Disclaimer: Known Unknown, he does not own / the Jackie Chan Adventures / And nonetheless he does express / This rhyme that you must endure.

Chapter 3

"How do you stand all this heat?" Jade panted, wiping her forehead with her sleeve and goggling at the fact that Paco seemed perfectly fine waltzing through the jungle wearing slacks and a jacket (a thin jacket, but still), while she was boiling in shorts and a t-shirt. "I mean, it's nighttime and if anything it's even hotter than it was this afternoon!"

"I am used to it, Yade. If you wanted cold nights, you might have liked the desert," Paco shrugged, then after a moment he grinned slyly at her, "but, if you cannot handle it…"

"Hey!" she steamed, poking him in his ribs, "I can handle anything you can, mouseboy!"

"Hmph. You should know while my small size doesn't give me the strength of the great El Toro Fuerte, my agility more than makes up for it. And no, you can't."

"Can so."

"Can not."

"Can so."

"Can not."

"Can s-" Jade stopped mid jibe and slapped a hand to her forehead, "are we really doing this?"

Paco smirked smugly and walked ahead of her, "I don't know why. I was just saying: it is alright if you can't handle the harsh Mexican environment." Jade growled, but Paco ignored her. "It happens to a lot of people. I'll be happy to take the lead and guide you- AAAIIIEE!" Too caught up in his swagger, he misstepped and tripped over a massive hole in the ground, hidden in the darkness. Thinking quickly, Jade dove forward and grabbed his hand as he pitched over, stopping him from falling into whatever was down there.

She smirked down at him as he hung over the edge. "You were saying?"

"Do not say a word…"

As the two adventurers got ever closer to the lost temple, the eerie light it radiated became so bright it lightened up the sky, and casual conversation stopped cutting it when it came to distractions. The last legs of their journey things were mostly silent, as they stared ahead even eyed with the unearthly glow as their guide. Not even the dangers of the jungle could get their full attention, they just kept walking… until…

"We believe we have arrived, hombre," El Toro announced breathlessly.

"Yes… I think you are right," Jackie agreed as he gaped up at the enormous temple. It was unlike most of the temples he Jackie Chan had seen in his day: there was little branching architecture, no plazas or sacrificial towers – it was one tower, vast and grayish brown, like an great faded stone. Carved and sculpted out of the stone were faces: not faces of animals or deities like he would have expected, no, but peaceful sleeping faces lining the exterior in rows. But the part that grabbed their attention the most was the top: where the ethereal glow was pouring out from a hole into a high spire… and getting higher and brighter every minute.

From the moment they saw the temple in it's full glory to the moment they were at it's threshold, everything seemed like a daze – not a spell, but near overwhelmed by the sheer majesty of it – they didn't even notice there was an entrance until they stumbled over it, but just in looking at it was clear it was odd to have missed it: there was only one titanic door, and much to Jackie's nervousness it was wide open. Light was pouring out of it as well. Very unsettlingly, there was no trace of any plants or animals growing anywhere near the temple, especially in the front where the light was pouring out… everything had cast back in fear.

"Are you ready, my friend?" El Toro said, trying not to let his own anxiousness show. Jackie nodded determinedly, but the two hadn't taken one step when the faces lining the temple suddenly shot open, light glowing from their eyes and mouths. The two fearless heroes gave a shout and leapt back as the faces turned their eyes to the intruders. A few tense seconds passed as the faces did nothing but stare, before their light faded and ancient writing began to burn into the stone around the door. Writing in no language they knew or even heard of.

"What?" El Toro exclaimed, "what does it say, mi amigo?"

Jackie had no clue. But he had an idea about someone who might. "I need to make a call."

Meanwhile, a far ways behind their guardians the two teens had made good time and reached a ridge overlooking the temple, and they too couldn't believe their eyes with what they saw. Well, at least one of them couldn't.

"It is… amazing!" Paco said in wonder as he gazed at the glowing ruin.

"Come on Paco, we've seen a lot crazier stuff than this," Jade said absently, more concerned with scanning the area for signs of her Uncle. "Hey! I think I see them!"

"Really, where? Hey!" he shouted, "where did you get binoculars from?"

"Never leave home without 'em. Now let's see… they're walking towards the door, and- whoa!" Neither of them needed binoculars to see the ominous faces light up on temple's walls, nor to see the glow concentrate around the door, though at their distance they couldn't make out the words that surrounded it.

"Oh, I do not like this."

"Me neither," Jade replied. This had 'danger' written all over it. "Now… ok, Uncle Jackie's looking at the light around the door, but I can't see what he's doing…"

"Let me see!"

"Wait your turn! Uncle Jackie looks stumped: he's calling someone. Why does his phone get reception while I'm stuck in the dark ages?"

"Who is he calling?"

"How should I know? It's not like I can hear – oh, wait, he's holding the phone like a foot away from his ear. Gotta be Uncle."

"Jaaackieee!" the nephew in question winced, while El Toro off to the side pondered whether it would be worth the disrespect to hold his ears, "Why do you always call Uncle when he is eating? I was just sitting down to a nice mung bean soup. You could at least-"

"No time, Uncle! I need you to take a look at something for me. I'll send them to your computer."

He turned his special all-purpose Section 13 phone onto the door and snapped a few picture; given to him by Captain Black as a birthday present, it could make calls pretty much anywhere, could be used as a pixel perfect GPS, and had a state of the art video camera all in a handy pocket size package. There was no doubt it could get the images through clearly.

"Did you get them Uncle?" The old man did not answer right away. "Uncle? Are you still there?"

"Jackie…" the voice came back shocked and quiet, "these are the most ancient of chi symbols. Where did you find these?"

"At a temple in the middle of Mexico. We need a translation, Uncle!"

"These are of the oldest roots of chi magic… even throughout the world in these modern times, magic is tied by these ancient tenets. My knowledge is imprecise, but I shall try."

"Please do, Uncle."

"Let us see… there are symbols about 'honor,' and 'perseverance,' and it speaks of a 'test.'"

"We are to be tested?" El Toro interjected. Jackie nodded uncertainly.

"It would appear so…"

"Or perhaps you already have," Uncle replied, "the only part I can adequate translate bodes not well."

Jackie gulped. "Don't sugar coat it Uncle."

The elderly wizard sighed on the other end of the line. "It says 'there is no light. The sight long gone. The good has fallen. It's light will punish, and it's gem will persevere.' Translating more will take time, but…"

Both men paled, "maybe you should have sugar coated it…"

"Jaaackieee!" they both jumped as Uncle shouted again, "this is powerful magic! Do not take this lightly. I will make preparations to leave if I must, but it may be too late. You must do something now."

"The warning spoke of a gem. Perhaps that is the key to stopping this!" El Toro offered hopefully.

"It is our best shot," Jackie said determinedly. "Let's go."

"One more thing," Uncle shouted. Jackie jumped, "Be careful. For reasons unknown this magic seeks worth. It will test you – you must be ready."

"We will, Uncle."

"One mooore thing. The light seems to be driving back the nature surrounding it… you must hurry. If you fail it may spread to all of Mexico, destroying it, then move on to the rest of the world. It wishes to test you, so the light may not harm you… until you fail."

El Toro looked more worried than ever, Jackie wasn't doing much better but nodded at him all the same, "yes, I-"

"One moooooore thing!" Jackie jumped again, then groaned in annoyance. "Bring back some tablets and pictures from inside. Would make nice souvenirs."

Jackie almost laughed. "Thanks, Uncle. We won't fail. See you soon." He put the phone away and turned to El Toro. "There's no time to lose." Without further ado they steeled themselves and ran into the temple doors… not noticing some of the faces on the temple walls had returned, and were sporting some very nasty smiles as they leered down at the two heroes.

Jade and Paco, however, did notice the ominous sign from their vantage point, and they weren't very happy about what it might mean, nor that their guardians were walking right into what must definitely be some kind of trap.

"What are they doing?" Jade yelled. In a single motion, she leaped off the ridge onto a tall tree sprouting from the ground below, grabbed onto where it's trunk reached their height, and without missing a beat slid down the trunk to ground level, Paco right behind her. "Haven't they seen the movies? This is when the curse always strikes! If Uncle Jackie gets out of this I'm tying him down and making him watch more television."

"No times for jokes, Yade… we must hurry!" Paco replied, channeling his fear into his running.

With speed born of desperation, the two sprinted through the dense, hilly jungle leading up to the temple in a matter of minutes, and the moment they got within earshot they wasted no time in calling out to warn them. "Uncle Jackie!" "El Toro!"

Just inside the temple, Jackie turned, as thought heard something. Something that shouldn't be there. "That sounded like… oh no." The two adventurers shared a startled look and without a word tore back to the entrance. But it was as if the temple sensed there were more players entering it's game without it's permission, as the great stone door began to slide closed – too slowly to notice at first, then all at once. The two Chan's had only enough moments to glimpse each other before the door dropped to the ground, blocking off all contact with a menacing thud.

Cut off from each other and a long way from any help, the two Chans on either side of the door shared the same thought: "Oh… bad day…"