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!

21. In and Out of Balance

Hi everyone, welcome back again to more J-WITCH! We have a very special chapter planned here today as this is where the canon goes off the rails. And damn, this chapter turned out to be much larger than what I had originally thought. But given what happens in it, I guess it makes sense that this would be a big one. I can't say anything here other than this chapter is going to have a huge impact on my story going forward and I can't wait for you to all see what we've got going. So, without further delay, let the chapter begin!

In and Out of Balance

It was night as Matt sat in his own room playing video games when he heard a knock on his window. Turning around he was pleasantly surprised to see Will waving and smiling toward him.

Opening his window, he stepped into the backyard to greet her. "Hey Will, I was just thinking about thinking about you. Though you could have just knocked on the front door."

"What can I say?" The figure in front of him dropped the Glamour spell to reveal that it wasn't Will at all, but rather a certain smirking half-demon. "I love surprises."

"Drago!" Matt didn't get a chance to even fight back as the Son of Shendu grabbed him by his jacket, lifted him into the air with one hand, while Drago used the ring in his free hand to open a Fold before tossing Matt in and then jumped inside himself, right before it closed.

---

The Next Day

"So, you and Nigel official or…?" Jade asked as she and Will spoke with Taranee at Sheffield's courtyard as everyone arrived at the school for today.

"He knows my mom threatened permanent grounding if we saw each other again." The bespectacled girl answered. "I'm not sure who I'm madder at. My mom, for keeping us apart, or him for cooperating!"

"Yeah, darn those considerate guys." Will said, putting a comforting hand on Taranee's shoulder just as Hay Lin sped onto the scene, hiding behind the three.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Jade wondered when it seemed like Hay Lin was in a state of excitement and panic.

"It's him! The total love of my life!" She pointed in a certain direction to see the boy that she had a crush on talking with some other students.

"Have you even spoken to him yet?" Taranee questioned.

"Are you kidding?! No! But I did learn his name… Eric Lyndon!" She swooned as Cornelia, Irma, and Alchemy also arrived. "It's so musical! Like something out of a fairy tale!" She almost literally hovered over the ground, but Alchemy was quick to pull her back down.

"Well, why don't you go over and say hi?" Alchemy suggested.

"Yeah, say hi to Prince Charming and the cheerleaders." Cornelia said bluntly.

The group turned around to see Eric being hugged and swarmed by a pair of cheerleaders, causing Hay Lin to sulk in defeat.

"Sorry Hay Lindon. But you gotta know when you're outta your league." Irma put in.

---

Meanwhile, Uncle had arrived at the Silver Dragon and was pouring some sparkling green powder at the main doorway, which quickly disappeared upon contact before walking in to join Yan Lin and Tohru.

"Are all entrances to Silver Dragon now protected?" Uncle asked.

"Yes, sensei. The Chi powder has been placed at all the doors, windows, and any other possible entranceway into the building." Tohru confirmed. "Once the girls' classes get out, we can give them more of the spell for them to use at each of their homes."

"This is a highly complex spell." Yan Lin said. "Tuned specifically to Nerissa as well as her demonic family to keep them from entering unless they are personally invited."

"Why again is that invitation portion of the spell included in this?" Tohru questioned. "Can we not simply remove it?"

"No." Uncle shook his head. "It is a fundamental portion of the spell that cannot be altered. Though I wish I could."

"Despite that though, I am doubtful it will be enough to stop them completely. They'll find a workaround." Yan Lin said cautiously.

"Perhaps, but this may buy us the necessary time for us to prepare for our next encounter, and to learn of what their plan is." Uncle said.

"I am sorry, Sensei. Miss Lin." Tohru apologized. "I know this must be difficult for both of you given your… history with Nerissa."

The former lovers paid concerning glances to one another before Yan Lin spoke. "Regardless of our history, she has become a genuine threat and must be stopped. Now, where is Jackie?"

"At shop, spreading the spell to ensure it too is protected." Uncle answered.

---

Uncle's Rare Finds

Jackie had already finished spreading the Chi-powder at the backdoor of his family's shop, one that led into a back alleyway. "That should do it." He was about to close the door when Scruffy suddenly rushed forward to bark and growl at something outside.

"Scruffy! Calm down!" Jackie tried to hold the dog back, but he was growling with much hostility, much to Jackie's confusion. The man looked out the partially open door to see a shadow approaching, he narrowed his eyes, getting a bad feeling about this. "Stay here, boy." He told the dog before quickly stepping outside.

Jackie had taken a martial arts stance and was prepared for a fight, but was surprised to see what appeared to be his niece stepping forward. "Jade? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at school." However, Scruffy had also stepped outside to bark and growl at whom he saw as Jade. "Scruffy! You know that is…" However, as Jackie kneeled down to calm the dog, his nose also picked up the faint smell of sulfur just as the figure attempted to grab him.

However, Jackie grabbed the imposter by their arm and threw them at the door, causing a spark of green energy to erupt from the contact as the figure growled in irritation. Jackie resumed his martial arts stance.

"You are not, Jade!"

"Damn. Figures that you'd be the hardest to take down, Chan." The Glamour spell dropped to reveal the true form of Drago. "But that just makes it all the more fun." He immediately lunged at Jackie, who leapt over Drago and landed on his back before jumping off Drago himself to push him into the wall. Drago however quickly turned around to unleash is fire-breath at Jackie's feet.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Jackie danced around the flames, backing further into the alleyway before Drago tore some bricks from the wall and threw them at Jackie, who quickly spotted a nearby trash lid, and used it as a makeshift shield to deflect the incoming projectiles. Jackie retaliated by throwing the lid at Drago like a frisbee, but the half-demon sliced through it with his claws before engaging in close combat with Jackie, who blocked and parried many of his strikes. Though Drago was able to grab Jackie by his arms and used his strength to press him hard against the wall.

"Where are your parents, Drago?!" Jackie questioned.

"Don't worry, you'll meet them soon enough." Drago said before he headbutted Jackie hard enough to knock the back of his head into the wall, knocking him unconscious. As the half-demon picked up his knocked-out adversary, he felt a sting on his tail and looked down to see Scruffy biting at his tail, but Drago quickly picked up the dog rather hard, causing Scruffy to yelp. "Oh, you're coming too, mutt."

"Must he?" Miranda had just arrived, climbing down a wall in her spider-draconic form with Mr. Huggles in her own not-so-gentle care. The dormouse was wrapped in a web-cocoon that was also tied around her waist as he struggled in his restraints. "We already have enough pests."

"Yeah, well the redhead has a soft spot for the rodent, like old Jade has for her pouch." Drago said as he continued to hold the barking Scruffy. "The goal is to hurt them, and this is the best way to do it." He used his ring to once again open a Fold for them.

"If you really want to hurt them, why not just kill that man you have, as well as these pests?" Miranda asked. "I was in her home just a few moments ago. I could have waited a couple hours for Mommy to come back, and then I would have some real fun."

"We need Chan alive for this. Plus, my mom's got her plans. Now enough wasting time, let's go." Drago replied before walking into the Fold with Miranda right behind him, which closed the minute they entered it.

---

Sheffield

"Yeeha!" Martin exclaimed as he read an announcement on the school's bulletin board. "That radio station, K-Drip, went bankrupt! And they donated all their equipment to the school!"

"Wait, for real?!" Frank questioned as he, Rocko, and Charlie joined in to look at the flyer themselves.

"Too bad about K-Drip though. They had some good tunes on that station." Charlie said.

"That's life." Rocko began. "More often than not, genuine art is overshadowed by corporate merchandising, and they sadly can't compete with huge corporations that seem to put more focus on making a profit than producing genuine art. Just ask Disney." Everyone, including all the girls who were nearby looked to Rocko, blinking in surprise. "What, it's true?"

"Well… anyway, Knickerbocker is looking for volunteers to run a new student station!" Martin revealed.

"Oh, we're so in! Right, boys?!" Frank pulled his friends in excitably.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Charlie grinned.

"Totally in!" Rocko was beyond excited.

"We're so in too! Can you say, 'rock the house'?!" Irma looked to her own friends, but none of them seemed particularly excited.

"Sorry, I've got big plans to be permanently grounded very soon." Taranee walked away.

"This face? Meant for television." Cornelia waved her own hair as she left the scene as well.

"Um… gotta help at the restaurant. That rice won't fry itself." Hay Lin honestly came up with an excuse before leaving.

Irma then turned to a certain black-haired girl. "Jade… My favorite agent of chaos… I know you wanna do it." She practically sang. "Think about it. We could have all kinds of fun, playing hard core music and rocking till we're dropping!"

"Yeah, I totally would any other day." Jade herself said. "But I've actually got plans to practice with my powers."

"Seriously?" Irma questioned in surprise.

"Well… duh!" Jade replied. "In case you forgot, we got a certain evil family that's still out there! A family that consists of a demonic tyrant, a psychotic fire-breather, and an old hag that's got about as much power as our whole team!"

"Of course I didn't forget." Irma argued. "Like how I didn't forget about your powers shutting down said hag, even after she was juiced."

"Yeah, but now she knows that my powers can do that." Jade put in before signing. "Look, I know it's a little 'out of character'…" She used air quotes for emphasis. "But Nerissa really rubs me the wrong way, even more than Tarakudo did. And don't even get me started on Shendu and how he has it out for my family. And some more training means we got a chance at bringing them and their kid down, then I'm going for it."

"Same for me." Will added. "Nerissa's not only more powerful than I am, she's more experienced with my power. Plus, Drago has Quintessence too. I need to get better with mine if we're gonna stand a chance."

"And I'm going to be working with Uncle and Tohru too." Alchemy said as well. "Never know when you need some extra chi-magic."

"Sorry Irma." Will apologized before the three walked away, leaving her behind. Though she wouldn't admit it aloud, they did have a point regarding Nerissa, Drago, and Shendu. But it wasn't like their whole lives had to center around taking them down, they could still take some time off and have fun, right?

"Shove off, Tubs!" Turning around, Irma was annoyed to find Uriah and his gang giving Martin a hard time.

"Hey, why don't you shove off, Dunn!?" Frank got in his face as the six boys got into each other's faces.

Before a fight could break out though, Irma connected to Uriah's mind with her powers. 'Split, you bozo! Get a hobby!'

"Uh… let's split. These geeks ain't worth our time." Uriah told his gang as they turned around to walk away.

"You totally used your Jedi mind powers on him, didn't you?" Martin asked Irma knowingly.

"You know it. Oh, and if you guys are singing up for radio, then count me in too." She replied.

"Ah yeah! Time to bring the tunes to this place!" Charlie hollered.

---

Classes got out and while most of the girls and their friends went home; Will, Jade, and Alchemy hung together by the sidewalk as they waited for their ride, though the redhead appeared to be on the phone.

"Yeah, I'm gonna be home late tonight, Mom. Nothing serious, just hanging out with Jade." Will said over the phone and then heard her mom's response. "Oh? You're gonna be working late too? Okay, that's fine. Yeah, I'll just have dinner at Jade's place. Okay, yeah, love you too. Bye." She hung up.

"How very responsible of you to call your mother, Will. I am very proud of you." The phone communicated with Will.

"Yeah, thanks Ed." She replied before putting her phone away.

"You still thinking about telling your mom about all this magic stuff?" Jade asked.

"I was… kinda considering it after we took down the Knights of Vengeance." Will confessed. "But… with Nerissa and demons on the prowl…"

"Probably best to wait until after we take down the guys who are actively trying to kill us. Yeah, good idea." Alchemy agreed. "Don't want your mom freaking out."

"Yeah… hey uh, you guys seen Matt at all today?" Will asked.

"Nope, haven't seen him." Jade answered.

"Probably just got sick or something." Alchemy assumed.

Just then, a Silver Dragon delivery fan had pulled up with Yan Lin at the wheel and Jin in the passenger seat. The back doors opened, to reveal Tohru, who then allowed all three girls to step inside before Yan Lin drove away.

"Hey, where's Jackie?" Jade asked.

"He texted us earlier today." Tohru answered. "Said he had to meet up with some of his old colleagues from the university in San Francisco and that he'd be back late."

"Huh… thought Jackie said he finished everything with them." Jade thought before shrugging off. "So, where are we going?"

Just as that question was asked, the van had pulled into a secluded parking spot as Yan Lin and Uncle reached out their hands, prompting everyone else to do so as they held one another, with Yan Lin and Uncle reaching out with their own hands, revealing how they each had the Dog and Horse Talisman respectively before they all disappeared in a flash of light.

---

Bhutan – Ben Shui Temple

The group that consisted of Will, Jade, Uncle, Tohru, Alchemy, and Yan Lin, had arrived via teletransporting at the base of the Ben Shui Temple, just outside the gates where several monks were waiting for them.

"Whoa…! Where are we?!" Alchemy questioned as the girls looked around in surprise.

"The Ben Shui Temple." Yan Lin answered. "It is here where we shall practice and train with your powers."

"Welcome back, young Guardians." The High Mystic came forward with several other monks, as well as the chosen one yak, before they all bowed to them.

"Oh um… good to see you guys again." Will and the other girls quickly bowed to them in respect. The yak approached Jade first to rub his head affectionally at her, causing Jade to giggle before she rubbed his head in return.

"We are also pleased to inform you that the Demon Chi you have recovered is now safely contained within the deepest confines of our temple." One monk reported.

"Thank you." Uncle said.

"Wait… Demon Chi? As in… that stuff Drago and the Knights were looking for?" Alchemy questioned. "You moved it here?"

"It was Sensei's idea." Tohru answered. "Until we can find a way to deal with it permanently, he believed it would best be protected here as opposed to Section 13."

"And at least that way Captain Black doesn't have to explain to his superiors why he has ancient dark powers inside his base." Yan Lin added.

"Okay, but why not Kandrakar?" Will wondered Maybe the Council…"

"Uncle does not trust Kandrakar to keep Demon Chi safe!" The elderly chi wizard insisted. "Dark powers almost damaged Aurameres before! Uncle will not risk it happening again!"

"Do not fret though." The High Mystic assured the young magic users. "Our most powerful chi spells have been put in place. Dark forces will not attack our temple again, and should they try… we are better prepared now to defend ourselves, as we know now what we are up against."

"So, you know about Shendu, and Nerissa." Jade assumed.

"Yes, Jin has told us everything." A monk confirmed.

"Enough dilly-dally." Uncle said. "Magic training begins now!"

"Lead the way." Will said with a serious expression as she took out the Heart of Kandrakar.

---

Mount Thanos

Jackie and Matt were both imprisoned in the very same cell where Nerissa had been imprisoned for years, all while Scruffy and Huggles were both trapped in a smaller cage of energy right by the cell.

A large shadow loomed over them all as Shendu stepped forward, his son on his shoulder. "Everyone comfy? No? Good." Drago sneered.

"Even a cell is still an infinitely preferable prison, when compared to being incased in stone for nine hundred years." Shendu commented. "So, consider yourselves fortunate."

"Yeah, lucky us." Matt said sarcastically.

"Where is Nerissa?" Jackie questioned.

"Right here…"

As Shendu stepped away, Nerissa had made her appearance with Miranda right by her side. However, neither Jackie nor Matt were expecting how she had appeared before them.

The elderly sorceress had laid in what appeared to be a hospital bed, one that seemed to walk on its own as a set of spider-like legs were attached to the bottom, allowing it to move on its own. There were other various forms of medical equipment attached to the bed as well, including an oxygen tank and a bedside monitor, all with cables that were attached to Nerissa herself who wore an oxygen mask over her mouth as her right eye was covered with a patch. Her already pale and unleash skin had severe bruising with her left eye being somewhat bloodshot. But despite her condition, her sinister smirk was still apparent on her face, as was the Heart of Meridian jewel that she wore around her neck.

"Yesh, you got hit by a bus or something?" Matt questioned.

"Yes, a bus by the name of Jade Chan." Nerissa revealed, causing Jackie to narrow his eyes at her. "I suppose I have myself to blame… I may have wielded the Heart of Meridian… but my body… well, let's just say that I haven't gotten enough exercise in that little cell right there…" She weakly pointed to the cell that Jackie and Matt were imprisoned in. "My body is older and weaker, while young Jade… especially in her Guardian form… is far stronger physically. I'd say many of the injuries... she inflicted… may have brought permanent damage…" She was forced to cough as Drago quickly leapt from his father's shoulder and to his mother's side to provide some help. "Quintessence has helped make this equipment… portable. But it can't heal my injuries. Ironic… the power to control life… and you can't save a life with it."

A saddened expression formed on Nerissa's face as she remembered how she held her beloved Cassidy's body in her arms and was unable to save her with her own power.

"You brought that on yourself." Jackie told her, causing Drago to growl at him. "You incited a war, manipulated countless people, endangered innocent lives. But I promise, if you surrender now and release Elyon, I will see to it that you get proper medical treatment."

"Dude, you are way too nice." Matt told him.

"And arrogant." Shendu stepped forward. "You are at our mercy, Chan. What makes you think you are in a position to demand our surrender?"

Despite that, Nerissa chuckled slightly. "A kind offer, Jackie. However, many of my injuries may be beyond what Earth medical science is capable of…" She coughed again. "However,… we both know there is a more magical method that is guaranteed to heal me completely."

Jackie's eyes widened, realizing what she was talking about. "The Horse Talisman!"

"Yes. And you, Jackie Chan, my most hated nemesis, shall retrieve it and all the other Talismans for us." Shendu told him. "You will return to me what is mine."

"That is never going to happen!" Jackie stated firmly.

"Oh, I think it will… with a little extra nudge…" Nerissa opened her hand, and Drago handed her a certain Talisman that they've acquire some time ago, one that Jackie recognized instantly.

"The Tiger Talisman?!"

"Wait… you got the Talismans already? Well what do you need us for?!" Matt questioned.

"Nah, just the one." Drago answered. "Snatched it from Section 13 while you guys were distracted by that patchwork, Jewel." That caused Jackie to narrow his own eyes. "Pop quiz, Matt. You been hanging around these guys for a while, what does the Tiger Talisman do?"

Matt glared but still gave his answer. "Something about… balance….?"

"Spiritual balance." Jackie already knew. "Every individual is born with two sides, yin and yang, light and dark. The Tiger Talisman has to power to separate them. And that's what you intend to do to me, isn't it?"

"And risk another incident where your light side runs amok? I think not." Shendu shook his head. "No, this time will be different."

"The Tiger Talisman can indeed separate light from dark… but that would create too many liabilities…" Nerissa explained. "No, for our plans to succeed… we need a similar but different solution, and we have found it."

"It's true that all sentient beings have a good and bad side inside them, one side is still dominant over the other." Drago spoke next. "But thanks to that little rock, we can find a way switch it up a little bit. How about a demonstration on some lab rats?" Drago looked towards the smaller energy cage that kept Scruffy and Mr. Huggles trapped. Drago used his own Quintessence power, sending a small cluster of black and red bolts to neutralize the energy and seemingly free the animals.

The power of the Heart of Meridian flowed through Nerissa and into her hand where she held the Tiger Talisman, she then aimed it and the power went through the Talisman, unleashing a bolt of energy that struck both the dog and the dormouse, enveloping them both in a dark red aura that took the form of larger beasts.

"No! Mr. Huggles!" Matt exclaimed in a panic.

"Scruffy!" Jackie also exclaimed similarly.

"Huggles? Scruffy? Not very dignified, are they?" Miranda asked rhetorically.

"Quite correct Miranda…" Nerissa agreed. "Although, during my time in Meridian, I learned of a mythical beast that was drawn by the anger of others. Khor… I believe he was called. And… there was also a folktale on Earth… of a ghostly hound with black fur that haunted England… the black hound of Baskerville, I believe. Yes… I believe that will suit my new minions just fine."

The dark red beastly auras that had enveloped Huggles and Scruffy was condensed into the two animals as they underwent a horrifying transformation. They both grew to enormous size, both now standing ten feet tall and taking humanoid shapes. Huggles had transformed into a hulking, gray-furred beast that wore a dark blue tunic and brown boots with orange eyes. Scruffy had changed into a large black-furred werewolf that stood on its hindlegs with glowing yellow eyes and large claws.

"You are now, Khor and Baskerville. Our new minions." Nerissa sneered as Huggles, now known as Khor roared, while Scruffy, now known as Baskerville, gave a wolf-like howl.

"What did you do to them?!" Matt exclaimed in horror just Jackie looked just as mortified.

"The same thing we're about to do to you." Drago said. "The Heart of Kandrakar can make Guardians, so now our Heart of Meridian, plus the Tiger Talisman, can not only bring out your dark sides, it turns you into our own super-powered henchmen."

The energy bars around the large cell vanished, allowing Shendu to quickly seize Matt and Jackie before he pulled them out and held them toward Nerissa, who then used the same process of channeling the Heart of Meridian's power through the Tiger Talisman, and aimed it at Matt first, prompting Shendu to drop him as a dark red arua formed around Matt as well.

"You are Shagon, my angel of malice." Nerissa sneered as Matt was now transforming. Enormous black angel-like wings grew out of his back, along with a lizard-like tail. His clothes had changed into a dark green short-sleeved jacket, silver arm guards, with a loin cloth and dark pants with black boots. His hair now resembled a nest of snakes while he wore a golden mask over his face with glowing white eyes.

"Yes, my mistress." The now transformed Matt, under the new name of Shagon, bowed to Nerissa.

"And last but most certainly not least…Jackie Chan." Her palm and the Tiger Talisman surged with power as she aimed it at Jackie before firing at him, enveloping him in the same aura as Shendu dropped him. "To those girls, you are more than just a friend or a mentor. You were there for them in times of physical or even emotional crisis. In their eyes, you are a knight in shining armor. But now, you will be a dark knight in my service, one who will lead the Guardians to ruin, just as your namesake did for his kingdom so long ago… you are now… Mordred."

The dark aura condensed around Jackie's body before he was enveloped head-to-toe in black armor resembling that of a knight. He also had a blood red cape with red lining on his armored boots, red armored gauntlets and shoulder guards, a red chess-plate with the emblem of a snake and a red knight's helmet and glowing red eyes.

"You want me? You got me, Granny." The armored figure, who was once Jackie Chan, now Mordred.

"Hmm, not a dignified form of speaking, but I can overlook that." Nerissa commented. "So long as you bow before me."

"Works for me." Mordred kneeled to Nerissa, causing her to sneer.

"Kneel to your masters, my Knights of Destruction." Nerissa christened as Mordred, Shagon, Baskerville, and Khor all bowed to her and Shendu.

The Fire Demon laughed. "How ironic, that the greatest thorn in my side is now my greatest puppet."

As the two older villains basked, Miranda walked towards Drago's side. "Turning the Guardians' closest companions into their enemies… oh that is indeed devious. You never fail to impress, my dear Drago."

"And this is only the start, M." Drago told her. "Once we're inside Section 13 and have what we need… the real fun begins! We're going to turn this whole universe inside-out!"

---

Sheffield – The Next Day

Irma had arrived at school early, well before any other students had shown up, and met with the principle for the volunteer position at the student radio station.

"Miss Lair, this endeavor can be just the thing for someone of your particular… energy." Knickerbocker said as she and Irma walked down the halls. "In fact, I'd like to make you station manager."

Irma gasped with excitement. "I'm the boss?!"

"Yes, in fact, seven others volunteered." Knickerbocker revealed as they came to the door where the newly equipped radio station was located.

"I know Martin and the Nephorcers would be here, but who'd else show up?" Irma wondered as they stepped inside. "Maybe Jade came around. If she did this would be the…" However, once inside, she saw who else had volunteered to join the station and it was not who she had expected. "Bomb…" She said dejectedly.

"Your staff… Bess and Courtney Grumper…" Knickerbocker introduced the redhead twins first as they sat at the table and mics. "Uriah Dunn…" The bully was in the other room, his feet kicked up on the table. "Young Frank, Charlie, and Rocko and of course… Martin Tubbs." The Nephorcers were leaned against the wall with Martin next to them as he waved to Irma. "Good luck, Miss Lair." She told Irma before closing the door and leaving them to work.

"Turn on the mic! Whoo!" Bess cheered.

"We wanna dish the dirt! Woo!" Courtney cheered as well.

"Typical Grumper nasty." Irma's eyelids lowered in annoyance. "Then again, could be good radio. But what are you doing here?" She questioned to Uriah.

"Thought it be cool to be a shock-jock. Ya know? Get a hobby?" He replied.

"A hobby…" Irma winced, realizing she may have invertedly played a part in this. "Great." She looked towards Martin and the Nephorcers. "This was all we could get?"

"Nobody else volunteered." Charlie shrugged.

"Hey, we can still make it work." Martin said. "With you at the helm Irma, we're gonna raise the roof!"

"Yeah… guess it could be fun." Irma smiled slightly. She was in charge of this new station, after all. And she knew how to have a fun time.

---

"Irma came to school early?" Cornelia questioned as all the other students arrived, the other girls all meeting up in the courtyard. "Right. And I buy my clothes off the rack." She said sarcastically.

"Good morning, Sheffield!" Irma's voice sounded over the intercom throughout the school. "Now K-Drip has dried up, but K-SHIP, Sheffield Institute Productions, is now leaving the dock, on its rocking maiden voyage!"

"So what? You're a size four?" Jade teased Cornelia, who comically scowled as she clenched her fist.

---

"Irma Lair is on the air." Irma grinned, sitting at her mic with the Grumpers, Frank, and Charlie, all at the same table. However, the lights and radio all blinked out, much to everyone's concern, with Martin, Rocko, and Uriah working with the equipment, right before it all shut down. "Or was…"

"Dead air! You killed the station!" Uriah exclaimed.

"It wasn't me!" Irma stood up.

"Hey, calm down." Martin quickly came in with a screwdriver. "It's just a signal amplifier." He unscrewed the top open to a machine and did some re-wiring before the radio picked back up again. "Alright, Rocko, let's check to see if the wiring's good."

"I'm on it!" Rocko was on his back underneath the desk as he unplugged and plugged some cables back in. "Signal's looking good. Let's try and keep the voltage low."

"Yeah, good idea." Martin said while Irma blinked in surprise.

"Okay… I know Martin's a tech geek, but Rocko?" She questioned.

"Hey, his skull might be rock-hard, but the guy's got a real super brain up in there." Frank said.

"One time when I accidentally broke my Xbox, he patched it all up like it was nothing." Charlie said as Rocko came in and dusted his hands.

"We're good to go, boss." He pointed to Irma, who then turned everything back on and they had the music playing again, causing her to smile.

"See? Toldya we could make this work." Martin nudged her side with a grin.

"Alright crew, let's make some noise! Woo!" Irma cheered as K-SHIP was back on the air.

---

"…Lunch time, Sheffield." Irma announced a couple hours later. "And here's a little 70s music to gag too."

"Hey, the 70s was the best time to rock, and you know it!" Frank put in.

Will, Jade, Alchemy, Cornelia, Taranee, and Hay Lin all sat at a lunch table with their respective meals when a certain someone came in with his own tray.

"Hey, got room for one more?" Matt requested.

"Matt! Hey!" Will was already up to hug and give him a quick peck on the lips, causing the other girls to grin teasingly, all except Jade for some reason. "What happened yesterday? I didn't see you at all?"

"Nothing. Just a bit… under the weather." Matt replied. "But I'm feeling better now."

"Glad to hear it!" Will said.

However, as they sat down, Jade's attention was drawn towards Matt's own shadow. It was still the same shadow as before, but it felt different. It felt… stronger, for some reason. Like it was charged by some additional chi. And it was giving her a bit of a bad feeling.

---

Looking through a crystal ball in her hand, Nerissa, while still laying in her mobile hospital bed could see everything through the corrupted Matt's point of view.

"Shagon has made contact with the Guardians. They suspect nothing." She said as she, Shendu, Drago, Miranda, and the remainder Knights of Destruction were all hidden in a large and empty warehouse in Heatherfield. "Mordred, I trust you know what to do."

"Get into Section 13, open the big door to let you and all these guys in…" Mordred gestured to everyone else in the warehouse. "Snatch the Talismans and tear the place apart."

"Very good." Nerissa smiled and nodded. "But before you enter…" Waving her finger at him, she had casted a Glamour spell on Mordred to grant him the appearance of Jackie Chan. "A Glamour spell of your own just to ensure that your infiltration goes without any issue."

"Hmm, not bad." He looked at himself. "Could use some shades and a jacket though." Nerissa waved her finger again, slightly altering the Glamour spell to give him a black jacket as well as a pair of sunglasses. "That's better."

"I'm glad you think so, dear. Now, be a good Knight and set the path forward." She told him.

Mordred smirked at her before playing an air-guitar. "Waaah! Bam, bam! Dun, dun, dun!" He ran out of the warehouse towards his intended destination. Nerissa had raised a curious eyebrow in confusion, but thought nothing of it.

"He's certainly… different." Miranda commented, standing on a secondary level in the warehouse next to Drago. "Not quite what I expected from Chan's dark side."

"Well, what did you expect?" He asked.

"Not that." She replied. "But why even bother having him go into Section 13 for us when we can just blast our way in? Even if your father doesn't have the Talismans…"

"An incredibly powerful spell has been placed on that location." Shendu himself revealed, sitting against the back wall of the warehouse. "Even I cannot touch it. No doubt the work of that impudent wizard and his apprentice."

"The spell prevents any intruders from entering, unless they are invited" Nerissa herself spoke up with Khor and Baskerville by her side. "I expect nothing less of my dear Jin to come up with such a powerful spell so quickly…" She was interrupted by her own cough. "But once that door is opened and our path given… we shall obliterate that organization from within."

"But why do we have to enter that place? Why can't he simply retrieve the Talismans for us?" Miranda questioned.

"Because our goal is not just to retrieve the Talismans, little shapeshifter." Shendu told her as he picked up a random box in his hand. "It's to burn that base to the ground!" He declared as he crushed the box with minimal effort.

"Section 13's been a powerful network of allies and resources for the Guardians." Drago spoke next. "But with that out of the picture, it'll deal a massive blow to them. And don't even get me started on the emotional blow they'll get from their greatest teacher/surrogate dad turning on them." He gave a slight chuckle. "The strongest link in the Chan breaks, and the whole thing crumbles."

"Speaking of, I can understand why you had Shagon act as a spy to those brats." Miranda began. "But won't Jade be able to see through his disguise? She did the same before when you tried to mess with their vacation."

"She saw through me through my shadow." Nerissa answered. "I took the form of others that she had already known, but I couldn't change my shadow, my own chi. But Shagon is different. Shagon is not disguised as Mathew, he is Mathew. A corrupted version, but still, him all the same."

"So how is it that Jade couldn't sense you the same way when you were disguised as Trill?" Miranda asked.

"It's the same thing. It may have been a disguise, but I was Trill." Nerissa replied before coughing again. "There was no other who had her own shadow to compare it to…" She coughed yet again. "But even if Jade is still able to see through that disguise, it won't matter. Section 13's destruction is inevitable, but more importantly… what we truly seek besides the Talismans lies in that base. And once we have it… nothing will stand in our way." She sneered, despite being in her injured state.

---

Sheffield

The rest of the school day had gone by uneventful, Irma, who absolutely loved her new position as the studio manager of K-SHIP, had reconvened with the other girls, alongside 'Matt' as they retrieved their supplies from their lockers, as she went on-and-on about her all the benefits of her new job.

"…Could do better than working with Uriah and the Grumpers, but all-and-all, I am loving this!" Irma said as she put her books away. "Think I'm gonna try and be the head of a real radio station when I grow up!"

"Good luck with that, cause radio's dead." Cornelia put in.

"Well maybe it' time for a little resurrection." Irma replied.

Hay Lin gasped as she spotted Eric on the other side of the hallway. "There he is! I'm going for it!"

"This should be good." Jade said as she and everyone else watched as Hay Lin approached the boy that she had a crush on as he was at his own locker.

"Um hi… Eric." She greeted, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Uh… hey… you." Eric replied, not knowing her name at all.

"Hay Lin. That's my name." She introduced.

"Time to end the day with a preview of another sizzling addition of Sheffield, 4-1-1." Bess said over the intercom.

"What new freshman-yummy-boy is high-kicking it with two cheerleaders?" Courtney asked teasingly. "Find out tomorrow!"

Suddenly, two cheerleaders, the same ones that were with Eric the morning of the previous day, had arrived to demand some answers.

"Eric, what was she talking about?!"

"Hey, back off! He's mine!"

"Look, I'm not anybody's! Chill!" He tried to calm down the situation as Alchemy pulled Hay Lin back.

"Yeah… might wanna wait till that fire goes out before you do anything." She told her.

Just then, 'Matt' felt his phone vibrate and quickly picked it up to see a message that read 'Bring the girls to Section 13. Ambush in the waiting.' A smirk graced his face before he put his phone away.

"Hey, I just got a message from Jackie." He spoke up to get the group's attention. "He wants us to meet at Section 13, says it's important."

"Really? Jackie texted you?" Jade questioned as she pulled out her own phone and saw no messages on her side.

"I would assume that he doesn't need to inform you since you're already so close with him." 'Matt' said. "So, shall we get going?"

"Yeah, sure. Maybe he's caught a lead on Nerissa." Will said as the group then made their way toward the exit, but as they did Jade reached out to her fellow Guardian through their telepathic link.

"Guys, something's off with Matt."

"What? Are you jealous or something that Jackie reached out to him and not you?" Cornelia teased.

"No, I'm serious. Something's wrong with his shadow." Jade revealed, which caught everyone else's attention, especially Will.

"His shadow? Like when Nerissa was trying to mess with us on our vacation?" Taranee questioned.

"Is that really Matt, then? Or is it Nerissa in disguise again?" Irma wondered.

"What if it's Drago?" Hay Lin also wondered.

"No, it's still him." Jade said. "I can feel his chi through his shadow and it's still his, but it's… different. Like it's been… altered. Charged even. Like he's got some kind of energy that wasn't there before."

"Jade… do you think that… Nerissa did something to him…?" Will asked worriedly.

"I don't know…" Jade said honestly as she walked closer to her best friend and spirit sister. "But we're gonna find out. And when we do, we'll pound that hag's face in again. Her, and her whole twisted family."

Section 13

---

Already putting his phone away, having sent another message to his uncle, also telling him to come to Section 13 and to bring the Talismans that he still had with him, 'Jackie' strolled through Section 13 with the utmost confidence. Nearly every agent that passed by him looked at him with curiosity and even surprise, both with Jackie's attire, and the strut he put on, walking around like he owned the place.

He had already made his way into the vehicle depot, which had a large enough door that led to the outside before he began to type away at the console of a station that was connected to it.

"Jackie?" Captain Black approached him from behind, sensing something off from him. "Is… everything alright?"

"Yeah, things are just peachy." He replied, and it was that tone of voice that only made Captain Black more suspicious. His new attire aside, he sounded nothing like the Jackie that he had known for years.

"What are you doing?" Black questioned, putting a hand on his shoulder and having 'Jackie' turn around to where his grin was present.

"You know that annoying spell the old man put on this place?" 'Jackie' asked. "With that little rule where no unwanted guests can come in unless they're invited? He put the same thing in that dusty old shop of his to keep that punk demon out when we had his tail."

"Yes…" Captain Black raised an eyebrow. "I tried to tell him to just get rid of that rule, but apparently it's set in stone in the spell and can't be changed." He glanced past Jackie's side to see on the console that the gate for the vehicle depot was now unlocked and needed only the command key to open it. The key that he had in his jacket pocket.

'Jackie' then grabbed Captain Black by his arm and threw him over his shoulder to the ground, much to the surprise of several nearby agents. And even more surprising to Black, he saw that 'Jackie' had the command key now in his hand just as he dropped his own Glamour spell to reveal the form of Mordred.

"Well, now I'm inviting some guests in." He put the key in and turned it. The console then peeped before the words 'GATE OPEN' in bright green letters shined on.

The large doorway opened horizontally as the two halves withdrew to the left and right sides, revealing the towering form of Shendu, much to the agents' horror.

"And I do so graciously accept your invitation." The Fire Demon sneered before he rushed inside with Khor, Baskerville, and Miranda in her draconic-spider form, right behind him. All the nearby agents panicked and tried to find cover as Shendu used his enormous claws and feet to crush and tear apart the largest and most armored heavy vehicles in the depot, while Khor and Baskerville ripped a few helicopters apart with their respective claws and strength, and Miranda coated a tank her flaming webs, causing it to melt.

Acting quickly, Captain Black made his way to an alarm and smashed the glass with his fist to press the button, causing all the alarms throughout the base to sound.

In a matter of seconds, over a hundred Section 13 agents, all in SWAT uniforms, had poured into the depot. Most were armed with rifles, while the front line of agents were each equipped with rocket launchers. Captain Black stood at the front with his agents as they faced Shendu and his Knights of Destruction.

"Maybe we're not magical, but we're not helpless. Take em down!" He ordered.

Immediately, all the agents up front fired their rockets at Shendu, all of which exploded as the Demon Sorcerer was forced a few steps back, but he quickly recovered with a growl as he rushed all the agents. And while Black and a few had rolled out of the way, many were sent flying by the swipes of Shendu's enormous arms as the Knights of Destruction pressed the advantage.

Khor had landed in-between a group of ten agents, all of which quickly aimed their guns at him, but he was too fast for them to even pull the trigger, throwing a multitude of punches and kicks to knock all the agents down. He even saw one agent reaching for his gun while on the ground and was quick to destroy the weapon with a stomp of his foot before growling to the frightened agent.

Seven agents fired their guns at Baskerville, who ran on all fours and moved quickly enough to avoid most of the gunfire, dashing left and right rapidly, before closing in as he used his claws to slash all the guns to ribbons, the force knocking down every single agent.

Miranda was caught in a net by one agent that fired it from his own rocket-launcher-like weapon and was surrounded by five more. However, her Draconic-Spider form set its own body ablaze as she burnt her way out of the net while also simultaneously transforming into her human form, where she generated a pair of fire-web whips from her wrists, which she used to slice through all the agents' weapons and strike them. If it weren't for their SWAT armor, all of them would be horribly burnt.

Captain Black was standing with six more agents in total as they fired their guns at the advancing Mordred, though his armor protected him for the most part, he moved with just as much speed and agility as Jackie, but obviously lacking in his grace as he jumped into the air, flipped while-mid-air, and gave a mighty kick to knock back several agents. Black rolled to get some distance and quickly pulled out his gun to fire, only for Mordred to blast a beam of red energy at Black's hand to knock the gun down. Black was then picked up by his jacket as Mordred lifted him into the air.

"Sorry Black, but you're in our house now!" He slammed him onto the ground.

The forces of Section 13 had fought valiantly, but they were no match for Shendu and the present Knights of Destruction. By the time Drago and his bed-ridden mother had entered the base, the entire vehicle depot was in ruins and all the agents laid scattered and beaten across the ground, all except Captain Black as Mordred dragged him to the pair of mother and son before throwing him at their feet.

"Augustus Black…" Nerissa greeted. "I applaud your effort… But against the power of a Mystic Heart, as well as a Demon Sorcerer…" She gestured to the sneering Shendu briefly before continuing. "…Your precious Section 13 is no real threat."

Despite being beaten so badly, and knowing it, Black pulled himself back to his feet with a defiant expression. "And you must be Nerissa. Do you really have any right to criticize, seeing how you look like you belong in hospice right now?"

"Watch it." Drago warned.

Despite that, Nerissa chuckled, but coughed a bit at the end too. "A fair point… which is why I am here."

"The Talismans." Black already figured it out.

"A smart man, you are indeed." Nerissa sneered.

"Hey, hate to interrupt your gloating Mistress, but Shagon is on his way here with the brats and the old guys." Mordred spoke up.

"Oh?" Nerissa looked with curiosity. "I don't remember summoning him or laying out such instruction."

"Because I told him too." Mordred revealed.

"And you did that because?" Drago questioned.

"Because gramps and his ex have two of the Talismans, including the healing horse that you're looking for." Mordred pointed out. "Plus, if we bring the girls in to, we'll catch them all by surprise and maybe take that fancy pink crystal, too."

"Hmm, an ingenious plan." Shendu commented. "As you humans say now these days, we can kill two birds with one stone. Potentially eliminating the Guardians here and now."

"I agree, an ideal opportunity we cannot let slide." Nerissa said. "Well done, Mordred."

"I aim to please, Mistress." The armored corrupted Jackie bowed.

"Drago, take Miranda and the Knights and give them all a proper greeting." Nerissa told her son.

"Consider it done." Drago nodded. "Let's move!" He told the Knights, prompting Miranda, Khor, Baskerville, and Mordred to follow behind as he led them away.

"You did something to Jackie." Captain Black said to Nerissa, getting her attention. "What did you do?"

"I granted such an extraordinary man the power that he deserves." She answered. "And speaking of power…" She coughed once again. "You will retrieve it for me."

"Not happening." Black crossed his arms defiantly. Even as Shendu stomped behind him, glaring down with glowing red eyes and growling, Black didn't budge an inch. "You can snarl all you want, you oversized gecko, but neither you nor your misses here are getting my cooperation."

"Defiant, even in the face of death itself. I admire your bravery, Augustus." Nerissa granted as she held out her hand with the Tiger Talisman still in her palm. "It will serve me well. Quintessence!"

In a similar situation to before, Nerissa had channeled her own power through the Tiger Talisman, which struck Captain Black, enveloping him in a surge of electrical power. However, unlike with the Knights of Destruction, Captain Black was not being infused with the Heart of Meridian's power. But rather, Nerissa was simply bringing out his darker side and making it the more dominant one in his body.

Once it was all done, and the electric aura vanished, the now corrupted Captain Black bowed before her. "What would you ask of me, mistress?"

Nerissa sneered once more. "Bring me one agent, he shall retrieve the remaining Talismans for us. As for you, my dear Captain… there is something else I need from you."

---

The girls had continued to follow 'Matt' to Section 13, having already arrived at the secret entrance where the phone booth was. Though Alchemy didn't share the telepathic link that her Guardian friends all had, she did pick up on the air of the situation with Cornelia giving her a look that said something felt off about this, so she too was expecting something to pop up.

'Matt' stopped just in front of the phone booth as everyone looked concerned. "Something wrong, Matt?" Will asked.

"No. Just waiting on one or three more." He said, hiding his subtle smirk. As he said that, a van had just pulled up, with Uncle, Yan Lin, and Tohru stepping out.

"Grandma? What's going on?" Hay Lin asked.

"Jackie just texted us. Told us to meet you all here and to bring our Talismans." Yan Lin answered as she and Uncle both still had the Dog and Horse Talismans respectively.

"And with that… the gang is all here." 'Matt' sneered slightly as he stepped to the side of the phone booth, right before it was completely blown off from the wall, causing everyone to duck and avoid the flaming phone booth that was shot over them.

From there, everyone looked in clear shock to see Drago, Mordred, Miranda, Baskerville, and Khor all step out, and even more surprising, the Glamour spell had lifted around 'Matt' to reveal his form as Shagon.

"Heads up, looks like junior's got a new crew!" Irma warned as Will immediately pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar and said the magic words.

"Guardians Unite!" In their usual flashy transformation, Jade, Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin all transformed into J-WITCH.

"So much for catching them off guard and swiping the Heart." Miranda looked towards Mordred with a slight glare.

"Ah well, it's more fun this way." Mordred himself replied. However, hearing his voice caused them all to look in shock as they all recognized it.

"That voice… no… it… it can't be…" Taranee stuttered.

Just to make sure, Jade reached out in a method similar to telepathy to feel for Mordred's shadow. Despite the alterations and corruption that had been made, the chi was still the same as her beloved uncle, much to her own horror.

"It is… It's Jackie…!"

That confirmation was nothing short of horrifying to them, especially for Will and Uncle. "AIYA!" The old man exclaimed in a panic.

"And it's not just him…" Jade could sense it from Baskerville and Khor as well. "Scruffy…! And Huggles…!"

"Nerissa…" Yan Lin's eyes narrowed as she could tell right away that this was the work of her former leader and friend.

"What has she done to them…?!" Will exclaimed.

"Mom gave them all an upgrade." Drago explained in a gloating fashion, putting his arms on the shoulders of Shagon and Mordred. "A little juice from the Heart of Meridian, and we got ourselves our own little team of Anti-Guardians. The Knights of Destruction. Now, let's see them live up to their namesake." He snapped his fingers. "Get them!"

With that, Drago's new minions charged forward to engage the heroes in battle. Khor went straight for Tohru, ramming into him to knock the sumo into the wall of a nearby building and into the building itself before going for Uncle and Yan Lin, who both had drawn a pair of blowfish to blast some stun spells. Shagon flew towards Will, blasting a series of green energy beams from his eyes, which she flew straight up to avoid with Shagon flying after her. Miranda had turned into her draconic spider-form and spat a cluster of flaming webs at Cornelia, forcing the blonde to raise a rocky wall from the ground to shield herself while Alchemy came around to retaliate with stun blasts from her own dried lizard. Baskerville rushed to tackle Irma while Drago blasted his own fire breath at Taranee, leaving Jade and Hay Lin alone to face Mordred as the armored Knight of Destruction's hands glowed red with energy before he went on the attack.

Uncle and Yan Lin both ran around Khor as they shot stun spells at him, the transformed dormouse covered himself as the green energy blasts did sting, but it seemed more of an annoyance than anything. Getting irritated, Khor raised his fists before slamming them on the ground, sending a tremor Yan Lin's way to knock her down right before jumping to land behind Uncle and pick him up, but Uncle quickly blasted a stun spell in Khor's face, forcing him to drop the old man before he faced the transformed rodent.

"So, Knight of Destruction wants a piece of Uncle… AIYA!" He was backhanded by Khor to send him to the wall. It would have seriously hurt Uncle, had he not had the Horse Talisman to heal all his resulting injuries.

Khor would have advanced sooner, had Tohru not appeared to run and slam his shoulder into his side. Khor skidded slightly before facing Tohru. The two narrowed their eyes at one another until they charged and grappled. However, Khor proved to be much stronger as he lifted Tohru up in the air before slamming him so hard into the ground that it cracked most of the area right before Khor threw Tohru in the direction of the recovering Yan Lin and Uncle, both ducked to avoid Tohru smashing into the wall behind them. They both turned nervously to face the growling Khor.

Irma blasted a stream of water at the charging Baskerville, who proved fast enough to run around it before closing the distance between himself and Irma and slashing at her with his claws. Though Irma was able to instinctively pull up a barrier of water to shield herself, Baskerville's claws still sliced through the water and the force knocked her down, which Baskerville followed through by pinning her down and snarling at her.

"Scruffy… Come on, it's me! Irma! One of the girls who walks and feeds you!" She tried to plead. "You're our dog! Our little puppy!" Her pleas fell on deaf ears as Baskerville tried to bite at her throat, but Irma, getting desperate spat in one of Baskerville's eye and used her powers to spread the water of her spit over the black-furred werewolf's eyes like a blindfold before sweeping her feet to kick him back and free herself.

"Oh, the old hag is gonna pay for turning you into this!" Irma vowed. She hovered up somewhat and spotted Taranee and Drago clashing flames and was about to provide a helping hand. However, Baskerville had sniffed the air and caught Irma's scent.

He then jumped up to grab Irma by her foot, pull her down with a scream and slammed her back-first into the ground and then hauled her over to slam her face-first on the other side.

Drago jumped towards Taranee, avoiding a fireball that she threw at him. When he landed close enough, they engaged in hand-to-hand, with Taranee being on the defensive before she tried to fly back, but Drago didn't let her as he jumped towards the wall of one building and landed behind her to strike a kick to send her towards that same wall.

"Quintessence!" Using his mother's power, Drago sent some dark energy bolts into the wall that Taranee was at, causing it to break apart and reform into a giant stone hand that grabbed her and pinned her arms and wings to her body and rendered unable to move.

"This won't hold me long!" Taranee's glasses reflected some flames as fire formed around her to try and melt the stone hand off her form, but Drago had already grabbed her by her hair and pulled her close to him.

"Just long enough for me to do this!" He pulled his fist back and struck her in the face.

Cornelia had pressed her hand to the ground to grow multiple roots and vines to ensnare and bind Miranda in her draconic-spider form, but the shapeshifter used her borrowed Fire Demon Powers to set herself aflame and burn the plants away, freeing herself.

"Plants and flames aren't a good mix." She spat some flaming webbing at Cornelia, creating an explosion that knocked her back. Miranda then hissed as she felt multiple stinging sensations on her back, turning around to see Alchemy, who ran around her while blasting as many stun spells as she could, but Miranda quickly jumped up and over Alchemy, landing behind her as she transformed into her human form, picked up the girl and quickly cocooned her from the neck down in webs.

"Stop! Let me go!" Alchemy struggled but was unable to free herself.

"Get your claws off her!" Cornelia demanded as she telekinetically raised dozens of rocks and all aimed them at Miranda.

"Back off…" She threatened as the webs that bound Alchemy, began to glow slightly with Alchemy wincing from the heat she was now feeling. "Unless you want to clean up what's left of her with a mop."

"Cornelia don't… Mmmph!" Alchemy was silenced as some webbing was placed over her mouth.

"Come now, dear Cornelia. You already lost Elyon; can you truly afford to lose another close friend?" Miranda lulled as the glowing webs started to smoke slightly.

The blonde growled, wanting nothing more than to squash Miranda like a bug. But she had a feeling that Miranda could do more damage to Alchemy before anything Cornelia did could ever reach them. With reluctance, the blonde lowered herself to the ground and raised her hands, causing Alchemy to look in terror while Miranda smirked.

"Smart move."

In the air, Will blasted a beam of pink energy at Shagon, who retaliated with green energy beams from his eyes. The two pressed against each other while also flying closer to each other just beore they made contact, creating a bright flash that mixed pink and green. When the light vanished, Will and Shagon appeared locked in aerial combat.

"Matt! Whatever Nerissa's done to you, I can undo it! Let me help you!" She tried to reason with him while using whatever martial arts she learned to block Shagon's strikes, only for Shagon to deliver a powerful enough punch to break Will's block, he then grabbed her by the shoulders and flew her down to slam her into a rooftop.

"Matt can't you hear you right now." Shagon told her. "I am his inner darkness, now dominant."

"Then how about I put you back where you belong!" Will pulled back both her feet and delivered a double kick into Shagon's face to knock him off. She flew past him to deliver a kick to his shoulder, which knocked him to the ground where Will proceeded to blast him with another Quintessence attack.

Jade tried to use the surrounding shadows to grow multiple tendrils to bind Mordred while Hay Lin created a tornado around him in an effort to keep him restrained.

"Uncle Jackie fight this!" Hay Lin begged. "You're too good a guy to work for Shendu and his family! There's no way you would work for him!"

However, red energy began to glow around Mordred underneath the shadow restraints before it all exploded to blast the shadows and tornado away, freeing Mordred completely. He then went straight for Hay Lin, who gasped as she was forced to defend herself hand-to-hand against Mordred's relentless assault, but when Mordred struck with a roundhouse kick, and his foot glowing red, Hay Lin got blasted back towards a nearby wall. She slid to the ground as Mordred seemed like he was about to curb-stomp her…

Only for a shadow-pole to block his foot, all courtesy of Jade.

"Leave her alone!" The shadows then moved to ensnare Mordred's foot as Jade pulled him in to try and punch, but Mordred caught her fist.

"You're a scrappy one. And I like scrappy." He told her as they locked against one another before breaking apart and engaging in hand-to-hand. Mordred was more offensive, throwing out several punches and chops, but Jade proved quick enough to block many of them before jumping up to strike multiple airborne kicks, which Mordred blocked himself while also stepping back but he quickly caught Jade's right foot before trying to throw her to the ground, but she used the shadows to catch herself while also blasting some shadow-flames from her feet at Mordred to knock him back, though he remained firm on his feet.

'Hold on a sec… this feels familiar.' Jade thought as she saw Mordred wipe his armor slightly. 'It's just like back then… when Jackie was split in half with the Tiger Talisman. He's just like Jackie-Dark!'

Mordred advanced on Jade again, his hands glowing with red energy and Jade countered with shadows around her hands as they threw down with punches and kicks once more, countering and blocking all their respective strikes.

"Hey, what made you decide to be Nerissa's chump anyway?" Jade taunted, hoping to appeal to the ego of Jackie-Dark. "You like having someone boss you around?" She taunted as she ducked under a roundhouse kick while also striking at his foot with her own kick to knock him off balance before flying up to bring her own foot down, but Mordred crossed his arms to block it. "And to a loser like Nerissa of all people? Guess that makes you a bigger loser." Mordred caught her foot and pulled her in close.

Jade then received a punch to her stomach, which seemed enough to knock her out as she fell into Mordred's arms. He then turned to the recovered Hay Lin who only gulped as he saw her.

Drago had carried the unconscious Taranee over his shoulder as he saw his Knights of Destruction finish their work. Irma was pinned to the ground with Baskerville grabbing her by the back of her head to slam her face first and knock her unconscious. Khor had lifted Tohru up to smash him into Uncle and Yan Lin, knocking then out as well and causing them to drop the Dog and Horse Talismans, which Khor quickly retrieved. Will wrestled with Shagon in the air until he blasted her point-blank with his eyebeams to smash her into the ground and knock her out too. Cornelia also fell to the ground as Miranda had dusted off her hands, the cocooned and gagged Alchemy behind her looking in terror. And finally, Mordred had given a flying kick to Hay Lin to knock her out as well.

"Not bad." Drago complemented his new soldiers. "The Knights of Vengeance were fun, but not as strong. You guys on the other hand, might just work for us."

"Glad to see we met your expectations." Shagon commented.

"So, what now?" Miranda asked with a sinister smile. "I saw we finish them off."

"Or… we get them to work for us." Mordred offered. "Let's have the mistress turn them over to our side, have the Hearts of Meridian and Kandrakar on our side."

Drago smirked at that. "Oh, that would be perfect. May even speed up Mom's plans a bit. Let's bring them in."

Within Section 13, Shendu and the still-bed-ridden Nerissa were in the central control chamber while all the agents had been rounded up and imprisoned within a large energy dome of Nerissa's electrical Quintessence power, all save for Captain Black who was off retrieving something in his corrupted state.

---

The Fire Demon and former Guardian saw as their son and Knights of Destruction arrive with the defeated Guardians and friends in toe. Drago carried Taranee and Uncle, Mordred dragged in Jade and Hay Lin, Miranda did the same for Cornelia and Alchemy with the latter still cocooned and gagged in webbing, Shagon carried Will, Baskerville dragged Irma and Yan Lin, and Khor dragged in Tohru.

All of them were quickly thrown to the ground with the Guardians still unconscious along with Tohru, Alchemy remained conscious as she looked in genuine fear, while Uncle and Yan Lin appeared to be waking up.

"Well look at that." Shendu sneered. "Long has Chan been my most persistent adversary, and now he comes in under my command with his own protegees being defeated by none other than his own hands. How gratifying." He chuckled.

"Of course, our son deserves the credit as well." Nerissa said with a cough as her mobile bed moved closer to him. "Do you have it?"

"Yep, with a little extra." Drago brandished the Horse and Dog Talismans. "Keep you from kicking the bucket too early. Can never be too careful."

"Thank you, my dearest Drago." Nerissa reached out with her hand to caress his face before he gently placed both Talismans into her hand.

The second she clenched them into her palm, the Horse Talisman's power activated as Nerissa was engulfed in a bright glow of energy. In that instant, all her injuries were healed, which included the scar on her face that had been inflicted upon her years ago, and even her right hand that was severed that very same night had fully regenerated as her prosthetic dropped to the ground.

When it was all done, Nerissa stood up from her bed, all her bandages and equipment falling off and no longer necessary as she took a deep and healthy breath.

"Ah, it feels so good to be heathy again." She stretched her limbs and even flexed her newly restored right hand.

"A shame all the Horse can do is heal, even a lost limb, yet it cannot restore your youth, my dear." Shendu said.

"True, but that will be fixed in time." Nerissa said.

"Maybe sooner than you think." Drago began before looking to the unconscious Guardians. "What do you think, Mom? Why not use the Tiger on them and switch em over on our side. Hell, with a corrupted J-WITCH under our control, we won't even need what else we came in here for. It would pose a lot less risk and even speed things along."

Nerissa contemplated for a moment. "Perhaps you may be onto something Drago. Yes, a corrupted team of Guardians would indeed serve our purpose well."

"If only Cassidy could see you now." All eye turned to Yan Lin as she slowly stood up, helping Uncle along the way. "I can only imagine how horrified she would be."

"Ah, my dear Yan Lin." Nerissa approached her. "First, I reunite with Jin, and now you. It seems the years were unkind to all of us."

"Some more so than others." Yan Lin glared. "It would be one thing if you were angry at the Oracle, but you attacked, manipulated, and endangered countless people who had nothing to do with what happened to you. The Nerissa I once called my friend, the one who was content as a mother, would never even think about doing any of that."

"That future was stolen from me." Nerissa's eyes narrowed. "And I have every intent of taking it back, no matter whom I must crush in order to do so."

"Then our friend is truly dead." Uncle said with finality.

There was a small flash of hurt in Nerissa's eyes when she heard that, but she was quick to put it away. "It would seem that she is."

"Mistress…" Turning around, the former Guardian saw a single Section 13 agent, one under her thrall, approach her with a case in hand. He opened the case and kneeled to her to present its contents. "The Talismans."

It was true, all the remaining nine Talismans were present in the case. Dragon, Ox, Rabbit, Sheep, Pig, Rat, Rooster, Snake, and Monkey, and with the Horse, Dog, and Tiger she had on hand, all twelve Talismans of the Chinese Zodiac were gathered together in the hands of the Forces of Darkness.

"At long last… my powers… mine once again!" Shendu lulled as he tried to reach for the case containing the Talismans…

Only for Mordred to quickly snatch the case from the agent's hands, much to the confusion of the villains.

"Yeah… I don't think so!" He blasted an energy beam at Nerissa, striking her in the stomach and causing the Tiger, Dog, and Horse Talismans to fly from her hands and into Mordred's. "NOW!"

With that, all the Guardians' eyes shot open as a multi-elemental flash of pink energy, fire, water, earth, wind, and shadows erupted in all directions to blind and catch all the villains off guard. Irma and Hay Lin quickly combined their powers to send a combined blast of icy-cold water onto Drago and Miranda, knocking them back and freezing them over while Jade and Will combined their own powers, using their own spiritual link, they unleashed a Yin-Yang blast upon Shendu himself that sent him crashing up into ceiling before he fell back down with a massive thud.

Cornelia quickly erected multiple plant tendrils to ensnare and bind Shagon, Baskerville, and Khor altogether while Mordred held out the Tiger Talisman.

"The dark side doesn't quite suit you guys." Pointing the Talisman forward, a white beam was shot out that engulfed all three of the Knights of Destruction as they each felt their own light sides come back to the surface.

As this occurred, Jade and Will had flown to the trapped Section 13 agents as Jade used a shadow katana to slice away the energy barrier while Will opened a Fold.

"This will take you guys straight to Meridian! Go, we'll handle things here!" Will told the agents, all nodded as they entered the barrier.

The light vanished around the Knights as Cornelia released them from her plant bindings just as Mordred used the Tiger Talisman on the one corrupted agent that brought the Talismans, who then ran to join his comrades as Will had closed the Fold. Tohru had already woken up as Hay Lin freed Alchemy and brought her close to everyone else while Will and Jade flew to the Knights.

"Matt… are you there…?" Will asked cautiously.

Despite still being in the form of Shagon, he groaned slightly as he looked towards her and spoke. "Who else were you expecting?"

"Matt!" Will hugged him with joy and he was happy to return the favor. Just as Khor walked up and nuzzled his head against Will's side. "Ah, you get love to, Mr. Huggles." She hugged him as well.

Baskerville had already ran up to Jade to lick her in the face, causing her to laugh. "Welcome back, Scruffy." She scratched him behind the ears.

"Um… what just happened?" Alchemy asked in confusion.

"An excellent question." Nerissa had just recovered, along with Shendu, while Drago and Miranda broke free from their icy restraints. "What do you think you're doing Mordred?!" The black and red knight helmet was thrown her way, revealing the face of Jackie Chan, albeit with some small marks under his eyes to show that his darker Yang personal was still dominant.

"Dig the armor, but black's not my color." Jackie-Dark said. "Sorry Granny, but I don't take orders."

"Yeah, he told me that when we fought outside…" Jade began.

---

Flashback

Just as Mordred had caught Jade by her foot and pulled her in, he leaned in close and whispered to. "The old hag and dragon-breath are inside and after the Talismans." Jade's eyes widened slightly as she heard that. "Tell the others to take a dive, I'll get you inside and we can drop em!"

"Okay." Jade whispered back. Seemed like Jackie-Dark was playing a ruse and decided to go along with it. Mordred had dealt a punch to her stomach, that carried less force behind it while Jade pretended to be knocked out from it as she reached out to her friends through their telepathic link.

"Guys! Take the fall! Make it look like we lost so we can get the drop on Shendu and Nerissa!"

All her friends heard that and understood right away. So they allowed themselves to be taken down, being struck by attacks as they fell to the ground, lying down and pretending to be knocked out.

"Sure hopes this works." Cornelia communicated.

"Got any better ideas?" Irma relayed back.

"Let's lay low." Will said to all of them. "It's time to catch them by surprise for once."

End Flashback

---

"You acted under my control?!" Nerissa exclaimed. "I corrupted you, turned you into my minion, I was certain of it!"

"Yeah, you brought my good side out, rather than that wimpy idiot." Jackie-Dark granted. "But I don't take orders from old eels. And control freaks are actually easy to manipulate. Just tell them what you want to hear, and they become puddy in your hands."

Nerissa growled at that. She was tricked! Again! And this time, not by Jade, but by Jackie of all people, or rather his darker side. That's probably where Jade got her cunning to begin with.

"Is that the reason you told me… well… Shagon, to bring everyone here? To lay out the trap?" Matt asked, still being transformed.

"Smart this one. Nice pick." He told Will, causing her to blush slightly while also being somewhat mortified by Jackie-Dark's tone before facing the glaring villains, cracking his neck. "Alright, everyone. Time to laugh like circus clowns while they scream for mercy."

"Whoa, I just got chills." Irma commented.

"Jackie-Dark is… kinda scary." Hay Lin said somewhat nervously.

"I think he's pretty badass." Cornelia smirked. "I could get used to this Jackie."

"We cannot let Shendu get the Talismans again." Tohru said as all Guardians, liberated Knights of Destruction, and Chan Clan stood together to face the villains while Alchemy picked up the Talisman case as Jackie-Dark tossed the Horse, Tiger, and Dog ones into it.

"Will, open a Fold to Meridian and have Alchemy take the Talismans there." Taranee told her.

"Oh no you don't!" Drago unleashed a fire-breath attack as Miranda did the same by throwing a ball of blazing webs and even Nerissa launched a bolt of Quintessence at the center of the group of heroes, creating an explosion that blew the case apart and sent all twelve Talismans flying in random directions across the chamber, much to everyone's shock.

Shendu spotted the Dragon Talisman flying up in the air and quickly ran to grab a hold of that. The second it touched his skin, the Dragon Talisman fused into him as a fiery aura formed around his body.

"Ah yes! Feel the burn!" Shendu opened his mouth to let loose his devastating fire breath in all directions, forcing all the heroes to scatter as the remaining Talismans laid on various spots throughout the area.

"Talisman keep-away!" Jade alerted, prompting everyone, hero and villain alike, to move and grab whatever Talisman was close enough.

Irma tried to make a grab for the Tiger Talisman, only to be batted out of the way by Shendu as he tried to stomped on it, but Jackie-Dark dashed in to snatch it himself before blasting his red energy beams at Shendu, who covered himself with his arms to protect himself, but that didn't stop Jackie-Dark from leaping up and delivering an energized punch to Shendu's face and knock him down with Jackie-Dark landing behind him.

"Ow." He waved his hand, despite having it armored, strengthened with magic, and energized by his current power, it still hurt. But he smirked at it all. "I like the burn."

Shendu then stood back up to loom over him again. "As do I!" He unleashed his fire-breath at Jackie-Dark but Taranee, having snatched a Talisman of her own from the ground, quickly flew in to use her own fire powers to catch and re-direct the flames away while Hay Lin coated her whole body in a twister and shot herself at high speeds like a missile to strike Shendu and knock him down, and while he was down…

"Monkey see, monkey do!" Taranee had brandished the Monkey Talisman to zap Shendu and transform him into a cockroach right as Cornelia appeared to grab a Talisman of her own.

"Hey, I got the Sheep one!" Cornelia called to her friends.

"Don't care!" Jackie-Dark called back.

"Ugh, I take it back. I don't like you." Cornelia stated in a grumble.

"Well, looky here!" Irma gloated as she walked up to the transformed Shendu. "Not so high and mighty now, are ya?" She lifted her foot to stomp on him, but stopped as even a tiny insect, Shendu was still able to unleash a fire-blast to burn Irma's foot. "Ow!" She held her foot as the insect-Shendu spread its wings into Irma's face and then proceeded to bite all over it. "Ow! Ow!" Irma fell to the ground as she tried to swipe him off, but he still moved all over her face to bite even as her friends gathered around her. "Get him off! Get him off!"

"Hang on!" Hay Lin tried to reach for him, only for the insect-Shendu to breathe fire at her. "Yow!" She pulled her hand back, and that's when he spotted Taranee with the Monkey Talisman still in her hand. Spraying a geyser of flames straight up and making them bright enough, Hay Lin, Cornelia, Taranee, and Jackie-Dark, had to close their eyes, giving him an opportunity to fly from Irma's face and into Taranee's hand, landing on the Monkey Talisman.

The second he touched it, his tiny insect form vanished as he turned back to normal and absorbed the Money Talisman as well while also grabbing Taranee and threw her to the ceiling, before kicking Jackie-Dark away and stomping on Irma. He then unleashed his fire breath at Hay Lin and Cornelia, the former erecting an air sphere around themselves as a shield.

"Cornelia, a little help here!" Hay Lin told her as Shendu kept up his fiery assault.

"Come on Sheep, what power was that again?" The blonde tried to remember.

"Why not use your own powers!?" Hay Lin exclaimed, but she was quickly interrupted as Shendu himself brought his fists down on the air sphere to knock them both down. The second Cornelia hit the ground however, her own spiritual form had left her body.

"Huh…?" Cornelia's invisible spirit looked around in confusion before she spotted her real body lying next to Hay Lin as she pulled herself up. "Astral Projection?! Out of all the useless…! Yeah, why didn't I use my own powers!?"

"Cornelia, come on, wake up!" Hay Lin tried to shake Cornelia's form awake even as Shendu loomed over them, with Irma and Taranee quickly flying in, reading their respective powers to fight back against the towering demon. However, Shandy was blasted in the back by red energy beams, drawing the dragon's attention as he saw Jackie-Dark cracking his neck with his hands still glowing.

"Come on down, big guy." He smirked, making a gesture for him to bring it on.

"As you wish!" Shendu unleashed his fire-breath upon Jackie-Dark, who retaliated with a blast of red energy to clash as the two pressed their ranged attacks against one another.

Jade had spotted the Horse Talisman and was about to fly toward it, only for a bolt of Quintessence magic to blast her away as Nerissa quickly picked it up, only to get pounced on by Baskerville as he tried to snap at her throat, with Nerissa using her staff to try and keep him back.

"Insolent mutt! I gave you your power, I can take it away!" Grasping the Heart of Meridian around her neck, Nerissa pulled back the transformation, causing Baskerville to glow as his body shrank before reverting back to normal Scruffy, who still barked and snarled at Nerissa before she smacked him off, causing him to yelp as he hit the ground.

"Hey!" Jade flew in at high speeds to grab Nerissa by her shoulders and slam her into a console before her right fist was quickly coated in shadows that took the form of a spiked gauntlet, which she then used to pound Nerissa's face in repeatedly. "Don't! Ever! Hit! My! Dog!" Her onslaught was then ended by an overwhelming blast that sent Jade back, though she quickly recovered to hover in mid-air.

From there, she watched as Nerissa pulled herself from what was left of the console, and all the resulting injuries around her healed quickly enough. "I underestimated you before, Jade. It won't happen again. Quintessence!" Placing her hand on the console behind her and using her own powers, the console broke apart and reformed itself into a giant technical monster that threw out all its cables to lash and bind Jade while also sending an electric charge through them to zap her, causing her to scream in pain and preventing her from focusing her shadow powers to negate the Quintessence that animated it.

"Oh Nerissa…" A familiar voice sung behind her, quickly turning around, the former Guardian saw the incoming fist of Yan Lin right before she was sent flying and crashing to the wall all the way on the other side of the chamber.

At the same time, a stun spell from Uncle had severed much of the cables from the machine monster that had ensnared Jade, stopping its electrical assault and freeing Jade, giving her an opening to generate a shadow-scythe in her hand, which she sliced down vertically to destroy the monster and negate the energy that kept it alive.

"Scruffy…?" Jade looked around for her beloved dog, but a bark caught her attention as Scruffy was at Uncle's legs.

"Dog important to niece. So, dog must protect dog." Uncle said, revealing the Dog Talisman attached to Scruffy's collar, much to Jade' relief.

Just then, Nerissa remerged, hovering with a Quintessence barrier around her as Yan Lin joined up with Jade and Uncle. "You pack quite the unnatural punch, old friend." Nerissa glared knowingly at Yan Lin.

"Maybe not so subtle, but brute force certainly works for a brute like you." Yan Lin grinned as she brandished the Ox Talisman in-between her fingers before taking a martial arts stance. "So, you want a piece of grandma, old chum?"

"You tricked and kidnapped my friend, manipulated my sister and then killed her, now you brainwash my boyfriend, my teacher, my pet, and tried to turn them evil…!" Will listed as her body surged with pink energy. "I've had enough of you, Drago!" She unleashed an all-encompassing wave of Quintessence energy at the half-demon, which he was unable to avoid as the attack sent him flying to the wall.

However, while embedded, he spotted the Pig Talisman lying on the ground, while Matt flew in, still in his Shagon form, to try and blast Drago with his green eye-beams, but Drago had wrenched himself free to snag the Talisman.

"And this little piggy went to the slaughterhouse!" He fired his own eyebeams at Matt, who flew away to avoid them while also throwing a series of fire balls at Will, who quickly landed to form a pink energy barrier around herself with Matt landing behind her.

"How you doing?" Will asked.

"Kinda getting used to it all…" Matt felt his hands for a moment. "Literally had these powers for a day… and… they don't feel like mine. It's weird…"

"Weird or not, we can't let them get the Talismans, or it's game over for all of us!" Will said.

"Oh, you have no idea how true that is." Drago sneered as he focused a double assault of fire-breath and eyebeams at the shielded Will and Matt, the barrier cracking under the combined pressure all while Drago laughed as he did.

However, Khor, had tackled Drago from behind and pinned him to the ground before the transformed dormouse proceeded to pound Drago into the ground with his fists.

"Good boy, Huggles." Will smiled with relief. However, Drago rolled over and unleashed another double-blast of fire-breath and eyebeams at Khor to blast him off before rolling back to face Will and Matt again as they hovered over him before firing their respective ranged attacks at him.

Alchemy, having picked up the Rooster Talisman, flew towards another one that she spotted, this one being the Rat. "I'm going for it!" However, the Rat Talisman was then lifted in mid-air, much to her surprise, her surprise turning into genuine horror as Miranda's draconic spider-form had turned visible, thanks to the Snake Talisman she wielded.

"Ooh, so close." She then proceeded to spit more flaming webbing at Alchemy, who flew up and around to avoid most of it. "Look at this little fly, about to be caught in my web. I can't wait to see the look on Elyon's face when I snuff out her best…"

She was cut off as something hard and fast smashed into her with enough force to send her flying away, and causing her to lose her grip on the Snake and Rat Talismans, and into the hand of Tohru, who also had the Rabbit Talisman.

"Thanks T." Alchemy smiled in relief, hovering close to him.

"You're welcome." Tohru nodded as the pair then looked to see how the ongoing battles were fairing, but that's when Alchemy noticed something.

"Hey, where's Captain Black? I didn't see him when we came in here." She said. "He wasn't trapped with the other agents, and he wasn't the one who brought out the Talismans. You'd think he'd be the one that Nerissa would brainwash for that."

"You're right. Unless…" Tohru thought for a moment before coming to a sudden and possibly dreadful realization "…Unless the Talismans aren't their only target!"

---

Meanwhile, Captain Black was in his own personal office, having moved away several books on his shelf to reveal a safe that was built into the wall. The Talismans were originally sealed away in the vault, alongside the Oni Masks before they were all destroyed, but he also had his own safe installed for any specific items if in the event his superiors ordered the vault to be clear. He could put the Talismans in there too if he need be, but there was no need for that, especially since it meant Jackie and the others could have readily access if they needed too. But for the items they didn't need, he kept in here.

Pressing the buttons and putting in his code, the safe unlocked, allowing the corrupted head of Section 13 to open it. And when he saw what was inside, a malevolent smirk formed on his face.

---

Jackie-Dark ran under Shendu's legs and shot his arms in both directions to blast two beams of energy at his feet, causing him to trip and land on the ground where Jackie-Dark followed through by leaping up into the air to smash the back of his head in. However, Shendu used the power of the Monkey Talisman to shapeshift into a giant cobra to avoid Jackie's blow and quickly slither away to unleash his fire breath at him, blasting Jackie-Dark back. Suddenly, the cobra form of Shendu was encased in a sphere of water, courtesy of Irma, only for Shendu to shapeshift into an octopus and lash out with his tentacles to ensnare Irma, but Hay Lin quickly came in and blew the coldest blast of air from her mouth all over the water sphere, freezing it solid with Shendu inside and allowing Irma to free herself, giving Cornelia the opening to telekinetically lift some rocks and debris from the area to throw at the frozen sphere and shatter it. However, Shendu had once again assumed his natural demon form as he stood up from the pile of ice and debris before unleashing his fire breath at them all again.

Matt flew at Drago, blasting more eyebeams at him, but Drago leapt up to land on Matt's back, grabbed his wings and steered him towards the ground, skidding him along before jumping back. Khor was about to leap at him, but Drago blasted him away with his own heat-beams, courtesy of the Pig Talisman, but did get struck by a Quintessence blast from Will before she flew in again to deal a punch to the face, which Drago caught before he tried to punch Will, but she caught his fist. They wrestled against each other for a moment until Alchemy flew in, with the Rooster Talisman, to deal a kick to Drago's face and knock him down.

Yan Lin, with her strength boosted by the Ox Talisman, grabbed a large piece of rubble and threw it at Nerissa, though she obliterated it with a bolt of Quintessence energy, it did provide an opening for Jade to exploit as she flew through the rubble and at Nerissa to slice at her with a shadow-axe, though her injuries were quickly healed thanks to the Horse Talisman before she launched a bolt at Jade, who raised a shadow-wall to heal herself, but Nerissa was then struck on the side by a series of stun spells from Uncle right before he leapt back to avoid a bolt that was shot his way.

Suddenly, Tohru sped behind Nerissa with the Rabbit Talisman and pulled her into a bearhug. "Your games are over, Nerissa!" He told her.

"Not until I put my toys away, dear heart." She replied with a smirk before an aura of Quintessence formed around her, which quickly expanded, the raw force being enough to blast Tohru away, as well as knock the Rabbit, Snake, and Rat Talismans from his grasp, which Nerissa was quick to catch.

"Mistress!" The old sorceress looked towards the upper floor in the chamber to see Captain Black calling for her. With the Rabbit Talisman, she sped in his direction, which did not go unnoticed by Jackie-Dark.

"Captain, do you have them?" She asked as she arrived on the same floor as the corrupted head of Section 13.

"As you requested." He kneeled to her and presented to her the Mask of Tarakudo in one hand, and the Pan'ku Box in the other.

"Excellent." She took both items, just as Jackie-Dark had flipped up to land on the same level as them.

"No more minions for you, Granny!" He aimed the Tiger Talisman and fired at Captain Black, engulfing him in white energy as his own balance was restored and he was then freed from Nerissa's control. But right as he did that, a glow of energy was enveloped around Jackie-Dark's form, his armor vanishing as all the power was retracted back into the Heart of Meridian, thanks to Nerissa.

Jackie Chan, his own inner chi now balanced as well, fell on his hands and knees with a slight groan, the Tiger Talisman rolling out of his hands and at Nerissa's feet, which she was quick to pick up.

"Your ruse caught me off guard, Jackie." She told him as he and Captain Black both regained their senses. "But it still delivered me adequate results. So, you still have my thanks." She quickly sped away with the Rabbit Talisman's power, the Tiger and Horse now in her possession.

With her newly acquired speed, Nerissa sped to the group that consisted of Jade, Yan Lin, Uncle, Tohru, and even Scruffy to unleash a wave of Quintessence energy to knock them all away, with the Ox Talisman being knocked away from Yan Lin, which Nerissa was quick to retrieve. She then sped her way towards Scruffy, who was hiding and barking around the corner and snatched the Dog Talisman from his collar before she sped to her son, who was still doing battle with Will, Matt, Khor, and Alchemy. With her speed, as well as the newly acquired strength of the Ox, she was quick to smack down all four of those fighting her son, and claim the Rooster Talisman from Alchemy, while also using the Heart of Meridian to recall the powers and transformations from Matt and Khor, causing them both to turn back to normal before they fell to the ground.

"We have what we came for." She told Drago. "Just one Talisman left to take."

"That's already covered." He replied, looking with a smirk in the direction of his struggling father.

Shendu's fire-breath collided with a stream of water from Irma before Cornelia landed behind him, placed her hand on the ground and caused it to collapse underneath Shendu, pulling him down under to where only his head was sticking out. Taranee and Hay Lin took advantage of that by combining their own powers to create a flaming vortex that seemed to engulf Shendu.

However, while they were all focused on him, Cornelia felt something stick to her back. "What the…?" She turned around in shock to see a stand of webbing pull away the Sheep Talisman from her and into the hands of Miranda, who stuck to the wall in her draconic-spider form.

"This game ends now!" She threw the Sheep Talisman in Shendu's direction.

"Heads up, Pop!" Drago threw the Pig Talisman towards his father, with Nerissa doing the same for the Tiger, Rabbit, Snake, Rat, Ox, Rooster, Horse, and Dog.

Shendu wrenched himself free from the ground and went through Taranee and Hay Lin's fire vortex before reaching out to catch all ten of the Talismans in his hand, which quickly melted into his flesh to join with the other two he already absorbed.

The power of all twelve Talismans had now joined together into a single host as Shendu was engulfed in a glow, with all the heroes looking in genuine horror, while the Fire Demon sneered.

"I AM COMPLETE!"

The Ultimate Evil gave a roar as he threw out fireballs in all directions, as well as shot heat-beams from his eyes for the same effect. All his attacks struck every wall and supporting pillar and the more he did so, the more the base began to lose its stability. Already debris was falling from the roof as Shendu's attacks blasted through nearly every wall, striking every room and chamber, including the holding cells, the already devastated vehicle depot, the laboratories, and even Captain Black's personal office.

As everyone tried to shield themselves from the falling debris, Shendu had blasted an enormous hole in the ceiling. Nerissa, Drago, and Miranda all joined him as he carried all three with a single arm.

"Let this be a warning…" Shendu spoke to the heroes. "The loss of your precious Section 13 is only the beginning!" With that, he flew out through the hole, blasting his way through the entire base and back up to the surface, where he and his passengers flew high into the sky.

The entirety of the base continued its catastrophic collapse even as the heroes tried to regroup with Jade flying out to grab a hold of Jackie and Captain Black. "All of Section 13 is collapsing! We need to leave! Now!" Jackie exclaimed as his niece brought them to everyone else.

Not needing to be told twice, Will, with Huggles on her shoulder, used the Heart of Kandrakar to open the Fold. Everyone filed in from Cornelia, Hay Lin, Tohru, Alchemy, Yan Lin, who carried Scruffy, Irma, Taranee, Uncle, Matt, with Jackie, Captain Black, Will, and Jade being the last ones before the Fold closed, and all of Section 13 collapsed in on itself.

---

Meridian

A Fold had opened up just above the canopy in the middle of a forest right before all the heroes fell out and landed rather hard right as the Fold closed.

"Is everyone alright?" Jackie asked as everyone groaned, and they all pulled themselves up.

"Define… alright…." Cornelia rubbed her head.

"Where are we?" Taranee looked around.

"A forest in Meridian." Will answered as she held and pet Mr. Huggles. "It was the best I could do in such short notice."

"It still got us all out of there, and everyone is alright. That's all anyone can ask." Jackie

"Wait… Jackie… you're back…!" Jade quickly said, noticing that Mordred's armor was gone, and the tone in his voice was not the rudeness of his yang side, but rather his natural and encouraging voice. She quickly flew up to him in a hug, which he didn't hesitate to return.

"Did you use the Tiger Talisman to switch yourself like with Matt and everyone?" Alchemy asked.

"No…" Jackie answered. "I can only assume that when Nerissa took back the power, the power that she had infused with my dark side, she had invertedly restored my own inner balance."

"Good, cause no offense, but Jackie-Dark was a real jerk." Hay Lin said.

Jackie smiled humorously. "No offense taken."

"So how come you were still in control, but the rest of us weren't?" Matt asked.

"Jackie was split in half with the Tiger Talisman before." Tohru recalled. "Maybe that had something to do with it."

"That and as well as Jackie's repeated exposure to magic, and naturally strong will, made his chi a bit more… resistant to Nerissa's control." Yan Lin assumed.

"Well, I'm just glad that everyone's back to normal and everyone's still here." Hay Lin said.

"Yeah… except for the fact that Section 13 is now totaled, and dragon-breath got all his Talismans back!" Irma pointed out.

Cornelia groaned. "Bad enough that the old hag has Elyon's power, now we gotta deal with that too?!"

"It's actually worse than you think." Captain Black got everyone's attention. "When I was under her control, Nerissa had me retrieve two items…"

"What exactly did you get for her?" Will questioned as everyone had a sinking feeling forming in their stomachs before the head of Section 13 gave his answer.

"Tarakudo's mask… and the Pan'ku box."

"AIYYAAAAAAAA!" Uncle's loud scream echoed throughout the whole forest and caused many birds to fly away.

---

Mount Thanos

"At last, my powers restored…" Shendu lulled as he flexed his hands, standing at the very top of the icy mountain before unleashing his fire breath straight into the air with a celebratory roar.

"Don't get too used to it, old man. You know Mom still needs the Tiger." Drago pointed out.

"Yes, yes, of course and she will have it." Shendu waved off as they stepped back into the cave where Nerissa held both the Pan'ku Box and Mask of Tarakudo in her hands with Miranda sitting across from her in her human form.

"It's a shame about the Knights of Destruction." Nerissa said. "I had hoped I'd be able to use them a tad longer, but they still served their purpose."

"How was it that Chan was able to resist your control when the others couldn't?" Miranda questioned.

"Chan appears to have a stronger will than most mortal men." Nerissa explained. "That and his own experience with magic has made him somewhat resistant, as opposed to mere animals and a boy who is only just getting his feet wet."

"While I am not so tolerant of failure, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise for us." Shendu spoke up.

"How so?" Miranda questioned.

"While having the current Guardians under our control would certainly have made our plans easier and more direct, their own exposure to magic may too have granted them some form of resistance to control." Shendu explained. "But more importantly, if there is one thing I've learned in the past millennia of battles, victories, and defeats, it's that the most capable of servants are those that are willing. When you take away someone's freedom and will, they will resist. But those that serve you of their own accord, or even wish to follow you're lead, they are the ones who will deliver the best of results. Perhaps, my dear Nerissa, your spell with the Tiger Talisman may be more effective, if those you use it on wish to turn to the dark side. Or at the very least, are more vulnerable to their negative emotions."

Nerissa thought for a moment. She too knew that those who want to work alongside you are usually those that deliver the best, hence why she always chose to manipulate others into her schemes. But, the idea of using that same manipulation to simply bring out the darker nature and make them more vulnerable to her spell's corruptive effects wasn't quite something she had considered. And she honestly cursed herself for not thinking of it sooner.

"Yes… that does sound promising." Nerissa said. "Though the Knights of Destruction were short-lived, we did learn from that experience. And thanks to them, we still succeeded in our goals. Section 13 is destroyed, we have the Talismans, the mask of Tarakudo, and the Pan'Ku Box."

"Won't it be rather risky to use that mask, though?" Miranda asked. "I've seen the effect they have on people, to the point where the imprisoned Oni take full control. What's to stop Tarakudo from doing the same should that mask be worn?"

"A valid concern, Miranda, which is why I intend to study it thoroughly." Nerissa held the mask in her hand. "The power of shadows has proven to be a wild card that has still kept me guessing, so I will have to take my time with this. I cannot afford to take even the slightest shortcut."

"That ain't the only thing to watch your step around." Drago said as he looked towards the Pan'ku Box. "Another reason why I wanted to switch over the girls was to avoid the hassle of dealing with them. We can't puppet strings on them, they're too strong; and they're smart enough too, probably from all the experience they had dealing with you, Pop." He looked towards his father.

"Yes, my siblings have not been very cooperative with me in the past." Shendu granted. "But as I said, those who wish to serve are always the best kind of servants. We simply have to convince them that they have the best chance if they work alongside us, promise them something that they could never achieve on their own."

"And between what all of us have to offer them, I see no reason why they'd refuse." Nerissa flexed her hand to cast a bolt of Quintessence magic onto a nearby rock, which then began to reform and take a different kind of shape.

A stone pedestal had formed with a chess board at the very top. Pieces were even formed and were arranged at opposing sides. On one side where the lighter pieces of Jackie, Will, Jade, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin, Uncle, Tohru, Caleb, and several of their other allies. And on the other side, were a set of darker pieces that took the shape of herself, Shendu, Drago, Miranda, and the seven other Demon Sorcerers that consisted of Bai Tza, Tso Lan, Po Kong, Tchang Zu, Xiao Fung, Hsi Wu, and Dai Gui.

"Though I need point out that we are still missing one crucial piece for this plan of yours, Nerissa." Miranda said. "An ample source of Quintessence. No offense to Drago, but his isn't enough."

Even Drago was in agreement. "Yeah, it's about half as strong as my own fire." In his right hand was a flame; and in the other, sparked some black and red bolts of Quintessence, though it wasn't very potent. "Probably should have trained with that more growing up."

"You all seem to forget, that we still have at least one pawn in the reserve. One that our enemies currently do not suspect." Nerissa sneered as pointed her finger to shoot a tiny bolt of her power at a single rock on the side of the chess board that had the darker pieces, and this rock changed shape to take the form of none other than Will's own mother, Susan Vandom.

Done.

Now that was quite the chaotic chapter. We got to see this version of the Knights of Destruction with Mordred (Jackie), Shagon (Matt), Khor (Huggles), and Baskerville (Scruffy). The reason Nerissa chose these four was because of how close they were to Will and Jade specifically and she wanted to really hurt them. I also chose to omit Trident and Ember from canon because they really had no characterization at all other than being semi-mindless drones that always followed Nerissa's orders. There was no real point to them other than being literal tools for Nerissa's own plan to retore her own (and her former team's) power later in the season. That's also the reason I gave the Ice Crew similar powers (StrikeMaster Ice having ice powers and MC Cobra having lava powers), to more-or-less fill in the gap.

And the Knights of Destruction were very short-lived here for many reasons. For one, Jade could sense the chi of others through their shadows, so she would be able to find out rather quickly who the Knights were, as opposed to how long it took for Will and the others to figure that out in canon (though they didn't have the same kind of resources they do here in this story). And I had thought about using the Tiger Talisman to separate the real people from their corrupted halves anyway, and this also seemed like a golden opportunity to introduce the Demon Sorcerers.

It may seem a tad out of character for Nerissa to ally herself with them given how untrusting they are of silver-tongued individuals, and she's a total control freak (which is probably why she wanted mindless minions like the Knights of Destruction to begin with), but she has a well-thought-out plan, and the Demons are necessary for her to achieve it. (And she also has plans for Susan too)

And no, she has zero intention of releasing Tarakudo, even though he is arguably more cooperative and capable of working with others compared to Shendu and his siblings, Nerissa just has other plans for the mask and the power within.

Plus, I absolutely love the Demon Sorcerers as they not only wield the same kind of elemental power as the Guardians, but their personalities and dynamic are so fun to work with and I can't wait to write them.

And if you think about it, the Demon Sorcerers are kinda like foils to the Guardians. Elemental powers aside, it's their dynamic that really makes them like opposites to one another. None of the Guardians are related by blood, but they love and trust each other like they were family; while the Demons are literal siblings, but they do not truly care or even trust one another. It makes them feel like the 'Psycho Rangers' to the dynamic of the girls and I'm really going to enjoy writing their rivalry that will soon form as Nerissa intends to release them.

My own original chapter is coming up next and I've been wanting to write that ever since I started this series! And I can't wait for you all to see what I have planned next.

Until then, stay safe.

Peace out.