Hi everyone, welcome back to J-WITCH. Things certainly went bad for the heroes with the Demon Sorcerers now being freed and allied with Nerissa. As for what their next objective is, you're about to find out as our next battle hits very close to home for our girls.

With that being said, let's get into it.

Now, it's Personal

Jin Chan and Yan Lin, both wearing thick fur coats with hoods, trekked through the snowy landscape of the mountains before they came to a stop at their destination, just as the sunlight began to shine down through the clouds and onto what appeared to be a gravestone. It was unmarked, but they both knew who this grave belonged to.

"Hello Cassidy." Yan Lin smiled as she pulled out a bundle of roses and put it down on the snow in front of the gravestone. "It has been too long, and I brought a certain stubborn man that we both know fondly."

Uncle stepped up next to her as he put his hands together and bowed. "Cassidy… I… I apologize… for not visiting in so long. So much has changed…" He said with a sad expression.

"Jin here has become an exceptional Chi Wizard." Yan Lin began. "He's even found a family of his own. His nephew is a bit of a goodie-to-shoes, but he's a good man. And his great-niece is quite the little troublemaker. He has even found his own apprentice to pass his own teachings onto. I'm certain you would have loved them all."

"Yes… family is good." Uncle said as well. "And Heart of Kandrakar has passed to new generation. They continue to help maintain balance, and protect innocent lives."

"You would be proud to see the kind of legacy they are leaving, one far greater than we ever did." Yan Lin said as she and Jin linked hands and smiled emotionally towards one another.

"We shall see you again soon." Uncle said before the man pulled out a dried lizard and casted a Chi-Spell around himself and Yan Lin, allowing the latter to use Teletransporting to take the two away.

"Perhaps sooner than you think."

Suddenly, two rocks had their glamour spells lifted to reveal that they were not rocks at all, but rather Drago and Nerissa as they both stepped in front of the grave, with Drago picking up the roses.

"Nice flowers." The half-demon snarked before setting them on fire and dropping them on the snowy ground, creating a plume of smoke.

"No need to be so disrespectful, my boy. Not when you're finally about to meet your second mother again." Nerissa said as she took out the Heart of Meridian.

"You do know they're not going to be happy when they figure it out, right?" Drago reminded. "Dad seems onboard with all of this… but knowing my aunts and uncles…"

"It is unavoidable." Nerissa replied. "But as volatile as the rest of your father's family may be, they are not above making compromises. We just have to make then an offer they can't refuse, one where bringing my family back is a necessary step."

"You do have a way with words, but they're also not stupid like Raythor, Ice, and the others were." Drago said.

"If you have any other ideas, my son, I'm willing to listen." Nerissa turned to him and spoke with finality. "But given how strong the current Guardians have become under Chan's tutelage, as well as what we must do in order to set things right again, we must take these risks."

Drago sighed, knowing he couldn't win this argument. "Fine. I trust you."

Nerissa smiled emotionally as she held the Heart of Meridian over the grave of her lover, with the Sheep Talisman in the palm of her hand as well. She had waited so long for this. "Come to me again… my dear Cassidy. Quintessence!"

Her own power augmented by the full power of the mystic heart she wielded, as well as channeled into the Sheep Talisman, bolts of electricity shot from the jewel and into the grave. The entire area shook for a moment before a large cluster of transparent energy was shot out from the grave.

And what arose next… was none other than the spectral form of Cassidy herself. Her physical body may have long since rotted all this time, but her spirit now had life in it once again, courtesy of the Sheep Talisman's ability to astral project. As she hovered in front of the pair of mother and son, her eyes slowly opened.

"Nerissa…" She spoke before setting her eyes on her old lover. "You look… awful!"

The former leader of the Guardians couldn't help but smile, so much so that tears were already in her eyes. She had done it. What she had failed to do that awful day, she had now successfully done. She had brought her dear Cassidy back to life! Or at the very least, manifested her spirit in the mortal realm again. But, she was here. And, if everything went according to plan… she would be living again.

"Oh… dearest Cassidy… it's been too long…" She tried to reach out to her, but her hand went through her transparent form as if it were air. Though she had expected that, it was still enough to cause her smile to vanish.

However, she quickly felt a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn towards Drago who simply smiled and nodded, causing her to smile back as she put her own hand on his.

"Is that…" Cassidy got a good look at the half-demon in front of her and instantly recognized him. "Drago?!"

"Heya, Mama Cassidy. Nice to finally meet you." Drago greeted with a smile and a wave.

"Oh… wow." She laughed. "Look at you! You were such a tiny little gecko way back when, now you're… you've grown up so much! Here I am just happy that you're even alive! I thought for sure you were…"

"What can I say? I'm a survivor." Drago shrugged. "Being half-demon has its benefits."

"Well, you certainly look healthy and strong… which is more than I can say for…" Cassidy looked at Nerissa once again. Despite knowing this was the same woman she loved all that long ago, she looked a far cry from the beautiful woman she once was. "What happened to you, Nerissa? How long has it been?"

"More than forty years." Nerissa said.

"Nobody looks that bad in just forty years." Cassidy said. "You haven't been taking care of yourself… have you." She saw Nerissa's smile fading and seemed to get the gist by the look in her eyes. "Oh, I see. You're draining your own life force for power, aren't you?"

"So quick to pick up on it." Nerissa said.

"Well, I highly doubt the Oracle and the rest of the Council let you keep the Heart after…" Cassidy didn't even finish her sentence, recalling what happened that night. That especially caused Nerissa to scowl, recalling that night as well, with even Drago clenching his fists with a growl.

"Cassidy…. What happened back then.. I…" Nerissa stuttered as an emotional storm formed inside her. "I didn't mean for you…. I never wanted you to be hurt. I never wanted…"

"I believe you." Cassidy smiled. "Nerissa… I know you would never try to hurt me. I don't blame you for what happened and I promise no grudge against you. I could never. I love you. I always have, and I always will."

Nerissa shuddered, not even finding the words to respond to that and almost fell over, had her son not kept her steady while she held her own staff. A part of her had feared that Cassidy would resent or even hate her for what had happened, but to actually see her loving smile and hear her words of assurance that she still loved her filled her with a sense of joy that she had never felt she'd feel again.

"And I… love you too…" Nerissa tried to maintain her composure. "And that is why… I want to give us a chance again."

"What do you mean?" Cassidy asked.

"Cassidy, I know of a way to bring you back." Nerissa said, causing the spirit of her former lover to look in genuine surprise. "Not as a ghost, but flesh and blood. Truly alive. A way for us to even reclaim our lost years, to start anew. All of us." She gestured to herself as well as her son. "To be the family… that should have been."

"Nerissa… that can't be done." Cassidy told her seriously. "Nothing can bring back the dead, not even a mystic heart."

"As I said, I know of a way." Nerissa insisted.

Cassidy felt her eyes narrow as she saw the ambitious look in her lover's eyes. "I know that look, Nerissa. You're up to something. Something… I don't think I'll like."

"Hey, this is something we've been working at for a while." Drago stepped forward.

"We?" Cassidy was surprised to hear that. "You're involved in this too, Drago?"

"Cassidy… so much has changed since you… passed." Nerissa said. "At the very least… let me show you what you've been missing… let me show you the world that is today. And if in the event I cannot convince you…" A saddened look formed on her face. "I promise to let you rest once more." She looked to Cassidy seriously. "I'm not sure if you trust me right now, but you can trust one thing about me. I have never broken a promise to you. Ever."

"No… you haven't." Cassidy admitted with a sigh. "Alright… show me."

"Thank you." Nerissa smiled.

"I'll let you get to that then." Drago said before using his ring to open a Fold and quickly leapt in.

"He's not coming with us?" Cassidy asked in surprise.

"Drago has… something important he must do. A personal project." Nerissa answered. But she saw Cassidy's spirit hover in front of her with crossed arms and a familiar suspicious expression, one that she'd always see whenever she did something she disapproved of. "Oh don't give me that look. He's not a baby anymore, he's a grown young man, and he's allowed to act on his own if he wishes." Her typical smirk formed. "But… if you agree to follow along with me, to have your life restored… you can actually be a part of his life and know just the kind of life that our boy has led."

"Nice try, but you're not getting me that easily." Cassidy replied. But try as she might, she could not hide a slight glimpse of guilt in her own eyes, which Nerissa was quick to pick up on. She may not openly admit it, but Cassidy did feel bad for missing out on Drago growing up and did want to get to know him more, and Nerissa could see that. This was only the first step, she would get through to her, and knew exactly how to do it.

Drago had arrived via Fold back at the volcano in Meridian that temporarily served as the base for the Demon Sorcerers, and the first thing he was greeted with was a violent argument between his father and electric uncle with the remaining Demon Sorcerers surrounding and watching. He spotted Miranda in her human form, some distance away from the confrontation, and looking incredibly annoyed.

"What happened?" He asked, clearly annoyed by this as well.

"Tchang Zu got into your father's face about him hogging all of the Talismans and it all but escalated from there." She answered, causing Drago to roll his eyes.

"The Talismans are mine!" Shendu told Tchang Zu. "I created them, their powers belong to me!"

Tchang Zu roared as electricity surged around him. "You only need them as a crutch, because you know you cannot defeat me without them!"

Shendu then seized his thundering brother by his throat and lifted him into the air. "I could so easily crush you right now if I wanted. Don't go acting all high and mighty just because I was a spirit in the past, I am that no longer, and no longer bound to your authority… 'master'." He said that last part with spite before slamming Tchang Zu on the ground hard, leaving a crater.

"Careful, brother." Bai Tza warned as she slithered up behind him with Dai Gui right by her side. "You never did test the powers of your precious Talismans against all of us combined."

"Perhaps we should see whether their powers are indeed worthy to match our own." The Earth Demon growled.

Shendu's eyes glowed as fire 'drooled' from his open mouth, looking ready to unleash his fiery powers, with Bai Tza and Dai Gui preparing to retaliate themselves.

"Are you guys all done?" All of the demons' eyes turned to see Drago standing on a rock mound with Miranda right below them. "Cause if not, I can just get a big bowl of popcorn and watch the show. And I might as well invite Chan and the girls too to join in on it."

"Drago." Hsi Wu acknowledged.

"Where is your mother?" Xiao Fung asked.

"Busy with… personal stuff." Drago answered, making eye-contact with his father who gave a subtle growl, understanding what was happening right now. However, while most of the demons didn't seem to notice this subtle exchange between father and son, Tso Lan did. "But enough about her, how about we stop wasting time like this and actually think about taking down the real enemies."

"Hmm, you mean those little tiny portions?" Po Kong questioned as she loomed over all of her family with her enormous size.

"Didn't a tiny portion poke out your eye, Auntie Po?" Drago asked with a grim, causing Po Kong to glower in annoyance while rubbing her eye, which had been healed thanks to the Horse Talisman just after that fight. "And don't the rest of you go boasting either." He gestured to all his aunts and uncles, even as Tchang Zu picked himself up. "You all had your asses kicked by Chan twice over, and not a single one of you was able to kill a Guardian. Even this guy, and he's supposed to be the most powerful of them all." He gestured to Tso Lan.

"I will not deny it." The Moon Demon acknowledged. "The child's use of Quintessence as well as her creative mind made her quite the opponent. Her resourcefulness was on par with that of Jackie Chan."

"Plus, Jade's new powers combined with her already cunning mind makes her a genuine threat to us." Hsi Wu added.

"And if the other Guardians have taken as much from Chan under his tutelage, then we cannot afford to underestimate them either." Xiao Fung said.

"Then we shall burry them all under the weight of their own world!" Dai Gui proclaimed as he slammed his fists onto the ground, creating a brief eruption from a lavapool behind him. "We shall turn their precious Earth inside out and crush them!"

"Yeah sure, you could go the 'apocalyptic route' again." Drago said, not even remotely impressed by Dai Gui. "I mean it's not like Chan and his girls have experience adverting apocalypses, right? Oh, and I'm being sarcastic, just in case any of you didn't notice."

"You dare insult us, boy?!" Tchang Zu exclaimed as he went in close to Drago, lighting continuing to surge around him, only to be pulled back by Shendu.

"Enough! Drago is correct." He addressed all his siblings. "Several others, including us… and even myself… we have all tried to overwhelm our enemies, to bury them under the weight of our unmatched power. But each and every time, Chan, as well as the Guardians, were able to overcome it, despite the odds. If we are to actually win this time, then we must be willing to change tactics."

"Unless you all want to go back to that endless void." Drago added.

The Demon Sorcerers all exchanged looks and eye-contact with one another. As much as they each wanted to deny it, they all knew that Shendu and his son were correct. They have all tried and failed to destroy Chan in their attempts to take the Earth, or even destroy it. And even upon their recent release, the Guardians battled them all on equal footing despite being so young compared to them.

"Very well." Bai Tza accepted as she slithered close to her nephew. "You have a plan then, Drago?"

"I do, but it was actually Miranda's idea." He gestured below him to the humanoid shapeshifter as she approached the surrounding demons.

"If you want to truly defeat your enemies, you need to hit them where it hurts the most." Miranda began. "The cunning warrior attacks neither body nor mind. Attack the body, they'll recover. Attack the mind, they'll find their true inner strength in the allies they have surrounded themselves with."

"What must we do then?" Xiao Fung asked.

"Instruct them in the manners of loss and pain." Miranda clenched her fist with a sadistic smile. "Make them suffer. Make them wish they were dead."

"How?" Hsi Wu questioned.

"Make them feel alone, even when together." Miranda continued. "Hit them in the one place where they feel safe and secure. The one place… they think… is untouchable."

"Enough babbling! Tell us how!" Po Kong demanded.

"The heart, demons!" Miranda answered as she transformed into her draconic spider form. "Now… we attack their hearts!"

Heatherfield

Will, Jade, and Matt walked down the sidewalk, with the black-haired girl noticeably on edge, something the others picked up on quickly enough.

"Something up, Jade?" Matt asked. "You seem… tense."

"Duh." She made no effort to deny it. "Shendu's siblings are all out and teamed up with freaking Nerissa! We're at DEFCON zero for crying out loud!"

"Pretty sure is no DEFCON zero." Will pointed out.

"You get what I mean!" Jade exclaimed, and while Matt backed away in a startle, Will stood where she was and just looked at her best friend with seriousness and concern. "Sorry… I just…" Jade tried to calm herself down. "Every single one of those freaks is dangerous. Half of them can cause an apocalypse whenever they wanted. I hate that we're just sitting around and going to school like it's a normal day. At least before Uncle could come with locator spells and banishing spells to send them all away right after they come out. But thanks to that old hag, Uncle's having a hard time doing the thing he's best at!" She rubbed her hands down her face and gave a long sigh. "I just feel so helpless…"

"I get it. We all get it, Jade." Will stepped up to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm tense as hell myself. But… ironically, going to school and acting like everything's normal is actually keeping me from freaking out. It feels like I'm getting a break from any potential 'end of the world' scene that could happen at any minute."

Matt chuckled. "When it feels like school is a safe place, you know something's wrong."

That did cause Jade to smile humorously at that before Will continued. "I don't know what will happen either… but I do know that we're not alone in this. You and me, we got all our friends, we got your family, and so many people on Earth and in Meridian who got our backs. And whatever happens next, we're facing it together."

Jade sighed again before smiling at her spirit sister. "Thanks Will, I think I needed to hear that."

"Anytime." Will said before they shared a hug.

"Hey, why don't I get any of that?" Matt joked, causing Will to laugh as she lightly punched him in the arm. "But seriously, I'm sorry that I can't be much help to you guys. At least when I was Shagon I had these cool superpowers."

"You were also brainwashed by a psychopath." Will pointed out.

"Yeah… that I can do without." Matt winced.

"Honestly, I prefer my powerless boyfriend who's there when I need him, over a superpowered death machine that I gotta fight any day of the week." Will said with a smile. "And you're doing a good job in that regard."

Matt smiled flirtatiously. "Think I can do a little better?"

Will giggled before kissing him on the cheek.

"Ugh, third wheel present here!" Jade called out with a teasing grin, causing Will to give her the stink-eye, albeit grinning herself.

However, as they rounded the corner, the trio soon found themselves approaching the pet store where Matt's grandfather works and looked in surprise to see smoke coming out of the doorway.

"Grandpa?!" Matt was the first to bolt to the store, Will and Jade right behind him. Slamming the door open, the three gasped at what they saw.

There was a large fire in the back of the pet store, and all the cages had been opened with all the animals, ranging from dogs to cats to birds and even amphibians and reptiles like frogs and snakes, all in a frenzied panic. And Matt's grandfather, Mr. Olsen, laying semi-conscious on the floor.

"Grandpa!" Matt wasted no time in rushing to his grandfather's side. "What happened?!"

"Matt…" He coughed. "Some man came in and…" He coughed more as Matt helped him up.

"Matt, get him out of here! Jade and I will handle this!" Will told him, to which Matt nodded as he escorted his grandfather out, leaving Will and Jade to deal with the chaotic situation they found themselves in. "I'll get the animals; you get the fires."

"On it!" Jade ran straight towards the blaze and waved her hand over it, causing the source of the light, the fire itself, to begin to diminish. Just to be on the safe side, Jade spread her hands to cast a veil of shadow magic over the embers to thoroughly absorb and extinguish them.

Holding the Heart for some extra power, Will used her own elemental power. "Quintessence!" A wave of pink energy spread out from her and to all the running and flying animals around her. Each of them was then coated in a pink aura as they all stopped and heard Will speak to each of them, and they could understand her perfectly.

"Everyone, calm down, please." Will said as many of the animals as she kneeled down to their level and was quickly approached by the dogs, cats, rabbits, and amphibians, while the birds landed on the boxes around. "Everything's going to be okay. I promise." She soothed, which caused all the animals to calm down. "Let's make sure that every furry or scaly little critter is okay, and I promise to give you all some extra treats. Sound good?"

Hearing the barks, meows, and chippers of the animals around her was more than enough for Will as she knew they understood her. Once that was all settled, Will and Jade both escorted all the animals to their respective pens and made sure that everyone was alright. And just as promised, both girls gave the animals some extra treats to make them all happy. Fortunately, no animals had been harmed, they were just spooked by the fire.

Once that was out of the way, the girls left the store to come back outside where they saw Matt who just got off his phone with his grandfather sitting on the sidewalk, his back against the building next to the store.

"Just called an ambulance, they're on the way." He told his girlfriend. "He doesn't look too banged up, but I just wanna be sure."

"Good. And all the animals are okay, too." Will said.

With a groan from Mr. Olsen, Jade was the first to address him. "You okay, Mr. O? Still in one piece…?"

"Ugh… I haven't had a worse accident… since the time that one rottweiler came in for a toenail clipping…" He said as he held his head.

"Grandpa, what happened?" Matt asked. "Did you leave the stove on or…?"

"No, not at all." Mr. Olsen shook his head. "I… I think someone tried to break in through the back…"

"Did you get a good look at them? See their face?" Will asked.

"I'm not sure… but I think he wore a Halloween costume… dressed like some kind of lizard man…" The old man described.

That caused Will, Jade, and Matt to look at each other in genuine shock. A fire started by a someone who looked like a humanoid lizard? That couldn't have possibly been… him…. Could it?

As they contemplated this, Drago had scaled the wall of the adjacent building around the corner and looked at all of them with a sinister grin before climbing away.

Meanwhile, well on the other side of Heatherfield, Shell Beach seemed almost empty, save for a few kids who played in the sand, but nowhere near the water due to the cooler weather. Due to it being the school year, fewer people would visit this beach compared to when it was summer.

But nevertheless, Nerissa had to use the Snake Talisman upon their arrival to keep to herself and Cassidy invisible from any possible onlookers, but the spell she placed over the Talismans made it possible for her to see Cassidy's spirit, and Cassidy to see her.

"Oh Shell Beach!" Cassidy smiled as she saw this place again. "My favorite spot! Oh, what a perfectly lovely, and totally transparent gesture." She commented as she literally flew through Nerissa and over the beach to see the parents calling the kids as they packed their stuff up to leave.

"You shouldn't look a gift beach in the mouth." Nerissa told her. "Don't you miss this? I know I do. We had so many good memories here."

"Yes, we did." Cassidy granted as she hovered closer to the water and tried to run her hand through it, but she couldn't even touch the water, what was once her own element that felt as natural as breathing was out of her reach again.

Nerissa herself hovered down to the beach once she saw the cost was clear. "I recall one particular moment where you faked drowning just to have the local lifeguard give you mouth-to-mouth."

"Good kisser, but he did not brush his teeth." Cassidy remarked as she waved her hand in front of her face for emphasis. "And you had such the cute little pout on your face. Oh, Yan Lin and Jin teased you for days after that."

"Indeed, such a fond memory." Nerissa said. "And we can make many more memories here, if you say you want to live."

"This may surprise you, Rissy. But I sorta let go of the whole material world thing." Cassidy said, her ghostly back turned before turning around with a knowing smile. "And don't think I don't smell an angel. There's always an angel with you, and don't think I'm gonna sign the contract to sell my soul until I read the fine print."

"You consider me the devil?" Nerissa chuckled. "Glad to see the afterlife hasn't dulled your wit." And despite Cassidy's words, Nerissa could read her well enough to know that coming here did have a nostalgic effect on her, but she also knew that this alone wasn't enough to convince her come back. Just a few more stops though, and she was sure she could win her over.

Uncle's Rare Finds

"Drago was at Matt's grandfather's store?" Jackie asked in surprise as Jade met up with her uncle, great-uncle, and Tohru at the Chan family shop.

"Yeah, a real nasty fire." Jade said. "None of the animals were hurt though, but the old man's in the hospital. Will and Matt are looking out for him right now."

"But Matt's grandfather is not aware of us." Tohru said. "Why would Drago go out of his way to attack him?"

"Maybe he was after Matt." Jade suggested before looking with a glare. "He really seems to get a real kick out of messing with Will. I mean, he's screwed with all of us, especially after what he did to Jewel but… I don't know… it just seems like he's targeting her."

"Or perhaps Nerissa and Shendu are plotting something, and Drago is acting to create a distraction." Uncle called from the back of his shop. Jackie, Tohru, and Jade both walked into the back to see Uncle at his desk, working with multiple potions, and an assortment of spell books scattered across the floor. "Nerissa has freed all Demon Sorcerers and has major scheme planned. We must be prepared."

Jackie walked close to his Uncle. "Are you making a banishing spell to send the demons back to the Nether… OW!" He felt his forehead where Uncle dope-slapped him, not even taking an eye off his work.

"Uncle say before that Nerissa already has means to extract demons from Netherworld if they are banished again!" Uncle chastised. "Banishing demons may not work this time! Uncle is busy trying to create new spell that could harm them!"

"Why don't we just beat em up the old-fashioned way?" Jade asked. "Magic beats magic, and the girls and I got the same kind of magic they use."

"I doubt it'll be that simple, Jade." Tohru said. "The Demons don't just wield elemental magic; they are masters of other forms of magic as well."

"Not to mention Drago also Quintessence, same as his mother." Jackie said.

"Yes, which is why Uncle must work to devise spells that will be most effective against our enemies." Uncle said as he poured one potion into his cauldron and began mixing a form of powder into it. "Perhaps Guardian power can keep demons at bay, but it is not a permanent solution."

Jade sighed as she rubbed her hand down her face in annoyance. "I miss the old days where we could just punch the bad guys and be done with it. When did everything get so complicated?"

Later that Evening

Will rode in her mother's car across Heatherfield bridge, driving away from the hospital, as night had fallen, the moon shining brightly over the empty road in a partly cloudy night.

"Can't say I'm happy about you being near a store fire or walking right into it!" Susan commented in a scolding manner.

"Mr. Olsen was hurt, I couldn't just… sit by and watch! And it wasn't a huge fire, he just… left the stove on in the backroom." Will lied. "I'm just glad that he's gonna be okay and Matt's at least looking out for him."

"And you didn't tell me you started dating." Susan said.

"Yeah, yeah, makes me a hypocrite for being mad at you for the same thing." Will said, looking out the window before sighing. "It's not like it was a big secret or anything I just… I've been busy with stuff and it… slipped my mind."

"Well, I hope you don't forget this. I've made plans for us to go to dinner at the pier tomorrow, with Dean." Susan revealed.

"Tomorrow-tomorrow?" Will looked in surprise. "As in, the day after today?"

"That's what tomorrow means, yes. Unless you got more of these… plans that I don't know about." Susan said.

Will noticed a slight edge in her mother's voice when she said that. "Mom are… are you mad at me?"

"I'm concerned for you, Will." Susan said, speaking seriously. "I know that you've been stressed out with things lately, but I've always let you have your space because you say you have your friends to help you, and I'm glad that you do. But these last few days, you've been way more on edge. If something is wrong in your life, I'd like to know so that I can help my only daughter."

"Mom I…" Will tried to think of something, with Susan only slightly taking her eyes off the road to look and listen to her daughter. "Look this thing… I… I just…" However, as Will herself looked straight ahead, she saw something that made her look in alarm. "Mom, stop!"

Susan immediately looked straight ahead and slammed on the breaks, her arm outstretched in front of her daughter protectively as the headlights of her car shining forward to a certain skinny individual with long wings and glowing red eyes that shot straight up into the air to avoid the skidding car as it veered off the lane and closer towards the edge of the bridge, the front slamming into the guard rail to keep it from coming off, but the front of the car was damaged with smoke coming out from the hood.

"Will, are you okay?!" Susan asked urgently, still keeping one arm in front of the redhead and one hand on the steering wheel.

"I'm fine… I'm fine…" Will assured before they stepped outside with Susan looking at the damage to her car.

"Ah man… looks bad. Gonna have to call a tow-truck." She already had her cell phone out as Will looked out onto the empty street of the bridge and found nobody, but she was sure that she saw…

She gasped as she looked up towards the moon to see the silhouette of a specific flying demon before he flew away into the night sky. 'Hsi Wu…?'

"Mom… what exactly did you see?" Will asked nervously.

"It looked like someone in a Halloween costume." Susan said as she was on her phone while also looking around. "But I don't see anybody. Maybe it was just a bird or something."

'Or something alright…' While Will was glad that her mom didn't seem to get a good enough look at the Sky Demon, the fact that he attacked both of them out in the open like this made her more than a little nervous. 'I think I'm starting to get on edge too, Jade.'

At the same time, Yan Lin exited the Silver Dragon through the back alley with a bag of garbage over her shoulder. "I wish you a safe journey to your final destination." She said as she threw the bag into the dumpster. "Or as the kids say, 'smell you later'." She grinned.

However, she gave a started gasp as something emerged from the sewer-lid in front of her. And it appeared to be an enormous snake-like creature. But what really stood out, was how this snake appeared to have same skin color, facial structure, and glowing red eyes of the Mountain Demon.

"Hmmm, I smell delicious food here." She licked her chops.

"Po Kong?!" To say Yan Lin was surprised was an understatement.

"How about I help myself to some take-out!" The snake-Po Kong lunged at her with a wide and open mouth.

Hay Lin seemed to be relaxing in her room, laying on her bed while reading a book, when her grandmother suddenly teletransported right next to her.

"Grandma?!" Hay Lin gasped.

"Small problem…" Yan Lin held her bleeding side. "I nearly got taken out with the trash…"

The Next Morning – Uncle's Rare Finds

"First Drago was at Matt's pet store, then Hsi Wu tried to run me and my mom off the road… now Po Kong almost ate Mrs. Lin?!" Will questioned as she, Matt, Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee, Cornelia, Alchemy, and Yan Lin herself all met with Jade, Jackie, Uncle, and Tohru at the Chan Family shop.

"That's not all that happened last night…" Taranee said as flames of subtle anger appeared in the reflection of her glasses.

Peter Cook was practicing some basketball at a local court by himself, dribbling the ball as he dashed to a hoop and made a shot, but before the ball could reach its target…

A bolt of lightning had struck the ball, creating a bright explosion that forced Peter to shield his eyes. Unaware of Tchang Zu appearing on the roof of the building behind him, before conjuring a storm cloud to ride away on.

"My brother said he was caught up in some freak thunderstorm last night, but the weather was perfect." Taranee stated.

"Tchang Zu." Tohru realized.

"Join the club." Irma added.

Tom Lair was on patrol in his police car, driving down the road as he drank some coffee… only for the road in front of him to suddenly explode like a rock burst from underneath, causing the police car to crash into the broken pavement. Fortunately, the airbag deployed to keep him from getting crushed, but the coffee did spill all over him as he stubbled out to look in surprise to see the torn up road in front of him.

Unbeknownst to him, Dai Gui was in the sewers underneath, standing just outside the light before sinking back into the darkness.

"My dad said there was like a huge pipe burst in the sewers where he was driving. The road was completely torn up in front of him." Irma revealed.

"Dai Gui." Uncle figured out.

"You guys think that's bad…" Alchemy began.

Alchemy appeared to be in her room, working on some homework, when a loud booming sound came from outside.

Rushing downstairs and slamming the backdoor open with her mom right beside her, she was shocked to see that her dad was blown against the ground, with the garden shed in their backyard completely blown away.

As they both went to the dad, Alchemy happened to spot a silhouette in the form of a large frog-like creature hopping across the nearby rooftops.

"My house was hit by a freak tornado that almost took my dad out!" Alchemy herself revealed. "And I saw something that looked a lot like a frog hoping away from my neighborhood."

"Xiao Fung." Jackie realized.

"Oh, it gets even worse…" Cornelia said in a dreadful tone.

Lilian Hale slept soundly in her room, but a shadow loomed over her. Waking up, the little girl sat up to see none other than Tso Lan hovering just outside, gazing at her with his glowing red eyes.

The poor girl screamed in pure terror.

"Tso Lan was right outside Lilian's window!" Cornelia told everyone. "She described him right to that freaky tongue of his! Luckily, my parents convinced her that he was a nightmare."

"You're lucky that's all he did!" Jade said. "He could have flattened the whole building, maybe even the freaking city block if he wanted!"

"But why?" Matt questioned. "If all these guys are walking earthquakes, tsunamis, storms, and all that jazz… why not go further? This seems… kinda small time for them."

"Attacking our families is small time?!" Taranee exclaimed in anger.

"No, that's not…!" Matt tried to defend himself.

"Matt is right." Jackie said, looking serious and catching all the girls' attention. "I know these demons. Much like Shendu, they all aspire for world domination. The first thing they all tried to do when they emerged before was try to claim whatever territory they can, which would endanger thousands, millions, even billions of lives."

"Except 'Seymour' who pulled his little stunt on me." Jade growled.

"Yes, but he only did that to retrieve his tail, which we were trying to use against him." Jackie replied before speaking to everyone again. "The point is, while attacking each of your families was horrible, it's not how they operate."

"But it sounds more like something Nerissa or Drago would do." Tohru said.

"Yes, it does." Jin confirmed as he and Yan Lin shared looks with each other.

"First they attack us in our dreams, then they kidnapped Elyon, now they go after our families?!" Hay Lin exclaimed.

"Even Phobos didn't sink that low!" Irma growled.

"You are all rightly angry, but we cannot afford to let that anger cloud your judgement, believe me." Jackie understood their anger very well. "For all we know, this could simply be a distraction while Nerissa claims her true target."

"But we got no idea what that is, do we?" Cornelia asked.

"Unfortunately, no." Yan Lin shook her head.

"Okay, so what can we do?" Will asked.

"All of you will have to stay with your families again tonight." Jackie said. "We already have a protection spell placed over the shop to keep any intruders from entering. We can make more for each of your homes, right?" He asked, looking at Tohru.

"Yes, we'll can make some more in quantity." The sumo confirmed.

"What about my parents?" Jade asked. "What if the hag and her demonic family go after them?"

"Uncle and I will teletransport to Hong Kong to place that spell over your parents' home, Jade. We'll just say that I had some work to do there and decided to visit, and that you were busy with school while Tohru was watching you." Jackie explained.

"Slight problem with that plan there, Jackie…" Will raised her hand. "I won't be home tomorrow. Mom set up dinner for us and Professor Collins… at the pier."

"The pier?" Irma questioned flatly.

"That's right." Will nodded.

"As in… the place that's directly over water?" Irma questioned again.

"You're two-for-two." Will confirmed before sighing and sinking into her chair as everyone else put two-and-two together. "Right on Bai Tza's home turf."

"I can be there, provide back-up…" Matt offered.

"No, Matt. You stay with your family." Will told him. "Your grandpa was attacked, what if your parents are next?"

"Good point." Matt realized she was right.

"I'll be your back-up then." Jade offered. "Jackie's gonna be with my parents, and my place here is already locked down, so I'm free."

Despite the reassurance from her spirit sister, it still didn't ease any of the stress that Will was feeling. Oh, how ironic when she tried to assure the stressed-Jade the previous day, now she was the one feeling stressed. But to be fair, this is hitting far too close for home than she would have liked.

Later That Evening

"How's your pizza, Will?" Susan asked as she, her daughter, and boyfriend both sat at a table at a pizza place on the pier.

"Fine." Will muttered, despite not having taken so much as a bite of her pizza.

"You don't sound 'fine'." Susan noted.

"Will, the idea is to not look tense." Jade communicated via telepathy as Jade herself was walking around the perimeter of the pier, keeping an eye out for any demons.

"Hey, you were the one who was tense yesterday at the thought of a demon around every corner." The redhead communicated back. "At least you didn't have to worry about your mom's safety!"

"Just… try to make it look like you're having a good time." Jade relayed.

"Sorry… just… not feeling it right, now." Will said to her mom.

"Not feeling it? Really?" Susan wasn't that convinced.

"It's nothing!" Will slammed her hands on the table, much to her mom's surprise, and that of Dean's.

"Will, are you okay?" Dean asked, trying to ease the tension himself.

Taking a deep breath to force herself to calm down, she stood up from her seat. "I need to use the bathroom."

Walking to the edge of the pier, Will leaned against the railing as she looked down at her reflection into the water. 'Worlds colliding…' However, as she looked at her own reflection, she saw a pair of glowing red eyes in the water. Before she could even react, a pair of tentacles broke out from the wooden floor beneath her, wrapped around her ankles, and pulled through the dock and into the water below.

Shaking off her surprise and treading underwater, Will gave a garbled gasp as she saw the Water Demon swimming in her direction.

"Welcome to my world, little Guardian." Bai Tza hissed as she slashed her claws at Will, who kicked her feet to knock the claws back before grasping the Heart of Kandrakar.

"Guardian Unite!" Undergoing her usual transformation, Will not only adorned her Guardian form, but even surrounded herself in her pink Quintessence aura, providing her with life energy to sustain herself underwater. She then blasted Bai Tza to the water floor with a point-blank Quintessence blast.

"Jade, Bai Tza's here! I'm fighting her under water, but I need you to get my mom and Collins out of here!"

"I'm on it!" Jade relayed as she was about to get to the pizzeria, only for the back of the restaurant to suddenly explode, the shockwave pushing Jade back as all the people on the pier began to panic, with several of the roofs of the buildings being set on fire.

"What the…?"

Emerging from the smoke of the building in front of her, was none other than Shendu himself. His own demonic form obscured by all the smoke as he grabbed Jade with his claws and growled.

"Will, we got a Shendu-alert!" Jade alerted.

"What?! Are you kidding me?!"

"I need to Guardian up, now!"

"Working on it!" Will grasped the Heart again and activated its power. Fortunately, Jade was nearby enough that she could allow Jade to transform.

The girl was engulfed in a pink glow, allowing herself to break free from Shendu's grasp and assume her own Guardian form. She then flew straight up to the clouds, out of sight from the panicking people below, prompting Shendu to fly after her.

"You wanna go, dragon breath?!" Jade challenged as shadow flames appeared in her hands.

"I believe you know the answer to that, child." Shendu unleashed his fire breath, to which Jade retaliated with her shadow-fire, both attacks colliding each other.

As everyone on the pier screamed and panicked from the growing fire, Susan ran out in a panic herself, desperately looking for her daughter.

"Will?! Will?! Where are you!?" She called out.

"She couldn't have gone far!" Dean was right by her side. "We just need to…" Suddenly, something struck him in the back of the head, causing him to fall to the ground unconscious.

"Dean!" Susan kneeled to his level.

"Miss, we need to get you out of here!" A certain young woman with black hair said in an alerted tone as she pulled her up to her feet.

"Wait! My daughter is missing! I need…" She was cut off as the individual who pulled her on her feet, had also struck her in the stomach, knocking all the wind out of her before she lost consciousness and fell into the grasp of the smirking Miranda.

Back underwater, Will had thrown balls of energy at Bai Tza, who slithered over and around each attack and quickly closed the gap to smack her tail at the Guardian, knocking her towards the seabed. As Will steadied herself, she noticed some seaweed which caused her to grin as Bai Tza swam directly at her.

"Quintessence!" The leader of the Guardians channeled her powers into the seaweed, causing it to form a large wall around her to block Bai Tza's path, right before the seaweed molded and lashed out at the Water Demon, ensnaring her before trapping her into a cocoon as Will flew to the surface of the water, some distance away from the docks.

Right above her, Jade flew at Shendu's face to slash her shadow-claws at him, but Shendu flew backwards to avoid that slash before delivering a powerful punch to send Jade careening down to the water, where she happened to fly back-to-back alongside Will as Shendu descended towards them, and Bai Tza emerged from the water on the other side.

"Having trouble, brother?" Bai Tza asked in a mocking tone.

"You should know by now how troublesome these young ones are, dear sister." Shendu replied.

"Are these guys always like this with each other?" Will communicated with their shared telepathic link.

"Yeah, they can't stand each other. But why…?" Jade noticed a look in her best friend's eyes, along with a smirk to rival her own, causing Jade to mirror her expession as she came to the same conclusion.

"Is that all you got, Shendu?" Jade asked. "Here I thought you were the top dog in your family."

"Not hard to see, considering how weak his mermaid-sister here is." Will added, looking directly at Bai Tza, who lunged at Will with narrowed eyes, just as Shendu unleashed his firebreath.

The girls used this to their advantage as they both grabbed the lunging Bai Tza's arms and threw her at the fire-stream, causing her to scream as her body turned into a mixture of water and steam upon contact, that same boiling water striking Shendu to push him back, disorienting him enough to allow Will and Jade to fly above him and combine their powers of Quintessence and Shadow, creating a swirling blast of pink and black energy for their yin-yang attack, which blasted Shendu into the ocean below.

Both Guardians hovered and looked with serious expressions at the steady waters, right before the soaking wet Shendu emerged with a growl, and Bai Tza reformed herself at the surface of the water. The two Guardians glared at their Demon Sorcerer foes, but not before Shendu glanced in the direction of the pier to see a motorboat riding away in the opposite direction, with Miranda at the steering wheel, and an unconscious woman in the back.

"Time to retreat, Bai Tza." Shendu told his sister.

"Excuse me?" The Water Demon hissed.

"You heard me." The Fire Demon affirmed, gesturing his head in the direction of the motorboat that was now out of sight, causing Bai Tza to grin before melting into the water and vanishing, while Shendu flew straight up into the sky, much to the surprise and confusion of the Guardians.

"What was that about…?" Jade wondered.

Will the gasped as she realized that if both, she and Jade were here then… "Where's Mom?!"

After making it back to the pier, and assuming their human forms, Will looked around frantically for her mother as she and Jade saw the fire department had arrived to quell the fires and coral the civilians away from the scene.

"Mom!? Professor Collins!?" Will called out. As Jade looked round too, she spotted the professor on a stretcher being loaded onto an ambulance.

"Will, over here." Jade led her in that direction to see what was going on just as a pair of paramedics medics brought the unconscious man in. "Hey, what happened to him?" Jade asked.

"Mild concussion. Probably got hit on the head with some debris." A paramedic answered.

"My mom was with him. A tall woman with dark hair, have you seen her?" Will asked frantically.

"No, this was the only person we could find." The second paramedic answered. "Now step back, we gotta get this man to a hospital."

They finished loading Collins inside and closed the door just as the ambulance drove off, leaving the girls behind with Will looking ready to have a panic attack.

"Both of us were here together, so of course they had two demons here!" Will paced around. "They must have tried something while we were fighting!"

"Okay, let's cool off." Jade tried to calm her down, gently grasping her friend's arm. "Try calling your mom, she's probably just out looking for you."

Will had pulled out her cellphone, but before she could even dial the number, her phone was already ringing, and she recognized the caller ID. "It's her!"

"See? Maybe it's alright." Jade assured just as Will answered the phone.

"Mom?"

"Eeeer! Guess again!" They both heard a familiar half-demon's reply on the other side of the line, much to Jade's concern and Will's own panic. "But your mom is a guest of mine. Sorry, but she can't come to the phone right now, she's a bit tied up."

"Drago, I swear to god that if you try anything to my mom…!" Will threatened, only to be interrupted.

"Uh, you're in no position to be making threats, Red. But her safe return is up to you." Drago said.

"So, it's a ransom you want." Jade said seriously, keeping a cool head and making sure Will did the same. "What is it?"

"Here's the deal. You get her back, when I get the Heart of Kandrakar." Drago offered.

"That's what you're after?! You want the Heart?!" Will exclaimed.

"Obviously. Depriving the enemy of their greatest weapon is War Tactics 101." Drago replied. "And you don't really have a choice in the matter. We make the switch at the old steel mill where the Knights and I used to hang, at midnight. Be there or…"

"Be square?" Will asked, feeling rather scared.

"No. Be there or I send Mommy Dearest to meet Jewel in the afterlife!" She could practically see Drago's taunting smirk as he hung up, causing Will to look to Jade in a panic, desperately hoping to find some kind of assurance with her, to which Jade just put a firm hand on her shoulder and pulled out her own phone to call her uncle.

"Jackie, you and Uncle might wanna get back to Heatherfield. We have a serious problem."

Opening her eyes, Susan found herself in a slight daze before trying to steady herself, only to feel some form of restraint around her body. As her senses cleared up, she soon felt her hands were tied behind her back, and looked down to see that her ankles were also tied together, with more rope around her upper body to secure her arms to her sides. She tried to speak, but couldn't due to a strip of duct tape over her mouth.

She was currently lying on the ground of a ruined steel mill, and seemed to be alone for the moment. What happened to her? How did she get like this? And what happened to Will? Or Dean? What was going on here?

The struggling mother would soon get her answer as a certain half-demon appeared leapt down to the ground in front of her. "Comfy? No? Good." He sneered as she pushed herself up and scooched back to the wall in a panic. What was she looking at? Some guy in a costume or something.

"You're probably thinking this is just some Halloween costume, right?" Drago asked rhetorically. "Well, if this were a costume, then would I be able to do this?" He unleashed his fire breath on the wall on the side, blowing a huge hole.

Susan's eyes widened like circles as she screamed under her gag. What was that?! Fire?! Did this guy just breathe fire!? No way! That couldn't be true! This had to be some kind of dream! A nightmare or something!

"Awe, look at her." Miranda walked onto the scene in her human form. "Poor thing looks like she's about to have a heart attack." She kneeled closer to Susan, who tried to back away, but was unable to even as Miranda cupped her chin. "Such a pretty woman, it's easy to see where her daughter gets her looks from."

Her daughter? Will?! Did these people know Will?! Where was she!? Did they do something to her?! Is she here or somewhere else?!

"Ah, I know the look in those eyes." Drago leaned in closer, causing Susan to moan in a panic. "The eyes of a mother scared for her child. So nice to see that. Despite what danger she's in, the mom's first thoughts are always on her kid." He shook his head with a chuckle. "Don't worry, Will's fine. For right now. We'll be seeing her in about three hours. In the meantime, we can tell you all about…"

"Drago!" Tchang Zu broke through a wall and marched forward, with Susan's own eyes widening further as she saw him with lightning surging around the demon. Another one?! "You will speak with us, now!"

Drago's eyelids lowered in annoyance. "You could have just knocked, you know."

"Stand down, brother." Shendu arrived and pulled Tchang Zu back by his shoulder. "But my son, the rest of our family is growing rather restless. Perhaps it's time to address their concerns before the temper tantrums of a few destroy our temporary base, and kill our little bargaining chip." He looked at Susan directly.

"Fine." Drago pinched the bridge between his eyes. "Sorry. Family drama and all that, I'm sure you understand." He said to Susan. "But Miranda here will keep you company." He turned around before speaking to the shapeshifter. "Scare her a bit, but not enough to give her a heart-attack. We still need her alive."

"Of course, you know me." Miranda smiled as she watched Drago leave with his father and uncle. She then turned around to Susan, who looked like she was hyperventilating, panting and screaming under her gag. "Sshh. Sshh." Miranda eased as she placed one finger over the mother's taped mouth. "Don't fret, my dear. I'll make sure none of the scary demons hurt you." She eased in her usual manipulative tone. "Not until your daughter gives us what we want."

Demons? Did this woman just say demons?! No way! There was no way that was true! But she just saw a lizard man shoot fire form his mouth, a monster with lightning around his skin, and a giant dragon! This had to be some kind of dream! But if it was real…. Why are they after her daughter!? She began to panic even more, not just from the situation she was in… but out of terror for her daughter's safety.

'Will… my little girl… please be okay…!'

Stepping outside, Drago and Shendu met with the rest of the Demon Sorcerers. "You guys want something?" Drago asked.

"We followed your directions, attacked the Guardians' families, but also stayed out of sight…" Xiao Fung began.

"When we could be crushing them completely!" Dai Gui proclaimed.

"You insist on holding back our true potential! Why must we go through these roundabouts when we can simply smite our enemies?!" Tchang Zu questioned.

"Have you all so soon forgotten how evenly matched you were with the Guardians?" Shendu recalled.

"We do indeed recall that, which is why we were open for your suggestion to strike at their families." Tso Lan relied. "But if your goal is to truly hurt our enemies, why not simply end their lives and break the spirits of those children?"

"We could do that…" Drago said. "But we could also make martyrs out of all of them and drive the Guardians to attack us even hared, fueled by revenge. This way, we got them on edge. And because we got Will's mommy in our grasp, she's probably in the midst of a panic attack right now."

"Which would make her sloppy in her execution." Hsi Wu saw where this was leading. "Without knowing whether or not her mother would be safe in our care…"

"And if their leader cannot make any decisive choices, those who follow her will falter." Bai Tza finished with a sneer. "Now that is quite the plan."

"I still get that woman to myself, right?" Po Kong asked. "There's always something about female humans that is a tad sweeter than their male counterparts."

"Sorry, no can do. Mom needs her alive." Drago said.

"Where is Nerissa?" Dai Gui questioned. "What sort of goal has her preoccupied for so long?"

"Something that is well worth it, I assure you my siblings." Shendu said.

Speaking of, Nerissa had teletransported herself and Cassidy's spirit into a room where a few children were sleeping together, and still invisible as a pair to keep any children from seeing them should they awake.

"Where are we now?" Cassidy asked.

"Heatherfield General Hospital." Nerissa answered. "The children's ward, to be specific." She spoke softly as she gestured to all the sleeping children. "You went to medical school solely to become a pediatrician, such a noble and kind dream fitting for a kind soul such as yourself. It was little wonder you were so compassionate with Drago in his infancy, despite being half-demon."

"Yeah, and I once dreamt of eating a marshmallow the size of Jupiter." Cassidy snarked back. "So where's my giant sticky treat?"

However, her attention was caught by one of the children coughing in his sleep while cuddling with a teddy bear. Cassidy instinctively reached out to try and comfort him, only for her ghostly hand to pass through, and that's when Nerissa noticed the disappointment in her eyes.

"It's a shame that you can't help these poor children, comfort them…" Nerissa lulled. "I know you had such unrivalled compassion for every living thing, especially the smaller ones."

"Except I'm not alive, not anymore…" Cassidy said, sounding disappointed in that fact.

"But you can be again." Nerissa offered. "Just by admitting you want it, and I can grant it to you."

"Even if you could… I don't want it." Cassidy tried to put on a smile. "Live people are so… catty."

Despite that, Nerissa saw that she was getting through to her. Just one more push is all that it would take for her to get her beloved back. And she knew exactly where to go for that last push.

"Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!" Will paced back and forth, her hands on her head as she looked like she was about to have a panic attack while all her friends, boyfriend, and teachers were present at Uncle's Rare Finds once again.

"Uh Will… are you okay…?" Hay Lin asked cautiously.

"Of course, I'm not okay! My mom's been kidnapped by freaking demons!" Will exclaimed, causing Hay Lin to back away in a startle.

"We get that, but panicking is not gonna help!" Cornelia stated.

"You were panicking when it came to Elyon, but I'm not allowed to when it's my own mother!?" Will questioned.

"Will, you were the first person to try and reel Cornelia in back then." Taranee told her. "You need to calm down…"

"And then what, just hand Drago the Heart of Kandrakar?! And even if we do stop him and rescue her, what are we supposed to tell her?!" Will continued. "Be all like 'Hey Mom, sorry you got kidnapped by demons. But as it turns out, my friends and I all have magical powers and we've been fighting monsters for more than a year and I've been lying to you every day. But nevermind all that, how are you doing?' Like that?!"

"No, not like that, obviously!" Alchemy stated.

"Will, you did kinda say that you wanted to tell her about all this…" Matt tried to speak, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe just rip the bandage off and get it over with. It worked with me."

"You don't know my mom." Will replied. "There is no way she's going to let me stay with any of you if she finds out I've not only been lying to her, but risking my own life to fight monsters that can end the world whenever they wanted too!"

"Why not just wipe her memories then?" Irma offered. "Problem solved."

"Except I don't want to do that!" Will screamed. "I'm tired of lying about all of this! I… I can't… I can't…!" Will was ready to pull her hair out, until Jackie grabbed her firmly by the shoulders.

"Will, breathe." Jackie told her. But she was still panicking. "Will, I need you to take a deep breath right now. Breathe in…" He inhaled for emphasis. "And out." He let out a deep exhale. "Now it's your turn, breathe in…" This time, Will took in a deep breath of air. "And out." Jackie said again, prompting Will to release her breath. "Again, in and out." Now it was just Will as she inhaled and exhaled again. "One more time, in and out." For a third time, Will took in a deep breath and let it all out again. And this seemed to calm her down slightly, allowing Jackie to lead her to a chair to sit down. "Good."

"I'm sorry…" She said, looking away.

"Hey, it's your mom. Nobody blames you." Jade assured as she kneeled by Will's right and put a hand on her shoulder, with Matt doing the same on her left side.

"What am I supposed to do?" Will asked. "Obviously we're going to rescue her but…"

"Do you really want to tell her about all this?" Hay Lin asked.

"I… actually planned on doing that… after we took down Drago and Nerissa. When things were a bit calm." Will said. "But everything just got worse and… now this."

"We could always wipe her memories right now and then you tell her after we take down the hag and sunny boy." Irma reoffered.

"You make it sound so easy, considering we still haven't done that yet." Cornelia replied.

"Not to mention the other demons are no cake walk." Taranee said. "At least the rest of our families are safe thanks to those protection spells Tohru put on each of our homes."

"But what about mine?" Will asked, looking down as tears from all the stress were already form in her eyes. "Even if I do tell Mom… what if she doesn't want me with any of you anymore…? I can't… I don't think I can…"

"Will, it won't just be you though." Jackie told her as he kneeled to her level, causing her to look up at him as he smiled in assurance. "Whether you chose to tell your mother is up to you, but you won't be alone. We're all here to help you."

"Yeah, he's right." Matt said with a smile of his own. "We got your back. I got your back."

"Nobody is breaking up J-WITCH." Jade added. "And if your mom says no, we'll just have Uncle handle that. You know, nobody can ever win an argument against him." She joked, causing Will to chuckle slightly.

"We're your family too, Will." Hay Lin stepped to her with a smile. "Whatever happens next, be it world-ending demons or over-protective moms, we'll face it together."

Will looked around and saw the smiles on everyone's faces. From Matt, to Jade, to Jackie, to Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, Hay Lin, Tohru, Yan Lin, and even Uncle. She had just felt her whole world crumbling in around her and couldn't stop it. But now, she was reminded again that she was part of a team, a surrogate family of her own that was always by her side and would stand by her no matter what. She wanted her mom to be part of it... just not like this. But, there was nothing that can be done about that, now. Right now, she had to save her. And she will save her.

"Okay." Will said. "So… what are the chances we can whip up a banishing spell for the demons?" She asked Uncle.

"Uncle can only prepare one spell in such short notice." The old man answered. "Each of the demons has a different banishing spell."

"Don't suppose we can make a universal spell to banish all of the demons together, can we?" Alchemy asked.

"Perhaps…" Tohru thought. "But we don't have time for that right now."

"So, we'll just have to fight the old fashioned way." Jade said.

"Drago will likely be expecting a confrontation though." Jackie countered.

"So, let's come up with a plan to beat them." Will stood up from her spot with a firm look on her face. "They made it personal, so let's make sure they understand why that was a mistake."

Midnight

Will walked through the yard that surrounded the steel mill and made her way towards the main building, appearing to be alone. Stopping for a brief second and looking at her watch, Will saw that it was midnight exactly before calling out.

"Drago! I'm here!"

"Right on time." Looking ahead, Will spotted a flame that illuminated the darkness of the general area to reveal Drago as he leaned casually against a large pipe that laid flat on the ground. "You got the Heart?"

"Let me see my mom, first." Will demanded.

Shrugging, Drago slashed open the pipe with his claws and pulled out Susan, who was still tied up and gagged as before. The instant she saw her daughter, her eyes widened in surprise as she tried to speak, probably to warn her to run away, but couldn't produce anything more than muffled screams.

Will winced as she saw her mom was wide awake and not unconscious or anything like she'd hoped. She saw Drago, and probably the other demons. Yeah, she was going to have to tell her everything once this was over. But right now, she was just going to focus on getting her back. But to ensure that this wasn't a trick…

The redhead pulled out the Heart of Kandrakar and looked through the jewel to see if it wasn't a disguise or anything, and she saw that it was indeed her mother.

"So, we gonna switch it up?" Drago asked.

"You didn't have to kidnap my mom just to get your hands on this." Will said as she held the Heart firmly.

"Actually, I kinda did." He replied. "One can only access the full power of a Mystic Heart if it's given willingly. Why do you think so many people manipulated Elyon for so long? If I want the full power of the Heart of Kandrakar, it's current bearer, I.E. you, have to give it up of your own accord. So, you gonna give it up? Or am I gonna have to barbecue mommy, here?" Drago warned as he pulled Susan up and held a flame in front of her face, causing her pupils to shrink in fright.

Will clenched her fists, doing her best to keep a cool head before walking closer. "You really love to make it personal, don't you?"

"You know the old saying, eye-for-an-eye, right?" Drago sneered as Will stood directly in front of him and she offered the Heart, which he tried to take by grabbing the string, but when he tried to pull on it, Will wouldn't let go.

"Yeah, you're right." Will glared. "Guardians Unite!"

With that, not only was Will engulfed in a bright flash of light, but five streams of magical energy shot to various points of the steel mill near her location, engulfing the hiding Jade, Irma, Hay Lin, Cornelia, and Taranee as they simultaneously transformed as well. Not only that, but something powerful descended upon Drago with a powerful enough kick to send him skidding across the ground.

The light vanished to reveal not only the transformed Will, but also Jackie Chan, clad in the Armor of the Eight Immortals, while the other Guardians appeared, alongside Uncle, Tohru, Alchemy, and Yan Lin.

Susan was right by her daughter's side as she looked in absolute shock to see what she had transformed into. She was not only significantly taller, but had the form of a young woman… with wings on her back!

Will only glanced with some uncertainty towards her mom before glaring at Drago. "You can't tell me that you didn't see this coming."

"You really think our bestie wouldn't have her own ace up her sleeve?" Jade asked rhetorically, putting her arm on Will's shoulder.

"And you never threaten somebody's family." Jackie said firmly, taking a martial arts stance.

Drago growled as he pulled himself up. "Then let's make this a full family affair!" He whistled into his fingers.

Two seconds later, the entire ground of the area began to shake as pair of horns moved through the ground like a shark through water before coming to a stop in front of the group. The horns belonged to Dai Gui as he arose from the ground with a growl. A steam of water appeared on the group's right side as Bai Tza took form with a hiss. A pair of booming steps were heard behind the group as Po Kong made her presence known. A whirlwind came blowing in from the group's left side as Xiao Fung used his air breath to propel himself and land on the ground. In addition, Tso Lan and Hsi Wu both descended from the air via their respective abilities as Tchang Zu rode on a thunder cloud, and finally, Shendu descended and hovered above his son, thoroughly surrounding everyone.

"My brethren, you wished for a chance to display your powers and slay our enemies, now this is your chance!" Shendu proclaimed.

"Finally." Tchang Zu boomed as all the demons laughed evilly, glaring down at the heroes with their red eyes.

Despite Susan appearing terrified, Will held her close as she gave her a smile and a wink.

"Yeah, like we didn't see that coming." Irma commented in clear sarcasm.

Hay Lin swung her arms around to erect a tornado around the entire group, pushing many of the demons back slightly, except for Xiao Fung.

"Hmm, seems you've forgotten our recent battle, young Guardian." He opened his mouth with the intent to inhale it. Only for the wind of the tornado to glow green with chi-magic, and the second he inhaled that chi-enchanted air, his entire body was shock with good magic before he was blasted away.

"Magic must defeat magic!" Uncle said as he, Yan Lin, Alchemy, and Tohru each held a dried lizard and/or blowfish to blast streams of chi-magic into Hay Lin's tornado, making the air of it filled with powerful stun spells. Taranee added to it with flames from her hand, causing the tornado to grow and be set ablaze before Hay Lin expanded outward to blast a wave of chi-enchanted fire to all the demons.

All of them, including Shendu, Bai Tza, Tso Lan, and even Po Kong, and especially Drago, they were all blasted away by not only the fire, but felt a powerful stinging sensation on their bodies that caused them a great deal of pain.

"Ugh, Chi magic…" Hsi Wu winced with Po Kong stepping over him as she tried to put out the chi-induced flames on her large body, when she suddenly struck down to take the form of a massive snake and flailed her serpentine body across the ground ot extinguish the flames.

Shendu appeared the first to recover but would soon contend with Jackie as the armored man ran straight towards him and leapt to deliver a punch to his face to knock him back down.

"Will, get your mom out of here!" Cornelia told her. "We'll handle these creeps!"

"Okay." She picked up her bound mother in her arms just as the demons were recovering. "Mom… hang tight, okay?"

'Hang tight…? But why…?' She gave a muffled scream as Will took to the skies while in her arms. She was flying?! Her daughter was flying?!

"Oh no you don't…!" Hsi Wu was about to fly after her, only for Jade to pull him down with a shadow-lasso and reel the rope back to slam him into a pile of pipes.

Tchang Zu was about to throw a thunderbolt at the fleeing Will, only for Taranee to blast him down with a fireball. Irma, Cornelia, and Hay Lin all flew out to deal with Bai Tza, Dai Gui, and Xiao Fung respectively, while Alchemy and Tohru ran in the direction of the recovering Po Kong as Uncle and Yan Lin faced Tso Lan. But as the fights ensued, nobody seemed to notice Drago slipping away.

Making it to a garage which had some old forklifts in store, Will set her mom down and took the tape off her mouth before proceeding to untie her.

"Will… please tell me this is some kind of dream…." Susan said in a shaky voice. "Like that pizza I ate was expired or something…"

"No, Mom… this is real." Will replied in a very serious tone as she removed the last of the rope. She looked at her mother's face to see so many emotions; fear and confusion being at the forefront. "This… this isn't how I wanted you to find out. I promise to tell you everything later, but right now…"

"Leaving so soon?" Turning around, Will spotted Miranda, still in her human form, but with a pair of flaming web-whips extending from her wrists. "And without a goodbye?"

"Goodbye." Being struck in the back of a sledgehammer, Miranda stumbled and turned around to see Matt with a golf-bag over his shoulder, which carried all kinds of tools and items including hammers, mallets, wrenches, golf clubs, and metal bats. He even held a sledgehammer in one hand and a trashcan lid in the other like a shield. "Yeah, Will said you'd be here, spider-girl. So you gotta contend with me, now."

Hissing, Miranda transformed into her draconic spider-form. "You've just signed your death warrant, boy." She spat her flaming webs at Matt, who shielded himself with the trashcan lid, which began to glow green and repel the flames, much to Miranda's surprise.

"Protection spell, courtesy of a few wizards on our side." Matt smirked. "And a little extra stun stuff right here." The hammer he held glowed the same green color, as did all his other makeshift weapons.

The roof was blasted open as Drago fell down and landed with a growl. "Nobody is going anywhere."

Will's hands glowed with pink energy as she placed herself in front of her shocked and confused mother as she and Matt exchanged eye-contact and nods before engaging with Drago and Miranda.

Irma flew at Bai Tza, blasting a column of water at her, which Bai Tza absorbed into her body as Irma flew in close before raising her arms up, which melted together to take the form of a giant spiked water ball, which she used to slam Irma into the ground.

Dai Gui dug his hands into the ground and raised them before slamming down to send a wave of dirt, Cornelia's way, which she flew above to avoid as the wave obliterated a stack of pipes. She used her telekinesis to pick up the debris and throw it at Dai Gui, who countered by sending a geyser of rock and dirt to blast away the debris and get to Cornelia, blasting her away as well.

Taranee threw a series of fireballs at Tchang Zu, who covered his arms with his body to shield himself. Growling in fury, his entire body surged with electricity before he yelled and unleashed a terrifying wave of electrical power, much to Taranee's shock as she was blown into a nearby building.

Xiao Fung hung his mouth open as he inhaled all the air in the area, with Hay Lin struggling to escape the reversing airflow, but no matter how hard she pushed, she couldn't escape. That is until she blasted a cyclone at Xiao Fung, which did push him back somewhat and get him to stop his inhaling attack. But when Hay Lin flew in on the offensive, Xiao Fung then unleashed all that stored up air right at Hay Lin to send her flying away before he hopped in pursuit.

Alchemy and Tohru backed away from Po Kong, who was in the form of a giant elephant as she lashed out with her trunk, prompting Tohru to grab the elongated appendage and hold it back with his strength, giving time for Alchemy to run up to Po Kong's side and blast a stun spell into her right eye, causing her to wince as she backed away. But her body soon glowed before taking the form of a giant condor that hovered in the air.

"I remember you, little one." She eyed Alchemy specifically. "You'll make an excellent appetizer, before I move onto the big man." She flew down to try and devour her, but Tohru had quickly run to grab Alchemy and pull her out of the way before her beak created a crater in the ground while Tohru continued to run.

"I don't think the Mountain Demon Chi lets someone shapeshift!" Alchemy said.

"It doesn't. This is a different power." Tohru said.

"Tohru, look out!" Alchemy's warning came in time as Po Kong had taken the form of a giant rhinoceros as she charged at them. Despite turning to avoid the horn, the force of the thrust did knock them down before Po Kong stopped and assumed her normal form to loom over them.

"Hmm, I can understand why Shendu coveted these, Talismans." Po Kong said as the symbol of the Monkey Talisman appeared in her eye. "They're quite useful."

At the same time, Jade was locked in an aerial battle with Hsi Wu as they grappled with each other in mid-air. Shadows quickly came from Jade's palms and enveloped over Hsi Wu's own claws.

"Not letting you go for another joyride, this time!"

"What makes you think I'll repeat the mistake of last time, Jade?" Hsi Wu replied as his eyes glowed a familiar glow, much to Jade's own surprise before she was blasted by a set of heat-beam eyes that sent her crashing to a pile of girders.

"That… that was the Pig Talisman…?" Jade muttered. "You guys all have the Talismans?!" She questioned in shock as the Hsi Wu hovered over her.

"Some of us." The Sky Demon explained. "Most of our family wasn't too keen on Shendu keeping such power all for himself. But to my surprise, he some of the Talismans to us as a 'peace offering'. Most of my siblings felt content with the power they had and believed them to be unnecessary." He looked to Bai Tza, Dai Gui, Xiao Fung, and Tso Lan, all locked in their respective battles. "But I felt that at least the Pig could be useful, so I took it. As did Po Kong for the Monkey. Shendu still has the Dragon, Ox, Rabbit, Rooster, and Rat."

'That just leaves Snake, Tiger, Sheep, Dog, and Horse…' Jade thought. 'But I don't see think these guys have them, unless…' Her eyes widened in surprise before turning around with a glare at the Sky Demon. "Where is Nerissa?! And what does she want with the Talismans?!"

"You're the cunning one, Jade. Figure it out." Hsi Wu replied as he shot another pair of heat-beams at her, prompting Jade to fly away with him in pursuit.

Shendu blasted a fireball at Jackie, which he took in his armor as he crossed his fists before closing the distance as Shendu threw a punch, which Jackie parried while also sliding to Shendu's feet in an attempt to kick him. Only for Shendu to jump and hover above him, where he proceeded to blast a stream of fire at Jackie, who rolled forward to avoid it before the flying Fire Demon chased after him, still keeping up his inferno.

Yan Lin and Uncle blasted several stun spells at Tso Lan, who hovered up and down to avoid most of them, before casting a stream of dark gravity energy onto a whole shed and lifted it up effortlessly before place it over the heads of the two elders and increasing the gravity of the hovering building a hundred times over.

But right before it fell, Uncle and Yan Lin both shot a combined spell on the ground below, causing it to melt into mud as they quickly sank just before the building collapsed on top of them.

Tso Lan used his gravity powers to brush the debris aside to try and find any bodies, but narrowed his eyes when he saw none. He grunted as he felt multiple stun blasts on his back, and quickly used his lower hands to cast waves of gravity magic at Uncle and Yan Lin, who had appeared from a mud puddle behind him as they used their agility to avoid the attacks. All except Yan Lin, who was caught in one gravity beam and pulled upwards.

"Your use of chi-magic is impressive, but your body is frail and weak." Tso Lan said as Uncle appeared on his side, but Tso Lan saw him coming and caught him in a second gravity beam before pulling him upwards along with Yan Lin. "A pity, given the limited lifespan of mortals and how frail you become as grow older. Whereas I, an immortal demon, grow stronger!"

The Moon Demon threw them both away, only for the armored Jackie to quickly leap up and catch them both while resuming his run from the streams of fire shot at him by the flying Shendu, with Tso Lan joining his brother.

Jackie and the elders would soon regroup with Jade, Irma, Tohru, Alchemy, Cornelia, Taranee, and Hay Lin as they were once again surrounded by the eight Demon Sorcerers.

"It would appear that despite your best efforts, you have lost, Chan." Xiao Fung said.

"You and these meddlesome children." Dai Gui growled.

"So how would you all prefer to meet your end?" Po Kong offered. "Perhaps I can devour you all."

"What about the leader?" Hsi Wu asked. "We can't let an enemy Quintessence user roam free."

"We'll deal with her once we slay those in front of us!" Bai Tza declared.

"A little early to be taking a victory lap, don't you think?" Irma maintained a smirk.

"Defiant, even when the end was certain?" Tchang Zu questioned. "We are the ones with all the power! You only possess a fraction of what we have!"

"There is still one thing you jerks didn't take into account." Cornelia said with a confident smile.

"Oh? And what might that be?" Tso Lan asked with suspicion.

"You guys might be a 'family'…" Hay Lin said with air-quotes. "But we're a team." She gestured to everyone else.

"You might be stronger than us individually…" Taranee began.

"But when we are together, we're unstoppable." Jade grinned.

"And not even you all of you can stop that." Jackie declared. "Now! Switch!"

With that, the Guardians in the group all flew to different opponents, much to the surprise of the Demons. Jade flew at Tchang Zu, striking him with a punch and a shadowy fireball to the face. Cornelia rose two rocks from the ground, which she shot at Bai Tza with Alchemy running after her. Taranee grabbed Jackie and set his armored from ablaze before spinning around rapidly to throw him at Po Kong like a torpedo, striking her in the face with explosive results and sending her tumbling to the ground while Taranee threw a fireball at the surprised Tso Lan. Irma sprayed a column of water at Shendu to push him to the ground. Tohru ran forward to grab Dai Gui by his right leg and heave him up and send him tripping backwards. Uncle and Yan Lin both blasted a series of stun spells at Xiao Fung, who was forced to hop away.

"Hey!" Hay Lin flew right at Hsi Wu's face and blew raspberries. "Bet you can't catch me!" She sung before flying away.

"You little…" Hsi Wu growled before flying after her.

Tchang Zu threw his hands forward to blast a pair of lightning bolts at Jade, who rose a barrier of shadow-magic to absorb and nullify the lightning.

"Sorry, but you're experiencing a sudden blackout." Jade motioned her hands to take control of the shadows behind the Thunder Demon, which grew from the light of the continuous use of electricity from the trigger-happy demon. The shadows outstretched to bind and wrap around Tchang Zu like a veil of shadows. He struggled and attempted to use his electricity to escape, but any and all were absorbed into the darkness and nullified. "Might wanna take a load off." She formed a shadow construct resembling a spiked mace in her hands before lifting it up high to bring it down hard on Tchang Zu, leaving him lying flat in a crater.

Bai Tza slithered in pursuit of Cornelia as she tried to blast some water at her, but Cornelia raised her hands to create two large plants resembling mixes of roses and Venus flytraps to catch Bai Tza's hands.

"Water makes plants stronger, so thanks for the drink." Cornelia smirked.

"Foolish child. Even plants can only hold so much moisture!" Bai Tza overloaded her hands with a surplus of water to blow apart the restraints.

"Yeah, but it still kept you still long enough." Cornelia kept up her smirk.

Suddenly, Bai Tza screamed as she was struck in the back by a blast of chi-magic, which came from Alchemy as she held a dried lizard over a brick. The Water Demon looked in shock to see there was no longer any moisture on her body, even her normally wet skin was so dry that it was beginning to crack.

"What… What have you done to me…?!" She exclaimed.

"Stone magic. Works pretty good on a Water Demon." Alchemy grinned.

"Might wanna get that skin looked at." Cornelia said as she hovered over the helpless Water Demon. "It looks terrible." She pulled back a punch struck Bai Tza in the face to send her crashing into a pile of debris.

Tohru had touched his right fist to his blowfish, causing it to glow green with chi-magic before slamming his fists together, as they now both glowed green. Dai Gui glared at him as Tohru glared back before they rushed each other and grappled with one another, but Dai Gui grimaced as his hands burnt on contact, and when he stepped back, Tohru delivered an uppercut strong enough to knock him down.

"Ugh, chi magic." Dai Gui grimaced, but as Tohru advanced, the Earth Demon waved his hands to send a wave of dirt that seemed to wipe away Tohru himself.

However, Hay Lin flew nearby as Hsi Wu gave pursuit, their respective speeds seemed equal with one another as the Sky Demon couldn't catch up to the Air Guardian, and every heat-beam he shot at her missed completley.

"Missed me!" Hay Lin teased as she continued to fly and skillfully dodged the next beam attack. "Nope." She flew straight up and dodged another beam. "Not even close." She let herself fall backwards as Hsi Wu almost caught up to her and dodged another beam attack. "Are you even trying?"

"Nimble little brat!" Hsi Wu growled as they both flew in a certain direction towards Dai Gui as he loomed over Tohru. And it seemed like that Hay Lin was flying in a perfectly straight path, one that not even Hsi Wu could miss. "I have you now!" He shot a pair of heat-beams forward…

Only for the smirking Hay Lin to turn invisible just as she reached Dai Gui and flew under him, right before the heat beams struck Dai Gui in the back, much to Hsi Wu's own shock.

Acting on instinct and anger, Dai Gui reacted to the one who attacked him from behind by throwing his fist forward to send a massive fist made of stone from the ground at the surprised Hsi Wu to send him careening through the sky and crashing down flat on the ground.

"What?" Dai Gui was rather surprised that he struck his own brother. So much so that he didn't notice he was enveloped in a tornado, courtesy of the invisible Hay Lin as she created a powerful force of air that pulled the Earth Demon up off his feet.

"Going up." Hay Lin sung as she turned visible again and thrusted her arms downward to create a gust of wind to shoot Dai Gui straight down, to Tohru who pulled his glowing fist back and smashed Dai Gui in the face to send him skidding through the ground, creating a dragging trail on impact.

"And going down." Tohru nodded as Hay Lin flew to him and they shared a high-five.

Xiao Fung performed a vacuum-like attack by inhaling the air around him in an attempt to suck in Uncle and Yan Lin, both of whom held onto a metal crane. But as they intended, they both casted the same chi-spell onto the wind itself, causing it to glow green as it enterd Xiao Fung's mouth. The Wind Demon screamed in agony as a stun spell was shot form inside of his body and sending him tumbling back.

"Ugh… more chi-magic…?!" He held his burning vocal sack.

"A spell meant to enchant the air with an anti-demon repellent." Yan Lin smirked.

"Young Alchemy has creative mind." Uncle nodded.

"And she's not the only one!" Jade flew in as she extended a pair of large shadow hands to grab Xiao Fung by his mouth and enveloped it completely to keep him from using his attacks before she picked him up and slammed him hard on the ground. "And that's what you get for messing with the Chans." Jade said as she shared a double fist-bump with Uncle and Yan Lin.

Po Kong had taken the form of a large lion, one that was ten times the size of a normal one, and leapt at the armored Jackie, but he fell backwards and performed a double-kick at her jaw to vault her over himself. But she recovered as she took the form of a giant hawk this time. But she didn't get much time to fly as a large cluster of vines emerged from the ground to grab her by the wings and pull her down.

"Gotcha!" Cornelia used her powers to hold her firm, but Po Kong turned back to her normal self to try and use raw strength to break free. "Nice try, you skinny little girl." However, the vines around Po Kong simply grew stronger as more emerged from each one to further bind her. "What…?!"

"I'm sorry, you're calling me skinny?" The blonde sounded offended. "You need to shave off probably… a few thousand pounds!"

"How about a mud bath to help you out with that?" Alchemy shot a chi-spell at the ground underneath Po Kong, causing it to turn into quicksand, leading to the Mountain Demon to quickly sink up to the point where her head was only visible as the spell wore off and the ground became solid, leaving the Mountain Demon stuck.

Taranee's whole body was coated with fire as she engaged in close combat with Tso Lan in mid-air. And every punch, kick, and chop she landed did seem to burn him a bit. But he would soon overpower her by blasting his dark gravity beams at her from his lower hands to send her to the ground, where he kept her pressed with his gravity powers.

"The candle that burns twice as bright, only burns half as long." The Moon Demon told her as he tried to crush her with her powers, only for the armored Jackie to leap at him from behind, wrapping one arm around his throat before pulling him back down to the ground, forcing him to let go of the Fire Guardian.

Tso Lan was bale to blast Jackie off him with his lower hands pointing backwards, but was soon struck in the face by a fiery punch from Taranee as she coated her whole body in flames.

"I haven't even begun to burn!" she threw another fiery-punch at Tso Lan, sending him careening to Jackie who dealt a kick to his face to send him up to where Taranee pulled her fists up and slammed them both down on Tso Lan, sending him falling again towards Jackie, who caught him and spun around using the gathered momentum to throw Tso Lan into a building, which Taranee obliterated by throwing a large fire ball at it. When the smoke of the explosion cleared, the Moon Demon laid flat on the ground, covered in bruises and burns.

"You may have been powerful Tso Lan, but you don't know to fight. Just overwhelm through raw force alone." Jackie shook his head with crossed arms as Taranee landed next to him, the flames around her being extinguished.

"Good thing we had someone to teach us otherwise." She smiled to him, to which Jackie smiled back.

Lastly, Irma appeared to have Shendu trapped in a sphere of water, only for that water to evaporate as an inferno escaped Shendu's mouth and he broke free of her prison. He tried to blast her again with his fire-breath, only for Irma to blast a column of water to push back as the two seemed evenly matched.

"You may wield my natural opposite, but you are still a child facing a Demon Sorcerer!" Shendu proclaimed.

"Hey, I'm not a child! I'm a teenager! That's borderline adulthood!" Irma called to him.

"So how about two to even the odds!?" Hay Lin came at Irma's side and blew a stream of cold air from her mouth, adding to the water as it rapidly cooled and pushed back against Shendu's fire before overwhelming it and engulfing Shendu in the combined attack which covered him in ice, seemingly freezing him in place.

"This… won't… hold me…!" Shendu attempted to escape, the ice already cracking.

"It'll hold just long enough… for me to do this!" Jade flew in, as she spread the shadows around her body to create something akin to a Chinese Dragon, which she used to ram into Shendu to send him crashing into the main building of the steel mill befoe Cornelia added to it by causing a small earthquake at the foundation of the building, which soon crumbled as the building then fell apart and collapsed on Shendu.

"What..!? NO!" He reached out in vain as he was completely buried in the collapsing building.

Back at the shed, Susan could only watch as her transformed daughter battled the fire-breathing lizard man that had kidnapped her. Will and Drago exchanged punches and kicks, blocking and parrying each strike with masterful skill. Even when Will tried to kick Drago, he caught her with his tail, but she still used that to her advantage as she spun around in mid-air, using her wings for an added boost to free herself and disorient Drago before blasting him with a pink energy beam to knock him back, though Drago retaliated with a fire-breath, Will was quick to erect a barrier of pink energy to protect herself.

At the same time, Miranda's draconic-spider form charged at Matt, which he blocked with his trash-can lid before striking her in the face with his chi-enhanced hammer, disorienting her to which he followed through with an upward swing to the jaw. But Miradna sliced her claw at Matt to knock the hammer from his hand, though he was quick to draw a bat, which also glowed green before charging at Miranda again, who spat an explosive web at him.

"Captain America comics, don't fail me now!" Matt threw the lid like a frisbee. The second it hit the flaming webs, it exploded and created a smokescreen as Matt rushed through, a bat in one hand and a hockey stick in the other, which he used to beat Miranda across her body before pulling back on both his tools and striking her with enough force to knock her over.

Will had grabbed Drago by his shoulders and flew him into the wall, pressing him against it as they pitted their strength against one another. But Drago noticed a nearby forklift and aimed his left claw at it.

"Quintessence!" Dark red bolts escaped from his claws and onto the machine, which came to life on its own before it spun around and shot at Will.

"Will! Look out!" Susan called to her, but Will couldn't react in time as the forklift rammed into her and drove into the wall on the other side of the shed.

She was pinned to the wall with her arms pressed against her sides by the forks that kept her from lifting them as Drago hoped on top of the vehicle.

"Will!" Matt was about to run and help her, only for Miranda to grab him by the ankle and trip hm, knocking the tools from his hands

"Oh no, you don't!" She pulled him back, slashed away the golf bag with all his weapons, and leapt on top of him.

"Get off!" He tried to push her off as best as she could, but she wouldn't budge.

As Will struggled, Drago pulled her up by the hair and primed his fire breath as flames drooled from his open mouth. "Open wide…!"

Suddenly, he struck on the side of the head to knock him off the forklift. Both Drago and even Will looked in surprise to see an enraged Susan with a crowbar in her hand.

"Don't touch my daughter!" She swung the crowbar at him again, but the half-demon caught it effortlessly and wrenched it from her hands before smacking the back of his hand to her face and knocked her down. He then pressed her chest with his foot to keep her pinned.

"Your daughter… has caused me more pain than you can imagine." He growled. "And I'm going to take such pleasure in making sure she and all her little friends suffer as slowly and painfully as possible." Flames appeared in his mouth once again. "How about I start by killing her mom?"

Suddenly, Drago was picked up by his sides from the same very forklift he chanted, the one that Will just used her own Quintessence powers on.

"Thanks, Cletus." The redhead said.

"No prob, kid." The forklift replied. "At least you ask nice, unlike this punk I got."

"Drago, you are not touching my mom… or anyone else I love… ever again!" Will seethed before she directed her fork-lift in the direction of Matt and Miranda. "Matt, roll out of the way!"

The man did as instructed as he rolled himself out from under Miranda, allowing her to get rammed and picked up by the speedy forklift, which Will directed outside, pushing Drago and Miranda out.

Susan could only blink in surprise. Did Will just make that forklift move on its own?

"Hey, you okay?" She turned to see Matt offering her his hand, which she took shakily as he helped her to his feet. "Yeah, I had the same kind of reaction when I first saw all this."

"What… what is happening…?" That was all she could get out.

"It's probably best to let her tell you." Matt replied with a wince, not envying the kind of emotional drama that his girlfriend was about to go through.

Shendu emerged and limped his way from the what was left of the main building, stumbling in the direction of where the trapped Po Kong was, where all the other beaten Demon Sorcerers were tossed as the other Guardians, the Chan Clan, Yan Lin, and Alchemy stood before them.

"Had enough?" Cornelia challenged.

"Please say 'no'." Irma said.

"Move out of the way! Now!"

Will's warning came in time as the group turned to the side to see Will's forklift speed its way onto the area before coming to a sudden halt, the momentum sending Drago and Miranda flying to the beaten Demon Sorcerers.

But what came next was something that not only stirred the demons awake, but also caused all her friends to back away slightly as Will hovered over them all, a strong and violently glowing pink aura emanating from her body.

"All of you demons, listen up!" Will's voice echoed dangerously and dramatically, catching their full attention. "As of right now, the Guardians' families are off limits! Come at us as much as you want, we can take you! But if any one of you comes near our friends, families, or loved ones again… I swear by the Heart of Kandrakar… that I will personally send each and every one you straight to Hell where you belong!" She then went to Drago and picked him up by his shirt to look him dead in the eye. "Pass that onto 'Mommy Dearest' too, why don't you?" She threw him to the ground.

Drago growled but he soon saw the glowing Will being backed up by the rest of her fellow Guardians, along with the Chan Clan, Alchemy, and Yan Lin, all of whom glared down seriously, ready to put him down at even the slightest flinch.

"Have it your way." The half-demon said reluctantly before opening a Fold above them with his ring. "But this still isn't over." He let the Fold descend upon them all, taking away all the demons, including the trapped Po Kong and even Miranda right before it vanished.

Once it was all said and done, Will relaxed as she let her aura drop before falling onto her rear in physical and emotional exhaustion. All the other girls followed suit, with even Uncle and Yan Lin feeling tired as they held onto Tohru for support.

"That… we actually beat them…" Hay Lin gave an exhausted laugh. "We actually beat the Demon Sorcerers…!"

"Even after the hard time they gave us when they all got out…" Taranee added.

"Yeah… but it feels like I just ran a hundred marathons…" Irma said in exhaustion.

"You guys know they'll be back, right?" Cornelia reminded.

"Of course, they will…" Jade already knew. "They're stubborn…"

"And we'll be ready for them." Jackie said as he spoke to all the girls, taking a few minutes to catch his own tired breath as well. "I am proud of all of you. You all did very well today."

All the girls smiled before Will pushed herself up. "Thanks Jackie but… that wasn't even the hardest part…" Looking past him, she and everyone else saw Susan slowly and shakily walking towards them with Matt right behind her.

Taking out the Heart of Kandrakar again, Will used it to turn all her friends back to normal as she stepped to her mother, who could only look at her with shaky eyes.

"Mom… we need to talk."

Vandom Residence

Susan sat at the table, a cup of tea in her hand, which she hadn't even drank yet as Will sat across from her, her friends all behind her, as she gave her the basic gist over what has been happening all this time. Susan said nothing during the whole time, not even asking a single question. Even after Will finished, her mom had not said a single word as she just stared down into her cup. The silence only made Will all the more nervous.

"M-mom…?" Will spoke up. "Are you… still with me…?"

"You… have magic powers…" Susan finally spoke, her voice sounding flat as she recalled what had been told. "And… you've been fighting… those monsters… ever since we moved to Heatherfield…"

"Well… technically those guys are more… recent development." Will corrected. "But… yeah. We've been fighting monsters, demons, wizards, evil tyrants, and the occasional crime lord…"

"I see…" Susan didn't even look her in the eye.

"I… I wanted to tell you." Will spoke. "But this whole thing… I… I thought we would take care of it and… I'd tell you when things cooled down after but… everything just… it's all starting really go downhill and… I never thought they'd go after you. I never wanted that. I never… wanted my worlds to collide or you to get hurt I… I… I'm sorry. I thought… I thought I was protecting you by not having you worry…"

"You protecting me? Isn't that supposed to be my job?" Susan asked, her tone still flat and appearing unemotional right now. "Who else knows about this?"

"Aside from everyone here…" Will gestured to everyone behind her. "A secret government agency knows and… an order of monks. At least on Earth, anyway."

"Government and monks." Susan summed up before sighing and standing up from her chair.

"Mom?" Will wasn't quite sure how her mother would react, but this… this seemed way to quiet or passive than she was expecting. "Where are you going?"

"To get some sleep." She asked, walking to her room. "Though I'm not sure that I can, given the night I just had."

"So… what…? No yelling, no grounding, no forbidding me from doing magic ever again?" Will asked.

Susan stopped only briefly, just outside her own room, but she didn't even turn around. "I just saw my own daughter bring a forklift to life and fight a fire-breathing demon. And apparently all your friends can do the same thing. I'm pretty sure grounding you isn't going to stop you. I doubt I ever can if monsters can't. Good luck protecting the world, if that's really you're calling." That's all she said as she entered the room and closed the door behind her.

It became silent again as Will only just stared at her mother's room. Despite not yelling, Will could clearly tell that her mom was angry at her, not that she blamed her. But the way she spoke… it almost sounded like she was giving up. Stepping out of her daughter's left. That kind of thought hurt more than any kind of yelling she had expected.

A hand was placed on her shoulder as she turned to see Jackie. "She… probably just needs time."

"I… I don't know… what was supposed to happen here. But… it definitely wasn't this." Will muttered. She looked down with tears already building in her eyes. "This isn't how I wanted it to go… Did I mess up…? Is this on me…?"

"Will, you didn't mess up." Jackie told her. "We all knew this was going to be messy, and nobody can really be prepared for something like this. But I know that your mother loves you, she just… she needs time to let all this process. Not everyone can process something like this so smoothly."

"So why does it feel like I've lost her…?" She was already crying. Instantly, Jackie pulled her into a hug as she buried her face into his chest and cried her eyes out. This prompted Matt and Jade to move in first as they hugged and comforted the crying Will, with the other girls right behind them as Tohru, Uncle, and Yan Lin all stood around her as she continued to cry.

At the same time, just on the other side of the door… the very moment Susan had entered her own room, she slid back on the door and sat on the floor… before her own tears flowed out. All the stress from what had just happened… to the very idea that her own daughter was risking her very life fighting literal monsters for more than a year and she had no idea… all that was just too much for her to handle.

Just like her daughter, she cried her eyes out. But unlike her daughter, she didn't have anyone to comfort or ease her conscious.

The Next Morning

Nerissa and Cassidy both appeared in front of a house where an elderly woman appeared to be working on her garden outside. But curiously, Nerissa was not using the Snake Talisman to render herself or Cassidy's spirit invisible.

"It's been a day like you said, Nerissa." Cassidy said. "We've toured Heatherfield up, down, and sideways. You gave it your best shot, but it's not going to happen. So just send me home."

"Where do you think we are?" Nerissa asked.

"Hello?" The elderly woman stood up from her garden, grabbing her white cane from the ground, revealing that she was blind. "Is someone there?"

Cassidy recognized the woman instantly. "Mom…?!"

"It's Nerissa, Emily." The sorceress spoke in a friendly tone, looking toward Cassidy's shaky eyes as her mother couldn't hear her spirit. "I'm sorry for startling you, the garden looks lovely today."

"Thank you, Nerissa." Emily smiled as she heard her voice. "And don't you apologize dear, you are always welcome here."

"Yes and… I apologize for… not visiting you for so long." Nerissa looked away with some guilt. In her youth, she did admire and look up to Cassidy's mother, who always made her feel welcome in her home, especially when she and Cassidy got together, something that Emily couldn't be any happier over.

"It's alright, dear." Emily walked over and felt for Nerissa, putting her hand on her shoulder. "I know that Cassidy meant the world to you. She loved you, truly."

"As you did." Nerissa took her own hand before looking down at the locket that Emily wore. "She gave you that locket, didn't she?"

"Yes… I believe you saw her do so." Emily opened her locket to reveal the picture of Cassidy. Despite not being able to see, Emily new the image of her daughter was there, one of the few reminders she had of her.

"Oh mom…" Cassidy was brought to tears as she tried to reach for her mother, only for her ghostly form to pass through her like thin air.

"Wait here, I will get us some lemonade." Emily said before walking into her house.

"She misses you terribly." Nerissa said to Cassidy. "She and I both understand the pain of losing a child all too well. But just as my son returned to me, you can return to her."

Cassidy felt a mixture of grief and anger. "Nerissa… that…. that is just cruel… Even for you…!"

"It's only cruel if you refuse." Nerissa replied. "I'm not forcing anything onto you, just giving you the chance to be with your mother again. You, her, Drago, and myself…. We should have been a family together, and we can be now, laws of balance be damned!" She saw Cassidy's spirit look away. "I know you, Cassidy. You can say otherwise, but I know you want this." She reached into her robe to pull out the Heart of Meridian as well as the Tiger Talisman, both began to glow as a dark red aura emanated from the jewel to the Talisman, and that dark red aura was drawn to Cassidy's own spirit.

"I… I don't…" She struggled.

"Say it, Cassidy. Don't deny it anymore. Say what your heart desires. Say that you want to live!" Nerissa told her.

"I… I want…" Tried as she might, Cassidy knew deep down that she did want this. She wanted to see her mother again. She wanted to live with Nerissa and raise Drago together like they originally planned. She wanted to be with the people she loved so dearly. She couldn't deny it anymore. "I want to live…!"

The instant she admitted that, the dark red energy enveloped her spirit as the Nerissa's spell via the Heart of Meridian and channeled through the Tiger Talisman connected to the darker side of her chi and brought it out to the surface, under her control.

"Compassion and love are such beautiful and bright emotions." Nerissa began. "But they can just as easily fuel desire… the desire for something that you cannot, should not have, is the key to the darkness in your soul… and all I need to make you mine!"

The eyes of Cassidy's spirit opened to reveal they were now blank and empty, showing that she was no thoroughly under her influence. Such an act gave Nerissa her own mixed feelings.

"Please understand, my love… I take no joy in this." Nerissa said to her. "I promise to restore your free will, and to bring you back to life, and we can have that life that we've always wanted… where we no longer have to fight and live in peace…!" She steeled herself to push back her emotions. "But first, we have to tear down the old order and build something new. So let us begin."

With that, Nerissa opened a Fold for them to leave Earth.

Meridian

Returning to the volcanic lair, Nerissa found all the injured Demon Sorcerers nursing their own wounds, with Drago sitting on a rock next to Miranda, who slid down upon noticing his mother's presence, as well as Cassidy's spirit.

"I see it all worked on your end." Drago said.

"And yours?" Nerissa asked.

"Like clockwork, as you old folks say." Drago grinned. "Speaking of, how's Will's mom holding out?"

Nerissa looked into her scepter to see the image of Susan still crying alone in her room. "I think she's taking it… rather well." She snickered. "Your plan to abduct her had it's risks, but thanks to that, they won't suspect that we still have plans for her. Speaking of…" The old sorceress stepped into the middle of the area, catching the attention of all the injured Demon Sorcerers before she showed the Horse Talisman and channeled the Heart of Meridian's power into it to cast a wave of healing energy that spread in all directions to heal all the demons' injuries. "I'd asked how it went, but I think I can take a guess."

Shendu stepped forward. "Regardless of the outcome, it still seems the end results were achieved." He said upon noticing Cassidy's spirit.

"Is that a ghost?" Hsi Wu questioned as the other Demon Sorcerers noticed the presence of the spirit.

"That's where you've been all this time?" Xiao Fung questioned. "While we battled the Guardians, you brought a ghost?"

"A dear friend, I assure you." Nerissa said. "One that will serve us well."

Tso Lan hovered to the spirit of Cassidy and observed it. "I sense a familiar power from this spirit…"

"I do as well…" Bai Tza slithered around it. "One that feels very similar to that of the Guardians… specifically that child who wields the same element as my own."

"Who is this spirit?" Dai Gui stepped forward. "What purpose does she serve us?"

"None of your business." Drago stepped up.

"Is that so?" Po Kong questioned. "Because I think that it is."

"You freed us from the void, but it is not without reason." Hsi Wu said suspiciously.

"And I suspect that spirit has a role to play in it all, as we do." Xiao Fung said.

"No more games, sorceress!" Tchang Zu appeared behind Nerissa, prompting Drago to stand in-between him and his mother. "Tell us the truth, or I will force you to do so!" He clenched his electric fists together, with Drago looking more than ready to fight back.

Only for Nerissa to put her hand on her son's shoulder, telling him to step aside as she addressed all the demons. "I freed you all, because I need your help. As all of you know already, I too was once a Guardian, and the previous bearer to the Heart of Kandrakar. Cassidy here, was also once a Guardian, but now thanks to the spell I have placed on her, her spirit is now under my control, and I hope to do so for the rest of my old team. With a spell that I have prepared, as well as all your elemental powers, specifically those of fire, water, earth, and wind, I hope to not only resurrect my team… but restore our youth and our powers to their former glory…."

Suddenly, Bai Tza seized Nerissa with one of her tentacles and pulled her close to her enraged face. "You dare make such an audacious request of us?!"

"Have I not yet earned your trust?" Nerissa replied. "I freed you and destroyed the Pan'Ku Box, and will ensure that you are never imprisoned in the Netherworld again. Isn't it fair compensation for you to help me in return?"

"Compensation… by restoring the powers of those who have proven strong enough to defeat us in combat?!" Bai Tza glared down angrily at Nerissa, recalling how she and her siblings were bested by the current generation of Guardians.

"The current Guardians defeated us in battle, and they are merely children, even if they had aid from Jackie Chan." Tso Lan said in a calm yet warning tone. "Now you would have us restore a more experienced generation?"

"One firmly under your control and you can use to so easily turn on us?!" Xiao Fung added.

"Give us one reason why we don't bury you and your son right here and now!" Dai Gui demanded.

"I'll give you all that and thensome!" Drago's flames grew from his palms with Miranda stepping by his side.

A larger fireball struck Bai Tza, causing her to squeal as her body briefly steamed up, forcing her to let go of Nerissa as Shendu stepped in the middle of the gathering of his siblings.

"That is enough out of all of you!"

"You knew this, didn't you, Shendu?" Tchang Zu glared down.

"It is rather unlike you to actually offer aid to someone else." Hsi Wu commented. "I can understand from a certain perspective as the sorceress is your mate, but you never learned to share even with your own family."

"A mistake that I have since learned from, which is why I offered the Talismans to you." Shendu replied.

"And how does resurrecting Nerissa's team of Guardians benefit us?" Tso Lan questioned. "I can't even see how it would benefit just you, when it seems to be mostly in favor for her."

"Admittedly, it does benefit her more than the rest of us. I personally have no love for any in Nerissa's team." Shendu began. "However, her quest to reclaim her lost friends and power, falls in line with our desire to seize the cosmos, and we have more to gain by working together as opposed to against one another. For instance, our next step, is all but crucial, for not only will Nerissa claim another of her former teammates, but we shall do the one thing that nobody in any world before has ever attempted to do so, much less succeed. The one thing that will throw all of creation into chaos."

Po Kong scoffed. "And that would be?"

Shendu eyed all his siblings seriously as he gave his answer. "Overthrowing Kandrakar."

All of the demons gasped in surprised, clearly not expecting that revelation.

"Rewriting the history of Earth alone was one thing Shendu…" Xiao Fung muttered. "But this…"

"Even we never dared to threaten the central realm!" Hsi Wu stated.

"And it is true that while that world's mystic heart is no longer in that dimension, currently in the possession of the Guardians, the line of Oracles is not one to be trifled with." Tso Lan said.

"The power of the Oracle is one to fear indeed, yes." Nerissa spoke up. "But, I've taken measures to ensure that he is thoroughly weakened. And the best part of this plan? Kandrakar has never been attacked before. Nobody ever dared, as you say. They would never expect a siege and would be completely unprepared for it, especially with what I have done to weaken their defenses."

"And this benefits you, how?" Bai Tza questioned, eyeing Nerissa with suspicion.

"Because one of my former teammates is on the council." The sorceress answered. "Should we play our cards right, not only will we take the center of the universe itself as our own, to begin our campaign to seize other worlds for your empire… but we may even eliminate the threat of the Guardians. It is true that they possess the Heart of Kandrakar, but their powers are still tethered to that realm via the Aurameres. Should those precious little orbs be damaged, it could sever their connection to the Heart permanently and neutralize their abilities."

"Won't you need the Heart yourself, being a former Guardian, to resurrect your old team and their powers?" Xiao Fung asked.

"No." Nerissa shook her head. "I already possess the Mystic Heart of Meridian." She showed the jewel for emphasis. "But in order to gain enough power to perform the spell needed to bring my old friends back, and restore our powers, I will need a second mystic heart… and powerful sources of elemental magic to revitalize our abilities. And that is where you all come in." She gestured to the surrounding demons. "All I seek, is my old team. My old friends. Help me with this, and the universe will be all yours for the taking." She sneered at them. "So, what do you say? Do we have a bargain?"

Aside from Shendu, all the Demon Sorcerers exchanged eye contact before coming to a silent agreement. Po Kong, Tso Lan, and Tchang Zu aimed their hands and shot beams of dark energy at Nerissa, while Dai Gui did the same via his horns, Hsi Wu from his wings, Bai Tza from her tentacles, and Xiao Fung from his mouth. Once they hit her, Nerissa was unharmed, but a dark magical aura enveloped her body.

"Hey, what's the big deal?!" Drago stood by his mom's side.

"What have you done?" Nerissa questioned, looking at the aura around herself that quickly vanished.

"You have proven to be every bit as crafty as Shendu, and we've learned by now not to underestimate that level of cunning." Hsi Wu said.

"Even with the promise of the universe, wielding two Mystic Hearts is a lot to ask. So, we require a little… insurance." Po Kong added.

"The spell we have placed on you will activate when you perform your ritual to restore your old team's power." Bai Tza explained. "Should anything happen to us during said ritural, any possible damage we sustain shall be reflected back onto you."

"A precaution, just so you don't get any funny ideas of betraying us." Xiao Fung said.

"And in the event that you, or those associated with you…" Tso Lan looked at Shendu and Drago specifically before continuing. "…Remove this spell, we will know immediately. We will take that as an immediate betrayal and respond accordingly."

"By turning you to ash!" Tchang Zu went up close to Nerissa, pushing Drago aside as he did.

"Treed your step carefully, Nerissa." Dai Gui warned. "We will not be your pawns."

"You…!" Drago growled and looked ready to fight back, with Miranda stepping in behind him, contemplating whether to aid him, or pull him away from any possible battle that he may not be able to win.

"It's alright." Nerissa held her arm out to keep her son from doing anything as the dark aura vanished around her. "I accept your terms. I'm no stranger to working with others and making compromises, nor am I one to risk the lives of my cohorts without risking my own as well. We're in this together."

This caused the demons to lower their guard only slightly, but they'd still be keeping an eye on this sorceress. Though Nerissa grumbled internally, while she did expect something like this from her newfound 'allies', that did not make it any less infuriating to be under the watch of somebody else. But regardless, such a thing was a necessary evil to ensure her dream in the long run. So, as she said, she would accept their terms, for now.

"Speaking of together… Shendu, how would you say our family performed against the Guardians?" Nerissa asked.

"We seem to hold the advantage in individual combat, as well as raw power." Shendu replied. "However, our foes seem to better perform as a unit, a team. They had a strategy that involved working together, and were able to overpower all of us, even when some of us were enhanced by the Talismans." He looked at Po Kong and Hsi Wu specifically.

"I expected as much…" Nerissa said. "That being said, if we're to win another battle against them in the future, then perhaps it is time we do the same. Wouldn't you all agree…" She looked to the surrounding demons again with a sinister smile. "…Team?"

Done.

So, yeah… quite a bit happened in this chapter.

We had yet another epic battle between the Guardians and their allies against the Demon Sorcerers, but this time… they were able to win! By working together, they were able to overcome and defeat their deadly adversaries. However, Nerissa is now pitching the idea to all of them that they need to do the same in order to win the next bout.

But even though the heroes still won their battle, Nerissa still completed her own personal objective. She brought back Cassidy's ghost and has her under her control with the intent of bringing her old team back, with the aid of the Demons Sorcerers. When you think about it, telling them now would make more strategic sense than simply keeping them in the dark, especially since none of them are fools and they have experience dealing with the same kind of craftiness from Shendu. Better to rip the bandage off now and work at gaining their trust then trying so hard to keep a secret hidden that they can find out later and derail your plans. But of course, they're still no fools as they have a little bit of insurance to make sure they're not betrayed, which Nerissa reluctantly accepted.

But arguably the biggest takeaway from this chapter, was Will's mother finding out about her daughter's secret. And it was quite the emotional bombshell for both mother and daughter, one that's going to have a lasting impact going forward. It was revealed by the writers that not only Susan, but the other Guardians' parents (as well as Alchemy) would learn their secret in the planned Season 3, but the show got cancelled as you know, so it never really came to light. But it seemed like a golden opportunity in my continuity for at least Susan to learn it at this point, so I went with it.

As for her reaction… If I'm being honest… I really wasn't sure up until I started writing this on how exactly she would react to it. I mean, it was a given that she would not take it very well, or that she would process it all so quickly. It was her initial reaction that was the issue for me at first… but I felt like that cold shoulder impression I wrote (if you could call it that) would fit best for someone who just went through the traumatizing and emotional event that she did. Expect the aftermath in the following chapter…

As well as the one moment that I know that many of you were waiting for… the Demon Sorcerers' siege of Kandrakar! And let me tell ya, that chapter is gonna be one hell of a ride!

And despite everything that happened with Susan, Nerissa still has plans for her. And what they might be, you shall see.

Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there.

See you all next time.