Hi everyone, welcome back to J-WITCH. I've got a few surprises for this episode, and I certainly hope you all enjoy it. Now, with that being said, let's get started.
Black and White Chi All Over
It was nighttime at the abandoned steel mill that served as the hideout for the Knights of Vengeance on Earth. Most of them appeared to be resting in one area that had a stove lit up to provide warmth and light in the cold night. Miranda slept in a spider's web, while Hak Foo and Frost both slept as well, the latter resting against the side of his sleeping rhino, Crimson. Raythor was awake, however, sharpening his sword with his claws as he sat across from the undead Tracker, his hound, Sniffer, sleeping at his feet.
For a brief moment, Raythor stopped what he was doing, glancing up toward the Tracker, the two sharing eye-contact as all became deathly silent.
The next sounds that came were high-pitched martial arts cries as three figures zipped onto the area, striking everyone in all directions and suddenly awakening them, even Miranda's webbing had been sliced and she fell to the ground.
"What was that?!" Frost exclaimed upon being knocked down and standing up with his roaring steed.
"We're under attack!" Raythor exclaimed as he lit his sword on fire.
"Yo, up here renaissance boys!" They all looked up to the top of the railing to see StrikeMaster Ice and his crew, DJ Fist, and MC Cobra, skateboards tucked under their arms, glaring down at them. "Time to get a thrashing modern-day style!" They skated down the railing of a nearby staircase and went on the attack, with the Knights quickly retaliating against their intruders.
Miranda shot webbing towards the skating MC Cobra, but he was too quick for her as he quickly came and spun out to deliver a kick to her face and knock her down. He was however struck in the side by the speeding Hak Foo to push him off his board and onto the ground. It was then that Hak Foo got a good look at him.
"Yo, that you Foo? What's with the scaly make over?" Cobra asked.
"A taste of newfound power." Hak Foo replied before zooming on the attack, which Cobra rolled away to avoid.
Tracker flailed his mace towards DJ Fist, who was quick to grab the chain before skating towards him and kicked his board to leap over the snarling Sniffer and pulled on the chain to hoist over Tracker and send him crashing into Crimson. Frost roared as he charged at Fist, who swept his feet to knock him over. But Sniffer leapt up on Fist's back and bit onto his shoulder, causing him to grunt before throwing him away.
StrikeMaster Ice skated around the waves of fire that Raythor sent his way with swings from his flaming sword. He got close to Raythor, who swung his blade at him, but Ice leapt over the slice and allowed his board to roll past him before landing on it and quickly skated back to deal a surprise strike to knock Raythor down.
"Yo, you bring the heat. But I gots the chill." Ice said with a grin. Suddenly, the wall behind him was smashed apart as he looked up in shock to see the roaring Gargoyle rampage his way in. "Whoa, big mama."
A twister of sand also happened to emerge from the floor and pull in Fist and Cobra, spinning them around in circles, before sending them flying into Ice. All three were in a pile as they found themselves surrounded on all sides by the Knights of Vengeance, Sandpit and Gargoyle standing at the rear to make sure they didn't escape.
"You three are quite courageous, but foolish." Raythor said as he held his fire-sword menacingly. "Now, the time has come to pay the price for your arrogance."
"Let's make their deaths as slow and painful as possible." Miranda hissed.
"Bring it spider-girl. We're going out swinging!" Cobra declared as the Ice Crew took martial arts stances, ready to fight back.
"Enough!"
Everyone turned their attention to see Nerissa appear near the metallic staircase on the second floor with Drago perched on the railing next to her before he jumped down to the ground.
"What's with all the racket?" Drago questioned, Nerissa walking down the flight of stairs next to him.
"A bunch of human fools who though they could get the drop on us." Frost said. "Let me show them why that was a mistake, and their last." He pounded his fist into his palm for emphasis.
"Wait a moment." Nerissa got a good look at the three, who stared at the old lady inquisitively. "Who are you?"
"The name's StrikeMaster Ice. This here's my crew, DJ Fist and MC Cobra." The leader of the trio introduced.
Drago caught a glimpse of the look of familiarity on Hak Foo's face. "You know these guys?"
"I used to work with them in the service of Valmont and the Dark Hand." He replied. "They're quite skilled fighters."
"And for what reason would you choose to attack this particular group, young man?" Nerissa asked Ice in honest curiosity.
"We saw you guys go up against those fairy girls and goody-to-shoes Chan a few times." Ice answered.
"You know of the Guardians?" Raythor questioned.
"We danced a couple times." Cobra replied.
"It's true. We did encounter Chan and the Guardians more than once." Hak Foo confirmed.
"We heard how you knight-folk are all payback-fetish on those guys, and we want in." Ice stated.
"You want to join us?" Miranda questioned. "By attacking us?"
"Yo, we were testing you." Ice said. "Wanted to see if you got the sauce for the dish of whoop-ass we wanna serve them."
"What?" Frost questioned, not understanding what that meant.
"It means they want to see if we're tough enough." Drago translated.
An intrigued smile formed on Nerissa's face. "It takes quite a deal of courage to openly assault my gathered warriors in their own base, no less. I will not deny that I am intrigued. However, for what reason would you chose to join us?"
"It's in your group name, right? You guys want payback? We want payback too. A chance to show those fools we gots the stuff." Cobra said.
Nerissa and Drago shared expressions with one another before coming to a decision. "Maybe we can use you." Drago said.
"Are you actually considering them joining us? After pulling such a heinous stunt?" Miranda questioned.
"That kind of ambition is exactly what we need." Drago replied. "We haven't had the best of luck against Chan, the Guardians, and all their friends, so some extra help wouldn't hurt."
"Hold up." Ice got their attention. "We want payback, but we don't work for free. You wants our services? You got to show some green!"
"Green?" Frost questioned.
"They want to be paid." Hak Foo translated.
That really didn't sit well with Raythor. "You expect payment!?" He questioned as he walked right up to Ice's face. "To join the Knights of Vengeance is to swear an oath of blood against our enemies!"
"Yo, you need to get with the times, old man." Ice shot back, pointing at his chest challengingly. "This ain't Camelot, it's the good old US of A. We work, you pay. So, we got the gig, or what?"
Most of the Knights didn't like the tone they were being addressed in, but Drago and Nerissa were actually rather impressed. No powers and yet they were not afraid to fight back against such their terrifying minions. Maybe with a little power of their own, they could be valued additions.
"I'm afraid we lack any currency to provide you." Nerissa said. "However, what if I can provide you with something more valuable than simply money?" She opened the palm of her hand to generate a surge of Quintessence lightning for emphasis. "Power. Power needed to claim vengeance upon our mutual enemies."
Ice smirked. "Whatcha got, Grandma?"
The Next Morning – Uncle's Rare Finds
Jade had woken up with a yawn. She then gave a gasp as she remembered what today is. "It's my birthday! Yes!" She got up out of her bed and proceeded to get changed. "Thirteen years and still kicking! Goodbye preteen days, hello full fledged teenager!"
After getting her clothes on, she went downstairs where the rest of her family already had breakfast set up for her.
"Good morning, Jade. Happy birthday." Jackie said with a smile as Scruffy ran up to Jade to leap at her and lick her face, causing her to giggle as she sat him down to pat him on the head.
"Breakfast is ready. I made it myself." Tohru had shown her a stack of chocolate chip pancakes with whip cream at the top and strawberries around the side.
"Ah, Big T, you spoil me." Jade grinned as she sat down and proceeded to eat.
"I've already called all your friends." Jackie told her as Jade scarfed down her breakfast. "They'll be here around noon, and you can spend all day together."
"And since today's Saturday, we can party all the way through midnight and get food comas, without worrying about school!" Jade stated.
"I wouldn't go that far, but yes." Jackie told her.
"Uncle has mahjong ready for birthday till friends arrive." Uncle offered.
"Thanks Uncle." Jade thanked. "Looking forward to kicking your butt this time."
"We shall see, little one." Uncle teased.
"Is Jade girl birthday?" Blunk suddenly popped out from underneath the kitchen sink, much to everyone's surprise.
"Blunk, what are you doing in here?" Jackie questioned.
"Blunk smell good food this morning. Now Blunk know why." The Passling explained as he reached into his pocket to try and pull something out. "Blunk not know today Jade girl's birthday, but Blunk may have something for gift."
Jade winced slightly, having an idea that whatever Blunk would consider a gift was likely something stinky. "Thanks Blunk but you really don't have too…" Jade was completely awestruck as the Passling handed her some shiny rocks that looked almost like diamonds. "Gah… wha…?"
"Blunk, what is this?" Tohru asked.
"Crystal found in abandon Phobos mine Blunk scavenge yesterday." Blunk answered. "Very pretty, and girls like pretty things."
"I'm not a jewelry-type girl but… I'll definitely take this." Jade accepted the crystals. "Thanks Blunk."
"Just don't think about selling it Jade." Jackie told her. "We don't know the value of a Meridian crystal here on Earth."
"Oh no, I'm just keeping. It's way too cool to sell." Jade grinned as she put the crystals on the table and resumed her breakfast.
Meanwhile, back at the steel mill, Nerissa had three bowls in front of her on a piece of equipment as she recited a spell. The one on the left was filled with various pieces of metal, the one on the right had lava inside, while the one in the middle had various fragments of ice.
"Denune Mayheluse Loquibar. Mayneptune Demolabrator. Denune Mayheluse Loquibar. Mayneptune Demolabrator." As she chanted, she threw some kind of powder into each of the bowls, causing green flames to erupt within each of them. "Denune Mayheluse Loquibar. Mayneptune Demolabrator."
"Yo, what she doing? She been at this all night." Ice questioned as he and his crew, along with most of the Knights and Drago watched from a distance.
"You want power, right? Then let her do her work." Drago told her. "She's always delivered beyond expectations."
"She'd better. We don't want no smoke and mirrors." Cobra said with Fist nodding in agreement.
"I still don't like this." Raythor said among his fellow Knights. "These three may claim to seek vengeance upon our mutual enemies, but they seem more invested in their own personal greed than any form of loyalty."
"We have had very little success in our battles against Chan and those brats." Miranda commented. "Having some extra company wouldn't hurt."
"That is, if they don't get in the way. We don't need any excess baggage." Frost said.
"I have seen their marital arts skills myself, and they are truly deadly." Hak Foo vouched. "And with the Sorceress' magic, they'll become even deadlier."
"Denune Mayheluse Loquibar. Mayneptune Demolabrator. Denune Mayheluse Loquibar. Mayneptune Demolabrator!" Nerissa chanted as she waved her scepter over the glowing green flames before she spoke to the Ice Crew. "Now then… step forward."
The Ice Crew did indeed step forward but looked somewhat skeptical. "This better be worth it, grandma."
Nerissa only smiled before she said one thing. "Quintessence!" Adding her own power to the spell, the scepter in her hand glowed as the energy spread from her body and to her free hand, shooting bolts of magical lightning into each of the bowls. Streams of energy then shot out from each of them, one baring the appearance of liquid metal, the second that of molten lava, and the third of a windy blizzard. All three shot at the Ice Crew, impacting the surprised DJ Fist, MC Cobra, and StrikeMaster Ice respectively.
Their bodies than began to undergo transformations. DJ Fist's skin turned a shiny silver with his hair becoming more spiked as it pointed upward, the clothes around his arms were torn to reveal his bulky muscle frame had looked like it was made out of metal. MC Cobra appeared to be lit on fire briefly before his body turned a reddish orange color, his clothes turning dark red, and his hair lighting on fire. Finally, StrikeMaster Ice's own skin became clear and cyan, almost as if his body was becoming frozen from the inside out while his clothes turned dark blue and his sleeves were torn off to expose his frozen arms.
Once the spell was compelted, Nerissa fell to her knees in exhaustion, using her staff to keep herself propped up slightly.
"Nerissa!" Raythor went to her side along with Drago as they helped her to stand while she took a moment to catch her breath.
"You good?" Drago asked.
"…Yes… I'm fine." She confirmed. Using magic like that along with her own natural element came with the consequence of draining her life force as she was no longer connected to an Auramere. If she was, this would have been easier, but given time, she would no longer have to worry about any of that.
"Now then." Nerissa was able to stand up fully as she addressed the transformed Ice Crew. "As promised, you now have power beyond your wildest dreams. Power that will allow you to now match the Guardians. Fist, you'll find that your body is now as strong as steel."
DJ Fist looked towards his own hands before clenching them as he punched a nearby piece of equipment to shatter it in one strike. He only grinned as he nodded with approval.
"Cobra, you can now 'bring the heat' as you kids say these days with your skin of magma." Nerissa told MC Cobra. His hands smoked as he pressed one against the wall to melt it easily upon contact.
"Ah yeah, 'bring the heat' is right!" Cobra grinned.
"And finally, Ice. You now have a power worthy of your namesake." Nerissa told the young leader of the Ice Crew, who took a deep breath to blow a frosty breeze over an old engine, which became frozen over in seconds. "Now, I trust this will compensate you."
Ice smirked. "That'll work just fine, granny."
"With that, I hereby welcome you three into the Knights of Vengeance!" Nerissa declared as the Ice Crew smiled with ambition while most of the Knights all looked reluctant.
"I still have my concerns." Raythor said to Drago but looked in surprise to see the half-demon pulled into some kind of trance. "Drago?"
The son of Shendu had received another vision, one that showed the ground being torn up as the Earth Demon, Dai Gui emerged before pounding the ground and ripping the earth below asunder. The ground was torn to reveal the image of a red flower. The vision then shifted to reveal the city of San Diego, as well as a greenhouse.
Being pulled out of his trance, Drago smirked as he spoke to Raythor. "We'll see how well they do in the field, because we got Demon Chi to claim."
Uncle's Rare Finds
The doorbell rang, which Jackie was quick to answer, revealing Yan Lin had brought all the girls, including Alchemy, as well as Caleb and even Matt with them.
"Hello Jackie." Yan Lin greeted as they all smiled.
"So glad you could all make it. Please come in." Jackie encouraged as everyone stepped in.
"Hey guys!" Jade waved.
"Hey, there's the birthday girl!" Hay Lin was the first to run up to Jade with a hug as the other girls were quick to share with her.
"Welcome to your teenage years, where life gets so much more complicated." Irma joked.
"Hey, thanks for inviting me." Matt greeted.
"Elyon says 'happy birthday'." Caleb told Jade. "She'd be here too, but she's busy with her royal duties."
"It's cool." Jade shrugged. "We can have an after party in Meridian tomorrow."
"Now you're talking!" Cornelia pulled Jade into an arm-hug.
"Alright, we got all day today and I think we've got the perfect plan for ya." Will said as she and Taranee laid out a map of Heatherfield. "Taranee slept over at my place last night and we spent all night figuring out the perfect tour of fun for this special day."
"We'll be hitting Une Pizzaria for lunch. Those guys made the best pizza in the city." Taranee explained. "After that, we're going to the arcade for most of the day. Once that's done, we'll grab some burgers at Burger Shack."
"Then we'll come back here for a Kung Fu movie marathon all night long!" Alchemy showed off various Kung Fu movies she got on Blu-Ray.
As all the kids talked about all the fun stuff they would do throughout the day, Jackie couldn't help but smile alongside Tohru and Uncle and even Yan Lin. They remembered back in San Francisco how Jade didn't have that many friends, but now she had plenty, and she would be spending her whole birthday with them, without having to worry about fighting for their lives or the end of the world.
The group heard Blunk give a surprise yell in the back room as he came running with the glowing Chi-Omatic. "Everyone! Thing glow!"
"Aiya! Demon Chi has been activated!" Uncle exclaimed.
"No way… not on my birthday!" Jade exclaimed.
The Chi-Omatic then showed a projection of the host demon this batch of chi originated from, whom the Chan Clan recognized. "Dai Gui! The Earth Demon!"
"Sounds like your kind of guy. Bet you'd make a great couple." Caleb teased Cornelia, causing her to give him the stink eye.
The projection changed from the demon to the Relic that contained his chi. "The Flower of the immortals. The Demon Chi is trapped within." Tohru recognized.
Next, the projection shifted once again to reveal the outside of a greenhouse that happened to be near a bridge that Jackie recognized. "It's near the Coronado Bridge, in San Diego!"
"But that's on the other side of the country. How are we supposed to get there?" Matt asked.
"You'll simply have to Fold to Meridian then back to Earth to San Diego." Yan Lin gave a quick explanation. Though there was the Teletransporting ability that Will and Hay Lin could do, but that would take a great deal of practice, and they did not have the time for that.
Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar with a wince. "Jade… Sorry but…"
Jade gave a scoff. "No big deal, it's fine."
Most of her friends were surprised by that. "Wait… what?" Cornelia questioned.
"But Jade… you seemed kinda upset." Taranee pointed out.
"Well yeah, crappy timing." Jade replied. "But Guardian duty, save the world, that comes first. I'm fine with it."
Though most were still surprised, particularly Will and Jackie as they shared concerning glances, the latter gave a smile. "Well, that is very mature of you Jade."
"Besides, we can party in San Diego, they got some fun things to do." Jade said. "And punching Drago's lights out? Who can say 'no' to that."
"Now you're talking." Irma smirked. "Let's go kick some demon ass."
"Uh… Blunk stay behind." The Passling backed away after handing the Chi-Omatic to Uncle. "Not in mood to get burned by lizard boy."
Will then took out the Heart of Kandrakar and opened a Fold for the whole group.
After doing a quick Fold to Meridian and another one back to Earth, the group had arrived at San Diego as quickly as they could. This group consisted of Jackie, Will, Jade, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin, Tohru, Uncle, Alchemy, Matt, and Caleb. Uncle was at the lead as they went to the entrance of a local flower shop's greenhouse, the needle on the Chi-Omatic pointing them in the direction they needed to go.
"Demon Chi is very close." Uncle said.
"Then all we have to do is find the…" Jackie began as they entered the greenhouse's doors, only to look in shock as they found rows upon rows of different flowers, there looked like there could be thousands of them. "Flower."
"Man, talk about a needle in a haystack." Matt commented.
"Well, the Chi-Omatic should still point us in the right direction." Hay Lin said.
"And I was able to get a picture of the flower that we needed." Taranee pulled out her cellphone to show a photo she'd taken of the projection back at Uncle's Rare Finds. "So now we know what it looks like."
"Great." Will said. "We'll split up and look along the rows. Speak up if you see a red flower like that." She instructed.
The group then proceeded to split into groups of three as they walked down the rows, looking down at the flowers on both sides, and even up at some of the hanging pots. Will, Matt, and Jade searched through one row, with Irma, Hay Lin, and Taranee right beside them.
"This flower was used to banish the Earth Demon thousands of years ago, right?" Caleb questioned as he and Cornelia walked alongside Tohru. "Wouldn't it have died off after so long?"
"The Demon Chi or the magic used on it must have preserved it throughout the centuries, even while dormant." Tohru assumed. "But I can only guess."
"Hey, speaking of my element, couldn't I just use my powers on all the flowers here and maybe… I don't know… have it give a sign or something?" Cornelia asked.
"I would advise against that." Tohru replied. "You and Dai Gui may wield the same element, but your natures as a Guardian and a Demon Sorcerer are vastly different. We don't know what would happen if your powers were to mix."
Jackie and Alchemy followed Uncle as he used the Chi-Omatic to keep looking. "Demon Chi… is close." Uncle said as they happened to pass by an employee who worked at this shop.
"Excuse me, can I help you folks with something?" The employee asked.
"Oh, no, we're good!" Alchemy quickly came up with an excuse. "It's a… flower freshness detector!" She made up an excuse for the Chi-Omatic.
"Yes, my Uncle is very picky." Jackie went along.
"So am I." Everyone turned to the sound of the familiar voice on the other side of the greenhouse as Drago walked in through the door on that side with his lackies, new and old, right beside him. Those accompanying him included Raythor, Hak Foo, Frost, Miranda, and Tracker, along with the newly recruited and transformed Ice Crew.
"I want a flower that smells like Demon Chi!" Drago stated.
"Well look who decided to join the party." Jade stated.
"Drago and the Knights of Vengeance." Caleb glared.
"Who are the new guys, though?" Hay Lin asked.
"What, you chicks don't recognize the ice master?" Ice said with a cocky grin.
"Wait… StrikeMaster Ice?!" Will exclaimed in surprise.
"Wow, Pizza-face got a frosty makeover." Irma commented.
"That right dog, and old frosty here is about to give you an icy-chilled asswhooping!" Ice stated as they Knights went on the attack.
"Retrieve the flower!" Raythor ordered as he drew his fire-sword.
The heroes were on the defensive at the moment as Jackie quickly pushed the employee out of the greenhouse. "I am sorry for any possible damage that may ensue! I will pay for it all later! Thank you!" Jackie apologized before closing the door.
Will had ducked and rolled underneath Ice's kick as she drew the Heart of Kandrakar and said the magic words. "Guardians Unite!" With the usual flash of lights and colors; Will, Jade, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin had transformed into their respective Guardian forms of J-WITCH.
"Alchemy, help Uncle find the flower! The rest of us will handle these guys!" Will stated.
"You got it." Alchemy nodded as she and Uncle resumed their search while the heroes and villains clashed with one another.
"Flying Dragon Corkscrew!" Hak Foo exclaimed as he leapt and spun his body rapidly into the air, knocking into Hay Lin to knock her down. But as he was about to strike down on her, she suddenly turned invisible, much to Hak Foo's surprise as he looked in all directions to find her.
"Invisible Girl Beats Up Flying Dragon!" The invisible Hay Lin did her own Hak Foo impression as she stomped on his foot, punched him in the gut and then did a backflip kick to his jaw to knock him into the air before she, upon turning visible again, blasted him with a cyclone to send him to the other side of the greenhouse.
Jackie ducked and dodged against Raythor's relentless slashes from his fire-sword. He leapt back to gain some distance as Raythor pursued before Jackie grabbed a hanging flowerpot and pushed it into Raythor's face, breaking it and spreading dirt to blind him and leave him open for Jackie to swerve around and deliver an elbow thrust to Raythor's back and knock him down. However, right in front of him, Tohru had locked his hands against that of Frost, who used his superior dragon strength to hoist Tohru up before tossing him at Jackie, causing them to both roll backwards and into several flowers.
"Chi loves me, chi loves me not." Drago said as he looked through a series of flowers, trying to find the right one. But he was forced backwards to avoid the shadow fire shot at Jade that incinerated the flowers in his hand.
"Yeah, can't think of any girl who'd fall for you." She engaged Drago in hand-to-hand, extending shadow-claws from her hands to slice at him, but Drago parried his arms on her wrists to push her back. She was then struck from behind by Miranda's webbing as the spider-girl clung to the ceiling and pulled up to get stuck on the glass before Miranda shot more webbing to pin her up even more.
"Hang tight, little girl." Miranda said with a hiss as Drago readied his fire-breath.
"You're about to become a shadow of your former self." The half-demon let loose a fire blast, but Irma was quick to fly in and thrust her hands forward to send a plum of water to push against Drago's fire, creating a cloud of steam.
'Maybe you should kick up the sprinkler behind you.' Irma directed her mind powers at Miranda. 'Kick behind you! Behind you!'
"I should…" Miranda felt an unusual presence in her mind that compelled her to act. "Kick behind me…!" She kicked her left leg into the sprinkler behind her, spraying water all over the place, which Irma took control over to send a stream of water to knock Miranda off the ceiling and into Drago, sending them both stumbling across the floor.
Jade was able to successfully cut herself free from the webbing with her shadow-claws. "Thanks, Irma."
"No problem" She waved.
Taranee threw a fireball at MC Cobra, who retaliated with a lava ball of his own. His attack proved to be the strongest as it smashed through Taranee's, forcing her to fly into the air and avoid the melting splash behind her. "Lava powers? How the heck did you get that?" Taranee questioned as she tried to burn at the ground underneath MC Cobra, but he didn't seem the least bit affected.
"Wouldn't you like to know." Cobra grinned as he easily walked through the flames and threw more lava balls at Taranee, forcing her to fly and avoid them as several of the flowers around her got hit and were incinerated upon contact.
The Tracker unleashed a flurry of bats from his robe at Caleb, who was quick to draw his katana to slice at them and keep them at bay, forcing him to back towards Cornelia as she used her own powers to direct all the flowers around her to entangle and ensnare DJ Fist. However, his steel skin made it hard for him to be restraint as he was able to break free and quickly move in to jump and deliver a flying kick to knock Cornelia into Caleb, knocking them both down.
Matt found a nearby shovel and ran to try and smash it at StrikeMaster Ice, who blew his ice-breath to freeze the shovel-blade, much to Matt's shock, before delivering a kick that shattered it, and sent Matt flying into a pot of flowers.
"Yo go back to Kung Fu pre-school, rookie." Ice mocked Matt, but was pushed back by an pink energy blast from Will as she squared off against him. "Yo Red, long time no see. I got a nice flower for…" His flirt was interrupted as he felt his nose get stuffed up before he sneezed, and unleashing a blizzard from his mouth, forcing Will to duck as the resulting blizzard-sneeze froze several of the plants behind.
"Um, bless you?" She said unsurely as she engaged him in hand-to-hand, punching and kicking, which he blocked and parried before he sneezed again, causing her to duck. He would then try and punch her, which she blocked herself, before dodging the next sneeze. Will then flew upwards and was forced to avoid all the blizzard sneezes that Ice may or may not be intentionally aiming at her.
Alchemy pulled Uncle along as they both kept their heads down to avoid the elemental attacks and debris that soared over their heads while the elder Chi-Wizard continued to follow the needle on the Chi-Omatic. Alchemy pulled down a plot of flowers, which Uncle checked with his tool to see if it was the right one. "No." Alchemy put that one away before pulling down another one. "No." Another one. "No." Yet another one. "No."
"Ah screw it!" She took Uncle's arm and aimed it and the Chi-Omatic in all directions before it settled on a bed of red flowers, the needle pointing straight at it with a glow.
"Hotcha." Uncle smiled as Alchemy reached to grab the stem of the flower the Chi-Omatic pointed to and plucked it from the bed.
"Got it!" She grinned. But that grin turned into a look of horror as she felt her wrist grabbed by scaly hand, which hoisted her, and the flower up to look at the evil smile of Drago.
"For me? You shouldn't have."
"She didn't!" Jade flew in to deliver a kick to Drago and sent him crashing through several flowerpots and beds.
"Here Uncle, I got this just for you." Alchemy handed the flower toward Uncle, who drew his blowfish and recited the Chi-Spell needed to extract the evil power inside.
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao." Already the flower began to glow a dark blue, the removal process now beginning.
Matt had gotten up to look on the row next to him to see Raythor had Jackie cornered, his fire-sword aimed at him, while the row on the other side had Taranee locked in a struggle with her literal fire power proving ineffective against MC Cobra's lava-skin. But after hearing another sneeze from StrikeMaster Ice, he got an idea.
Will was grabbed by her arms and forced down on a row of flowers as her attacker loomed at her. "Hmm, don't suppose you could warm the ice man up with a nice kiss, Red?"
"Okay, if you're gonna flirt, ixnay on the ice puns!" Will told him. "The fact have you have literal ice powers now makes it so lame!"
"And besides!" Matt grabbed him from behind and pulled him off of Will. "The lady's spoken for!" Matt then shoved his face into a nearby flower bed, causing his nose to stuff up as he was ready to sneeze. But Matt was able to aim him at MC Cobra as he unleashed a blizzard sneeze on his own teammate, freezing over his lava skin and losing his advantage against Taranee.
"Yo! Watch the friendly fire!" Cobra said as he felt his body cooled greatly, which gave Taranee a chance to knock him down with a fiery-punch.
Ice was about to sneeze again, but Matt was able to aim him at the fight between Jackie and Raythor. His blizzard sneeze was able to strike Raythor in the back, extinguishing the flames on his sword and covering his back with ice to partially immobilize him.
"What in…?" This left him open for Jackie to leap up and grab the wall with his hands to deliver a powerful double-kick into Raythor just as Matt pushed Ice in his way, causing the two teammates to tumble into each other and into Cobra as well in the next isle over.
"Nice job, Matt. Now time to finish this." Will spread out her arms to the flowerpots hanging around her as she used her own element. "Quintessence!" Pink energy spread from her hands to the flower pots around her, causing them to grow in size and extend outward toward the downed trio of villains, quickly ensnaring them before she directed the plants to throw them out of the green house.
Tohru threw a series of pots at the ground in front of the charging Frost, causing him to slip and trip right into Tohru, who grabbed him and threw him toward Hak Foo, who was still battling Hay Lin. With the two briefly down, Hay Lin was able to encompass the two in a tornado before thrusting it straight up to send both of them crashing through the glass ceiling and straight up into the sky. She then flew to Tohru with a wide smile as they exchanged a high-five.
DJ Fist had managed to grab Cornelia and pull her into a crushing bear-hug, his steel body making it easy to crush her as she found it hard to even breathe, much less struggle.
"I… didn't… know you… cared…" She winced as DJ Fist smiled menacingly.
"Cornelia!" Caleb exclaimed as he was still being swarmed by Tracker's horde of bats that bit and clawed all over him. Despite that however, he ran towards DJ Fist, bringing the bats with him before they obscured his own vision. This forced him to let go of Cornelia as he tried to wave his arms and shoo the bats them away. "Let's switch it up! I got this guy, you take the Tracker!"
"Yeah… okay…" Cornelia took a moment to catch her breath. "I'm fine, by the way." She said somewhat spitefully as she flew to engage the Tracker.
"Should at least give a thank you." Caleb muttered disapprovingly before grabbing some dirt and forcing it into DJ Fist's face to blind him, while Cornelia extended her elemental powers over the ground underneath the Tracker to trap his feet in earth-restraints. He tried to throw his chain-and-ball at her, but she caught it with her telekinetic powers and used it to bind and ensnare the Tracker in his own weapon. Caleb saw this and used it as his chance to flip over DJ Fist, who had wiped the dirt from his eyes and grab him by the shoulders before kicking him in the back to trip him over and send him tumbling and rolling into Tracker, both rolling until they crashed out through the glass wall and out of the greenhouse.
Irma gathered as much water as she could from the puddles on the ground below the broken sprinkler, which was quite a bit and sent multiple water droplets at Miranda from all directions. Even as the spider-girl tried to evade it, she was caught and trapped in a sphere of water before Irma threw it up in the form of a stream of water to crash through the ceiling and out of the building like her teammates.
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao." Uncle finished his chant as the Demon Chi was removed from the flower and contained within the Chi-Omatic's jar.
"Noooo!" Drago exclaimed as he ran forward to try and take the Demon Chi, but as he leapt towards Uncle, Jade had intercepted him to blast a stream of shadow-magic, which Alchemy added to by drawing a dried lizard from Uncle's vest to blast a stun-spell at Drago. Both attacks hit the half-demon and sent him flying and crashing out of the greenhouse, just like the rest of his team.
"Whoa, nice stun spell." Jade congratulated Alchemy.
"Thanks. I could get used to it." She blew the smoke from the dried lizard.
Everyone gathered together in one spot. "Earth Demon Chi has been contained." Uncle said to the whole group.
"Great, so how are we gonna explain all this to storeowners?" Cornelia questioned, referring to the all-but destroyed greenhouse around him.
"Yeah, pretty sure all our allowances combined won't be able to cover all this." Taranee commented.
"I will handle it, don't worry." Jackie assured.
After calling Section 13 and getting all the financial and damage control issues taken care of, the Guardians had returned to their human forms as the group proceeded to walk down the sidewalk, their mission a success.
"Now that we have the flower-power, it's time to party down!" Jade exclaimed with enthusiasm. "I'm still the birthday girl for ten more hours!"
"I can open a double-fold and pop Uncle at Section 13 to drop off the Demon Chi, then come right back." Will volunteered.
"Yes, that shouldn't take long." Jackie agreed. "We'll spend the day here in San Diego. There's plenty of great restaurants here for a big birthday dinner."
"Oooh, maybe we can have Captain Black pull some strings to get us some all-day passes for Comic-Con!" Hay Lin volunteered.
"Comic-Con isn't for a few months, Hay Lin." Cornelia pointed out.
"No, but we can get our passes from when it does come." Hay Lin said. "It'll be like a late birthday present!"
"I'm cool with that." Jade grinned.
Suddenly, the Chi-Omatic began to glow in Uncle's hands once again. "Aiya!" This alerted everyone as they could only look in surprise.
"Oh no…" Jade winced as the device projected the image of yet another familiar Demon Sorcerer.
"Tso-Lan! Moon Demon Chi!" Uncle stated before the projection shifted to reveal the immortal object that contained said chi. "Lotus Pod! One more Chi is nearby!"
"Two Demon powers in a row? Does that normally happen?" Matt asked Caleb.
"No, this is a first for us." The young rebel shook his head. "Even with the Oni Masks, we never had two on the same day."
Taranee then looked towards Jade, who was already looking down. "Jade… really sorry. You know we'd all rather celebrate your birthday than do this."
"We'll find a way to make it up to you." Irma said.
Taking a moment to collect herself with a sigh, Jade tried to put on a smile. "Guys, it's okay. Like I said, Guardian work comes first. So, let's get this done."
Despite her attempt to try and sound mature, pretty much everyone could tell that Jade was really upset about all this. Will and Jackie looked especially concerned as they shared eye-contact with one another.
Meanwhile, the Knights were gathered at the docks near the Coronado Bridge as Raythor looked less than pleased with the Ice Crew. "What was that, back there?" The second-in-command of the Knights questioned. "You were given power beyond your imagination, and yet you couldn't even handle the Guardians' powerless allies!"
"Yo, you didn't do well yourself, knight-boy!" MC Cobra argued as DJ Fist nodded in agreement with crossed arms.
"Drago, it was a mistake to recruit these three." Miranda told her leader. "What can they possibly hope to offer us?"
Before Drago could even offer a reply, he was pulled into yet another trance. "Yo, Gecko-boy be bugging." Ice observed.
This vision showed the half-demon the image of Tso-Lan hovering in place before the lotus pod that contained his chi was revealed. He was then given the location of the object: the San Diego Zoo.
Drago grinned. "You three are about to get a second chance." He told the Ice Crew. "We got another batch of Demon Chi."
"Then if we are not to lose this one, it may be time to bring out a little more raw power." Raythor looked towards the docks as sand began to emerge from the cracks, revealing Sandpit as it took its large humanoid form.
The Chan Clan, Guardians, and their friends had arrived at the San Diego Zoo as they went on to search for the Immortal Relic.
"Hey, the San Diego Zoo is one of the biggest zoos in the world. I'd say it's a pretty nice place to be at it." Taranee said to Jade.
"I get what you're trying to, but I promise, it's fine." Jade tried to assure them.
"Well…" Tohru Lin approached her with Irma, Cornelia and Hay Lin right beside him. "Maybe this isn't much but… happy birthday, Jade!" They each presented a small gift for the birthday girl. Tohru handed her a piece of cotton candy, Cornelia presented a hot dog with lots of mustard, Irma gave her a bag of popcorn with butter, and Hay Lin had a stuffed panda doll.
Despite it being small gestures, Jade sincerely appreciated it all as she accepted the gifts. "Awe, thanks guys. Just spending the day with all of you… that's enough for me." She hugged Tohru first before exchanging hugs with the other girls, even Cornelia.
Even though it was a heartwarming moment, Will and Jackie both felt somewhat bad with how the birthday was turning out for her.
"You know she's not happy about this, right?" Will asked him.
"Yes." Jackie confirmed. "I'm proud with how mature she's trying to act, but I can't blame her for being upset."
"Which is why I have an idea on how we can make it up to her." Will said with a smirk as she whispered her plan into Jackie's ear. "So, what do you think?"
Jackie only smiled. "I think she would love that."
After eating most of her snacks, Jade and the rest of her friends were able to get to the panda habitat, the needle Uncle's Chi-Omatic pointed to one of the lotus pods floating in a small pond.
"Moon Demon Chi is there!" Uncle pointed.
"Another flower?" Matt questioned.
"A water lotus." Taranee explained. "It's basically a water flower."
Suddenly, a whirlwind of sand appeared around all sides of the habitat, scaring away any onlookers as well as forcing the heroes back.
"It's Sandpit!" Caleb exclaimed. "The Knights are here!"
Will then took out the Heart of Kandrakar once more. "Guardians Unite… again!" She chanted.
Despite the pink flash, Drago and the Knights were able to enter the habitat while Sandpit's twister-body seemed to keep the enemy at bay as they walked toward the pond. "Raythor, I think this power would best suit you." The half-demon told his second-in-command.
"I am honored." Raythor bowed as he stepped up, Drago aiming his claw at the lotus, ready to drain its power, but a sudden burst of shadow-flames blasted away the sand-twister surrounding the habitat as Jade and her fellow Guardians touched down to square off against the enemy as Sandpit reformed and rejoined with the Knights of the Vengeance, with Jackie, Tohru, Uncle, Matt, Caleb, and Alchemy right beside them.
"Yeah, that's not happening!" Jade said, accidentally aiming her cotton candy like a weapon, much to her comic surprise, before putting it away.
As the two opposing groups squared off, two pandas watched from a tree as one climbed down and moved toward the pond to get a drink of water. However, it also noticed the glowing Lotus Pod, the Demon Chi active from Drago's attempt at draining it, and touched it out of curiosity. The dark blue aura then spread from the lotus to the panda itself, it's eyes glowing bright red before it began to hover into the sky, the only one noticing was Alchemy, whose eyes widened like saucers.
"The Demon Chi stays, you go!" Tohru demanded.
"But please stay if you want, so we can kick your butts all over again." Irma challenged.
"We'll see about that." Drago said, his mouth smoking as he quickly snatched the lotus from the pond but was shocked to find that there was no longer any power inside it. "What? It was here a second ago!"
"Um… guys…" Alchemy got her friends' attention as she pointed to the sky, which also drew the attention of the Knights as they all looked in an equal amount of surprise to see the panda hovering toward the bamboo trees to snack off some leaves near the top.
"Is that panda flying?!" Will exclaimed.
"Moon Demon Chi, control over gravity!" Uncle stated.
"Get that bear!" Drago ordered as he blasted a large stream of fire the heroes' way, forcing them to scatter as the Knights made their way to the bamboo trees. Drago, Raythor, each of the Ice Crew, Hak Foo, and Frost all leapt and climbed from bamboo-to-bamboo, Miranda used her webbing to traverse through the trees, while Tracker ran on the ground, pulling out its mace to try and catch the panda from below.
"Let's go!" Jackie said as he did the Knights did and leapt up to swing from bamboo-to-bamboo with the Guardians all flying after him, and Caleb doing the same.
Alchemy noticed the zoo's cable-cars moving in the same area as the bamboo trees and got an idea. "Tohru, Matt, you guys help the others out! Uncle, let's go!" She pulled on the old man's wrist in a certain direction.
The Tracker positioned himself directly under the hovering panda and was ready to flail its chain at him, only for Matt to rush and tackle him from behind. But the Tracker stayed on his feet as he reached behind to grab Matt and throw him off. He then flailed his mace at Matt, which was caught by the sudden arrival of Tohru, who used his superior strength to pull on the chain, sending the Tracker his way to slam him into Tohru's extended arm.
Jackie, Caleb, and the Guardians met Drago and the others in the trees as Will grabbed Jackie by the shoulders and gave him a boost to intercept Drago before she was struck by Sandpit's flowing sand body. Irma sprayed water at MC Cobra's body, creating a plum of steam when it impacted his magma skin. Cornelia extended the bamboo sticks upward even further to keep the rest of the Knights from getting to the panda, but DJ Fist leapt up to tackle Cornelia and pull her back down. Raythor tried to blast a steam of fire from his sword toward the panda, but Hay Lin was quick to blow it out with a literal breath of air.
"You can't shoot a panda bear! Even if you're evil, that's just wrong!" Hay Lin exclaimed but was forced to duck underneath a wave of fire sent from Raythor's sword.
Miranda climbed up the trees to try and get a decent shot in with her webbing, but once she shot it out, her webbing was incinerated by a fire blast from Taranee, who then flew in with an uppercut to knock her down.
"Dragon Devours Fairy!" Hak Foo leapt to attack Taranee while airborne, sending her tumbling through the trees.
StrikeMaster Ice and Frost both tried to get closer towards the hovering panda, but Jade and Caleb intercepted them as the latter dropped down to land on Ice while Jade created a large ball of shadow in her hands and sent it at Frost to push him back down. Jade noticed the panda, as well as the oncoming railcar that had Alchemy and Uncle in it before an idea came to her.
Jade pulled out her cotton candy again and coated it in shadow-magic, growing a pair of shadow wings before sending it their way. "Alchemy, catch!"
The flying cotton candy quickly made its way toward the pair, which Alchemy was quick to catch just as the shadows vanished. She held it out as they passed by the hovering panda. "Here boy! Want something sweet?" She drew the panda's attention as it flew after her, Uncle having his blowfish out as he prepared the extraction spell. "Yes, that's it! Come here boy! Sweet, sweet cotton candy for the big boy!"
Sandpit's fluent form shot out from the tree canopy and made its way closer toward the panda, but both Will and Jade were able to halt its path, instinctively bringing out both their powers to raise a wall of pink energy and shadow-magic, creating a mixed barrier of Quintessence and shadows that Sandpit was unable to get through, the raw power forcing it back.
But Drago swung from the branches below to make it under the barrier and past Will and Jade and leapt towards the panda, but it changed its course as Drago was about to hit the railcar, but Alchemy punched him back to knock him down.
"No! You've been a bad boy! You don't get cotton candy!" She comically scolded, thinking Drago was knocked off. But his claws were able to latch onto the railcar from below and was quickly able to leap up to the top, much to Alchemy's surprise.
"I'll come back for you, later." Drago told Alchemy as he leapt onto the cable-line and ran across it.
"Drago's going for the panda!" Alchemy called out to her friends.
"Oh no he's not!" Will stated as she and Jade exchanged looks and nods before flying off to stop him.
Jackie was about to join them, but the bamboo he was on was quickly burnt up from MC Cobra's lava-touch, causing him to fall, but Hay Lin quickly flew in to grab him. As the other Guardians and Caleb did their best to fend off the Knights in this literal high-stakes battle, many of the tree branches began to snap and break. This was thanks to Tohru and Matt, the former swiping his arms with brute strength, while the latter kicked each individual bamboo stick, all to break them, causing all the Knights to fall and land on top of the downed Tracker.
"Time to bring you guys back down to earth!" Matt stated as they watched the Knights fall and land on the ground hard. Before they had a chance to recover and retaliate, Cornelia channeled her earth powers to shake the ground beneath the villains and open it up, causing them all to fall into the makeshift sinkhole.
Sandpit was about to attack Cornelia from behind, but Irma blasted a powerful stream of water at it to convert its sandy and fluent body into heavy mud. "Sandpit is now mud man." Irma snarked as the muddy sandpit fell into the sinkhole and on top of all the Knights, covering them in mud before Cornelia closed up the hole to seal them in.
"Excellent work, girls." Jackie congratulate.
"Well of course, did you expect anything less?" Cornelia said with pride as she brushed her hair back.
"Hey, let's celebrate after we get what we came for!" Caleb scolded.
"Caleb's right, we need to go." Tohru said as the group ran or flew out of the bamboo forest. A few seconds passed before a flaming sword broke out from the ground.
Back on the cable line, Drago was just about to reach the hovering panda, but his outreached hand was ensnared at the wrist by a shadow-rope as Jade pulled him back, but Drago used the momentum in his favor to deal a kick and knock Jade away. Will then flew in with a punch, which he caught before trying to blast fire point-blank and close to her, but she crossed her arms to create a barrier of Quintessence to protect herself, though the force of the fire breath did push her back slightly.
This allowed the cable car carrying Uncle and Alchemy to catch up as the chi-wizard aimed his blowfish again. "Leave Chinese bear alone!" He shot a stun spell, scoring a direct hit on Drago and knocking him off the line and into the water of the seal habitat below. All the seals gave claps and calls when the half-demon fell in their habitat.
Alchemy noticed the panda was now flying toward the entrance gate of the zoo. She pulled out her cellphone and started a group chat with the other girls. "The panda's out of the zoo! We can't follow him in the cable car!"
"Jade and I are close, so we'll follow him and make sure he doesn't do any damage." Will responded back. "Try and catch up however you can!" She said as she and her best friend flew after the panda.
Jackie, Taranee, Irma, Uncle, Hay Lin, Cornelia, Tohru, Caleb, Matt, and Alchemy were at a golf course, still keeping in touch with their friends.
"It's weird to come to an empty golf course on a Saturday." Taranee commented.
"I'm not complaining. This way nobody has to see us like this." Cornelia said, referring to their Guardian forms.
"Can't you guys just change back?" Matt asked.
"Will has the Heart, only she can change us back." Hay Lin answered.
"Jade, Will, we're at the golf course. Where are you?" Jackie asked through his cellphone.
"Right here!" They heard Jade call out to them as she waved near a tree, Will by her side as they were close but still kept their distance from the hovering panda that was eating some of the leaves from the tree.
"Can't you guys just grab the panda?" Caleb questioned as the group walked closer.
"We don't wanna scare it off." Will answered. "But… it's kinda looking more demonic…" She said as they all looked to see the panda had grown an extra set of arms as well as a more elastic tongue to snatch up some of the leaves to eat.
"Panda will return to normal once the Demon Chi is removed." Uncle said.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get going!" Irma told him, only to get a dope-slap from the chi-wizard. "Ow!"
"Panda must be within range for removal spell to work!" Uncle chastised.
"I'm on it!" Alchemy pulled out the cotton candy again as she slowly walked forward, holding the sweet treat out. "Here boy, remember the sweet cotton candy? Come on. You know you want it."
The panda noticed the cotton candy and hovered close to the ground, Will and Jade keeping a reasonable distance to make sure it didn't cause any trouble. Once it was close enough, Uncle recited the spell.
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao." A blast of green energy from his blowfish struck the panda, extracting the Moon Demon Chi from it, causing it to land on the ground before the dark power was sucked into the Chi-Omatic and contained.
"Yes!" Jade pumped. "And now, it's time for Jade's birthday bash!"
"After we get this guy back home." Will said, referring to the panda that ate the cotton candy that Alchemy offered it.
"Awe!" Hay Lin went up to scratch the panda underneath the chin. "Who's a cute little non-demon panda? You are. Yes, you are!" She hugged the panda with a cheery smile.
However, Matt noticed the Chi-Omatic shaking in Uncle's hands as smoke popped out from its opening nozzle. "Uh… is that supposed to happen?"
"Uncle was afraid of this…" The chi-wizard said nervously.
"Sensei...?" Tohru asked in the same tone.
"What now?!" Cornelia questioned.
Suddenly, the nozzle exploded outward as two streams of demonic power shot outward, one containing the Earth Demon Chi, and the other that of the Moon Demon, much to everyone's shock.
"Chi-Omatic can only hold one power at a time!" Uncle stated.
"Awe come on!" Irma complained.
"We got company!" Taranee alerted as a sand cyclone came their way, heading straight for one of the Demon powers. It opened up to reveal the Knights inside, Drago up front alongside Raythor.
"Take my hand!" Drago ordered, Raythor did as told and grabbed one of Drago's claws as he aimed his free one in the direction of the Moon Demon Power. "Ya Gaa Mee Mo Ya Gaa Mee Chi Wa! Ya Gaa Mee Mo Ya Gaa Mee Chi Wa!" Drago's spell was able to draw in the Moon Demon power, which connected to his free claw, and spread through him and toward Raythor before he was enveloped in the dark blue aura.
Suddenly, the sand cyclone exploded as Raythor shot straight upward undergoing a transformation. All the Knights of Vengeance and heroes watched as Raythor grew an extra set of arms below his current ones, his skin turned pale white, his eyes shined dark red, long black hair coming down from the back of his head as his armor turned into a red robe to encompass his body.
"The power… I can feel it flowing through me…! The power over gravity itself!" Raythor lifted his upper arms, casting bolts of dark gravity powers on several trees and rocks around them, pulling them out from the ground with little effort.
"Bad day…" Tohru muttered.
"Now what do we do? How can we stop this?" Will questioned.
"Chi-Omatic will remove Moon Demon Chi from Raythor, but someone here must become living vessel for Earth Demon Chi!" Uncle said.
"I'll do it!" Cornelia volunteered, only to get dope slapped by Uncle. "Ow! Hey, Earth's my element!"
"You are Earth Guardian!" Uncle exclaimed. "To absorb Demon Chi, even that of same element could corrupt Auramere and damage Heart of Kandrakar! Guardians cannot absorb Demon powers!"
"I'll take it then." Caleb said.
"Now's not the time to be the hero, Caleb!" Cornelia scolded.
"You got a better idea?!" He argued.
"Hey!" Jade got in-between them and pushed them away from one another. "You know what would be a really great birthday present? For you two to not argue and fight the bad guys! You wanna get it, Caleb? Go ahead! We'll handle the Knights! Go!"
Surprise by her tone of anger, both Caleb and Cornelia nodded as the young rebel ran after the unobtained Earth Demon Chi while the Guardians flew to engage the Knights first. However, Raythor flew in front of them and extended all four of his hands to blast dark streams of his gravity magic, trapping all of them before an intense pressure pushed them down to the ground with enough force that the ground caved below them and they were unable to fly back up.
"I… I can't move…" Hay Lin winced.
"Wings… not working…" Irma winced as well.
"He's… increased the gravity around us…!" Taranee struggled.
Most of the Knights looked in surprise at the display of Raythor's power. "It's taken everything we've had to bring the Guardians down…" Frost said in awe.
"But Raythor was able to do it with the wave of his hand…!" Miranda was in just as much awe as before.
"The Moon Demon, Tso Lan, was the most dangerous of all the Demon Sorcerers." Hak Foo said. "He came the closest to ending this whole world. Gravity is stronger than any element."
However, this also seemed to serve as a distraction as Caleb ran to try and grab the Earth Demon Chi, but the Ice Crew tried to stop him as StrikeMaster Ice grabbed him by the ankles to trip him up. But Tohru was able to leap in and land on Ice, forcing him to let go of Caleb. MC Cobra and DJ Fist were up next to try and block his path, only to find Jackie, Matt, Uncle, and Alchemy blocking their way.
This let Caleb get in close as he leapt at the Earth Demon Chi to grab it, but once he touched it, the power was quickly absorbed into him as a dark blue aura formed around him, something Drago noticed as he was perched on the branch of a tree above Caleb.
"Well, this should be interesting." He commented with an observatory look.
Caleb felt a shiver go down his body. "Whoa… that feels… tingly." He then noticed Raythor keeping the Guardians trapped underneath his gravity powers. With a growl, he threw his fist forward as he shouted, "Let them go!" But as his fist shot up, a blast of dirt erupted underneath the demonically transformed Raythor to blast him upward, forcing him to release the Guardians, much to their relief.
"Whoa…!" Alchemy looked in surprise.
"Did Caleb just create a mud geyser?" Matt questioned, wanting to make sure he saw what he thought he saw.
"Of course! Why do you think it is called Earth Demon Chi?" Uncle stated.
Caleb looked to his glowing hands as a smirk fell on his face. "I'll keep Raythor busy! You guys take care of the Knights!" He then dug underground quickly like a mole.
No time to question it, Jackie turned to the others. "You heard him! Uncle, do what you can to get the Chi-Omatic fixed! We'll handle Drago and the others!"
With that, the battle erupted as the recovering Guardians and their friends engaged the Knights of Vengeance once more. Will flew down with a kick towards Miranda, who hopped out of the way and tried to shoot more webbing at her, but she waved her hand to cast some pink energy to block the web. Irma shot a stream of water at MC Cobra, creating a steam-cloud once her attack hit his magma-skin. StrikeMaster Ice blew his frosty breath towards Taranee, who raised a wall of fire to counter it. Sandpit formed a cyclone around Hay Lin, who created a larger cyclone of wind around her body to blow him back. DJ Fist tried to rush Matt and Jackie, the two rolling out of the way before Fist went toward Jackie, who tried to punch him in the face.
"Ow!" Jackie waved his hand, having punched steel with his bare knuckles. Fist then grabbed Jackie and raised him over his head, ready to throw him. That is until Matt spotted a bucket of golf balls and threw them toward Fist, as he tried to step forward, but this caused him to slip as he stepped on the many balls before toppling over and forcing him to let go of Jackie.
Tracker flung his mace at Tohru, which he grabbed as the mace wrapped around his arm. As the two struggled, Frost tried to rush Tohru from behind, but the sumo pulled on the mace to pull Tracker forward before he ducked and sent him crashing into Frost.
Jade generated a shadow-spear in her hands which she tried to lunge and thrust at Drago, but he swerved around it before moving in to slam his tail and knock her down. He blasted his fire breath at her, but she rolled out of the way in time.
"Dragon Talons Slice Through Dirt!" Hak Foo flew through the air to launch a kick at Cornelia, slicing through the grass barriers that she rosed to block him. But when he knocked her down, she was quick to channel her powers into the ground and shoot up a rock that sent Hak Foo flying through the air. She noticed blasts of dark energy and flying rocks in the distance and had a good idea what was going on before flying off in that direction.
Alchemy hid behind a rock where Uncle resided as he worked on the Chi-Omatic. "How can I help?"
"Hold device while Uncle uses tape." He handed her the Chi-Omatic as he pulled out some scotch tape to patch it up.
Raythor blasted his dark gravity beams at Caleb, who had dug underneath the ground and tunneled through it to get directly under Raythor. Caleb then shot up from the ground to tackle Raythor from the air and to the ground. Once he emerged, Caleb's body had changed to look more like Dai Gui as his skin turned dark brown, almost reddish, a pair of curved horns emerged from his forehead, his body was now larger and more muscular, especially his arms with his legs being flat stone hooves.
"Let's settle this, demon-to-demon!" Caleb stated as he tried to use his newfound demonic strength to try and pin Raythor down.
"Young fool, you don't always win a battle by overpowering your enemies!" Raythor's lower arms casted a wave of gravity magic to propel himself and Caleb upward, forcing the latter to let go, where the former quickly grabbed him with that same power. "How you lead your rebellion is beyond me, considering your lack of skill and experience, boy."
"Yeah, he is a bit of a hardhead, isn't he?" The ground below Raythor cracked open as multiple plant tendrils and vines shot upward to ensnare Raythor and pull him back down underground, the rift closing up as Caleb landed on the ground to see who his savior was.
"Cornelia?"
"Hey, Earth Guardian, Earth Demon." She told him. "I'd say that's a pretty good combo, but don't get the wrong idea!" She quickly said upon noticing his smile. "Still a professional relationship!"
Caleb didn't bother hiding his look of disappointment. "Fine."
The ground then exploded as Raythor flew back up, several large rocks orbiting around him as he used his gravity powers to increase the pressure around the rocks themselves to squeeze and mold them into a set of crudely made swords, four total for each hand as Raythor wielded them all in each of his four arms before going on the attack.
Caleb and Cornelia channeled their powers to create a combined blast of earth and dirt at the flying Raythor, but he drove all four of his blades forward to cleave through the attack and make his way closer to the pair and pushing them back. He went to Caleb first, swinging one blade at him and forcing Caleb to bring up a rock to shield himself, but Raythor brought down his other three blades repeatedly, increasing the gravity around each blade to further increase the pressure and strength of each strike to push him back even further. When Cornelia came in from behind to try and help, Raythor turned around to aim his upper and lower left blades at Cornelia, channeling his gravity powers to send a pulse of dark energy to push her back through several trees.
The demonically transformed Caleb then pounded the ground to not only create a large crater but send a shockwave as Raythor was blown through the air, where the recovering Cornelia met him with a large dirt-coated fist which she threw to his face to send Raythor crashing down on the ground. But when the two tried to gang up on him, Raythor threw out all four of his swords and enhanced the speed of his throw with gravity powers to slice and knock them both down. He then used his powers to telekinetically lift he blades up and point them downward, ready to finish them.
"This ends now!" However, right as he was about to deal the finishing blow, Raythor was struck in the back by a Chi Spell. He looked back in surprise to see Uncle and Alchemy standing together as the girl held the Chi-Omatic while Uncle casted the spell with the blowfish in his hand.
"Yo Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao! Yo Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao! Yo Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao!" The removal spell pulled the Moon Demon Chi out of Raythor and into the Chi-Omatic, where it was properly contained.
"Got it!" Alchemy grinned.
"No!" Raythor exclaimed upon being turned back to normal, though he still had his portion of Drago's Fire Demon Chi, and fell into a nearby pond.
Will had been knocked back to a golf cart and webbed to its front as Miranda approached her with sinister intentions.
"You look like you could use some help, princess. Can I lend a tire?" The golf cart spoke to Will via her powers, much to her surprise.
"Oh right… Quintessence lets me talk to electronics." An idea then came to her. "If I can make plants bigger than maybe…" She channeled her elemental power into the cart that she was webbed to. "Let's give you a little extra juice! Quintessence!"
Miranda stopped to look in surprise as an aura of pink manifested around the golf cart, breaking Will from her restraints as the cart itself hovered into the air, the top breaking up and manifesting into a pair of hands connecting by the steel poles around each corner.
"What's your name?" Will asked the cart. If her calculator had one, than the cart should have one too.
"It's Tiger."
"As in Tiger Woods?" Will muttered in surprise. "Whatever. Help me snatch up all the bad guys!"
"Four!" The flying golf cart then flew to Miranda first, who tried to run away, but Tiger quickly grabbed her and slammed her into his seats before the seatbelts wrapped around to ensnare and trap her inside. One-by-one, each of the villains were snatched up by the juiced Tiger, much to her friends' surprise. Starting with Hak Foo, then Tracker, Frost, StrikeMaster Ice, DJ Fist, and MC Cobra.
Irma and Hay Lin both nodded to each other as they saw this as a chance to win this whole thing. Hay Lin created a tornado around Sandpit's body to keep it from getting out and escaping, while Irma used her powers to sense the sprinkler system in the ground below. She ruptured one of the pipes below Sandpit's current position and shot it upward to completely soak it, turning Sandpit's body into mud once more. Hay Lin released the tornado as Tiger flew in to snatch its more solidified body and hoist him up with the other villains.
This left only Drago as he looked back in surprise to see Tiger heading toward him, but this still left him open for Jade to bind his arms with shadow-chains generated from one hand as she materialized a massive fist of shadow-magic in the other.
"And this is for ruining my birthday!" Jade exclaimed as she punched her shadow-fist at Drago so hard that it sent him flying into Tiger, who scooped him up and put him in with the others before doing the same with Raythor, who had emerged from the pond.
With a growl, Drago used his ring to create a Fold in mid-air, from which Tiger halted his flight path and used the momentum to literally toss all the Knights of Vengeance into the Fold, which closed right after.
"And that takes care of the trash." Tiger snarked as he landed on the ground and was greeted by Will.
"Thanks for the help, Tiger." She withdrew her power from the golf cart, turning it back to normal.
"Wow, first plant monsters now you talk to tech? Your power is pretty dope." Matt commented to his girlfriend.
"Yeah, but I think I'm getting the hang of it." She replied.
With that all done, everyone regrouped together. "So, we got the Chi? Both of them?" Jade asked.
"Moon Demon Chi contained." Uncle confirmed.
"Caleb's gonna have to hold on to the other stuff till we get back to Section 13." Alchemy added.
"Good." Jade nodded but noticed everyone's concerned expressions directed toward her. "What?"
"Jade… we heard what you said to Drago." Taranee told her.
Realizing there was no sense in denying it any longer, Jade relented. "Okay, fine! I admit it! I hate that this all had to happen on my freaking birthday! Yeah, I love adventures, I love saving the day, and I love fighting the bad guys! But maybe, just maybe, I'd like one day… at least one day where I can hang out with my friends and not worry about the end of the world! For once, I'd actually like my birthday to be freaking normal! Is that too much to ask?!" She exclaimed in a fury, accidentally creating a wall of shadow-fire behind her and startling her friends. Taking a moment to collect herself, she extinguished the flames. Honestly, letting it all out did make her feel a bit lighter on the inside. "Sorry… just had to vent a little bit."
"Jade, it's alright to feel upset about all that." Jackie told his niece. "You know we would all prefer to celebrate your birthday over all this."
"I know… but I guess you can't always have your way." Jade said as she tried to put on a smile. "But, we got Demon Chi, and that's still a win."
"Right." Will said with a nod. "But is there anything at all that you'd like?"
"First, let's get that guy back home…" Jade pointed to the panda from the zoo as it climbed up one tree to eat some leaves. "Then let's get horn-boy taken care of before all that demon power goes to his head." She gestured to Caleb, still stuck with the Earth Demon Chi inside him. "But then again, he's every bit as monstrous as Cornelia now, so maybe they can work some things out."
That burn earned a chuckle from everyone else, while Cornelia simply scowled. "Ha, ha." She said sarcastically.
After returning to Section 13, the group made it to the Vault where a special containment unit had been built to house all the Demon Chi. Uncle had already deposited the Moon Demon power within to join that of Wind and Water and was no working on the spell to remove the Earth Demon Chi from Caleb.
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao." Uncle chanted, as the dark blue demonic aura was removed from Caleb, turning his body back to normal as the Earth Demon Chi was sucked into the Chi-Omatic. With that done, Uncle detached the containment jar from the Chi-Omatic and placed it within a small port at the base of the containment unit before pulling on a lever. The Earth Demon Chi was then transferred into the unit, all four powers circling around each other in the glass container, safe and secure.
"Four down, four to go." Captain Black said.
"Hey, we're already halfway there!" Hay Lin said enthusiastically.
"And someone's still the birthday girl for about six more hours." Taranee said to Jade. "Maybe we can watch a movie or two?"
"Eh, if it's alright with you guys, I'm actually gonna get some sleep. I'm beat." Jade said with a tired sigh as she prepared to walk out of the vault.
"Hey Jade…. We're really sorry." Cornelia apologized.
"Just rotten luck, it happens." Jade shrugged. "I'll see you guys later."
As Jade left, most of the people present couldn't help but look in her direction with sympathy. All except Jackie and Will, both sharing knowing smiles with one another as the latter held the Heart of Kandrakar in her hand.
The Next Day
The door to Jade's bedroom was open slightly, allowing Scruffy to come in and hop on her bed to lick the girl awake as she slept in her bed.
"Heh, heh, okay, okay, I'm awake." She giggled as she nudged her dog back to sit herself up and get up from bed.
After getting changed, she walked out of her room, ready to get some breakfast…
"Morning, Jade." A certain redhead greeted, leaning against the wall just outside her room.
"Oh, morning Will." Jade said back. It only took a second for it to click as her eyes widened in shock, turning to see the smiling face of her best friend. "Will?!"
"I can see why you like doing this. It's fun." Will said.
"Wha-when, when did you get here?!" Jade questioned.
"Just now."
"Does Jackie know you're here?" Jade asked.
"Funny you should ask." Will pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar and opened a Fold. "He's in Meridian with everyone else, we got something going on."
"What is it? More Demon Chi? Drago attacking the castle again?" Jade asked seriously.
"Step inside and find out." Will said with a cryptic smile, causing Jade to raise an eyebrow slightly as she stepped into the Fold with Will and Scruffy right behind her.
Meridian
Both girls and the dog stepped out from the Fold and into the castle courtyard. But when the Fold closed, Jade was not prepared for what she saw.
"SURPRISE!"
So many people all shouted toward her, including Jackie, Tohru, Uncle, Irma, Hay Lin, Cornelia, Taranee, Yan Lin, Caleb, Blunk, Matt, Alchemy, Elyon, Finn, Ratso, Chow, Viper, El Toro Fuerte, Paco, Captain Black, Mama Tohru, Aldarn, Vathek, Tynar, Drake, Julian, Alborn, Miriadel, and so many other people. There were tables of food and games all set up nearly everywhere, all complete with a large banner magically strung up that read 'HAPPY (LATE) BIRTHDAY, JADE!'
"I… uh… what…?" Jade stuttered, completely taken aback by all this.
"I know it's a day late, but better late than never." Will said with a smile. "And since it's Sunday, we got all day to celebrate! Assuming the universe isn't a jackass like it was yesterday with the double Demon Chi special."
"When did you even…?" Jade questioned, still not over her surprise.
"Right after you left the vault last night." Will explained. "I pitched the idea to Jackie earlier yesterday, then popped over to Meridian and explained it to Elyon. Being the Queen of a whole realm makes prep time so much easier." She gestured to Elyon, who pointed to Jade with a wink. "As for party guests…" Will held out the Heart of Kandrakar for emphasis. "Folding really saves on travel time."
"You… did all this for me…?" Jade really had no idea what to say.
"Hey, you're my best friend." Will told her as she put a hand on her shoulder. "And no bestie of mine is not celebrating her own birthday. Besides, you made my birthday when we first met, it's only right I do the same with you."
Jade smiled as tears welled up in her eyes before she leapt at Will with a hug, which she returned without hesitation. "Thanks… you really are the best friend I ever had!"
"Don't mention it." Will said as they let go. "Now, enough with the sappy stuff, time to party!"
"Hell yeah!" Jade grinned as they joined the festivities.
It didn't take long for the party to go into full swing as everyone played games, ate plenty of food, and all laughed with each other. We of course had Will and Jade joining the other girls to eat and drink, Caleb introduced Matt to Aldarn and some of his other friends in the former rebellion, the old Enforcers trying to convince Tohru to join an eating contest with Mama Tohru watching, El Toro having arm-wrestling matches with anyone who would challenge him, Paco showing some of the younger people how to play 'Pin The Tail on the Donkey'. At one point during the party, Blunk was chasing Scruffy who had stolen a drumstick from the Passling.
Jackie sat at a table alongside Viper, Uncle, and Yan Lin as he observed Jade clearly enjoying herself with the other girls. He couldn't help but smile at how much fun his niece was having with all the wonderful friends she has made.
"Bam! Right in the face!" Jade said as she and the girls all laughed together. She was about to drink again from her cup, but found it was empty. "Hang on, I'm gonna get some of this stuff."
"Oh, allow me." Trill offered as she walked up to the table. "You shouldn't work on your birthday, little one."
"Thanks Trill." Elyon smiled. "Really appreciate all the work you do."
"It is a pleasure to simply help, your majesty." Trill bowed. "Now, all me to refill your beverage for you."
"Sure, thanks." Jade handed her the cup as the maid walked away. "And… thanks to all of you guys." She said to the girls. "Not just for this party but… just for being my friends. Seriously, you guys are the best."
"We try." Cornelia smiled as they all shared a laugh.
"Let's hear it for the birthday girl!" Will raised her glass with everyone else. "Happy birthday to Jade Chan!"
"Happy Birthday, Jade!" Irma, Hay Lin, Cornelia, Taranee, Elyon, and Alchemy all raised their cups and glasses, which only caused Jade's smile to grow even wider.
However, none of them noticed Trill as she walked away, waving her hand slightly over the rim of Jade's glass to pull out a faint and barely noticeable whiff of her breath left behind and into a small vial in her hand, which she slipped away up her sleeve.
"Yes… happy birthday, indeed." Trill muttered to herself, a faint glow in her eyes and the tiniest of sinister grins crossing her face.
Done.
So, yeah that was one heck of a ride for our heroes. Recovering not one but two batches of Demon Chi on the same day. And the Ice Crew have now joined up with the Knights of Vengeance, but since Raythor, Frost, and Hak Foo are the ones with the Fire Demon powers, Pizza-face and his gang have their own unique powers. DJ Fist has steel skin, while Ice and MC Cobra have ice and lava powers respectively (think something like what Tridart and Ember had in the canon, but they don't get stronger by feeding off negative emotions). So despite losing the Earth and Moon Demon powers, the Knights have only become more dangerous with their newfound recruits.
And while Jade's birthday may have been ruined at the start, her friends were able to give her a late birthday celebration. I really enjoyed writing that as the girl deserved to celebrate her special day, even if it is a day late.
Oh, I also chose to make Jade thirteen because it just seemed to make more sense. When we first met her in the canon show, she was eleven and she spent a year with Jackie during the events of Season 1 before going back to her parents, who then let Jade stay with Jackie for yet another year, so we can assume that she was twelve at the start of this series given everything that's happened between now and then.
I hope that makes sense.
But that ending though…. What exactly does it entail? You'll see in the next chapters as the heroes face a different kind of battle, one within their own minds.
Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there. Love you guys.