
"It's empty?!" Caleb questioned.
"But… where could they have gone?" Jackie questioned as well.
In Captain Black's personal office, the leader of Section 13 reviewed the security footage of what happened inside the vault as Jackie, Will, Uncle, and Caleb saw what happened with him.
"This is what happened while all of you were dealing with the Shadowkhan outside." Captain Black said as they saw the largest pair, the green and dark yellow Oni try to pound on the door while the red and purple ones sliced at the walls, with the yellow one flying near the ceiling as the black, orange, and dark pink ones climbed the walls.
However, the footage also revealed Ikazuki walking toward the back of the vault and quickly drew the symbol of Tarakudo onto it, channeling his own dark magic into it to open a dark swirling portal, catching the attention of the other Oni before all nine of them entered the portal, which closed just as the footage revealed Jackie and Caleb entering the vault.
"Seems like the Oni had their own escape plan." Captain Black commented.
"They've escaped through the Shadow Realm." Uncle revealed.
"That would make sense." Jackie said. "Tarakudo was able to cross through the Veil through the Shadow Realm, so it stands to reason the other Oni could do so as well."
"Three guesses where they're going." Will said, as she and the rest of her friends were still in their respective Guardian forms.
"Back to Meridian." Caleb growled. "Where they're masters are waiting for them."
"Yeah Grandma, that's what happened." Hay Lin said over the phone to tell Yan Lin what had happened. "Okay. Alright, see you soon." She hung up. "Grandma's on her way."
"Good, we need all the help we can get." Jackie nodded. "But how could this have happened?"
"None of this makes any sense at all." Tohru said at a table, with Irma, Cornelia, Taranee, Jade, Alchemy, and Blunk all around him, looking at the stone tablet they recovered from Shendu's palace along with the first mask. "I've reviewed every inch of the legend."
"You sure? Did you double check?" Taranee asked.
"Triple checked." Tohru confirmed.
"You sure you didn't miss a piece? Cause, it kinda looks like the sides were broken off." Irma pointed out, rubbing her hand on the left side of the legend while Blunk did the same himself.
"And it only talks about one tribe of Shadowkhan and the spell-ingredient to take them down." Alchemy added.
"We assumed this only a piece to something larger." Tohru explained. "Shendu more than likely destroyed the legend to prevent anyone else from learning about the other masks and tribes."
"Makes sense. Dragon-breath isn't the kind of guy to share power. Just ask his siblings." Jade said.
"Ah ha!" Blunk exclaimed as he spotted something on the legend, getting everyone's attention. "Blunk sees it!" He pulled off a piece of the legend and flipped it over to reveal some writing engraved on it. "Missing piece right here!"
"Whoa, seriously?!" Cornelia questioned. "How'd you find that out?!"
"Blunk good at turning things over." The Passling said proudly as he put the piece back, the inscription facing up. "Helps find good stuff to sell."
The group, particularly Tohru, looked somewhat dumbfounded before he read the inscription. "Uh… it is a warning. Never conjoin the nine masks in one location."
"Which was… probably why they were scattered across the Earth in the first place." Will said with a wince.
"And why Shendu choose to keep only one." Jackie added. "He knew the Oni could rival his might if he brought all the masks together, so he settled with one mask and let the others be."
"All this time… we've been doing Tarakudo's work for him!" Jade exclaimed.
"So… what do we do now?" Hay Lin asked. "I mean… Elyon's coronation is tomorrow, and now the bad guys got an army of Shadowkhan with them!"
"Do we even have to discuss this?" Cornelia replied. "We've got an army of our own, remember?! All the rebels we've rescued?! Plus, we got all of Section 13 and the rest of the J-Team coming!"
"Cornelia, we can't afford to act recklessly!" Captain Black told her. "Going in guns blazing with little-to-no intel on the last minute will only end in disaster!"
"Not to mention my army is constantly on the move in Meridian." Caleb added. "Since the loss of the Infinite City, all the rebels and refugees they've taken in have been scattered and can only afford to stop and rest for a few hours without running the risk of being caught. The only thing separating them from Phobos' castle is a large piece of flat land with no cover!"
"Yeah, our massive army would be spotted in no time." Irma pointed out. "How are we going to get everyone across?!"
"With this." Will showed everyone the Heart of Kandrakar. "The Heart can open portals into Meridian now, remember? So, we gather all the rebels in Meridian in one spot, I use the Heart to bring them all to Section 13, where we open another portal that brings them and everyone else directly inside Phobos castle!"
"Teleporting an entire army right inside the bad guys' home turf? I'm in!" Jade smirk.
"Plus, they don't even know the Heart absorbed the Seal of Phobos, so we still got the element of surprise!" Will added.
"But… Phobos' own forces have grown, now that Tarakudo has his Oni generals at his command." Tohru added. "And their combined power can summon enough Shadowkhan to engulf all of Meridian in eternal darkness."
"Phobos will have to time the coronation perfectly if he wants to steal Elyon's full power." Uncle said.
"Why's that?" Alchemy asked.
"Once the shroud of darkness engulfs all of Meridian, all good magic in that realm will fade to nothing, including Elyon's power." Uncle explained.
"So, they gotta be totally synced." Taranee translated. "Maybe we can use that."
"Well then, let's come up with a plan to kick evil butt." Irma said. "We don't got much time."
"Don't worry Elyon." Cornelia said as she took out a photo of herself, Elyon, and Alchemy. "We're not gonna let your psycho brother and that floating jack-o-lantern hurt you."
"But it's not just Phobos and Tarakudo anymore, remember?" Jade reminded the group. "We got a dragon-shaped wild card still up in the air."
A grave yet serious expression formed on Jackie's face. "Shendu."
Meridian
Elyon gave a laugh as she flew across the hallways just outside her room with the Dark Chi Enforcers watching over her. "Wahoo! I used to have dreams about flying! This is even better!"
"Okay, yeah, that's cool and all kiddo but…" Chow tried to ease her.
"It's a bit past your bedtime young lady, you got a big day tomorrow." Ratso said in an uncharacteristic parenting tone.
"Yeah… eh, don't wanna miss your coronation, Little E." Finn added in a more nervous tone.
"I know, I know." Elyon said as she lowered herself to the ground. "But I'm just so excited, I don't know if I can sleep!" She then went into her room before stopping to face the Enforcers. "Ya know, you guys have been real good to me. So… let me just say thanks. Finn, Ratso, Chow, you're the best." She said with a smile before closing the door.
Despite the genuine and heartfelt complement she offered them, the Enforcers only felt their guilt weigh down on them even more.
"Dude… I feel horrible." Finn said. "We know what's gonna happen tomorrow… and she's acting like it's gonna be the best day of her life!"
"Well… Chan and those girls are gonna show up and save the day, right?" Ratso hoped.
"But… what if they don't?" Chow asked. "I mean… we got Phobos, Wong, Cedric, Tarakudo, and now freaking Shendu!? Don't you think that's a bit much… even for Chan?!"
"Okay, okay, here's what we're gonna do." Finn said. "Worst-case-scenario, Chan and the others don't show up in time, we just say 'screw it', grab Elyon and run like hell!"
"Not a whole lot of moving parts to that plan." Chow replied. "But it may be the best one we got."
"Yeah, and Elyon's probably gonna hate us for lying to her about everything." Ratso added. "Even though it's all mostly Phobos and Wong's fault."
"She can hate us all she wants, as long as she's safe, that's fine with me." Finn said, to which Ratso and Chow nodded in agreement.
"Awe, we sound like her parents." Ratso almost gushed.
Chow winced. "Eh… I'm thinking uncles probably fits it better. But yeah, and it feels… kind nice."
"Same." Finn agreed with a nod and a smile.
Phobos' Throne Room
"The ceremony is tomorrow!" Cedric bellowed as he and Wong were in the presence of the dark prince, who remained calm as he sat in his throne room. "The rebels are still an active threat, and Chan and the Guardians are at large as well!"
"Undoubtedly, they will attempt to disrupt the ceremony!" Wong added. "We must prepare for an attack!"
"There is no need for such precautions, I assure you." Phobos assured calmly. "By tomorrow, I'll have my sister's power, and our enemies will be crushed forever."
"How can you be so calm, Phobos?!" Wong questioned.
"Because gentlemen…" Tarakudo appeared before them. "The key to our victory has just arrived."
Suddenly, a black swirling portal opened up in the air as the nine Oni Generals dropped down dramatically, presenting themselves to the villains as the portal closed. Cedric and Wong gasped in surprise while Phobos smiled malevolently.
"Ah, my friends. I'm glad to see you made it." Tarakudo greeted his generals. "Ikazuki, Rairakku, Murasaki, Kiiro, Midori, Orenji, Kuro, Mosugurin, and Aka." Following his second-in-command, he announced the names of the dark pink, purple, yellow, green, orange, black, dark yellow, and red Oni demons in that exact order.
"Master Tarakudo." Ikazuki bowed to him, along with the others. "It feels so good to finally be free of those wretched masks."
"So, these are the nine Oni Generals, leaders of the Shadowkhan." Phobos approached them from his throne as the Oni all stood up. He took a moment to observe each and every one of them. "Impressive, most impressive."
"What is this?" Cedric questioned. "How are the Oni generals here if Chan and the Guardians have captured their masks?!"
Tarakudo snickered. "Tell me, why do you think the masks were scattered across the Earth to begin with? Answer, because bringing all nine masks together can culminate enough dark energy to break the spells of good magic that were used to create the masks, destroying them and freeing my generals just like that."
"What?!" Wong exclaimed as he and Cedric shared looks of surprise. "You knew of this and choose not to tell us?!"
"Well, we had to make it look convincing in order to deceive our enemies, did we not?" Phobos replied, implying he knew of this as well.
Cedric and Wong scowled as they saw Phobos and Tarakudo beginning a discussion with the Oni generals, prompting the shapeshifter and dark wizard to do the same behind one pillar.
"This will complicate matters." Cedric whispered. "Even when I devour Phobos and absorb his and Elyon's power, I'm not certain I can defeat them all."
"We may not have too." Wong whispered back. "The Oni will have to scatter in order to spread the veil of darkness across Meridian, meaning their forces will be spread thin. This changes nothing, we go along with the plan."
"This had better work, wizard." Cedric hissed.
"Don't you worry, my friend. I promise, nobody is prepared for what comes next." Wong assured with a sinister smile.
Meanwhile, a small team consisting of Jackie, Will, Cornelia, and Caleb were just outside the castle, the girls still in their respective Guardian forms as they scouted the area to create their own hidden entrance.
"The Abyss of Shadows." Will stated. "If it's bottomless and it starts up at the castle, then it goes right down the middle of this humongous vine."
"And if it truly is bottomless, then it makes it the ideal entrance to sneak in everyone for a surprise attack." Jackie smiled. "Excellent plan, Will."
She smiled back before turning to her friend. "Cornelia, can you get us in without making too much noise?"
"No problem." The blonde Guardian channeled her earth powers into the massive vine that almost essentially held up the entire castle. She only had to channel a small bit of it to create a man-sized opening that would allow herself, Jackie, Will, and Caleb to enter.
A short walk through the newly created tunnel, and the group found themselves at a ledge just below the entrance where victims would be tossed into the bottomless pit below. Cornelia then placed her hand on the ground to channel more of her powers and create a cluster of large and thick plant tendrils that stretched up to cling to the ledge above them, creating a makeshift ladder that would lead directly into the castle.
Will then took out the Heart of Kandrakar and used its power to open a portal, making sure it was out of sight from any prying eyes. "Okay, this is where everyone comes in." She said as they quickly walked into the portal.
Earth – Section 13
The group returned to Earth, entering the main area of the government base where they could see all the agents loading up on weapons and supplies, preparing for the battle to come. They were soon approached by Captain Black.
"Well?"
"We got our entrance." Caleb responded. "Now we just need a second portal back to Meridian to let all my men cross through."
Will used the Heart of Kandrakar once more to create yet another portal, which she entered along with Jackie, Cornelia, and Caleb, with Captain Black following as well with a couple agents of his own.
Meridian
The group exited out of the new portal and into a massive gorge that had multiple rock platforms scattered throughout the area, which Caleb recognized instantly.
"The Huggon Gorge, this will do fine. We'll go in through here through Section 13 and straight into the castle."
"My agents and I will stay here and observe the castle just in case." Captain Black said. "Can you get us on one of those ledges up there?" He requested the Guardians.
"No problem." Will nodded.
Castle Throne Room
"Hello?" Elyon called out as she and the Dark Chi Enforcers entered into the throne room, the young princess now clad in a new dress that would symbolize her new position as queen as she literally glided across the floor, straight toward the second throne that was built alongside that of her brother.
While Elyon looked more than a little excited, the Enforcers eyed each other nervously as they had a sneaking suspicion about Elyon being summoned so late at night. Suddenly, Phobos, Wong, and Cedric appeared behind the group, startling the princess.
"Oh, hi. You scared me." She muttered before smiling. "You wanted me for something?"
"Yes, I'm sorry Elyon, but we need you to sit on the throne, again." Phobos told her.
"Why? A little late for another rehearsal, don't you think?" Chow asked suspiciously, to which Phobos narrowed his eyes back in response.
"Hey, it's no problem." Elyon didn't see anything wrong with it.
"You sure, kiddo?" Ratso asked.
"Yeah, it's not the kind of thing a girl objects to." She replied as she hovered from the ground and sat on the throne, causing the Enforcers to look more than a little nervous. "Ta da! But just wondering, how many more rehearsals do we need until tomorrow? I pretty much got this thing down pat."
"Yes, about that, there's been a slight change in plans, your majesty." Daolon Wong said. "Your coronation has been moved to tonight."
That took her and the Enforcers by surprise. "Tonight? Why?" Elyon asked.
"So that your friends aren't able to rescue you." Wong smirked as he casted a dark spell from his scepter, causing the throne Elyon sat on to glow dark blue before a series of skeleton hands emerged to grab her arms and pin them to the sides of the throne while a set of demonic serpents emerged from the back of the throne to tie her down, much to Elyon's shock and horror, unable to escape as the illusion of the throne room faded to reveal its true form.
"What's happening?! Help" She screamed as Cedric transformed to reveal his true form as a massive humanoid serpent.
"I promised you on Earth, your true destiny was something you could not imagine." Cedric hissed.
"Hey!" Suddenly, the Enforcers' weapons shot into the air and were aimed directly at the villainous trio; Finn's staff at Phobos, Ratso's hammer at Cedric, and Chow's rotating blade at Wong.
"Back off creeps." Finn glared with his friends as they stood in front of the trapped Elyon. "No one touches Little E with us around."
"You dare…" Phobos' glared back, his voice lowering darkly.
"Hey, at least Elyon bothered to learn our names!" Chow pointed out.
"And she was actually nice to us, unlike you… Boss." Ratso added.
Wong snarled. "I've told you before, I am not your boss…" He waved his scepter, causing the Enforcers' weapons to vanish. "I am your master!" He zapped them with dark lightning, causing all three of them to holler in pain.
"No! Stop! What are you doing to them!?" Elyon cried out in horror.
"Oh, I'd be more concerned about yourself right now." A new voice echoed as the floating head of Tarakudo emerged from a nearby stained-glass window to face Elyon directly. "A pleasure to finally meet you, Princess Elyon."
"Wha… what?! What the heck are you?!" She screamed at the sight of the floating head.
"The name's Tarakudo, Lord of all Oni, King of the Shadowkhan. I'd say you may bow, but you seem a little… tied up at the moment." Tarakudo joked and laughed evilly.
Earth
Yan Lin waited outside the secret entrance to Section 13 until she spotted a group of familiar individuals approach them. "Ah, there you are. Lovely to see the J-Team again."
"Nice to see you too, Miss Lin." Viper shook her hand, followed by El Toro.
"So am I correct to assume the world is about to come to an end yet again?" El Toro asked with some humor in his voice, which Yan Lin chuckled at.
"Maybe not this world, but a world." Yan Lin replied.
"Well whatever it is, those villains had better be prepared to suffer the wrath of El Paco Fuerte!" Paco flexed his muscles as he put on his own luchador mask.
Yan Lin smirked before she noticed another individual with them. "Oh, Miss Tohru, a pleasure to see you again."
Tohru's mother nodded in response. "A pleasure to you as well Yan Lin. My boy told me of these Oni demons that are threatening an innocent little girl. Well I am here to help."
"I'm certain the others will appreciate it, with the exception of Jin of course." Yan Lin joked.
"You mean Billy Goat." Mama Tohru teased as the group prepared to enter Section 13. But due to the secret entrance being a telephone booth big enough to fit two people at max, they would take turns with Yan Lin and Miss Tohru being first; while El Toro, Paco, and Viper waited outside.
However, just around the corner, Matt had seen and heard everything. He got the basic gist of it when he heard the word 'Oni', which was the same type of monster he saw Will and the others fight the day before. He didn't know what exactly was going on, but he knew it was something big with Will and all her friends right in the middle of it. Once he saw the last of the J-Team enter the booth, he would follow after. He wanted to help, and he was going to help no matter what.
Inside Section 13, the girls of J-WITCH (now currently in their human forms), the Chan Clan, the J-Team, and their allies stood together in Captain Black's office while the good captain continued to observe Phobos' castle in Meridian, and Section 13's agents continued to mobilize outside.
"So, we're finally ready to take these jerks down for good?" Viper asked as everyone had been brought up on the situation.
"Rescuing Elyon from Phobos is one thing, but that won't stop the Oni from conquering Meridian." Jackie said.
"But if we focus on taking down the Oni, we won't be able to stop Phobos from taking Elyon's power and becoming an even bigger threat." Caleb pointed out.
"So, we find a way to take down both at the same time." Cornelia stated.
"And how are we supposed to do that?" El Toro asked.
"We'll need the spell ingredients to take down the Oni Generals." Taranee replied as she took out a notepad. "I kept notes on all of them. We need Japanese steel, silk… OW!" She felt her forehead where Uncle delivered his titular dope slap.
"Did you not see the nine masks destroyed before your very eyes?!" Uncle chastised. "The spells which originally defeated the demons will no longer work, because the masks which imprisoned them no longer exist."
"And I'm guessing we don't have the time to make new ones, right?" Alchemy assumed.
"Correct." Uncle confirmed. "In order to stop the Oni, we must defeat Tarakudo, lord of all Oni, king of all Shadowkhan."
"Great, but how do we beat a big floating spirit head?" Jade questioned. "Punching him doesn't seem to work, and we can't blast him away."
"Oni are vulnerable to onions." Mama Tohru pointed out. "We will use this to defeat this Oni King."
"Um, Mother we've been using onions since this whole quest began." Tohru said this mother.
"Yeah, and the most they can do just have the big guy run away crying." Irma added. "So, unless you wanna trap him inside a large onion cage or something, I'm out of ideas."
"Maybe we could burry Tarakudo in an onion garden?" Hay Lin suggested, even though she knew it sounded like her idea wouldn't work, but they were desperate at this point.
"What about those cards you've been using?" Paco asked. "Couldn't they give us an answer?"
Will took out the aforementioned deck of magic cards form her bag. "The Hanafuda Cards only showed us where to find the masks and what the spell ingredients to use, that's it. And once we found those masks, the cards couldn't work anymore."
Blunk then grabbed the cards from Will's hand, much to her surprise. "Stupid magic cards. You help Blunk and friends find way to defeat demons!" He shook the cards angrily.
"Blunk, stop!" Caleb tried to take the cards back from the Passling, but in the scuffle, Blunk accidently dropped the cards on the ground, where three of them suddenly began to glow, much to everyone's surprise.
"Wait… what?" Jade questioned as they all saw the three cards hover in the air while they still glowed.
"It cannot be… a tenth mask!" Uncle exclaimed as they saw the images form on the cards, with the image of the mask being rather familiar to all of them.
"And it seems this one is reserved for Tarakudo." Yan Lin pointed out.
"But Tohru's research indicated there were only nine." Jackie recalled.
"Maybe Tohru messed that part up, too?" Irma said. "No offense though big guy." She quickly said to Tohru, who merely rubbed his hand down his face.
"Each of those nine masks we've seen were made to imprison each of the nine Oni Generals but why would they stop with just the generals and just leave the king?" Taranee said.
"So maybe a tenth mask was made!" Hay Lin followed along.
"One intended to trap Tarakudo himself." Caleb said in realization.
"But the King of the Shadowkhan probably got to it first" Cornelia assumed.
"But with his whole army trapped in the other nine masks, he probably went into hiding or something until Phobos and company woke him up centuries later!" Alchemy deduced.
"Either way, a tenth does exist!" Will stated. "And if each of the other nine masks can trap the Oni Generals and their Shadowkhan tribes…"
"This mask can lock up Tarakudo and all his buddies all at once!" Jade exclaimed with a grin. "I think we just found a way to win this whole dang thing!"
"But we have to find the mask first. Where is it?" Jackie questioned.
Uncle took the card that would show the mask's location but gave a gasp once he saw the image. "Tarakudo concealed the mask in the one place no mortal would dare enter… the Shadow Realm!"
"Something tells me we don't really have a choice in the matter." El Toro said.
"So how do we get there?" Viper asked.
"We will not be doing anything." Yan Lin answered, much to everyone's surprise. "There is only one here who can enter the Shadow Realm. The Shadow Guardian."
All eyes then set upon Jade, much to everyone's surprise. "Wait… Me?!"
"You were able to traverse through the Shadow Realm before when we had to rescue Tohru from Ikazuki." Yan Lin recalled.
"Well, yeah. But… I don't even know how to get into the Shadow Realm!" Jade pointed out.
"Is there a spell we can use?" Tohru asked.
"No spell is necessary." Yan Lin said. "Not when we have an artifact that is capable of opening portals." Everyone directed their attention to Will as she took out the glowing pink crystal. "If Jade combines her shadow powers with the Seal of Phobos that was absorbed into the Heart of Kandrakar, it should open a portal to the Shadow Realm."
"And only Jade is capable of entering." Uncle explained. "The Shadow Realm is a place of dark magic, everything else that enters will be devoured by eternal darkness. But with Jade's powers being derived from the Shadow Realm, she should remain unaffected."
"And… there's no other way to do this?" Jade asked nervously.
"There is no better way than to face your trauma, when fate of world is at stake." Uncle told her.
With a gulp, Jade tried to steel herself. "Let's do it."
Will shined the Heart of Kandrakar over Jade, channeling its powers to transform only her into her Guardian form, leaving the other girls unaffected. Jade then generated a plum of shadow fire in her hands and held it in front of the Heart of Kandrakar, which Will used to open a portal directly into the shadows, which quickly expanded to form a swirling portal that would lead into the realm of eternal darkness.
"One more thing!" Uncle took off his right shoe, followed by his right sock. "Uncle never leaves shop without magic socks."
"Billy goat…!" Mama Tohru slapped her forehead.
"He can't be serious." Viper groaned.
"Be glad he's not talking about underwear." Irma also groaned.
Uncle pulled a thread from his sock, which began to glow green with chi magic as he tied it around Jade's ankle. "This thread will be your lifeline to our realm. Tug firmly when you find mask."
"Okay…" Jade nodded as she took the Hanafuda Card that would identify the masks' location. But before she could enter the portal.
"Jade…" Jackie got his niece's attention. "I know you're scared, but I also know you can do this. You've faced your own inner demons before and have come out on top. You can pull this off."
"He's right Jade." Will added, looking to her best friend with a smile. "You're a Guardian, but more importantly, you're the strongest one."
"You're the toughest girl around." Cornelia added. "You gonna let a few shadows scare you?"
"Yeah, show those shadows who's the boss!" Irma encouraged.
"You got this Jade!" Hay Lin cheered. "Get that mask so we can kick some evil butt!"
"Jade-girl super tough! Jade-girl beat bad shadows!" Blunk also cheered.
"You are my rival, Jade." Paco added. "And I will not tolerate any kind of weakness from you." Despite the words of a tough rival, he spoke in a tone equal to that of an encouraging friend.
"Go get em, girl." Viper said simply with a nod.
Jade smiled at all her friends' praise, and almost shed some tears of joy before rubbing them away with her arm. "Wish me luck." She dove into the portal with the thread from Uncle's sock still tied around her ankle.
Once she entered the Shadow Realm, it almost felt like she was falling with a scream, but she quickly stabilized herself with her wings and took a moment to observe the realm. It was almost that of complete darkness, there was no signs of life or land or anything. It was just an endless void, and yet, she could see everything so clearly.
This included a group of demon serpents that flew in her direction, Jade nervously brought up a shadow-katana and was prepared to defend herself, only to look in surprise as the serpents flew past her like she wasn't even there.
"Oh… right. Shadow Guardian." She chuckled slightly before taking out the Hanafuda Card as it began to glow brightly when pointed in a certain direction. "Okay, let's do this." She flew in that direction, wanting to get out of this place as quickly as possible.
"Alright, while Jade looks for the mask, we'll prepare the spell to complete it so that it can be used to trap Tarakudo." Yan Lin told the group.
"So, what's the ingredient?" Alchemy asked as Yan Lin held the last Hanafuda Card that showed the spell ingredient necessary.
"Hair from a Japanese samurai." She revealed, causing most of the people to groan in frustration.
"What's the problem?" Caleb asked in confusion. "Let's look for the nearest samurai and take some of his hair. It shouldn't be that hard."
"Uh Earth to Caleb, there are no samurai left!" Cornelia pointed out.
"Yeah, Ancient Japan is ancient history." Irma added. "Looks like we hit a dead end, emphasis on dead."
"What about someone who's descended from a samurai? Could that work?" Taranee asked.
"It may be our only option." Will said. "Who do we know that has a samurai ancestor?"
"Why my baby boy, of course." Mama Tohru revealed, much to everyone's surprise.
"Huh?!"
"What?!"
"Tohru?!"
These were among the exclamations of shock from his friends, but none were more surprised than Tohru himself. "Wha… M-Mommy? Are… are you sure?"
"Tohru, you are of samurai descent from your father's side." Mama Tohru revealed. "I may not have samurai blood, but you do. It was the reason I pushed you so hard, because with having samurai blood in your veins, you were meant to do extraordinary things. And you have done many things that even I could not have foreseen, things that have made me nothing short of proud. And your father would be proud to." She said with a genuine smile.
"Whoa… so Tohru is a samurai?!" Hay Lin questioned before a wide grin formed on her face. "That's so cool!"
"Big guy, you're level of awesomeness just shot up by one hundred!" Irma stated with her own grin as the other girls began to give their praise to Tohru, who merely smiled and blushed.
"Now is not the time to celebrate!" Uncle chastised everyone as he still held his sock, the thread extending into the still-open shadow portal. "I must hold sock so Jade can find way back. You will prepare spell to complete mask!"
"Don't worry sensei." Tohru said with clear confidence evident in his voice. "That's exactly what I intend to do."
Meridian – Throne Room
Elyon remained bound to her throne, with Phobos sitting upon his own beside her. She looked with a terrified expression at the sight of Tarakudo hovering close to her brother, as well as Cedric's massive humanoid serpent form beside Daolon Wong. Just before her was a large gathering of monsters from all over Meridian, with the nine Oni Generals present as well that appeared even more terrifying than the other monsters gathered. Even the Dark Chi Warrior form of Hak Foo was also present.
On her right, Finn, Ratso, and Chow were trapped in a sphere of Daolon Wong's dark magic that kept them immobilized and prevented them from helping her. Terror filling her whole body, Elyon looked for anything that could help get her out of this nightmare. Her eyes set upon a familiar looking girl she thought was her friend, standing at the front of the gathering.
"Miranda! Please Miranda! You've got to help me!"
However, her so-called friend looked toward her with a sinister smile. "I'm so, so, sorry." Miranda laughed before transforming into her humanoid-spider form. Elyon would have screamed at that had Miranda not shot a strand of webbing over her mouth to keep her from screaming or talking anymore. But that didn't stop her from trying to scream, even if they were muffles.
"The time has come." Tarakudo began as he addressed all those present. "The sun has set upon Meridian for the last time. Once this coronation is complete, all of this realm will be forever engulfed in darkness! Ikazuki, remain here and help our allies to ensure this ceremony is not disrupted."
"As you wish, Lord Tarakudo." The Oni second-in-command bowed.
"The rest of you, go forward and spread our darkness across the land! This world is ours now!" Tarakudo ordered. "Let nothing stand in your way!"
The remaining eight Oni Generals roared with jubilation as they made their way out of the throne room to spread their dark influence all across the realm of Meridian.
Shadow Realm
This felt weird for Jade, flying through the Shadow Realm almost felt like swimming under water, yet it also felt very natural as she could breathe just fine. Probably due to being the Shadow Guardian, but that didn't make her any more comfortable. She just wanted to find the mask and get out of this place as soon as possible. She continued to follow the direction that the glowing Hanafuda Card pointed her.
Soon enough, she found herself reaching her objective. A pale-red mask floating in the void that bore a strong resemblance to the Oni King that had caused her and all her friends so much grief these past few months.
"There you are."
Earth – Section 13
Everyone continued wait in Captain Black's office as Uncle held the glowing sock thread serving as Jade's lifeline. Most of her friends, particularly Will, Paco, and Jackie, were starting to get a little anxious. However, Uncle gave a gasp as he felt a tug on the thread.
"Whoa… Jade has mask! Reel her in quickly!"
Everyone grabbed a hold of the thread, or Uncle, or even each other as they pulled with all their strength. Their combined physical strength was enough to pull Jade out of the dark portal, which Will quickly closed with the Heart of Kandrakar. Jade remained hunched on the floor, her back facing the group somewhat ominously.
"Well Jade, did you do it? Did you get the mask?" Hay Lin asked, but they only heard heavy breathing from her as she slowly stood up, her back still facing them, much to their concern.
"Jade?" Jackie voiced his concern.
Suddenly, the girl gave a malevolent chuckle. "Who is Jade?"
"Oh no!" Taranee gasped as everyone else looked in near horror.
"Aiya!" Uncle exclaimed.
"Jade's gone to the dark side again!" Irma shouted as everyone backed away slightly, Will keeping the Heart close and ready to say the magic words.
However, Jade turned around to reveal she was completely fine, evident by her unchanged skin and eye color and her trolling grin.
"Just kidding!" She laughed.
Nearly everyone fell backwards in shock as Jade continued to laugh. "Oh, you little troll!" Cornelia scolded.
"Jade, that wasn't funny!" Taranee stated.
"I don't know, I thought it was kinda cute." Viper snickered, even Yan Lin giggled slightly.
Will shook her head with an exhausted grin. "That's our Jade." She said towards Jackie, who had the exact same expression as well.
"But seriously though… mission accomplished." Jade showed them all the Mask of Tarakudo in her hands.
"That's good to hear." Captain Black walked into his office. "Cause we got a problem."
"Captain Black." Jackie acknowledged as everyone gave him their full attention.
"What do you mean, we have problem? What happened?" Caleb questioned.
"Good news, your army is in the gorge, ready to move." Captain Black spoke to Caleb before turning to everyone else. "Bad news, the enemy has made their move." He placed a map of the area in Meridian on the table for everyone to see. "There's a really large black cloud forming over the castle, my men and I spotted eight of the Oni leaving the castle in teams of two, heading straight north, south, east, and west."
"Phobos has made his move to drain Elyon's powers now." Yan Lin deduced. "They want to get this done as quickly as possible. Even if we rescued Elyon, should the Oni reach the four corners of Meridian and coat the realm completely in darkness, it's all over."
"Unless we stop them before they get that far." Jackie stated.
"But we have to save Elyon too!" Cornelia exclaimed.
"That's why we're doing both." Will said. "Listen, I have a plan. All we gotta do to stop the Oni is put the mask on Tarakudo's face, right? So, we divide and conquer. We have the rebels, Section 13, and most of us storm the castle as planned, while we have two-man teams of our own intercept the Oni. If we hold them back or even stop them, then their 'shroud of darkness' or whatever they have will stop, right?"
"That is correct." Yan Lin confirmed. "We keep the Oni busy at least, and we delay the darkness' advance."
"So… we gotta basically fight a bunch of super powered demons and their Shadowkhan armies?" Irma questioned. "Yeah, not exactly a fair fight."
"Especially since we can't use the special spell ingredients anymore." Tohru added.
"The fight may be more fair than you all think." Uncle told them. "The Oni Generals will be unable to summon their ninjas without disrupting the shroud of darkness."
"And we're still packing heat, Talisman heat." Alchemy said as she took out the Talismans she picked up when the Oni busted out of the vault.
"So, we don't even have to stop the Oni, just slow them down, right?" Hay Lin asked.
"We buy everyone else some time to save Elyon and trap Tarakudo." Taranee said. "Sounds like a plan to me."
"Alright; like I said, we'll teams of two. One Guardian and one J-Team member." Will began. "Hay Lin, you go with El Toro. Irma, you work with Viper. Taranee and Tohru, you guys are together. And that leaves Cornelia and Caleb."
"Better thank Will for setting you up here." Jade teased in a whisper to the blonde.
"Shut up." Cornelia muttered with a blush as she elbowed Jade, who retained her smirk.
"Jackie, Jade, myself, and everyone else; we're storming the castle." Will finished.
"I'll work on completing the mask immediately." Tohru said as Jade handed the Mask of Tarakudo to him. "I may need some help." He looked towards Alchemy and his mother with a sincere smile.
"You got it, big guy." Alchemy gave him a thumbs up.
"I'll always help my baby." Mama Tohru nodded with approval.
"Alright, let's do this!" Hay Lin cheered.
As everyone else seemed to get pumped up and ready, Jackie turned towards his friend. "Captain Black, you wouldn't happen to still have that would you?" He asked, with Captain Black's response being a confirming smirk.
A special vault door was open in another area of Section 13 to reveal a set of Chinese dark blue and gold armor, which Jade recognized right away as she stood with Will, Jackie, and Captain Black outside the now-open vault.
"No way… you're busting out the Armor of the Eight Immortals! Awesome!" Jade exclaimed with a grin.
"Magic armor?" Will asked. "Since when did you have that?"
"Since our first encounter with Dai Gui, the Earth Demon." Jackie answered.
"Given the armor had magic capabilities, we thought it best to relocate it here just in case any bad guys got any funny ideas." Captain Black added.
"Trust me Will, thing is super cool!" Jade told her. "Jackie was able to go toe-to-toe with Shendu's rock-headed brother in that thing. Pretty sure it's more than capable of kicking Phobos' teeth in."
"But why are you only using it now?" Will asked. "Is it that dangerous?"
"It's not a matter of whether it's dangerous or not, Will." Jackie explained. "I just prefer not to use any magic tools or weapons if I don't have too. But given our current situation, I'm willing to make an exception here."
In just a short matter of time, everyone got to work, making sure everything was ready for the battle to come. All of Section 13 had assembled with riot gear, armed with guns and even stun batons just in case. The allies of J-WITCH and the Chan Clan armed themselves with the Talismans; El Toro took the Ox Talisman, Viper got the Snake Talisman, Captain Black held the Dragon Talisman, even Alchemy and Mama Tohru were given the Pig and Rabbit Talismans respectively Paco took up the Rooster Talisman, Yan Lin picked up the Horse Talisman as she was also handed a blowfish from Uncle to prepare some stun-spells, Hay Lin outfitted the dog Scruffy with both the Dog and Monkey Talismans to his collar, the dog licking Hay Lin's face in appreciation. Jade even used the Rat Talisman to bring Super Moose to life again. Jackie Chan of course, downed the Armor of the Eight Immortals, which then transformed and morphed around his form like a body suit. The Tiger and Sheep Talismans would remain in Section 13 as they were not battle-applicable.
Tohru, after preparing an Anti-Oni Stun Spell, stood over a cauldron with his mother and Alchemy by his side, both of them giving the ingredients needed to prepare the spell, even Blunk offered his hand in assistance, which Tohru appreciated. Tohru properly mixed all the ingredients into the cauldron to produce a green liquid form of chi magic. He then placed the Mask of Tarakudo into the cauldron and plucked a single hair form his head, putting it in before reciting the chant.
"Nukeru He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru He Men Ja'aku."
As Tohru chanted, the spell in the cauldron glowed a bright green, shining outward before the Mask of Tarakudo hovered out of the liquid, also glowing with an aura of green energy before the light died down. The spell was complete, and the mask was now ready.
In less than an hour, the entire Chan Clan, all six Guardians, the whole J-Team, the entirety of Section 13, and the rest of their allies stood together in the main hall of Section 13, ready and waiting.
Will then took out the Heart of Kandrakar and said the magic words once more. "Guardians Unite!" In a flashy transformation, Will, Jade, Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Cornelia all transformed into their respective forms of J-WITCH. The girls and J-Team then walked into one of the portals, while their army stayed behind and waited for the other half of their forces to join them.
Unbeknownst to all of them, Matt was hidden around the corner at the far end of the main chamber of the base, waiting to follow everyone once the time was right.
Meridian – Phobos' Throne Room
Elyon struggled with all her might, but the bindings proved too strong for even her. Even with the vast amount of magic she had at her disposal, it seemed negated somehow. She couldn't use it to free herself.
"Don't struggle my dear." Daolon Wong told her. "So long as you remain on that throne, your powers will be suppressed until they are properly extracted."
She looked desperately toward her brother, a pleading expression in her eyes as tears were already streaming down her face. Phobos looked away with a pained expression, though he knew this would come eventually.
"I am truly sorry it had to be this way, Elyon." Phobos began. "But I have tried for years to maintain order and peace for Meridian, but the Rebellion simply won't stop just because I am not the true heir. I have tried to offer peace to them, many times. But are they grateful? No. They continue to plunder and fight. But if that is what they prefer, if they mean for me to be a tyrant? So be it. Once I have your power, I will end all fighting in Meridian indefinitely and we will finally have peace!" He looked toward her with a sympathetic expression. "I am sorry for the deception, my sister. But I promise, you will not be harmed. Once your powers have been removed, all memory of your time here in Meridian will be erased. You will be returned to Earth and live your life as a normal girl. You are owed that much at least."
Wong and Cedric shared knowing expressions with each other, with even Cedric looking towards Miranda with a grin. Tarakudo smirked as well, the prince truly has given to his inner darkness, and he didn't even need an Oni mask to do it. It seems he was right to…
Suddenly, Tarakudo's eyes flashed a dark purple before he fell to the ground; catching all the monsters and villains by surprise as the Oni King was engulfed in a large plum of dark purple energy. The light and smoke faded to reveal Tarakudo had undergone some sort of transformation. Now he had a humanoid form that was about ten feet tall, only slightly shorter than Cedric's serpent form. He wore a black and red robe that covered most of his body up to his neck.
"Tarakudo?!" Phobos questioned in surprise.
"Master…!" Ikazuki also exclaimed.
"Wha… what?!" Tarakudo himself looked at his new transformed state in shock.
"Since when could you transform as well?" Cedric questioned, looming toward him. "This seems rather unusual."
"No, this shouldn't be happening unless…" Tarakudo's eyes widened in surprise as a feeling of horror set in. He knew there was only one explanation for his sudden transformed state. "Ikazuki, Cedric, Hak Foo, Miranda, guard the ceremony! Destroy anyone who tries to enter this throne room!"
"As you wish, Master." Ikazuki bowed along with Hak Foo.
"Yes, Master." Hak Foo also said.
"Why? For what purpose do we…?" Miranda tried to question.
"Do not question me!" Tarakudo exclaimed, causing Miranda to back away in fright before the Oni King turned to the Dark Chi Wizard. "Wong, perform the ritual now!"
Though he growled at being ordered around, he had a feeling that something had gone wrong with Tarakudo's plan, which could work to his own advantage and that of his secret partner. He then began to chant to begin the ritual.
"Tarakudo, what is happening?!" Phobos questioned.
The Oni King growled, not at Phobos, but rather at the change in circumstances. "Our enemies have just gained a decisive advantage over us. One that could spell our certain defeat."
Right as he said that, Wong's spell had begun. Tree roots began to grow in-between the two thrones as Elyon's body was engulfed with bright yellow light, her own magic being extracted from her body and traveling through the roots and into Phobos. Of course, this part of Wong's spell was a façade for the dark prince. Once the magic reached a certain point and it was equally shared among Phobos and Elyon, Wong would extract it all to resurrect his partner and bring about true terror to all of Meridian.
Meanwhile, in the Huggon Gorge, the Guardians of J-WITCH, Chan Clan, and the J-Team exited out of the open portal where all the Rebels were waiting for them. Each of them looked ready for the battle to come, armed with their own weapons such as swords, shields, hammers, and bows. However, they also looked rather nervous as the sky of Meridian began to grow even darker than usual.
"I'm guessing that's the Oni's handiwork?" Taranee assumed.
"The shroud of darkness." Uncle confirmed. "It is spreading quickly."
"Then we have no more time to waste." Caleb said as he turned to his friends, Aldarn and Vathek, as well as his father Julian. "We need to move up the attack."
"To when?" Aldarn asked.
"To now!" Caleb answered. "Father, I need you to lead the men in the castle."
"What about you Caleb?" Julian asked his son.
"I won't be there, at least not right away." Caleb replied. "Some of the Guardians and their friends and I will try to intercept the Oni Generals to stop their spell. If we're able to stop them completely, we'll meet you at the castle. But otherwise, I can't help."
"That's fine." Vathek nodded with Julian and Aldarn. "Do what you have to do, Caleb. We're ready to move."
"Alright, everyone into the portal." Jackie instructed as the Rebels began to walk straight into the portal that would lead them to Section 13 back on Earth. As the rebels began to move, the Guardians and the J-Team stood together.
"This is where we part ways for now." El Toro said. "Good luck to all of you."
"We'll stop the Oni if we can and meet you at the castle once we're done." Viper added.
Jade gave her titular scoff. "If we don't kick Phobos and Tarakudo's conjoined asses by the time you're done." She said with a smirk.
"That's our girl." Irma smirked back.
"Today, dark forces must pay." Uncle told the group.
"Give em hell, guys." Will added.
"Be careful." Jackie said as well.
With that, Irma picked up Viper and flew east, Hay Lin grabbed onto El Toro and flew westward, Taranee did the same for Tohru and flew north, while Cornelia picked up Caleb and flew toward the south. As they saw their friends fly off; Jackie, Will, Jade, and Uncle walked back into the portal with the rest of the Rebels.
Meanwhile, back in Phobos' castle, about fifty or so guards were eating in the mess hall as they talked amongst themselves about what had been happening recently.
"You have heard what the men are discussing. Tynar, the one left behind after the swamp-battle, was taken across the veil."
"I have spoken to him. The Guardians and their allies fed him, tended his wounds, even protected him. He says everything we were told about Earth, was a lie."
"It's not just that. Phobos and his inner circle have been looking to replace us with those mindless Shadowkhan monsters for months now. And it seems that Tarakudo creature has regained all his forces. How long until we are permanently replaced?"
"But it is not only a matter of us being replaced. We've even met the princess, Phobos' sister. She is truly a sweet and innocent child. There is good in her heart. She is the true heir to the throne, our loyalty should be to her, not that traitor Phobos would sell us out to that Tarakudo-demon!"
"Tynar has said that the Rebels are planning a major assault on the castle."
"An assault, huh?"
Earth – Section 13
At this point, the Rebels from Meridian met up with the forces of Section 13 and followed Jackie, Will, Jade, and Uncle into the second portal that would lead them directly into the castle. All their other friends had joined them as well, leaving Section 13 mostly empty at the moment.
Seeing this as his chance, Matt came out of his hiding spot and was ready to enter the portal he saw the whole army enter. However, right before he did, he was suddenly pounced behind by a certain Passling who greeted him with a grin.
"Boyfriend of Will! Hello, again." Blunk greeted.
"You're that… uh… the…" Matt recognized the little green creature, but the name escaped him.
"Blunk." The Passling offered his hand to shake, but seeing as it was covered in slime, Matt seemed somewhat reluctant.
"Heh, heh, I don't think so."
"Eh, suit self." Blunk didn't seem to mind. "You want fight demons?"
"Yeah… if it means helping Will." Matt confirmed.
"Then follow Blunk." The Passling led him into the portal that would lead into the castle. Though nervous at first, Matt entered the portal as well.
The united army of Section 13 and Rebels began to make their way through the tunnels directly under Phobos castle with Jackie, Will, Uncle, Jade, Alchemy, Captain Black, Paco, Yan Lin, and Mama Tohru at the lead; Super Moose hovered above them with Scruffy walking alongside Jade. However, they soon found their path blocked by at least fifty or even sixty castle guards.
"So Tynar was right." One of the guards said.
"Oh boy." Jackie muttered.
"So much for our surprise attack." Will groaned as the heroes prepared themselves for a fight. However, Jade quickly noticed someone familiar in the crowd of guards.
"Wait, hold your fire!" Jade told her friends. "Tynar?! Is that you?!"
"It is." Tynar confirmed with a smile. "I wasn't able to convince everyone, but their constant treatment here and the promise of what I described, has convinced these men it's better to risk everything for what I saw on Earth, then to live this way under a reign of demons and tyrants."
"So, you mean to help us?" Jackie asked with a smile.
"Yes." Tynar confirmed, resulting in cheers from several of the Rebels and smiles from those from Earth.
"Aiya! Now is not time to celebrate!" Uncle made his way to the front to face Tynar and the defecting guards. "Do not just stand there, get cracking!"
The Oni General Midori walked near the area of Torus Filney with Kiiro hovering above him. As the two Oni Generals continued to walk on, the shroud of darkness continued to blanket the sky above them, spreading their influence across the land. However, the pair of Oni came to a stop, with the shroud above stopping with them to find their way blocked by El Toro and Hay Lin.
"This path is closed." El Toro stated firmly.
"And there's no detour." Hay Lin added with a serious expression on her face.
The two Oni glared and growled at the individuals who dared stand in their way, but the Air Guardian and Luchador weren't the least bit intimidated.
"I will take the big one, you take the flyer." El Toro told Hay Lin.
"Sounds like a plan." She replied as she shot into the air to meet with Kiiro while El Toro ran to engage Midori in close combat.
With the strength of the Ox Talisman, El Toro was able to stand his ground against the leader of the Sumo Khan, grappling their hands together before throwing each other back. Midori tried to throw a punch his way, but El Toro caught it and pulled Midori back, but the Midori came back to grapple with El Toro again. He threw El Toro back to a roped fence, which El Toro used to pull back and launch himself with a headbutt per his signature move and knock Midori down.
At the same time, Hay Lin flew through the air with the screeching Kiiro right behind her. The flying Oni General was able to catch up to her and grab her by the shoulders to force her down, but Hay Lin flipped herself around to deliver a series of kicks to Kiiro's face and knock him back, allowing Hay Lin to stabilize herself before blasting a cyclone of air point-blank at Kiiro to blast him away.
Meanwhile; Oni Generals Kuro and Mosugurin walked near the shore of the lake where the Kathim once dwelled, spreading the shroud of darkness with each step they took, until…
"Watch out boys." They heard Viper's voice from out of nowhere as she and Irma became visible with aid from the Snake Talisman to greet the Oni Generals with daring smirks.
"You got a couple snakes in the grass." Irma added.
Immediately, Mosugurin went on the attack to try and punch Viper, who flipped back to avoid the attacks while Kuro swiped his claws at Irma, who ducked and parried the strikes before catching the right claw by the wrist with both her hands and flipped him over her shoulder. Before he had a chance to recover, Irma shot a stream of water from her hands to send Kuro skidding across the ground.
Mosugurin appeared to have Viper corned against a tree, only for the ex-thief to turn invisible with the Snake Talisman, much to Mosugurin's confusion. He then felt a punch across his face, a strike to his large gut, and a kick to the side to knock him down.
Taranee and Tohru walked through the tunnels of the abandoned mine under the extinct volcano of Threbe. Taranee had provided them an ample light source with a flame in her hand, but the duo came to a stop as Tohru felt a chill go down his spine.
"Taranee…"
"Let me guess, the willies?" Taranee asked somewhat nervously. They heard a pair of snarls above them, causing Taranee to raise her fireball a little higher where they saw Oni Generals Orenji and Murasaki scaling the ceiling. "Okay, that's not terrifying or anything."
Orenji swiped his tail at the wrist where Taranee had her fireball, causing it to vanish and engulf everyone in darkness as the two Oni leapt toward their prey. However, Taranee engulfed herself with flames to not only provide a light source, but even expanded the flames to push both Oni back and knock them to the ground. Taranee then waved her arms to send streams of fire along both walls of the tunnels and keep the area lit.
Tohru immediately brandished his blowfish to fire stun spells at the Oni Generals; only for them to run and scale the walls around them to avoid the blasts. Orenji then leapt at Tohru to ensnare his tail around his large belly, grabbing his arms with all four of his own to push Tohru back, leaving Taranee to face off against Murasaki who brandished his claws menacingly at her.
"Bring it on, Oni boy." Taranee challenged as she produced more flames in her hand.
The pair of Oni Generals consisting of Rairakku and Aka trekked through the swamps, the shroud of darkness advancing alongside them. Not only that, but when the native beasts of the swamp eyed the two Oni, Aka turned to snarl back at them, causing the beasts to back away in fright.
However, their path was soon cut off as a multitude of thick vines shot up from the ground to wrap around the nearby trees, effectively creating a wall to block their way.
"Sorry, but this as far you guys go." Cornelia said from behind, causing the two Oni to turn around and face her and Caleb.
"This is my home, and I'm not gonna let you and your master destroy it!" Caleb declared as he drew his katana.
Rairakku and Aka roared as they rushed to attack Cornelia and Caleb respectively. Aka sliced his mantis-like claws at Caleb, who was able to block and parry with his katana before maneuvering around to slice at Aka's side, who roared in pain as he felt a burning sensation where he had been cut.
"Guess you guys don't like onions either." Caleb smirked, his katana coated in onion juice as he engaged Aka again, being forced on the defensive this time to block the sword strike with his own claws.
Cornelia ducked under the punches of Rairakku who followed through with a kick that knocked Cornelia down. But she quickly retaliated by placing her hand on the ground and growing a large vine that not only knocked Rairakku back, but also grew a series of onions around it, curtsey of the onion seeds she brought along and mixed in with her powers. The onions exploded into onion powder, causing Rairakku to cough and groan in pain while tears of green energy sapped from his eyes.
As Rairakku tried to rub the pain from his eyes, his now blurry vision barley caught the image of Cornelia realign back a fist to punch him clear in the face.
Phobos' Throne Room
The dark prince could feel the power flowing into him as Elyon felt her own powers growing weaker by the second, Daolon Wong's spell working as intended as Tarakudo, Ikazuki, Cedric, Hak Foo, and Miranda looked on; while Finn, Ratso, and Chow were still suspended helplessly in Wong's dark barrier, prevented from so much as speaking, let alone helping Elyon.
"The process is working very smoothly." Wong said. "Soon, the princess will lose every ounce of her power."
"And our own shadow armies are advancing as we speak." Ikazuki added.
Tarakudo, despite his previous nervousness, seemed rather pleased himself. "Within hours, all of Meridian succumb to the Forces of…. Hooooh." He was interrupted by his own willies.
"The Forces of…. Hoooh?" Ikazuki asked in surprise.
"I am picking up some… interference." Tarakudo said, getting the other villains' attention. Despite no longer having his psychic powers in his humanoid form, the Oni King was still connected to his generals. Using that connection, he was able to see what they were seeing, and he saw his fellow Oni currently engaged in battle with the enemy. "Looks like the Guardians are trying to stop the spread of darkness."
"Of course, they are." Cedric hissed. "But even if they stall the Oni, they cannot stop the coronation."
"No, wait. Hold on a second." Tarakudo noticed something as he looked further to get more clear images of the fights his Oni were involved in. From one set of eyes, he saw Irma and Viper; from another set, he saw Hay Lin and El Toro; a third set of eyes saw Taranee and Tohru; and the fourth set from his final team saw Cornelia and Caleb. "One… two… three… four… There are only four, with a handful of their friends. Their leader and our former queen are missing, even Mr. Chan isn't among them."
"What?" That got Phobos' attention. "Why only use a small force? And where could Chan and the other two Guardians….?"
Suddenly, the entire castle shook as the villains heard the muffled sounds of battle and war occurring from just outside the throne room.
The Lurdens and soldiers who did not defect from Phobos were on the losing end from the large army of Rebels, Section 13 agents, and defectors from Phobos' army. Getting desperate, the Lurdens unleashed some of their beasts inside the castle, which only added to the chaos, but it did little to help them.
Aldarn and Paco worked with their forces to secure the weapons' room as several Lurdens attempted to fight them off. Aldarn used his sword to deflect their own sword strikes before going on the attack, while Paco used the Rooster Talisman to fly towards an incoming Lurden, wrap his legs around his neck and pull back to toss him into a group of three charging them.
The group heard a series of growling noises and looked to see a small pack of the same polar bear monsters from Torus Khylm approach them. The rebels and Paco tried to ready themselves for a fight, but Scruffy quickly ran to the front, growing and barking at the polar bear monsters before using the Monkey Talisman to transform into his Cerberus form, which roared before lunging at the monsters to fight tooth and nail.
"That… is one interesting dog." Aldarn commented.
"Jade does have a habit of attracting oddballs." Paco added.
The great hall appeared the most chaotic as the Lurdens were forced to unleash their gargoyle monsters, given the great hall was the only place big enough for them to roam, along with whatever creatures they could unleash, a clear sign of their desperation.
However, Section 13 agents came at the forefront, bringing out their guns to fill most of the monsters full of holes, while a pair of gargoyles were forced to cover themselves with their thick arms; but this gave Captain Black an opening to rush forward and blast one gargoyle down with the Dragon Talisman.
"That's for keeping me in your dungeons!" Captain Black exclaimed as he shot again at another one.
"Captain Black!" Tynar, a few Section 13 agents, along with a few defecting guards entered the fray. "All the castle staff have been evacuated. It's just the enemy now."
"Good, then it's time to stop pulling our punches." Captain Black pulled out a pistol with his free hand and shot an incoming Lurden, while using the Dragon Talisman in the other hand to blast a charging beast.
On an upper floor, Vathek used his sword to block an axe strike form a Lurden, only for another one to try and come at him from behind and bring him down with a club. Both Lurdens were about to pummel him with their weapons until…
"Antler action!" Super Moose flew in to deal a pair of punches to send both Lurdens crashing through the railing and down into the lower floor. "Oh yeah! I'm bad, you're sad!" Super Moose gloated before flying higher to deal with the flying monsters that had just been unleashed.
On another area in the great hall, Yan Lin used a dried lizard in her hand to blast stun spells at several incoming enemies while coming back-to-back with Julian, who used his sword to block an axe strike from a Lurden. The pair quickly found themselves surrounded, only for a red blur to come in and knock down two enemies, revealing it to be Mama Tohru.
Four Lurdens attempted to attack her, but she smirked as she used the Rabbit Talisman to quickly deliver a punch to the gut of the first, a strike to the face of the second, an uppercut to the jaw of the third, and a kick into the rear of the fourth after speeding behind.
"Oh girl, you got some moves." Yan Lin smirked.
"Well, what do you expect from a master of Judo?" Mama Tohru smirked back as she took a martial arts stance of her own before she, Yan Lin, and Julian joined their many allies in taking down whatever remained of Phobos' forces. Yan Lin even kneeled down to a downed rebel and placed the Horse Talisman on him to heal his injuries, to which he thanked her with a smile.
Throne Room
"Impossible!" Cedric exclaimed as the villains continued to hear the sounds of war outside. "The Rebels can't be here! How could they have crossed the plains without being seen!?"
Suddenly, the main doors to the throne room were blown open as several Lurdens were knocked back and slid across the ground; revealing the group consisting of Jackie, Will, Jade, and Uncle with Alchemy right behind them.
"Sorry, but this coronation has been canceled." Jade snarked.
"No! I will not be thwarted be you fools, again!" Phobos flew from his throne, disrupting the ceremony and absorption of Elyon's powers.
"My prince, the ritual is not complete!" Daolon Wong tried to warn him. "You only have half your sister's power!"
"Half of it, combined with my own, should be enough to rid me of these interlopers once and for all!" Phobos concentrated a massive amount of raw magic into his hands, creating a large sphere of pulsating magic before unleashing it all in the form of a massive blast.
However, Jackie quickly leapt to the front and spread his arms out to allow his armored body to take the impact and protect everyone else behind him. The resulting explosion was enough to create a shockwave that shattered all the stained-glass windows and even shook the entire throne room. When the dust settled however… Not only were all the heroes behind him still in one piece, but Jackie was left unscathed as his armor didn't even retain a scratch.
"What?!" Phobos shouted as all the villains looked in clear shock.
Daolon Wong gave a gasp as he recognized what Chan wore. "The Armor of the Eight Immortals!? How could you possess that!?"
"I told you before, Uncle knows a thing or two about antiques." The elderly chi wizard smirked.
"Speaking of antiques…." Jade looked towards Will with a smirk.
"Oh Tarakudo…" The leader of the Guardians got the Oni King's attention as she sang and held a familiar mask in her hand. "Look what we got."
Both Ikazuki and Tarakudo himself gasped at the sight of the final Oni Mask. Though he had a feeling they had recovered it the second he underwent his unwarranted transformation, but to actually see it in the hands of the enemy was enough for the Oni King to lose his normally calm composure and give to pure rage.
"I SHALL DESTROY YOU ALL!" Tarakudo leapt high into the air and straight down towards the heroes, who quickly scattered to avoid the crushing impact of his foot that cracked the whole floor. He quickly faced Will, who still held the mask, before flexing his muscles to rip away his robe and reveal his bare chest.
'Guessing that's why he has a body now.' Will thought as Tarakudo shot right at her, but Jade quickly flew in to land a kick on his back before landing side-by-side with her bestie.
"Guys, we got Taradork, here! You get Elyon!" Jade told them.
"Got it!" Jackie nodded as Uncle shot a blast of chi-magic at the spell that kept Finn, Ratso, and Chow immobilized before they leapt and joined Jackie alongside Uncle and Alchemy. "If you three are truly serious about being good, now is the chance to prove it."
"No prob, Chan, we got your back for once." Finn said.
"Yeah, being bad guys sucked." Chow added. "Let's give the hero route a try for once."
"Don't worry Elyon, your uncles are gonna get you outta here!" Ratso told the bound and gagged princess as the heroes charged the villains.
Jackie engaged Hak Foo and the empowered Phobos simultaneously while Uncle blasted a series of stun spells at Daolon Wong, who retaliated with blasts of his own dark magic from his scepter. The reformed Enforcers all leapt to grapple all over Cedric and hold him back as he tried to shake them off.
"I'm coming Elyon!" Alchemy was about to run toward her friend, only for a stand of webbing to snatch her by the back and pull her down, where Miranda pounced on top of her to pin her to the ground.
"You aren't going anywhere, you meddling brat!" The spider shapeshifter snarled.
"Eat heat beams!" Alchemy shouted as she blasted some beams from her eyes, courtesy of the Pig Talisman to blat Miranda off her.
"Hurricane Kick!" The Dark Chi Warrior of Hak Foo leapt with a kick towards the armored Jackie, who blocked by crossing his arms before throwing a punch to Hak Foo, which he avoided before swerving and coming around to Jackie's rear. "Earthquake Fist!" He brought both his fists onto Jackie's back, but the Armor of the Eight Immortals held, and Jackie was unaffected as he leapt over Hak Foo to deliver a kick of his own to send him crashing into a pillar. Jackie, however, was not about to let the strongest Dark Chi Warrior recover as he ran to deliver a flying kick of his own that smashed Hak Foo threw the pillar and caused him to poof once he hit the wall behind it.
Jackie then turned to face Phobos, still charged with half of Elyon's power as both his hands surged with raw magic. Phobos unleashed a torrent of energy blasts at Jackie, but he simply stood his ground and let the blasts hit and erupt around him. The dust faded to reveal that neither he, nor the Armor of the Eight Immortals, was damaged. Which only caused Phobos' rage to boil even more.
"This armor was made to face monsters far worse than even you, Phobos." Jackie told him. "You cannot win."
"I did not plan all of this… sacrifice everything… just to let some powerless Earthling take it away from me!" Phobos exclaimed as he used his magic to manifest a massive broadsword and telekinetically moved it without even holding it himself. "You've interfered with me for the last time, Jackie Chan!" He raised the blade up high toward the ceiling before bringing it down with a great deal of force.
However, Jackie crossed his arms above his head to not only block the blade, but he also flipped upward to deliver a double kick and shatter the massive blade before going on the attack. He threw a series of punches towards Phobos, who attempted to shield himself with his magic, but each of Jackie's hits cracked the shield before it shattered, and Jackie was able to deliver a roundhouse kick to knock Phobos back.
Ikazuki drew his katana, which he clashed with against Jade's own shadow-sword. Both the Oni and Guardian glared at each other while Will engaged Tarakudo in hand-to-hand combat. The leader of the Guardians kept the mask in hand as she tried to force it on Tarakudo's face, but he blocked each attempt before throwing out with a punch, which Will parried with a chop of her arm before coming around with a kick, which Tarakudo caught before throwing her away, though she quickly recovered in the air and flew back towards Tarakudo.
But before they could re-engage in their fight, Will and Jade exchanged eye-contact before switching opponents. Jade caused her shadow-katana to explode in the form of shadow-fire, blinding Ikazuki and allowing Will to fly in and deliver a kick to his face and knock him back while Jade went on to engage Tarakudo with a set of shadow-claws on her hands.
"What? No psychic powers anymore, T?" Jade smirked as she sliced her claws at Tarakudo, but he dodged each slice before ducking and striking his foot into her abs to knock her back. Before she could recover, Tarakudo ran to seize Jade by the throat and pin her to a nearby pillar.
"I would have given you everything! You could have ruled by my side as Queen of the Shadowkhan! But you threw it all away!" Tarakudo exclaimed.
"You tried to force that on me!" Jade argued back before headbutting Tarakudo. "I'd rather fight with my best friends and family than rule by your side!"
"Oh, and for the record…!" Will suddenly appeared behind Tarakudo to wrap her arms around his neck. "She's always ruled in my book!" She smirked toward her friend, who nodded back before engaging Ikazuki again with a punch to his face.
Will tried to force the mask on his face again, but Tarakudo was able to throw her off before she got the chance. However, he felt a throb in his head, forcing him on his knees as he felt the 'interference' from before only growing.
Hay Lin created a massive tornado around her that sucked in Kiiro, where she began laying down a series of punches and kicks as he continued to spin in the twister, gaining more momentum as he spun, unable to defend himself. It finally ended when Hay Lin generated a condensed sphere of air in her hand and blasted it into Kiiro's chest, causing it and the whole twister to explode before sending the flying Oni crashing and skidding down the hill.
El Toro maneuvered under the punch of Midori and picked him up by the chest with the strength of the Ox Talisman before spinning him around and throwing him down the hill as well, where he crashed into Kiiro, causing both Oni to roll further down the slope.
Hay Lin descended to El Toro's level. "Nice throw!" She congratulated.
"Not bad yourself, la nina." He nodded with approval and a smile.
Viper ducked and swerved under the swipes and grab attempts of Mosugurin before swiping her feet to knock the large Oni off his own and trip him up. Kuro tried to snap at her from behind with his claws, but Viper jumped to land on his shoulders and jumped from them to knock him down before landing toward the nearby lake. Viper turned around to see the recovering Mosugurin and Kuro approach her menacingly.
"Two on one? What's a girl to do?" Viper teased as a large wave of water began to form from the lake behind her.
"How about a dip to cool off?" Irma suggested as she controlled the wave from above, much to the shock and even horror of the two Oni Generals. "Surf's up boys!" Making sure to create a small hole in the wave for it to pass over Viper, the massive wave swept up Kuro and Mosugurin before they even had a chance to retreat, sending them crashing into the rocks and trees further ahead.
Irma landed next to Viper as they both exchanged a fist-bump.
Cornelia grew a series of vines from the ground, which wrapped around both her fists like a pair of boxing gloves, which she used to move in and punch Rairakku across the face multiple times. He tried to block and lash out with a kick, only to find several more vines shooting from the ground to ensnare both his feet, leaving him stuck as Cornelia gave him a powerful uppercut, while also letting go of the vines, to send him flying into the air. But Cornelia wasn't done yet as she telekinetically sent a multitude of rocks out like a machine gun that knocked the airborne Rairakku down with a splat in the mud below.
Caleb continued to use his katana to block the swipes from Aka's mantis-claws before going on the offensive, forcing Aka to block and cross his arms to hold back Caleb's blade. But Caleb quickly kicked Aka's right leg, causing him to lose his balance before cutting at the Oni's chest, who roared in pain at the onion juice that coated the blade. Caleb then followed with a punch to the jaw to knock him down.
"Nice moves, rebel leader." Cornelia didn't even bother to hide her flirting.
"Thanks. How about once this is all over, the two of us go out to one of those Earth-restaurants you were talking about?"
"You mean, like a date?" Cornelia asked with a teasing and hopeful smile.
"Yeah, like a date." Caleb confirmed with a nod.
Cornelia blushed as she flew to his side and kissed his cheek. "Sounds like a plan." They then turned to the recovering Oni and readied themselves for the next round. "So, let's get this over with."
"Read my mind."
Taranee threw a series of fireballs toward Murasaki, but the Oni General leapt toward the nearest wall before scaling toward the ceiling and made his way closer to Taranee. Before she had a chance to shoot a fire blast at him, Murasaki leapt down to slice his claws at her, knocking her to the ground.
Tohru, meanwhile, was literally backed against the wall as he tried to wrestle against Orenji, who snarled at him with a sadistic smile. One look into the eyes and fangs of a real-life Oni was enough to cause Tohru's blood to run cold. This was something Orenji took full advantage off as he wrapped his long tail around Tohru's neck in an attempt to choak him.
However… the scared Tohru happened to glance past his opponent to see Taranee was cornered as well, and it looked like she really needed help. Seeing his young friend in danger was enough for Tohru to try and push past his fear. He knew he was afraid, but right now, his friend needed his help; and there would be nothing that would stand in his way. Not even the Oni.
Tohru concentrated his strength as he grabbed the tail of Orenji, and tried to wrench him off his neck, much to the Oni's surprise. "I. Will. Not. Live. In fear!" Tohru shouted as he was able to pull Orenji off him and slug him across the face. He then quickly grabbed Orenji by the arms and flung him upward to crash into the ceiling and brought him down hard onto the ground.
Murasaki gave something of a mix between a cackle and a snarl as he readied his claws to cut Taranee down, but a roar from Tohru caught both their attention as he ran at high speeds to bash his shoulder into the Oni and send him rolling across the ground.
"Taranee, are you alright?" He offered his hand to the surprised Fire Guardian.
"Uh huh." She nodded, looking in amazement as the sumo offered her hand, which she accepted. They both turned to the growls to see Orenji and Murasaki regrouping. They looked ready to attack again, but Tohru cast a glare with narrowed eyes, which caused both Oni to look actually nervous as they backed up slightly.
"Whoa, looks like Oni are scared of you now." Taranee noted with a smirk.
"Just as you've conquered your fear of fire, I will conquer mine." Tohru stated as he punched his fist into his palm.
"Got that right." Taranee said as she prepared a fireball attack, Kamehameha-style before unleashing a large blast big enough to blast the two Oni through the wall and outside, where Tohru and Taranee charged further to press the advantage.
Tarakudo continued to groan as he held his throbbing head. "You can feel it, can't you?" Will told him. "You know you're losing. Our friends probably have your generals on their last legs, and I know Jackie's gonna take down Phobos. So just make it easy on yourself and surrender!"
The Oni King gave a powerful roar as he hit Will with a surprise uppercut to knock her into the air and onto the ground. "Over my demon body!" He grabbed Will by her ankle and spun her around before letting go to send her crashing into a pillar. She didn't even have time to react as Tarakudo quickly rushed her to deliver a hook across the face and knock her down, causing her to lose grip of the mask. Unbeknownst to both of them, it was quicky snatched by a skinny green hand.
"Will!" Jade was about to come to her aid, but Ikazuki intercepted her to grab her by the shoulders, deliver a knee to her gut and flip her over to toss her back towards the shattered doors at the entrance of the throne room.
Jade groaned as she tried to pick herself up. "Psst." She heard a slight whisper and looked in surprise to see Matt just around the corner of the entrance, with Blunk on his shoulder holding the Mask of Tarakudo with a smile. Though surprised at first, a smirk fell on Jade's face as an idea came to mind.
Tarakudo approached the downed redhead. "Now young Will, if you would hand over the mask? I'll take care to dispose of it once and for all."
Will tried to pick herself up, only to look shocked to see she no longer had the mask with her. "I… I don't have it…"
Before he could offer a response, Tarakudo was suddenly ensnared from behind by a series of shadow-like ropes shot out from Jade's hands, which she pulled back to keep Tarakudo restrained.
"Master!" Ikazuki tried to rush to his king's aid.
"Blunk attack!" Blunk dropped down from the pillar to land on Ikazuki's face, wrapping his arms and legs around the Oni General's head as Ikazuki tried to pull him off.
"Get off me, you insect!" Ikazuki struggled as Tarakudo himself struggled in Jade's own shadow-bindings.
"You know this won't hold me!" Tarakudo stated to Jade.
"It'll hold for as long as we need. Matt, now!" Jade shouted.
"Matt?!" Will questioned in shock before she actually saw Matt run past her with a yell, the Mask of Tarakudo in his hand before he forced it right into Tarakudo's face.
"NO!" Tarakudo broke out of Jade's bindings and tried desperately to pry the mask from his face, but it was too late. All his power, and the dark powers around him, were being absorbed into the mask, along with his very being. "NNNNOOOOOOOOO!"
Jackie's fight against Phobos, Uncle's duel with Wong, the Enforcers' struggle against Cedric, and even Alchemy wrestling on top of Miranda, all these battles were interrupted as they looked in shock to see streams of darkness from all over the throne room and outside flowing directly into the mask now stuck to Tarakudo's face. Even a large vortex of pure shadow and darkness had formed directly above him as everything he controlled and all the Oni powers all over Meridian were being pulled into the single mask.
From across Meridian, all eight Oni Generals felt a strong and powerful force pull them away from their respective battles. Kiiro and Midori were pulled away from their conflict with Hay Lin and El Toro; Irma and Viper watched as Kuro and Mosugurin were pulled into the sky and toward the castle; Orenji and Murasaki were also pulled into the air and away from their loosing fight against Tohru and Taranee; Cornelia and Caleb both looked on to see Rairakku and Aka get sucked into the sky and pulled toward the castle as well.
As all eight Oni Generals were being pulled to the single location, so too was the massive shroud of darkness that had threatened to engulf all of Meridian, taking every single Shadowkhan with it. It all condensed into the castle's throne room, where even Ikazuki suffered a similar fate. The bodies of the nine Oni fading and evaporating into the shadows that were being sucked into the mask. Even Tarakudo's body underwent he same fate as his entire physical form was also absorbed into the mask. The vortex of shadow and darkness began to shrink more and more until every last ounce of Oni magic was sucked into the mask before it fell to the ground.
It was done. The Mask of Tarakudo had fulfilled its purpose. Tarakudo, his nine Oni Generals, and all the Shadowkhan in existence had been trapped and neutralized.
Jade picked up the mask as Will, Matt, and Blunk regrouped around her. "Ten demons and a gajillion ninjas in one tinny-tiny mask?"
"Must be cozy in there." Matt commented.
"Matt, what the hell are you doing here?!" Will exclaimed, causing Matt to look away with a wince.
"Well… I uh…"
"Argue with boyfriend later! Fight not over!" Blunk pointed to the remaining villains.
"Tarakudo!" Phobos shouted in shock, leaving him open for Jackie to punch and knock him back closer towards his throne; where Wong, Cedric, and Miranda also backed up as they were surrounded by Jackie, Uncle, Alchemy, Finn, Ratso, and Chow, with Will, Jade, Matt, and Blunk joining in.
"Tarakudo and Oni forces have been defeated." Uncle said.
"Now only one villain remains." Jackie said seriously as he glared at Phobos.
However, before Phobos could even offer a counterattack, Daolon Wong casted a powerful spell of dark magic across the entire throne room; causing all the throned vines in the chamber to grow and stretch outward to ensnare and bind all the heroes, pulling them away, forcing Jade and Alchemy to drop both the Mask of Tarakudo and Pig Talisman.
Daolon Wong quickly seized both, putting the mask away briefly before looking at the Talisman with a knowing smirk. "My prince, quickly! You must absorb the Princess' powers now!"
Realizing he was cornered, Phobos had no choice but to get back into his throne as Daolon Wong began to cast the spell again that continued to syphon away more of Elyon's powers.
"Phobos! No! It's a trap!" Will tried to warn him. "Wong's gonna double cross you!"
However, it was already too late. Much like Elyon's own bindings, a pair of skeleton hands appeared to clamp Phobos' arms to the arms of his throne while dark demonic serpents emerged to bind him to his own throne.
"What?! Wong! You traitor!"
Daolon Wong looked toward him with a sneer. "Apologies 'my prince', but I serve no one."
"Do it wizard!" Cedric told him with a wide grin. "Time to fulfill our promise!"
"Force Elyon's power into Phobos so that Lord Cedric may devour him and take it all for himself!" Miranda also told him.
"Oh… I think not." Wong grinned evilly at the surprised shapeshifter. "I have another promise to fulfill to someone else." He held the Pig Talisman in his hand as he began to cast a special spell he prepared just for this occasion.
Both Elyon and Phobos' bodies began to glow with the same bright yellow energy. The magic of the Heart of Meridian flowing from both of them as Wong channeled it into the Pig Talisman and began to recite the incantation.
"One of Twelve, call the others to you so that you may be whole again! I summon the complete power of the Chinese Zodiac!"
Taranee carried Tohru in the air as they flew back toward the castle, and were quickly joined by Irma, Hay Lin, and Cornelia, each carried Viper, El Toro, and Caleb respectively.
"So, you guys see the Oni go flying too, right?" Hay Lin asked.
"And the fact the sky isn't pitch black anymore and now just its usual dark? Yep." Irma confirmed.
"Looks like Jackie and the others won." Taranee said with a grin. "They took down Tarakudo!"
"Can't believe I missed it though." Cornelia said with a small pout. "I would have loved to see the look on that demon-head's face."
"You can still kick that spoiled prince's teeth in." Viper told the blonde.
"That's right." Caleb agreed. "I'm not counting this as a victory until Phobos is defeated as well."
However, much to the group's surprise, a glowing light could be seen from both Viper and El Toro's persons just before the Snake and Ox Talismans hovered out slightly, an aura glowing around both of them before they shot directly toward the direction of the castle.
"The Talismans!" El Toro exclaimed. "What is happening?!"
As everyone else tried to think of an answer, Hay Lin gasped as she recalled the dream she had with Elyon. The dream where a monster of fire was standing over her, and given what they learned after getting the ninth Oni Mask from the Enforcers turned good guys, she only just now realized what and who that monster from her dream was.
"Um… Tohru… where did those Talismans come from again?" Hay Lin asked nervously.
"Well according to Sensei, they originally belonged to the noble animals that made up the Chinese Zodiac until…" Tohru didn't finish his sentence, but there was no need to. They all knew the answer as a feeling of dread filled all four Guardians, along with the sumo, the rebel, the luchador and the ex-thief. "Oh no…"
Back on Earth, in Captain Black's office in Section 13, the Tiger and Sheep Talismans remained on the captain's desk before they too began to glow with a magical aura. Then, the same magnetic magical force began to pull them from the office and out into the main chamber before shooting into the still-open portal that led to Meridian and directly into Phobos' castle.
Inside the castle's main hall, the Rebels, Section 13 agents, and other allies came together as they secured the surviving prisoners of the enemy forces. It seemed victory was assured. However…
Captain Black felt the Dragon Talisman in his pocket pulsate before it's glowing form left his person. "What the…?"
The others around him, both on the main floor and upper floors, all felt the same thing as Scruffy, still in his Cerberus form, lost the Monkey and Dog Talismans, causing him to turn back to normal with a couple of barks. Even Super Moose lost the Rat Talisman that kept him animated.
"Getting… weak…" He fell back, returned to his state as a toy, into the hands of the surprised Vathek.
Paco felt the Rooster Talisman leave his person as well, causing him to drop to the ground to the shocked Aldarn. Yan Lin and Mama Tohru saw the Horse and Rabbit Talismans leave them as well.
All seven glowing and hovering Talismans present were joined by the two that just arrived from the portal to Earth before shooting upwards directly into the throne room.
"Am I the only one who has a bad feeling about this?" Aldarn asked rhetorically as Yan Lin looked down towards Captain Black, both of them knew exactly what was going on, and they couldn't do anything to stop it.
Back in the throne room; Jackie, Will, and Jade were able to use their strength to free themselves from the thorny vines that ensnared them before Jade quickly generated a set of shadow-claws to cut Uncle, Matt, Alchemy, and Blunk free, with Finn, Ratso, and Chow doing the same with their own strength as Dark Chi Warriors. But before they had a chance to move in and stop Wong; nine of the Talismans came flying in through the entrance, while the remaining two came in through one of the broken windows and joined in the magical aura that contained the last one.
All twelve Talismans were finally brought together again as the magic from the Heart of Meridian was pulled from both Elyon and Phobos, rather painfully as Phobos groaned while Elyon gave a muffled scream under the web-gag. The light shinned brighter and brighter, the raw force from the spell kept not only the heroes back, but even Cedric and Miranda.
"Twelve pieces of one, I command you to return to the state you once were! Break free from your stone shells and release your power!" Wong continued his spell, the raw force of the Heart of Meridian being controlled by his dark magics condensed into the Talismans, causing all twelve of them to crack before they finally broke apart, releasing all their energy in the form of white streams, which began to condense and form a pulsing circle within the yellow orb as the last of the Heart of Meridian's magic was extracted. Phobos leaned forward slightly, feeling weakened; while Elyon appeared the most drained, having been stripped completely of all her powers.
"By the dark powers that I command! The combined might of the Heart of Meridian and the Chinese Zodiac! Tear a hole into the Netherworld to bring back he has been destroyed!" Wong continued with his spell as within the massive and glowing orb that mixed the two magics together, a window into the bleak and desolate realm could be seen. "Rise again, demon born of fire! Rise again, keeper of the Talismans! Rise again, the apocalypse of which legends speak! Rise again, the Ultimate Evil! RISE AGAIN… SHENDU!"
The 'audience' within the throne room could only watch in shock as the massive surge of magic began to grow more and more, taking shape of something larger, something more humanoid and yet also more monstrous. Arms and legs were the first to give shape, before details of claws, talons, and even scales could be identified. Magical energy transformed into physical matter of flesh as the form of a humanoid dragon standing over twenty feet tall with glowing red eyes of pure malice and evil.
"I LIVE!" Shendu roared. "Greetings everyone."
While Daolon Wong laughed gleefully; Cedric and Miranda looked more shocked than anything else. But in the case of Jackie, Will, Jade, Uncle, Alchemy, Finn, Ratso, Chow, Blunk, and even Matt, the only thing they experienced was absolute terror. This was the worst possible case scenarios, now made reality.
The Ultimate Evil has returned.
Done.
Yeah, this chapter was much longer than I thought it was gonna be. But none the less, I had a lot of fun writing it. So much happened all at once here.
While it seemed like the heroes were on the cusp of victory… Tarakudo and his Oni Forces were defeated and sealed away, and even Phobos was on his last legs having been cornered and his castle almost taken. Only to have that victory stolen from them as Daolon Wong has now paved the way for something worse than Tarakudo and Phobos combined.
Shendu is back from the dead. And he has the powers of all twelve Talismans once again.
I'm sure some of you wanted to see a three-way fight or battle royale here, but this was just easier for me to write. Plus, Shendu is such a big threat that it's going to take everyone together to bring him down. And that is deserving of a chapter all on its own.
The final chapter is up next. How will our heroes prevail against the Ultimate Evil? Do they even stand a chance? Find out next time as the final battle of J-WITCH Season 1 is just around the corner.
Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there. I love you guys.