Hi everyone, welcome back to J-WITCH. Things are getting more interesting for this story as the heroes are aware of an outside party aiding the Knights of Vengeance, but they don't know who it is quite yet. Considering this is Nerissa we're talking about; she'll be doing everything she can to make sure her involvement is kept off the books until the time is right. As for whether or not the heroes learn about her sooner than in canon, you'll just have to see. Now, with that being said, let's get started.
What's More Dangerous?
It was the middle of the night in Meridian as Nerissa and Drago had gathered at the center of some old ruins. The young half-demon sat casually on a set of ruined stairs as he watched his mother get to work. A fire had been burning in front of her as she had casted her spell.
"Denune Mayheluse Loquibar. Mayneptune Demolabrator. Denune Mayheluse Loquibar. Mayneptune Demolabrator!" She reached into her satchel and pulled out a few strands of light blonde hair. "Denune Mayheluse Loquibar! Mayneptune Demolabrator!" She dropped the hairs into the fire, creating a brief flash of light before the flame turned an eerie green color. "Hairs from Meridian's young queen."
"Yesh, stalker much?" Drago joked.
"It's not stalking if she allows me into her company." Nerissa replied in the same humorous tone. "Now it's your turn, my boy. Dose the fire."
Drago picked up a nearby bucket of water and threw it over the green flames, extinguishing them quickly. He grinned as he aimed his right claw at the smoldering pit. "Quintessence!"
Dark red and black energy bolts shot from the tips of Drago's claw and into the pit, causing all the smoldering smoke and ash to twirl together before shooting upward in a plum, and then take a more solid shape, or rather multiple shapes. What stood before the pair was now a set of ten, twenty-foot, tall humanoids. They were all dark grey in color as they had shirtless bodies to expose their large muscular frames, while their lower bodies were covered in robes with capes at the rear. Their heads had hoods while their faces were completely lacking any features, as the openings in the hood showed only darkness, not even eyes were visible.
However, they would soon undergo a transformation as their dark grey stone-like bodies became dark green, scales forming along their arms as their hands turned into claws, and spiked spines emerged from their backs.
"Behold, my son…! A sight not seen in eons… The Annihilators!" Nerissa revealed. "And now, they are even stronger as they now wield your demonic power!"
"Couldn't I have just given them pieces of my own Fire Chi?" Drago asked. "I'd have to take it back from Raythor and the others, but given I'm their leader, they wouldn't mind."
"It wouldn't have worked." Nerissa explained. "Not too dissimilar from the Shadowkhan your father used, the Annihilators aren't truly alive. Demon Chi can only bond with those sentient beings, those that already have chi of their own. However, since it was your Quintessence, your lifeforce, that created these beings, traces of your own demonic heritage are now a part of their structural and magical makeup. And, they are completely bound to your will, they will do anything and everything you command without hesitation or question."
"Then let's test them out." Drago stepped forward. "Alright boys, see that statue over there?" He pointed to the side to an old and giant statue resembling a bird. "Do your namesake justice!"
The Annihilators all simultaneously turned toward said statue, and blasted beams of energy from their eyes, energy beams that were orange and mixed flames around them. The fire-energy beams struck the statue, where it exploded like glorious fireworks.
The Son of Shendu and Nerissa grinned with an eager growl. "Me likey. Dad got his own set of mindless minions, now I got some too."
"So, what do you intend to do with them?" Nerissa asked with her signature grin.
"What do you think? Give Chan and those pretty little Guardians a really hard time." Drago leapt to the top of a one ruin to address his new minions. "Head southeast straight to Elyon's palace and level it! Wipe out anything and anyone that gets in your way!"
With that, the mindless juggernauts went in the direction their master specified and would not stop no matter what until their mission was complete.
Earth – Sheffield Institute
"…Seems like you guys are integrating into Sheffield pretty well." Elyon said to Frank, Charlie, and Rocko as they and Alchemy sat at a table during lunch.
"You even got detention." Alchemy said in a joking sense. "So yeah, I'd say that makes it official."
"Hey, that creep Uriah was picking on ya guys." Frank said.
"Yeah, we ain't gonna let our pals get bullied." Charlie added.
"Isn't guilty till proven innocent a real thing though?" Rocko asked. "Does that mean we don't get a lawyer?" That actually earned a laugh from the two girls.
"You know, the Enforcers' nephews are actually pretty cool." Hay Lin said as she and the rest of the girls of J-WITCH sat at their own table as they saw their friends interact with the nephews of their former enemies.
"The fact they gave Uriah a swirly just for messing with Elyon already earned my approval." Irma smirked.
"They're like anti-bullies. Totally the opposite of how their uncles were." Jade added.
"How do you think they'd feel about all this magic stuff that we're involved in?" Taranee asked.
"I think it's best they don't know." Will said. "The less people who get dragged in the middle of all this, the better."
"Yeah, especially with all this Demon Chi stuff going on." Cornelia added.
"Not to mention cranky T-Rex junior who's even more rabid than his dad." Irma also put in.
"I agree." Caleb stepped up, carrying a tray of food in his hands. "We shouldn't get any more people involved if we have to. Mind if I join you?"
"Heh, honored as we are of wanting you to share our space, I'm afraid there's only six chairs allowed at our table. School rule." Cornelia said coldly as she looked away.
"Ouch." Jade winced along with all the other girls, while Caleb walked away and sat at an empty table on the other side.
"Okay, you might be a bit of an ice queen sometimes, but that was pretty harsh there." Irma said to Cornelia.
"I thought you and Caleb were sorting things out after that whole mess with the Water Demon Chi." Taranee recalled.
"I'm willing to work with him when it comes to fighting the bad guys. Otherwise, I'm fine with keeping him at a distance." The blonde clarified.
"Could you at least not be so mean?" Hay Lin asked.
"Pretty sure you'd have a better chance of asking a shark to be a vegetarian." Jade put in, earning a glare from Cornelia.
Will the noticed her boyfriend walk by with his own lunch tray. "Matt! Matt! Over here!" She waved him over.
"Uh… thanks. But I'm gonna keep my boy Caleb company." Matt said as he walked over to the next table.
"Since when are they best buds?" Will wondered aloud.
"Hey, the guy needs some pals since a certain someone here is keeping her walls up." Jade made a not-so-subtle remark to Cornelia, who simply scoffed as she waved her hair to the side.
Matt sat across from Caleb. "So, how's Sheffield treating ya?"
"Is there really a six-chair rule?" The young rebel leader asked, earning a confused look from Matt.
"No idea what you just said… but speaking of the Guardians?"
"We weren't." Caleb corrected.
"I wanna get more involved in all this stuff. Fight with you guys." Matt said.
"Appreciate the thought, but you're not a warrior." Caleb told him. "Granted, you did help take down Tarakudo, but you only did so when you caught him off-guard. And when you tried to help fight Drago, you almost got charred."
"That's why I need you to help teach me." Matt replied.
"Why me? You can ask Jackie." Caleb said.
"Yeah, but then Will would find out and she'd just freak." Matt replied. "Tell ya what? If you train me, I'll show you the ropes here at Sheffield."
"Ropes?" Caleb didn't quite understand.
"It means I can show you how things work here." Matt explained. "For starters, I wouldn't eat that meatloaf."
Caleb gave a scoffing laugh. "You saw me eat live bugs, and I've had to forage through literal garbage to scavenge a meal while on the run from Phobos' forces more than once. Pretty sure I can handle it." He took a bite of the meatloaf on his tray. Matt only had a knowing smirk on his face as Caleb felt his stomach turn from the inside.
"We got a deal?" Matt asked with a grin, to which Caleb nodded.
However, unbeknownst to them, Jade had managed to overhear their whole conversation. She had a feeling Matt was up to something sneaky, and sneaky was her middle name. Yeah, if Will found out about this, she'd act just like how Jackie used to with her. So, she'll let the boys train in secret, maybe run some interference with her bestie to keep said secret.
Later that day, when school ended, Will and Jade arrived at Uncle's Rare Finds where the latter, Jackie, and Tohru watched as Uncle and Yan Lin helped Will to practice her Quintessence powers. Currently, the redhead sat at a table as Yan Lin brought a pot with a dead plant toward her.
"Remind me again how this is supposed to help Will in mastering her powers?" Jackie asked.
"Yeah, I thought plants were Cornelia's thing." Jade added.
"Quintessence is basically life energy." Tohru explained. "And plants, while derived from the element of earth, are a form of life. Will's power, in a way, can help her to essentially control the energy of life itself."
"I see…" Jackie seemed to understand. Though he could tell Will was quite nervous about this, and he didn't blame her. Being told that you have a power that enabled you to control life would be overwhelming for anyone.
"Now Will, focus your powers on the plant itself." Uncle instructed.
"Okay… but how exactly?" Will asked. "I didn't even know I had powers till recently."
"Think of it as though you are using the Talismans." Yan Lin said. "Similar to how the Rat Talisman can grant motion to the motionless, your ability can help to restore and manipulate the life energy of other living beings. Imagine you are granting motion to this plant."
Taking a deep breath, Will held out her hands toward the dead plant and focused. Soon, pink energy began to emanate from her hands before it extended forward and envelop the plant. The second it made contact, the plant began to grow and change its form. Will released her grip and looked in surprise to see that the once dead plant had now come alive again, taking the form of a bright and healthy sunflower.
"Whoa…" Will looked to her hands in amazement as Jackie, Jade, and Tohru also looked in surprise. Yan Lin smiled while Uncle gave a simple nod. "Did I… did I really just do that?"
"You brought dead plant back to life." Uncle confirmed. "That is power of Quintessence."
"I wonder what else I can do…" Will began to think.
"Hey, if it's like the Rat Talisman, maybe you can bring to life some gargoyle statues! Give yourself an army!" Jade suggested. "Or maybe steal Cornelia's gimmick and turn a greenhouse int a slaughterhouse for the bad guys!"
"Or… maybe she can take it one step at a time." Jackie advised. "I agree that this is phenomenal, and I can see Quintessence having great potential… but let's not bite off more than we can chew."
"Yeah… I'm gonna go with Jackie on this." Will quickly agreed. "As much as I love the idea of creating my own army Jade, I don't wanna dive into the deep end here."
"Alright, if you say so. No magic armies, yet." Jade accepted, something that caused Uncle and Yan Lin to share a smile with one another.
Suddenly, the group was alerted by the sudden appearance of a Fold on the ceiling as Blunk fell out with a scream and landed on the table.
"Blunk?" Tohru looked in surprise as the Passling got up to address everyone.
"Big trouble!"
Meanwhile, Caleb had taken Matt to Elyon's house where the two would start Matt's training. Caleb decided to start him off with swordsmanship practice. He was quick to build a set of make-shift practice dummies from a garbage can and mannequin, each one holding a stick and shield with helmets serving as heads.
Caleb provided a demonstration as he rushed the dummies, slashing the stick of one with his katana, causing it to spin around where he deflected the shield and quickly decapitated one of them.
"See? Now try it again." Caleb told him.
Matt picked up a sword that Caleb had lent him, along with a shield, and ran forward. He was able to swing down and knock away the sword-hand of one dummy, but that caused the dummy to spin around and slam its shield into his back to knock him down.
"Ow." Matt muttered while Caleb just chuckled. "Sorry… this is tougher than I thought…" He said as he rubbed his back a bit.
"Don't worry. Nobody gets skilled overnight." Caleb assured.
Matt's cellphone rang, which he was quick to answer as he stood up. "Hello? Oh, hey Will. Um… just hanging. Uh yeah… he's here." He handed the phone to Caleb. "It's for you."
"Hello?"
"Caleb, Blunk just arrived from Meridian. There's trouble going on. Jade, Jackie, Uncle, Tohru, and I are going on ahead. Find Elyon and the others and get them there as soon as you can."
"Right, on the way." Caleb answered before handing Matt his phone back. "Meridian business, sorry. Just keep practicing."
"Got it." Matt nodded in understanding, knowing he wasn't quite ready yet. As he saw Caleb leave, Matt went back to practice as he tried to lunge his sword at the dummy but get hit in the backside again and knocked down.
Meridian
A peaceful and quiet afternoon on a farm was suddenly interrupted as the Annihilators blasted their way through the building with their fiery eye blasts. The second the family inside the building saw them, they ran as quickly as they could, the mindless juggernauts ignoring them as they continued on their straight path, obliterating the house in the process.
A Fold opened as the transformed Will and Jade stepped out with Jackie, Tohru, and Uncle right behind them.
"I'm guessing those are the bad guys." Will assumed.
"Lucky guess." Jade stated.
Jackie was the first to run in front of the Annihilators and block their path. "Stop! Who are you?!" They said nothing as the one at front of the pack blasted a fire-energy beam at Jackie, forcing him to leap to the side and avoid the devastating blast while the Annihilators just continued on their way.
"Rude much?" Jade questioned. "Let's take em down!" She and Will flew forward to try and intercept the mindless beings. When they got close, two of the Annihilators on the side turned their faces to blast their fire-beams at the two Guardians. Jade raised a wall of shadow-magic to absorb the attacks as Will flew above her to try and land a flying kick toward them, but one caught her by the foot before throwing her at Jade, knocking them both out of the air and toward the ground.
Now it was Uncle's turn as he drew a blowfish and fired a stun spell at one of the Annihilators, but it barely even affected it. Though it did draw that one Annihilator's attention as it shot a fire-blast at Uncle, who quickly ducked under the blast. However, Uncle was quick to notice how these beings were quick to get back on their intended path and observed them with a curious expression.
Tohru came up from behind and was able to grab the one at the rear in the form of a bearhug. Despite it being twice his size, Tohru was able to lift it from the ground. However, that Anhilator was able to break free from Torhu's grasp and grab him by his shirt to lift him up with one hand and throw him all the way to a tree on the edge of the farm, shattering it upon impact.
"Did that thing just toss Tohru like a ragdoll?!" Will questioned.
"Yes…" Jackie noted as he looked seriously. "Something tells me this will not be an easy fight."
Jade then noticed a Fold opening up. "Good thing we got the calvary."
Stepping out of the Fold was Elyon, along with Caleb, Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee, Cornelia, Alchemy, and even Blunk.
However, the second they appeared on the farm, the Annihilators turned to dust and fell to piles on the ground, much to the surprise of Jackie, Will, Jade, and even the recovering Tohru. Uncle, meanwhile, continued to observe.
Elyon and those that had just arrived looked in confusion as they only saw something crumble to dust before their eyes. Said dust was blown away in the wind, leaving no trace of the mysterious attackers, other than the damage they reaped.
"Okay… can somebody explain what just happened?" Alchemy asked.
"These monster-guys showed up out of nowhere and shook off everything we threw at them." Jade summed up. "But then… they just… poof. Gone."
"Guess we weren't needed here." Cornelia said.
"Maybe they ran away? Retreated?" Hay Lin asked.
"It is possible, considering how powerful Elyon has become. Not to mention the full team of Guardians as well." Tohru said.
"But who were they? What were they?" Will asked what they were all thinking.
"Uncle? Do you have any ideas?" Jackie asked his uncle.
The elderly chi-wizard rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before answering. "We must do research."
"Of course." Jade rolled her eyes.
Unbeknownst to them, the whole event had been watched by Drago via a pair of binoculars as he maintained a relatively safe distance on a nearby hilltop. He could only grin as he could see that his mother's experiment was a success.
The group returned to the palace where Julian and the reformed Enforcers were waiting for them. The heroes gave a brief explanation of what happened.
"From your description, they sound like something I'd never thought to see in my lifetime." Julian showed the group an old book as he turned the page to reveal the beings in question. "Annihilators. Fearsome and powerful juggernauts of evil."
"So, they're like Shadowkhan." Ratso said.
"Yeah, Shadowkhan on steroids!" Chow stated.
"And last time I checked, Shadowkhan don't have heat vision." Will said.
"They may be similar, but they can't be the same." Jackie put his thoughts in. "All the Shadowkhan were sealed with the Oni and Tarakudo, and the mask used to seal them is safe in Section 13."
"Shadowkhan not important." Uncle said as he pointed to the illustration of the beings in question. "Look closely at Annihilators on page."
Everyone tried to get a good look. "Um… what are we supposed to be looking for?" Finn asked.
"I see half-naked guys in hoods." Irma noted. "They got nice packs though."
"They look… different." Tohru noted. "The beings we faced had spikes on their back and claws for hands. These ones in the book don't seem to have those traits."
"Maybe it's a different variety?" Taranee assumed. "A mutation or something?"
"This will require further research." Uncle said as he picked up the book. "Uncle will need to borrow book."
"Read away." Jade told him.
The Next Day
Blunk kicked back on a lawn chair specified for his size with a pair of sunglasses and a glass of ice-cold lemonade as he watched Caleb continuing to train Matt to the best of his abilities.
Currently, they were working with staffs. Matt approached Caleb as he tried to hit him with the staff, but Caleb was easily able to block him before spinning his own staff, putting Matt on the defensive and forcing him to back up before he tried to block Caleb's attacks. Though he was able to block the first two, the force from the third swing knocked Matt back into the pool behind him.
Blunk laughed briefly but gave a startled scream as the water from the pool splashed on him as well.
At the same time, at Uncle's Rare Finds, as Uncle himself continued to perform research on the book he had borrowed to find more information on the Annihilators, and Jade played with Scruffy, Yan Lin had asked Jackie and Tohru to help Will in training with her Quintessence abilities.
Will, now fully transformed as a Guardian, stood in front of the pair as she brought up a barrier of pink energy before Yan Lin gestured for Jackie and Tohru to make their move. The two nodded toward one another before proceeding to strike the barrier. Jackie mostly performed kicks and various chops, while Tohru tried to smash his way through with brute strength. For the most part, Will's barrier managed to hold. However, she struggled a bit to keep it up as she could feel the barrier weakening with each strike. She tried to put a little more energy into it, hoping to strengthen the barrier...
Only for it to suddenly expand and create a powerful repulsive force that sent both Jackie and Tohru flying and crashing into the library where Uncle was studying, causing all the books and book shelves to fall down on top of them.
"AIYA!" Uncle exclaimed as he, his nephew, and apprentice were buried under it all, while Jade, Yan Lin, and even Scruffy looked in surprise while Will just covered her mouth in clear shock.
The Annihilators continued their destructive path throughout Meridian. This time, they were literally carving a path through a nearby town. They were already making their way toward a forge as several people tried to barricade themselves inside, while the blacksmiths took up what tools they could to try and defend their homestead.
Their defenses didn't even last a second as the Annihilators blasted their way through the door.
Thankfully, help came as a Fold opened up in front of the Annihilators as Jackie, Caleb, and Tohru appeared, as did Uncle. While the former three were more than ready to fight back, Uncle seemed as if he was more observing the situation, taking a glance at his surroundings for the moment.
Jackie, Caleb, and Tohru all charged to meet the mindless foes head on. They didn't get very far however as the Annihilators suddenly turned into dust right in front of them, the three looking in confusion. They heard the sounds of applause behind them as they all turned around to see Elyon had also arrived, along with Finn, Ratso, and Chow. Though the civilians all celebrated, the Queen and her bodyguards only looked just as confused as their friends. All except Uncle, who took an inquisitive glance at where the Annihilators once stood before glancing at Elyon again.
Sometime later on Earth, it was time for gym at Heatherfield as several students, including Matt, Cornelia, Irma, Jade, Caleb, Martin, Frank, Charlie, and Rocko were playing a game of basketball.
Though Caleb didn't quite seem to grasp the rules as a ball hit him in the face and into his hands, which was quickly stolen by Matt as he and Martin passed the ball to each other, avoiding Frank and Rocko as they tried to block them, with Jade and Charlie at the hoop ready to block them.
But then, Caleb caught a glance at Cornelia and saw an opportunity to impress her and decided to make his own move. Right when Martin was about to reach the basket, with Jade and Charlie ready to block him, Caleb tackled Martin to the ground, much to everyone's surprise before stealing the ball and throwing it up through the hoop. He celebrated for a minute before turning around to see the surprised looks on everyone's faces.
All except for Matt, who looked unimpressed, Jade who smacked her hand on her forehead, and Cornelia who turned away with crossed arms and an unamused expression on her face.
After school, Caleb had met up with Matt again at Elyon's house for some more training. Blunk was there once again to watch and enjoy the show as he ate a bowl of popcorn.
This time, Caleb had pulled out a mace, picking it up to spin it around, showing where and how to apply the force needed to move it. Matt seemed to get the gist of it as he picked up the mace himself, though it was much heavier than it looked as he struggled to pick it up. He tried to spin it, but lost control and his balance, causing him to fall backwards into the pool behind him once again.
And just as before, the water splashed over Blunk and caused him to spill his popcorn, much to his dismay.
Unbeknownst to either of them, Jade had peeked around the corner to see what they were up to. She had been coming around all the times that Caleb had been training Matt to see how they were doing, but never directly interfering or even letting the boys know that she was watching. It seemed pretty slow and steady for Matt, but he was getting better. Now she just had to come up with an excuse for Will when she starts to wonder why her boyfriend has been so absent lately.
Later that evening, after feeding Mr. Huggles in her room, Will made a quick call to Jade, who was pretty quick to answer.
"What's up, Will?"
"Hey Jade, do you have any idea what's been going on with Matt?" Will asked.
"Matt? What do you mean? He's not my boyfriend." Jade responded. "Trouble in paradise?"
"You tell me." Will said as she sat down on her bed. "I barely see him at school, and when class gets out, he always seems to be hanging around Caleb."
"Well Caleb could use a friend, given the cold shoulder treatment Corny's been giving him." Jade put in.
"Yeah, that's fair." Will granted. "But when I do see him, it's just a brief 'hi' before he walks away. And when I try calling him, he doesn't answer. It's like he's ghosting me."
"Okay, don't get mad at me, but I did tell him that you'd be working more with Jackie, training to get a better hold of your powers and felt maybe you should focus more on that." Jade explained truthfully. She did tell Matt about that, but also because it would probably give Matt more room to train alongside Caleb as well. "And you know how Uncle would take that. 'No time for boyfriend. You must train' and probably dope-slap both of you."
Will chuckled slightly. "Yeah, he would do that. But you told him I'd be training? Kinda wish you said that to me ahead of time."
"Hey, I thought it'd be obvious." Jade replied. "You seem pretty hunkered down on it."
"Yeah, cause I don't wanna accidentally suck the life out of something like an energy vampire!" Will stated.
"Pretty sure it doesn't work like that." Jade said.
"You get what I mean!" Will said before taking a second to catch her breath. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you Jade it's just… all this stuff… the Annihilators, my powers, the Demon Chi, now boyfriend drama... it kinda feels like it's all piling up all at once."
"Don't worry about it, I get it." Jade assured. "But hey, you know how it goes in Shonen anime. Get some hard core training in, and you'll be going all Super Saiyan and beating the bad guys left and right!"
Will laughed. "Life isn't anime, but… thanks. Yeah, this will all work out. Thanks for the talk."
"Hey, what are besties for?" Jade said. "Talk to you later."
"You too." Will said before hanging up. She lied flat on her bed, feeling a bit more relieved. But it still left her a bit curious as to what Matt's been up to. She had a feeling there was something going on that she didn't notice yet. She turned on her side to open the cage that Mr. Huggles was in and let the dormouse crawl up her arm and onto her shoulder as he cuddled against her face.
"You got any idea what our boy's up to?" She wondered aloud as Mr. Huggles gave a squeak.
Meanwhile, back in Meridian, Julian, the Enforcers, and several guards were trying to catch up to the Annihilators that continued their rampage throughout the entire realm. Though it was easy to follow the trail of destruction they left in their wake, actually catching up to them was another story.
"Geeze, don't these guys stop to rest or something?" Chow complained.
"At this rate, they'll reach the marketplace by tomorrow." Julian said.
"Isn't that not far from the castle?" Ratso asked.
"This is getting out of hand." Finn said worriedly. "I just hope Chan and the kids find an answer soon."
As they voiced their concerns, Drago continued to watch with anticipation from the top of a destroyed roof. 'Hmm, maybe this might turn out better than we thought. If we actually do manage to level the palace, it'll make things all the easier!'
The next day, after class had ended, Caleb and Matt decided to get some more training in, this time in the gymnasium where nobody else was. This time, they were working on hand-to-hand combat, and it seemed that Matt had improved significantly.
Matt swept his feet at Caleb, who jumped over the strike to retaliate with an airborne kick toward Matt's face, who limboed underneath the strike and tried to punch Caleb while airborne, but the young rebel blocked it as he landed and parried another punch from Matt who used his own momentum to send him to the ground. However, Matt had quickly recovered as he got up, spun on his left foot to try and kick with his right. Caleb ducked underneath the kick and swept his own feet, though Matt was able to jump over that before trying to punch Caleb, but he parried the strike with the side of his arm before pushing Matt back. The two exchanged smiles before Matt charged again and tried to go for a high kick, but Caleb blocked that by crossing his arms, which caused Matt to lose his balance before falling to the ground.
"I stink…" Matt criticized himself.
"Hey, nothing worth doing is easy." Caleb told him as he offered his hand. "And you are improving, mostly because I'm a great teacher."
Matt took his hand before pulling Caleb forward in a surprise attack and using both his feet to push him up and over him to a hard landing on the ground. "You are inspiring." Matt joked, earning a half-smile from Caleb as he picked himself up.
"Psst! Hero boys!" Blunk appeared before them. "Annihilators in Meridian market! And not hunting for bargain!"
"Blunk, open a Fold to Meridian!" Caleb instructed. "Matt, find Elyon, Jackie, and the Guardians!"
"I'm on it!" Matt nodded before running off as Blunk opened a Fold for him and Caleb to get back to Meridian as soon as possible.
Jackie had pulled his car up to the school to pick up some of the girls, this group being of Jade, Will, Taranee, and Cornelia.
"Let me guess. More training?" Will assumed.
"Yes. Yan Lin is very insistent." Jackie confirmed.
"Uncle still researching?" Jade asked in surprise. "He's taking a lot longer than normal."
"Even with Tohru's help, these Annihilators are presenting a problem." Jackie said.
"Hey, guys! Will!" Matt quickly ran up to the group to get their attention. "Annihilators are attacking the Meridian marketplace! Caleb and Blunk are already there!"
"Huh, speak of the devil." Cornelia commented.
"Find Elyon, Hay Lin, Irma, and Alchemy." Will instructed.
Matt hung his head down. "What am I? The messenger boy?"
"We've all been there, man." Jade patted his back in teasing sympathy.
"I'll send an alert to Yan Lin to let Uncle and Tohru know as well." Jackie said as he sent a text on his phone as Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar.
A Fold opened up on Meridian as Jackie and the transformed Will, Jade, Taranee, and Cornelia appeared on a hilltop, but there didn't seem to be anything going on at the moment.
"So, where's the panic?" Cornelia asked.
The sounds of screaming and explosions caused them to turn around to see the marketplace, engulfed in smoke, was at the valley below.
"Gotta work on my Folding." Will said to herself before she picked up Jackie and flew alongside her fellow Guardians straight to the marketplace.
Chow, Finn, and several guards were thrown to the side into the market stands by the Annihilators. Ratso tried to charge forward at their side, carrying a war-hammer, before leaping to smash his hammer into the side of one and caused it to crumble to dust. Only for the Annihilator to reform himself from said dust, grab Ratso by the arm and throw him into Julian, both rolling across the ground and into the path of the approaching juggernauts.
However, a stream of fire was shot down to create a wall of flames to separate the Annihilators from their soon-to-be victims.
"Guardians! Thank goodness!" Julian breathed in relief as Will and Taranee flew down to help pull him back up along with Ratso. They looked in shock as they saw the Annihilators walk right through the wall of fire like it was nothing.
"Did those things just go terminator on us?!" Taranee questioned as she pulled Julian up while Will did the same with Ratso to find cover.
"Annihilators are forged in fire. It cannot harm them." Julian explained.
"Of course." Will rolled her eyes.
"Anyone got a fire extinguisher then?" Ratso asked.
Jackie and Jade both arrived to help up Finn and Chow. "Have you had any progress in slowing these things down?" Jackie asked.
"Does it look like we made any progress?" Chow replied irritably.
"These things are walking tanks!" Finn added. "Even if they do get broken, they just fix themselves back up!"
"Then let's leave nothing for them to recover from!" Jade stated as she flew to intercept the Annihilators, with Jackie running after his niece to provide assistance.
The second they spotted her, the Annihilators shot their fire-beams at Jade, but she did her best to maneuver most of them. When it looked like they were all about to converge on her, Jade threw up a swirling barrier of shadow-magic to suck up the fire blasts like a black hole. This gave Cornelia a chance to place her hands on the ground and grow a multitude of roots from the earth below, which ensnared around all ten of the Annihilators.
Jackie used this as his chance to run and deliver a flying kick straight to the head of the frontmost Annihilator. Though the head did break apart from the force of Jackie's kick, it was quick to regenerate before blasting a fire-beam at Jackie, who kicked up a downed shield to protect himself, but the force of the impact still sent him flying back.
The other Annihilators used their claws to cut their way through some of their bindings while also blasting more fire from their featureless faces to chip away at Cornelia's ensnarement. But she still tried to get them while they were all focused on escaping. She herself focused on the ground beneath her, pulled all the dirt she could and used her telekinetic powers to make the growing mass of dirt take the shape of a large anvil.
"You guys look like you could use some iron in your diet." Cornelia cracked before she dropped said anvil onto them and crushed all ten Annihilators at once. "See? Not so tough." However, her cockiness left her distracted from the Annihilators' sudden regeneration.
"Cornelia! Look out!" Jade warned her. She turned around just in time to fly and avoid the concentrated fire blast from all ten Annihilators, but the force of the blast still sent her crashing into a nearby wall. Jade tried to fly down and help, with Will and Taranee joining her to provide back up.
However, Drago, who hid in the attic of an empty building had given his next command to his minions. "Nine in the rear, keep the flying girls busy." They did as ordered, nine of the Annihilators shot their long-distanced fire-beams at the incoming Will, Jade, and Taranee, forcing them to fly and dodge however they could. "One at the front. Smash the blonde. Make it hurt." Drago grinned.
The recovering Cornelia looked up in nervousness to see the Annihilator at the front of the pack approach her personally and raise its fists to crush her. "Bad day…" The blonde muttered in fear.
Fortunately, she was tackled out of the way by Caleb as the Annihilator's fists impacted the ground. Caleb, with Blunk hanging onto his back, quickly pulled Cornelia behind cover to avoid getting blasted.
"Nice of you to show up!" Cornelia said sarcastically to her ex. "I thought you went on ahead!"
"Blunk still got bad aim with Tonga Tooth." Blunk admitted. "Being late all Blunk's fault."
"Fine." Cornelia accepted begrudgingly as she stood up. She was about to fly back in when Caleb grabbed her by the wrist.
"Look, I'm not asking for you to be nice right now. Give me the cold shoulder all you want, but we both agreed that when it comes to our missions, we'd put our issues to the side! So, can we do that and actually work together?" Caleb requested.
Taking a deep breath, Cornelia had to remind herself that they did agree to that. Jackie was right. The mission came first. Anything else can wait.
"Yeah, I can do that." She accepted.
"Then let's see if we can try and separate them. Can you split them up?" Caleb asked.
"I can try." Cornelia took control of the ground the Annihilators were on and created a small tremor that shook most of the area. This briefly stopped them and gave her an opening to create two large stone walls vertical that split the group of ten into three groups; two had three Annihilators each, while one had four.
Will and Ratso both charged one group of three as she delivered an airborne roundhouse while flying to knock two of them down into the other one, piling all three up. Ratso took advantage of this as he slammed his war hammer down repeatedly to try and break them up. However, they were quick to regenerate and blast the pair back with their fire beams.
Cornelia ensnared the four in the middle once again with her plant vines, leaving them opening for Caleb, Finn, and Chow to rush them with their respective weapons. Caleb drew his katana while Chow had a staff, and Finn had a round shield that opened to reveal several small blades at the edge as they all hacked, slash, and beat at the Annihilators, but any injuries they sustained were quickly healed before all three were swatted and thrown away. They then turned their attention toward Cornelia and blasted at her before cutting themselves free.
"Over here! Over here!" Jackie got the attention of last three, waving his arms as the one closest to him tried to punch him, but he backflipped to avoid it before throwing his shield like a frisbee to decapitate that very Annihilator, only to watch its head regrow instantly. Despite that, Jackie made sure to stay close enough to them to keep their attention focused on him as he backed toward a broken wooden pillar on his right. Once the approaching Annihilators were across from it…
"Taranee! Now!"
The Fire Guardian shot a concentrated stream of fire to cut through the base of the pillar. "Timber!" She then flew in to kick the pillar and knock it down to crush all three Annihilators. But the pillar broke apart as all three of them reformed once more. "Okay, seriously?! Who keeps hitting the reset button on these things?!"
Both Taranee and Jackie were blasted back by fire blasts from those three Annihilators. As they tried to get up, they looked in fear to see the one Annihilator closest to them was already in front of them, raising its fists to crush them.
"Hey!" Jade flew in and created a trident from her shadow-magic and plunged it right into the Annihilator's chest. "Nobody messes with my uncle and pals but me!" She pulled it out as the Annihilator crumbled to dust.
"Get ready! It'll come back any second!" Taranee warned as she coated her fists in flames and took a martial arts position with Jackie while Jade wielded her shadow-trident.
However, much to their surprise, there was still only a pile of dust in front of them. Nothing more.
"It's… not regenerating?" Jackie asked aloud in confusion.
Even the hiding Drago looked in shock. "What…?"
"Jade… I… I think you killed it." Taranee said to the surprised Shadow Guardian. "Like… For real."
Jade looked towards her trident-construct made from the flowing black mass that was her own shadow magic. "No way…"
Meanwhile, the two Annihilators from the group they were facing, had managed to regroup with the others as they fended off their enemies' attacks. Despite that, Will, Cornelia, Finn, Ratso, Chow, and Caleb all stood their ground, ready to face them, while Blunk hid behind them for cover.
However, a Fold opened up behind them as Elyon popped out with Irma, Hay Lin, Tohru, Uncle, Matt, and Alchemy right behind her. But just like before, the second Elyon entered the scene, the nine Annihilators turned to dust.
"Whoa… thanks for the save, Little E." Finn saluted her with relief.
"Yeah, we were almost goners there." Ratso added.
"All hail Queen Elyon! Queen Elyon! Queen Elyon!" All the guards cheered.
Despite their cheers though, Elyon only felt more frustrated as she knows she didn't do anything. "Ugh, not again."
As the rest of the heroes regrouped to catch their breath, Caleb breathed in relief as he looked to Cornelia with a smile, who turned away with crossed arms. "Mission's over, so cold-shoulder is back on." She said, much to his irritation.
Caleb then noticed Matt was also present. "Okay, Mr. Show-me-the-ropes." Caleb got his attention. "Why are Earth-girls so… impossible?"
"Dude… books have been written." Matt shook his head.
"Wait, Matt what are you doing here?" Will questioned as she approached him. "Don't you know it's dangerous…!" She tried to touch his shoulder, only to accidentally push him back with a burst of pink energy, much to her shock.
"Okay, Okay, I get it! Matt go home!" He stated.
"Sorry! That was an accident!" She quickly apologized.
"You should all just go home…" Elyon was ready to send them all back to Earth.
"No! Wait! Hold on!" Jade got all their attention. "I think I actually killed one of those things!"
"Say what?" Cornelia questioned.
"You actually took down one of those freaks?" Chow questioned as well.
"It's true." Jackie confirmed. "Jade impaled it with a weapon made from her shadow power, and it didn't regenerate."
"Hmmm." Uncle thought for a moment. "Jade, where was Annihilator struck down?"
"Right here, Unc." Jade flew over to the pile of dust that was once the Annihilator. Uncle went over and pulled out a vial from his pocket to collect a sample.
"Now. Where did other Annihilators vanish?" The Chi-wizard asked.
"It happened over here." Taranee gestured to the larger pile of dust. Uncle pulled out another vial and was able to collect a sample from that as well.
"Jade's power could be key to defeating Annihilators." Uncle said. "But we must do further research."
"You guys go do that." Elyon said to the group as the Enforcers stood by her side. "I'll stay here and help clean up." She opened a Fold for the group to return to Earth. As they left, Blunk took a handful of dirt that once made up the Annihilators before sniffing it for a second.
"Hmmm. Blunk smell sulfur."
Meanwhile, Drago remained in his hiding spot as he thought for a second about what he just saw. "Jade was actually able to put down an Annihilator. Looks like there's more to her power than we thought. This could actually be a problem."
The heroes all arrived on Earth via a Fold and popped into a back alleyway just outside of Uncle's Rare Finds. As they prepared to walk away, Will grabbed a hold of Matt's wrist for a moment before she addressed her friends.
"You guys go on ahead. Matt and I need to have a chat."
"Uh oh, trouble in paradise?" Irma teased
"That's exactly what I said." Jade added.
"We'll go on." Jackie said as he led the group away while Will faced Matt alone.
"So… what's this about?" Matt asked, trying to put on an innocent act, but he had a feeling he knew what was about to come next.
"Well let's start with the fact that you've been basically ghosting me for more than a week!" Will began. "We barely talk to each other when I do see you, you're always hanging out with Caleb, and you never answer my calls or my texts! Is there something going on? Did… Did I do something wrong?" She asked, looking a little hurt.
"What? Will, no!" Matt quickly said. "It's nothing like that! Look, I'm sorry if it feels like I'm blowing you off, but… Well…" He couldn't quite find the right words.
"Well, what?" She questioned, hoping for an answer.
"I can't tell you." He said honestly. "Not that it's a dark secret or anything! It-it's a surprise! I've been hanging out with Caleb… getting a surprise ready for you!"
"It's nowhere near my birthday, and I'm not exactly a fan of surprise parties." Will said.
"Not that kind of surprise." Matt told her. "You'll find out soon, but I promise it's a surprise you're gonna like. Trust me." He said with a smile before kissing her on the cheek, much to her surprise.
"I… uh…" She was at a loss for words for a moment as her cheeks turned red. "Okay…" She regained her composure. "If that's what you say. I guess I got no choice but to trust you."
"Don't sound so reluctant. I'm sure you'll love it." Matt assured.
"I'll hold you to that." Will said before walking away, deciding to trust him and leave it at that.
Matt sighed in relief, believing he was alone.
"Honest but still mysterious. Real smooth dude." Jade said from behind.
"Yeah, thanks." Matt replied before his eyes widened in shock as he turned around in surprise. "Wha… how did you…?!"
"It's my thing." Jade answered. "Oh, and I know what you've been up to. Caleb's been helping you to learn how to be a badass so you can be part of the gang, right?"
"I… eh… yeah." He confirmed reluctantly. "But… if you knew… why didn't you say anything to Will?"
"Meh, because I know what it's like." Jade replied. "To have someone care about you but are also annoyingly overprotective. So, I get what you're coming from. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." She patted his back in reassurance.
That earned a smile of gratitude from Matt. "Thanks."
The Next Day
It was Saturday, so all the girls in J-WITCH met up with the Chan Clan at Uncle's Rare Finds with Yan Lin, Matt, Caleb, and Alchemy all present. Even Elyon had arrived as well as they tried to come up with a plan to stop the Annihilators for good.
"Alright, this is Meridian…" Caleb had a map laid out before them as he used a marker to circle various spots. "…The Annihilators attacked the farm, the forge, and the market."
"You know…" Matt tried to say something but was interrupted by Irma.
"Yeah, but how do we stop them?" She questioned.
"Whatever we threw at them, they were able to quickly recover from." Jackie said. "All except Jade's powers."
"Hey… Listen…" Matt tried to get everyone's attention but was still ignored.
"So how come Jade's powers affect them but the rest of us can't?" Hay Lin asked.
Before anyone else could respond, Matt snatched the marker from Caleb's hands and wrote a giant x over most of the map, all to get their attention.
"Hey! You just crossed off Elyon's palace!" Caleb told him.
"Yeah, I figured I'd save the Annihilators the trouble." Matt began. "Look, these attacks aren't random… they're on a literal straight line to the palace!" He drew a line connecting all the various spots the Annihilators attacked and towards the palace. They could all see that it was a literal straight line. "But they're not after Elyon herself, just her palace!"
"He's right…" Taranee noted. "Can't believe we didn't notice that!"
"So how come I never see them?" Elyon asked.
"You are the Queen of Meridian. Maybe they know you're too strong for them." Alchemy suggested.
"No. The Annihilators are mindless beings." Yan Lin explained. "They have no thoughts of their own."
"But we have found reason for that." Uncle spoke up. "Tohru, explain…"
"Right after we returned to Earth from Meridian last night, Elyon remained behind." The sumo explained as he brought out a laptop and played a pre-recorded video. "I took the liberty of recording our research on the samples of the Annihilators we collected. One of those samples became active as we studied it." They all saw the video of Uncle pouring said sample onto a tray, which shifted and took the form of a clawed finger, which bounced up and down.
"Ew!" Cornelia cringed as the other girls winced.
"This only happened because Elyon was in a separate dimension." Tohru continued. "But now…" He took out a vial containing the same sample and poured it on the table in front of them, revealing it was nothing more than dirt. "…It's just as inactive as the Annihilators when you returned to Meridian." He said to Elyon specifically as her eyes widened in surprise.
"A powerful spell was placed on Annihilators so that when Elyon is in Meridian, they are inactive and only become active when she is not in that realm." Uncle summarized.
"…I can never leave Meridian again." Elyon said in realization.
"And make yourself a prisoner in your own kingdom?" Matt questioned.
"What else can I do?!" She questioned in obvious fear.
"If you really wanna end this, stay away from Meridian." Matt told her. "Trust these guys to finish the job."
"He's right, Elyon." Jackie told her. "I'd also like to know who is responsible for all of this. Somebody used magic to cast a spell on those Annihilators."
"Well… they do shoot fire." Matt pointed out. "Who else do we know has fire powers and a grudge against us?" He asked rhetorically as it seemed he figured it out.
All their eyes widened as it suddenly dawned on them. "Oh! Of course!" Will smacked herself upside the head. "Should have figured Drago was behind this!"
"Doesn't that guy have anything better to do with his life than mess with us?" Irma questioned.
"But… I think we might have a way to take his little buddies down for good." Jade said. "My powers were able to take out one Annihilator, right? So, I should be able to do the same for the rest of them."
"Yeah, how is it that Jade was able to actually put one down while the rest of us couldn't?" Cornelia asked.
"Maybe it's the same way she can extinguish light?" Taranee suggested. "We even saw her absorb fire like a sponge."
"That might actually be the case." Tohru said as he showed them another video on the laptop. "This is the sample of the Annihilator that Jade destroyed." The video showed Uncle pouring the contents of the second vile next to the twitching Annihilator-finger, to their surprise, it remained a pile of dust. "Based on what we can gather, the magic that was used to animate the Annihilators was completely negated from that one sample."
"Darkness is absence of light. Of warmth. Of energy." Uncle explained. "Jade's power over shadow creates a literal void, one that absorbs all forms of energy, even magic. Her power absorbs magic of Annihilators, rendering them to dust from whence they came."
"So, Jade's basically magic kryptonite?" Will asked.
"It would seem so." Jackie confirmed.
Jade could only grin. "Sweet."
"Hey, I just thought of something!" Hay Lin stood up in exclamation. "The Annihilators are only active when Elyon's not in Meridian, right? Well, since she's here… what if they're attacking the palace right now!?"
"That is more than likely." Yan Lin confirmed as Elyon gasped in shock.
"You guys have to stop them!"
"Then we're leaving now." Jackie stood up with everyone else.
"Wait, if Drago is behind this, what are the odds that he knows Jade can actually stop those things?" Matt asked. "I mean, he's gotta be watching from a distance, right? And if he knows, he's going to do everything in his power to stop her."
"Then we'll kick his scaly butt too." Jade stated as Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar and said the magic words.
"Guardians Unite!" In another flashy transformation, Jade, Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin transformed into their respective Guardian forms of J-WITCH. "Elyon, sorry to ask, but you're so much better at Folding than I am, would you…?"
"Yeah, I got ya. Just… kick some Annhilatail for me, would you?" She opened a Fold up in the middle of the shop for them.
"Hey, I'll stay here and keep you company." Alchemy volunteered, taking her best friend's hand, earning a smile.
One-by-one, the Chan Clan, Caleb, and Guardians entered the Fold. But when Matt was about to follow them, Will stopped him. "Will, come on! This was my idea! Don't say…
"…It's too dangerous." Will interrupted.
Matt rolled his eyes. "Fine." He turned around and watched Will enter the Fold.
"Ya know…" Jade was the last one remaining as she got Matt's attention. "Uncle Jackie used to say the exact same thing to me. So you know what I did?"
"What?" He asked.
"I either found a loophole, or just flat-out disobeyed him." Jade gave a wink. "Check the dumpster in the back for our favorite, green-skinned scavenger." She said before entering the Fold, which closed up behind her, leaving behind Matt who only smirked at her implication.
Explosions erupted all throughout the town that surrounded the castle. The Enforcers, Julian, and guards did their best to stop the Annihilators that carved their way through straight to the palace, but just like their previous attempts, they barely even slowed the juggernauts down.
A Fold opened above them just as the Annihilators shot at them, fortunately Jackie, Caleb, and Tohru were able to pull Julian and the Enforcers out of the way as they watched the Annihilators pass by.
"Dad, are you alright?" Caleb asked as he, his father, and Ratso were on side of the ruined road while Tohru, Jackie, Finn, and Chow were on the other side.
"They ignore us if we stay out of their way." Julian said. "I think their aiming to bring down the palace!"
"We know." Caleb confirmed.
"Drago is behind this." Jackie said to Finn and Chow.
"Ugh, why am I not surprised?" Chow looked more annoyed than anything else.
"But Jade has the power to bring them down." Tohru said. "Keep your eyes peeled for him if he's nearby."
Jade flew above the Annihilators as she created a large sphere of shadow-fire in her hands and held it above her head, ready to throw it down on them. "Lights out, creeps!"
However, before she had a chance to throw it, something tackled her from the air and sent them both crashing on the ground before she was thrown into a fountain in the middle of a small plaza-like area. The one that took her down was none other than the half-demon they were searching for.
"Change in plans!" Drago ordered the Annihilators. "Take down the Guardians and their friends! Level this city! No survivors!"
The nine Annihilators did as ordered, stopping their path toward the palace and began to unleash their fire-beams in every direction, blasting away all the buildings near them as well as focusing their fire on the Guardians, Chan Clan, and their allies as they tried to find whatever cover they could.
Jade got up to face Drago as he turned his attention toward her. "I saw what you did yesterday. No way I'm gonna let you wreck the rest of my toys."
"Then I'll kick your butt before I kick all of theirs!" Jade generated shadow-flames in the palm of her hands.
"How about this? I keep you busy while my Annihilators turn your friends and family into paste before we all destroy you." Drago then unleashed an inferno from his mouth, which Jade met with a stream of shadow-flame from her hands. Both attacks pressed against the other as they glared at one another.
Back on Earth, Matt carried a fire extinguisher and a hose as he kicked on the dumpster at the back of the Chan family shop. This got the attention of the Passling inside as he climbed to the top to greet his visitor.
"Funny Matt." Blunk acknowledged with a smile.
"Yeah. Funny Matt." Matt himself rolled his eyes at that comment before getting to that point. "Blunk, you have to take me to Elyon's palace. Drago's there and he's controlling the Annihilators!"
"Drago not funny. Drago scary." Blunk said nervously.
"How I about I give you this in exchange?" Matt held up one end of the hose to Blunk, who took it with a curious expression, looking into it while also pressing his ear against it. "High tech Earth spy-ware." Matt said into the other end, which Blunk heard. "You can eavesdrop from fifty feet away."
Blunk laughed. "Funny Matt got deal!" He took out his Tonga Tooth, causing Matt to grin with a nod.
A Fold opened up as Matt and Blunk arrived in Meridian at the castle town that had now become a warzone, with the former carrying the fire extinguisher while the latter still held his hose.
"Yes! Blunk stick landing!" The Passling cheered, but a nearby explosion startled him as he leapt and clung to Matt. "Ah! Landing stick Blunk!"
"Blunk, I need your nose!" Matt pulled him off. "Can you sniff out Drago? He's gotta be somewhere nearby!"
Though still scared, Blunk took a moment to sniff the air and the ground like a bloodhound. "Lizard boy smell like sulfur. Blunk pick up same smell from Annihilators yesterday." He got the scent and pointed in one direction. "There!" They could see from a small distance Jade in a fight against Drago.
"Alright, go get Will and tell her where to find him. I'll help out Jade." Matt instructed as the two went off in separate directions.
Jade had generated a set of shadow-claws on her hands to slash at Drago, which he dodged and parried before throwing a punch Jade's way, which she blocked with a kick before flying up and coming down with a slash at Drago, but he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her down to slam her to the ground before throwing her to the brick wall of a nearby building.
Drago then opened his mouth to blast his fire breath at Jade, only for Matt to quickly appear between them and blast the fire extinguisher at Drago's attack. The white foam was able to put out the incoming fire blast as Matt kept up the assault to cover the surprised Drago, leaving him open for Matt to rush him and slam the extinguisher itself into his face and knock him into the nearby fountain.
"Wow, good timing." Jade commented.
"I'll take care of lizard-lips. You take down the Annihilators since you got your shadow-Kryptonite magic." Matt told her.
"Uh Matt… I know you're getting better… but you won't last ten seconds." Jade told him.
"That's why Blunk is getting Will." Matt said. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."
Jade sighed. "Alright. But if you get burnt alive, just I remember I told you!" She said before flying off. 'If he does bite it, Will's gonna kill me. So, I gotta finish those guys off quickly!'
Matt looked incredibly serious, holding the extinguisher tightly as he saw Drago stand up with a growl. "You're in over your head, pal."
"Maybe… but that'll make it all the more embarrassing when I kick your ass!" Matt fired the extinguisher at Drago, who swiftly dodged the foam before moving in and slashing the extinguisher with his claws, tearing through it, the force knocking Matt down onto a pile of rubble as Drago loomed over him.
"You were saying?" He said with a smirk, opening his mouth to unleash another inferno. But Matt spotted a broken wooden staff at his side and quickly grabbed it to lunge it right into Drago's open mouth, shoving it as far in as he could. Drago gave a muffled cough as he tried to pull it out, but Matt used this opening to grab Drago's right arm, shift his left leg over Drago's and pull him forward to trip him up and send him rolling across the ground.
Drago wretched the broken staff from his mouth and coughed a bit before looking toward the smirking Matt. "You were saying?" He repeated as he took a combative stance.
Meanwhile, the remaining Guardians and their allies did their best to fend off the Annihilators how they could. Though they were no longer targeting the palace, the fact that they were now the Annihilator's current targets for their namesake made it much more difficult than it did before.
Ratso was backed against the wall as one Annihilator had him cornered, but Tohru was able to rush that Annihilator from behind and pick it up with his own strength before throwing it into a nearby building.
"Thanks, man." Ratso said with a smile. "It's nice to finally be on the same side again as good guys."
"Yes, it is." Tohru returned the sentiment. But their relief was short-lived as the same Annihilator recovered and reengaged the duo with a fire blast.
Hay Lin tried to encompass two of them in a tornado, which Taranee added with a steam of fire from her fists, creating a flaming cyclone. Hay Lin sent the cyclone toward three more Annihilators that were engaged with Uncle, Finn, Caleb, and Julian. The flaming cyclone hit, and all four Annihilators were taken out in an explosion. Knowing that wouldn't stop them, Hay Lin and Taranee flew in to help their four friends get away as the five Annihilators recovered.
Irma fired a condense stream of water that pierced through the Annihilator she faced, though its injuries were quickly healed as it returned fire, forcing her to fly back, coming back-to-back with Cornelia as well as Chow as they faced an Annihilator of her own. Both bearing down on the trio before firing their blasts at him, which they tried to avoid as best as they could.
Will kept the last Annihilator that she was facing focused on her as she was close enough to engage in hand-to-hand, using her own speed to avoid the devastating strikes. This would hopefully leave it open for Jackie to come in using a spear, which he plunged into the ground to pole-vault himself at the Annihilator with his feet, sending it down to the ground.
"Will! Jackie!" They turned to the side to see Blunk approach them quickly. "Funny Matt find lizard boy! Told me to find you!"
"What?! Matt?!" Will exclaimed in shock. "You brought him here?!"
"Will!" Jackie got her attention back as they saw their Annihilator opponent come back up to strike at them again…
*SLICE!*
The Annihilator was cleaved in half horizontally, both halves falling to the ground and turning to dust, courtesy of Jade wielding a large battle axe made from her shadow-magic.
"I'll help the others clean these guys up! You two just help Matt cause he's fighting Drago alone right now!" Jade told them.
Despite the initial surprise, Jackie knew that this was the best way to end this fighting once and for all. "Alright, we'll leave it to you." He nodded to his niece, who flew off to help the rest of her friends. "Blunk, take us to Matt and Drago right now!"
"Yes! Follow Blunk!" The Passling led them toward the fight.
'Matt… if Drago doesn't kill you, I will.' Will thought internally.
Speaking of Matt, he did his best to duck and dodge all the punches that Drago threw his way. Even when backed to the wall, Matt ducked and rolled on the ground to avoid the tail-strike that broke the wall apart. Spotting an abandoned club on the ground, Matt quickly grabbed it and turned around to slam it across Drago's face. When Matt tried to strike again, Drago slashed the club to pieces with his right claw. When slashing with his left one, Matt ducked and swept his feet to trip up Drago, but this didn't last long as the half-demon pulled back his feet to slam them into Matt and knock him down.
When Drago got back up, Matt was a bit slower to push himself up as Drago's double-kick did hurt. But Matt did stand back up and try to punch Drago, only for him to catch Matt's punch rather easily before he jammed his elbow into Matt's chest and knock him against a wall, with Drago quickly grabbing him by the jacket and pinning him to said wall.
"Not bad, for an amateur." Drago commented. "But do you really think you can actually beat me?"
"I'm not trying too. I'm just stalling." Matt smirked.
Drago looked in confusion, but that confusion turned into shock as he heard a yell and was suddenly struck by a flying kick from Jackie, knocking him away from Matt.
He winced however when he caught Will's glare as she landed near him. "You and I are gonna have a long chat when we get back."
"Fine, I deserve it." Matt accepted. "But just watch!" He was quick to pick up a broken piece of wood, one big enough to serve as a makeshift shield before charging the recovering Drago.
"Matt, wait!" Jackie tried to stop him, but Matt was already closing in on Drago, who unleashed his fire-breath on him. Matt used the wood as a temporary shield, which he threw away as he ducked and swerved around Drago's attack, quickly closing the distance before delivering a roundhouse kick to knock Drago down, much to Will and Jackie's surprise.
"Granted, I'm no Bruce Lee. But I can fight, I've been practicing. Let me help you guys keep dragon breath occupied while Jade and the others finish off his buddies." Matt said.
Will shared a concerning glance with Jackie, as much as they hated to admit it, the three of them keeping Drago away from the Annihilators would give their friends a chance to finally end this madness. Jackie gave a serious and understanding nod to Will, only sighed in reluctant acceptance.
"Just keep your distance and let us handle the heavy hitting." Will told her boyfriend.
"I can do that." Matt nodded.
Drago got back up with a roar as he faced all three of them. "Your scheme ends here, Drago!" Jackie told him before he attacked first.
Jade flew first towards Ratso and Tohru as they struggled to hold down the Annihilator that they were facing. "Guys! Hold him still!" Jade told him as she generated a shadow-spear in her hands, which she used to fly quickly and impale the Annihilator at the front. It disintegrated completely in less than a second.
"Uh… is it down for good?" Ratso asked nervously.
"It won't be getting back up from that." Tohru confirmed. "Thanks Jade."
"Yeah, not done yet though." Jade said as she flew straight up, hoping to catch sight of whichever of her friends' fight was closer. She then spotted Irma, Chow, and Cornelia battling two more Annihilators.
The Water and Earth Guardians tried to push back against as Irma splashed a stream of water over them from a thrust from her hands while Cornelia opened up the ground to create a pit of mud, causing the two Annihilators to sink in half-way like makeshift quicksand.
"Great, you got em stuck in mud. Now what?" Chow questioned not even trying to hide his sarcasm.
"Hey, if you got any ideas, we're all ears!" Irma replied.
"I got one!" They heard Jade's voice as she flew toward them with a shadow-katana in her hands. "Keep them stuck there as long as you can!"
Cornelia knew what was about to happen next and decided to add to the mud trap by growing several plant vines and roots from the ground to ensnare the two trapped Annihilators. With them briefly immobilized, Jade was quick to swoop in and decapitate one Annihilator before doing the same to the other. The second her shadow-weapon made contact, the magic animating them had vanished and they turned to dust like all the others before.
"Thanks for the save." Cornelia gave her a thumbs up.
"Never thought I'd be so happy to see that kid." Chow commented.
"Now to finish this." Jade said as she flew toward the last fight.
Taranee, Hay Lin, and Uncle found themselves backed into a circle with Caleb, Finn, Julian as the five remaining Annihilators surrounded them from all sides. The Fire and Air Guardians tried to use their respective elements to blast them back, with Uncle doing the same with stun spells from his blowfish. Just like before, Taranee's literal fire power did nothing against them, while Hay Lin's air barely slowed them down and Uncle's stun spells did stun them, it was only temporary.
"Hey, who's up for a game of killer frisbee?!" Jade called out as she appeared above the whole group as she created a massive shuriken from her shadow magic and threw it outward. It cut through the chest of one Annihilator, destroying that one instantly before Jade controlled her projectile and sent it in a perfect circle to bisect the last four before the disk returned to her.
Just like that, all the Annihilators had been destroyed, much to the relief and joy of her friends.
"Whoo! Go Jade!" Hay Lin cheered.
"Not bad." Caleb nodded.
"Magic must defeat magic, right?" Taranee said with a smile towards Uncle, who merely smiled back and nodded with approval.
"You sure that's all of them? As in, we got all those freaks, right?" Finn asked to be sure.
"Yep. That's all." Jade confirmed. "Now let's go pay a visit to their boss."
Will and Jackie went at Drago from both sides, keeping him on the defensive as he couldn't fight back against both simultaneously. He blocked against the chop and kick from Jackie, but this left him open for Will to drive her elbow into his back before kicking him straight into the face and toward Jackie, who thrusted his palms several times into Drago's chest to knock him back, where Matt came up with punch across the face to knock Drago to the ground.
Growling, Drago rolled backwards to get some distance before blasting an inferno from his mouth, forcing the three to separate. As Will tried to fly up above the flames, Drago leapt to grab her by her foot. As he fell, he threw her toward an empty house, causing her to crash into the windowsill.
Drago then went for Matt first, prompting Jackie to meet him block his punch by crossing both his arms before swinging his foot at Drago, which he ducked under as he threw a punch out, which Jackie swerved around to strike his hands on Drago's extended arm, knocking him back as Matt tackled him to the ground. But Drago was quick to push Matt off and get up before grabbing him and throwing him at Jackie.
As Will tried to push herself up, she felt her hand touch something odd on the ground. Looking to her side, she spotted a broken plot filled with various flowers. They must have been on the windowsill. Her eyes widened as an idea suddenly came to her.
Matt and Jackie both got up, the former a little exhausted, as they faced Drago again. "Old school, you know it never gets old." Drago commented as he was ready to resume the fight.
"Then how about something new?!" He heard Will's voice, causing him to turn around to something that made him more than a little shocked.
"Quintessence!" Will aimed both her hands at the spilled flowers and plants on the ground, pink energy spreading from her hands to the plants. The second they touched, the plants quickly grew to enormous sizes, to the point where they were the size of a house as they mixed together and combined into a single plant that looked like a gigantic Venus Fly Trap.
"Holy…!" Matt exclaimed as even Jackie was more than a little surprised.
The plant-creature roared at the surprised Drago as it lunged its plant tendrils at him, the shock was enough to leave him distracted as Drago was entangled by the tendrils and thrown into the creature's mouth, which it closed.
"Since when can she do that…?" Matt asked, not over his surprise.
"It's a recent development." Jackie answered. Though he didn't expect something this big, he was actually rather proud. From her previous training, Will was nervous about her newfound powers, which often led to it not exactly working in their favor. But now? He could tell from her body language that she was much more confident and determined. Perhaps that was the answer. Confidence in herself.
Matt looked at Will, though her physical appearance didn't change at all, the way she carried herself as she brought that creature to life made her look even more amazing than she already was.
"What a woman…" Matt said with a smile.
However, smoke began to leak out from the plant-creature's mouth before the whole thing exploded in fire, killing the creature. Will flew back towards Jackie and Matt as they faced Drago, who pulled himself up from the remains of the plant-creature, more than a little ticked.
"I wouldn't take another step further if I were you."
Drago turned around to see not only Jade suddenly appear, but so did Irma, Cornelia, Hay Lin, and Taranee; along with Uncle, Tohru, Caleb, who had Blunk on his shoulders, Julian, Finn, Ratso, and Chow, and all the other guards and soldiers that were struggling in the initial battle. It didn't take long for Drago to be completely encircled.
"You're surrounded Drago. Game's over." Caleb told him.
"Over? I'm just getting warmed up." Drago blew flames from his mouth and encircled himself in a ring of fire, the flames quickly growing high, but Irma was quick to extinguish them with her water powers. However, when they were all put out, Drago was gone.
Earth
Despite Drago's escape, the threat of the Annihilators had been successfully dealt with. The Guardians, Chan Clan, along with Caleb and Matt, had returned to Earth to inform Elyon, Alchemy, and Yan Lin of their victory at Uncle's Rare Finds.
Matt had also taken the time to explain to Will what he's been up to, with Jade present as well.
"So, you've been blowing me off, to learn how to fight?" Will summed up to Matt before turning to Jade. "And you knew the whole time?"
"Hey, you would have freaked out if you knew, Uncle Jackie's been rubbing too much off on you." Jade said in a joking sense.
"And apparently, not enough off on you." Will shot back.
"Hey, I get why you didn't want me involved." Matt said to his girlfriend. "But… I couldn't sit by anymore. I wanted to help. I was feeling kinda useless… and I wanted to feel dangerous. Course now, I just feel stupid. I mean, I learned to fight, you learned to create plant monsters."
"Matt, you so totally measure up." Will said with a smile before kissing him on the cheek. "Besides, dangerous is not what I'm looking for." She said as she held his hand. "I get more than enough of that from the psychotic demon types. And trying to keep my thrill-seeking best friend in line."
"Oh, you love me, and you know it." Jade grinned as she flashed a peace sing.
"Yes, I do." Will confirmed before turning to Matt again. "Well, since I apparently can't stop either of you, I wouldn't mind if you helped us out. But…" She quickly raised a finger as she saw Matt smile enthusiastically. "…You gotta promise you won't do anything crazy and/or reckless, like trying to take on Drago solo."
"Yeah… kinda bit off more than I can chew there." Matt admitted, rubbing his sore shoulder. "I did get a few hits on him though. But… I promise I won't go overboard."
"Good. I'm holding you to that." Will smiled as she kissed him on the lips, which he quickly returned.
"Awe. Young love." Jade teased, only for Will to shoot back a teasing akanbe expression at her, pulling her right lower eyelid down and sticking her tongue out.
Meanwhile, while everyone else was in good spirits, Hay Lin noticed Uncle at his desk, looking seriously at the book from Meridian he bowered, specifically the page with the Annihilators on it.
"Something wrong, Uncle?"
"Creating Annihilators takes strong amount of magic." Uncle explained. "Spell very complex. Too complex for Drago."
"You think someone helped him?" Hay Lin asked.
"Yes." Uncle confirmed. "As for whom… Uncle have very bad feeling about this."
"Her shadow magic negated the Quintessence that animated them?" Nerissa questioned as Drago returned to the cave that served as their hideout and he informed her on the outcome of the Annihilators' battle. Their defeat was to be expected, but how it was done had surprised her.
"One hit, instant KO." Drago confirmed. "Not only that, but old red's also getting a good handle on her own power as well."
"No doubt Jin and even Yan Lin are helping her with that." Nerissa said. "But I'm more concerned with young Jade's growing power. Being able to extinguish fire is one thing, but negating Quintessence?" A serious look formed on her face. "This may present a danger to our plans."
"So, what do we do?" Drago asked.
"Hmmm, this will require… further study." Nerissa answered. "But leave that to me. Focus on retrieving the next batch of Demon Chi, it should awaken soon. Keep our enemies focused upon you."
"You got it, Ma." Drago nodded as he went deeper into the cave.
With Nerissa alone, she looked into her scepter, specifically the orb attached to the end as an image of Jade in her Shadow Guardian form appeared. "Jade Chan… what is it that makes you so special?"
Done.
This chapter was fun to write. We're having Matt take a more active role in this story, and Will is showing more of what she can do with her Quintessence. To be honest, I was disappointed with how the show handled that as it basically just gave her lightning-powers and made her talk to electronics, but it's supposed to be the element of life, the most powerful element of all and one of the main reasons Nerissa fell from grace. So, I'm amping it up a little bit. Right now, she's actually working on manipulating the lifeforce within plants. (No, she cannot talk to plants). And we'll see her do so much more as the story progresses.
We're also getting a closer look at Jade's growing shadow powers as it's proven to actually completely negate the effects of magic, even Quintessence itself. You can see how Jade's shadow powers and Will's own Quintessence are acting as a sort of yin-yang type of thing, right? They can counter and balance each other.
And Nerissa herself is taking an interest in Jade, seeing her growing powers as something to be wary of. You'll see how she responds to this and what plans she'll have going forward.
I also skipped over the sub-plot of all the girls taking turns looking after Mr. Huggles as this time around, Susan is letting Will keep him. So it seemed a little unnecessary here.
Up next, we get back to the Demon Chi hunt as well as a certain someone's birthday. This is sure to be a fun chapter and I hope that you all liked this one.
Until they, stay safe and stay healthy out there!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!