Hi everyone, welcome back to another chapter of J-WITCH.
Before we begin, I would like to observe a moment of silence for the unfortunate passing of Julian Sands, the voice actor for Valmont for the first two seasons of Jackie Chan Adventures.
I truly had no idea of his passing when I wrote the last chapter that had Valmont has a key role. So, while I realize it may be a bit late, perhaps we can consider the previous chapter a homage to the voice actor.
Alright, back to the matter at hand.
This is one chapter I'm sure a lot of you have been looking forward to, mostly to change a certain detail that many of you probably felt was pointless in the canon show (and I agree myself). But there are some very intriguing surprises I have planned for this chapter that I'm sure you'll enjoy.
With that being said, let's begin.
Clash of The Titanics
"ACHOOO!" Uncle's sneeze echoed throughout the Chan family shop before he rang his bell to call his nephew. "Jackie!"
"Yes, Uncle?" Jackie had opened the door to his uncle's room, who was sitting in bed from the cold that he had.
"More hot tea, please." Uncle requested as he ate another piece of garlic.
"Yes, Uncle. I have already put the kettle on." Jackie replied as he picked up the tea pot and was about to leave.
"Eh… one more thing." Uncle rang the bell before his nephew was even out the door. "Uncle's toes are chilly." Jackie simply walked over and put the blanket over Uncle's bare feet before making his way to the door. "One more thing!" He rang the bell again. "Uncle needs more cold and flu season garlic!"
Jackie cringed from not only the request, but the scent of garlic that was already potent in the room. "More garlic?" Regardless, he abided by Uncle's request and went into the hallway to fetch a jar of Uncle's garlic just as the tea was ready, the sound of steam coming out from the kettle being heard from the kitchen.
"Jackie! I hear water boiling! What is hold up?!" Uncle called out.
"I am getting your garlic, Uncle!" Jackie called out before looking over the railing to the ground floor. "Girls, perhaps you could…"
"Sorry Jackie, love to help, but we're busy." Jade replied as she, Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin, and Alchemy all sat at a table.
"Yeah, we still got Mrs. Rudolph's retirement party to plan out." Taranee added.
"And finals to study for." Cornelia also said.
"And keep an eye out for any customers. No time to be taking care of any sick old guys." Irma put in.
"Sorry, Uncle Jackie." Hay Lin had the decency to wince.
It was rather clear to see that they were purposely avoiding any openings that would have them get pulled in to be Uncle's nursemaids, much to Jackie's irritation.
"Tohru…" Jackie tried to call to him, but he seemed rather busy himself, moping the floors of the shop, with some music being played in headphones over his ears for good measure. With a sigh, Jackie quickly took the jar of garlic and went down into the kitchen to fetch the tea, where Caleb appeared to be at the sink. "Caleb…"
"Can't help. Working on dishes." The young rebel quickly said.
They were all very lucky that Jackie was an extremely patient man. Still, he poured the tea and set up a tray for the tea and garlic just as the bell rang from Uncle's room again.
"Jackie!"
"Coming, Uncle!" Jackie stepped out of the kitchen, but he also stepped onto some wet floor from Tohru's mop and ended up slipping all the way across the shop before flipping up, causing the tray to go flying up. It and all its contents would have crashed, if Cornelia hadn't used her telekinesis to catch it all and slowly lower it to the downed Jackie.
"Don't say I didn't help." The blonde quickly said, causing Jackie to look at her with a partial annoyance before stepping back up with the tray and making his way back to Uncle's room.
"Here you are, Uncle." Jackie set the tray down by his bedside. "Is there anything else you need?"
"Yes… rest." Uncle replied tiredly, much to Jackie's relief as he let out a sigh. "Stop making noise!" Uncle exclaimed. Jackie turned around to leave, only for Uncle to ring the bell once again. "One more thing!"
"Yes, Uncle?" Jackie asked in mental exhaustion.
"Another demon power has been released." Uncle revealed, looking to the Chi-Omatic on the other side of the room that suddenly began to glow. The girls, Tohru, and Caleb all happened to hear that as well and were quick to make their way to Uncle's room to see the commotion as well.
"Finally, some action!" Jade grinned excitedly.
"So, who's demon power we got this time?" Will asked.
The Chi-Omatic shined to reveal a projection of the Demon Sorcerer in question that the Chan Clan all recognized. "Aiya! It is Tchang Zu, the Thunder Demon!" The projection changed to reveal the relic that was used to defeat him. "Defeated in ancient times by magic castanets!"
"Castanets? Aren't those some kind of music instrument?" Caleb asked.
"Yep." Taranee confirmed. "Which means we could be going to Spain or Mexico."
"Oh! I love Mexican food!" Hay Lin beamed.
"I could probably go for an international style." Cornelia smiled. "Add a little diversity to my wardrobe."
"Or maybe a new bathing suit, because it looks like we're going swimming this time." Irma said as they saw the Chi-Omatic's projection change to reveal the location of the castanets.
"It is a sunken ship…" Jackie observed as they saw a large, ruined, and old ship sitting at the bottom of the ocean. "But that is not just any ship…"
"No way… Is that what I think it is…?" Alchemy looked in awe with everyone else as the girls all came to the same conclusion.
"Whoa… the castanets went down with… the Titanic!" Jade said with a blown-away smile.
Section 13
Jackie, Caleb, and all the girls wasted no time in getting to the secret base, with Captain Black meeting the group in a docking bay for water vehicles, the head of Section 13 looking over the data to verify the castanets' location.
"So, it is the Titanic, for sure?" Will asked.
"Seems that way." Captain Black confirmed.
"What exactly is this Titanic and how did it end up at the bottom of your ocean?" Caleb asked.
"The RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg." Captain Black explained as he pulled up all the files on the vessel. "According to the passenger manifest, there was a troupe of Flamenco dancers on board. No doubt used the castanets in their act."
"Okay, this has gotta be our most exciting mission yet!" Hay Lin beamed. "The Titanic? It's only the most famous shipwreck in the world!"
"It's one of the most dangerous shipwrecks in the world, sitting twelve thousand and five hundred feet under water." Jackie pointed out with caution.
"Shouldn't be a problem for me." Irma said confidently as she spun her finger to create a slight whirlpool in the water below.
"But it would be for me." Taranee pointed out.
"Maybe you can superheat the water. Make it boil." Jade suggested. "And it's gotta be major dark down there. So I'll be at a total advantage."
"Well, there's not a lot of solid ground or plants for me to use in a sunken ship." Cornelia also pointed out. "Disadvantage for me. And there's no air underwater either, Hay Lin." She said to the eager girl.
Hay Lin winced. "Eh… yeah. Good point."
Will sighed. "Aside from half our team being handicapped, how are we supposed to get down there? Pretty sure Folding doesn't fix all the water pressure we'd be getting."
"Fortunately, Section 13 has a new submersible vehicle. Especially designed for…" Captain Black said before taking a brief whiff of the air and covered his nose with a cringe. "What is that odor?"
The others all had similar expressions. "Ugh. Garlic. Which means…" Caleb groaned.
"Uncle." Jackie sighed as they all turned to the source of the odor, being Uncle himself along with Tohru.
"I pleaded with Sensei to stay in bed, but he would not listen." Tohru said to everyone.
"Uncle is needed!" He snorted with his stuffy nose. "Demon Chi is very powerful!"
"Ugh! So is that garlic!" Captain Black winced.
"Where's the bathroom in this place…?" Irma plugged her nose.
"Why? Wanna get the spray or something?" Jade asked.
"No, so I can lock the sick vampire repellent up in there!" Irma replied.
Meanwhile, at the steel mill that served as the hide out for the Knights of Vengeance, Hak Foo gave a roar as he ran down a pathway that had a series of dummies set up, all hanging from the ceiling.
"Dragon Slashes Villager!" Hak Foo sliced the head off one dummy. "Stubborn Demon Kick!" He performed a handstand and a split kick to eviscerate two more dummies around him. "Dragon's Twister!" He spun his body like a top with his feet hanging outward to take down several more dummies before jumping up from his hands, flipping while airborne and going straight for the final dummy at the end of the path. "Hellish Hawk Claims Prey!" He slammed both his feet to completely obliterate the dummy below.
All of this was being witnessed by several of the other Knights of Vengeance as they sat casually throughout the large room.
"Are those the names of actual moves, or is he just making that all up?" Frost asked.
"He sounds like one of those old school dubbed kung fu movies." MC Cobra pointed out.
"Dude needs to chill." StrikeMaster Ice said. "Too tense for his own good, dog."
"Or perhaps we can learn from his example." Raythor replied. "Hak Foo has a near insatiable desire to become stronger. We could all use that drive right about now."
"Drive alone is not going to help us destroy our enemies." Miranda commented as she sat on an engine in her human form with Sandpit standing next to her. "Believe me, I have a very personal drive to end our enemies and yet they're still alive."
"If we had that Demon Chi, we would crush them already!" Frost pounded his fist into his palm with the Tracker growling in agreement.
"You may yet get your chance." All eyes turned towards a ledge above them as Nerissa stood alongside Drago, who was perched on the railing.
"I'm assuming then a new Demon Chi has awakened?" Raythor asked.
"Big time." Drago confirmed. "The power of thunder, contained in a pair of immortal castanets."
"Thunder… the Thunder Demon!" Hak Foo exclaimed. "I remember, he had enough raw power to rival that of Shendu! If I were to wield that power… Chan and the Guardians would be nothing more than smoking carcasses!"
"Let's try and get the power first." Raythor reeled him. "It's in a pair of these… castanets?"
"Oley! So, where they gonna be at? Cabo?" StrikeMaster Ice asked.
"Sweet! We can catch some primo rays!" MC Cobra said eagerly.
"Unfortunately, the castanets lie in a sunken ship at the bottom of the ocean." Nerissa revealed.
Drago shivered. "Not exactly my cup of chi."
"Ah, what's wrong? Don't tell me the mighty 'Son of Shendu' can't swim." Miranda teased almost playfully.
Drago leapt down to the ground. "I can swim just fine." He produced a fire in his palm. "But being underwater makes this a little difficult."
"Good point, yo." MC Cobra agreed, looking at his lava skin. "And Fist here would sink like a cannon ball." He gestured to his silent steel-coated friend, who rolled his eyes at the comment, but made no attempt to disagree.
"And it doesn't seem like Sandpit's in favor either." Frost looked towards the shifting pile of sand. Given its body was made entirely out of sand, being underwater would put it at a disadvantage.
"Gargoyle is capable of being in water, but nothing as deep as you suggest." Raythor pointed out. "Yes, it would seem that that his particular Demon Chi will be difficult to retrieve."
"Difficult, but not impossible. All we need is a submarine." Nerissa said as she walked down a set of stairs to the ground level where the other Knights were.
"A sub? See, now that's kinda tricky, yo." StrikeMaster Ice said.
"Yeah, not like we're just gonna find one with the keys still in the ignition." MC Cobra added.
"Then let us simply claim one with our own hands!" Hak Foo boasted.
"That would take too long." Raythor shook his head. "And draw unwanted attention to ourselves."
DJ Fist then whispered something to StrikeMaster Ice. "Hold up, dudes. My boy, DJ Fist, got a bright one!"
Back at Section 13, the bay doors were open to reveal a small, yet advanced submarine developed by the organization. It seemed large enough to hold their party, yet nothing too bulky like a military sub.
"Whoa, now that is one keeno submarine-o." Jade smiled.
"So, this thing will get us the shipwreck?" Caleb asked.
"Most definitely. This is Section 13's newest prototype." Captain Black explained to the group. "Able to withstand three thousand tons of pressure. Lateral maneuverability, retractable pincer arms."
"It's like the Batmobile of submarines!" Hay Lin beamed.
"Alright, let's get going!" Alchemy stated.
"Sorry Alchemy, but you're not coming with us this time." Will said.
"What?!" She exclaimed in surprise. "Why not?! I can help you! You know I can!"
"We do know that, but we also know that this might be our most dangerous mission yet." Will argued. "Half our team could be handicapped, so if we're in a jam… you'd be the one who is most at risk."
"Will is right, Alchemy." Jackie agreed. "You and Uncle will both remain here… Ow!" He felt a dope-slap on his head.
"Of course, I am going! Uncle is needed!" The elder chi wizard protested.
"You're sick, Uncle. You're in no shape for this. All those germs in an enclosed space…" Taranee was interrupted as she too got a dope-slap from Uncle. "Ow!"
"Uncle is not infectious! Achoo!" Uncle sneezed.
"It'll still be gross though!" Irma cringed.
"Even if you aren't contagious, you are still sick and you can get even worse if you go with us!" Taranee argued back.
"Yeah, like an even more sick Uncle is what the world needs." Cornelia muttered.
"Who else can cast removal spell?!" Uncle protested.
"I can cast the removal spell in your stead, Sensei." Tohru volunteered. "I even packed the extra Chi-Omatic in addition to the original one, if in the event we need a backup." He held up both devices in his hands for emphasis.
"See, Unc? We got this." Jade said.
"And if we can't remove the Demon Chi, we can still get those castanets and you can remove it later on dry land." Will added.
"Makes sense." Captain Black agreed.
Uncle merely sulked in annoyance, while Alchemy looked down in disappointment. "Well… maybe we can work on that locator spell you were working on to try and find Drago's hideout here on Earth? At least this way I'm doing something."
"I'm still missing one key ingredient for that spell, and it requires a piece of Drago himself. Like a scale or even a drop of blood." Tohru replied.
"So, like a DNA sample?" Alchemy asked, to which Tohru nodded. But this gave Alchemy an idea that caused her to smile. "Okay, so I can't come with you… but Will, could you send me to Meridian?"
That request caused Will to look in confusion. "Uh sure… but why?"
"I think I have an idea, but I need to talk with Elyon and to test it out to see if it'll work. Come on, this won't be dangerous at all. Promise." Alchemy assured.
Will looked towards Jackie, who nodded as he didn't see any issue with this. "Alright." Will took out the Heart of Kandrakar and opened a Fold, which allowed Alchemy to leave this dimension, the Fold closing just as she entered.
Hay Lin meanwhile couldn't help but feel a tad bit sympathetic towards Uncle as he wasn't coming with them. Though Taranee and Jackie were right that with him being sick would be an issue, even if he couldn't get anyone else sick. But then she got an idea of her own.
"Hey, what if we used the Horse Talisman? Maybe it can cure… hmmmp!" She was silenced when Cornelia quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
"Nope! Don't mind her! She's just so excited she's spouting nonsense!" Cornelia said with a fake laugh before pulling her in close, turning around, and speaking in a hushed whisper. "Hey, if we get a mission without having to deal with 'one more thing' all the time, I'm going for it! We could all use a break from the old guy! So shut it or I'll gag you!"
Hay Lin nodded in comic fright from Cornelia's tone.
Nerissa, Drago, Raythor, and the Ice Crew had all arrived at a scrapyard filled with all kinds of broken cars, trucks, and other similar vehicles, via a black van.
"What is this place?" Raythor asked, looking around.
"A junkyard. Broken human vehicles like cars and stuff get dumped here." Drago answered.
"So, we'll be finding this 'submarine' vehicle here?" Raythor asked.
"Nah, but we got tools." StrikeMaster Ice said as his crew got a couple of toolboxes from the back of the van. "Cobra and Fist gonna build us one."
"Well, this should be interesting." Nerissa mused.
The pair appeared to be working around the corner for a good half hour with Drago playing with a fire ball, tossing it and kicking it up on his feet repeatedly like a soccer ball, Raythor sharpened his sword on a broken piece of metal, and Nerissa sat patiently.
"Word up chiefs, these two got mad skills!" Ice told them.
"They'd better if we are to have any hope of retrieving the Demon Chi." Raythor said. "Our enemies are likely already…"
"Hey, somebody order a sub?" MC Cobra called out as he stepped out from around the corner with DJ Fist hauling the makeshift submarine they made with his strength. It appeared to be made from a black van with plane engines on the side and wings up top, and tireless car at the bottom. The engines even had flames painted on them.
"Yo that is one sweet ride!" StrikeMaster Ice high-fived DJ Fist.
"I am… legitimately impressed." Nerissa smiled. "It should serve us well on our voyage."
"Our voyage?" Raythor looked to the sorceress in surprise. "You are coming with us? I had thought your presence was to remain a secret from our enemies."
"It is, but my presence is needed on this quest." Nerissa explained. "Aside from the handicap of being underwater as we pointed out before, all our attempts to gather the Demon Chi have ended in failure."
"And any Chi that we do get our hands on gets zapped away five seconds later." Drago added. "We'll need to change our approach if we're gonna keep this batch."
"You have a plan, I assume?" Raythor asked.
"I do. But I'll need to accompany you in order to pull it off." Nerissa revealed before smirking evilly. "Trust me my friends… our enemies will never see this coming." She said with a cackle.
The sun was already beginning to set on the Atlantic Ocean as Captain Black piloted a helicopter that carried the submarine that had Jackie, Tohru, Caleb, and the girls of J-WITCH inside. Once they were near the drop zone, Captain Black contacted the others.
"Alright everyone, brace yourselves for splashdown."
"Rodger." Will replied back as she, Jade, Jackie, and Irma sat on the starboard side of the sub with Hay Lin, Cornelia, Caleb, and Taranee on the port side. Though the submarine tipped slightly as Tohru stood in the middle and he struggled to keep his balance.
"Balance, Tohru." Jackie eased.
"Why didn't he grab a seat again?" Taranee asked.
With a tug of the switch from Captain Black in the helicopter, the cable was separated and the submarine was dropped directly into the water. It shook at splashdown, causing Tohru to tip back and fall backwards towards the port side and fall right on top of those sitting there. As the underwater vehicle submerged deeper, Tohru groaned as he regained his senses.
"Is everyone alright…?" He asked.
"Uh… half of us, sure. The other half…" Irma winced with Will, Jade, and Jackie.
Tohru heard some muffled grunts behind him and quickly pushed himself upon realizing what just happened. Cornelia and Caleb were squished hard against the wall, and while Taranee and Hay Lin weren't as squished, they did have trouble breathing initially.
"Sorry." Tohru winced as everyone slowly stood back up.
"You gonna be okay, Tohru? Don't you get seasick?" Jade asked.
"I'll be fine." Tohru answered as he and Jackie both sat in the two seats up front. "Submarines are bit more stable than a boat floating on the rocky waves of the ocean."
"Aye, listen to the big guy! He knows the ways of the sea!" The controls of the submarine spoke in a tone similar to that of a pirate, getting the attention of the Guardians.
"Uh… hi there." Will greeted. "And you are?"
"My apologies, lass. The name's Cap and I'll be your guide on this lengthy sea voyage."
"Who is she talking to?" Caleb asked Cornelia.
"Will's power lets her communicate with electronics, and only Guardians can hear it." The blonde answered for her boyfriend.
"Nice to meet ya, Cap. Can you take us to the Titanic?" Hay Lin asked in a friendly fashion.
"Nay, my eyes are the sonar and I only see a limited range around me, lass." Cap replied. "If we get closer, I can have a clear view, but until then I cannot lead the way."
"Not much of a guide then, are ya?" Irma sulked.
"Do not worry, we have the Chi-Omatic and it will lead us to where we need to go." Jackie assured as he held the Chi-Omatic in question, the arrow of the built-in compass pointing them in the right direction while Tohru was at the controls and drove the sub in the appropriate direction.
Taranee took a few whiffs of the air. "Hey, anyone smell something?"
Everyone else began to sniff the air. "It… kinda smells like…" Jade's eyes widened in realization. "…Garlic."
Cornelia groaned as she fell back in a seat on the starboard side. "Ugh… don't tell me."
Jackie got up and opened a storage compartment at the back, revealing none other than Uncle.
"Hi Jackie." He greeted in a very similar manner to his great-niece.
"Uncle!?" Jackie exclaimed.
"Did Uncle just pull a 'Jade' on us?" Irma questioned as everyone else groaned.
"I heard that!" Jade herself added.
"Aye, we got a stowaway!" Cap growled in frustration.
Caleb approached Uncle as he stepped out of the compartment. "What are you even doing here? You're sick! You're supposed…. Ow!" He felt his forehead where Uncle dope slapped him.
"Wipe sour puss off face! Uncle is not infectious!"
"But you could get sicker if you work off your cold!" Will told him. "And we already told you that Tohru can cast the spell and we got an extra Chi-Omatic… Ow!" Will was likewise dope-slapped by Uncle.
"Two Chi-Omatics? Yes! Two Chi Wizards? No!" Uncle countered. "Tohru can not operate two Chi-Omatics at same time! One Chi Wizard with One Chi-Omatic each increases chances of capturing Demon Chi! It is simple math!"
"Since when are you a math wizard, too?" Cornelia grumbled.
"He… actually does make sense... Whoa!" Taranee, along with everyone else, were suddenly shaken as the sub was rocked, knocking many of the people off balance.
"Tohru… please drive more carefully…" Jackie told him.
"I… do not understand…" Tohru looked at the radar with a confused expression. "There are no rock formations in this area." The submarine was rocked again, this time even harder.
"All hands on deck! All hands on deck!" Cap exclaimed like an alarm, warning all the Guardians who could hear him.
"Cap, what's going on?!" Will asked urgently as she tried to stand up first.
"We got the beast off the port bow!"
Everyone made their way to the a window on the port side and gasped as they saw a giant crustacean like beast attacking the submarine from the outside.
"It's a giant lobster!" Hay Lin exclaimed.
"I'd never thought I'd be on this end of a submarine sandwich!" Jade commented as the crustacean continued to attack the sub with its claws, already causing sizable dents on the outer hull.
Meridian
The minute Alchemy arrived in the castle courtyard, she was escorted directly to Elyon's throne room where she and the former Enforcers greeted her, and she gave them the gist of what was going on.
"So, it's Thunder Demon's power this time?" Chow summed up.
"I remember that guy." Ratso winced. "He had less self-control than Shendu."
"So do Cornelia and everyone need our help?" Elyon asked.
"No, that's not why I'm here." Alchemy explained. "Even if we get all the Demon Chi, it's not gonna matter that much if we can't track down Drago."
"Can't Tohru and the old guy whip one of those fancy locator spells?" Finn asked.
"They've been working on it, but we need a piece of Drago for it to work." Alchemy answered. "But we don't have that yet. But, relatives share DNA don't they? So maybe something from Drago's family could also work, right?"
"Yeah… I guess so. But what would…?" Elyon soon put the pieces together before her own eyes widened in shock. "I see…"
Finn and Chow both winced as well as they came to the same conclusion, though Ratso seemed slow to pick up on it.
"What? What's gotten everyone in such a bad mood?"
"Dude… they can't get something from Drago, so they gotta do something from his family." Finn pointed out.
"So, Alchemy came here for Drago's family." Chow added.
"Oh…" Ratso then figured it out. "Oh!" He put his hand to his palm in enthusiasm before figuring it out. Only for that enthusiasm to turn into a dreadful realization for what it was he figured out. "Oh…."
"Shendu…" Elyon sighed.
"Look, I'm not saying to let him out or anything." Alchemy quickly said. "He's turned to stone, right? So, I just a need a chip off the old block… no pun intended. But that's it."
"I get it." Elyon assured as she stood up. "If it'll help us take down Drago and the Knights and end the threat to Meridian, then that's what we're going to do."
Earth – Atlantic Ocean
The crustacean continued to wrestle with the outside of the sub, causing it to turn over and knock everyone down on the starboard side, all piling on top of each other.
"Hey, can't you whip up some anti-crab spell to make it go away?!" Cornelia questioned to Uncle.
"Magic must defeat magic! Not overgrown shellfish!" Uncle replied.
"You are right, Uncle!" Jackie agreed as the sub was rocked the other way, sending everyone else rolling in the opposite direction. Though Jackie grabbed a hold of the front seat and pulled himself up into it to grab the controls. "Crab must defeat crab!"
Activating the sub's pincer arms, Jackie reached forward and up to grab the crustacean's claws from the top. "En garde, ya shellfished sea dog!" Cap challenged as Jackie wrenched the crustacean off, but the creature was far nimbler than it appeared as it flipped itself to slam its tail on the hull of the submarine and send it crashing and skidding along the sea floor.
"Cap, you okay?" Will asked with a slight groan.
"The rest of us are doing just fine, thank you." Jade said sarcastically.
"My hull's intact, but that is one fierce beast!" Cap replied.
"I fear we're only making him angrier." Tohru commented as they all looked out the central window to see the crustacean crawling along the sea floor towards them, its claws ready to tear the sub apart.
"Anyone got any ideas how to fight a giant sea monster in his home turf?" Caleb questioned.
"I got one. Will, time to Guardian up!" Irma urged. "I'll go outside and make crabcakes out of him!"
"Wait… let me try something else." Will quickly went to the front seat, sitting at something of an angle, but was still able to grab the controls. "Cap, your arms still work right?"
"Aye, lass."
"Then I need you to grab a hold of that thing. I'll handle the rest." Will instructed.
"Ya got it." Cap understood.
"Will, what are you doing?!" Hay Lin exclaimed as she and everyone else looked very worried.
"Guys, trust me!" Will said just as the crustacean charged at them and lashed out with its claws. "Now, Cap!" Grabbing the controls, the submarine's pincer arms extended to grapple with the giant crustacean's claws.
"I got em lass, but I can't hold em long!"
"This is all I need." Will focused in on her own power. "Quintessence!" Her hands glowed a bright pink as that same energy passed into the controls and through the submarine's pincer arms, which in turn allowed Will to connect directly to the crustacean as it was engulfed in the same bright pink aura, its eyes widening as it felt something make contact with its very spirit.
"Easy, easy, easy." Will spoke softly and gently, apparently speaking directly with the crustacean, much to the surprise and awe of most of her friends. Even Uncle looked in surprise at seeing this display of Quintessence power. "We mean you no harm, why are you attacking us?"
The crustacean did not speak, not in any way that the others could hear. Yet, somehow, Will could hear its response directly in her mind.
"We're intruding on your territory. I'm sorry, but we're not here to cause trouble." Will explained. "We need to get something from here. Let us pass and we'll be in and out. We're not the only ones looking for it though. Someone else might come, someone very bad and he won't hesitate to tear your home apart to get it. So please… let us get what we need, and your home will no longer be in danger. I promise."
The crustacean heard her plea and seemed to understand. It gave her its response as it released its claws and swam away.
"Thank you." Will smiled as she withdrew her powers.
"Nice job, lass. You have a way with words." Cap congratulated.
"Thanks, Cap." Will then turned to her surprised friends.
"W-Will…? W-what…? How…?" Taranee stuttered.
"Quintessence. It's life energy, right?" Will responded. "That thing was alive, so I guess I… tried to reach out to it."
"How did you know you could do that?" Caleb asked.
"I didn't, but… it just seemed like the right thing to do." Will replied.
"Good show of instinct." Uncle approved.
"Okay, first you talk to electronics, then you make plant monsters, now you can talk to animals?" Cornelia summed up. "That power of yours is something else."
"Well, what do you expect from my bestie/spirit sister?" Jade gave her best friend a thumbs up, who smiled and blushed at all their approval.
"For real, that was amazing, Will! You're becoming like a real super hero!" Hay Lin beamed.
"Bet you can give Aquaman a run for his money." Irma grinned.
"Nicely done." Tohru smiled.
"Yeah, that was awesome!" Taranee also smiled.
"Not bad." Cornelia granted.
"Thanks guys… the greatest victory is the battle that's not fought, right?" She looked towards Jackie specifically, as he smiled and nodded himself.
"Right." Jackie went over and sat down on the seat next to her. "Now, let's get back to our mission."
"No need, I think we're already here." Will pointed forward, prompting everyone to come forward and see what laid before them as the submarine's lights activated. They would soon find themselves facing the mighty sunken vessel that was their destination. What was once a large and mighty ship, now sat at the bottom of the dark ocean floor, a literal hollow shell of the majesty that it once was.
"The Titanic…" Jade said with awe.
Meridian – Infinite City
After passing through the water fall, Elyon, Alchemy, Finn, Ratso, and Chow entered the prison where a majority of Meridian's most dangerous criminals were kept, including the former prince and the treacherous dark wizard, both de-powered, as they and several other creatures observed the Queen and her company enter the dungeon.
Aldarn, Julian, Vathek, and Tynar were currently guarding the prison as they stood on the central platform as Elyon and her friends arrived.
"We need to speak with Shendu." Elyon requested. "Please open it up."
"As you wish, your majesty." Julian nodded as he pulled down on a lever, causing the platform at the center to descend, with the five on top. It didn't take long for the two girls and three men to arrive in the darkened chamber.
"Brrr. Kinda chilly down here." Alchemy held her sides.
"It's probably because of him." Elyon pointed to the end of the chamber as the torches lit to reveal the Fire Demon that remained trapped in stone that was encased behind several magic bars.
"Huh, that's weird." Ratso said. "You'd think that because he's a Fire Demon it would be hot like an oven and not cold."
The group shared a brief chuckle as they walked towards the imprisoned monster. "Hey, Shendude. You awake?" Finn said to him.
The demon's eyes shined red, stirring him from his apparent slumber. "So… the Queen returns." Shendu greeted as Elyon narrowed her eyes at him. "And with guests. I only wish that you brought some that were less of an eye sore."
"Looked in the mirror, lately?" Chow replied.
"You used to act all high and mighty when we were working for Valmont back then, but you were still just a lame statue." Finn pointed out.
"He did have the Shadowkhan… but now he doesn't. So he really is just a useless statue now." Ratso said with a slight laugh. "I feel so much better."
Shendu growled. "I have had many incompetent minions in the past, yet you three were among the most painful thorns in my side. Though, it does amuse me to know that you will be just as much as failures to this child-queen as you were to me."
"You can stop with the mind games, we're not gonna be here long." Elyon said.
"Yeah, just need a little something from you." Alchemy had taken out a hammer and a chisel as she approached the imprisoned demon.
"What do you think you're…?!" Shendu questioned as Alchemy used the tools to break off a piece of Shendu's stone form.
"Just a trim off the top, you'll never miss it." She said as she claimed a piece. "Thanks."
"See ya later, alligator." Finn waved as they turned around to wave.
"Yeah, don't get up. We'll let ourselves out." Chow rubbed in.
"And for the record… we're better good guys than bad guys so… Psst!" Ratso blew raspberries at Shendu just as they got to the platform, which quickly ascended, leaving Shendu in the darkness once again as his eyes continued to glow a dangerous and ominous red.
The platform was raised back to the main level of the prison.
"That was quick." Tynar commented.
"Did you get what you need?" Vathek asked.
"Yep, no problem at all." Alchemy confirmed, putting the piece of Shendu in her pocket. "We'll be heading out now."
As most of them were about to leave, Elyon happened to stop for a brief moment and turned in the direction of her imprisoned brother. Phobos felt a gaze and turned to see Elyon. The two said nothing, but the eye-contact they shared may as well carry on a hundred conversations.
All her friends and allies were surprised and concerned over what was going on as it became so silent that anyone could hear a pin drop and it would sound like a loud drum.
"Uh… Little E…?" Finn tried to get her attention.
"Phobos…" Elyon took a brief sigh before addressing him. "Did you really kill our parents?"
The dethroned prince looked at her briefly before turning away and responding. "Would you believe me if I told you I didn't?"
"Your majesty, Phobos is a deceiver." Vathek tried to tell Elyon. "You can't just…"
"Tell me to my face, Phobos!" Elyon exclaimed, causing Vathek and everyone else to back off. "Did you kill our parents?! Yes or no!?"
Phobos turned back around and looked his sister dead in the eye. "No. I did not."
"Do you have any idea who did?" Elyon asked.
"No." Phobos answered reluctantly. "I have tried to find the real murderer. But I could not."
"What about Cedric, or that guy?" Elyon gestured to Daolon Wong on the other side of the prison, who glared at her in response. "They tried to stab you in the back, right?"
"I looked into it, but neither Cedric nor Wong were responsible for our parent's demise." Phobos replied. "If they were… I would have killed them myself right then and there." He glared at Wong himself, who silently glared back at him. He then looked towards his sister once again. "I do not know anything else. I am sorry."
Elyon seemed to have the answer she needed. Saying nothing else, she turned back and resumed her walk towards the exit, with Alchemy and the former Enforcers following right behind, leaving Phobos to sulk in his cell once more.
Once they made it past the water fall and out of the prison, Chow was the first to reach out to the young queen. "Hey, you okay kiddo?"
Elyon sighed. "I at least know that Shendu's an evil monster through and through. But… whenever I look at him… or even just think about him… I… I don't know… it gets… complicated. I know he's done a lot of wrong and I'm not making excuses for him but… he's still my brother. And… when I was with him… yeah, I know he lied a lot to me but… I… I don't know I just… I just felt that the way he was treating me…. How kind he was… that didn't feel like a lie. I…" She sighed. "I'm sorry… it's dumb."
"No, it's not." Alchemy reached out to gently clasp the hands of her best friend. "Like you said, he's your brother. I don't know if he really did mean to be nice to you, or it was just part of the big lie, but… maybe it's okay to be confused about that. You are human. But there is something that you do know. You have friends, friends you know you can trust, right?"
Elyon smiled as she pulled Alchemy into a hug. "Right."
"Awe." Ratso gushed as Finn and Chow both smiled, only for all three to gasp as Elyon used her magic to pull them in close to a group hug, which they all returned as well.
Earth – Atlantic Ocean
"Guardians Unite!" In their usual flashy transformation, Will and the other girls were transformed into their Guardian forms as Jackie had finished putting on his scuba suit.
"Alright, get your suits on, everyone." Will told her friends. "Irma, you too?"
"Why me? I'm the Water Guardian, remember?" Irma asked.
"But you still can't breathe underwater." Will reminded.
"You'd think having our powers juiced up would fix something like that." Jade commented as the girls put their scuba gear on over their Guardian forms, their wings folding on their backs to keep from being broken.
"I can still form a giant water bubble for all of us and we don't even need scuba gear." Irma pointed out.
"But what if you get knocked out?" Hay Lin asked.
"They're right, Irma." Jackie agreed. "We may be in your literal element, but the Titanic's current condition is still incredibly dangerous. If anything did happen to you, the rest of us would be put at risk, including yourself."
"Yeah… okay, I get it." Irma understood as she put her suit on.
Caleb looked with Cornelia in concern as she finished putting her suit on. "Hey Cornelia, are you sure you're going to be okay in there? I thought you couldn't swim."
"I'll be fine… I've been taking lessons on how to swim." She replied.
"Since when?" Caleb asked.
"Since the rest of you found out I couldn't swim." Cornelia replied, looking away shyly. "I know I can fly and I'm the Earth Guardian but… it just seemed like the right thing to try and do. Make it a little… less embarrassing."
Caleb smiled as he stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Guess you're not as stubborn as we both thought, huh?"
Cornelia gave a slight chuckle and a smile as she put her hand over his. "Guess not."
"Hey, I don't see any radios in this thing." Jade looked into her helmet. "How are we supposed to talk?"
"I can use my telepathy to talk with the rest of us." Taranee said as she put her own helmet. "Communication shouldn't be much trouble."
"But Jackie won't hear us. He's not a Guardian." Hay Lin pointed out.
"It's alright, I'll just use hand signals." Jackie assured. "Still though, the Titanic is an enormous ship. Finding the castanets among the wreckage inside will not be easy."
"So, use Chi-Omatic." Uncle told him.
"It works underwater?" Taranee asked in surprise.
"Bag seals in freshness." Uncle revealed the Chi-Omatic in his hand, completely wrapped in plastic bags and tape.
"Alright, the seven of us will search the Titanic for the castanets." Will instructed as she put her helmet on. "Tohru, Caleb, and Uncle, you guys are staying inside the sub with the extra Chi-Omatic just in case something happens to the first so we can remove the Demon Chi later if we need to. If any accidents happen in there, I'll Fold us to Meridian and then back here."
"Understood." Tohru nodded. "Good luck in there."
The six girls and Jackie all exited the submarine in their scuba gear and swam their way towards the Titanic, as they did, Taranee reached out with her telepathy.
"Alright everyone, sound off."
"Will here."
"Jade here"
"Irma here."
"Hay Lin here."
"Cornelia here."
"We're good and linked." Taranee reached for Jackie's shoulder and gave him a thumbs up, telling him that they were all set, to which Jackie gave a thumbs up as he pressed a button on the side of the helmet to turn on the built in lights, the girls all following his lead as he took out the sealed Chi-Omatic, looked at the dial as it pointed directly towards the sunken ship, specifically towards a large hole in the hull of the starboard side and motioned for the girls to follow him inside, which they did.
"This is so cool!" Hay Lin beamed as she felt her hand along the wall, the group swimming through the wreckage of what appeared to be the cargo hold. "We're inside the actual Titanic! It's like every deep sea diver's dream! Ooh, do you think we'll see any skeletons down here?!"
Cornelia shivered. "I hope not."
"Actually, I don't think we would see any skeletons." Taranee explained as Jackie lead the group towards a metal door that would lead out of the cargo hold. "Search parties that came and didn't find any bodies. Even if they did, the water temperature would keep their bodies preserved so they won't decompose."
Jackie had trouble opening the door as it seemed jammed, Taranee gently touched his shoulder and motioned for him to move aside as she grabbed the handle and channeled her own fire power to superheat the metal of the handle and direct that heat towards the lock, quickly causing it to melt even underwater. The door opened with a brief boil of water, allowing the group access to the inner parts of the ship. Jackie nodded with approval towards Taranee as he followed the Chi-Omatic into the darkened and ruined hallways of the vessel.
"Well that stinks." Jade commented. "This would be killer for Halloween!"
"You got a real twisted imagination, Jade." Cornelia told her, to which Jade motioned her hand with a twirl, causing the shadows of the haul to move beside Cornelia and lightly tap her side, causing her to give a muffled yelp as she turned around with a gasp, only to see the shadows taking the form of a smiling emoji before vanishing. She glared at Jade who snickered as she shared a high-five with Irma.
"Let's just be careful." Will advised. "This thing's been down here for a whole century, it could be a screaming metal death trap for all we know."
"I thought you couldn't scream underwater." Hay Lin said.
"You know what I mean." Will responded irritably.
"Yeah okay, we get it, Mom." Irma joked, causing Will's eyelids to lower.
Jackie continued to lead the girls as they swam through the mold and rusty hallways of the sunken ship, using the Chi-Omatic to guide him before they entered what appeared to be a fancy dining room. As they entered, Hay Lin happened to touch a wooden pillar that she passed by.
But that proved to be a mistake as the pillar suddenly broke, causing a portion of the ceiling to collapse over them. Jackie gave a gasp, but Cornelia acted quickly enough to use her telepathy to push it all away, sending it crashing through a nearby wall, preventing anybody form getting hurt.
"Is everyone alright?!" Will asked.
"We're good!" Jade confirmed as everyone else nodded to confirm their well-being.
"Sorry." Hay Lin winced.
Will nodded before giving a thumbs up to Jackie to show that everyone was alright, to which he nodded.
Jackie looked back at the Chi-Omatic and saw how the dial was actually pointing toward the pile of wreckage that had been knocked down. He looked closely towards a hole, where his lights shined down on the very castanets they were looking for. He pointed towards the hole for the girls to show that he had found it before trying to reach in and grab it. But the castanets remained out of reach for him.
Irma swam forward to tap his shoulder, getting his attention as she gestured for him to swim aside, which he did. She looked into the hole to see her target before twirling her finger to create a small whirlpool to blow the castanets out from the wreckage and into her hand.
"See? Water Guardian." Irma showed off some of her pride, much to her friends' amusement before putting the castanets away. Jackie gave a nod and a thumbs up and put the Chi-Omatic away.
"Hey, is it just me or does this feel a little too easy?" Jade asked.
"Easy? Were inside a hundred-year-old sunken ship that might collapse on us from the slightest touch!" Cornelia pointed out.
"Again, sorry." Hay Lin apologized.
"I know but… don't you think it's weird that we haven't seen or heard anything from Drago or his buddies?" Jade wondered. "He's always around when it comes to the Demon Chi, or even just to try and mess with us."
"I don't think it's even possible for Drago to be down here. He's a Fire Demon and we're underwater." Taranee pointed out.
"Maybe he just decided to sit this one out." Hay Lin suggested.
"Or maybe he realized he'd be out matched in my home turf." Irma gloated.
"Guys, Jade might be right." Will advised. "This does kinda feel a bit too quiet. And I think we've all learned by now not to underestimate Drago."
Meanwhile, while the Guardians' and Chan Clan's sub remained on the starboard side of the Titanic's wreckage, the home-made submarine built by the Ice Crew had arrived at the vessel's port side with Ice and Cobra at the controls while Drago, Raythor, DJ Fist, and Nerissa sat in the back seats.
"Yo, we're here dogs." Ice said as the submarine hovered by the ship's side.
"So, this is the Titanic…?" Raythor looked out the window at the mighty vessel. "Incredible… I've never seen a ship this size…"
"You should have seen it before it sank." Nerissa said before looking toward her son. "Well, Drago?"
The half-demon reached out to get a feel for the Demon Chi and was able to receive a vision, one that showed a blood red image of Tchang Zu standing on a mountain top as lightning struck his body before revealing the castanets that contained the Thunder Demon Chi. He then got a vision of the castanet's location, which were still with Irma.
"The Guardians got the castanets, but they haven't pulled out the Chi yet." Drago reported.
"Then there is still time." Nerissa stood up from her seat and approached Ice and Cobra. "Get us as close as you can."
"You got it, granny." Ice replied as he and Cobra brought the submarine as close to the hull as they could.
"Such a mighty vessel, a peak of human ingenuity…" Nerissa began. "It breaks my heart to see it in such a sad state. But now, the time has come for the Titanic to rise again…" She placed her hand on the glass window. "Quintessence!"
Focusing her power, a bolt of energy shot from Nerissa's hands, bypassing the glass without breaking it, and striking the hull of the Titanic, causing the energy to quickly spread throughout the entire vessel.
Just as the heroes were about to leave the submerged dining hall, Will shivered for a brief moment, catching Jade's attention.
"Will? You okay?"
"I… I think I… have the willies… but they were kinda charged…" Will tried to describe.
"Charged? Electric willies?" Jade wondered. "Maybe it's just from the Thunder Demon Chi."
"Maybe I…" Will was interrupted as she and everyone else felt the room rock, causing much of the debris to shift in their spots.
"What was that?" Irma asked just before the floor touched her feet, along with everyone else's as they thought they felt themselves sinking, hitting the floor hard. As they did, Hay Lin found herself at an angle where she could glance out a broken window to the outside and was confused by what she saw.
"Uh guys… are we… moving?"
"That shouldn't be possible…" Taranee replied. "The Titanic's not on incline, and the currents aren't strong enough to…"
The whole room was rocked once again as Jackie and all the girls felt themselves falling backwards with the room at an angle that caused them all to hit the broken wall and to fall through and back into the hallways.
"Aiya…!" Uncle's eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets as he, Tohru, and Caleb all gasped at the sight of the Titanic's wreckage slowly rising from the ocean floor, breaking away from the ground and would make its way towards the surface.
"What in the world…?!" Caleb couldn't describe what he was feeling.
"Impossible…!" Tohru was at a loss for words as well.
"Cornelia and the others are still in there!" Caleb exclaimed. "We need to help them!"
"Quickly, Tohru… Achoo!" Uncle sneezed. "Move to rising ship!"
Moving as fast as he could, Tohru pushed the controls to steer the submarine towards the rising Titanic. However, as the vessel had risen, several pieces of the ocean floor it was over had also broken off and were rising up alongside it, the rocks and debris rose up and caught up on the submarine from underneath, shaking it and the three men inside while the submarine itself appeared to be caught up and being forced to rise alongside the Titanic.
The Titanic's rising had also struck the Ice crew's home-made submarine, breaking off one of its engines and sending it twirling and plummeting away from the rising wreckage and toward the ocean floor.
"We're going down, dog!" Cobra exclaimed.
"It's fine." Nerissa remained surprisingly calm as everyone else held onto whatever or whoever they could for stability, with Drago holding onto her for her safety. "This vessel has served its purpose." She looked towards her son. "Phase one is complete. Time to muster our forces."
Drago sneered as he used his ring to open a Fold for himself, his mother, Raythor, and the Ice Crew, pulling them all in and out of the submarine just as it crashed on the ocean floor.
Jackie and the girls felt themselves falling backwards through the Titanic's ruined insides even more as the broken ship rose closer and closer to the surface, but Irma was able to use her powers to create a semi-permeable surface underneath them, something akin to a waterbed to stop their falling.
"We have to get to the surface or we're all gonna get crushed!" Taranee said with alarm.
"I got an idea! Everyone, get together!" Jade urged as she extended her hands to create several long coils of shadow rope to bind the waists of her uncle and all her friends and tie them all to herself together. "I'll make a drill up top! Irma, you boost us up!" Jade instructed as she outstretched her arms upwards to create a large drill-like construct made out of shadows well above them.
"Okay, you got it!" Irma began to focus her powers directly underneath them while Will motioned for Jackie their plan, pointing upwards, to which he nodded in understanding just as Irma directed the water under them to push them all straight upwards, with Jade's shadow-drill plowing through the walls and ceiling, the group quickly making their way to the top.
Night had fallen over the ocean, complete with dark clouds that blanketed the sky as the water suddenly exploded and something massive had emerged from the depths. The Titanic, once resting at the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean, had breached to the surface once more for the first time in a century, and now floated on the water like a normal vessel.
The second the ship had risen, Jade's shadow drill had broken through the floor as she and everyone else were blasted out onto whatever was left of the Titanic's deck. The Guardians and Jackie all laid scattered across the ground, slowly picking themselves up as they took off their helmets to catch their breath after all that.
"Is everyone still in one piece?" Will asked around.
"I think so… but…" Jackie attempted to stand up, but his vision became greatly distorted. "Ground is all wabbling like… pudding…" He said with a dazed laugh. "I like tapioca."
"Uh… Uncle Jackie…?" Jade and everyone else looked a little concerned for him as he slipped backwards and would have fallen, but Irma was quick to catch him in her arms.
"Whoa… nice catch…" Jackie said in a daze as Irma lowered herself, and Jackie, closer to the ground. "You guys all look wabbly too. Wabbly is a funny word… rhymes with gobbly…"
"Okay… did he hit his head or something?" Irma questioned.
"I think he might have a case of the Bends." Taranee assumed.
"I do?" The delirious Jackie said excitedly. "Oh, what a nice car! Yay, for me!"
"Yeah… pretty sure he's not car sick." Cornelia pointed out.
"What is it like he's seasick or something?" Hay Lin asked Taranee.
"Not exactly." The Fire Guardian explained. "The Bends is a condition that occurs when a diver rises too quickly. The sudden change in pressure can cause wooziness, delirium… maybe even worse. But I don't think Jackie's life in is in danger."
"Well, we all rose up pretty quickly. How come we're still alright?" Jade asked.
"I'm guessing since our bodies are physically stronger as Guardians?" Taranee responded with a shrug, indicating she wasn't sure herself.
"We'll worry about that later. What about the castanets, or the Chi-Omatic?" Will asked her friends.
"Safe and secure." Irma confirmed as she patted a pouch attached to her suit.
"Uh…." Hay Lin held up the Chi-Omatic, the bag was torn and it was not only soaking wet, the jar was broken and the handle was all twisted and warped along with the compass.
"That's not good." Taranee commented.
"Neither is that!" Cornelia pointed behind everyone, causing them all to turn to a Fold that had just opened up, allowing Raythor, Hak Foo, Miranda, StrikeMaster Ice, Frost, DJ Fist, the Tracker, MC Cobra, Sandpit, and Gargoyle to all step out.
"Oh, hello neighbors! Nice day, today!" The delirious Jackie waved as the girls all stood up, looking serious and ready for a fight.
"Ah yeah! Nice day to bust open a can of whoop-Chan!" Ice said eagerly.
Raythor, immediately drew his fire sword and pointed forward. "Attack!" Gargoyle was the first to rush forward with Jade grabbing Jackie as the girls all took flight, their wings breaking out of the back of their scuba suits, as they all evaded the giant monster's mighty swings. Raythor slashed his sword to send a wave of fire right towards Jade and Jackie, which she tried to block with a shield of shadow-flame but the force of the slash knocked them both down to the ground, separating Jade from her uncle.
Before she even got up, Raythor was already on Jade as he tried to bring his fire sword down on her, but Jade swiped her feet to trip him up and got back up to generate a shadow-katana just as Raythor stood up and they clashed their blades.
"You guys made the Titanic rise from the grave, didn't you? How'd you pull that off?!" Jade questioned.
Raythor smirked knowingly. "That is our own little secret." He slashed his blade even harder, engaging Jade in a duel.
As the delirious Jackie stood up, he found himself surrounded by the whole Ice Crew. "Yo, you ready to tango, Chan?"
"Tango? Oh, you like to dance? I like to dance too! I'm not good with the waltz, but I know the robot." The delirious Jackie said.
"Chan? You feeling alright?" Ice didn't quite expect Jackie to act this way.
"Maybe he had one too many drinks." Cobra suggested.
"I could use a nice glass of lemonade, thank you." The delirious Jackie said with a laugh.
"How about something piping hot instead?" MC Cobra generated a lava ball and threw it at Jackie, who happened to step onto a puddle that caused him to slip with a chuckle as the ball passed over him.
"Sorry I didn't catch your ball. I didn't know we were playing catch." Jackie said, still in his delusions. DJ Fist then charged at him to throw his metallic fist forward, but Jackie slipped around it. "We play tag now?" He pushed DJ Fist in the side to send him into a puddle that sent him tumbling into MC Cobra. "You are it!"
"Surrender the power of thunder!" Hak Foo ordered as he charged Taranee with his super speed, lashing out with rapid punches, which she protected herself from by coating her body in flames. This not only caused Hak Foo to burn his fists slightly, it even burnt away her scuba suit.
"Got no 'thunder', but let's see you take the heat!" Still coating herself in flames, Taranee threw a punch, which Hak Foo blocked by crossing his arms and retaliated with a kick, which Taranee limboed under before delivering a cartwheel kick to his jaw, which also sent a vertical wave of flame to blast Hak Foo back.
Will flew straight towards Gargoyle and blasted a beam of pink energy right into its eye to temporarily blind it. The monster groaned as it tried to slam its hand and club-weapon at her, but Will avoided all of that easily as she flew underneath and in-between its legs to blast it in the back of its knees, causing the mighty beast to trip up and fall off the Titanic's ruined deck and toward the bow of the ship, crashing through the weakened and rusted metal as the monster fell into the vessel.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall." Will said, only to get sucked into a sandy twister by Sandpit as it held its arms out to pull her in close. But Hay Lin was able to come to Will's aid as she flew at super speeds, generating a sphere of air in her hands before thrusting it into Sandpit's body right before she expanded the sphere, causing it to explode and blow Sandpit away, freeing her leader.
"Thanks, Hay Lin." Will smiled.
"No problem." Hay Lin smiled back.
The Tracker opened his jacket to send a swarm of bats Cornelia's way, but she was able to protect herself by using her telekinesis on a nearby piece of broken metal and used it as a shield before throwing it at the Tracker, who used his mace to bat it away. Frost then appeared behind Cornelia to pull her into a bear hug.
"A little out of your element, aren't you?" Frost sneered.
"Unfortunately for you, I am!" Irma had flown up and was about to call out to all the surrounding ocean water, only for her feet to get snared by the webbing, courtesy of Miranda in her spider-form. Irma was yanked out of the air and slammed hard into the ground before Miranda sprayed webbing all across her body to bind and cocoon her to the floor, even covering her face just below her eyes.
"Then its best we remove you from the equation. Permanently." Miranda hissed, grabbing Irma by the neck. Only to get blasted back by a stun spell, with another one being shot at Raythor, Hak Foo, and StrikeMaster Ice to knock them away from Jade, Taranee, and Jackie respectively, all thanks to Uncle as he wielded a blowfish in his hand… right before sneezing.
Caleb rushed the Tracker and slammed his elbow into him to knock him to the ground while Frost was grabbed from behind, forcing him to let go of Cornelia, as Tohru lifted him up high before throwing him away.
"Guys! You're here!" Hay Lin said with relief as Will and Hay Lin were quick to come to Irma's aid and help her as most of the group regrouped.
"More party guests? Yay!" The delirious Jackie made his way to the group. "The more, the merrier!"
"Is Jackie alright?" Caleb asked.
"What's a Jackie?" The man asked in his dazed state before falling over slightly into Jade's arms.
"He's got the Bends. We'll explain later." Cornelia answered.
"How'd you guys get here so quick?" Hay Lin asked.
"The submarine was caught up in whatever made the Titanic rise." Tohru explained. "But it got wrecked, so we won't be able to use it to escape."
"How in the hell did this even happen?!" Jade questioned as she helped Jackie stand back up. "This ship that's been sunk for a freaking century! It can't just rise back up again!"
"And something is definitely keeping it afloat!" Taranee pointed out.
"The Knights were behind it, duh!" Irma replied as the webbing was pulled off her.
"We're at a renaissance fair?" The delirious Jackie asked.
"They definitely went a bit overboard for this." Will commented.
"The Knights of Vengeance have done some pretty crazy things, but nothing this big! We gotta… OW!" Taranee felt a dope slape on her forehead.
"Titanic not important!" Uncle chastised before sneezing. "Achoo! Where are castanets?!"
"Right here." Irma pulled them out. "But the Chi-Omatic's busted."
"Then good thing we have extra." Uncle took out the second device as Irma handed him the immortal relic. However, the group soon heard a series of growls as they turned around to see their enemies, all consisting of Raythor, StrikeMaster Ice, Hak Foo, Miranda, DJ Fist, MC Cobra, Frost, the Tracker, and Sandpit all regroup together, though Gargoyle was still missing.
"Hello again buddies!" the delirious Jackie waved.
"Okay, Uncle you find a place to remove the Demon Chi from the castanets." Will instructed. "The rest of us will handle them!" With that, the Guardians, along with Tohru and Caleb, charged forward at the present Knights of Vengeance, while the delirious Jackie sat in the spot he was at, and Uncle went in the opposite direction with the precious items in hand.
All were unaware however that the elderly Chi-Wizard was being watched from directly underneath the metal floor by a certain individual with an eager growl.
Jade clashed her shadow-katana against Raythor's fire sword again before she waved her hand to extinguish the flames and cut Raythor's sword in half. "Didn't anyone ever tell you smoking's bad for your health?" Her shadow-katana transformed into a fluent snake-like whip, which she used to ensnare Raythor and pull him in to a large shadow-fist she formed over her free hand to smash into him and send him rolling away.
Will coated her own fists in glowing pink energy as she engaged Hak Foo in hand-to-hand combat with Miranda about to spit some web at her from behind, but Taranee landed in-between, still coating herself in flames to burn away Miranda's webbing before throwing a fireball at her to blast her back.
Caleb swung his katana at StrikeMaster Ice, who dodged the first swing before bringing his hands together to create an ice-sword to block Caleb's strike. MC Cobra was about to throw a lava ball at Caleb, only for a metal plate to be telekinetically pulled in by Cornelia, which she threw at Cobra, who tried to throw another lava ball at it to melt it down, but the plate still struck him to knock him back.
DJ Fist and Tracker both tried to charge Hay Lin, but she spun herself to generate a tornado around her body and pulled in both silent villains to spin them around at a rapid rate before slamming them into one another.
Frost and Tohru grappled as they pressed one another's strength against the other, with Frost appearing to have the advantage as he pushed Tohru closer towards a hole to force him in. But Tohru gave a roar as he delivered a headbutt to Frost's face and disorient him, before pulling him in close with Tohru extending his left foot to trip up Frost and send him rolling into said hole.
Sandpit grew his body to twice its normal size as its arms became whirling sandstorms, which it prepared to unleash upon Irma, who stood by the edge of the ship with crossed arms.
"Yeah? I think I can do better." She flew backwards to not only avoid the crushing sand strikes that tore the floor apart where she previously stood, she happened to hover above the mighty ocean as she used her powers to pull up an enormous spiral of water around herself, which grew to enormous size.
All the fights on the ship stopped as everyone looked to see the growing and shifting mass of water taking the shape of a giant form of Irma made entirely out of water, standing on the surface of the ocean as if it were solid ground and, over one hundred feet tall, with her waist up at the deck of the Titanic.
"Yo that is one big mama." Ice commented.
"Oh… hello giant water lady!" The delirious Jackie waved. "Must be a friend of Poseidon."
"Go Irma." Jade smirked as the Guardians, Tohru, and Caleb all looked in either amazement or pride, while the Knights of Vengeance looked in borderline terror.
"I think it's time to take out the trash." Irma's voice spoke from the water giant's form like an echo as she waved her hand over the deck of the Titanic, catching all the Knights in a wave that spread over most of the ruined vessel, while also avoiding all her friends.
Meanwhile, Uncle sat meditatively inside whatever was left of a room, the castanets in one hand and the Chi-Omatic in the other. With all the chaos going on outside, Uncle worked to enact the removal spell.
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao… achoo!" He sneezed but still tried to cast the spell. "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao…"
*BOOM!*
An explosion erupted from the ground behind him, breaking Uncle out of his trance with a startle as he looked in shock to see Drago crawl out of the hole he had just made and smirk in his direction.
"Crunchy metal outside, gooey chi filling inside." Drago sneered with a growl.
"You want a piece of Uncle?" The elderly Chi-Wizard had drawn his blow fish and was about to fire a stun spell, but his sneeze caused him to misfire, even as Drago dodged the blast.
"Me? No. But the big guy down below would love a piece!"
Right as Drago said that, a giant hand emerged from the floor underneath Uncle to grab him. "Aiya!" The hand belonged to none other than the mighty Gargoyle monster that had smashed its way through the insides of the ship and climbed back up on the deck, even smashing through the roof, and getting everyone's attention outside as Drago rode on top of Gargoyle's head.
Gargoyle brought Uncle up and close to Drago, who snatched the castanets from him. "I'll take that. Toss em!" Drago ordered, prompting Gargoyle to throw Uncle off the ship.
"Look at the flying old man." The delirious Jackie laughed while everyone else looked in shock and fear, but fortunately, Irma's water giant form was able to catch Uncle in her giant hands.
"Hmm, big." Drago noted, glancing behind to see most of the Knights were struggling to recover from Irma's attack, Sandpit looked especially worse for wear as its body was now mostly mud rather than sand, but there was an easy way to fix things.
"Hey, Hak Foo!" Drago got his attention. "You called dibs on this power, right? Well time to bring down the thunder!" He held out the castanets, using his own dark powers to pull out the Thunder Demon Chi and shoot it at Hak Foo in the form of a beam of dark energy.
"Aiya!" Uncle exclaimed as everyone looked in shock. "Hak Foo is absorbing power of Tchang Zu, the Thunder Demon!"
"Oooh, pretty." The delirious Jackie said with a dazed smile.
Hak Foo roared as his body was engulfed in yellow electricity and he underwent a transformation. His green scales turned dark blue as his hair became longer and spikier and his eyes became dark red as he grew noticeably taller, standing over six feet tall and was even a tad muscular.
"I feel the power flowing through me! The power of the heavens itself!" Hak Foo exclaimed joyously as lightning surged in both his hands. He then looked directly at Irma's water giant form and smirked evilly. "And I know just what to do with it! Thunder Demon Brings Down Water Giant!" He brought his hands together to generate a ball of electricity before thrusting forward to send a bolt of lightning Irma's way.
Her eyes widened in shock as Irma instinctively threw Uncle away just as the lightning bolt struck. The minute it hit the water body, electricity ran through every inch of it, all the way to Irma herself at the center as she herself was electrocuted painfully. Her own screams echoed from the water body, much to her friends' horror.
"IRMA!" Will screamed as she had been the one to fly up and catch Uncle.
The water body broke apart in the form of steam as Irma herself was about to fall into the raging ocean, but Hay Lin quickly outstretched her arms to create a tornado to catch Irma before she pulled her back onto the ship, with Hay Lin catching her in her arms as everyone else gathered around to see if she was okay.
Irma was still alive, fortunately. But she was completely unconscious and covered in first-degree burns over most of her body.
"Is she going to be okay?!" Hay Lin asked with worry.
"We need to get her help!" Taranee stated.
"Uh… maybe we should help ourselves first." Jade pointed behind to see Gargoyle had gathered up the remaining Knights of Vengeance as they stood with Drago, the transformed Hak Foo standing by his side.
"Time to send this relic back where it belongs. Hak Foo? Bring down the thunder." Drago grinned.
"With pleasure." Hak Foo raised his fist as the dark clouds above began to swirl around before a lightning began to form. "Lightning God Descends!" As he brought his fist down, a large bolt of lightning was brought down from the clouds. Jade quickly tried to erect a shadow dome around herself and her friends for protection, but the lightning didn't strike them, but rather the ground just in front of them, causing much of the deck the heroes were standing on to collapse as they all fell in.
But that wasn't all the lightning did. The power of the Thunder Demon surged throughout much of the ship, being drawn by the Quintessence energy that Nerissa employed, the very same power that kept whatever was left of the Titanic afloat. The second though the Thunder Demon Chi touched the Quintessence power, they both cancelled each other out in the blink of an eye. With the power keeping the Titanic floating now gone, it quickly began to sink back into the ocean.
"Welp, looks like our work here is done." Drago used his Ring to open a Fold up front, allowing Gargoyle to walk in, carrying all the Knights and escaping with their new power in hand.
Jade had already acted on instinct to change her shadow dome into a sphere to encompass all her friends as they fell deep into the Titanic's ruined haul. But as the ruined ship continued to sink, more sea water began to flood its innards, already adding more and more pressure to Jade's sanctuary, causing her to groan as she tried to keep her shadow-sphere as water-tight as possible.
"This is a very crazy ride!" The delirious Jackie said.
"Guys… I can't keep this up…!" Jade groaned, her body straining as sweat dripped down her face.
"You won't have to! Emergency Fold time!" Will had taken out the Heart of Kandrakar and opened a Fold for everyone to fall inside, letting the shadow sphere collapse as the Titanic once again sank to the bottom of the ocean.
Meridian
Suddenly, a Fold had opened in front of the surprised Elyon, Alchemy, and Enforcers in the young queen's throne room as the Guardians, Chan Clan, and Caleb all fell out with a splash of water and landed on the ground.
"Weeee! Splash time!" The delirious Jackie laughed.
"Guys?!" Elyon exclaimed in shock as she, Alchemy, and the Enforcers were to quick to help address their friends and allies.
"What happened?!" Alchemy questioned urgently as she noticed the state Irma was in.
Ratso sniffed the air. "And what smells like wet garlic?"
"Please tell me you guys have a magic doctor or something…" Cornelia said with worry.
Irma continued to lay unconscious as she was placed in a glass sphere in the castle's medical ward, the same with the delirious Jackie as he sat in a identical sphere, both of which had some form of mist flowing around them.
"Are they going to be okay?" Hay Lin asked with worry as she and everyone else had gathered together.
"Don't worry guys, these are special healing pods." Elyon explained. "They're used only for emergencies and can heal almost any injury or cure any kind of deadly poison. Though they can't restore any lost limbs or anything, they can still work wonders."
"Will it cure Jackie of the Bends?" Jade asked.
"And Irma got electrocuted in water." Taranee pointed out. "She might be the Water Guardian, but she's not electric proof."
"They'll be fine." Elyon assured. "Give em twelve hours and they'll be right as rain. Same for Uncle."
"Let Uncle out!" All eyes turned to a third glass sphere that had Uncle trapped inside as he banged his fists against the wall.
"Poor guy, having a cold and the Bends shouldn't be good for him, especially if you consider his age." Cornelia said.
"Um… Uncle doesn't have…?" Caleb was elbowed in the side by Cornelia before she spoke in a whisper.
"That garlic smell was making us all gag. Let's see Elyon's magic healing pods fix that up." She whispered.
'Irma might not be so happy if she wakes up and has to deal with both of them.' Will thought sympathetically.
"Let Uncle out! Aiya!" He continued to pound on the glass sphere as everyone walked outside, leaving their three friends to recuperate.
"I hear knock-knock. Who is there?" The delirious Jackie went on. "I like monkeys." He danced around like a monkey. "And waxed lips." He pulled his sweatshirt up over his face. "This is a nice phone booth. Oh, look! I can make funny sounds with my underarm!" Jackie made several armpit farts as he laughed. "Oh, excuse me!"
"Well, this was a total bust!" Jade commented as the remaining Guardians, Caleb, Tohru, Elyon, Alchemy, and the Enforcers walked down the castle hallways. "We're three-men down, and Drago got the thunder power!"
"And we still got no idea where their hideout on Earth is." Will added.
"Oh, I wouldn't give up hope just yet." Alchemy reached into her pocket to pull out a certain piece of stone she acquired earlier.
"Alchemy, that's a rock." Cornelia pointed out.
"Oh, that's not just a rock." Finn said.
"Yeah, it's a piece of Shendu." Ratso revealed, much to everyone's surprise.
"That locator spell you guys are working on needs a DNA sample from Drago, right?" Chow asked Tohru.
"Uh… yes." The surprised apprentice Chi-Wizard confirmed.
"But family members share DNA, don't they?" Alchemy said with a knowing smile, putting it all together for their friends.
"Alchemy… you're a genius!" Taranee praised.
"No kidding… why didn't we think of that?!" Hay Lin beamed.
"Bet the old man couldn't think of that." Cornelia smirked as she playfully nudged her friend.
"While you guys work with the spell, I'll rally our forces here in Meridian and we'll plan our assault as soon as possible." Elyon offered. "The second we learn where Drago's hiding, we take him and his friends down!"
"I'll be ready whenever you are." Caleb vowed.
Will took the piece of Shendu in her hand and looked at it with a serious expression. "It took all of us working together to take down Shendu, let's make sure his son gets the same treatment."
"Damn right!" Jade declared with an ambitious grin. "Watch out Drago… we're coming for you!"
Done.
So yeah… this chapter was clearly very different from canon. For one, we dealt with the actual Titanic and not the Oceanic this time around.
But rather than a deep-sea underwater fight where Irma would have complete and total advantage, Nerissa used her Quintessence to make the Titanic rise to the surface. I had originally planned on her bringing the Titanic to life and having it attack the heroes, but given the enormous size of the wreckage, and the fact that Nerissa is no longer connected to an Auramere with the use of her Quintessence power draining her life force, it would be too much for even her. The main reason she has that staff is to act as like a substitute for the Auramere and provide her with a magical power source for her Quintessence without it endangering her own life force, but even with that staff, bringing the Titanic to life would have been too much for her, even if Drago did help with his own power.
I hope that makes sense.
But making the Titanic rise alone was enough as it allowed the Knights of Vengeance a fighting chance, and even with Irma still having the advantage due to the fight being out on the open sea, the whole fight was just a distraction for the heroes' heavy hitters as Drago used the chaos to his advantage to slip in and steal the Thunder Demon Chi from Uncle before giving it to Hak Foo and then slipping away before making the ship sink once more.
As for the reason why the Thunder Demon power canceled out the Quintessence that kept the ruined Titanic afloat, it's not really all that complicated. Despite being in the form of lightning, Nerissa's power is Quintessence (it's not lightning), life energy. The Thunder Demon power was only drawn to it because of its similar electrical properties, and you know what happens when something living touches electricity? It dies.
The Thunder Demon Chi is not like Jade's anti-magic power as the Shadow Guardian, it's basically just electrocuting living energy and killing it.
Again, I hope that makes sense.
(Science and/or physics majors, do not blame me if I didn't account for any kind of law of physics or anything, science and physics were some of my more difficult subjects in high school).
But not all hope is loss. Alchemy, being her creative self, was able to find a workaround to the issue surrounding the locator spell to find Drago's hideout on Earth, by getting a piece of Shendu to serve as a substitute.
Next up, the heroes fight to retrieve the Thunder Demon Chi before the Knights of Vengeance can do any damage with it, and it is gonna be one electrical battle.
Oh, and Will was able to discover a new ability with her Quintessence, and that is allowing her to reach out and communicate with animals. Life power and all that. It only makes sense. And that will play a big role in the future as her powers continue to develop.
Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy out there.