Everyone was frozen in shock when the door swung open and Jack entered.

From the expression on his face, it was clear something was very wrong.

Alex and Harper looked to one another, each with the same fear. Had Molach taken over? Was it already too late to save Jack?

At almost the same moment, Kim moved towards her boyfriend.

"Jack?"

Molach saw the worry in the young blonde's eyes and reveled in it. Still, he showed some restraint. While he may have been in control of Jack's body, the young man's spirit was still within him. The human may not have been resisting him at the moment, but Molach knew that would change if he attacked the girl.

"Stay back...Kim." The voice was cold and harsh. "I didn't come here for you." He turned to glare at Rudy. "I came for him."

The sensei motioned for his students to get behind him even as he walked towards the possessed young man.

"Jack," he said. "I know this isn't you."

"Oh you'd like to think that," came the sneering reply.

To Molach's surprise, one of Rudy's newer students called out.

"We know exactly what you are, Molach," Alex declared. "Release our friend now...or the Wizard's Council will have you destroyed!"

"You...you're a wizard?" the evil one asked using Jack's voice. "And you know of me?" He began to chuckle as he put the pieces together in his mind. "You must have come here looking for me." His chuckling gave way to full blown laughter. "Well, now that you've found me, what exactly are you going to do? I can sense the magic lockdown...you're powerless!"

Before Alex could offer a response, Kim attempted to move towards her boyfriend once more. Molach didn't notice her approach at first, and when she realized how close she was, he all but leapt away.

"I told you to stay away from me!" he hissed.

Observing all this, Harper whispered to Alex.

"Is Molach afraid of her?"

The young wizard was wondering the same thing herself.

"Jack's spirit has to still be in there," Alex guessed. "And from the way Molach is acting, Kim is the one who can get through to him."

Those words may have been true enough, but it didn't stop Alex from worrying about the blonde girl's safety. Of course, she wasn't the only one with that concern.

Rudy stepped over and took gently took Kim by the arm. "I said stay behind me."

Once he'd positioned himself between the girl and her boyfriend, he turned to the possessed teen.

"I've come to teach you a lesson," Molach said smugly as he looked down at the short sensei.

"I didn't sign up for any lessons from you, monster," came the reply. Then Rudy changed his tone. "Jack? Come on. Come back!"

Molach laughed. "Fool! Don't you know that your precious Jack and I are one now? And do you know why? Because of you!"

Rudy seemed to ignore the words. "Jack? I know you can fight this!"

The malevolent laughter continued. "You pathetic little man!. Jack stopped fighting when I told him to turn his anger against you! You are the reason I'm here! YOU!"

Hints of doubt and sorrow began to flicker in Rudy's eyes. "Why? Why me?"

Molach's laughter suddenly ended in a choking cough. The evil one was caught off guard as Jack, who had been passively letting Molach control his body, suddenly began resisting again with renewed fervor.

"I'll...tell you...why." The words that answered Rudy were not Molach's but Jack's. He looked his sensei in the eye, letting Rudy see that it truly was him. "Because...you...can...stop me!"

Seeing the desperation plainly on Jack's face, Rudy reached out to his student. However the young man was not looking for sympathy or comfort.

"Please Rudy...don't let me hurt anyone! Whatever it takes...stop me!" Then his expression changed once again and an almost inhuman scream of rage filled the dojo. "NOOOOOOOOO!"

Molach regained control of Jack's body and lashed out at the closest target. Rudy managed to block any real damage from the strike but was still sent staggering back several steps.

Fortunately, the evil entity was too enraged at the moment to follow up his attack. Instead he whirled around, glaring at every human in the room fiercely and talking to thin air all the while.

"Impudent human worm!" he roared. "Trying to trick me! Resting and gathering your strength for more resistance! You will pay!"

It was clear Molach's words were aimed at Jack, which increased everyone's hopes that their friend could be saved. For clearly the young man was putting up more of a fight than Molach had even realized.

However, this fact did nothing to reduce the danger they were all in. For Molach was now in control of Jack's body once more, and after his ranting had ceased, he again attacked. This time with a lunging strike towards Milton, which sent the lanky teen flying backwards into a wall.

Jerry sprang forth to strike back, as he often did when any of his friends were attacked, but this was no neighborhood bully he was facing. Molach caught Jerry's leg in mid-kick and flung the young man across the room. Such an action left an opening for Rudy to exploit however, as the sensei rushed forward and put Molach to the floor with a simple takedown.

It was only a momentary setback for the evil one. Rudy didn't want to harm Jack's body and had only used minimal force. Molach was back on his feet quickly, and began laughing once more, all but goading anyone to attack him.

Harper took up a defensive stance next to Kim and spoke to the blonde.

"Rudy can beat Jack without hurting him, right?"

"Yes," came the reply, but there was uncertainty in Kim's eyes. "Maybe? I mean...this isn't sparring or a tournament bout. Molach isn't going to tap out!"

"And knocking Jack's body unconscious might make things worse," Alex commented grimly as she also took a fighting stance next to the other girls. "It could weaken Jack's resistance."

"But what can we do?" Kim asked. The fear in her tone was clear. A fear that only increased when she heard Alex's answer.

"I don't know."

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

The battle raged on in the dojo for what seemed an eternity.

Rudy and his students were all handicapped by their concern for Jack. They held back and stayed on the defensive.

Molach showed no such restraint.

The flow of the fighting took shape early on. Rudy and Kim were the only ones with the skill to match Jack. The rest had to hang back and keep the guard up in case Molach launched an attack their way.

For Molach's part, he focused most of his efforts on Rudy as the sensei was the most formidable. Also, the evil one was still hesitant to launch any attacks against Kim...a clear sign that Jack was still doing his best to resist the creature.

Sadly, Alex knew that all of this fighting would be useless in the end. Without magic she couldn't remove Molach from Jack's body, and no matter how strong the young man's spirit was...he couldn't last forever.

In desperation, she concentrated and once again tried to find some trace of magic. Some small leak from the Wizard World, a crack in the lockdown.

Of course there was none. Instead all she saw was the white hot intensity of all the chi in the room. Energy surrounding Jerry, Milton and Harper as they stood by with their defenses up. Energy blazing like twin infernos around Rudy and Kim as they concentrated and focused on each move they made. More energy that Alex had ever seen, even though the two black belts were only using defensive maneuvers. Energy so strong she could feel it.

Wait! she thought. I CAN feel it!

As the young wizard had explained to Harper not so long ago. Chi existed is all dimensions where there was life...the Earth and the Wizard World included. Now, with Rudy and Kim using so much of it, they weren't drawing it just from local sources. They were actually pulling in extra chi from nearby dimensions.

And there was no dimension closer to Earth than the Wizard World.

The brunette ran up to Kim while Molach was concentrating on Rudy. She pulled the blonde back from the fight.

"No time to explain," she said before the younger girl could either question or protest. "Listen to me. Meditate and focus all your chi...like you were getting ready to make the most powerful attack in the history of martial arts. But just keep focusing and building more chi. Don't even think about trying to release it!"

Harper overheard her friend and stepped forward with a question of her own, but again the wizard stressed that time was of the essence.

"Just trust me," Alex said. "I need as much chi as possible."

Without a word or a moment of doubt Harper quickly ushered Jerry and Milton over next to Kim, causing Alex to smile. Even under the worst circumstances, the wizard knew she could always count on her best friend. She then gave the two young men the same instructions she'd given Kim.

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

Though the fight was taking longer than Molach had anticipated, the cruel entity was still enjoying it.

He could tell that the troublesome little sensei, for all his skill, was tiring. Molach would enjoy watching the anguish in the fool's eyes when the hopelessness of it all finally sank in.

Molach drew back the fist of his host body to make an attack...but was shocked when he was unable to throw the intended punch. Indeed, he suddenly found Jack's body to be frozen in place.

Rudy was equally surprised at his opponent's immobility. "Jack?" he asked hopefully.

Molach however knew that it was not Jack that had frozen him. Oh, the human was still resisting...a resistance that was slowly growing stronger now that the body had been paralyzed. While this alarmed Molach greatly, he knew that Jack wasn't the cause of whatever was going on.

WHAT IS HAPPENING? the creature raged within his host's body.

An instant later, the question was answered when Alex stepped in front of Jack, allowing Molach to see her. To see the smirk on her face.

To see the arcane energy glowing around her fingertips.

What? NO! The lockdown is still in place! How?

Alex raised her hands and touched her fingertips to Jack's forehead.

"Sorry Molach," she said, still smirking. "This is a single occupancy body, and you're about to be evicted!"

He felt the wizard's spell reaching out to him and responded by gathering all of his own dark power to strike back.

We'll see about that!

To be continued...

author's note: Hmm...it looks like Molach might have a trick or two left. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Please review.