A full force punch from a strong, athletic young man can be a dangerous thing.

When that same young man is also a black belt who's lived and breathed martial arts since early childhood, 'dangerous' is a sadly inadequate term.

The blow could have shattered a jaw. It could have destroyed an eye socket.

It could have killed.

And if the victim had been anyone other than Kim, it probably would have.

Thankfully, as surprised and unsuspecting as she had been, Kim's own martial arts skills prevented disaster. Her defensive instincts were at their peak, since she'd just been concentrating on the shin-du discipline a moment before. And thus she was able turn her head and roll with the blow as it struck, which saved her from the worst of the possible consequences...though she was still knocked cold.

As she fell to the floor, the entire dojo seemed frozen. Everyone felt overwhelming shock, with a fair bit of horror and disbelief mixed in.

Horror and disbelief were what Jack was feeling himself. This couldn't be happening. His fist couldn't have struck Kim. She couldn't be sprawled unconscious at his feet.

And most horribly of all, there couldn't be a some dark urge in his head telling him to hit her again.

"K-Kim?" His voice was weak and quiet, sounding nothing like his usual confident self. He looked once more at Kim, then at his still clenched fist. Finally he turned and fled from the dojo, terrified that if he didn't, he might hurt her some more.

As he ran, others in the dojo finally shook off their own shook. Milton reached Kim's side first, calling her name even as Jerry, Alex and Harper quickly gathered around the fallen blonde.

Rudy however sped past them, pursuing his star student.

"JACK!" he yelled out angrily. "JACK! GET BACK HERE!"

Once he'd exited the dojo however, he saw no sign of the young man. His emotions in turmoil, he wanted...needed...to find Jack and demand answers, but there was no easy trail to follow. In addition, he also felt a great need to turn back and see to Kim...though his worriy about her well-being only increased his inner turmoil all the more.

"JACK!" he screamed out in a disturbingly anguished voice before turning back to his dojo.

******'******

Kim was sitting on a small couch in Rudy's office, with her friends gathered round her. She'd regained consciousness only a few minutes after she'd been punched, and though she still felt a bit woozy...and would be sporting one heck of a black eye...she was largely unharmed, at least physically.

Her emotional well being was another matter.

That being said, as upset and confused as she was, she was probably the most collected of everyone in the room. This was understandable when one considered that while Kim had experienced the surprise attack from Jack...and felt the shock, the hurt and the sense of betrayal...all the others had gone through the horror of seeing Kim struck and watching her fall. They'd all had that terrifying moment of wondering if she might be gravely injured...or worse.

What made everything even harder to take was that such a terrible deed had been committed by someone so close to them all. Kim could see the confusion in Milton and Jerry's eyes, along with their concern for her. In contrast, Alex and Harper seemed just as concerned and upset, but not so confused. Kim would have taken time to reflect on that, if not for the final person there with her.

For her sensei was seemingly on the verge of a complete meltdown.

Over the years that she'd known him, Kim had seen plenty of examples of how emotional Rudy could be. She'd seen him angry. She'd seen him manic and agitated. She'd seen him devastated and depressed.

She'd never seen him like this.

He'd paced back and forth, stopped and turned to Kim as if to say something, only to turn away and resume pacing. This pattern repeated several times before he finally forced himself to approach her and kneel down in front of her. When he spoke at last, Kim could tell he was trying to be gentle and comforting toward her, but the anxiety in his eyes was so intense that his attempt was futile.

"Kim," he began in an unsteady voice. "I'm going to ask you something, and you have to swear to tell me the truth. Has Jack ever hit you before?"

The question was not what she was expecting, but she was quick to answer. "No. Never."

"Don't lie to me, Kim!"

Her sensei's response shocked her, not only because he hadn't believed her, but the note of anger in his voice...and the fact that he looked close to bursting into tears.

"Rudy, I swear," she replied. "He's never hit me before! He's never even raised a hand to me or threatened to!"

Nothing she said seemed to reassure her sensei however, a fact that the others took note of as well.

"Rudy," Jerry as he crouched down next to his teacher. "We're all freaked out, man...but we need to stay calm."

"We get it, Rudy," Milton added. "This must be extra hard on you because you've taught Jack so much. So to see him use something he's learned to hurt Kim-"

Milton stopped speaking as Rudy stood back up and turned to face the brainy teen. Shockingly, the anguish in the sensei's eyes was even greater now than it had been a moment before. Milton realized that the idea he'd just spoken had NOT occurred to Rudy until that moment

Kim rose from the couch, concerned at how on edge her friend and mentor was. "Rudy, I don't understand anything that's happening, but please...talk to me."

He took a few deep breaths and motioned for Kim to sit back down. He then leaned back against his desk, and made every effort to calm himself.

"I never told you about my big sister," he said slowly.

"You have an older sister?" Milton commented.

Rudy paused. "I...had one."

All his students were silent as Rudy told them of his sister, Millie. Born nine years before him, she'd always been supportive of her her baby brother...taking him to martial arts lessons, and never missing any of his tournaments. Rudy told them of how she'd begun dating and eventually married a man named Roger, and how the man had been welcomed into the family.

"He was like a big brother. He came to my tournaments with Millie. He played ball with me. He took me fishing. And Millie was so in love with him. How could I not like the guy?"

Alex spoke up, getting an ominous feeling about where Rudy's story was going. "But there was something wrong, wasn't there?"

"Somewhere along the line, Roger and Millie started having problems. My family knew, but nobody thought it was serious. Couples argue. That's natural. It didn't mean they didn't love each other." Rudy paused. "What we didn't know...was that Roger started beating her."

"Oh no," Kim said softly, now understanding why her sensei was so upset.

"He started beating her, and my sister...kept it secret. She still loved him." Unable to keep his emotions in check any longer Rudy pushed off his desk and then turned and brought his fist down upon it with such force that the top of it shattered.

"She loved him...and the sick thing is that he loved her too. But it didn't stop him from killing her."

Kim slowly went to her sensei's side and put her arms around him. She held him for a long while before speaking.

"I swear to you, Jack has never hit me before. Please believe me."

Rudy looked into the blonde girl's eyes and studied them before returning her hug. "I do."

"We're so sorry about your sister," Milton said.

"When she died, that's when I left home," Rudy explained. "You've heard me talk about other things that happened when I stopped competing in martial arts, and all of that was true...but the real reason I quit and dropped out of sight for so long was my sister. It took me a long time to deal with it. I felt like it was my fault. I should have known and protected her." He shook his head. "But I never had any idea."

"That is so messed up," Jerry said in a somber tone. "How can a guy do that? And how can a woman stay with a guy who beats her? And lie for him?"

"It's sad and it's wrong," Rudy answered. "But in most abusive relationships. the victim does stay...and does keep it hidden. They can even think it's their fault that they get beaten." He paused and stood up straighter, speaking with a steadier tone. "Promise me, if any of you ever get involved with someone who hits you, you'll come to me...or go to the authorities...or a doctor." He made a point to look to Jerry and Milton. "It's not just women who can be victimized like this. Men can be abused as well. Even if they're stronger than their abuser, they can be unwilling to fight back...and too embarrassed to seek help."

"But what about Jack?" Milton asked. "We've known him for years and...this isn't like him. What could cause him to just..." The young man trailed off as he threw up his hands in despair. "This makes no sense!"

Harper and Alex exchanged glances. They knew the reason for Jack's shocking behavior, but they had no idea if they could convince their friends of the truth...nor if they should even try to.

"Should we tell them?" Harper whispered.

Alex gave no answer. Not only was that question weighing on her mind, there was also the large problem...how could she help Jack without her magic?

"Alex? What should we do?" Harper whispered once more...but this time she was overheard.

"Harper? Alex?" Kim said as she looked to the older women.

Making her decision, the young wizard stepped forward. "Guys, we have something to tell you. Something you will find pretty hard to believe."

"You have to understand," Harper added quickly. "We would never lie to you about something like this. Not when things are so serious."

"What is it girls?" Rudy asked.

"The reason Jack hit Kim," Alex explained. "It wasn't his fault. He's under the influence of an ancient evil spirit."

These words were met with total silence. Silence that was finally broken by last thing Alex and Harper would have expected.

"Of course!" Milton exclaimed. "I knew Jack would never do something like that!"

"You believe me?" Alex asked, somewhat stunned.

"I was possessed by the spirit of an ancient warrior once," he answered. "He wasn't evil, but he made me do things I never would have done otherwise."

"So you know about the supernatural," Harper said.

After a bit more conversation, it became apparent that all the Wasabi Warriors had seen proof of otherworldly powers before. Furthermore, they were certainly willing to listen to any idea that could explain Jack's actions, though this didn't mean they didn't have questions. Alex and Harper did their best to provide answers, telling them everything that had led to this point.

"So this Molach is trying to take over Jack? And if he does, Jack will be gone forever?" Kim asked in alarm.

Alex nodded grimly. "Until I get my magic back, the only thing we can do to save him is to appeal to his human side. Keep him fighting and resisting Molach."

"That means we have to find him," Rudy said. "And soon."

To be continued...

author's note: Hope you've been enjoying the story so far. Please review and let me know what you think. Also, if you have any friends who you think would like this tale, please spread the word. So far I've been getting almost no hits and no feedback at all. That's frustrating.