At Fenway Park, the J Team was having a little meeting. Jackie Chan couldn't believe that the next demon portal was at a baseball stadium, the most inconvenient place for a demon to come out. "Jade," he said to his nephew. "Captain Black pulled strings to get you a seat in the dugout. Why aren't you watching the game?"

"Tch. And miss the real excitement?"

"You mean danger. The Dark Hand is here somewhere, looking for a demon portal."

"So?" Jade asked, taking note of the flute Jackie was holding. "So? If they open it, you just toot the flute and high fly the demon out of the park! Back where he belongs."

"Do you have everything you need for the Sky Demon chi spell, Uncle?" Jackie asked.

Uncle Chan peered into the soda cups Tohru was holding. "Bat wing dust. Lotus oil. Hummingbird saliva. Root beer." His eyes bugged out. "Root beer?!"

"Sorry, mine." Jade said, snatching the cup and slurping it down.

"That's your fifth soda," exclaimed Jackie.

"One for every Fenway Frank. Had to wash them down with something."

Tohru shook his head. "I do not know where she puts it all."

Jade finished her drink when she felt the call of nature. "Ooh! Pit stop!"

"You have to do this now?" Jackie asked, exasperated.

"Hello! Five sodas!" Jade reminded before running for the ladies' restroom.

(!)

Unfortunately for Jade, the stalls were already full. And so was her bladder. Jade hopped in place. She wished she could cast one of her spells to scare the women out of the stalls, but she couldn't concentrate with a bladder about to burst. "Come on, come on, come on!" A stall door finally opened and a woman walked out of it. "About time!"

(!)

After washing her hands, Jade walked to the door. "Jade's been in the dugout, but she's back in the game." But when she opened the door, she screamed. On the other side was a large demon with black skin, bat's wings and a long tail. This was Hsi Wu the Sky Demon. The Sky Demon whipped his tail at her, but she slammed the door on it, trapping the tail.

"Jade," Jackie called out. "Don't open the door!"

"DUH!"

"Now?" Jade heard Jackie ask Uncle.

"Please!"

Jackie began to play the flute, much to Hsi Wu's discomfort. He got so desperate to get away, that he severed his tail. Jade fully closed the door and watched as the demon's tail squirmed around, kind of like how a lizard's tail squirms when you pluck it off. The tail tried to crawl out, but Jade pinned it to the ground with all her strength. When she was sure the battle was over, the future Queen of the World grabbed the tail and walked out. "Jackie?" she asked. "Check it out."

(!)

That night, back at Uncle's Rare Finds, the tail caused all sorts of havoc in the store, smashing antiques as it attempted to get away. "Ai-yah!" screamed Uncle. "Jackie! Restrain the tail!"

Jackie had the tail coiled around him like a python as he struggled to keep it still. "I'm trying, Uncle!" But his attempts to restrain it resulted in it slapping him in the face.

"I don't think it likes you, Jackie," Jade said sarcastically.

The tail slipped out of Jackie's grip and tried to crawl out the door. Tohru stopped it, but the tail wrapped itself around his leg. "Uaaahh! Get it off me!"

"The tail seeks its owner, Hsi Wu the Sky Demon," Uncle said the obvious, calmly walking to Tohru. With a tight pinch, he made the tail go limp, freeing his apprentice from its grip. Then he placed the tail in a chest and poured a green powder on it. "This box is now protected by a chi spell. Bad magic cannot touch it. Until we devise a way to use the tail to our advantage." Taking no chances, Uncle poured the powder on the front door's lintel and posts. "We must be very cautious. This chi powder will also keep any demon from entering, unless they are invited."

Jade had a feeling someone heard them...

(!)

"Hacha," Jade said. "Finished. My banner. It will fly over my castle and over all the streets! The people will see it and know my power." She was finishing sketching her flag. It was reddish purple with a green and blue dragon circling a red pearl in the center. She smirked at her design. Since Uncle cast the chi spell, that meant any attempt to cast magic with her Demon Archive would result in her getting detected. So, this was all she could do until the whole Sky Demon thing was over.

Once again, Jade had the feeling someone was watching. She looked out her bedroom window, but saw nothing. But the feeling did not go away. Not even when she slept.

(!)

At school, Jade was hanging out in the playground, secretly reading the pages from her Demon Archive when Drew came over. "Hey Jade, you going to the spring dance Friday night?"

"Nah. Not interested," she responded, putting the pages in her backpack.

"Oh, that's too bad. I mean, it's not like anyone would want to go out with you. Except for your ninjas. Or do you fight them instead? Hi-yah!" He did a kung fu pose. His friends laughed. Jade's hands trembled in anger. She wanted to use her powers on him once. Just once.

"Hey Drew!" The slightly raspy voice that called out belonged to a boy with a very light tan, brown eyes, black, spiky hair and wearing a green shirt, beige pants and black shoes. "Who are you gonna go with? Your mother?"

Drew's cheeks blushed. "N-n-no! I...I..." All his friends laughed at him.

Jade smiled at the boy who stood up for her. "Thanks...uh..."

"I'm Hs...Seymour...Wu...Jahoositz."

"Jade Chan," she responded. "You must be new."

"Yeah, I just flew into town. So Jade, is it true?"

"Of course." She paused. "What?"

"Do you really fight ninjas?"

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Normally, when people say that, they don't normally believe me. And we just met."

"Well, let's get to know each other more. Then we'll see if I believe."

(!)

Jade was walking home with her new friend, telling him the story of the time she accidentally lost her astral projection after using the Sheep Talisman and allowed Shendu to take over her body. "...and Jackie was knocking him off the roller coaster track!"

"That is so awesome!"

"Tch. That was nothing. Lately, Jackie's been taking on way worse than ninjas."

"Like what?"

"Well, you probably won't believe this, but yesterday, we captured part of a demon!"

"No way!"

"Way! Wanna see it?"

"You bet!"

(!)

Jade was the first to enter the shop. When she checked to make sure the coast was clear, she signaled her new friend to come in. For some reason, Seymour hesitated a little while outside. "Er, maybe we shouldn't. I wouldn't want to get you into trouble."

Jade scoffed, "Tch. Trouble follows me. Come on in!"

"Okay!" Seymour entered the shop and followed Jade into the back of the store. Jade pointed to the box where Hsi Wu's tail was.

"I guarantee you've never seen anything like this," Jade said.

"You'd be surprised, Jade," Seymor said.

Jade reached for the box's lid, but then she stopped. She had been practicing dark magic. Would the box's chi spell repel her? "What's wrong?" Seymour asked. He sounded impatient. "Show it!"

"Er..." Jade touched the box...nothing happened. Relieved, she opened the box all the way, showing the writhing thing. "Freaky, huh?"

Suddenly, a familiar old man came into the room and saw what was going on. "JADE!" Uncle shouted, slamming the box. "What are you doing?!"

"Uh..."

Then Uncle's eyes focused on Seymour. "And who are you?"

Jackie and Tohru came into the room. "Uncle," the former asked. "What's going on?!"

"Jade opened the box with the," he said before whispering, "you-know-what-inside!"

"Jade, you know you're not supposed to open the box with the you-know-what-inside," Jackie reprimanded.

"Jade didn't open it. I did," Seymour said with a hint of guilt.

Uncle eyed the boy suspiciously. "Bad magic cannot touch good. Show me your marks, demon boy," he shouted and grabbed Seymour's hands. Nothing. Not even a blemish.

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble," Seymour said. "I just wanted to see the you-know-what-inside."

Uncle gave him another suspicious look before walking off, muttering suspiciously. "This is Seymour," Jade introduced the boy. Jackie and Tohru greeted him warmly.

"Well, it was nice meeting everybody!" Seymour turned to leave and Jade followed him. Uncle continued to eye the boy suspiciously.

"This friend of Jade's is too polite..."

"Uncle," Jackie said, looking on the bright side. "Jade finally has a friend her own age. This could keep her away from portals and demons," he reminded.

(!)

Outside, Jade said, "Seymour, thanks for taking the hit! Nobody's ever down that for me!"

"Hey, what are friends for?"

"Before you go, there's something else I want to show you."

"What's that?"

"Follow me."

"I dunno," Seymour said, looking around. "I think my mom might wonder where I am."

"It won't take long, I promise."

(!)

To Seymour's confusion and disgust, Jade led him to the junkyard. "Ugh! Why are we even here?"

"I told you, I wanted to show you something."

Seymour got mad. "Well, what is it?!"

Slowly, Jade turned around and surprised him when her eyes turned solid red and her skin turned blue. "This." She pointed her right index finger at him and a blast of dark energy shot out of it. It hit Seymour in the chest and sent him flying into an old, broken car. "I was worried that the box's protection spell might hurt me, but thank goodness it didn't. Guess I have to be in Queen mode for it to hurt me." Seymour groaned as he slowly got up. "I wasn't fooled for a second, Seymour. Or should I call you Hsi Wu the Sky Demon?"

In an instant, Hsi Wu dropped the disguise and said in a raspy voice that was higher pitched than Seymour's, "So I see. You are full of surprises." The Sky Demon flew at her, ready to claw her throat out, but stopped and gasped in horror when Jade held up a flute. It wasn't the same one Jackie had, but one she borrowed from her school's music class. "Ah, ah," she said. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I must warn you, I did learn how to play Greensleeves. It was very tedious."

Hsi Wu backed away from her. "Get that away from me!"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because...because I can tell you learned a thing or two from the Demon Archive. Right up until Shendu got it destroyed. I can teach you more!"

"Tch. What could you possibly teach me?"

"Well, for starters..." Hsi Wu flapped his wings at hurricane speeds, knocking Jade off her feet. And unfortunately, she let go of the flute in the process. Hsi Wu pinned her to the ground. "So weak." Sparks of purple electricity crackled as Jade yelled and let loose all her anger to explosive levels. And explode she did. The Dark Bomb activated, blasting Hsi Wu off her and sending him into a pile of rubbish.

Jade got back up, but then fell to her knees. She panted heavily, then very slowly got back to her feet. "Tch." Suddenly, a clawed hand burst out of the rubbish pile and Hsi Wu let out a batlike screech. "Crud," Jade said. She pointed her right index finger at the Sky Demon, but he flew at her and lifted her up by the throat before slamming her into the ground. "Like I said, weak." Jade let out a roar and struggled to get lose, but it was no good. Hsi Wu just laughed, which infuriated her even more.

"I'll kill you! I will kill you and your siblings, you overgrown bat!" she screamed.

Hsi Wu laughed again. "I like your spunk." He jumped off of her and landed on all fours. "Tell me, why are you using dark magic? I never pegged you to be the type who goes to the dark side."

Jade got up and dusted herself. "Let's just say I am interested in far greater powers. Powers that I know everyone is afraid of, that's why they hold me back!" A strong wind began blowing around her, but Hsi Wu held his ground. "Powers that would make your kind jealous! And I am not going let you and your siblings and especially that overgrown crocodile, Shendu take away my world!" The snap of her fingers and, to Hsi Wu's surprise, a Shadowkhan popped out of the ground and tossed the flute to her. She was about to press her lips to it when the Sky Demon held up his hand and shouted, "Wait! I can help you!"

Jade wasn't buying it. "Tch. You want to know what happened the last time a demon said that to me? He betrayed me!"

"It was Shendu, wasn't it," Hsi Wu said dryly. "I'm not surprised. He never did like sharing. Not even with his own kind." Jade pressed her lips to the flute when he shouted, "Wait! I'm not like him! I can help you!"

"I don't need your help," Jade said. "I have my book. I have my family. And once I dispose of your kind and put my family in their proper place as my slaves, no one will stop me from ruling the world!" Hsi Wu said nothing, then he burst out laughing. "What's so funny?!"

"You are! You honestly think a little girl like yourself can rule the world? You've only begun to scratch the surface! I can teach you more and I won't turn on you like Shendu did and I won't hold you back. You can trust me."

Jade lowered the flute. "And why should I trust you?"

"Because I could have killed you the moment you left the school. You're the reason I find myself without a tail after all. And besides, I think I see a lot of potential in you. Even if you are just a kid." Jade said nothing. "Fine. What do you want from me?"

Jade turned to the Shadowkhan and said, "Bring me the book." It nodded and vanished into the shadows.

Hsi Wu burst out laughing. "I cannot believe it! Shendu's minions being controlled by an inexperienced little child! I don't know how you did it, but it sure is very funny!"

Jade smirked. "I learned a new trick." A few seconds later, the Shadowkhan returned with the Demon Archive and she showed it to the Sky Demon. "Can you help me translate my book?"

Hsi Wu looked at it then to her. "Can you get me my tail and not get me sealed back in my portal?"

"Can I trust you to not tell Shendu I still have the Demon Archive and that the Shadowkhan obey him because I told them to? Or tell Jackie that I am working with a demon?"

"Only if you can get a way to retrieve my tail."

"Fine. And I think I have an idea. We'll carry it out after school."

Both Hsi Wu and Jade smiled a wicked, toothy grin. This was beginning of a wonderful partnership.

(!)

At Uncle's Rare Finds, while Jade was at school, Uncle performed the chi spell on the still writhing tail as it struggled to free itself. "Since the tail wants to find its owner, I will coat it with the proper chi ingredients," Uncle said. "Then release it and let it lead us to Hsi Wu."

"Where it will reattach, infusing the demon with the chi spell," said Tohru.

"Which I will activate by blowing the flute," said Jackie. He gave the flute a little toot, playing a very off-key tune. Uncle shouted, "AIYAH! Blow only once the tail attaches!"

Jackie watched as Uncle began to pack mung bean sandwiches into his backpack. "What's all that, Uncle?"

"Mung bean sandwiches for the trip."

"Trip?"

"Eh! The Sky Demon could be half around the world by now!"

(!)

Outside, Jade and Seymour hid next to a dumpster just behind the shop. "You remember the plan?" Jade asked her friend.

"Sure, I do."

"Okay. Action!"

(!)

Jackie, Uncle and Tohru came outside of the shop with the tail disguised as a dog. Very poorly disguised. "Interesting camouflage, Uncle," Jackie said sarcastically. Suddenly, the trio heard screaming and turned to the left. Jade and Seymour were running toward them with Hsi Wu the Sky Demon chasing after them. "Give me back my tail, you little brat!"

The tail shot out of Uncle's leash and reattached itself to the Sky Demon's stump. He let out a shriek and said, "What did you do my tail?!"

"Now," shouted Uncle to Jackie. "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fi Di Zao, Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fi Di Zao, Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fi Di Zao, Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fi Di Zao."

Jackie blew the flute and the tail glowed and pulled Hsi Wu all the way to Fenway Park. "NOOOOOOOO!" The Sky Demon was sucked back into the portal and his scream was silenced when it closed.

(!)

"And that's demon number six," Jade said with a smirk. "Tails, you lose."

"Six?" exclaimed Seymour. "There's more of them?"

"Well," Jade said. "There used to be eight. One of them is currently in the body of a deadbeat and the other has yet to be sealed permanently."

"Jade!" exclaimed Jackie. "Did you have to tell him that?!"

Jade said, "Dude, he just saw a demon. I don't think we're going to keep this secret from him. Plus, I kind of told him a lot about our adventures while I was at school." Jackie made an exasperated noise.

(!)

"Sure you still don't want to go to the dance with Seymour," Tohru asked Jade later that night.

"Nah," Jade said. "Nah, Seymour said it's kind of silly, really. But that doesn't mean he doesn't wan to hang out. That's why he invited me to a sleepover."

Tohru smiled, taking note of her backpack. "Okay. Be sure to come back tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I won't forget."

Finally Jade has a friend her own age besides Paco and who knows? Maybe Jackie was right about Seymour being the perfect distraction to keep Jade out of trouble.

(!)

As Jade walked to where Seymour was, she turned back to her Shadowkhan form. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a thought said to her, "You can't trust him."

"I know."

(!)

"I'm telling you," Hsi Wu said to his siblings via a magic mirror. "It's almost too easy. She's willing to help us in exchange for me helping her read that book."

"Too bad there's no spell in that book to break us free," Xiao Fung pointed out.

"And, not counting Shendu," Bai Tza said. "Only two demon sorcerers now be free. Myself and you."

"It's a bummer, I know," Hsi Wu said. "And as for that stupid girl, I'm going to play that girl's stupid game until I can drop a bridge on her. Hopefully literally."

"She should know better than to be playing with dark magic," Tso Lan said.

"Aw, let her have her fun," Po Kong said. "One less human to worry about."

"I couldn't agree...shhh! I think I hear her coming." Hsi Wu quickly turned off the mirror and turned around to see the door open. Jade stepped in and unzipped her backpack.

"I held my end of the deal. Thanks to casting a duplication spell on both you and your tail, with the finishing charm this time, Uncle has no idea the Hsi Wu he sealed away was a fake. Your siblings must have been surprised to find out you had a twin. Until the spell broke at least," she added with a chuckle.

"And here I thought dark magic couldn't touch good," the Sky Demon said with a small laugh.

"Turns out, I'm not all dark like you and your siblings. I could remove the tail from the box and place the duplicate on it while everyone was asleep and not get burned. Anyway, I kept my end of the bargain. Now you keep yours." She pulled the Demon Archive from her backpack and opened it. "Help me translate the rest of the book."