Hi everyone, welcome back to another chapter of J-WITCH. This time around, I got some special surprises, some that many of you may be expecting, but a few others that you might not expect.
What else needs to be said other than… let's get started!
Down to Earth
Jackie, using a long rope, slowly lowered himself down a pit lined with multiple stone faces across the walls. And lying at the bottom of the pit, sitting atop a pedestal within the center of a ring of fire, was a silver iguana statuette. Jackie had managed to lower himself so that he hung just over the flames, wrapping his legs around the pedestal to give himself some stability.
"Hello my reptilian friend." Jackie grabbed the Silver Iguana and placed it in his satchel. But the second he removed it, the pedestal that it was on shrunk down as the whole pit began to shake.
Now was the best time to leave as Jackie tried to quickly climb out of the pit via the rope he used. Only for the eyes of one of the stone faces to light up and shoot condensed flames at him. Jackie gave a startled yelp as he kicked off one wall to swing to the other, and he did so repeatedly as every stone face he got close to blast more fire at him. Though he proved quick and agile to avoid most of them, one blast managed to strike a portion of the rope just above him. It was quickly burning and would snap at any minute.
"Bad day." Jackie muttered before the rope snapped and he fell toward the flames at the bottom of the pit.
Jackie would have been history, but he was quick and resourceful enough to tie a loop around one end of the rope and throw it upward, where it snagged onto a fanged tooth of one of the stone faces, this halted his fall just before he reached the flames as the other end had previously been tied around his waist. He then kicked off the wall to push himself upward toward one stone face.
"Excuse me." He said to one of the faces before leaping upwards to avoid the resulting fire blast shot from the eyes. "Pardon me." He said toward the second before repeating the same action. "So sorry." He said to a third as he jumped again and again before finally making it back out of the pit.
Only to wind up at the feet of several familiar faces including Vanessa Barone, Angus McCutcheon and his sidekick Haggis, Peter Bailey, Origami, and even the old monk who had been imprisoned within the Lotus Temple some time ago.
"Remember us, Chan?" Vanessa scowled. "You've snatched the Nipele Opal, the Sword of BeDang, and now the Silver Iguana of Awramba right out of our greedy little hands!"
Jackie was immediately back on his feet. "Y-yes. Nice to see you all again. Uh… how've you been? Bye-bye!" He waved before running as fast as he could with the six villains in hot pursuit.
However, Jackie accidentally tripped and fell on a broken log, which then moved downhill at extreme speeds, with Jackie screaming as he desperately held on tight. It looked like he was about to go right off a cliff, but Jackie had let go of the log and rolled along the ground, stopping just at the edge to watch the log fall into the river below.
He turned around to see his enemies had already caught up to him and appeared to have him cornered. "Heh-heh… pleasant day for a hike."
"The Silver Iguana, Chan. Now." Vanessa demanded as she took out her whip and snapped it. Angus also drew a sword with Haggis taking out a knife. Bailey took out a dagger of his own, while Origami turned himself into his paper-form as his arms turned into blades with the monk taking a martial arts stance with his palms glowing with magic.
"I have a better idea." All eyes glanced upward to see Jade, Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin, all clad in their Guardian forms of J-WITCH with their respective elemental powers at the ready. "You guys back off and save yourself the embarrassment of a brutal beatdown." Jade grinned.
"And…? Well come on, don't leave me hanging! What happened next?!" Martin asked excitedly as he and Jade sat at a lunch table at Sheffield.
"Well, it gets a little messy after that." Jade smirked. "Let's just say that we kicked their butts, and we returned the Silver Iguana to the museum of Urubamba."
"Oooh, leave the reader to guess about the action sequence. Nice." Martin pointed his finger in approval.
"Okay, can someone explain to me why Jade and Martin seem to be best buds, now?" Irma questioned as she, Will, Cornelia, Hay Lin, Taranee, Caleb, and Matt sat at a table across from them.
"Apparently the two clicked after Jade found out that Martin likes reading superhero comics." Matt replied.
"Yeah, Jade's a pretty big superhero fan." Will added.
"Isn't kinda risky to reveal what happened with your adventure last weekend with Jackie?" Caleb asked. "What if Martin finds out your secret."
"He probably just thinks it's a story Jade's making up." Cornelia brushed off. She then noticed the look on Irma's face before a smirk formed on hers. "Uh oh, is somebody jealous?"
"What?! No way! Why would I be jealous!? I don't even like Martin!" Irma quickly stated.
"Oh, she jealous." Hay Lin snarked, looking to Taranee with a teasing expression.
"Definitely." Taranee replied.
"I'm right here! I can hear you guys!" Irma stated. "And I'm not jealous!"
Martin gave a sigh after hearing Jade's story. "Man, wish I could be a superhero. Get a cool superpower, go on all sorts of crazy adventures all over the world… maybe impress a certain girl." He looked towards Irma, who didn't even seem to notice one.
"Well, you don't need powers to be a hero, Martin." Jade replied. "Look at Batman or my Uncle Jackie. They're both badass without any fancy magic powers."
"Yeah, but they also got martial arts training. I got none of that." Martin said.
"Well… you could swing by the shop some time. Maybe Jackie can teach you." Jade offered. "Give you a chance to take off the Clark Kent glasses and embrace the Superman inside. And win over your Lois Lane." She teased, glancing in a certain direction, prompting Martin to turn around and look towards Irma. When he waved and smiled, Irma shook her head and looked away, causing him to sulk.
"Thanks, but… I don't think she sees me as a Superman." Martin said depressingly. "Probably a Green Lantern G'nort at best."
Section 13
"Given the size of Drago's crew, notably the walking wrecking ball you call 'Gargoyle', we've identified at least three possible locations the Knights of Vengeance could be using as their hideout here on Earth." Captain Black explained to Jackie, Uncle, Tohru, and Yan Lin as the five stood together in his office with the head of Section 13 having a projector to show a map of Heatherfield. "One is an abandoned steel mill just outside of town, the other is underneath the bridge, and the last is at a scrap yard a couple miles from Heatherfield." Captain Black went on.
"With the ability to Fold between dimensions, Drago could be at either of these locations." Jackie said. "And even if that cave in Meridian is now abandoned, he could still have another base there."
"He may not be as strong as his father, but Drago has proven to be viciously cunning." Yan Lin added. "Emphasis on the 'vicious' part."
"Sensei, how is that locator spell coming along?" Tohru asked as Uncle was working on something else at the desk. "The one you said could lead us to Drago?"
"Spell has taken backseat." Uncle replied as he moved aside. "Uncle now complete second Chi-Omatic. Device can hold only one Demon Power at a time, and if in event more than one Demon Chi awakens on same day, similar to Jade's birthday…"
"We wouldn't have the means to contain the other power, other than letting someone from our side become a host." Jackie understood. "Yes, that is a good idea."
Suddenly, the whole of Section 13 began to shake, almost as if it was hit by an earthquake, nearly knocking all the adults to the floor. Tohru was quick to catch Yan Lin just before she fell.
"What was that?" Captain Black questioned.
The source of this sudden and mysterious tremor appeared to be coming from the vault where the Demon Chi was being held. The Containment Unit shook as cracks formed and spread all across the glass, enabling the five Demon Powers within to seep out and escape.
"Aiya!" Uncle exclaimed as he and everyone else saw both of the Chi-Omatics shine to life, the dials on both of them spinning as their compasses glowed bright green. On the positive side, it meant that the second Chi-Omatic was now working like the original. On the negative side, their activity meant one thing.
"Demon Chi is loose!" Uncle stated.
"The Containment Unit must be damaged." Tohru assumed as Captain Black was already at his station, looking at the security footage of the vault where the containment unit was being held as well as the halls of his underground base. He could see that the Containment Unit was indeed damaged, as well as a few strands of dark energy moving throughout his base.
"He's right. The glass is broken, and the powers are out and about." Augustus confirmed.
"Then we must contain them before the power can escape." Jackie stated as he grabbed one of the Chi-Omatics. "Tohru, you and I will gather the stray Chi."
"Right." Tohru agreed as he took the second device.
"Jin and I will repair the Containment Unit." Yan Lin volunteered.
"I'll put the base on alert and monitor from here." Captain Black said. "All agents will be ordered to report the second they spot the Demon Chi. And if any of them get hit with it, I'll alert you to their location."
"Do not just stand there, get cracking!" Uncle told everyone as they went to work on their respective assignments.
The Moon Demon Chi flew aimlessly across one of the hallways as Jackie had appeared, running in the direction that Captain Black had alerted him to via their comms. He spotted the Moon Demon Chi just about to escape via one of the vents near the ceiling.
Fortunately, Jackie was able to aim his Chi-Omatic and activated it just in time, sucking in the Moon Demon Chi before it can escape, allowing him to properly contain it.
"I have the Moon power." Jackie reported over the comms as he made his way back. "I'm heading to the Vault now."
A few agents kept their distance around the Water Demon Chi as it circled aimlessly in the control room, yet they still encircled around it.
"Captain, we've spotted one of the assets. It's in the control room." One of the agents reported.
"Do not touch it! Tohru's on his way!" Black ordered.
They saw the Water Demon Chi about to enter one of the vents in the machine. "It's gonna slip away!"
However, the elevator door had opened just in time, revealing Tohru as he aimed the Chi-Omatic he held at the demonic power sucking it in and capturing it. The agents all gave Tohru a thumbs up, while he gave one of his own with a smile.
"Chi spotted in the break room!" One agent said as he and his friend were backed against the wall, the Wind Demon Chi circled over the table where a plate of half-eaten doughnuts laid.
"Don't let it touch the doughnuts!" The second agent cried out in fear.
Jackie then came in and was able to suck in the Wind Demon Chi with his Chi-Omatic.
"Nice aim, man." The first agent pointed approvingly towards Jackie, who spun the Chi-Omatic in his hand like a cowboy would a gun with a smile.
"Tohru, one of my mechanics got hit with the Sky Demon Chi." Captain Black informed as the sumo entered the garage of the base where the vehicles were all being stored. "The others were able to evacuate, but you might wanna get to this guy before he causes any trouble."
"I see him." Tohru said as he rounded around a pillar to said mechanic standing in the middle of the room, having grown wings and claws and taking an appearance similar to Hsi-Wu and even letting loose a demonic caw. He didn't get a chance to spread his wings however as Tohru was quick to blast him with a removal spell via a blowfish in one hand and suck up the extracted Sky Demon Chi into the Chi-Omatic he held in the other hand.
"The Sky Demon Chi is contained." Tohru reported.
"Get it to the vault. I'll have medics come and get the guy." Black ordered.
It would seem that Uncle and Yan Lin had successfully managed to repair the Containment Unit, or at least patch it up. Despite the glass being cracked, it was wrapped up by a series of leafy vines, which seemed to have some kind of spell on them that would help keep the Demon Chi contained.
"Water… Moon… Sky… Wind…" Uncle counted as he, Jackie, Tohru, and Yan Lin stood in the vault. "Earth Demon Chi is still missing."
"Captain Black, we have all but one of the powers. Do you see the Earth Demon Chi?" Jackie questioned via the comms.
"I have a visual!" Captain Black reported as he continued to sit in his office and watch the footage on his monitor, where he spotted the Earth Demon Chi slip into an air duct, much to his frustration. "It's gone. The power escaped."
"The Earth Demon Chi is no longer in Section 13." Jackie said to the rest of his companions.
"Then we must find it before an innocent person comes into contact with it." Tohru replied.
"I'll call the girls; school should be out now." Jackie was already pulling out his phone.
"The Containment Unit is patched up for the moment, but it's not quite fixed yet." Yan Lin said. "I'll stay here and work on that, but the rest of you have to find that power."
"With Demon Chi no longer in Section 13, Forces of Darkness will be drawn to it." Uncle stated ominously.
Meanwhile, Drago appeared to be napping at the roof of the steel mill, leaning back on one of the smokestacks when his eyes suddenly shot open.
He was struck with a blood red vision as he saw the ground being torn apart before Dai Gui emerged with a roar and pounded the ground with his fist, causing it to crack open and reveal a flower. The vision shifted to a skate park in Heatherfield.
The Earth Demon Chi? But didn't they already try to grab that one. Regardless, the power was now loose, and they had an opportunity before them. It would be foolish not to take it.
Opening a hatch on the roof, Drago leapt inside and landed on a bridge of the chamber where most of the Knights were hanging out, simply minding their own business before Drago pounded on the metal railing to get their attention.
"Off your asses, Knights." He told them all. "We have work to do."
The loose Earth Demon Chi flew over a skate park, one that Martin just so happened to wander through. "Me, a hero? Yeah right. Can't even get Irma to notice me." He muttered to himself. But in his inner musings, he didn't notice that he was walking toward a random skater. "Ow! Hey!" He got clipped in the side and knocked backwards…
Right into the dark energy that was the Earth Demon Chi. As he hit the ground, Martin gasped as a dark aura formed around him and the image of a red flower appeared in his eyes before they both faded.
"Whoa… that was… tingly." He couldn't quite find the right words for what he just felt. But he seemed alright, so he dismissed it as nothing as he pulled himself up, only to look in surprise as a whirlwind of sand blew all across the skate park, causing many of the skaters to run away screaming, all in a panic.
Martin covered his face so the sand wouldn't it get in his eyes. When it all cleared, he was the only normal person left in the park as he saw the sandy whirlwind condense in front of him to take the humanoid form of Sandpit, and standing alongside it were the Knights of Vengeance, led by Drago, this group consisting of Raythor, Hak Foo, Miranda in her spider-form, StrikeMaster Ice, Frost, MC Cobra, the Tracker, and DJ Fist.
"Whoa… what the…?!" Martin gasped. "Lizard-men… sandman… a zombie… a giant spider… iceman… lavaman… steelman… Super villains! It's a super villain entourage like the Sinister Six!"
"You have something I want." Drago stepped forward. "And what I want, I take!" He unleashed his fire breath at Martin, who instinctively raised his hands to shield himself.
But this triggered the power he absorbed, which caused a large mound of earth to rise from the ground and shield him from the fire blast, much to Martin's own surprise and that of the Knights.
"What happened?!" Raythor questioned.
"He's using the power of Dai Gui, the Earth Demon!" Drago stated. "Get him!"
"Angry Dragon Takes Flight!" Hak Foo leapt above the mound of earth and went straight for Martin, who screamed as he held out his hands again, but this caused the ground in front of him to erupt with a stream of mud and dirt to blast Hak Foo away.
DJ Fist and Frost broke through the rocks and made their way closer to Martin. "Please! Please don't hurt me!" When he raised his hands defensively, this caused the rock pile to collapse and pile on top of Frost and DJ Fist.
Sandpit, MC Cobra, Tracker, Raythor, and StrikeMaster Ice attempted to surround Martin and come at him from all sides. But as he screamed, he accidentally sucked himself into the ground, causing all five to collide into each other, Sandpit's body breaking apart.
Martin popped up from the ground, looking as if he were about to have a panic attack. "W-what's going on here?! Why is this happening to me…?!"
He was then hit in the back by a strand of webbing before being yanked out of the ground and onto the side of a ramp where Miranda proceeded to trap him by spraying more web all across his body as Drago approached him with deadly intent.
"Playtime's over." However, Drago was then struck by a stun-spell, as was Miranda, both of them were knocked away as the group consisting of Jackie, Will, Jade, Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee, Cornelia, Tohru, Uncle, Caleb, and Matt had arrived on the scene.
"Back off, lizard-lips!" Jade glared.
"Where's the Earth Demon Chi?" Caleb asked as Uncle held the Chi-Omatic, with the dial pointing directly to Martin, who was still stuck in Miranda's webbing. It didn't take long for the heroes to put two-and-two together.
"You have got to be kidding me…." Irma's eyelids lowered.
"Martin has the power?!" Taranee questioned.
"Do not fret." Raythor said as he and the Knights of Vengeance regrouped. "He won't have it much longer." He had drawn his sword, which lit on fire, before giving the command. "Knights, attack!"
As the Knights charged forward, Will had taken out the Heart. "Matt, you help Martin. We'll take care of these guys."
"On it!" Matt ran to help Martin, but Irma quickly grabbed Will by the arm before she could say the magic words.
"Will, he's gonna see us!"
"We don't have a choice! Guardians Unite!" In a flash of pink light, Jade, Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin had transformed into J-WITCH. The six guardians, along with Caleb and the Chan Clan, went on the attack, engaging the Knights in combat.
Drago tried to blast his fire breath at Jackie, who jumped and dodged to close the gap and exchange hand-to-hand with the half-demon. Raythor swung his fire-sword towards Jade, who conjured up a shield made from shadow-magic in one hand to block it before blasting him with a stream of shadow-fire from her free hand to knock him down.
"Leave my friend alone!" Jade told Raythor before creating a shadow-mace in her hand, which she flailed at Raythor, who rolled out of the way to avoid the devastating impact.
"Claws of the Flying Dragon!" Hak Foo threw multiple punches at Will, who tried to block them as best as he could before being knocked back to a pile of skates and skateboards. As Hak Foo attempted to rush her again, Will channeled her Quintessence power into the skates and skateboards, causing them to stand, before she sent them right at Hak Foo's feet, causing him to trip up where she dealt a vertical spinning kick to his jaw to knock him up in the air and crashing to the ground.
Sandpit tried to blast Hay Lin back with a sand twister, but she spun her own body to generate a tornado around herself to blow the sand back. Frost locked hands with Tohru as they tried to wrestle their own strength against one another, but Frost appeared to be stronger as he pushed Tohru back, who just so happened to back into a pair of skateboards, one per foot, the momentum of Frost's push was enough to send Tohru up a nearby ramp, where Hay Lin happened to spot him and got an idea.
"Hang tight, Big T!" The Air Guardian pushed her hands forward to send a powerful gust of wind at Tohru's back. That combined with his own weight as he rolled downwards on the skateboards was enough to send him rolling at Frost faster than he could dodge. When Tohru hit, Frost was sent flying and crashing through several ramps.
Caleb swung his katana towards DJ Fist, who blocked it with the steel skin on his arm before grabbing Caleb by the shirt and threw him to the ground. DJ Fist was ready to pound his face in, only to get knocked back by several broken pieces of wood, courtesy of Cornelia via her telekinetic powers. She flew down to Caleb with a smile as she offered him her hand, which he took with a smile of his own. But he quickly pushed her out of the way to avoid the flail of the Tracker as he snarled at the pair.
Irma and Taranee came back-to-back as they faced off against StrikeMaster Ice and MC Cobra respectively.
"I'm so gonna freeze your crust off, know what I'm saying?" Ice said as he blew a frosty breeze towards Irma while MC Cobra threw a lava ball. The Water and Fire Guardians exchanged glances and nods before Irma leapt over the ducking Taranee and they shot their own respective elements. A fire blast from Taranee overpowered Ice's frosty attack and blasted him down, while a water stream from Irma extinguished Cobra's lava ball before she soaked him completely.
"Ah! That's cold, yo!" Cobra exclaimed as steam flew from his body, the water extinguishing much of his outer lava power.
"You need a cold shower!" Irma snarked as she kept up the attack.
"The Demon Chi will be ours!" Miranda quickly crawled her way towards the webbed-up Martin, only to be blasted in the side by Uncle's stun spell. She was forced to fall back as the elder Chi-Wizard kept up his barrage of chi blasts, allowing Matt to come in and pull the webbing off Martin.
"Okay Martin, try not to freak out on me man…" Matt tried to explain the situation as best as he could. "But these guys are after you cause you got infected with some Demon Chi."
"Demons?" Martin looked skeptical. "Come on, Matt. There's no such thing." They briefly glanced toward the side to see Jackie running from Drago's onslaught of fire breath. "Eh… fire breathing lizardmen, maybe. But not demons."
Some stray blasts of fire almost hit them, forcing them to duck and causing Martin to panic even further. "Alright, I'm outta here!"
"Martin, wait!" Matt couldn't stop him as he dug into the ground and burrowed away like a mole, the trail of ground moved in the direction of Jackie and Drago's fight catching their attention before the trail vanished.
"The Chi's gone underground!" Drago called to his Knights. "Sandpit, time for a quick escape!"
As instructed, Sandpit's body broke apart into a massive sandstorm which blew all over the skate park, causing the heroes to cover their eyes while the Knights of Vengeance used this as their chance to escape. When the sandstorm vanished, the villains were nowhere to be seen.
"Well, this is just perfect." Cornelia said sarcastically as the heroes regrouped. "Out of everyone to get demonized, it just happened to be Martin."
"So, what are we waiting for?!" Irma questioned in a surprising amount of concern and panic. "We gotta find him before Drago and his buddies do!"
"And we will." Jackie put an assuring hand on Irma's shoulder to calm her down. "But we need to be calm and rational about this."
"You guys can remove the power from Martin, right?" Matt asked Uncle and Tohru.
"Yes, but we must find him before the Knights of Vengeance do." Tohru replied.
"And before evil chi corrupts Martin's own chi, turning him into a demon." Uncle added. The thought of that made Irma visibly scared, fearing the worst for Martin.
Meanwhile, Martin himself crawled out from underground in a nearby alleyway. Now that he was far away from all the action and terror, it gave him a chance to calm down and address the situation around himself.
"Something's definitely different, that stuff I did with the ground… and these…" He got a good look at himself and saw that he had grown much more buff, having the build of a professional football player. "Muscles…" He flexed his own arms feeling a sense of pride in his newfound strength. "I.. I-I… I have superpowers!" Martin exclaimed in excitement. "I… I did it! I found my own inner Superman!" He then remembered how he saw the girls transform at the skate park. "And it's not just me… Irma, Jade, and all their friends have powers too! Maybe we can be a team, together! Maybe Irma can finally take me seriously!"
Martin then saw his own reflection on a broken piece of glass and looked serious. "But don't you forget, with great power comes great responsibility. And it is my responsibility to protect my city! Yes, it is time!" He stood tall as he put his hands to his hips. "Time to fulfill my destiny!"
Irma knocked on the door of Tubbs residence, the door was quickly opened by a middle-aged woman who was likely Martin's mother.
"Uh, hi." Irma greeted as she and Jade stood together at the doorway. "Is uh... Martin home?"
"No, he said he was going to be out all day today." Mrs. Tubbs answered. "He said something about 'fulfilling his destiny', probably just hanging out with some friends. Would you like to leave him a message?"
"No thanks, we'll just see him again at school. Later." Jade said goodbye as the two girls left, the door closing behind them as they went back to the sidewalk where the rest of their friends were waiting. "Martin's not home."
"Chi-Omatic does not detect Earth Demon Chi." Uncle said as he held said device in his hand.
"His mom said he was 'fulfilling his destiny'." Irma remarked with air-quotes.
"Oh boy." Matt winced. "I've heard that line from a lot of the comics he reads. Martin probably thinks he's a superhero now."
"That is going to cause us all kinds of problems." Will said. "We gotta find him, now."
"Agreed. We'll split into groups and scour the city." Jackie instructed. "Irma, Jade, and Will are with me. Tohru, take Hay Lin, Taranee, and Caleb. Cornelia and Matt, you go with Uncle. I'll also get in touch with Captain Black to see if he can find anything from his end as well."
"I'll call Elyon and let her know what's going on, just in case we need some extra firepower." Cornelia already had her cellphone out.
"We'd better hurry." Irma urged. "Knowing Martin, he's already causing a scene."
Standing at the edge of a rooftop was Martin, now clad in a superhero uniform of his own design. It was primarily red with blue gloves and boots and a cape; there was also a big blue M on his chest. But what stuck out the most about him was that his muscles had grown considerably larger, he also had spikes growing from the sides of his arms and horns slowly growing out of his forehead.
"Heatherfield, my home. The city that I have sworn to protect. No longer am I the wimp who couldn't fight back against the bullies at school. I am… the seismic hero… Mega Martin!" He stood proudly as the cape blown behind him in the wind.
At city hall, the mayor of Heatherfield appeared to be giving a speech as he unveiled a statue of himself with many people attending. However, not everyone appeared to be in favor as a pair of juvenile delinquents tried to sneak up from behind.
"The mayor doesn't deserve a statue!" One of them said as they climbed up the statue, each one holding a can of spray paint. "We're here to show his true colors!"
However, just before they could commit their act of vandalism, a tremor shook up much of the area, causing the statue to tip over, with the delinquents still hanging on, before it crashed and broke apart on the ground. Though the delinquents didn't appear to be seriously hurt, everyone, the mayor especially, were more than a little freaked out by what just happened.
"There will be no acts of Vandalism on Mega Martin's watch, Mr. Mayor!" Martin saluted as he stood next to the shocked mayor. "No need to thank me. All in a day's work." He said in his usual snort before digging underground and quickly burrowing away.
A pair of thieves thought it was a good idea to break into the Heatherfield museum and steal several valuable pieces of art. But, they didn't expect Mega Martin to appear by breaking out from the floor and blast them all away with a mound of mud. This however, created a huge mess throughout the hallway.
Martin wiped some of the mud from one of the paintings as he stood proudly once more. "The public can continue to adore your abstract beauty, thanks to Mega Martin!"
Two inmates attempted to break out of prison by digging underground with a pickaxes. They didn't get that much farther as the tunnel's ceiling collapsed in front of them and Mega Martin blocked their path.
"Sorry, but Mega Martin says that you must keep serving time!" He declared to the frightened inmates, unaware that several police cars, all responding to the reported break out, had arrived only to all crash into the large hole that Martin had made when he dug underground.
Steel Mill
"This is whack, yo." StrikeMaster Ice commented as he, and the rest of his crew looked at their phones to see everything that Mega Martin was doing via social media and showed it to the rest of the Knights of Vengeance.
"Kid thinks he's a dang superhero." MC Cobra added.
"Hero? Based on what I'm seeing, he's clearly doing more harm than good." Raythor looked in disappointment.
"What do you expect when a child holds such tremendous power?" Hak Foo responded. "If I had that power, all of the city would be in ruins by now!"
Frost growled. "Then why are we still here?" He turned to Drago who remained in his meditative trance before awakening. "Where is he?"
"That kid's constantly on the move, it's making it hard to pinpoint his exact location." Drago replied.
"Yeah. Every dude on Facebook and Twitter say that 'Mega Martin' is in and out in seconds." StrikeMaster Ice said as he continued to look on his phone. "Lame hero name, by the way."
"Dude's acting like he's all high and mighty, ain't sticking around for a reward or thanks like a hero." MC Cobra added.
"Who's to say we can't use that to our advantage?" Miranda offered as she remained in her spider-form, having crawled down from the wall she was perched on.
"What are you implying?" Raythor asked.
"He truly believes to be a hero, correct?" Miranda said as she changed into her human form. "So wouldn't it be natural for a hero to want to rescue a poor damsel in distress?" She offered with a sadistic smile.
Drago immediately got what the shapeshifter was implying and grinned. "I gotta say, Miranda… I really love the way that foul little mind of yours works."
At the same time, the group consisting of Irma, Will, Jackie, and Jade had arrived at city hall where they saw the broken statue being kept away from the public via police tape as the mayor spoke with the authorities.
"We're getting warmer." Jade said.
"Not warm enough, he's already long gone!" Irma exclaimed.
Will had taken out her phone to talk with the rest of her friends. "We just missed him at city hall, what about the rest of you?"
"We're at the museum. And it looks like Martin's made a bigger mess than those art thieves that were there." Elyon replied via her own phone as she, Cornelia, Uncle, and Matt were at the police tape that kept the entrance to said museum closed, though they could see the mud splattered all over inside from the glass doors and windows.
"It also looks like he tried to stop a prison break." Taranee spoke into her phone as she, Tohru, Caleb, and Hay Lin were near the highway where they saw the pile up of police cars. "A few people might be hurt, but it doesn't look anything serious. At least not yet."
"One dead end after another." Will scoffed.
"Ugh! I can't believe this!" Irma smacked both her hands on her face. "First my brother wears an Oni mask, now this?! What's next, my parents turn into zombies!?"
"Irma, calm down." Jackie spoke seriously, placing a firm grip on both her shoulders. "Panicking will not help Martin, you should know that by now."
She sighed as she knew Jackie was right, but that didn't seem to be the only reason she was upset, something Jade noticed.
"Hey, be honest… what do you think about the guy?" Jade asked.
"What? What's that gotta do with this?" Irma questioned.
"Cause we know he likes you." Jade said.
"Jade, I swear to god that if you're going to tease me right now…" Irma scowled.
"It's cause he likes you that maybe you can get through to him!" Jade stated, causing Irma to look in surprise before Jade continued. "The longer he's got that Demon Chi inside him, the more it's gonna turn him into a monster."
"And this is supposed to help us, how?" Irma questioned, wanting her friend to get to the point.
"So, the only person who might be able to get through to him at that point, would be someone that he really likes. Someone he actually cares for… like the girl he's got a crush on." Jade said, referring directly to Irma. "Yeah, I know that whole 'speaking from the heart to reason with the monster' trope seems a bit cliché, but it works. I speak from experience." She happened to look towards Will, remembering when she was transformed into the Queen of the Shadowkhan and it was the words of her best friend, and later spirit sister, that helped get through to her. "Just be honest with the guy and… that might be enough to get him to at least see clearly."
Irma knew what Jade was talking about and in doing so, took a moment to think about what she honestly thought about Martin. When they first met, he was smitten with her at first sight and she caught on instantly and was very annoyed by his attempts to woo her. But after that whole mess with the Hermeneuta Beast last year, early in her career as a Guardian, and how she went with him on a fake date as a distraction to keep Martin out of the way, she kinda felt that he was actually a pretty decent guy. Though he still got too close at times, she at least found him somewhat tolerable, but she never really said anything other than simple 'hellos' in the hall. Maybe it was time to at least start treating him like a friend.
"Heh, since when did you become so wise?" Irma joked slightly to Jade, who grinned in her usual way.
"Hey, I'm full of surprises." She replied.
Though Jackie and Will were truly proud of Jade in that one moment, they also had to get back to the matter at hand.
"In order to talk to Martin, we have to find him first." Jackie said.
"Or… maybe instead of trying to catch up to him… we look for Drago!" Will proposed, thinking outside the box.
"What do you mean?" Jackie asked.
"Drago's probably looking for him too, right?" Will began. "He might not be as powerful as his dad, but the guy's smart. He actually learns from all his past fights. And if I were him, instead of trying to hunt Martin down, I would lure him somewhere where I'd have the advantage and set up a trap."
"That… actually makes sense." Jade seemed onboard.
"Martin has the power of Dai Gui, the Earth Demon." Jackie began to deduce what they knew of Martin's current state. "It enables him to burrow underground and manipulate the ground around him."
"So, where exactly can junior lure him? Not exactly a lot of places nearby where an Earth Demon would be at a disadvantage." Irma pointed out. "What's he gonna do, try and get him up in the sky?"
Will looked at her friend as she said that and then came to the realization as she remembered Irma's own element as a Guardian. "Or a place surrounded by water!"
"The port!" Jackie said with realization.
Martin tunneled from the street before jumping out from the ground and made his way toward the port that led out to the open port. "Mega Martin is here! I heard from an anonymous tip that someone is in trouble, well fret not because your hero has arrived!"
He heard the sound of a little girl crying and followed the source of the sound to a large and long wooden dock that led further out to sea. Coming near four metal barrels, he found the human form of Miranda, holding her legs close to her as she appeared to be crying.
"Please help. I'm lost." She cried as she looked up to him.
"Do not fear little girl, for Mega Martin his here to help!" He stood proudly once more. "How may I be of service."
"You can help…" A malevolent smile formed on her face. "By staying right where you are."
Suddenly, the massive beast known as Gargoyle broke out from the docks below and behind Martin, grabbing him in surprise with a roar, having been hiding under water the whole time.
"W-wha… What is this…?!" Martin struggled in Gargoyle's grip, the behemoth jumping down into the water up to its own chest and made its way further out, up to the edge of the docks.
"Heroes… so noble and yet… so predictable." Miranda transformed into her spider-form once more.
"You!" Martin recognized her from the skate park. He tried to fight back but found himself unable to manipulate any immediate ground or anything earth-based at the moment. "What?! What happened to my power?!"
"Can you really call it your power if you don't know the first thing about it?" Drago questioned as he revealed himself along with the other Knights of Vengeance.
"The power of the Earth Demon, it must be quite difficult to use when surrounded by all this water and so little solid ground." Raythor grinned.
Martin gave a gasp. "Water is my kryptonite?!"
"Not for long." Drago outstretched his hand as he prepared to siphon away the Demon Chi. "I think it's time to give that power to someone more worthy."
"Yeah, but it sure as hell ain't you!" A stream of water struck him from behind, sending him rolling across the docs, while the other Knights turned around to see the arrival of J-WITCH, all clad in their Guardian forms, along with Jackie, Uncle, Tohru, Caleb, Matt, and even Elyon. "Now let Martin go or get your assess handed to ya. Again."
Raythor growled as he drew his fire-sword once more. "Gargoyle, stay in the water and keep a grip on that boy! Everyone else, attack!" As per his command, the Knights all charged at the heroes. Raythor swung his fire-sword at Jackie, who did his best to dodge most of the attacks but was quickly backed up by Jade who flew in with a shadow-katana to block the strike and give Jackie an opening to leap above his niece and deal a kick to Raythor's face.
Will gave a flying kick towards the Tracker, knocking him back slightly but he growled as he opened his robe to send a swarm of bats in her direction, which she shielded herself from by projecting a barrier of pink energy. Matt, who had grabbed a metal pipe from the port, came in to smash the Tracker in the face. Though that one strike did disorient him, it didn't stop the Tracker from grabbing the pipe with one hand and picking up Matt with the other before slamming him on the ground. Fortunately for Matt, the Tracker was blasted away by a stream of Quintessence, courtesy of Will after she had blown away the bats.
Once again Hay Lin found herself facing Sandpit as she clasped her hands together to form a sphere of rotating air, which she quickly grew to the same size as herself which acted as a shield to blow away the plum of sand that Sandpit shot in her direction. At the same time, Taranee locked hands with Frost, who appeared to have her overwhelmed with his own dragon strength as he pushed her down.
"Stupid girl, think you can match the strength of a dragon?" Frost taunted.
"No… but can you take the dragon's heat?" Taranee smirked back as she lit her whole body on fire, generating so much heat that it burnt Frost's hands with the force of the heat pushing Frost back just before she placed her hands together to blast all that fire point blank at Frost and send him flying into a pile of boxes.
"Spinning Dragon Claws!" Hak Foo spun his body so fast that it seemed like a tornado, his clawed hands pointing outward as he moved closer to Caleb, who desperately blocked the rapid claw strikes with his katana, but the force was still enough to knock him down.
"Hey, how about you try a taste of 'Dragon Gets Pounded by Junk!'" Cornelia had arrived and used her telekinetic powers to lift up several boxes and barrels from around the area and sent them all toward him at once. Hak Foo tried to use his speed and agility to leap and avoid most of the objects, even leaping from one to the other before making his way out at the highest point and squared off against the couple as they exchanged smiles before charging together.
Elyon found herself surrounded on all sides as Miranda and the whole Ice Crew tried to gang up on her, but she didn't seem the least bit intimidated.
"Elyon, so good to see you again." Miranda hissed.
"The feeling's not mutual." The young queen replied.
"Yo, this really the queen of a magic world? A little runt?" MC Cobra questioned mockingly while DJ Fist crossed his arms skeptically.
"Why don't you come here, and I'll show you how much of a 'runt' I am?" Elyon challenged.
"You got the crust, little lady." StrikeMaster Ice granted. "Let's see if you got the sauce." He blew his frosty breath in her direction just as MC Cobra threw a lava ball. DJ Fist charged forward while Miranda spat a great deal of webbing.
Elyon however simply extended her hands in both directions as she coated herself in magic and spun around, catching the three attacks of ice, lava, and web, as well as the charging DJ Fist himself. She spun around even more to gather some momentum before stopping to throw back at her attackers. DJ Fist, now coated in Miranda's own webbing, was thrown back at the spider-girl to send them rolling across the ground and sticking together while the lava ball hit Ice just as the frost struck Cobra.
"Too cold, dude!" MC Cobra shivered as he tried to shake the frost off from his cooled lava skin.
"Stop, drop, and roll! Stop, drop, and roll!" StrikeMaster Ice rolled on the ground to extinguish the flames on his own icy body.
"What was that about being a runt?" Elyon smirked.
As the fights waged on, Irma, Uncle, and Tohru ran along the docks to make their way towards Gargoyle, who still held Martin in his grip, only to find their way blocked by the recovered Drago.
"Out of the way, Junior." Irma warned. "You do not want to mess with this!"
"You can have your boyfriend back after I get my power… and then I'll use it to crush you both to death!" Drago sent his fire breath at Irma, who shot her hand up to raise a column of water and extinguish the attack.
"Dude, Water Guardian. Remember?" Irma reminded dryly. "Now let's see how well you swim." She shot up her other fist to blast up another column of water directly underneath Drago and send him flying from the dock and into the water some distance away.
"Good work Irma." Tohru told her. "You and I will keep Gargoyle busy while Uncle drains the Demon Chi from Martin."
"Aiya…!" Uncle gasped as he and everyone else turned in the direction of Martin to see his body glowing, the dark blue energies of the Demon Chi within surging as the power inside him continued to grow. "Demon power is growing!"
It was true, the demonic power within Martin was growing even more, so much so that Martin's appearance changed even further with his body becoming even more bulky, the horns on his head growing out even more. His skin turned a brownish red as his eyes glowed red with demonic power. He looked more like Dai Gui by the second. When he let loose a roar, multiple columns of solid earth and geysers of mud exploded in every direction not only across the port, but even out from the ground underneath the water. One powerful blast erupted from the ground underneath Gargoyle, forcing the beast to let go of Martin as it was sent flying further out into the water. A massive mound of earth rose up to allow Martin to stand and rise above nearly everyone at the port, causing them all to look in shock.
"Begone, villains!" He outstretched his hands to shake up the entire port like an earthquake and even blast up mounds of ground to send all the remaining Knights of Vengeance flying and crashing in multiple directions. But this also caused the port to begin tearing up as the most of the heroes tried to find cover as best they could, which they could find with Elyon as she raised an energy shield around all of them to protect them from the flying rocks and debris.
"How can even use his powers in the ocean?!" Hay Lin questioned.
"He's raising the sea floor!" Taranee deduced.
"He's out of control! At this rate, he's gonna tear up most of the city!" Matt exclaimed.
"I'll stop him!" Cornelia flew out.
"Cornelia, wait!" Jackie tried to stop her, but she was already there.
"Hey, why don't you pick on someone with your own power?!" Cornelia challenged as she outstretched her hand, causing the raised mound of earth below him to break apart and reveal a multitude of vines, tendrils, and roots, which completely ensnared the demonic Martin like a cocoon. However, this trap didn't last very long as Martin was able to break free with brute strength alone.
"You dare raise a hand against Mighty Martin…?!" He growled. "Treachery!" He threw out his fist to send a massive boulder Cornelia's way and she had no time to dodge it.
"Bad day…!" She shielded herself with her arms, her own powers kicking in on instinct to break apart the boulder, but the force of the impact still sent her flying and crashing along the ground.
"Cornelia!" Caleb and Elyon were the first to try and get to her.
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao." The demonic Martin heard the chant and turned to the partially broken dock to see Uncle readying the extraction spell with Tohru and Irma providing cover.
"What are you doing?!"
"He's taking away your powers, Martin. It's for your own good." Irma told him.
"Even you turn on me, Irma…?!" He raised his hand and clenched his fist causing a large hand made out of wet ground to rise from the sea floor and shoot out of the water, grabbing Irma, Tohru, and Uncle and halting the spell. "Why should you get powers when I don't?! No matter what I do… I'll never be good enough for you… will I?!"
"Irma! Uncle! Tohru!" Hay Lin exclaimed in a panic as she saw their friends in the earthly grip.
"We have to help them!" Jade stated as they all tried to charge forward.
"Once my friends… now my enemies!" The demonic Martin once more created a tremor that shook up most of the port, knocking nearly everyone down as it seemed like he was ready to unleash the biggest earthquake imaginable and crush them all.
"…His transformation into Dai Gui is nearly complete…" Uncle winced as he, Irma, and Tohru remained trapped.
"Not if I can help it." Irma stated and decided to do as Jade suggested and appeal to him. "Martin, listen to me! Please!"
"What do you think you can say to me?" He growled, giving her his full and undivided attention.
"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed, causing him to look in surprise. "I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously or… or that I took you for granted… You're… You're a good guy. But this… this isn't you! You don't want to hurt people!"
"What would you know?" The demonic Martin questioned.
"Hush…" Irma muttered.
That was a word he didn't expect Irma to say to him "What…? What did you say?"
"Batman: Hush… the story arc where Batman had to fight a Superman… after Poison Ivy brainwashed him?" Irma reminded.
Martin blinked in surprise. "You… read that story arc?"
"Yeah… Ivy used Kryptonite with her own pheromones to control Superman." Irma continued. "But he was still able to hold back, and that kept him from killing Batman. Because Superman doesn't kill. He never kills and never will, no matter what. Just as the Martin I know would never hurt his friends."
"Superman… doesn't… kill…" Martin struggled, almost like he was wrestling against the literal demon within. "I… I don't… hurt… people…"
"Look around you, Martin? Is this really how a superhero would act? Is this really what you want?" Irma went on, knowing that she was reaching him as she saw him struggle.
Martin turned around and got a real good look at the damage he caused to the port; it was almost completely totaled. Many of his friends looked at him with wariness, as if they were expecting him to attack, and Cornelia herself looked rather hurt, covered in bruises as Caleb held her close. The second he saw all this, he realized just how bad things have gotten.
"What have I done…?!" He put his hands to his face in guilt.
"It's not you, Martin. It's the Demon Chi!" Irma told him. "We can help you, but you have to let us!"
"I… I have… to stop…!" Martin struggled, holding onto his head and desperate fighting against the dark influence that was corrupting his soul. "Won't… hurt… anyone…!" Using what self-control he had, he was able to use his powers to flatten the ground beneath him as well as release Irma, Uncle, and Tohru, all four landing on a flat piece of land that was just above the waterline. "Hurry…! I can't… control it…!"
Uncle immediately took out a blowfish as well as his Chi-Omatic and got to work. "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao. Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao." He shot the extraction spell from his blowfish at Martin, enveloping him in a green aura. Martin cried out in pain as he felt the power being removed from his body, which turned back to normal as the last of the dark energy was sucked out and pulled into the Chi-Omatic like a vacuum.
With the Earth Demon Chi contained, Martin fell to his knees and was about to fall flat, but Irma had caught him. "Martin, are you okay?"
"I… I think so… feels like an earthquake… in my head…" Martin weakly said.
"It's okay, I got you." Irma eased as she let him rest in his arms.
Uncle checked to make sure the Earth Demon Chi was properly contained, once he saw that it was, he nodded to Tohru, who turned back to the rest of their allies at the port and gave a thumbs up to confirm that it was done.
"It's over." Jackie said with relief, causing everyone to relax.
Martin was taken back to Uncle's Rare Finds, where he was given not only some proper clothes but also some soothing tea to help him relax. He currently sat in the backroom with Irma as she filled him in on the whole story. Despite the headache he got, Martin remember all the magic stuff he saw after getting infected with the Earth Demon Chi, so it was only right to tell him the truth.
"So let me get this straight… Elyon is the queen of a magic dimension, and you and all your friends are elemental guardians meant to fight those bad guys?" Martin asked to make sure he got the basic idea.
"And others. You know, magic overlords, demons, and such." Irma confirmed.
"That's… really cool…" Martin smiled as he sipped some of the warm tea. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any cooler." He smiled towards Irma.
"You promise not to tell anyone? It's kinda supposed to be a secret." Irma requested.
"My lips are sealed. Secret identities is the number one rule of being a superhero. And you're an actual superhero!" Martin praised before looking down. "While I'm just a loser."
"You're not a loser, Martin." Irma told him, causing him to turn around to her in surprise. "You're a good guy. Just… kinda lacking in personal space. Particularly with me."
"Oh… sorry." Martin looked away.
"But still a good guy. Sorry I didn't take you seriously before." Irma said with a sigh before continuing. "Listen… I'm flattered that you like me but… to be honest… we really don't know much about each other. You were always trying to come onto me, I always tried to ignore you… look what I'm trying to say is… I really don't know about us dating or anything but… maybe we can start off as friends and… see where we go from there. Is that okay with you?"
Martin honestly didn't know what to say. He never expected Irma to give such a request and speak to him so humbly. Was she seriously asking to be his friend? Now that he thought about it, a lot of the stuff she said did make sense, and maybe he was coming in too strong. Maybe they could just start off as friends. And the more he thought about it, the more it felt like that was enough.
"It's fine with me." Martin offered his hand to shake, which Irma shook with a smile. "So, you like comics?"
"Yeah, or I used to anyway." Irma confirmed.
"You stopped reading?" Martin asked.
"Not that I grew out of it or anything, it's just… it's all gotten so repetitive." Irma began. "We got heroes and villains dying and then resurrecting over and over. Then we got hero successors after the originals die, then the original comes back to life and they share the mantle. And then we got all these alternate realities and said realities coming together, ugh don't even get me started!"
Martin snorted a laugh. "Tell me about it. Superman and Captain America after Civil War and their respective comebacks were one thing. But then we got Miles Morales in the Ultimate timeline and that whole reality being erased just so he and Peter Parker can work together, and Spider-Gwen joins the group, that's just lazy writing. And then New 52…"
Irma shivered. "Ugh, please. Don't get into that. Superman and Wonder Woman dating?! Who was the genius that came up with that?! It kinda defeats the whole purpose of 'gods among mortals' theme that they both got going on!"
"See! Someone who actually gets it! That's what makes Lois Lane and Steve Trevor so important!" Martin pointed out. "Now, the whole thing between Batman and Batgirl…!"
"No. Just… no." Irma stopped him. "Stop right there. I'm not touching that with a ten-foot pole."
As the two continued to talk, much of their conversation was heard outside by the rest of the Guardians as well as the Chan Clan and their friends. Though many of them had teasing grins as they continued to hear Irma and Martin talking, a few happened to genuinely smile as they seemed happy that everything was working out between them.
Done.
Yep, this time around Martin got the Earth Demon Chi instead of some random character of the day like in canon JCA. I also decided to make Martin a superhero comic geek as it does seem to fit his character, I also wanted to do the same for Irma because she also seems like the type, and it kinda gives her some hidden depth and something she and Martin can relate on. He's also going to be friends with Jade as well.
Martin is also now in the know about the Guardians and their magical adventures and will be contributing to their missions as well. And (spoilers) I am planning on pairing him and Irma together, but it'll be a while before we get anything romantic as they are starting off as just friends for the time being, it makes things flow a bit more naturally. And yes, I know that Irma in canon got a crush on somebody else, but he wasn't introduced until late Season 2 and we don't know anything about him, we probably would have gotten to know him if the show got a Season 3 but it was unfortunately canceled.
Edit: I'm aware that the creator of the show, Greg Weisman, said that Irma was meant to be a lesbian, and I got no problem with that, but I've had this planned long before I heard about that revelation. So, this is what I'm going for..
I'm really looking forward to writing the next chapter as that one involves a certain magical instrument and I have a few surprises there as well.
So until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there.