A/N: This is my first one-shot and I'm proud to say I've enjoyed writing this. Sure it took me a long time, but writing this was fun and helped my writing become less stale.
This one-shot takes place at the end of the episode J2: Rise of the Dragons and the beginning of Relics of Demons Past. After I re-watched the J2: Rise of the Dragons, I realized that everyone (including me) watching the last episodes in season 4 completely forgot about Drago and Shen Du. They didn't even appear in a cameo! There were so many unanswered questions and so many theories in my head, so I'm going to use this one-shot to put what the unexplained pieces together would look like. To those who are fans of Gemstone, I'd like you to be mindful of some events in here because they could be important later. Oh, one more thing: there's some Chinese in this story which will be written in [brackets like so].
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. They belong to John Rogers and Duane Capizzi, the creators of Jackie Chan Adventures.
Stuck In Limbo
"The dragons will rise AGAIN!" the last word that rolled off his reptilian tongue echoed through the hallways of Section 13. The night of Chinese New Year was supposed to be a special night for Drago, the son of the fire demon Shen Du. It was supposed to be the night where he would finally get his father's approval after many centuries of negligence and the father-and-son connection Drago oh-so craved for growing up. Instead of Drago celebrating, he was fuming. Furious that just like his father, Drago was defeated and locked away in Section 13. Only this time, he was locked in the Section 13 of the past. Why?
"You think you can safely keep Drago locked away in your Section 13?" Jade the Chief asked her uncles. Her, her younger self, Jackie and Uncle watched as a struggling Drago was dragged in a Section 13 prison van. An orange muzzle covered his mouth to prevent him from breathing fire. Thick arm cuffs prevented Drago from moving his arms much.
"Mark my words Chan; I will. Have. My. REVENGE!" Drago pointed a scaly finger at the Chans before being thrown in the truck. The Chan Clan simply shrugged their shoulders at the empty threat and continued their conversation.
"Why would you want to do that?" Jade quirked a brow and turned to her future self. It was an odd request.
"The Section 13 of my time is too damaged for Drago to return," Chief Jade shot a glare at the demon before turning back to her family. "If I place him there, he'll be able to find a way to escape and do much more damage. I can't let that happen. Plus, I have to rebuild my Section 13 and I know it'll take a lot of work and time for it to be in tip-top shape again."
"If Drago destroyed your Section 13, would that not mean if Drago had escaped he could do the same here?" Uncle's rising tone in the question made everyone do a double take. Uncle did prove a good point.
"Hopefully you won't have to worry about that. With your magic, I know you and Tohru will be able to subdue Drago and put him back in his place," Chief Jade reassured. Her face fell into a look of slight shame and guilt to the ground. For some reason, she felt embarrassed to look her elders in the eyes. "I'm sorry for putting you in this mess. You, Uncle, Tohru, Section 13. Especially Tohru."
"Speaking of Tohru, what did h-" Jackie began to ask. Suddenly, they heard loud, rustling metal noises behind them, causing them to snap their attention to what was going on.
"Don't you touch me! Do you know who I am?!" Drago roared at the agents who were trying to handcuff him. He used his tail to push one agent off of him and tried to break free from the truck, only to have two bulky agents slam him back in. Judging by what sounded like Drago hitting his head against the metal walls, one could imagine that kind of head injury Drago might've received.
"He-llo? What about me?" Jade waved her hands to catch the attention of the adults talking. "It's not like I helped take down Drago or save the world from a 'destroy-the-world stunt. Again. Seriously, I should be getting paid for this!"
Chief Jade grinned and rubbed her younger self's head. "Of course you should, squirt-me."
"Do not apologize Jade. You cannot predict the future. You did not know," Jackie put a consoling hand on his adult niece's shoulder.
"I wish I did. If I hadn't have been so blind then things would have definitely turned out so differently," Jade said to her uncle with a sigh. Even though Drago has been reprimanded, she still couldn't shake the feeling of guilt from her being. Talking to Jackie now had greatly lessened it, even though he technically wasn't her uncle. Still, the Jackie Chan of the present hadn't changed much from the Jackie Chan of the future—Chief Jade's present. Without warning, the older Jade turned and reached around Jackie's neck in a tight hug. "Thank you, for everything."
"Of course," Jackie smiled, leaned into the hug and patted his niece on the back.
"Group hug!" Jade joined in.
"If this is what Jade of the future is like, then Uncle is veeerryy proud of her," the elder wizard embraced his young adult niece with an arm. Uncle typically wasn't big on hugs, his arm was a good enough substitute. Seeing older Jade's use of chi magic and her being able to take Drago on toe-to-toe by herself had somewhat impressed Uncle, even though he would never outwardly admit it. While the Chan family shared a very endearing family hug, they hadn't noticed that Drago was watching them all with a murderous red glint in his eyes.
"Oh yeah. That was why," Drago muttered as he sat on his prison bed with a heavy sigh. His tight, prison-like, orange jumpsuit was unbearable to Drago. He wished he could rip it off and get his own fashionable and comfortable clothes back, but they were put away and replaced with a Section 13 common prisoner wear; a fireproof jumpsuit and muzzle, courtesy of Captain Augustus Black. Drago's tail violently thrashed around the stiff bed; one of Drago's many bad habits that unconsciously happened whenever he was thinking too hard. Every time Drago thought about his loss to the Chans, the truth hit him that he ultimately failed. Each time it crossed his mind, he found it hard to accept defeat. Meeting Shen Du on the way to his cell didn't make his feelings any better.
"If I was able to destroy a Section 13 with a Chan as chief, I can destroy this base just as easy. The future Section 13's security sucked and I'm sure this one's even worse. I've escaped that place too many times, pretty sure I've broken a record or two," Drago mockingly confessed to Captain Black with a toothy sneer. Augustus had personally offered to help direct Drago to his prison cell, wary of the fact that Shen Du had a son. In their walking and all of Drago's incessant talking, Black found it harder and harder to ignore the insults, taunts, and curses flowing from the demon's mouth. Captain Black passed the holding cells and made his way down the hallway.
"After you put me in a boring cell, is that going to be all or what? You gonna give me some entertainment or something?" Drago asked, rolling his eyes in boredom.
"You'll see," Black said. He walked Drago up to one of the vault doors and slid his card. He took a step back, letting the huge vault door swing open before coming inside. Once fully open, Black watched in satisfaction as Drago's smug look changed into one of complete shock. The young dragon couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Father... "
In his famous stone form, Shen Du was sitting on a wall like a hanging, old framed picture. The adolescent could see the dust residing along the stone from where he was standing. Drago swallowed down his shock and put on a brave face, staring down the contents of his father's vault. For the few moments the demon was observing, he was flabbergasted.
"What is the meaning of this?" the father dragon boomed to Black and his agents. It was hard to tell through Shen Du's stone figure, but a brow was raised in a mix of suspicion and confusion at seeing his son in his present. He gave a pointed look at Drago (which he could feel) and hissed," What are you doing here, boy?"
"Long time no see, pops. Thought I'd get a warmer welcome from you," the young dragon stated dryly and cocked his head to stare back at his father's stone figure.
"Jackie, Jade, and Uncle caught your kid snooping around trying to help his dear old daddy from the future escape, something about a Chinese New Year special," Captain Black declared. With one hand, he pushed Drago forward rather harshly, earning him a growl from the suddenly-agitated dragon. "I've taken the liberty of bringing him here so you two could have a little chat, but keep it short. Drago here's going to be your new demon roommate."
"My father and I are going to be imprisoned in the same underground base on Earth. Dandy. Wouldn't have guessed that my father was stuck here looong before I came from from the future to save him," Drago sarcastically remarked. He turned to Black with a half-impressed shrug. "If I was your superior, I'd give you a raise if you had the balls to take out the trash."
""Father"? Do not make me laugh you insolent stupid whelp! You do not deserve to be called my son after the complete failure and embarrassment you made of me tonight! If I was my future self, I would be greatly disappointed with myself for expecting you to succeed. You were tasked an effortless job and you miserably failed. You should be ashamed for allowing yourself to think you would get any sort of praise or reward from me. You arrived here from the future and yet you could not even save yourself from getting apprehended by Chan and his accursed family, let alone speak about saving me," Shen Du's eyes glowered in disappointment.
""Embarrassment"?! "Complete failure"?!" Drago roared and shoved past the Section 13 agents around him to take a step inside the vault. He felt a warm chill run up and down his back, not because of the temperature. The demon shook off the weird feeling from his spirit and pointed at the stature in anger. "Bitch how dare you call me a "complete failure"?! You're the one still stuck as a statue by Chan and got beat by him every time!" the junior fire demon refuted. 'Don't you ever try and talk about my-"
"And you are the one captured by Section 13 and by Chan, no doubt because of your unchecked temper," Shen Du retorted. His son stood before him, rage filling up his body with a strong warmth at the back of his throat begin to rise. He tried to breathe fire at his father, only to realize that his fire-proof muzzle was there to stop the flames.
"[Fucking muzzle]," he cursed aloud. He was grabbed by his arms and pulled back by the agents and turned gave Shen Du a deadly look. Even though it was hard to tell, Shen Du was doing the same and Drago could feel it. He had always felt it.
"Case in point," the senior fire demon chuckled. "Your arrogance never ceases to amaze me."
Drago snarled at his blunder, but shoved it in the back of his mind to continue. "Like it or not, you should be congratulating and thanking me! I've done more tonight than you've ever done when it came to defeating Jackie Chan!" Drago roared. "I know our breathren for sure would've been happy!"
"Mind your tongue child! You will do well to respect me as your father! You clearly do not know the depths I have gone through over the years to where I am today. [You got lucky by going into hiding like a coward]. I had to do it the hard way by sitting in a stone statue for over nine centuries trying my luck in whoever would trust and cooperate with me to find my talismans," Shen Du snorted. "As for my brethren, it was I who helped them escape and I who assisted them to regain their empires long ago, but I doubt they would admit to that."
"Shut up, just shut up! I went into hiding so Lo Pei and his little chi wizard buddies wouldn't kill me so I had every right! And you can't be talking about cooperation! [When you all were banished by the Immortals, you escaped somehow and left the others trapped there so you could rule China, scaly bastard]! Each time you got banished by Lü Dongbin, Lo Pei, and Chan, you cried because you got a well-deserved ass beating from your siblings for being a selfish ass bitch! [Admit it. You've screwed up one too many times]."
"[Oh yes, I am selfish. I am selfish for risking my freedom so you would be safe from Lo Pei. I am selfish for ruling China and raising you in a safe and better environment while my brothers and sisters remained in the Netherworld, despite the fact that I tried numerous times to find them a means of escaping. I am selfish for doing all I could for my brethren and son without recognition or gratitude. Mind you, I was the one trapped in stone trying to give you a way out so you wouldn't have to suffer the same fate as I. But regale me; what have you done in the centuries your family was banished? Nothing! You were never responsible for your own mistakes and from what it appears, you never will be]," Shen Du argued. He was not about to have his son get the best of him. He was the senior authority and he deserved to be angry at Drago for deflecting his failure on himself. "[Tell me, if your mother was here now]... "
"[Oh fuck you! You don't care about my mother! You never cared! Don't bring her into this like I'm supposed to get all emotional! If anything, I respect my mother's sacrifices ten times more than any of yours because she was genuine unlike your fake ass!]"
"What are they saying?" one agent whispered to Black as they and the other agents in the room were forced to watch the two dragon demons go at it. It would be amusing if they could understand what was being said throughout the age-old Chinese being thrown and echoed across the vault.
"Beats me," Black shrugged. The chief agent was glad he was not involved in the family drama. The only thing bothering him was the yelling and roaring on both sides, mainly Drago's since he was closer to him.
"You know what? I'm alright seeing you trapped in Section 13 because I know you won't have any more chances of escaping," Drago backtracked into the nearest agent, making the signal that he was ready to go. "Face it old man; I was your last chance of getting out that stone prison and you blew it treating me like shit. Forget about asking me to help your pathetic ass anymore."
"I would be a very happy dragon if I did not ask you for any more favors. If I ever want something done right, I must do it myself. When I'm free, I will make sure I put you in your proper place and teach you a lesson in respecting your elders that you will never forget," the senior Fire demon growled. Drago gave his father a spiteful fiery look as Black slid his card to close the vault door.
"And once I get out of here, if I ever see you again, I'll make sure you get a one-way ticket straight to hell."
"So you're telling me that the future me relocated to build Section 14 and while I was away, Jade became the chief of Section 13?" Captain Black burrowed his brows. He couldn't believe what Jackie was telling him, even though he bared witness to a demon dragon and his demon siblings, magic, dark wizards, Japanese Oni masks and the latter. Black has been put in the hospital thanks to talisman magic, and for a while, Augustus found that hard to believe that magic was behind it all. Now Jackie telling him he moved on to Section 14, that was going to be hard for the chief agent to take in. "Are you sure we're talking about the same Jade Chan?"
"It is quite hard to believe, Captain Black. It was hard for me also when the future Jade told me that I was still working at Section 13 as a magic consultant. It was even worse when I found out Uncle and I were about to be dragon chow," Jackie nervously chuckled. This night tired the Chinese archaeologist out. He deserved nothing more than a good night's rest.
"I still can't believe all of this happened on Chinese New Year. It's just like when Shen Du almost destroyed all of Asia!" Jade exclaimed.
Augustus chuckled, patting his friend of six years on the back. "Luckily, it's all over. Drago and Shen Du are in custody of Section 13 and shouldn't be seeing the light of day again."
"And it's all thanks to Jade Chan, future chief of Section 13! On both Chinese New Years, I saved Uncle Jackie's butt and the world's," Jade proudly put her hands on her small hips. She was practically the only one who was enjoying her New Year. She placed a thoughtful hand on her chin as she remembered something. "Too bad Tohru couldn't stay here and invite his mother for the New Year. I can't wait to tell him everything when he comes back."
"Bah!" Uncle soured, crossing his arms over his chest at the thought of Tohru's mother. "If Vampire Woman was here, she would've distracted Uncle! His machine would've mistaken her for the source of dark chi magic!"
A forgotten thought crossed Jackie's mind, inviting him to speak on it. "Speaking of Tohru, the future Jade never told us about what happened to the Tohru of her time."
"Tch! I'm sure their Tohru's fine. He's probably a full chi wizard and left Section 13 to join 14 or something," Jade shrugged off the said thought. "Now can we celebrate Chinese New Year? Pleeeease? My candy's sitting at home with my name on it!" she looked up at her great-Uncle.
"Of course! Uncle is starving! Stupid teen dragon has been wasting too much of Uncle's time running around and getting captured!" the elder Chinese wizard agreed.
"And what are we going to do about Drago?" Black whispered to Uncle. The elder gave a concerned look to the agent. Black shrugged in response. "I'm just trying to follow your 'magic must defeat magic' rule so Drago doesn't make another escape."
"Uncle getting to that! To make sure Drago will not get out anytime soon, Uncle will put chi barrier spell that will prevent dragon from escaping tomorrow morning," Uncle agreed. Hearing Captain Black admit to his ingenious rule made Uncle's mood a little better, knowing that after all those years Black was beginning to understand. Hopefully, he would continue to think like this. With that, the Chan Clan and Captain Black parted their ways. The Chan Clan went on to celebrate the Chinese New Year while Captain Black began to fill out the piles of paperwork left for him. It was as if everyone had completely forgotten about Drago for the rest of that night.
"I knew I should've killed that old man when I had the chance! Same for the Jades," Drago's tiger-like roar rolled off his tongue as he punched his fist into his open palm. He was ready to burn something—or some people—to ash. Tonight was Chinese New Year and it really pissed him off that everyone around him was elated while he was stuck in jail. Today was supposed to be his best day, not one of his worst, ruined by none other than the Chans, the official demon party crashers. The junior fire demon let out a stream of black smoke, he could feel himself absolutely boiling with rage. Any minute now and Drago was ready to explode.
"Just wait 'til I blow this damn popsicle stand! Once I break free, all hell's gonna break loose! I'll just wait until the right moment... "
The next morning...
"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing, assholes?!" Drago snarled. Still in his tight and orange jumpsuit, he was dragged out of his holding cell at seven in the morning, cranky because of the lack of his sleep he received from sleeping in his hard bed. A rule Drago wanted Section 13 to remember was to never wake him up from his slumber; a rule they chose to ignore. Captain Black ignored Drago's insult and stepped out of the way for Uncle to step into the demon's cell.
"Yu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao, Yu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao," Uncle chanted with his magic smoke trailing behind him. The whiff of the light chi magic infuriated Drago.
"What is this?!" Drago recoiled and turned to Captain Black, holding his nose with his claws as the light chi felt like it was burning his nostrils.
"That's so you, lizard lips, don't get to pull another Dragon Takeover stunt anytime soon," a proud Jade said in front of Jackie.
Drago snorted. "Real funny shortstop. Did it ever occur to you that I know a buncha spells, some of which I could use to escape?" Drago smirked down at the girl. He was half bluffing; Drago did know many spells, but in order for the spells to work he needed ingredients from outside the prison.
"Does foolish dragon remember how Uncle left his mark on him yesterday?" Uncle barked.
"Did you forget about how I left you tied up and dangling over the Golden Gate Bridge and ready to die, old man?!" the son of Shen Du snapped back.
"Drago, you'll do well to shut your mouth unless you want to end up like your father locked in a vault!" Black pointed a stern finger at the dragon. The demon snarled with a step forward, black smoke coming from his muzzle. The agents left and right of him pulled him back.
"I didn't ask for this senile, garlic-smelling, old ass man to enchant my cell with good chi magic. You've already whooped my ass hard enough last night, you've left me here in the past, and now you have me stuck in the same shithole with my worthless father. What else do you want from me?" Drago angrily huffed. "You're lucky I have this muzzle and these fire-proof chains. Otherwise, I'd rip all of you apart!"
"Oooh! Fooolish demon boy is about to get heeealthyyy piece of Uncle for breakfaaaast!" Uncle snarled as he pushed past Black and made a straight bee-line for Drago. The dragon stepped forward to Uncle's challenge with a toothy grin, only to be pushed back by three agents. Uncle was barely held back by Tohru. For an elder, Uncle was pretty strong when he was angry.
"Sensei, you must finish the protection spell. Block out all of Drago's distractions, please," he pleaded with his teacher. When Uncle stopped struggling to push past his student, he adjusted his glasses and calmed himself down with deep breaths.
"Ah Tohru. You're lookin' good for 800 pounds. Still healthy and kickin'. You didn't change a bit," Drago said and took a hungry look up and down at the chi wizard. The man was built in shape and in height like a mountain, almost like his aunt. The demon darkly curled his lip at the light chi apprentice. "Ya know, in my time I didn't see you around Section 13 too often. Last I remembered, you didn't look so hot."
Tohru's lips dipped into a frown as he turned his way to look down on the dragon, knuckles beginning to turn white. The Japanese man didn't know what this lizard was talking about and he didn't care. All he knew was that he wanted to squash Drago right then and there. "I do not know who you are, but I will not hesitate to crush you where you stand if you continue to open your mouth and disrespect me and my family," the man growled. His calm threat briefly reminded everyone sans Drago of the Dark Hand thug he once was.
Drago shrugged, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "You're not gonna do shit, tubby. I've beaten demons three times your size," he retorted, then shook his head and laughed. "No. I shouldn't have said that. I doubt you're smart enough to understand what that means."
"[If Tohru did not hold Uncle back]... " Uncle muttered within Drago's understanding earshot. He walked back in Drago's cell and continued to chant the spell. The chi wizard took out the green chi dust and covered the entrance to the cell. The nausea in Drago's stomach and the burning in his nostrils from the light chi was unbearable. "Uncle is done. Drago has no chance of escaping any time soon," a smug look covered Uncle's face as he looked directly at the fire demon. The demon glared back, his crimson pupils burning through the old man's skull. The agents dragged the son of Shen Du, almost throwing him back in his cell. His tail hit a small cluster of green chi dust lying on the tile floor, making him shriek in pain.
"I hate good magic," he cursed as he carefully held his burnt tail. He looked up to see the Chan Clan and Captain Black staring at him in a mix of spite and triumph. "The fuck are you looking at?" Drago hissed with a hateful side-eyed glance. In parent protectiveness, Jackie quickly covered Jade's ears and led her away from Drago's cell, giving a nod to Captain Black. Altogether, the good guys left Drago alone, going on to do their own thing. "It'll all be over soon. No more Chan, no more good magic, no more of this hell," Drago repeated the mantra in his head. He looked down at his hands, which were completely covered and cuffed up. "I can't wait to get my hands on those Chans... "
Two weeks later, at lunchtime...
"He-Here is y-your l-lu-lunch, D-D-Drago," Agent Danny stammered, rolling in the prisoner's lunch tray. On the lunch tray was a mess of food: carton of milk, soggy pineapples, messy vegetables, not-so-nice mashed potatoes, and half-melted red jello. Danny had heard a lot about the new prisoner in the past few weeks from the other agents. Before, Agent Danny hadn't really believed it because he had no reason to. No prisoner could scare someone that bad, demon or not, Danny had thought. It was now that he was seeing eye to eye with Drago that he was getting cold feet.
Drago rubbed his grumbling stomach. He looked at the man with narrowed red eyes. "You're late."
"The guy wh-ho usually d-does this called in si-sick today," Danny responded.
"Hm, can't imagine why," Drago said and looked the scared agent up and down several times. "You look like you're about to piss your pants."
"Uh... "
"Just give me my fuckin' food already, dammit," Drago impatiently ordered. Danny took out the keys to the jail cell and unlocked the door. He walked inside, pushing the prisoner's lunch his way. To make sure he won't get burned alive by surprise, Danny ran out the door and securely locked it. "Where ya goin'? Dontcha wanna stick around?" Drago mocked the shaking man.
"N-No thank you. I'd rather eat my own lunch some-somewhere else."
"Where are the Chans?" Drago curiously asked. "Haven't heard or seen them all day ever since they've protected my cell with the chi barrier."
"Wh-Why do you want to know about the C-Chans?" Danny raised a suspicious eyebrow.
"Because nunya. Keep talking like that and you'll be next on my list of those getting torched when I get out," came Drago's snappy reply.
The agent cringed with a cold chill that ran down his back. "J-Jackie is doing an assigned mission gi-given to him by Captain Black. He's dealing with a criminal at the museum," Danny whimpered. "I'm not even supposed to be telling you this. The information is confidential."
"Well if you didn't, I'd kill you," Drago lightly laughed. The demon took a look around his tray before growling up at Danny. "I need eating utensils! How can I eat without having a fork and a spoon? You expect me to eat with my hands like a common animal?!" he snarled as he slammed his fist against the metal tray.
"Be-beside th-the-the plate," Danny whimpered at Drago's sudden act of violence, pointing at the small plastic bag beside the tray. His nervous fidgeting made it hard to tell what he was pointing to.
"Huh," the demon ripped open the utensils and opened it. He hungrily chowed down on his rice before spitting it out on his tray. The son of Shen Du used the fork to scratch the disgusting rice off his reptilian tongue. "Johnny."
"Danny."
"Tony, what is this shit?!" he pointed to the mashed potatoes
"My name's Danny and it's the lunch they s-serve for pri-prisoners," Danny winced at Drago's furious tone. The agent knew his choice of words was wrong, seeing the immediate rage.
"It doesn't matter if your name is Danny, Johnny, or even Batman! This is nasty! " Drago screamed as he spit all his food out on his tray and proceeded to throw it at the cell doors. The majority of the chewed up food smashed Danny in his face and dribbled down his front side. If Drago wasn't so damn scary, Danny would be disgusted that he was covered in chewed up food and demon saliva.
"What's wrong with the food?" the agent wiped the food from his face while hiding his digust.
"What's WRONG is that this can't be my lunch! That's not even food!" Drago complained. "You go back to the kitchen and cook me up some actual food before your barbecued remains become my lunch today!" the demon didn't get to finish his threat because the agent already dashed out the prison hallway for his life. When Drago's temper had calmed down some, he darkly laughed to himself. It felt good to strike fear into a mortal's heart again, even if he was doing it behind bars. "If I have to keep putting up with this, I don't know if I'll go crazy or if I'm gonna enjoy it."
Three weeks later...
"Captain Black, are you alright?" Jackie answered his cell phone. He didn't have to look at the screen to tell who was calling. The Section 13 was a part of the J-Team, and everyone was wondering where Black was.
"Been better, Jackie. We're operating from a mobile unit. The Oni seized headquarters. Satellite surveillance indicates they're on their way out of town in teams of two, heading north, south, east and west," Captain Black reported. Black was still having a hard time believing everything that was happening in the last few minutes. He was kicked out of his all-too-favorite secret headquarters by Japanese Oni demons and was forced to work in a mobile unit. As Jackie would say, 'bad day'.
"No doubt to state their claims of the globe, unless the J-Team stops them before they get that far," Jackie determinedly said.
"Be careful, my friend," Captain Black said and hung up. "Has everyone been escorted from the premises?" Black turned to the agents in his van.
"Yes sir," replied Agent Danny. Lucky for him after the Drago-lunch incident, Captain Black made sure he came nowhere near the demon. Danny was happy not to be harassed by him anymore, even if he had met him only once.
"All the equipment?" Black turned to Kepler.
"Yes sir, though I'm not sure if this equipment will be used in order to get back Section 13... " the scientist trailed off in doubt. He took a pitiful look at his genius inventions in his laboratory in Section 13 through a camera and sighed. When the agents all evacuating their headquarters, the Oni made sure Kepler wouldn't bring any of his inventions with him. They had promised to him they wouldn't break it but at this point, Kepler wasn't so sure. Turned out that Jackie and his family's seemingly-daily discussions about magic was real—very real.
"Tarakudo's too smart to damage an invention that would help him take over the world," Black commented.
"So what are we going to do in this van?" asked Danny with a raised brow.
"According to Jackie's uncle, 'magic must defeat magic'. Jackie told me the J-Team will handle it so I'm guessing the rule still applies in this situation. You don't know how mad Jackie's uncle gets when you don't listen. Even if we attempted to take back Section 13, Tarakudo's forces are too strong for us as a whole section," Black explained, still spying on the Oni with the security cameras.
"Then why can't we call Section 12 and the other ones?" asked Danny. Captain Black glared at the young man.
"If you're in the mood to lose your job and get sent to a mental institution, then do that. The other sections will make a much bigger mess than it already is," the chief agent grumbled. "My superiors already think I'm a complete nut job. If I told them that I lost my underground headquarters to some century-old Japanese Oni demons and ninjas dressed in all black who want to use it to host a forever sleepover, they will flip."
"I guess that means we're going to have to lay low on surveillance until the J-Team says we're clear," Kepler deduced with a pout.
"Good point," Danny nodded and turned back to his computer. When he looked into the security camera, he covered his mouth in shock. "Oh no. Um, sir?" quipped Danny. He shuddered, turning to face his boss.
"What?" Black asked. He felt his stomach drop, knowing that Danny's gasp meant that something was wrong.
"We may have forgotten some people while evacuating Section 13," the young man whimpered. He turned two security cameras and changed it to a sleeping dragon in his prison cell and Shen Du's stone figure. Captain Black stood up in a mix of anger and awe, staring at the camera.
"I-I don't know how we forgot about them but—" Danny tried to say but the words died in his throat. He wasn't secretly happy he didn't have to see Drago again but worried about what Drago will do while in Oni-occupied prison. Kepler's face was still the same, but inside he was very concerned. Augustus sat back down in his chair, massaging the bridge of his nose.
"Shit," Black muttered.
Meanwhile...
"Something's up. I'm not sure if I'm liking this surge of power or hating it," the demon frowned. It was already mid-afternoon (or so he thought. Drago stopped keeping track of time in his cell) and Drago didn't get his breakfast or lunch. He hasn't seen Captain Black and neither hide nor hair of a Chan. "Where is everybody?" Drago hollered. He grabbed a hold of the cell bars but when the green chi zapped his hand, he angrily backed off.
"I keep forgetting about that stupid chi barrier," the demon looked at his scaly hands. For some odd reason, his hands didn't sustain as much serious damage as they had before. When Uncle had first set up the chi spell it had felt like lightning, acid, and lava all at once searing Drago's scales. The sensation was sometimes so intense that Drago could feel the pain at the tip of his tail. Now it just felt like mild explosive sparks. "The old man's chi spell. He said it was going to put me away for a long time," Drago thought with a scratch of his chin. He grinned and looked up to see the pale ceiling above him, knowing what he wanted to see. "They're aligning faster than I thought."
Drago had a feeling he was all alone in his prison hallway and as far as he knew, all of Section 13. None of Black's stupid questions, no stern looks from Chan or his uncle, no Jade taunting him from outside his cell. Of everything he had hated in his "stay" at Section 13; it was mostly was Jade coming in for a couple of minutes whenever she could to pick on Drago for whatever she felt like. Over time Drago learned to ignore her squeaky, little annoying voice by meditating but it was still something that got extremely tiring.
It feels like… like something dark has taken over. I'm not sure what exactly, but I know something's definitely not right. If only I could find out what… Drago thought and cupped his chin. "Hey Black!" the dragon exclaimed through the bars. No response. The only thing that Drago heard was his echo running up and down the hallways.
"CAPTAIN BLAAAACK!"
No reply.
"CHAN! HEY CHAN!"
Nothing.
"DAMMIT CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!"
The emptyness in Section 13 was practically killing Drago. Where was Captain Black to tell him to settle down? Where was Jade to gloat in his face? Where was Uncle to cast another idiotic chi spell? "What the fuck is going on here?!" Drago slapped the cell bars with his tail. He quickly regretted that when he got shocked by the green chi, touching his pained tail. "Yow!"
"Who dares to yell in Master Tarakudo's headquarters?" a voice boomed. Drago whipped his head around to find himself staring at what seemed to be a blue samurai and a big, red floating head behind the samurai. The samurai's green irises and yellow sclera stood out to Drago significantly. The blue samurai's eyes seemed to burn a hole in the middle of the imprisoned Drago's head. The large floating head that had appeared out of nowhere caught the demon off-guard.
"Whoa!" the son of Shen Du backpedaled away from the cell doors. "Who—What the fuck are you?"
"I am Tarakudo, King of all Oni and Lord of all Shadowkhan. Surely you've heard of me," Tarakudo announced with a proud smile. "You may bow little demon."
"How did you even get in here?" Drago asked.
"I used the stairs like any guest—well, any owner—would," the Shadowkhan King remarked and eyed Drago up and down. "I didn't know Captain Black kept any pets."
"Tch, you wish. So you're that Shadowkhan King I've heard about. Sorry, but I don't bow to big ass floating heads and samurai Smurfs," the dragon crossed his arms over his chest.
Tarakudo narrowed his eyes at the young demon. "You've heard of me?"
"Fool! You will bow to your new master before I eat your brains!" the blue samurai threatened with a pointed claw.
"And who the hell are you telling me what to do?" Drago grunted.
The blue samurai angrily beat his chest twice in a warrior-like manner. "Who am I? I am Ikazuki, loyal servant and second-in-command to Tarakudo and the Oni general of the Samurai Shadowkhan! Once the Earth is fully shrouded in darkness, you will do well to remember your new master's names," the Oni announced with pride. Behind Ikazuki was two large Samurai Shadowkhan. Their arms were folded like a duo of bodyguards. Drago snorted, not surprised by what he was seeing.
Ikazuki suspiciously eyed Drago with a malicious grimace. The Oni decided that he didn't like Drago's snarkiness. He didn't know who or what a Smurf was, but it didn't sound like a compliment. The blue Oni turned to Tarakudo and deeply bowed to him. "What do you want me to do with this inferior creature, master Tarakudo?"
"'Inferior creature'? I am Drago, the one and only son of the fire demon Shen Du!" Drago thundered back.
"So you're the son of Shen Du, the big bad dragon who stole a portion of my Shadowkhan?" a confused Tarakudo slightly raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"Yeah, so what?" Drago deadpanned. "And what do you mean "dead"?"
"Mm, nevermind. Hm, didn't I see that old, obsolete dragon hung up in a Section 13 vault like an old picture frame?" the Oni King mockingly replied.
"You probably did. Not that I care about that retired dragon bastard," he nonchalantly shrugged and narrowed his eyes at the Oni.
"Ah, then you'll know that Shen Du and I had a nice little... reuniting chat. It's been a little over, what, 1,000 years since the last time I physically saw him? Back then in the peak days of his empire, Shen Du actually looked like he was threatening," Tarakudo darkly taunted. "Now he's stuck in stone. A pity, I might add. What goes around comes around."
Drago didn't realize that his knuckles were turning white. Although Drago outwardly hated his father, he permitted a very small few the chance to disrespect him when he was around. "Hmph, you think you're so tough? There's a reason why you're a floating head," Drago stated without missing a beat. Suddenly, the dragon found himself with a dark blade barely touching the base of his throat, ready to thrust forward.
"You will not show disrespect to Master Tarakudo while you are the one who is stuck in his prison, inferior demon!" Ikazuki warned and pointed an orderly finger at Drago as one of his Samurai Shadowkhan held up a blade close to Drago's throat.
Drago growled in a tiger-like fashion and gained a smug smile as he said, "Then let me out so I can continue to disrespect you, Ika-Smurf-i." Drago may have been in prison, but he enjoyed seeing 'Ika-Smurf-i' get angry. Ikazuki lunged forward to grab the bars of the jail cell causing the dragon to snicker at this. "Bad idea."
Uncle's chi spell quickly took effect and set off a serious shock to the Oni. "Yargh!" Ikazuki screamed and let go, finding his hands covered in what looked to be first-degree burns.
"That wasn't my doing, but that was pretty funny," Drago smirked.
"Ikazuki, it seems that we cannot negotiate with the junior dragon. The apple doesn't seem to fall far from the tree," Tarakudo clucked his tongue in mock shame.
"Hey, I'm not anything like that pathetic loser! Not when I'm gonna be free and he's the one still stuck in limbo!" Drago yelled and stepped closer to the cell doors. "I've been stuck in this prison for way too long! I'd understand if you don't trust Shen Du because of his stupidity, but I've done nothing wrong. We have no reason to be enemies, King Tarakudo. We could be allies since we have one common enemy."
Now in the back of Drago's mind, there's no way he could loyally go along with his propositioned vow. He didn't exactly like making allies especially when they became incompetent. Even if he could managed to go through with this, Drago loathed the idea of being allies with Tarakudo. He didn't know much about the Oni King but if Ikazuki was walking around, bowing and calling Tarakudo 'master' all day, then the son of Shen Du couldn't go along with it. He was used to being the master instead of calling others that title.
Tarakudo floated closer to look Drago dead in his crimson eyes. After a moment of dead silence, he spoke. "No."
"No?! What do you mean 'no'?!" Drago snarled.
"No, I will not free you. I did not respond to your offer as a question but as a definite answer. Your attitude reminds me of why I don't mesh well with your father and the rest of your family. If you're truly curious about why I'm a floating head, ask your father," Tarakudo stated and dissipated into the stone wall beside him A few seconds later, he came back with a set of clothes neatly folded. Tarakudo mentally unfolded the clothes and showed it off to Drago. "I've decided to be... gracious enough to give you a small gift: fresh clothes. I think you'd like it."
"What is that?" came Drago's soft tone. He didn't know if he was supposed to be mad at Tarakudo's insults or content with the gift.
"When my Shadowkhan were looking through Black's desk in his office, I saw a blue tacky one-piece that I'm guessing belonged to you?" Tarakudo asked.
"And so you changed that to this?" Drago grabbed the levitating clothes to get a better look himself. One hand held a black trench coat with the sleeves ripped off while the other held black boots with holes in them well fitting to Drago's feet. At his feet were what looked like a grey sleeveless shirt with a fire insignia, a red sash, and dark grey baggy pants. As much as Drago didn't like Tarakudo and his smugness, he had to admit that the clothes were... neat.
"I took the liberty of changing your apparel because it looked like it needed some proper adjustments. Honestly, if that jumpsuit is what you youth are wearing now, then I'll gladly stick to my traditional Japanese clothes. These garments are just in case you ever do escape. Doubt you'll make it though," Tarakudo snarked as he levitated the folded clothes through the cell bars and set them on the prison bed gently. "Alright, we're done here," The Oni King said and dissolved into the wall a final time.
"You heard Tarakudo. You are not worthy of such a precious ideal as freedom," Ikazuki sneered at a seething Drago. He stepped into his shadow and sank below. In the blink of an eye, he was gone also.
"Hey! Come back here and free me, you Oni bastards!" Drago angrily shouted. The dragon gave a devilish roar and began trashing his jail cell by tearing up his mattress, the walls, and the floor; in other words, nearly anything left standing in Drago's way. The son of Shen Du even hit the light chi barrier a couple of times and felt the pain from that. He could care less about the injuries he was sustaining from the good chi magic. Hell hath no fury like a demon scorned.
A long month later...
"The stars have finally aligned in my favor. It's my time now," Drago said and maliciously rubbed his hands together. It was late in the night and Drago wasn't feeling the least bit tired. Somehow, the son of Shen Du had managed to stay awake for thirty hours straight. How Drago was able to do that, he didn't know. He had to feign fatigue during the day so Captain Black and his agents wouldn't wonder about him.
"What happened to Agent Penny, Black? I miss making that guy piss himself," Drago chuckled. Captain Black scowled at the dragon, placing his hands in his pockets. He didn't understand how or why Drago's mood went from usually angry to elated. Something was up and Black was curious to know what it was.
"His name is Danny. And what with your sudden good mood? One day, you're cursing out everyone in Section 13 and the next day, you're smiling like a serial killer clown," Black said. Drago's daily erratic behavior had become a norm in Section 13 that everyone ignored. For some time now, Black had noticed Drago was quiet, too quiet.
Drago shrugged. "I dunno. I'm so happy being here that I'm starting to like it here."
"Yeah right."
"I was being sarcastic dumbass. Do you even know what sarcasm is?" the demon glared at the chief agent. He lay down on his bed and let out a soft roar/yawn, stretching out his muscular arms to use as a comfortable makeshift pillow. "Get lost. I wanna take a nap," he mumbled.
"Hey! I'm not done talking to you!" Augustus stepped closer to the cell.
"Yeah, I don't care what you want, Mr. Clean. Buzz off," Drago lazily said and dismissed him with a wave as he closed his eyes.
Since he never did anything exciting in his cell during the day, Drago took his time to meditate, only taking short breaks for his meal time. He ate two full plates of a decent sloppy breakfast, three plates of not-so-great lunch and a plate of a mediocre dinner. Drago had even manipulated the vulnerable Danny to get him some candy bars. He needed the surplus food; the demon couldn't escape on an empty stomach. Drago needed all the strength he could get, not to mention decent looking clothes so he wouldn't look like a runaway prisoner. The King of the Shadowkhan was right; Drago did like his new clothes. How and why Tarakudo did what he did, he would never know. From what he heard from the shrimp's rambling, Tarakudo's stuck in his own Shadowkhan Netherworld for good. For once, Drago agreed with Chan's decision. If anyone was going to take over the world, it was going to be him and him alone.
When he saw that it was the right time, Drago quickly changed from his prison jumpsuit and undid his muzzle. It took him weeks to learn how to undo his binds, using little to no force at all. He slapped on his gifted clothes, keeping silent. I wonder why no one sees what I'm doing, Drago thought. Maybe the guard supposed to be under surveillance is sleeping. he guessed with a dark chuckle. "I can't believe Captain Whack and Chan really thought they were going to keep me here forever. Ha! I said it once and I'll say it again; security at Section 13 stinks," Drago joked. He grasped the cell's bars and was greeted by the crisp of the metal. "Hmph, the old man's chi barrier is gone. The bad chi stars must've eliminated the good magic for me. I don't think he's aware of it."
Drago took several steps back and sat on his stiff bed. He closed his eyes and put his hands together in a prayer motion. With each inhale, the demon could feel his firepower within getting stronger. With each exhale, Drago let out clouds of black dust from his nostrils and mouth, filling his jail cell.
If this isn't the perfect time to get out, I don't know when would be, Drago thought. When he opened his eyes, his iris' were replaced by fully growing red eyes, similar to his demon brethren. A great feeling overcame his body and radiated from his scales. A familiarly warm feeling enveloped his throat. Drago let out his last steady meditating exhale and a strong stream of fire was released from the dragon's mouth. The brewing fire was so strong that it reduced the cell's metal bars to ash and exceeded outwards to melt, granting him an exit.
"No prison can hold the son of Shen Du!"