J-WITCH Season 2

by Iron117Prime

Jackie Chan and the Guardians have defeated Phobos and freed Meridian. But, as before, a new evil has risen, this one from the past and is ready to reap its revenge and its own brand of justice on the present. An even more difficult battle awaits for J-WITCH and the Chan Clan, one that could decide the fate of not only their world, but the whole universe!

17. Illusions of Flame

Hi everyone, welcome back to more J-WITCH. This is one chapter that I've been really looking forward to as while the girls are on vacation for some much-needed R&R, a certain sorceress has other plans in mind. But there will be quite a few surprises in store that I'm sure will have you on the edge of your seat, both here, and the chapters afterward.

With that being said, let's get started!

Illusions of Flame

It was complete chaos as a battalion of Meridian soldiers led an assault on the Knights of Vengeance within a canyon. Gargoyle swung his hand and club around to beat away all the soldiers that attempted to surround him. Frost rode Crimson through a group of soldiers, swinging his axe to any that got too close. Tracker spun his mace around before flinging it toward a group of soldiers to knock them all down.

"Charging Dragon Flattens Villagers!" Hak Foo called out as he ran at top speeds and dealt punches and kicks to knock away any soldier in his path.

Finn used his shield to block the fire-sword from Raythor as Ratso, Chow, and several other soldiers surrounded the former captain.

"The Knights of Vengeance will make you regret tracking us here!" Raythor told them.

"So, surrendering's outta the question, huh?" Finn asked rhetorically as his enemy kicked him down before swinging his blazing sword to send a wave of flame all around him, with Ratso and Chow ducking underneath it as best as they could.

"Hey, watch it! You could poke someone's eye out with that!" Ratso told him.

"Yeah and get serious third-degree burns!" Chow added, mostly speaking toward his friend as he got back up.

The Ice Crew soon found themselves facing off against some soldiers led by Caleb and Vathek as DJ Fist used his steel coated body to block all the sword and axes that were swung at him by the soldiers before punching them all down. Vathek ran towards MC Cobra with his club, but when the blue-skinned warrior tried to bring it down onto him, MC Cobra caught it in his hands and smirked as he used his lava skin to set the wooden weapon on fire, forcing Vathek to drop it.

"Hot potato, blue boy!" MC Cobra grinned as he threw a lava ball at Vathek, who ducked under it to avoid the deadly projectile.

StrikeMaster Ice blew his ice-breath at a group of soldiers in front of him to freeze them in their tracks. "Yo, you in the wrong house, dog." Suddenly, Ice was rushed by Caleb who swung his katana at him with enough force to knock him to the ground.

"Your only 'house' is going to be a cell next to Phobos, dog!" Caleb told him as he pointed his katana towards his foe, only to get blasted back by a fireball that exploded at his feet, all courtesy of Drago as he stood on top of the boulder behind Ice before jumping down to face the young rebel who pushed himself back to his feet.

"Ah, nothing like a little morning exercise to get your blood flowing, don't ya think?" Drago grinned as he brandished his claws, the tips sizzling with pure heat.

"You've terrorized Meridian for too long! I'm going to make sure you rot in a hole for the rest of your life, right alongside your monstrous father!" Caleb exclaimed as he engaged the half-demon in a duel, with Blunk watching the whole thing from behind a nearby rock.

Meanwhile, Aldarn held back at a distance as he commanded the soldiers who were manning the catapults, watching the battle via a pair of binoculars as the catapults were launched, with one boulder striking Gargoyle in the face, staggering the giant.

"Direct hit on Gargoyle!" Aldarn stated. "And these earth-oculars totally stone… I mean, rock. Nevermind! Fire at will!" He ordered as another catapult flung a rock towards Gargoyle. But rather than take the hit, Gargoyle swung his club-arm to knock away the rock, only for said rock to strike the top of a cliff, causing a rockslide with countless boulders rolling down into the canyon.

"We got an avalanche!" Chow exclaimed.

"Everyone, retreat!" Caleb ordered his solders.

"Knights! Into the caves!" Drago told his subordinates as all parties attempted to escape the falling rocks.

Because the Knights of Vengeance knew this area well, it was easy for them to slip into the holes in the sides of the canyon and avoid being crushed, with Gargoyle bashing his way into the side of a canyon wall to make his own cave. However, the Meridian soldiers had a much more difficult time as the deadly rockslide was quickly closing in, though Vathek was able to guide most of the soldiers to safety.

However, Miranda noticed Caleb lagging behind and, from her cave, spat some webbing at Caleb's feet, catching his right foot and causing him to trip and fall.

"Caleb!" Ratso quickly ran to try and help him with Finn and Chow right behind him.

"Blunk coming!" The Passling also ran out from his hiding spot to try and rescue his friend.

"Use that tooth thing and get us the heck outta here!" Chow exclaimed as they all got around Caleb and tried to pull him free.

Drago also happened to notice the situation they were in from the cave that he had escaped into. With the rockslide coming in fast, they would not make it out unscathed, and that was the best-case scenario. The half-demon narrowed his eyes as he aimed his finger with a tiny flame at the tip, like a finger-gun, and fired.

The flames hit the webbing, causing it to dissolve and loosen and allowing the former Enforcers to pull him free just as Blunk used the Tonga Tooth he wore to open a Fold and escape Meridian right as the rocks slammed hard onto the ground with shattering results.

Drago smirked slightly as he retreated into the cave. "Perfect shot."

---

Earth

A Fold had opened up as Caleb, Finn, Ratso, Chow, and Blunk all fell out into the Sheffield gym just as it closed behind them.

Finn breathed a huge sigh of relief. "That was way too close." He said as they all stood up and he dusted off his suit.

"Huh, nice gym." Ratso looked around.

"It's the school's gym." Caleb said. "Good thing it's summer."

"Blunk aim for old man Chan shop." Blunk said as he looked at the Tonga Tooth in his hand. "But glad to be back in safe-from-vengeance Heatherfield."

"Got that right, little guy." Chow agreed.

"We'll see if we can stock up on supplies here on Earth and get back on the Knights' trail." Caleb said.

"Knights' trail dangerous trail." Blunk commented with a shiver. "Get Guardians and Chan Clan to come along."

"No can do." Caleb shook his head. "The girls are going on vacation and Jackie's going to be on standby in case the last batch of Demon Chi activates."

"Then why not ask Elyon?" Blunk asked. "She super powerful. Can really help."

"Nope." Finn replied. "She, Alchemy, and everyone else are staying at the castle in case Drago decides to attack there again."

"Yeah, we're on our own this time." Chow added with reluctance.

"Ah man, I want a vacation too." Ratso whined.

---

Kandrakar

Meanwhile, the Guardians and Chan Clan had meet with the Council of Kandrakar and had begun to tell them about their encounters with the mysterious sorceress that's been hounding them for quite some time.

"The first time we had even heard of this sorceress was when we were trying to retrieve the Water Demon Chi." Jackie explained. "Though we did not see her ourselves."

"Then she attacked us in our dreams; nabbed Caleb, his dad and several of their friends… heck, she might have been responsible for that whole thing with the cops when they were looking for Elyon!" Jade added.

"She even created a hybrid clone of Jade and myself and…" Will couldn't quite finish right away as she looked away with some guilt before continuing. "And Drago killed her." Irma and Cornelia both were quick to console and comfort Jade and Will as the two spirit sisters looked down in mourning at the thought of Jewel once more.

"Oh, and Drago also attacked the Ben Shui temple on Earth, and we think she may have been behind that too." Taranee added.

"But we do not know who she is." Tohru said. "Though she has proven to be incredibly powerful sorceress, and extremely cunning."

"Is there anything at all that can help us to identify her?" Halinor asked.

"I drew a picture." Hay Lin offered as she handed the council a picture of the sorceress in question with the Mage taking a look at it first. It was a quite impressive for a rough sketch, though there was also a mustache on the scowling face.

"Her image is unfamiliar to the Council of Kandrakar." The Mage said as she handed the picture to the other members of the council to look and see for themselves with the Oracle being the last to see it.

"If only my powers were at their full strength…" The Oracle began.

"Wait, something's up with your powers?" Cornelia questioned.

"I'm afraid so…" The Oracle confirmed. "These past few weeks, I've been experiencing headaches…. Seeing into the other worlds has proven to be… difficult. It's like looking through the mist, I can make out some things… but never a clear picture."

To say the heroes were concerned would be an understatement. "When has this been happening?" Jackie asked.

"Not long after we lowered the Veil." The Oracle answered.

"Could it be the Demon Chi?" Taranee wondered, looking towards Tohru. "Maybe that has something to do with it."

"But we've already captured seven of the eight powers." The sumo replied. "But… there is still little we know about all of that."

"Perhaps Oracle spend too much time in clouds." Uncle said with a hint of spite in his voice. "Must come down to Earth and not hide in fortress."

The Oracle and Halinor both had sad and knowing expressions at that particular comment. Even if they were technically on the same side, Uncle clearly did not like it, nor did he like the Oracle himself.

"Well, is there anything we can do to help?" Will asked.

"Not at the moment, though I do thank you for your concern." The Oracle replied. "But, I sense a great deal of turmoil in you, young Will."

As the leader of the Guardians looked away, Jade walked up to her spirit sister and held her hand for comfort and security. "A lot's been happening all at once." Jade said for Will. "Jewel… the clone of me and Will… that really hit hard for us. So… we're going to be taking a break from the whole Guardian thing for a while."

"I'm sorry… but I… we really need some R&R right now." Will said looking toward the council with the hope that they will understand, something Halinor and the Oracle both smiled sympathetically at.

"Of course." Halinor nodded. "You have all more than exceed anyone's expectations, and at such young ages. If you need time to rest, then take it. I'd say you've earned it."

"But there is still one more immortal relic, one that contains the last of the Demon Chi." Luba put in. "And after having lost the others, our enemies will no doubt be all the more desperate to acquire it."

"We will handle it if the last Demon Chi awakens while the girls are on their vacation." Jackie stepped up immediately. "They need this."

"The three of us have experience dealing with demon-related matters, this shouldn't be all that hard." Tohru added.

"Evil never sleeps. But girls must rest bodies and minds. Vacation good for you." Uncle put in.

"This coming from the old guy whom we had to drag on a cruise just to lighten up a bit." Cornelia grumbled.

"It's fine, Luba." The Oracle assured the keeper of the Aurameres. "They Guardians have earned their sojourn. And Jackie and his family have proven to be capable enough that I'm certain they'll acquire the Demon Chi should it activate at this time."

"Don't suppose you can just use that to predict when it'll pop up and save us the trouble?" Jade asked.

The Oracle smiled humorously. "Though my abilities do allow me for precognition, I cannot simply tell you when it will happen. It's a sacred law of Kandrakar that I can't intervene. My apologies."

"Well, that sucks." Jade grumbled.

Cornelia gave a tisk much like her friend. "We don't need any future vision. And let's not worry about the end of the world for the next week."

"Yep. Starting tomorrow, we're off to sunny Hawaii, courtesy of Captain Black rigging a raffle contest that the cops at my dad's station were having." Irma said with a grin.

"A weeklong slumber party in paradise. Can you ask for anything better?" Hay Lin added as she brought in all the girls together.

"So, let's have some fun, right girls?" Taranee smiled.

Will and Jade both smiled together as they nodded to one another. "Right." They both said at the same time.

Jackie smiled too. The girls have worked so hard for so long, they've more than earned this week off to rest and relax. Unbeknownst to him, and everyone else however, the Mage a rather strange smile on her face as well.

---

Earth - The next day

After getting off the plane in Honolulu, the girls of J-WITCH, along with Irma's family, had piled into a van that Tom Lair had rented out and drove from the city to the beach house that they had 'won' in the raffle contest. It was two stories tall and was just a short walk away from the beach that faced the rear of the building.

When the van pulled up to the driveway, Chris immediately got out and breathed in relief. "Ugh, finally! Air unpolluted by girl breath!"

"I so wouldn't be bringing up breath, little brother." Irma warned as she stepped out as well. "Yours smells worse than a boatload of garlic." She would know, after having to deal with all the garlic that Uncle has been using.

"Irma! Chris! I refuse to listen to you two bicker for an entire week!" Anna Lair scolded her children as everyone else left the van and got their luggage.

"Then I hope you brought earplugs." Tom said.

Once they had all their things, the group entered the beach house and got a good look at the inside. The main room was a large family room with a flatscreen television built into the wall above the fire place, a conjoined kitchen, with a backdoor that led to a deck that had a clear view of the beach outside. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms were on the first floor with only one bathroom having a shower. There was also a set of stairs that led to the second story, which also had one bedroom and a bathroom with a shower. Needless to say, all the girls were impressed as they looked around.

"Alright, there three bedrooms here." Tom told the girls. "My wife and I will have one of them down here, so the rest of you will have to take your pick on what to share."

"Three per bedroom?" Taranee said to the other girls.

"Me, Jade, and Irma upstairs; Cornelia with you and Hay Lin down here." Will confirmed. "We can switch it up later if we don't like it."

"Sounds fine with me." Cornelia accepted.

'Thank you, Captain Black.' Jade said internally.

"So, where's my bedroom?" Chris asked.

"You're standing in it." Tom told his son as he pulled out the cushions from one sofa and opened it to reveal a fold-in bed. "Your bed, unless you prefer to sleep with the girls."

"Aw come on!" The little boy whined. "Irma gets to bring five friends! Why do they get actual bedrooms!"

"Hey, you wanna bunk with us, that's cool." Hay Lin offered.

"Just not with me." Irma said. "This is supposed to be a vacation, not babysitting."

"So, what are we waiting for?" Jade questioned as she already had a surfboard out with sunglasses. "The beaches await!"

---

The girls wasted no time in getting changed into their swimsuits and heading out to the beach, where they pretty much spent the entire day. They surfed on the waves and even smacked a volleyball to each other while in the water.

Though Chris happened to swim underneath them to grab his sister and pull her under. The boy ran with a grin on his face onto the beach with Irma chasing after him, only for said boy to run into what he thought was a giant spider emerging from the sand, causing him to scream as he ran off. Irma saw the spider dissolve into shadows as she looked behind to see Jade twirling her finger, a small shadowy mass at the tips, with a smirk as Irma gave her a thumbs up.

At one point, Jade laid flat on the beach with sunglasses as Taranee and Hay Lin buried her up to her neck with sand as Will, Cornelia, and Irma were getting tans on the beach towels they had brought.

Sometime after that, Will had pulled out a camera as all six girls attempted to group in together with Will holding out the camera as far as she could to try and get all of them in together. Just before she pressed the button and took the picture, Chris had jumped in and knocked them all down.

They all played in the water for the rest of the day until the sun started to set before they went back up to the beach house, where Irma's parents already had burgers made for the whole group, something they ate without any delay.

---

Night had then fallen as everyone went to sleep. Tom and Anna slept in one bedroom on the ground floor with Cornelia, Taranee, and Hay Lin in the second bedroom, while Chris slept in the fold-out bed in the family room. On the upper floor bedroom, Irma was already fast asleep while Jade just laid there for a moment, but she happened to spot Will outside on the second floor's balcony and got up to join her outside.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah…" Will sighed contently with a smile. "I really needed this."

"I think we all did." Jade said as she joined her best friend in looking up to the stars. "As much as I love beating up the bad guys, I think we all deserved this break."

Will's smile slightly faded. "I just wish that Jewel was here with us."

Jade then put an arm around her spirit sister's shoulder in support. "Me too."

"Maybe there's a way we can bring her back." Will suggested. "I mean, we both felt her before, so she's probably not gone, not completely."

"I hope so to, and when we do find a way, we'll be sure to show her the ropes." Jade smiled. "Kinda like how I did for you."

"Really?" Will looked towards her with a half-grin and a raised eyebrow. "You showed me the ropes?"

"Well duh. I had experience fighting monsters. You got yourself kidnapped by a giant snake, the first day of magic fighting." Jade cracked.

"And you got caught too when trying to rescue me." Will joked back, leading to both sharing a brief laugh. "You know Jade, you've really come a long way. When we first met, you were a total thrill seeker, jumping head-long into danger with no sense of fear… or self-preservation. Now, you've really grown."

Jade smiled somewhat emotionally. "Well… It helps that I had good friends. I never really had any before I met Jackie. But now I do. The best friends I could ever wish for. And… that makes me so happy. So, thanks… thanks for being my friend, Will."

"Thanks for being mine." Will replied as they hugged each other.

---

The next day began the same way as the previous one. After breakfast, the girls went down to the beach once again. Jade and Cornelia both laid on towels for some sunbathing, the former having sun glasses, while Will sat on the towel next to them as she put on sunscreen.

"You know what would make this trip perfect?" Cornelia asked.

"Caleb?" Jade answered knowingly and humorously.

"Yep." The blonde confirmed.

Jade smirked at that, but suddenly she felt a chill down her spine, causing her to sit up slightly as she lowered her sunglasses to see Hay Lin standing over Cornelia.

"Oh please, you and Caleb can't go five minutes without fighting." She said as she turned around to walk away. "If you actually spent time together, you'd be vacationing in dumpsville." She said as she left.

Will and Cornelia both looked confused over their friends' attitude. "Yesh, what's with her?" Will wondered.

However, Jade happened to notice something off with Hay Lin. She looked at her feet and noticed that the shadow Hay Lin was casting was shaped differently. It felt different than how Hay Lin normally feels. The Chan girl couldn't help but narrow her eyes at that, a feeling of suspicion forming in her stomach.

---

Meanwhile, Irma was enjoying herself, snorkeling. That is until her brother snuck up behind her underwater and pulled her down even deeper. Irma was forced to come up and breathe while Chris came up with a laugh.

"Chris, you're such a brat!" Irma splashed water at him as he swam away.

"I wonder why." Taranee said from behind. "Look in the mirror, some time. He learned from the best." She told her before swimming off, much to Irma's irritation.

---

At the same time, Hay Lin and Taranee were both sitting and relaxing at the edge of a dock, just skipping stones along the water. Taranee skipped one rather far, but Hay Lin added to hers with some wind power to skip it out twice as far.

"Hey, that's cheating." Taranee said playfully.

"No witnesses, so we're good." Hay Lin remarked.

"You sound like a suspect in a murder." Jade suddenly appeared behind them, much to their startle.

"Yesh, you startled us." Taranee commented.

"Guess I'm part ninja since I got my powers from the Shadowkhan." Jade said as she sat down in-between them with Hay Lin laughing at the supposed joke. "Guess I've always been pretty special, unlike you two."

"I'm sorry… what?" Hay Lin asked in confusion.

"You only became a Guardian because your grandma was." Jade told Hay Lin before looking toward Taranee as she stood up. "And don't go acting like you're the only genius, I know people a lot smarter than you. Compared to them, you just seem to blend in like an average person." She said before walking away.

"Average, huh?" Taranee muttered as she kicked the water with a sense of insecurity coming in.

However, as who they thought to be Jade walked into a foliage of palm trees and bushes, a green ring formed at her feet as it rose to reveal the true form of Nerissa, having used a Glamor spell to disguise herself.

"This is the price to pay from having this generation of Guardians to be children." The sorceress commented. "A Glamor here, a few words there, and they begin to fall apart, mine for the picking. But enough about me, your turn… Sandpit." She said to a pile of sand in front of her, which was revealed to be Sandpit as the sand shifted itself to take the form of a face that smiled sinisterly.

---

Meridian

Caleb, Blunk, and the Enforcers had managed to follow the Knights' trail to a gorge with geysers deep inside. The Passling in their group took a few whiffs before speaking.

"Can't smell Knights now. Only smell rotten stinking eggs." Blunk smiled at the thought of that. "Just like Mama used to make."

"Anything on that locator spell that Alchemy helped whip up?" Caleb asked as Ratso pulled out the lizard blowfish that had a green aura lightly emanating from it.

"Yep, we got a glowing lizard." Ratso said.

"Which means a fire-breathing lizard we all know and hate is down there." Chow commented.

"So, what's the plan? Call it in?" Finn asked.

"We need to scout the area and make sure they didn't set up any traps. Come on." Caleb said as he led the group toward the gorge.

---

Meanwhile, within the deepest part of the gorge, most of the Knights of Vengeance sat around the area as they appeared to be waiting for something, though some were already starting to get impatient.

"Yo how long granny and the pile of cat litter be gone, huh?" MC Cobra asked.

"A day and a half at this point." Raythor answered.

"I don't know about y'all, but I'm getting tired of all this waiting." StrikeMaster Ice stated. "How much longer we gonna wait?"

"Until Nerissa and Sandpit return, and the Guardians are disbanded. Permanently." Raythor told them.

Frost crushed a pebble in his hand. "What I wouldn't give to have those demon powers again. I could have crushed a mountain with my bare hands!"

"And I had the power to shake the heavens itself!" Hak Foo declared. "But that power was stolen from us!"

Even Miranda felt the same way, remembering when she had the Water Demon Chi. If only she had gotten to the ocean that time, and she could have washed away the Guardians with their own planet's power.

"How many more pieces of Demon Chi are left out there?" The spider-girl asked.

"Only my old man's power's left." Drago responded. "But I can't control when it activates…" Suddenly, the half-demon gasped as he spaced out for a moment, much to the Knights' concern.

"Drago?" Raythor stepped forward as the leader of the Knights received a vision.

In his blood-red gaze, Drago saw his father, Shendu himself, standing in the middle of a massive inferno. Shendu roared as the flames grew to reveal an object: a Han Jian sword. The vision shifted to reveal none other than the island state of Hawaii, specifically the Hawaii Theater Center in Honolulu.

When his vision came to an end, Drago looked more confused than anything. "That can't be right…" He muttered.

"What can't be right?" Raythor questioned.

"I need to check on something." He used his ring to open a Fold. "Stay here and wait for me." He said before stepping into the Fold just as it closed.

---

Earth – Uncle's Rare finds

All seemed very quiet in the Chan family shop as Jackie, Tohru, and Uncle all took inventory of the small store, not that any of them minded it. Though it was nice to get some peace and quiet, it also felt weird compared to the liveliness that Jade and all the other girls brought whenever they were here. But they were all on a well-deserved vacation for the week, and that honestly made Jackie a happy man, knowing that his girls were all enjoying themselves without having to worry about the fate of the world and/or universe for once.

"Aiya!" The peace and quiet came to an end as the Chi-Omatic on Uncle's desk suddenly shined to life, drawing Jackie and Tohru's attention. When they all gathered around the Chi-Omatic, it lit up and shown a magical projection of a certain humanoid dragon they all knew very well.

"Shendu." Tohru's eyes narrowed.

"Fire Demon Chi has been activated!" Uncle stated.

The projection changed to reveal the image of a sword. "That must have been the sword used to defeat him in ancient times, before he was sealed in stone." Jackie said. While this was a serious situation, Jackie can at least take some form of solace that this was happening now. He, Uncle, and Tohru should be able to retrieve the last of the Demon Chi without the girls having to worry. And in the worst case, he can always have Captain Black assemble the J-Team if they needed reinforcements.

However, the projection once again changed to reveal the Immortal Relic's location, which just so happened to be the Hawaii Theater Center, much to Jackie's horror.

"Please tell me that's not what I think it is…" The martial artist gulped.

"The relic's location… is in Hawaii… where the girls all are right now." Tohru said with reluctance.

Jackie smacked his own forehead with his hand. Really?! This had to happen at the same place where his niece and her friends were all vacationing?! They couldn't have one week to themselves and not be involved in a fight for their lives?!

With a great amount of reluctance, Jackie pulled out his phone to at least warn them and he dialed his niece's number. "Jade. I'm sorry but…" However, the only thing Jackie got on the other line was static, much to his surprise. "Jade?" But there was still no answer. So, he instead try to dial Will's number, but he also received static and didn't get an answer. "Something's wrong, I can't reach the girls!"

Uncle quickly went to the landline phone in his office and tried to dial Hay Lin's phone number, but just like with Jackie, all he got was static.

"We cannot contact Guardians! Drago and his forces are already on the move!" Uncle stated with worry.

"Oh bad day…" Jackie muttered as he dialed in Captain Black's number and hoped that at least worked. Much to his relief, Captain Black did answer.

"Black, here."

"It's Jackie! We need to get to Honolulu as fast as possible!"

---

Hawaii

Back on the beach, Will, Irma, and Jade seemed to be enjoying themselves as they were in the midst of making a sandcastle, one that bore a shape akin to a Chinese palace. They'd spent a couple of hours working on it, and so far, it was looking great.

"Who's up for a soda?!" They heard Irma's mother call out to them from the beach house's patio.

Irma gave a relaxing sigh. "I'm up for two." She said as they walked away from their project. "That courtyard dried me out."

"I call dibs on the root beer!" Jade stated.

The minute the girls were gone however, Sandpit had integrated itself into the sand of the beach and used it to rip and tear the sand palace apart with little issue. It also put a large hole in the middle of it to look like it was stomped out before sinking into the sand again to avoid being seen.

The three came back a couple of minutes later with sodas in their hands, but their smiles were replaced with looks of shock.

"Ah what?!" Jade questioned. "Who took the wrecking ball to our palace?!"

"There goes a couple hours of work." Will said with disappointment before noticing a set of footprints that led up a nearby dune. "Hey guys… I don't think this was an accident."

"Oh, I am so following those footprints!" Irma said angrily as she followed the trail with Will and Jade right behind her.

What they did not realize however, were that these so-called footprints were actually impressions made by Sandpit as the sentient sand creature purposely led them in a certain direction. Once they were atop the dune, the three saw the other trio comprising of Cornelia, Hay Lin, and Taranee with the tracks leading to them as they were working on their own sandcastle.

Irma looked especially peeved at the implication, so much so that she wasted no time in rushing over to her friends and stomped out their castle with as much anger in her stomps as she could manage, much to their shock, with Cornelia being the first to get mad.

"Okay, what the hell was that for?!" The blonde stood up in anger.

"That was for ruining our little project just over the hill there! Now we're even!" Irma exclaimed.

As the two continued to argue as Jade and Will tried to hold Irma back with Hay Lin and Taranee doing the same for Cornelia, Nerissa watched from the foliage with amusement at how easy it was to plant these seeds of distrust. It honestly made for quite the show.

"You don't waste any time, do ya?" Drago approached his mother from behind, which caused her smile to fade.

"Why are you here?" She questioned, keeping her back turned. "I didn't send for you."

"The last batch of Demon Chi has been activated." He answered.

"Then by all means, retrieve it." Nerissa told him. "It may satisfy some of our more power hungry and impatient Knights for the time being…"

"It's here." The half-demon revealed, finally causing his mother to turn and face him directly.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked.

"The sword used to banish my old man, the one laced with his Fire Demon Chi, it's on this island." Drago explained. "Specifically in the city. Apparently there's going to be a sword juggling act at the theater, and one of the swords just happens to be the Immortal Relic."

Nerissa blinked for a moment before placing her fingers on her forehead in annoyance. "Well… that was unexpected."

"Is this gonna be problem?" Drago asked.

The sorceress thought for a moment before addressing hers on again. "No, in fact… this could be an opportunity. So far, my attempts to divide the Guardians are working quite smoothly. But in the event this fails, the your father's power could serve as a fallback."

"What about Chan?" Drago questioned. "He's going to try and call…"

"He can't." Nerissa revealed. "Last night, I used my powers to drain their little phones dry, just to keep them from calling their dear mentor for emotional support. But now, it'll keep him from warning them."

"Won't stop him from coming here himself, though." Drago stated.

"Which is why you will retrieve the sword yourself." Nerissa instructed. "Be discrete about it, and don't extract the Chi yet. Keep it in reserve until we are in need of it."

"Sure. I'll swing back to Meridian and get Miranda too." Drago said.

"Must you?" Nerissa questioned.

"Well, unlike Ice, Raythor, or the others, she's not motivated by greed or sworn a blood oath." Drago said. "She's conniving, deceptive… you said yourself that you a prefer a scalpel over a sledgehammer. She could really do wonders for us if we brought her on full time. I'd hate to see such a talent go to waste."

"Hmmm, you make a good point." Nerissa seemed to understand. "Very well. Have her help you retrieve the sword, and tell the other Knights what you're up to, just to keep them happy and in the loop. I'll continue my work here. If Miranda proves herself here, I may consider bringing her into the fold."

"You're the best, Mom." Drago grinned sinisterly as he opened a Fold to return to Meridian, leaving her behind to continue watching as her young enemies were more and more at each other's throats.

"I know."

---

Later that evening, all the girls sat in the family room of the beach house, though the situation was notably tense around them as they all sat and stood away from one another, even as Tom and Anna both walked out, dressed rather fancily for the occasion.

"Irma, I'm taking your mother out for a night on the town." Tom told his daughter.

"Ew!" Irma cringed.

"It gets better." Chris said as he played with his remote-control firetruck. "You have to take me to the boardwalk."

"Dad, no!" Irma protested as her parents were already walking out the door.

"Enjoy yourselves! We will!" Tom waved off as he and his wife left.

"I'd rather kiss Uncle on the lips." Irma muttered as she sat down with crossed arms.

"Come on, let's get this over with." Will said with reluctance as everyone began to stand up. But as they did, Jade paid a glance towards the back window of the building as she noticed a certain shadow just outside, one that didn't belong to any friend that she knew. She narrowed her eyes in that direction before walking to catch up to her friends.

---

The boardwalk seemed like a standard carnival, complete with fair games like darts and balloons, small rides such as a ferris wheel, and even a haunted house attraction where the girls and Chris had just entered.

The inside looked like the inside of a cave, and the first thing that popped out in front of them was an animatronic werewolf that gave a recorded wolf-howl. There may have been an initial startle, but nobody was really scared.

"Really? These guys consider this scary?" Jade was far from impressed.

"Yeah, we've seen way scarier." Cornelia agreed as the group walked on.

"Hey, you gotta admire the shameless cheese factor." Will commented as they passed by a stage of a laboratory where Frankenstein's monster laid on a table before it slowly rose up with a moan.

"Will's right. They just don't make them like this anymore." Hay Lin seemed to be having some fun, more so in observing the novelty. They even saw an animatronic Dracula holding a woman doll in its arms.

"I want to suck your blood." The animatronic vampire said as it pulled the doll up, looking like it was biting into its neck. Before pulling back into the same position. "I want to suck your blood." It said on repeat.

"Huh, Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman." Jade observed. "Last time I saw these three together was in that Abbott and Costello movie."

"Ha. Classic." Taranee laughed.

"Yeah. Classic garbage. This place stinks." Chris pouted with crossed arms.

"I know it's wrong, but I love that he's miserable." Irma whispered to Cornelia.

"Yeah. Lilian wouldn't last two seconds here." The blonde shared a laugh. However, as they walked away, the animatronic werewolf, Frankenstein's monster, and Dracula were briefly zapped by a certain surge of electric-based power, causing all their eyes to turn red.

Will shivered slightly. "Hey, you okay?" Taranee asked the redhead.

"Yeah… just felt a chill." She said with Jade looking concerned at that particular statement just as Irma, Cornelia, Hay Lin, and Chris came to an Egyptian sarcophagus, that opened up as an animatronic mummy emerged with a groan, one of its eyes popping out on a spring. Still nobody was impressed by this, especially Chris.

"Moan. Moan. Moan. Feeble. Feeble. Feeble." The young boy groaned, only to suddenly scream as the animatronic werewolf was suddenly on him and picked him up in its arms, catching everyone's attention.

"Chris!" Irma exclaimed at seeing her brother in trouble. "Listen, you electric furball! Put my brother down, or I'll send you to join a certain Oni Demon in hell!"

Just then, the mummy was also zapped by the same kind of electrical power, which caused the bandages around its arms to shoot out and ensnare Will, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin together.

"What the heck…?! What's going on here?!" Jade questioned as she and Irma backed towards a nearby wall, only for the wall to be broken down from the other side, with Jade pulling Irma out of the way as the animatronic Dracula and Frankenstein's monster appeared before them.

"I want to suck your blood." The robotic vampire said as Frankenstein's monster groaned.

"Not the answer I was looking for." Jade said as she ducked under the swing of the arms of Frankenstein's monster and swiped her legs to trip up the monster as Irma rolled under the Dracula's legs and gave a double-kick to its back to knock it to the wall on the other side.

Though the other girls seemed to be struggling in the mummy's bandages, unable to break free, as it tried to pull them closer.

"Ugh! Who knew a mummy could have wardrobe malfunction!" Cornelia groaned.

"Hang on… I got this…" Hay Lin focused on the air in her hand and created an airball, one that spun around so quickly to generate some razor winds and cut away some of the bandages, this freed Taranee's hands as she smirked, flames appearing in her glasses as she grabbed the outstretched bandages and set them ablaze. This not only freed all the girls, but even set the animatronic mummy on fire.

"Let go!" Chris continued to squirm in the robotic werewolf's grip.

"You heard the kid!" Jade kicked the arm that held the young boy, causing it to drop him and Jade was quick to catch him. "Paws off, fido!" She put Irma's brother behind him as she faced the animatronic wolfman.

Irma squared off against the recovering robotic Dracula and Frankenstein's monster when she spotted some emergency sprinklers on the ceiling when an idea came to her.

"I want to suck your blood." The mechanical vampire repeated.

"Suck on this, Drac!" Irma challenged her own powers on the sprinklers, causing them to activate and spray water everywhere. This not only extinguished the flames from Taranee's attack, but even caused all the animatronics to short circuit as one-by-one, all their heads exploded starting with the mummy, then Dracula, then Frankenstein's monster, and finally the werewolf.

Though all eyes then set on Chris as the boy shivered in fear, and probably from the cold of the water as the sprinklers turned off.

"Look Chris… I know this seems… ultra-freaky…" Irma began.

"But there's a totally non-freaky and rational explanation for all of this!" Jade followed along.

"Which we'll come up with any second now!" Will chimed in.

"Don't bother! I know what I saw!" Chris said, causing the girls to look nervous before a wide smile formed on the little boy's face. "The coolest haunted house on the planet! Let's go again!"

This caused the girls to look and smile to one another with relief. Though once again, Jade caught notice of a lingering shadow that vanished as quickly as it came.

---

Meanwhile, at the Hawaii Theater Center, a crowd had already gathered and began to fill in the seats at the stage with the show just about ready to begin.

"This is the first time a sword juggler ever came to this theater." Tom said to Anna. "I'm very excited since I've never even seen a sword juggler before!"

"Well, I heard that this guy is also a collector." Anna said as she read the juggler's information on the brochure. "He collects antique swords from all over the world… Europe, China, Japan, the Middle East…"

"Talk about multi-tasking." Tom commented.

---

At the same time, a large array of swords had been assembled backstage and there was well over a dozen of them ranging from broadswords to katanas, to Dao swords, rapiers, and even scimitars. The juggler/collector was currently looking at his collection.

"Alright my pretties… which one of you will join me on stage tonight…"

"Um… excuse me." The performer turned around to see a young girl with black hair looking incredibly nervous. "I… I lost sight of my parents and I can't seem to find my way back. Can you help me? Please?" She asked as she put on a sincere look.

"Sure thing." He was immediately by her side. "I'll get you back to the main lobby, but my show's going to start soon."

"Thank you." She said as they left the backstage, leaving the collection of swords all alone.

Or so it seemed as Drago emerged from an air vent near the ceiling and scaled the wall, looking down to the collection of swords as he spotted one in particular. A Han Jian that had a faint dark blue aura on it.

---

Miranda was led out into the main lobby by the juggler. "Thank you." She told him. "I'll find my parents from here. Good luck with your show, and I'm sorry to bother you."

"Don't worry about it. I hope you enjoy it." The juggler said before quickly making his way back to the stage.

This allowed Miranda a chance to leave the theater, walking outside through the main door and entered the alleyway on the side of the building, where she saw Drago leap out from the vent.

"Did you get it?" The female shapeshifter asked.

"What do you think?" The half-demon grinned as he showed the sword in his hand, the one that contained his father's Fire Demon Chi.

"That was way too easy." Miranda waved her hair. "Why is it that people always lower their guard around children?"

"Why do you always pick a human form that looks like a child?" Drago pointed out in joking fashion. "You could always trick someone if you look older too."

Miranda smirked as her human form began to change somewhat. It grew taller and took the form of a rather attractive young woman in her late teens or early twenties at the oldest; though her hair was slightly longer, the color and that of her eyes remained the same.

"Well? What do you think?" She gestured to her new form.

"You'll definitely be giving those pre-teen boys some wet dreams. Maybe some girls too." Drago said. "But enough of all these little tricks and the sideshows, we should get back. The real entertainment is about to begin." He said with a sinister grow.

---

Meridian

Caleb, Blunk, and the former Enforcers hid behind some rocks as they were deep in the gorge, with the young rebel using a pair of binoculars to look on ahead. With them, he was able to see several of the Knights of Vengeance, including Raythor, StrikeMaster Ice, Frost and Crimson, DJ Fist, Gargoyle, MC Cobra, Tracker and Sniffer, and Hak Foo.

"I knew it." Caleb said. "They're using fumes from the sulfur vents to mask their scent."

"Uh guys… slight problem." Ratso held out the dried lizard that was infused with the locator spell, which was no longer glowing. "Drago's not here."

"Are you sure?" Chow asked.

"It's not glowing, so yeah. I'm sure." Ratso answered.

"I don't see Sandpit or Miranda either." Caleb commented as he looked through the binoculars. "Something's not right."

"Think we should call this in? Let Little E know?" Finn wondered.

"Blunk think so." The Passling said. "Fumes make Blunk hungry. Knights make Blunk terrified."

"Hang on, we need to find out what's going on. I doubt Drago just took two of his Knights on vacation." Caleb said. "Chow, you're with me. We're going to try and get in close and hear what they're saying. You three, stay here."

"Yeah, alright." Chow said as he followed Caleb to get closer while Finn, Ratso, and Blunk hung back.

---

Earth

Meanwhile, Jackie, Tohru, Uncle and Captain Black were riding a Section 13 jet trying to get to Hawaii as fast as possible. As Uncle continued to hold and look at the active Chi-Omatic in his hand, the other men were still trying to get in contact with the girls.

"We should be arriving at Honolulu in a little more than an hour." Captain Black said.

"Chi-Omatic indicates that that Fire Demon Chi has not yet been absorbed." Uncle stated as he looked at his device. "There may still be time to acquire it before Forces of Darkness do."

"Still nothing." Tohru said after his eighth attempt to call any of the girls. "If the Fire Demon Chi hasn't yet been absorbed, why is it we still can't call any of the girls?"

"I'm not even picking up any of their phones on satellite surveillance." Captain Black commented as he looked at his laptop which had map coordinates over the island. "This could mean that their devices have been either hacked or destroyed."

Jackie gave a disappointed sigh as he fell back in his seat. "This was supposed to be a time off for them. A chance to relax and not fight for their lives. Now they could be in serious trouble."

"Jade and the others have proven capable of handling themselves." Tohru tried to assure his friend. "I'm sure they're alright."

"I'd feel more comfortable if I knew for sure." Despite Jackie knowing full well how strong and how mature his niece and all her friends were, he still couldn't shake this feeling of uneasiness that they were playing into someone's hands.

---

Hawaii

"Will, who are you kidding?!" Cornelia questioned as she, Hay Lin, and Taranee seemed to be confronting their leader regarding the recent fiasco. "Those monsters were animatronic, as in animated and electronic!"

"Why don't you just admit you've been having trouble with your Quintessence powers. There's no shame in it." Hay Lin said in a more compromising tone.

"Because I didn't do anything!" Will exclaimed. "What happened back there wasn't me!"

"Who else on this boardwalk can bring devices to life and even talk to them?" Taranee replied.

"That could be the reason my phone hasn't been working this whole time." Cornelia commented as she pulled out her cell phone.

"Wait, you too?" Will looked in surprise.

"Ever since this morning, my phone's been dead, and I know I charged it last night." The blonde reiterated.

"Mine too." Hay Lin said as she took out her phone with Taranee doing the same to show her phone wasn't working. Will even pulled out her phone and she knew that she had it charged before going to bed the previous night and didn't even use it at all today. So why was her phone and everyone else's suddenly out of power.

"Alright, maybe you didn't do it on purpose." Taranee said to Will, much to her shock. "It could have been an accident."

"What, I'm 'sleep Quintessing'?! You think I have zero control?!" The redhead questioned.

"Well… I mean… you have been going through a rough time… with happened to Jewel and…" Hay Lin tried to speak in a more understanding way.

"Oh! Really?! You're going there?!" To say she was shocked and angry would have been an understatement.

"Look we know you took that pretty hard…" Cornelia began.

"Of course, I took it hard! But it's not like I decided to vent all my frustrations on all of you! Isn't that the reason why we came on this stupid vacation and not worry about all this magical bull crap?!" Will shouted which caused the other three to wince as they backed away from the sheer hostility in her tone.

"Look, Will we didn't mean…" Taranee tried, but she already held her hand up.

"No. You know what? Forget it. Just forget I said anything." She turned around to walk away. "Gonna get some air and distance since apparently I'm a walking disaster magnet that none of you wanna be around." She said as she stormed off, much to her friends' concern.

"Uh… maybe we were a little harsh…" Hay Lin said as she, Cornelia, and Taranee all felt a strong sense of guilt over what just happened.

---

Meanwhile, Jade hung around Irma as the latter bought some cotton candy for Chris who took it and walked away with a smile when who they thought to be Taranee appeared before them, but Jade was quick to notice her shadow and saw that it was shaped very differently.

"Oh, I can't believe it." Whom they saw as Taranee said.

"Can't believe what?" Irma asked.

"Will! I read her mind. She brought those monsters to life as a prank!"

"Are you sure?" Jade questioned skeptically. "Will's not exactly mischievous."

"She must have gotten it from you. You're apparently her best friend." That caused Jade to narrow her eyes at her.

"My little brother was almost werewolf chow because of a prank?! If anything happened to him…" Irma scowled.

"You'd probably be bummed that it wasn't you who did it." She said before walking away, leaving Irma more than a little shocked.

"Irma, don't listen to that." Jade told her.

"Well maybe Chris might be a brat, but you know I still care about him, right?" Irma tried to hope that Jade at least understood that given their history.

"Of course, I know. Just as I know that was not Taranee." Jade revealed, much to Irma's surprise.

---

At the same time, Will had found a secluded spot behind a dart throwing contest, where some of the prizes included plastic toys and collectibles from various cartoons and television shows. It was at this spot that the redhead sat down as she leaned her back against the wall and sighed in mental exhaustion.

This trip was supposed to be fun. A way to forget about all her troubles, if only for just a week. How did it go so wrong so fast? She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone again, which was still dead. Maybe she did accidentally use her powers in her sleep. She knew she was under a great deal of stress regarding what happened with Jewel, as well as whether or not she should tell her mother about all this Guardian stuff.

"Quintessence." Will activated her powers in a somber mood, pink energy spreading from her hand to her phone. She didn't know why she was doing it, maybe to try and recharge the phone and possibly talk to it. Guess she really was losing it if she was thinking of looking for some kind of words of encouragement from her cell phone of all things. Though maybe she could call Jackie if her phone was working properly now.

"Will!"

"Hey, Ed." She addressed her phone. "Look, I'm sorry if I accidentally drained your battery or…"

"You have nothing to be sorry for, young lady. Because you did not do this." Ed told her.

"What are you talking about?" Will asked in confusion.

"Your vacation has an unwanted guest." Ed revealed.

---

Meridian

Caleb and Chow were both able to sneak relatively close to the Knights of Vengeance, keeping themselves hidden behind a large rock. Chow then spotted the Tracker's hound, Sniffer.

"And the mutant bloodhound can't sniff us out this close, why?" Chow whispered.

"Because those sulfur vents that block Blunk's nose are also doing the same thing to that mutt." Caleb whispered back. "Now keep quiet, they're talking."

"Yo, why Drago and the hag asked for the spider and walking cat litter for help and not us?" StrikeMaster Ice questioned.

"Because they not only seek the Fire Demon Chi, they also mean to disband the Guardians." Raythor answered. "Such a task requires stealth, something you aren't particularly good at."

"Enough with the fossil's tricks, let's just crush them and be done with it!" Frost said eagerly.

"My fists hunger for blood! The blood of our enemies!" Hak Foo added.

"Oooh, nice line, Foo. I legit got chills, and I'm made of lava." MC Cobra commented as DJ Fist pointed to Hak Foo with approval.

Raythor then looked to his subordinates. "Do you all know what the definition of insanity is?"

"Duh, it's hearing voices in your head, dog." StrikeMaster Ice replied.

"Wrong answer, dog." Raythor glared as he stood up from the rock he was previously sitting on. "It's to do the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result each time. And every time we've openly battled Chan, the Guardians, and their allies, it's all ended in failure! Seven demon powers were within our grasp, and we lost them all! One twice over! Now only one remains, and if we're to get it… we must attempt a different approach! Not everything can be solved with brute force!"

"So, we just sit and do nothing while the bosses and their pals have all the fun?" MC Cobra protested.

"That's exactly what we'll do." Raythor affirmed. "We were ordered to be on standby, and we will not disobey it."

"You know what your problem is, Raythor? You're just a follower." Frost said as he stood up and approached his second-in-command, looking him dead in the eyes. "You don't even think about taking the initiative. And that one time you tried doesn't count since you refused to take the lives of our enemies without the say of that half-pint firebreather and the hag…!"

Suddenly, Frost was tripped up by a sweep of Raythor's feet to knock him down, to which Raythor followed through by drawing his fire-sword and pointing it toward Frost's face.

"It is called loyalty." Raythor glared hard before turning to the other Knights. "Listen well, all of you! You all have your reasons for joining the Knights of Vengeance and it is your personal business. But one thing I will not tolerate is disloyalty toward our leaders, the ones who brought us together in the first place!"

"Yo, we came to you guys." StrikeMaster Ice pointed out. "We wasn't in jail or running like you."

"But we were running from the man back home…" MC Cobra commented, only to get elbowed by DJ Fist to keep him quiet.

"As I said, I do not care what your reasons are for being here." Raythor continued. "But the one thing I will not tolerate is disloyalty. You each made a vow, and you will uphold it. If you refuse, then you are free to leave and deal with all our enemies on your own. Any volunteers?" The other Knights, even Hak Foo, looked with reluctance as they all knew that sticking together for the time being was the best chance for survival. None of them could take on all their enemies alone. "That's what I thought." Raythor said before putting his sword away.

Caleb and Chow heard the whole thing.

"Man, tough crowd." Chow said.

"Let's get back to the others." Caleb instructed. "We'll Fold to Earth and warn everyone about what Drago's trying to do, maybe even help them get the Fire Demon Chi."

Meanwhile; Finn, Ratso, and Blunk continued to wait for their friends to get back, though the Passling looked rather unhappy with their current situation.

"Caleb not care about hungry Blunk." The Passling pouted.

"Well, then you should have packed some food ahead of time." Finn said to him.

"Blunk did pack food. Blunk ate already." He said, much to Finn's surprise. "What? Passlings eat a lot."

Ratso happened to sit down on a small rock and steam was starting to come out of it. "Hey, who turned on the seat warmer? Feels nice."

"Uh Ratso… that's not a…" Finn tried to warn him, only for a small geyser to erupt right at Ratso's behind, the scolding water causing Ratso to cry out in pain, which also happened to draw the attention of Gargoyle.

"Dude, Ratso! You need to keep it down before…" Finn attempted to calm him down, but it was already too late as a large shadow loomed over the trio. "…That happens."

By the time Chow and Caleb had returned to the group's hiding spot, they were seeing Gargoyle walking away with Finn, Ratso, and Blunk in his massive.

"Oh perfect." Caleb groaned.

"What is it that Chan always says when things go wrong?" Chow asked.

"Bad day." Caleb answered.

"Yeah, that." Chow replied before they stealthily followed the giant that carried their captured friends.

Finn, Ratso, and Blunk were taken to the Knights' camp and had their weapons taken from them, including Blunk's Tonga Tooth which Raythor currently held, as the Knights all circled around them to keep them from running away or fighting back.

"Yo, we got some snoops up in here." StrikeMaster Ice said.

"Ha, ha, funny story." Blunk spoke up first. "Blunk and friends not looking for Knights…"

"Yeah, we're on… vacation." Ratso quickly came up with an excuse.

"We uh… heard there was a hot spring here." Finn added. "But we can see the spot's occupied so we can just be on our way, no harm no foul…" He attempted to walk away with his hands in his sleeves, only for Hak Foo to speed up in front of him.

"We all know that you are the child queen's favorite servants." Hak Foo growled.

"And that little Passling is also the reason the royal guard keeps finding us with that fancy nose of yours." Frost added.

"I believe them." Raythor said, much to everyone's surprise.

"You do?" Frost, Hak Foo, StrikeMaster Ice, and even Finn, Ratso, and Blunk all said at the same time.

"Why not? They say they want a hot spring. And there's a rather large geyser over there just waiting to erupt." Raythor pointed towards said geyser just behind the group. "So, let's give them one." He said with a smirk.

That made the three more than a little nervous with their captors making it impossible for them to escape, with Caleb and Chow sneaking to a spot and seemed to be undetected at the moment.

"Uh…, on second thought! We'll pass!" Finn quickly said.

"Yeah, hot springs are overrated anyway!" Ratso quickly added.

"Would it help if Blunk said that we were really, really, really, sorry?!" The Passling pleaded.

"You got a plan, right?" Chow asked Caleb as he reached into his sack to pull out one walkie talkie.

"Small distraction to grab them and run." The rebel said as he threw the walkie talkie in-between some rocks.

"What was that?" MC Cobra asked as he heard the sound of clattering.

"Blunk! Finn! Ratso! Where are you guys!?" Caleb spoke into the walkie talkie, which drew the Knights' attention as his voice could be heard on the other side of the ridge via the other walkie talkie. "Did you find the Knights yet!"

"It's Caleb! Of course, he'd be here!" Frost growled. "Get him!" He, Tracker, Sniffer, and Gargoyle quickly ran in the direction they heard the voice from, this seemed to leave Finn, Ratso, and Blunk alone as Chow tried to whisper to them, getting their attention.

"Come on…! Let's run for it…!" He tried to say.

"Hungry Dragon Slaughters Spies!" Hak Foo descended upon Caleb and Chow, forcing them both to jump away just as he landed, the two skidding on the ground and toward the feet of the unsurprised Raythor.

"Sorry, not gullible enough." He told them as they quickly stood up.

"And everyone knows you three cronies come in a set." StrikeMaster Ice said as he, MC Cobra, and DJ Fist stood together, the five villains surrounding the former Enforcers, young rebel, and Passling.

"Uh Blunk… might wanna Fold us outta here!" Chow urged as he drew his spear.

"Can't! Raythor has Tonga Tooth!" Blunk pointed to Raythor as the Tonga Tooth hung from his own neck.

"Then I'll get it back! You guys just keep the others busy!" Caleb told his allies as he rushed Raythor, who drew his fire-sword as Caleb threw his sack at him, which Raythor sliced with his burning blade, but this also provided Caleb a chance to get in close and tackle Raythor to the ground.

"Dragon Hunts Toad!" Hak Foo reached to grab the screaming Blunk as the Passling leapt away with Hak Foo giving pursuit. StrikeMaster Ice and MC Cobra both threw ice and lava balls respectively at the Enforcers, forcing them to scatter as DJ Fist leapt in front of Chow and tried to punch him, but Chow ducked under the punch and lunged his spear in-between DJ Fist's legs and swung it to trip him over while Chow was knocked to the ground by a punch from StrikeMaster Ice but Ratso picked up a flat rock to smash into him, only for both to run away again as MC Cobra threw another lava ball at them.

While keeping his opponent pinned to the ground, Caleb quickly snatched the Tooth from Raythor just as the experienced soldier kicked him off. But as he got up, he saw that Frost, Tracker, Sniffer, and Gargoyle had returned and that Blunk was caught in the one-handed grip of Hak Foo.

"Blunk! Catch!" Caleb threw him the Tooth. Blunk saw it coming and hacked up enough saliva to spit in Hak Foo's face, forcing him to cover it and let Blunk go as he quickly scurried to catch the Tooth just as it hit the ground. The Passling wasted no time in opening a Fold.

"Time to beat it!" Chow exclaimed as all five of them leapt into the Fold with the Knights of Vengeance unable to stop them.

---

Earth – Uncle's Rare Finds

A Fold had opened up in the back room of Chan's family shop as Caleb, Blunk, Finn, Ratso, and Chow all fell out right before the Fold closed.

"Old man shop!" Blunk recognized the spot instantly. "Blunk finally land at hero HQ!"

"Except nobody's here." Caleb said with disappointment. "The Fire Demon Chi's been activated, and we can't do anything to stop Drago and his sorceress friend from trying to get it and sabotaging the Guardians!"

"But Chan's not here." Finn pointed out. "He must have detected the Demon Chi too."

"Yeah, that guy's always doing the impossible." Ratso added. "And he's got Tohru with him."

"I'm sure it'll all work out somehow." Chow put in for the sake of optimism.

---

Hawaii – Later that night

"Look, how many times do I have to tell you guys, what happened to your phones wasn't me?!" Will exclaimed as she and her friends appeared to be arguing once more on the beach, some distance away from the beach house where Irma's parents and brother were currently sleeping. "Same goes for that haunted house!"

"Yeah, how do we know that wasn't Taranee, given that she's apparently the smartest one here and we're all a bunch of idiots!?" Jade pointed to the girl in glasses.

"I didn't say you guys were idiots, but you're all definitely acting like some!" Taranee herself stated.

"Idiots and lousy role older sibling models, right?" Irma shot at her.

"Okay Irma, just because you and Chris fight a lot…" Hay Lin seemed to try and dissuade the situation.

"Don't you start!" Irma interrupted. "What's an only child know about brothers and sisters, anyway?!"

"You can't be any worse than Cornelia." Jade added. "Heck, I'm surprised her own little sister's even still breathing at this point!"

"Nice to know you have such a low opinion of me, Jade." Cornelia remarked. "How do your uncles even put up all your chaotic behavior? Now I'm surprised you didn't give the old man a heart attack yet!"

"Okay! Okay! Let's all just chill out!" Will got in the middle of her quarreling friends.

"Or what? You'll sick the toaster on us?!" Cornelia responded. "Jade here, would!"

"Yeah, don't you dare pull rank!" Irma agreed. "You two are as thick as thieves, maybe that haunted house prank was all Jade's idea and you just went along with it! Some leader!"

"I never asked to be a leader, okay?!" Will exclaimed. "Or even a freaking Guardian for that matter?!"

"Neither did I!" Jade argued. "At least you guys had it easy! The only reason I'm even a Guardian is because I was brainwashed by a floating demon head!"

"None us asked for any of this." Taranee stated. "Fighting monsters, risking our lives day-in and day-out…"

"Well maybe we should call it quits!" Cornelia suggested fiercely.

"As Guardians and friends." Irma added.

"At last! Something we agree on!" Hay Lin stated.

"Enough!"

All eyes turned to see someone that none of them expected to see. It was the Oracle, standing before them on this very beach with a look of disappointment on his face.

"Oracle…" Will muttered.

"I am profoundly disappointed in you, children." He began. "The Heart of Kandrakar requires harmony above all else! But you are clearly out of harmony, as friends and as Guardians. You are no longer fit to be protectors of the realms. Will, you must hand over the Heart immediately. I will find suitable replacements, and you can all get on with your lives."

Will happened to glanced towards Jade, who gave her a very subtle nod.

"Fine." The redhead said as she reached into her pocket. "You want it so badly? Take it!" She threw something towards the Oracle, who caught it in his hand immediately with a sinister chuckle.

"It's mine… At long last… it's finally…!" However, when he opened his hand, he looked in shock to see he was not holding the Heart of Kandrakar, but rather a plastic Power Rangers Power Coin necklace, one of the many prizes at one of the dart games from the boardwalk. "What…?!"

"Psyche!" Jade grinned as Will held out the real Heart of Kandrakar and said the magic words.

"Guardians Unite!"

One flashy transformation later, all six girls had transformed into J-WITCH once more and Jade was immediately on the move, glowing a pair of large shadow hands which she outstretched to grab the Oracle and bind him tightly.

"What is the meaning of this?! Release me at once!"

"You can drop the act, you old hag!" Jade glared along with her friends as they all moved to surround the bound imposter, readying their respective elements to shoot at the first sign of trouble.

The imposter growled before dropping her disguise and revealing her true face as she glared at Jade in particular.

"How did you know?" Nerissa growled.

"Whatever you do to disguise yourself doesn't seem to work on your shadow." Jade told her. "And shadows contain half our chi. You can change your looks all you want, but you can't change your lifeforce."

"And electronics are kinda my thing too." Will held up her now active cell phone with a smirk. "Thanks for the warning, Ed."

"You are very welcome." Her phone replied.

"You're the one who's been messing with us this whole time, aren't you?" Taranee questioned.

"And probably the same one who sicked those robo monsters on us!" Hay Lin added.

"So, we decided to flip the script a bit to draw you out." Cornelia put in.

"All it took was a fake fight to let your guard down." Irma grinned.

"Gotcha, granny." Jade said with a mocking grin of her own.

Nerissa growled. They tricked her?! Her of all people?! And she was oh so close! So very close! But once again, Jade had proved to be quite the wild card for her, even more so than how Jin was.

"Clever. Very clever." The old sorceress admitted before she smirked. "Fortunately, though, I have a contingency to fall back on."

Suddenly, a geyser of sand exploded around Nerissa, blasting away Jade's shadow restraints and freeing Nerissa, pushing the Guardians back somewhat as the sand took the shape of Sandpit, standing well over twelve-feet tall, with none other than Drago and Miranda in her spider form, both standing on the sand giant's shoulders.

"Anyone up for a late-night bonfire?!" Drago called out as he threw multiple fire balls in several directions, with Nerissa raising her staff to blast bolts of Quintessence energy, both attacks forced the Guardians to fly back and get some distance.

"Of course, Drago's here!" Will glowered unsurprised.

"And he brought some friends, too!" Hay Lin pointed out.

"Let's get this party, started!" Drago had drawn a certain sword which already surged with a dark blue aura.

"He's got a sword now?" Cornelia questioned.

"Who cares! We can still kick his butt!" Irma stated.

"GIRLS!"

All eyes turned to a Humvee that quickly drove onto the beach, the vehicle being driven by Captain Black with Jackie in the passenger seat with Tohru and Uncle sitting in the back. As it made its way closer to them, Jackie tried to shout and warn them.

"THAT SWORD HAS SHENDU'S FIRE DEMON CHI!"

All the girls gasped in pure horror as they heard that. But it was too late to stop it.

"Ya Gaa Mee Mo Ya Gaa Mee Chi Wa! Ya Gaa Mee Mo Ya Gaa Mee Chi Wa!" Drago chanted as the Fire Demon Chi was extracted from the sword and gathered at the very tip of the blade, which he aimed and fired at Taranee!

A blue bolt of dark chi energy struck the Fire Guardian, much to her friends' horror as she screamed and fell to the ground just as the dark energies were absorbed into her.

"Taranee!" They all exclaimed as her friends quickly flew to her.

"Let's take this little quarrel and turn into full-fledged in-fighting!" Drago sneered, which caused Miranda to cackle.

"Oh how despicable… I love it!" The spider-girl continued to laugh while Nerissa smiled proudly in her son's direction.

'That's my boy. If the Fire Demon Chi remains in even one Guardian for too long, it'll spread to the other Aurameres. The Heart of Kandrakar will be corrupted and even torn apart from the inside, damaged irreparably!' The sorceress thought as she looked to see Taranee's body undergoing a horrific transformation. 'If I can't wield the Heart again, no one can!'

"Taranee…!" Will tried to help her back, but an aura of flames surrounded her body, forcing her friends to back up just as the Humvee stopped and all the Guardians and Chan Clan could only watch as Taranee's body grew to be twice as large as before, parts of her Guardian attire were tearing away to reveal her skin turning to dark greenish-yellow scales as her face become more reptilian with her eyes glowing blood red. It was complete with a monster-like roar that the demonically transformed Taranee let loose.

"Aiya!" Uncle cried out.

"Bad day…!" The remaining Guardians, Jackie, and Tohru all muttered at the same time.

The demonic Taranee roared as she let loose a circular wave of flame in all directions with the Guardians quickly making shields from their respective elements while Jackie grabbed Uncle as he, Tohru, and Black rolled off the Humvee that was blown away in the fire blast, but the all of the Guardians' shields, even Jade's shadow barrier, were also blown away by the raw force of fire as all of them were sent flying back and crashing to the ground.

"What's going on with her?!" Cornelia questioned. "It's like her power just got a major boost!"

"Duh!" Jade pointed out. "She was already a Fire Guardian, but now she's got Shendu's power on top of that! She's basically two fire users wrapped up in one!"

The transformed Guardian roared again as she set her sights on the closest Guardian, this one being Will, and unleashed a fire-breath attack towards her, but Will had flown out of the way just in time.

"Time to cool off, Taranee!" Irma was about to direct the ocean's power toward her demonically transformed friend, only to get her feet tangled up by Miranda's webbing as she was pulled out of the air and slammed onto the beach.

"Don't think so." The spider-girl said as she proceeded to completely cocoon Irma in web while the out-of-control Taranee continued to blast fire in all directions to keep the other Guardians on the move. That's when Nerissa spotted Jin, who was being helped up by Jackie and she saw the perfect opportunity.

"Drago, you and Sandpit keep the other boys occupied. I'm going to have a chat with an old friend." She instructed.

"You got it." The half-demon nodded as he leapt towards Jackie, delivering an airborne kick to knock the old man away from his uncle while Sandpit formed a sand twister underneath Uncle to pull him up and fling him some distance away from the battle.

"Sensei!" Tohru and Captain Black were about to run and help him, only for Sandpit to form itself in their path where it raised its hands to try and crush them, but both quickly moved out of the way as Captain Black pulled his pistol and shot at Sandpit, the bullets however passed harmlessly through with Sandpit taking no damage whatsoever.

"Right. Magic must defeat magic." Captain Black muttered before ducking and rolling out of the way of another sandy attack.

Uncle coughed up some of the sand he had swallowed upon landing as he stood up and had come face-to-face with the sorceress that had been hounding the young Guardians and their friends these past few months.

"Ah, my dear Jin. How the mighty have fallen."

However, Uncle was quick to draw a blowfish which he blasted a point-blank stun spell at the sorceress, but she raised an electrical barrier of Quintessence magic, though this also gave Uncle the opportunity to leap over and behind his enemy and deliver a successful kick to her back to knock her down.

"Or so it seems." She corrected herself with a slight reminiscent smirk.

"You want a piece of Uncle?" He challenged as he took a stance with his blowfish ready.

"Yes. Show me what you can do, old friend." The sorceress grinned as she extended her hand to fire a bolt of Quintessence energy, to which Uncle responded with a stream of chi-magic. Both magical attacks struck each other and were pressed against one another for a few seconds, though the Quintessence attack appeared to be the strongest as it broke through Uncle's attack to send him skidding back on his feet.

Despite still remaining standing, Uncle saw the sparkle of electrical power at the tip of his blowfish and recognized the magic immediately. "Quintessence…?" He then looked to the sorceress. "How do you wield this power…? And know Uncle's name…?"

"How could I forget your name? We were close once." She replied. "Though you and Yan Lin were quite the item, as were Cassidy and I… I did consider you a brother and I always trusted you'd have my back, even when the Oracle turned against me."

That's when it all came to Uncle. His face turned pale as he felt his heart skip a beat. One look in her eyes and he knew who this sorceress was immediately.

"AIYA!" He screamed as his eyes were widened like dinner plates and he nearly ell back in shock. "NERISSA!"

"Indeed." The former leader of the previous team of Guardians sneered. "It is good to see you again, Jin."

Meanwhile, back at the fight, Will, Hay Lin and Cornelia continued to fly around and evade the fire blasts from the transformed Taranee, but she too was quick to fly and give pursuit. She quickly caught up to Cornelia and swung at her with flaming hands to knock her down to the sand. But Hay Lin quickly appeared to blast Taranee down with a powerful cyclone attack where she and Will proceeded to fly down and tackle her, pulling her enlarged arms behind her back as the transformed Taranee roared and struggled in their grip like a rabid animal.

"Taranee! It's us! We're you friends! You can fight this!" Hay Lin pleaded. "Why doesn't she recognize us!? Caleb, Alchemy, and Collins were just fine when they had the Demon Chi!"

"It's probably because she's a Guardian, too!" Will assumed as they struggled to hold the savage Taranee down. "Her power and the Demon Chi aren't mixing right and it's causing her to lose control!" Just as she said that however, Taranee's whole body was lit aflame as she let loose a fiery explosion to blast Will and Hay Lin off.

Jackie was locked in hand-to-hand combat against Drago, the half demon throwing a punch at Jackie, which he blocked and countered by crossing his arms and grabbed Drago's own outstretched arm to haul him over his shoulder and to the sand, but Drago pulled back his feet to double-kick Jackie and knock him back. Drago got back up and was about to blast a fire-breath attack at Jackie while he was down, but the martial artist thought quickly as he grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at Drago's face to suppress the fire and blind him, allowing Jackie to sweep his feet and trip the half-demon.

Captain Black was pinned to the ground by Sandpit with one hand as the large sandy beast raised its other hand, which took a shape akin to a hammer and was about to smash down on him, but Tohru caught the strike with both his hands and punched the sand hammer away with one hand and swung his other to free Captain Black from his restraint. However, just as Sandpit was about to go on the attack again, an even larger mound of sand was formed behind it like a wave, which fell down and seemed to engulf Sandpit. The one responsible was Cornelia as she pressed her hand on the ground behind all of them.

"You guys help Irma and Jade! I got this!" Cornelia told them. Both Captain Black and Tohru nodded to each other as they ran past Cornelia, who looked forward to see Sandpit reforming as it gave a challenging moan to her. "Bring it on." She accepted before blasting a wave of sand at her enemy.

Jade flew down to slice her shadow-katana at Miranda, who hopped away before spitting more web at her, which Jade blocked with a wall of shadow-fire before blasting it at Miranda. Only for the spider-girl to dig her way into the sand and avoid the attack. Jade, however, did not see Miranda dig away and was confused as to how she disappeared.

"Come on out little spider-girl? I got a size nine with your name on it!" Jade formed a shadow-construct resembling a large boot. Suddenly, Miranda's hand shot up from the sand behind Jade to grab her right ankle and pull her down neck-deep into the sand. Miranda emerged in front of Jade and grabbed her by the face.

"And I have some suffocating web with your name on it." But before Miranda could do anything, she was grabbed by her right rear leg by Tohru, who lifted her up to slam her down on the ground behind before he threw her away with his own superior strength. This allowed Jade a chance to free herself, shadows coating around her body to pull herself up and out of the sand.

"Thanks, Big T." She smiled as she and Tohru shared a high-five.

Captain Black meanwhile had his own knife pulled out, which he used to cut Irma free of the web. "You okay…?" He asked, but gasped when he saw her.

"Yeah… I'm okay I…" Irma noticed the look on his face and it made her confused. "What?"

"You're face…"

Irma then looked towards the waves of the ocean behind her, where she saw her own reflect. She had reptilian scales growing on her face and even fangs growing from her mouth as well.

"W-what the hell…?!"

And it wasn't just Irma; as Will and Hay Lin tried to hold the transformed Taranee back, they both noticed how they were starting to change as well. Hay Lin looked to her hands to see dragon-like claws were starting to grow.

"What's happening?!" The Air Guardian exclaimed in horror. But this moment of shock seemed to leave her open for the transformed Taranee to lash out at her, which Will responded by flying in to shield her friend. But what she thought was a barrier of Quintessence magic, ended up becoming a wall of pink fire, much to Will's own shock as she saw the pink flames in her hands.

Even Tohru looked in surprise to see Jade's skin turning a dark yellowish green as her eyes became red, and as Cornelia attempted to fight against Sandpit, having raised a sand barrier to protect herself from his sand twister attack, she was growing noticeably taller as fangs formed in her mouth as well.

"W-what…? How….?"

---

Kandrakar

Luba desperately tried to use her own powers to keep the chaotic power of the corrupted Aurameres at bay. The glowing red sphere that was Taranee's Auramere now had a dark blue aura surging around it, but bolts of that dark energy were now spreading to each of the other Aurameres, and the keeper of the globes was doing everything she can to keep that corruptive power contained.

"No… you will not damage… I have to… stop this…!" She tried with all her might, but all she could do at this point was slow the corruption.

"Luba!" Halinor quickly ran into the Auramere chamber with the Oracle right behind her, but the former Guardian gasped as she put a hand over her mouth upon what she saw.

"Oh no…" The Oracle could only look in dread.

---

Earth – Hawaii

"Uh… Tohru…?" Jade looked to her large friend for an answer with Irma and Captain Black quickly joining them.

"It's as Sensei said before." Tohru stated. "A Guardian cannot absorb Demon Chi, even if it's of their own element. Shendu's power infecting Taranee is now spreading to the Guardians' through their shared connection in the Heart of Kandrakar! If this is not stopped soon, all six of you will be in danger!"

"So, where's Uncle and his removal spell?!" Jade looked around desperately for him.

"I have a Chi-Omatic and I know the spell." Tohru revealed as he held up both the device and a blowfish of his own. "I can remove it, but I need Taranee restrained for a moment!"

"I'll do it!" Irma said as she flew over towards the ocean and closer to the fight where Will and Hay Lin tried desperately to hold the transformed Taranee back.

Meanwhile, Jackie was knocked to the ground and pinned further down as Drago leapt on top of him, forcing him to look in the direction of the corrupted Taranee as well as seeing Cornelia trying to hold back her own demonic transformation, while also being stuck on the defensive against Sandpit.

"How does it feel, Chan? To know your precious kids are literally becoming your own worst enemy?" Drago sneered.

"Why do you insist on putting them through this kind of torment?" Jackie questioned as he struggled in Drago's grip. "What have they done to you to deserve this?!"

Drago only growled as he narrowed his eyes. "You have no idea…"

Will and Hay Lin were both blasted down by a fireball as the demonically transformed Taranee loomed over them. She opened her mouth to unleash her fire-breath and finish them off, only for a massive wave to appear above her, courtesy of Irma as she flew over the ocean.

"Guys! Out of the way!" Irma called to her friends, who immediately flew away just as Irma brought the enormous wave down towards Taranee, who tried to blast her fire breath to stop it, but the enormous mass of water was too great for even the boosted fire power of the demonically transformed Taranee and slammed into her hard. But Irma wasn't done yet. Using all her focus and control, she created an enormous bubble of water to contain her out-of-control friend.

"It's now or never Tohru!" Irma exclaimed more scales formed over her skin.

The sumo quickly made his way over to the bubble and aimed both the blowfish and the Chi-Omatic. "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao! Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao! Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao!" He shot a stream of green Chi-Magic from the blow fish, which passed through the water bubble, and impacted Taranee, causing her body to be enveloped by the dark blue aura as the demonic power was extracted.

From each of their respective spots, similar auras formed around Jade, Will, Irma, Hay Lin, and Cornelia, as their own growing demonic features all vanished and returned to normal before said auras vanished.

All that was left was Taranee as her body shrank and returned to its normal Guardian form before the Demon Chi was extracted from her mouth and eyes and drawn to the Chi-Omatic. "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao! Yo Mu Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao!" Tohru chanted as the Fire Demon Chi was now thoroughly contained, a dark transparent image of a sword appearing in the containment jar.

---

Kandrakar

The chaotic scene came to an end as the dark aura vanished from the red Auramere globe and the corruptive power vanished, the six colored globes resuming their orbit with one another.

"Harmony has been restored." The Oracle breathed in relief along with Halinor.

"But I did not do that." Luba pointed out.

"I think we all know was responsible for that." Halinor said, sharing a knowing smile with the Oracle but his smile quickly faded.

"Perhaps… But I sense a terrible disturbance on Earth."

---

Earth – Hawaii

Once she saw Taranee returned to normal, Irma dispensed the water sphere and quickly flew in to catch her friend as she fell before, she hit the ground. Will, Jade, Tohru, Hay Lin, and Captain Black were quick to appear by her side as the Fire Guardian's eyes slowly flickered open.

"Hey, you okay Taranee?" Will asked.

"Yeah… aside from a splitting headache… I'm just peachy." She said for the sake of humor, much to everyone's relief.

However, that relief came to a grinding halt as a strand of webbing caught the Chi-Omatic in Tohru's hand and snatched it away. "No!" Tohru called out as everyone looked in shock.

"Drago!" Miranda hoisted the stolen device to him, the half-demon stepping on Jackie and using him as a spring-board to catch the Chi-Omatic in the air.

But the second he caught it, Drago cried out in pain as an aura of green energy surged around the Chi-Omatic. Drago ended up dropping it on the sand as he landed.

"What happened?!" Miranda questioned as she and Drago met up.

The half-demon tisked in annoyance. "The old man put a protection spell on it. I can't touch it."

Cornelia, being the closest, tried to fly in and stop them, only for Sandpit to form a sand twister around the pair and keep her from getting in close. Using the chance they had, Miranda spat more webbing around the Chi-Omatic and cocooned it completely.

"Will that do?" She asked.

Drago picked it up and could feel the twinge of good Chi Magic with small green flames forming underneath the web upon his contact. But it allowed him to hold it for a brief time.

"It'll do for now. Sandpit, let's go!" Drago ordered, prompting Sandpit to take its twister form and move away, taking Drago and Miranda away as well.

Nerissa gazed back at the approaching sand twister, both she and Uncle saw the results of the fight with the Fire Demon Chi being extracted, as well as her own recovering the Chi-Omatic that had the power contained. It was time to leave.

"As much as I would love to share stories with you Jin, I'm afraid I don't have the time." Nerissa extended her hand to cast a bolt of magic and envelop the still-shocked Uncle in it. "And I can't have you reveal me to anyone just yet. Nothing personal. But I promise, we'll have much to talk about later. Good night, old friend. Sleep well."

"Ner… iss…a…" Uncle felt all his strength slip away as he no longer even had the strength to remain conscious before he fell face-first into the sand.

The elderly sorceress gazed up to see the sand twister coming down toward her, prompting her to open a Fold, allowing her, Sandpit, Drago, and Miranda to escape with the Chi-Omatic and its contained power before the heroes could catch up.

"Ugh! I hate it when they do that! We never get any closure!" Hay Lin stated.

"Uncle!" Jade exclaimed at seeing her downed Uncle. She was the first to get to him and flip him over. "Uncle! Uncle, wake up!" Everyone caught up as the girl looked desperately and fearfully towards all her friends and family. "He's not waking up!"

Jackie quickly came over and felt Uncle's wrist and felt a pulse. "He's alive…"

But before anyone could respond, another Fold opened up as the Oracle and Halinor both stepped out and appeared before the group, the latter gasped as she saw Uncle in his current state while the former's eyes narrowed.

"Come with us. Now." He told them.

---

Kandrakar

The unconscious Uncle had been placed on a magical cloud that acted like a bed within the Council's main chambers as a majority of said council currently attended to the elderly Chi-Wizard, while the girls of J-WITCH, still in their Guardian forms, sat alongside Jackie, Tohru, and even Captain Black as they watched from a distance and many of them were clearly worried, Jade especially as Will and Jackie sat the closest to her for comfort.

Luba, probably the only one who hadn't been attending to Uncle, entered the chambers and spoke to the Guardians and their allies.

"Fortunately, the Aurameres have not been damaged." She told them. "If the Demon Chi had stayed infused any longer, the corruption would not only have spread to the rest of you, the Heart of Kandrakar itself could have been corrupted beyond repair."

"Lucky us." Cornelia muttered, not even feeling the slightest bit relieved at that.

Not long after that, the remainder of the Council appeared to finish up with Uncle as they approached the heroes. Jade was the first to stand up with a look of urgency on her face.

"Jin will live. His life is not in danger." The Oracle quickly assured, much to the relief of everybody. "However… it's as if his spirit has been sealed deep inside his body."

"What do you mean?" Jackie asked.

"Didn't something like that happen before? Like with Daolon Wong?" Taranee recalled.

"No. Daolon Wong had separated Sensei's spiritual head from Uncle's body." Tohru corrected. "This situation sounds like it's the exact opposite."

"So, it's like he's in some kind of magic coma?" Will assumed.

"Something like that." Halinor answered.

"Well, can't you do something to get him out?" Jade asked the Council.

"Not with any means that we currently have." The Oracle answered. "This particular spell is incredibly strong."

"But given how strong Jin's spirit is, it only makes sense that our enemy would use such a powerful spell to render him in this state." Halinor said.

"What if we used the Horse Talisman?" Jade asked. "Could we heal him with that?"

"I don't think so." Jackie answered regrettably. "The Horse Talisman appears to only heal physical injuries, and Uncle is physically healthy, isn't he?" He asked the Oracle.

"That is correct." The leader of the Council confirmed.

"Although, perhaps the Sheep Talisman and the ability of Astral Projection could help." Jackie thought.

"Hey, yeah! We could slip into Uncle's body and wake up his spirit, like what happened when we fought Drago and the hag in our dreams!" Hay Lin beamed.

"That could work." Tohru said. "Perhaps we should also take Jin to the Ben Shui temple to see of the monks can help if the Sheep Talisman plan fails."

"Allow me to accompany you if that is the case." Halinor requested, she then looked towards Jade and gave a smile as she put a hand on the Shadow Guardian's shoulder. "Jin is a dear friend; I promise to do everything I can to help him."

Jade gave a sad and emotional smile to the retired Guardian. "Thanks…"

Irma fell back into her seat with an annoyed sigh. "Great. So, the old guy's out of it, and the bad guys still got away with the Demon Chi!"

"But they won't be able to use it right away." Tohru began. "Sensei placed a powerful protection spell on the Chi-Omatic to keep dark forces from using it, just in case it were to fall into the wrong hands."

"That's our Uncle." Hay Lin smiled slightly. "Over-prepared and thinking ahead like always."

"Probably won't last forever since that old hag is pretty damn smart." Cornelia commented in a low scowl.

"But when they do use the Demon Chi, we will be there to stop them." Jackie assured the girls.

"All of us will." Captain Black stood up as well. "I'll even call to have J-Team on standby should the need arise."

"Good to have friends, huh?" Jade remarked sadly as she and the other girls all looked somewhat dejectedly.

"I sense something is troubling our young Guardians." The Oracle assumed.

"Gee, what tipped you off?" Cornelia remarked sarcastically.

Will sighed before explaining the situation. "The sorceress… kinda tried to pit us against each other. And… we said some things."

"We figured it out and had a fake fight to draw her out but… before that… some of the stuff we did say… was real…" Jade looked away with the other girls.

Once again, Jackie couldn't help but feel angry. What was supposed to be a relaxing week for the girls to forget about all this magical nonsense had turned into a nightmare, and it was all thanks to that relentless sorceress and Drago. And not only that, but they also put Uncle into a comma. Jackie had enough focus to not let his anger get the better of him like in his first encounters with Valmont after Captain Black was hospitalized, but the anger was still there, and he knew exactly where to direct it. One thing was certain, one Jackie saw either Drago or the mysterious sorceress again, he would make sure they paid for all their crimes. One such crime was killing the innocent Jewel.

Halinor then addressed the girls. "One of the reasons our team ended the way it did… was because some of us thought we were alone. Some felt that just one was strong enough to handle everything alone, others felt that the whole world was against them and that we couldn't confide in each other. Because of that, we were not truly there for one another, not when some of us needed it more than others." She said with regret before speaking again. "Words will only leave scars if you let them. It's okay to fight and disagree, no team is perfect, and you're all only human. Just as long as you remember one thing… you are not alone. You have not only each other, but those around you who will continue to love and support you."

The girls looked around and saw the smiles and encouraging faces of Jackie, Tohru, Captain Black, the Oracle, and the rest of the Council of Kandrakar, though Luba just gave more of a professional nod than anything else. All six then looked to each other before they all wrapped their arms around one another for a six-way group hug.

"We're still good, right?" Will asked.

"Takes more than a few fights to break up J-WITCH." Hay Lin said with a small smile.

"We're the harmony Sextent." Taranee smiled. "And thanks for putting out my extra fire."

"Any time." Irma smirked. "Oh and Jade…" She got the black-haired girl's attention. "Just cause you and Will got this whole Spirit Sister thing going on, doesn't mean the rest of us aren't there. You and I are still a chaotic duo, right?"

Jade snickered. "Who else can mess with Cornelia the way we do."

"Ha, hah." The blonde gave a half-smile before turning to her leader. "Oh speaking of sisters… Will… I'm sorry that we brought up Jewel. I know that's not an easy thing for you talk about and…"

"It's okay." Will assured. "Even if she doesn't come back… I know I'm not alone. I got all of you." She smiled emotionally to her team before wiping away her tears. "So, we still got five days left on our vacation. Wanna keep going?"

"Sure, why not?" Cornelia shrugged.

"Yeah. My parents would probably be worried if we suddenly disappeared on them." Irma added.

"And it be a nice way to stick it to sonny-boy and the hag." Jade grinned. "They tried to mess with us, but we're still having fun."

"Uncle would probably kick our butts if we just decided to stop." Hay Lin said.

"One more thing, finish your vacation!" Taranee put on her Uncle impression as the girls all shared a laugh.

Jade then turned to the adults. "Take care of the old guy till we get back."

"Of course, you know we will." Jackie assured his niece. "Now, go enjoy yourselves. All of you."

"Thanks Jackie…" Will said as she held up the Heart of Kandrakar. "For everything."

Done.

Now this was quite the chapter.

We had a taste of the Fire Demon Chi as the Guardians tried to enjoy a vacation which Nerissa attempted to sabotage, but even she was caught off guard by our chaotic and mischievous Jade.

If you think about it, Jade and Nerissa could be considered natural enemies with the former being chaotic good and the latter being lawful evil. One is a control freak who wants everything and everyone to go exactly how she feels they must go, while the other is an energetic wild card who frequently breaks the rules whenever she gets the chance. So, yeah expect some real hostility between them later on.

Though it seemed like the bad guys won this round. They still managed to get the Fire Demon Chi in the end, and Nerissa was able to put Uncle in a coma to keep him from revealing her identity to everyone, and he will be out of it for a few chapters going forward.

(Oh, and Miranda's human form is no longer that of a teenage girl, but a young woman. I don't know if shapeshifters in the WITCH canon are capable of altering their human appearances like that, but I decided to do it anyway)

But despite that, our heroes were still able to pull together and have reaffirmed their bonds with each other. If anything, it seems their friendship is growing stronger.

Up next is a very special chapter that I am very excited to write. Until then, I hope you guys enjoy a very merry Christmas. Go spend some time with your friends and loved ones, eat some cookies and drink some eggnog.

I love you all. Happy Holidays!