Ok chapter 5, everything's coming along. Big thanks to D.J. Scales and jackiechanadventuresfan16, who have helped me with multiple reviews and discussions. So blah blah blah, I own nothing but my original characters, and for those who are wondering the story is rated M for blood, cursing and sexual material in later chapters. So basically just for safety.
After their encounter with the newly awaken evil, Scarlett was eagerly invited to retire at Uncle's shop. It was decided that it would be best to keep all of the masters together, so that they could help each other regain their memories and help protect each other from prophesied danger.
Gwen used her magic to alter a spare broom closet on the second floor, when it was opened it lead to a hallway with 12 doors. Each door lead to a different basic bedroom with ample space. Gwen had continued to use her magic to make both her room and Scarlett's to better fit their personalities and make enough room for their familiars.
With a full day of rest, memories continued to flood to both masters of their lives long ago. The golden palace that all twelve had shared, the people that they had sworn their hearts too. The tiny hands of their children calling for their mothers, joyest festivals shared with local villagers and more. But with any good, the bad must follow. Visions of heartache and despair, of plagues and death. But the worst were the flood of memories of the origin of Hei 'an and his seven warriors. Once both masters had regained their full strength and compared their memories, they agreed it was time to inform the others. Captain Black arrived with Jackie at Uncle's shop, bringing with him Scarlett's new assignment.
"What's up C.B.?"
"Nothin much little lady, just bringing some paperwork for Agent Calloway."
"Wait you're not sending her away are you?"
"Not likely Jade, after Jackie told me this was another dark magic take over and that Agent Calloway was needed, I pulled some strings to have her official transferred to Section 13. She's now our exclusive new head of aviation, the best instructor for our new recruits."
"I appreciate the transfer, but please call me Scarlett."
All eyes were turned to the stairway as Gwen and Scarlett made their descent. Captain Black's eyes were fixed on the red haired woman, her hair was tied in a medium pony-tail as she sported a white tank top and jet black capris. He could clearly see the familiar image of the rooster symbol, in a dark burgundy, on her left ankle, confirming what Jackie had told him earlier.
"Ah yes well, I uh brought over your transfer papers, just need your signature."
"Not a problem, so when do I start."
"According to Uncle, after you stop this new evil, but I think we can work around that."
Scarlett let out a small laugh as she continued to sign the various forms. Gwen and Jackie shared a suspicious look over the actions between Scarlett and Black. Slowly they lead the two agents into the sitting room of the shop, there Uncle and Tohru were waiting with fresh ice tea and snacks. Jade left her Aunt's side to help pass out the tea and cookies. Before everyone was seated another ring from the doorbell was heard. Jackie disappeared and returned with the rest of their allies. Following him were the familiar faces of Viper, El Toro, Paco, Hak Foo, Ratso, Chow, and Finn. Even though the Enforcers had changed their lives to the side of good, they agreed to help out the Chans, even if it was simply an extra set of eyes to look out for danger. After everyone had greeted each other and were seated, Gwen and Scarlett became noticeably more serious.
In a shady alley, in the most uninviting part of San Francisco a man emerged from a decaying motel room. With a light to his cigarette he gave a sly smile to the woman in the room. Her naked form gripped the molding covers on the filthy mattress. With shaky hands she tried to cover her bruised and bloody body with the thin cloth. She tried to look at the exiting man, proving difficult with her left eye swollen, black and blue, and blood dripping into her right. Seeing the woman beaten and broken seemed to fill the man with more satisfaction than the sex he had just had with her. He reached into his pocket, pulling out various bills and threw them at the woman, adding to her injuries.
"Pick them up."
The woman was too scared to move, what little pride she had left caused her to stay on the mattress. The smile on the man faded. With a stern grip ha gathered the money wading some into a small ball. He walked over to the woman, her face growing with more fear for every step he took. As he approached he raised his right hand, causing the nameless woman to wink for impact. Instead of the pain she expected to feel, she felt a gentle hand stroking her chin. She forced her eyes to open to the man before her. He gave a sly grin as he gripped her chin and lowered himself to eye level.
"Now didn't I tell the little whore to take the money."
Before she could register what had happened, the woman felt the back of her head come in contact with the wall behind her. With one hand he gripped her neck, causing her legs to flare in an effort to get free. With a devilish grin the man took the wad of money and with great force shove the solid mass into her female sex. With tears flowing the woman cried out in pain. When her mouth opened, the man proceeded to shove the rest of the money down her throat. The woman continued to grasp for air, denied by the solid mass and the increasing pressure the man was inflicting. Just before her eyes were forced to roll into the back of her skull, the man released his grip and forced the woman to collapse on the floor. When her body made its impact, the woman exploded the money from her throat and tried desperately to gather air. The man released a wicked laugh as he griped a solid mass of the woman's hair.
"The next time a whore is told what to do, it had better do it."
Tears ran like a river from her swollen eyes, as she silently prayed for her safety, he extended his wicked tongue to gather a taste of her salty sorrow. With his message made clear he threw the woman back onto the mattress and made his way back to the door.
"I'll call you again when I feel like it, be late again and I won't be so nice."
With untold damage made he preceded out of the room the deserted alley. As he made his exit, he felt the uneasiness of being followed. With the intent to surprise his follower, he spun around with a pocket knife extended. As he looked around, he could not find anyone behind him. A sudden glim caught his eye, there at his feet an orange gem sparkled in the light. Without a second thought he gathered the gem to inspect it. As he held the jewel to his eye, he felt a strange surge of power took over him. A flood of images appeared, battles, women, power and more. When the images stopped, he reached for the nearest wall to gather himself. With a wicked smile a dark shadow emerged from the walls, taking an abstract form before the man. With a mutual smile the man bowed down before the sinister shape.
"My Lord."
"Vam, I take it you are ready to stand by my side once again."
"More than ready my Lord."
The gem, still in the man's hand, began to pulsate causing his physical form to alter.
Back in the filthy hotel room, the battered woman tried to tend to both her physical and emotional wounds. She was so involved in her despair that she didn't notice the door slowly opening. Feeling that she was not alone, she turned around, having her terrified scream blocked by a reptilian hand griping over her mouth, and a loud roar filling the dark ally.
"We want to thank you all for coming, and want to express our gratitude in advance for your help. In the end this is our fight, we just need your help finding the other masters and helping control the chaos that Hei'an will bring."
"So how do we find these Masters?"
"When one of us is awakened we will have a brief vision to help guide us to the next member. The strange thing is that until they are awakened we will have no idea who they are. It could be the lady at the coffee shop that we see every day, but until she's awakened we will never know."
"So what's the order that these girls will be awaken?"
"Cosmic raffle I'm afraid, or maybe there is a pattern that we just haven't realized yet. But the good news is that when we are physically closer together we are able to gain a sort of homing sixth sense on finding them."
"I'm sorry what?"
"When we are together, we get the willies when we get closer to another master."
"Got cha."
"So who is the next one?"
"The Rat, so basically we'll have to carry her rat around town until he picks up on her."
"Wait how do you know that she's in San Francisco, another vision?"
"No, when the Masters all reborn it was made so that we would all be around in time to fight, as well be near enough to save time to try and stop the evil before it gets too strong."
"So all twelve will be in San Francisco, that should make things easier."
"Well all twelve would be in San Fran, they may not necessarily be living here, they could just be here for business or vacation, there is no telling how much of a window we have to find them."
"But as important as it is that we find them, I'm afraid the dangers of Hei'an and his warriors are much more than anything any of us have faced before."
"Which brings us to our back story and that black pyramid that Drago stole."
"Back when we had our final battle with Hei'an, the Dragon Master sacrificed her physical form to create that black pyramid that sealed his seven warriors' powers into seven corresponding gems. Her sacrifice is the reason why there are no dragons around today, this was her plan. See in order to release Hei'an and his warriors, only dragon's blood could open the pyramid. Since the Master sacrificed herself and all dragons, it was intended to prevent Hei'an from ever escaping, but the Dog Master knew that nothing stays locked forever and used her powers to make it so we would all be reborn around the same time to fight Hei'an again."
"So that's why he brought Drago from the void?"
"Right, Drago was created from Shendu's chi thus making him a pure dragon. And since he is currently the only dragon on earth, he is currently the noble dragon by default, meaning he is the one who will lead us to and awaken the reincarnation of the Dragon Master. My guess is that he took over Drago's mind because he is younger than Shendu and hasn't had enough time to build up his mental defenses."
"So where is the little spite fire?"
"Captain Black?"
"Locked up at Section 13, he's restless but under complete lockdown. We`'ll let him out, with supervision, when the Dragon is next to be awaken. After that we'll have to work out his 'freedom'."
"I don't think we'd have to worry, I mean Eggbert is completely devoted to me and would never think of hurting or betraying me."
"Neither would my Sasha but then again they aren't as developed as Drago, he's basically a human with scales."
"So going back to the bad guys, if their powers were imprisoned in those gem how are they gonna use them?"
"Hei'an made it so that his warriors would be reborn, thus making it why we were all born in time to fight them. Before he was imprisoned he sent a spell that would cause his warriors to be reborn, and when he would be released they would all be developed enough to support their powers. Now he's off to find his warriors and reunite them with their gem, not only restoring their powers but their memories as well. I doubt these are good people to begin with, but give them superior powers and all the dark memories and chi they once had, they're probably worse than any demon we could have hoped to face."
"So what are we sappost to do now?"
"I'm afraid right this second all we can do is wait until either we find another master, or one of Hei'an's warriors attack. All we can ask is that we take turns bringing the animals around town when it's their master's turn. With Gwen and I taking one search team and someone taking the animal in a second we increase our chances of finding her faster. Our best chance of winning this battle is to try to find and awaken more of our fighters before Hei'an finds his."
Everyone shared looks of worry as they tried to register everything they had just heard. It was like hearing a great storm was coming and all they could try and do was prepare, but knew they had zero control.
The days passed and everyone tried to continue with their normal lives, but failed. Everyone kept their eyes opened for either a woman with rat ears walking around, or a new evil force attacking some innocent mortal.
Gwen kept her word and took her niece on a before-school shopping spree, helping her acquire all the things a thirteen year old girl would need and the her uncles would have no clue about. After the purchase of the proper undergarments, they set off to buy some simple starter makeup, then new casual and designer shoes, tops, bottoms and finally they stopped for some much needed refreshments. Since they were near, Jade requested that the stopped by "Squeeze It", Ratso's juice stand. From a distance Jade caught Ratso's eye and waved happily to him, which he returned. By the time Jade and Gwen made it to the front counter, a large frosted orange glass was waiting for them.
"One mango-peach-strawberry splash for the little lady."
"How do you always know what I want before I tell you Ratso?"
"It's easy when you only order the same drink every time."
Ratso turned his attention to Jade's companion. He already knew who the famous woman was, and could tell from her wardrobe that she was trying to hide her celebrity status. Most of her features were covered, except her long tiger striped hair, since her fans had yet to see her knew look there was little chance anyone could make a connection. Even though he had met Gwen, and realized she was a normal, at least relatively, it was still intimidating to serve a celebrity.
"And what can I get for you?"
"Well it looks like Jade knows what's good, I'll have what she's having."
"One more mango-peach-strawberry splash coming up."
Ratso went about grabbing fresh fruit from the counter and placing them in a blender with an ample amount of ice. With a flip of the switch, the symphony of buzzing and crunching began to play. As the sounds filled the air, a small carrot top figure emerged from the back room.
"Hey Rocko, when did you get in town?"
"Just got in this morning, Uncle Ratso said he'd show me around the new juice shop, didn't think I'd see you here though."
"Best place in the world to get a drink, and I've been to nearly every country so I can stand by that statement. So all set for school, who'd you get for home room?
"I got a Miss Q."
"Miss Q?"
"Well I can't remember her name so that's what I call her."
"Oh you mean Ms. Quezada, she's really nice. I have her too, looks like we'll be class mates this year. Not bad starting high school with a friend."
"You've met her?"
"Just at the open house, she's our homeroom teacher and she teaches English Ligature classes too."
"She doesn't teach Spanish?"
"Apparently she helps out or subs if she's needed but since she grew up in Mexico City, she enjoys hearing what we think or how creative we can get. I can't wait to start her class, after everything I've seen with Jackie I have some really good stories to tell."
"It sound's lots of fun, right Uncle Ratso. …..Uncle Ratso?"
Ratso's eyes were so fixed, he didn't relies the drink overflowing from the cup and onto the counter. The trio exchanged looks of confusion and then turned to find what he was looking at. Across the street, and under a tree in the park sat a young pale woman. She had a punkish bob that nearly covered half of her face, her hair was such a deep shade of black that it gave off a blue-ish sheen. She wore thick, dark blue eye shadow and black lipstick and had multiple silver rings and studs along her ears. She wore a mini black t-shirt, with white borders along the collar and sleeves and a skull with heart shaped eye sockets on the front. She also wore a pair of grey overalls with various rips, with the top folded over and a black belt to hold up the pants. In her black painted grip she held a sketch book and was feverishly sketching some scene that only her eyes could see. In her own way, she was an exotic beauty, her coloring made her like a wondrous painting bursting out of a canvas. They was something mesmerizing about her, like a siren you were being magically drawn too.
Rocko gave a mischievous smirk as he turned to Jade.
"That's Uncle Ratso's girlfriend."
Hearing a specific word, Ratso snapped out of his trance and realized the mess he made on the floor. He quickly handed the frosty beverage to Gwen and set about cleaning his mess.
"She owns this really cool art shop next door called 'Time to Dye'. She sells art supplies and some of her own work, and even gives free classes."
"Cool, so what's her name?"
"Uhhhhhh."
"Don't tell me that neither of you know her name."
"Well, I mean I just say hey on occasion. Oh hey uncle Ratso it's nearly three."
"Got them right here."
Somehow Ratso had managed to slip away and return with two more drinks. He walked to the clear edge of the counter, holding one to-go drink in hand. No sooner had he held the drink that is a flash of pink it was gone. As Gwen and Jade tried to see what had kidnapped the tasty drink. All they could see through the crowd we two long pink braids briefly flowing in the wind. As the Chan women turn to question Ratso, they noticed a calmer figure approaching. She walked calmly, reading a novel who's title was covered. She wore clothing similar to Gwen's, covering most of her features. As she passed she calmly accepted the drink Ratso handed to her and continued on her route. For a moment, her green eyes lifted and focused on Jade and Gwen. She merely gave a polite nod and returned to her novel. Jade and Gwen turned to Ratso for some answers.
"Ok I know I'm new here, but does that happen every day at this stand?"
"Actually yes. See they're two sisters, one is a runner and runs this route every day. They pay me every Sunday for the week, so I make up their drinks and give them at the same time every day."
"So the pink flash?"
"The runner, yah she dyes her hair pink and when she runs she looks like a pink wind. The one behind her is her sister, guess she just follows behind to make sure her sister is safe."
"Something seemed familiar about them, what are their names, do I know them?"
"Sorry I am honor bound by the juicer's code not to tell."
Jade and Gwen exchanged surprised expressions but accepted his answer. The finished their drinks and exchanged their goodbyes with Ratso and Rocko, planning to see him on the first day of class. After gathering their parcels, the two young women started to make their way home. Gwen turned around to see where they recently sat and looked around at the various people walking by. Perhaps one of her sisters were amongst them, and yet she would never know.
And here we have chapter 5. Sorry it took so long, but I had a final exam in my college class, proud to say I walked out with an A
So let me know what you think, I welcome constructive criticism. So who do you think the remaining 10 masters are, what relationships will develop, and what evil will come from Hei'an and Vam. Let me know what you think.