Jake Long III (Season Five)

Chapter/Episode Four: Rescues

Dynean and Agata's clawed hands met only seconds later. Grunting, Dynean took a step back as she helped Councilor Agata to her feet. "Thank you." Agata said with a small smile as their hands parted.

"Don't mention it." Dynean said before she turned her head to the side, seeing Demetria and Phoebe talking to Councilor Yara. "We should probably join in on the conversation." Dynean added as she turned her head back to normal.

"Agreed." Agata said.

"She took Mrs. Harris!" Demetria exclaimed to Yara as Dynean reached her side, while Agata reached Councilor Yara's side.

"We have to follow her." Phoebe added.

"Yes." Yara quickly agreed, although she did not sound happy about it. "She must be rescued. Can you three handle it?"

LINE BREAK

Meanwhile, back at the Animal Guardian Academy, Jake III was lying on the floor, fast asleep, as were Nayeli, Shae and Encarna, as well as Fu Dog, who was fast asleep on the bed, along with Lin-Lin, who was sleeping off all the alcohol she had had to drink.

However, when Jake heard scratching as the window, his eyes snapped open. Quickly rolling over onto his stomach and lifting his head up, Jake could see Cadence scratching at the window. A second later, however, she dropped down.

Blinking in confusion, Jake grunted as he got to his feet, just in time to see Cadence hop up on her hind legs again, scratching at the window some more. Groaning, Jake started to walk towards the window, and just as he reached the window, Cadence once more dropped down onto all fours.

"Who the heck is that?" Jake asked himself, scratching his head.

At that moment, Cadence once more jumped up onto her hind legs and slammed her front paws into the window, making Jake cry out and jump back as her sudden movement startled him.

"Come on, kid!" Cadence called from the other side of the window. "You have no idea how long it took us to find your room! Come on! Let us in!"

"Us?" Jake asked himself, scratching his head again.

"Let us in!" Cadence said again, starting to scratch at the window.

As Jake watched, he had no idea that Nayeli was walking up to his side. "Who is that?" Nayeli asked as she crossed her arms, making Jake gasp and turn his head to the side.

"You're awake?" He asked her.

"Only because I heard scratching at the window."

"Yeah." Jake said as he turned his head back to normal. "Me too." Together, they watched as Cadence stopped scratching at the window and once again dropped onto all fours.

Outside, Cadence breathed heavily as she turned to face Jackal. "They're just staring at me." Cadence said. "They're not letting me in."

"How many people are in there?" Jackal asked.

"I see two." Cadence said. "A boy and a girl."

"You don't see Fu Dog, though?"

"No."

"Then are you sure we have the right room?" Jackal asked. "You very well could have just gotten us caught!"

"This has to be the right room." Cadence growled at him, narrowing her eyes. "We checked. I'm going to try one more time." With that, Cadence turned and grunted as she jumped back up, planting her paws against the window.

"Great, now she's back." Jake said.

"Could you please just let us in for a few moments?" Cadence begged through the glass. "We need to talk to Fu Dog."

"You know Fu Dog?" Nayeli asked.

"Yes!" A grin appeared on Cadence's face. "If you let us in, we'll be able to tell him something that is very important. He has to know about this."

"Are you...friends with Fu Dog?" Nayeli asked.

"Yes!" Cadence replied eagerly.

Jake sighed as he crossed his arms. "Nayeli, can you go wake up Fu Dog?" He asked as Nayeli turned her head to the side to look at him. He rolled his eyes. "Fu Dog and his friends..."

Listening to Jake, Nayeli turned and started to walk forward, only to stop when she saw that Shae and Encarna were standing at the foot of the bed, both looking very tired.

"What's going on?" Encarna asked.

"Yeah." Shae added. "Are you talking to someone?"

"A friend of Fu Dog's." Nayeli replied.

"Can't it wait?" Encarna asked. "It's night time. It's time to sleep. You two should be in bed right now."

"We got woken up." Nayeli said as she started to walk forward. "You can go back to sleep, though." She added as Jake opened the window, taking a step back as he allowed Cadence to jump into the room.

Stopping at the side of the bed, Nayeli put her hand on Fu and started to shake him awake. "Fu Dog!" She whispered, making Fu Dog moan. He did not want to be woken up. "Fu Dog!" However, Nayeli persisted, shaking Fu harder, finally making Fu open his eyes and lift her head up, turning it to the side.

"What?" He demanded crankily.

"Your friends are here." Nayeli used her thumb to indicate over her shoulder to the window.

"Friends?" Fu asked. "What friends?"

Taking a step to the side and turning to face the window, Nayeli allowed Fu Dog to get to his feet and turn. Seeing Cadence at Jake's side and Jackal jumping through the window and walking up to Jake's other side, Fu's eyes widened in disbelief.

"No..."

BLACKOUT; PLAY THEME SONG

BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW

Continuing to stare at Jackal and Cadence, Fu's eyes quickly narrowed. "What were you thinking, kid?!" He demanded. "How could you let them in! Your job is to protect me, not put me in danger!"

"Huh?" Jake III asked.

"They work for the Magical Mafia!" Fu yelled. "They want to kill me!"

"Actually, Fu Dog..." Cadence said. "...While that is true, we-" She started to walk forward, but before she could take more than one step, she stopped and gasped as Jake's sword swooped down right in front of her face.

Her eyes widening, she turned her head to the side to that Jake had his head turned to the side and that he was looking down at her, smiling victoriously. "You came here to kill Fu Dog, huh?" Turning his head back to normal, he showed his smile to the shar-pei on the bed. "Sorry, Fu, but I'm glad she tricked me into letting them in."

"You are?!" Fu's eyes narrowed with anger.

"Yeah!" Jake exclaimed. "This mission just got a whole lot more exciting!"

"Oh, how nice for you!" Fu said mockingly.

"Oh, could you just put this thing away?" Cadence spoke up, making Jake turn his head back in her direction. "We're not here to kill Fu Dog. At least...not now."

"I don't believe that." Jake said.

"Then perhaps you'll believe this." Cadence said before she turned her head back to normal. "Take this or leave this, Fu, but I'd much prefer it if you'd take this."

"What are you talking about?" Fu asked.

"Our boss sent three dogs out to kill you." Cadence said. "I'd prefer it if you'd take our warning, because frankly, I don't want them to succeed in eliminating you."

"He's supposed to believe you?" Jake asked. "And even if you are telling the truth, there's no way that these three dogs know that Fu is here."

"They do." Cadence said. "After all, we were able to find him here."

"Eh, she makes a good point, kid." Fu said.

"Besides..." Cadence continued. "...Our boss has informants. The informants told him that you are here, Fu Dog."

"Do you know who these informants are?" Jake asked.

Cadence laughed mockingly. "Of course not!" She said. "Our boss wouldn't tell us that. Not after we got made fools of by Fu Dog."

"Well, I don't even think Caribou, Jughead and Chopsticks know who the informants are." Jackal added.

"Are they the assassins who are coming here to kill Fu Dog?" Jake asked, turning his head in the other direction so he could look at Jackal.

"Yes." Jackal replied as he turned his head so he could look at Jake.

LINE BREAK

When the morning came, Jackal and Cadence were sitting beside the bed, which Jake III and Fu were sitting on, Lin-Lin still fast asleep. "We will help you take down these three dogs." Cadence said. "There are just some conditions."

"Great." Fu rolled his eyes, while Jake crossed his arms.

"Let's hear them." Jake said.

"What we do to help must be indirect." Cadence said. "Caribou, Chopsticks and Jughead can't know that we're helping you. If our boss found out that we are making it impossible for them to complete their job, we could be killed."

"Well, what good will you be to us if you're only helping indirectly?" Jake asked.

"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" Cadence replied. Then, she smirked. "There is one more condition."

"I don't think I'm going to like it." Fu said.

"You won't." Cadence said. "What we want...is for you to let us walk free when this is all over. No taking us to the Dragon Council. You just let us go."

"If you really do succeed in helping us..." Jake said. "...I can promise you that."

"Great." Cadence smiled. She and Jackal then stood up. "For the meantime, we'll be waiting outside. After all, if Caribou, Chopsticks and Jughead come by sooner rather than later, we can't let them see us." After Jake nodded, both Jackal and Cadence turned and started to walk over to the window.

"You kidding me?" Fu asked in a whisper as he turned his head to the side. As Jake turned his head to the side to look at him, Fu continued: "You're not seriously going to let them go free, are you?"

Jake smirked. "Of course not." He whispered. "What kind of idiot would let two Magical Mafia members walk away free when there's the chance to capture them? No, Fu. I'm just feeding them a false promise."

"Good." Fu smiled.

"Oh, and by the way, your test is going to be today." Jake quickly added.

This made Fu Dog's smile vanish. "What?" He asked.

LINE BREAK

Meanwhile, Socorro, still using her tail to carry her mother, arrived at the cave in Central Park, where she had fought her mother and Dragon Master decades ago. As Socorro landed in the entrance, setting her still unconscious mother down, Cleo and Kay finished walking up to her.

"Where are the chains?" Socorro demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"They're deeper in the cave." Kay replied.

"Why aren't you bringing them here?!" Socorro raised her voice.

"Be...Because they're deeper in the cave." Kay repeated.

"You moron!" Socorro roared, making both Cleo and Kay take a step back, both wincing. "Mother needs to be restrained before she wakes up! I'm amazed that she's stayed unconscious for this long! Go get the chains!"

Without another word, both Kay and Cleo turned and walked further into the cave, going to get the chains. Watching them go, Socorro rolled her eyes before she turned her head to the side, looking down at her still unconscious mother.

Unbeknownst to Socorro, however, Dynean, Phoebe and Demetria, all in their dragon forms, were nearing the cave. Seeing Socorro inside the cave, Demetria pointed. "Down in there!" She said.

LINE BREAK

Deeper in the cave, Socorro finally managed to get her shackles off. Dropping them to the ground and kicking them far away, Socorro rubbed her wrists to get some feeling back into them, while Kay and Cleo chained up their mother.

As Kay finished chaining her mother's feet together, locking the chains, Cleo pulled tighter at the chains she had wrapped around Haley's upper body. This made Haley grunt in pain, finally walking her up. Slowly opening her eyes, Haley moaned as she lifted up her head, only to see Kay standing up, turning and walking away. Gasping, Haley turned her head to the side, allowing her to see Cleo's face as she locked the chains around her upper body.

"Cleo..." Was all Haley could say right before Cleo reached down to test the chains that were binding Haley's hands behind her back. Without a word to her mother, Cleo stood up and walked away, Haley turning her head back to normal to see her meeting back up with Socorro and Kay.

"And now..." Socorro said as she pulled the magic box out of its holder. "...Mother will join us."

Socorro, Cleo and Kay all then turned around to face Haley, only to see a bright light engulf their mother, transforming her into her dragon form. "Oh, don't fight." Socorro said in an annoyed tone as she took a step forward. "Once you've been corrupted, just like us, we can take down the Dragon Council. All together."

Haley said nothing. She just watched as Socorro, Kay and Cleo all started to walk towards her. Smiling evilly, Socorro turned the box around so that she could open it and the rest of the dark magic would go right into her mother's body.

Taking a deep breath, Haley quickly decided on her course of action. Closing her eyes, as she exhaled, she released a bunch of chi, creating five doppelgangers of herself that all stood in front of her, blocking Socorro, Kay and Cleo from getting any closer to her. Shocked, all three of Haley's daughters stopped in their tracks.

"Wh...What is she doing?" Cleo asked, only to grunt in pain as Socorro scowled and brought her tail down onto her head. "OW" Cleo reacted immediately, using both of her clawed hands to hold her head.

"You dolt..." Socorro growled, taking a step forward. "...She's going to use her doppelgangers to hold us off."

"Don't forget us!" Came the sound of Demetria's voice. Before Socorro could react, Demetria's tail hit her in the side of the face, making her grunt and fall to the ground, dropping the dark magic box. Quickly, both Kay and Cleo spun around, gasping as they saw Dynean and Phoebe flying right for them.

As Dynean tackled Kay and Phoebe tackled Cleo to the ground, Socorro opened her eyes, seeing her box of dark magic. Grinning evilly as she reached out for it, she gasped as Demetria used her tail to knock it out of her reach.

Quickly rolling onto her back, Socorro growled as she looked up to see Demetria diving down at her. Wrapping her tail around Socorro's neck, Demetria pulled her former friend up off of the ground and then threw her back. Socorro grunted as she slammed into the cave wall, sliding down to the floor, unconscious.

Lowering herself to the floor, Demetria ran over to Socorro's fallen box, bent over and picked it up. Standing back up with the box in her clawed hands, Demetria turned her head to the side, seeing Dynean and Kay wrestle each other, while Phoebe got the upper hand on Cleo, spinning her around and throwing her to the floor.

Turning her head back to normal to see that Socorro truly was unconscious, Demetria turned and walked up to the row of Haley's doppelgangers. "Can you let me through?" Demetria asked.

"Let her." Haley told her doppelgangers. Seconds later, two of the doppelgangers stepped to the side, making Demetria smile as looked at Haley. Haley returned the smile before Demetria hurried over to her.

LINE BREAK

Back at the Animal Guardian Academy, Fu was pacing back and forth near the door, while Lin-Lin drank some water out of a water bottle, moaning as she screwed the top back on. Jake III watched her as he sat on the bed with her.

"Don't worry." Lin-Lin said as she handed him the water bottle. "I'm not that hung over."

"Are you going to be able to do your job and protect Fu?" Jake asked, smiling.

"Why are you smiling?" Lin-Lin asked, not being able to suppress her own smile. "Now of all times, you smile?"

"Hey, this mission just got a whole lot more fun." Jake said. "I actually have someone to protect Fu Dog from."

"Yes." Lin-Lin replied as she ran a hand through her head, moaning again. "Can you tell me exactly what happened? Tell me everything, not just that assassins are after Fu Dog. Tell me everything, start from the beginning."

"We were woken up by scratching at the window." Jake explained. "Nayeli and I saw it was this panther. We talked, and the panther said she needed to tell Fu something. So, we let her inside, only to find out from Fu that she and her hyena friend are working for the Magical Mafia."

"And you didn't arrest them...why?" Lin-Lin asked.

"It was part of the deal." Jake said. "They're going to help us take down these assassins in secret, but they're reward for that is to be let free once they're defeated. Not that we're going to stick to the deal..."

"And who are these assassins?" Lin-Lin asked. "And how many are there?"

"Three." Jake said, starting to sound excited. "Their names are Caribou, Chopsticks and Jughead."

Upon hearing the name "Caribou", Lin-Lin's eyes widened and her face paled. Noticing this, Jake's smile slowly started to faded. "Lin-Lin, what is it?" He asked.

"Um, Jake..." Lin-Lin said nervously. "...Please tell me that Caribou is a common name..."

"It might be." Jake shrugged. "Why?"

Taking a deep breath, Lin-Lin ran her hand through her hair again. "Please tell me what kind of animals they are." She said with a nervous smile.

"Dogs." Jake said. "Lin-Lin, what's going on?"

"Jake..." Lin-Lin said. "...Last night, at the bar, I met three dogs. One was named Caribou. She told me that she was a friend of Fu Dog's."

BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL

BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW

Back in the cave where Haley was being held, her chains fell away. Smiling, Demetria took one of her clawed hands away from Socorro's box and offered it to Haley, who took it, grunting as she was pulled to her feet.

Their hands parting, Demetria turned around to see Dynean and Phoebe walking towards them, behind them, Kay and Cleo had been defeated, and just like Socorro, were unconscious on the floor.

As Haley stepped up to Demetria's side, Phoebe and Dynean stopped in front of them. "Good, you got her free." Phoebe said.

"Yeah, and now I think it's best if we got out of here." Demetria said. "Socorro, Cleo and Kay aren't going to be unconscious forever." After Demetria said this, a look of sadness appeared on Haley's face, and she looked to the side.

"What is it, Mrs. Harris?" Dynean asked, noticing that Haley was looking at Socorro.

"No, we can't just leave." Haley said, turning her head back to normal. "We can't just flee and leave my daughters here. It'll never stop if we do."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Dynean asked.

The look of sadness appeared again, this time appearing in Haley's eyes. "This is it." She said softly. "Today's the day. Today's the day I put my daughters down for good."

Without another word, Haley turned and started to walk towards Socorro. All in shock, Demetria, Dynean and Phoebe turned to face her. "What are you going to do?" Phoebe asked.

"I don't know." Haley said softly, although it was loud enough for the only three other conscious dragons in the cave to hear. "All I know is that I don't want to do it."

"Then don't do it." Demetria said. "Look, Mrs. Harris. We have the box with the dark magic in it. They can't hurt you anymore. We've won."

"That isn't true, Demetria." Haley said. "Socorro will always come back. That's just how driven she is."

By this time, Haley had reached Socorro. Staring down at her, Haley struggled to make the move. She tapped her claws against her old, scaly leg. Starting to breathe heavily, Haley could only stare down at her unconscious daughter. However, as Haley was too busy staring at Socorro's face, she failed to notice Socorro twitching her index finger, a sign that she was slowly regaining consciousness.

However, Demetria did notice, for her eyes widened and she gasped before she rushed over to get Haley out of the way.

Still having no clue that Socorro was about to wake up, Haley continued to breathe heavily as she slowly lifted up her clawed hand, preparing to slash into her daughter. Even though it pained her, even though it brought tears to her eyes, she still had to do it.

Grunting, she prepared to swipe down at her daughter, but after moving her clawed hand only an inch, Socorro sprung to life, trying to swipe up at her mother. Gasping with shock, Haley was pulled back after Demetria's tail wrapped around her neck, Socorro's claws whizzing through thin air.

Putting a hand on Haley's scaly shoulder as she removed her tail from her neck, Demetria said: "Still want to put her down?"

Growling, Socorro started to get to her feet. "Give me back my box!" She demanded.

"I think we should go." Haley said.

"Good call." Demetria agreed before the two of them turned and flapped their wings, flying away as fast as they could. Growling with anger as she was left behind, Socorro flapped her wings and started to fly after them.

Due to her age, Haley started to fall behind Demetria. Within seconds, Demetria was far ahead of her, quickly catching up with Phoebe and Dynean.

"Dem-!" Haley started to call out, but before she could finish, she cried out as Socorro slammed down on top of her, slamming her down onto the ground. "Where's the box?!" Socorro demanded.

"I...I don't have it." Haley managed.

"Demetria..." Socorro growled.

"Yes, I have it." Hearing the sound of Demetria's voice, Socorro gasped and jerked her head up, seeing Demetria flying towards her.

"Give it back unless you want to die!" Socorro threatened.

Demetria waited until she was right in front of Socorro until she spoke. "I have a better idea." She said. Swinging her tail forward, she smacked Socorro in the face, making her grunt as she was thrown back a few feet, landing on her back with a grunt.

Landing on her feet, Demetria took one of her clawed hands off of Socorro's box and offered Haley a hand. Taking it, Haley grunted as she got to her feet. "Come on, let's move." Demetria said before she turned and started to run forward, dragging Haley with her. After running forward for a few seconds, they both flapped their wings and took off into the air, flying away as fast as they could.

LINE BREAK

Meanwhile, back at the Animal Guardian Academy, Fu Dog was now on the bed with Jake III and Lin-Lin. Stressed out, Lin-Lin unscrewed the top off of her water bottle and took a sip from it, putting the top back on once she was done.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Lin-Lin." Jake told her.

Before Lin-Lin could respond, there were five knock on the door to the room. Turning his head to the side to where Nayeli, Shae and Encarna were sitting, Jake asked them: "Do you think one of you could get that?"

"Yeah, I guess." Nayeli said before she pushed herself to her feet, walking by Jake, who turned his head back to normal so he could stare at Lin-Lin. Once he was looking at her, he smiled.

"There's that smile again." Lin-Lin noted.

Quickly, Nayeli arrived at the door and opened it, seeing Pixel and Chopsticks waiting for. "Yes?" Nayeli asked.

"Is Fu Dog here?" Pixel asked.

"Of course." Nayeli said. "Can I ask why?"

"It's time for the test." Lime answered.

Hearing this, Fu Dog turned his head to the side before he rose to his feet, turned and leapt off of the bed. "Already?" Fu Dog asked as he walked up Nayeli's side. "Jake told me that I wasn't going to be tested until this afternoon."

"Well..." Pixel said. "...You were moved up. You're scheduled to start your test in ten minutes."

"So, where do we go?" Fu asked.

"Don't worry about that." Pixel answered. "We'll take you to the testing arena. If you'll just follow us..."

Jake, who had listened into the conversation somewhat, got off of the bed and turned to face the door. "What are you guys talking about?" He asked.

In response, Fu Dog turned to face him. "According to these two..." Fu filled in Jake. "...My test with the girls has been moved up."

"To when?" Jake asked.

"Now." Fu replied.

"Oh." Jake said, sounding disappointed. It looked like his mission was going to be focusing on the boring aspects of being a bodyguard after all.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Fu took a step forward, apparently understanding what Jake was so disappointed about. "You're not going to accompany me to my test."

"I'm not?" Jake asked, sounding hopeful.

"No, and your boss isn't going to either." Fu said. Hearing this, both Lin-Lin and Jake frowned.

"Then what do you want us to do, Fu Dog?" Jake asked.

"You're going to stay here and wait and see if those assassins come." Fu said. "If they do, you better come and warn me."

"Assassins?" Lime asked, sounding confused.

"Apparently, three dog assassins are coming here to kill Fu Dog." Nayeli explained.

Both Pixel and Lime looked confused. "Lime..." Pixel turned his head to the side. "...How about a little change in plan?" He asked as Lime turned her head to the side as well.

"What did you have in mind?" Lime asked.

"I want you to look into this." Pixel said. "I'll take Fu Dog to his test."

"Sounds great!" Lime sounded strangely enthusiastic.

Seconds later, both Lime and Pixel turned their heads back to normal. "Well, Fu Dog..." Pixel managed a smile. "...Why don't we get going?"

LINE BREAK

Up on the roof of the school, both Cadence and Jackal were waiting for any sign of Caribou, Chopsticks and Jughead. "I'm surprised they're not here yet." Cadence admitted.

At that moment, both animals heard the sound of flapping wings, making them both go rigid. "You hear that?" Cadence muttered.

"Hear what?" Jackal asked sarcastically.

A second later, Lin-Lin, holding Jake III in her clawed hands, flew up in front of them, making both animals react accordingly: by scrambling to their feet and stumbling back as Lin-Lin landed on the roof, setting Jake down. As Jake took a step to the side, Lin-Lin reverted to her human form in a bright light.

"I take it that there's no sign of them yet." Lin-Lin said.

"No, not yet." Cadence said.

"Jake, how can we be sure that they're telling the truth?" Lin-Lin asked, turning her head to the side as Jake shrugged his shoulders.

"Look, lady..." Cadence growled. "...If this weren't the truth, then we wouldn't have come to Fu Dog. We just would have killed him."

"How do we know that this isn't an elaborate scheme to do just that?" Lin-Lin asked, turning her head back to normal.

"It's not." Cadence said. "Just wait. You two will see."

"Hey." Jake shrugged his shoulders. "I'm really hoping that you're right about this. This mission needs a bit of peril."

Unbeknownst to Jake, Lin-Lin, Jackal and Cadence, Caribou, the Karelian Bear Dog and the Kooikerhondje all started to cross the street, not even noticing the two humans and two familiar talking animals on the roof.

Standing beside Lin-Lin, Cadence could see the three dogs crossing the street. Her eyes widening, Cadence turned her head to the side, hissing: "Get down! They're here!"

Jake and Lin-Lin both quickly turned around and dropped onto their bellies, Jackal and Cadence both crouching down, as Caribou and the two other dogs arrived at the school. Looking down at them, Jake turned his head to the side to look at Lin-Lin, whispering: "Are those the dogs you saw at the casino?"

Swallowing hard, all Lin-Lin could do was nod twice. Turning his head back to normal, he and the others continued to watch. "Now all we need to do is find out who the informants are." Jake whispered.

Just seconds later, the four of them could hear the school doors open and close. Although they could not see who it was, they could hear paws hitting the stairs as the person (or animal) walked down the steps.

Finally, the animal came right into view, and in response, both Lin-Lin and Jake's eyes widened. It was Lime. Seeing Lime stop in front of them, Caribou, the Karelian Bear Dog and the Kooikerhondje all smiled evilly, as did Lime.

It was time to get to business.

BLACKOUT; END EPISODE

A/N: The informants revealed! Okay, only one informant has been revealed, but I think that with all the clues I have given, you now know that the second informant is Pixel.

Anyway, please review!