A/N: I wanna thank you all again for your support! R & R!
"Ugh…" Jackie groaned as he finally began to regain consciousness. He was slowly opening his eyes, letting the afternoon light of a window fill his gaze. He was still very much in pain from that beating Monkey Fist has given him. His eyes fully opened as he saw he was no longer in Oakland or even in San Francisco. It appeared to be a typical teen girl's room. He was on the bed, resting right next to a hybrid stuffed animal of what consisted to be a mix-up of a panda and kangaroo. He then saw Kim's mother, Dr. Ann Sarah Possible, soaking a wash cloth in warm water. "Huh? Where am I?"
"You're in Middleton, Colorado." Ann explained with a warm smile as she pressed the cloth to one of Jackie's bruises. Jackie gritted his teeth as the brain surgeon treated his wounds. "You're in my daughter's bedroom. You were very lucky she brought you in last night. My name is Ann Possible. I'm a doctor."
Jackie's eyes went slightly wide as he realized the woman nursing his wounds was Kim's mother. He was pretty amazed that Kim had a mother who knew what she was doing. But then he began to feel guilty over ignoring Kim earlier when he was trying to help Monkey Fist see the light. It turns out Kim was right: most villains aren't capable of change. He hoped he hadn't bruised Kim's pride, and knew he needed to apologize to her. Jackie then turned to Ann and offered a friendly and grateful smile. "Pleased to meet you, Dr. Possible. I'm Jackie Chan."
Ann smiled back while applying some bandages to Jackie's knees. "Why yes I know." she said. "Kimmie told me so much about you and her other new friends. To be honest, I was a little bit skeptical about the idea of dragons and witches living among us, but of course, my baby girl saves the world on a regular basis from mega villains, so what do I know?" She giggled, making Jackie chuckle. He was pretty surprised that Kim's mother is pretty open minded when it comes to facing dangerous villains. He for sure would never let Jade fly off on a school night to fight off the Dark Hand. It was clear he and Kim's parents had different parenting styles. Yet Jackie was curious to learn some more about them.
"So, this is Kim's room." Jackie realized before glancing back over at the stuffed animal. I think that little creature might be something Jade would be interested in. He thought to himself. "Say, what is this thing?" he asked curiously.
"Oh! That's Kim's favorite Cuddle Buddy: Pandaroo!" Ann gushed with love. "Kimmie loves Cuddle Buddies. She goes crazy for them whenever a new set comes out! And boy, does she love her Pandaroo. She never lets me wash him. If one of the boys touches him, Kim will go medieval on you."
Jackie and Ann managed to have a laugh over that. "Thank you for the helpful reminder. So, do you have any more kids?" Jackie asked.
"Oh, yes. Jim and Tim, twin boys. They're amazingly bright. But so mischievous. Me and my husband have to ground them twice every month to make sure their jokes don't cause the whole world to blow up." Ann explained with a grin as she finished bandaging Jackie's leg. "I bet you don't have to worry about any of that with your niece."
If only you knew what type of trouble Jade has been up to in the two years she's lived with me, Jackie thought, chuckling uneasily to himself. He then turned to Ann with that grateful, friendly smile. "Why thank you for treating my injuries, Dr. Possible." he said as Ann finished bandaging his wounds.
"As my daughter would say, no big." Ann giggled, getting up. "Anyway, why don't you rest up for a couple of hours? Then you can join all of us for lunch."
Jackie blushed and giggled nervously. "Oh, I'm not sure. I wouldn't want to…" he said, trying to remain humble. He also didn't want to face Kim being angry, not of fear, but of guilt.
"Nonsense. You're our guest." Ann grinned before packing up her stuff and heading downstairs. Jackie then sighed, knowing there was no getting out of this. He was very grateful that the Possibles were willing to put him up and offer him lunch. But he was more worried about trying to apologize to Kim for not listening to her.
Just then, Kim, still in her mission clothes, came upstairs to her room, wanting to change out of her mission gear and into her civilian clothes. Upon entering, her eyes locked on Jackie, who smiled and waved sheepishly, yet she huffed, clearly still tweaked. "Oh, you're awake. How fun." Kim dryly remarked, marching into her closet.
Jackie sighed, hoping he didn't hurt Kim's feelings too much. "Kim? Look, I know…" Jackie tried to say before Kim cut him off.
"So, since we lost the sword and Dalon probably knows where you should be in San Franscico, I do believe it would be best for you to find out here for a few days." Kim said with a tweaked tone, slipping on her purple shirt before quipping, "But I guess I probably don't know best since I'm just a kid."
Jackie gulped, knowing this was going to be harder than he thought. "Yes about that…" Jackie tried again as Kim slipped into her black pants and faced Jackie, clearly still tweaked.
"Hopefully Wade can track Dalon, the Huntsman, and Monkey Fist down and then we can get the sword." Kim said, still tweaked and not even listening to Jackie. "But I guess he probably doesn't know best because he's more attuned with technology and he's just a kid. I already called Uncle and he's agreed to keep an eye on Jade. Oh, and for the record, I do think Jade can handle herself, but I guess I'm wrong because I'm just a kid!"
Jackie sighed as Kim turned to go back downstairs and decided to try one last time. "Kim! I know you're upset, but can you please listen to me?!" he exclaimed, causing Kim to stop in her tracks. But she turned to face him, still clearly tweaked.
"I get that you're worried about Jade's safety, but now after spending time with you, I can finally see why she won't listen to you." Kim remarked dryly before stomping out of her room. Jackie sighed, clearly knowing he crossed a line when dealing with Kim. He would have to prove he was sorry sooner or later.
Back at Uncle's Rare Finds in San Fransico, Luz was talking with her mother, Camilla Noceda, while packing her backpack with enough stuff to survive a two hour trip into the city. "Don't worry, Mama. Everything is fine. We're tons of fun at Section 13. And we're liking our new friends. Especially Jade! She's so cool!" Luz gushed, making Jade smile as she packed her own backpack. Jade loved that she had a friend that not only believed her stories about her time with her Uncle Jackie, but also had plenty of magical adventures herself.
"I am más allá de glad to hear that, mija." Camilla's voice beamed on the other end of the line. Luz blushed under her smile, glad that her mother finally began to accept and understand her. They came a long way from when Camilla wanted to send her daughter to summer camp in the hopes of being normal. "So, how is San Francisco? Is it as hip as you thought it would be?"
"Yeah, and is the Golden Gate Bridge really made of gold?" Hunter Noceda, Luz's adoptive brother's voice rang out, making Luz laugh. Luz knew she should have brought Hunter with them, but he felt comfortable staying with Camilla and Vee until he felt mentally ready to go out into the world. He still had a lot of emotional trauma to work through after Flapjack's death and defeating Emperor Belos.
"No, Hunter. I don't know where you guys get that notion." Luz said with a grin. "But anyway, it's better than I imagined! People here are more accepting and friendly, there's plenty of things to do, and we're living in a special secret agency that would make Tom Cruise and his Mission Impossible team so jealous!" Luz and Camila shared a laugh over the movie reference before Luz's expression turned a bit serious. "But I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you."
"Oh, I miss you too." Camilla cooed on the other line.
"But don't fret! I've talked to Captain Black and he said if I'd like, I can send for a jet to pick you up every weekend so you can come and see me, and meet everyone else." Luz smiled, already perking back up.
"Oh mija, that would be excelente." Camilla smiled on the other end.
Jade smiled as she watched Luz talk with her mom before walking over to Gus and Rose. "Alright, do we have everything?" Jade asked.
"I think so." Rose confirmed with a smile. "Notebooks, pencils, books about magical creatures, lunch…"
"...compass in case we get lost, aspirin, water, extra batteries, flare gun…" Gus said, listing off his stuff, already confusing Jade and Rose.
"Gus, chill. We're just going through the city. Not preparing for the Hunger Games." Jade quipped.
"I know, but so far, the only human realm city that we've explored was Luz's hometown of Gravesfield. It doesn't hurt to be prepared." Gus said, pulling out his phone to take a selfie. "For my big quest scrapbook." Rose and Jade shrugged and smiled as Gus took the picture.
Meanwhile, in a different part of the shop, Uncle was yelling orders to Tohru. "Be careful with that vase, Tohru! It's Ming Dynasty! It cost Uncle a fortune!" he barked as his Japanese apprentice tried to carefully carry a vase to a shelf.
"Yes sensei." Tohru sighed.
"One more thing! Don't forget to unclog sink!" Uncle barked, making Tohru sigh. He loved helping his sensei, but sometimes the workload can become too much. And Uncle was a bit too bossy.
"I can help you with that, buddy." Fu Dog smiled as he fetched the plunger and carried it in his mouth like a regular dog would with a stick. That was clearly bewildering for Tohru. A dog helping to unclog a sink?
"That's very considerate of you, Fu. But I don't know…" Tohru tried to say.
"Hey, don't try to be humble. We all need help every now and then. Besides, your kitchen sink is probably not the scariest thing I had to unclog." Fu grinned and giggled as he walked into the kitchen.
Tohru began to sigh with relief before Uncle barked out. "One more thing! Dust up shop! Cobwebs are forming by the minute!" he ordered, making Thoru sigh again before Lao Shi took the duster.
"That won't be necessary, Tohru. You worry about the vase and I will dust up." Lao smiled, already doing just that, making Tohru smile as he began to put the vase on the shelf like Uncle said.
Jake and Amity continued to pack as Luz began to wrap up her phone conversation with Camila, Hunter, and her adoptive sister, Vee. "I miss you too, sis! I'll call you tomorrow!" Luz promised with a smile. "I love you, mama!"
"I love you too, mija! Have a fun adventure! Aidios!" Camilla beamed on the other line as she and Luz hung up. Jake went a bit wide eyed as he heard Luz utter the word 'sis'.
"Wait a minute. I thought you were an only child." Jake pointed out.
"I am. By birth. But after I told my mom the truth about where I've been for the past summer instead of that summer camp, and after I got separated from King and Eda during Unity Day, Vee and Hunter became my adoptive brother and sister." Luz explained with a small smile.
"I got a few pics of them on my phone! Wanna see?" Amity offered with a giddy smile.
"Sure!" Jake smiled as Amity showed Jake the photos of the Hexsquad with Hunter and Vee, just chilling out like any other group of friends would. But then Jake's eyes widened with shock at the sight of Vee in her natural form. "WHOA! Your sister is a basilisk?!"
"Uh, yeah." Luz said with an uneasy smile. "But don't worry! Vee is totally safe and friendly. You'll love her."
"I sure hope so." Jake said. "The last time I confronted a basilisk in NYC, it almost devoured Spud whole!"
"PLEASE DON'T REMIND ME OF THAT MEMORY, DUDE!" Spud exclaimed, already shuddering from Jake mentioning the memory. "I still can't unsee the inside of it's mouth!"
Luz and Anity both glanced at each other, unsure of what to make of Spud's panic attack. "Well, Vee is different." Amity explained. "You see, Vee was created by the Emperor's Coven as an experiment. She didn't even have a name. She was known as Basilisk Number Five." Jake and Spud gulped, now feeling completely sorry for Luz's sister. Growing up as an experiment with no name? Such a cruel thing. "But anyway, when Luz first stumbled upon the Boiling Isles, Vee managed to escape into the Human Realm."
"And she kind of impersonated me during that time, fooling my mom and everyone else." Luz said with a sheepish smile. "But she's very sweet. And more than anything, she just wants a place to belong. Try to remember that if you see her."
Jake and Spud nodded with understanding. "OK, but if she starts speaking in snake language like in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, I'm not getting anywhere near her!" Spud exclaimed, earning chuckles and giggles from Jake, Luz, and Amity.
"But wait: how come you guys have Basilisks?" Luz asked Jake curiously. The fact that the Human Realm actually does contain magic was very amazing, but she still had many questions and wondered if the magical creatures were much different than the ones in the Boiling Isles.
"Long story." Jake chuckled sheepishly, but he didn't get a chance to answer.
"ONE MORE THING!" Uncle barked, piercing almost everyone's eardrums. "Uncle needs to sit down." Uncle then went to a chair in the living room but upon sitting down, a loud, flatulence sound was heard, making his eyes go wide and everyone laugh. He reached down and saw someone put a whoopie cushion under him. "AIYA! Who put whoopie cushion on Uncle's chair?!"
Suddenly, as if on cue, Eda approached the elderly Chinese shop-keeper with a grin and began to laugh loudly. "Man, those whoopie cushions never fail!" Eda smirked, causing Uncle to glare at the Owl Lady. "Hey, loosen up, Billy Goat. It's all good-natured humor."
"YOU THINK HUMILIATING UNCLE IS FUNNY?!" Uncle barked. Even though Eda has only been near his presence for a whole week, she was already starting to get on his last nerves. Like Tohru's mother.
"Pretty much." Eda smiled and shrugged. Uncle then formed a wicked grin before looking in Eda's suitcase of human novelty items she has collected from the Human Realm to sell in the Boiling Isles, then picked something up, and hid it behind his back.
"Eda is right. All good natured fun." Uncle said with a smile, freaking even Jade out. Why was Uncle now being nice to Eda?
"Uh, Uncle?" Jade asked, a bit confused, but Uncle ignored his great-niece and presented Eda with what seemed like a can of peanuts.
"Hey! Peanuts!" Eda smiled, clearly falling for it, grabbing the can from Uncle's hands. "For a billy goat, you're not that bad." She then began to try to open the nuts.
"Eda, wait! It's a booby gag! Remember?" Luz warned her.
"Luz, relax. How much trouble can one can of…" Eda said, grunting until she finally opened the can to reveal not peanuts but…"AUGH! SNAKES!" But of course, the snakes were fake. The Owl Lady's eyes went wide as she realized that Uncle tricked her.
"AHAHA! Uncle may be old, but he is not slow!" Uncle laughed harshly, earning her a glare from Eda that basically screamed 'you're about to be eaten'.
"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?!" Eda barked, leading to a glare-off between the two, much to the concern of the Hexsquad. "Well you won't be laughing longer once I bake you into a pie!"
"Does the Owl Lady want a piece of Uncle?! THEN BRING IT!" Uncle challenged, leading to Luz and Jake to step in between the two, hoping to bring peace and not have Uncle and Eda hurt each other.
"Stop it you two!" Luz scolded. "Now look, we're going to be here for quite a while, and as much as you both hate this, we're all going to have to work together! And that means you two must not fight!"
"Yeah, she's right! And if you can't behave like adults, then take it outside!" Jake warned. Uncle and Eda huffed as they both turned and walked away from each other. Jake then grinned to himself. "I think we handled that well."
"Alrighty, are we all ready to go?" Trixie asked as the rest of Team Dragon and the Hexsquad gathered around Jade.
"Yes! We're all set!" Willow smiled as she put on her backpack. Just then, King approached his friends, carrying Franscios.
"And the King of Demons and his faithful servant Franscios are ready to begin as well!" King exclaimed proudly.
"Awwwwwww!" Rose, Trixie, and Jade gushed over King holding his stuffed rabbit like a toddler.
"OK, enough mushy stuff! Let's go!" Jake grinned. He and everyone else prepared to step out before Eda blocked their path with his staff, wearing the face of a very strict parent.
"And where do you think you're going?" Eda asked sternly with an arched eyebrow, leading to Jade and Team Dragon to smile nervously, not sure what to make of her sudden behavior change. Only the Hexsquad managed to keep a straight face.
"Oh, nowhere serious." Jade giggled nervously, hoping that Eda wouldn't squeal on her to Uncle. The last thing she wanted was to be grounded just for helping out her new friends.
"Yeah, just heading out into the city to research how to put the kibosh on the new bad guy team!" Luz grinned proudly, making Jade gasp.
"Luz! Are you-" Jade was about to say before Luz gave her a look that basically said, 'Just wait'.
Eda then smiled, her stern demeanor disappearing. "OK! You guys have fun!" she said, unblocking their path before saying, "And don't worry about the billy goat. I'll just tell him you all went out for ice cream."
Jade smiled with relief as Eda left. "Told you not to worry." Luz smiled and winked.
"Come on, let's go!" Rose grinned as Jade, Team Dragon, and the Hexsquad exited the shop and began to travel through Chinatown to begin their research quest.
Back in Middleton, Colorado, inside the Possible household, Kim was helping her mom make lunch for the family, Ron, and Jackie. Ann was busy making fried chicken, sandwiches, and fruit while Kim helped her mom with cutting the sandwiches. She didn't mind helping her parents with chores. It showed them she can be responsible and it doesn't hurt that she gets an allowance for doing them. But Kim was still tweaked over Jackie underestimating her and Ron, and now avoiding him would be a lot more difficult since he was staying with her and her family for a few days.
"Thanks so much for helping me out with lunch, Kimmie." Ann beamed proudly, making Kim smile and blush as she continued cutting the sandwiches. "You're so responsible and you can surely be trusted."
"Awww…thanks mom." Kim smiled before her thoughts turned back to when Jackie underestimated her. "If only Jackie could really see that." She began to get really tweaked, and started cutting the sandwiches more harshly. "He's very skilled of course, but so am I. I mean, I know 16 styles of kung fu, but does he seem to care? NO!"
Ann turned concerned as Kim began to rant and cut the sandwiches at the same time. "Uh, Kimmie?" Ann asked.
"And why would he think if he can reform a 400 pound Japanese criminal that can reform a mad monkey man?! WELL, HE CAN'T!" Kim continued to rant. "And young lady?! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?! MY DAD?!"
"KIM!" Ann exclaimed worriedly, allowing Kim to stop her ranting and see that during her angry ranting, she managed to cut the cutting board in two.
"Oh, whoops." Kim smiled sheepishly, clearly embarrassed. "Sorry, mom."
Ann smirked as she took the knife from her daughter's hands. "It's OK, Kimmie. You do have every right to be angry, but Jackie does have a few valid points." she said. "After all, you're still 17."
"Well, yeah, but-" Kim tried to argue as her mom continued to playfully quip.
"And you love taking bubble baths." Ann giggled, making Kim blush as she got more embarrassed. "And of course, you still sleep with Pandaroo."
"OK, mom. I get it." Kim sighed and rolled her eyes. "But he should be OK with what I do. I mean, you and dad were awesome when I started going on missions." Ann managed a warm smile when Kim said that. It was true that she and her husband are very open minded when Kim goes out on missions during school nights. "You know, come to think of it: how come Jackie didn't bring Jade along? Well, yes, she's basically a kid, but she can handle herself. I know it's bad to underestimate a kid who can handle themselves, just like I did with Lilo."
"Well, I think it's clear that Jackie has a different parenting style than me and your father. He's clearly worried about Jade's safety." Ann said as she began to plate lunch. "And we get worried too about your safety, but we trust you to make it back safely. Just remember, not every kid is going to grow up like you did."
"True." Kim admitted with a sigh.
"But I do agree with you, honey. Jackie should have trusted you. If he did, he wouldn't be in your bedroom all bandaged up, giving Pandaroo a panic attack." Ann said, making Kim giggle at the last sentence. "So, after lunch, why don't you two try to work things out? Hopefully he'll start listening to you and maybe you can try to understand his point of view."
"OK, mom. I'll try. Thanks." Kim smiled, giving her mom a hug, which Ann happily returned as Kim's father, James Timothy Possible, walked through the back door.
"Heyo! I'm home for lunch!" James called out with a smile, making Kim roll her eyes amusedly at her own father.
"Hi dad." Kim smiled and hugged her father.
"Hi there, Kimmie Cub." James smiled before taking a sniff. "Smells like home cooking honey. Is it ready?"
"Yes it is. Why don't you go upstairs and get the boys? Ronald and Jackie should be here in a few." Ann explained as she and Kim started to set the table. As soon as James left, Ron walked through the backdoor with Rufus on his shoulder.
"Hey! I smell world famous fried chicken!" Ron grinned with excitement. Ever since becoming best friends with Kim during pre-school, he was always welcome to the Possible household for a meal.
"Oooh yummy! Colonel!" Rufus squeaked excitedly. Kim giggled before giving her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek.
"Glad you could make it. Have a seat." Kim smiled as she, Ann, and Ron began to sit down. "We're just waiting on dad, the Tweebs, and Jackie to get down."
"Wait? You're letting Jackie stay with you." Ron said with confusion. "I thought you were tweaked at him for calling you 'young lady'."
"I am." Kim confirmed. "But I still felt it was necessary to keep him safe. So he'll be staying with me for a few days until his injuries heal."
Jackie then walked into the kitchen, still limping but feeling much better. "Oh, it feels good to get on my feet again." he smiled before noticing Kim turning her head the other way, clearly still tweaked. Jackie sighed before facing Ann. "Thank you very much for having me for lunch, Doctor Possible."
"Oh it's nothing." Ann smiled gratefully as Jackie began to take his seat, only for his eyes to go wide as he felt something shock him.
"OW!" Jackie exclaimed, jumping out of his chair and rubbing his sore bottom with pain. "What was that?!"
Kim looked to see Jackie's chair had a metal plate that was fully electrified, then glowered as she knew it meant one thing. "TWEEBS!" Kim exclaimed.
Just then, Kim's twin brothers, Jim and Tim Possible, came running downstairs, wanting to see how their prank went. Kim growled at the sight of them. The two were always up to something with pranking her or messing around with their inventions. And of course, there was the SKIP program which entailed Jim and Tim to become freshmen at her high school. But of course, they're actually a big help when it comes to missions. "Hi mom!" Jim and Tim happily exclaimed before seeing Ann's glare.
"Boys, what did I tell you about pulling this type of prank on guests?" Ann asked in a very stern manner.
"It's better than a whoopie cushion." Jim said with a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, those are so outdated." Tim grinned.
"Hicka Bicka Boo?" Jim asked.
"Hoo sha!" Tim grinned but saw their mother was still angry.
"Sit." Ann ordered, and the boys did just that. She then approached Jackie, who's bottom was healing. "I'm beyond sorry about that."
Jackie managed a warm smile. "It's OK, Doctor Possible. Boys will be boys." he chuckled as James walked into the kitchen, ready to eat lunch.
"You must be Jackie. Kimmie told us a lot about you. I'm Dr. James Possible, rocket scientist." James smiled proudly as he held his hand out.
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Possible." Jackie smiled as James sat down and everyone began to eat.
About halfway through lunch, Jackie decided to break the tension. "Say, Kim, I must say that you and your family have such a lovely home." he said with a warm smile.
Kim's tweaked demeanor began to fade as Jackie said that. "Uh, thanks. My mom is such a good decorator and cook. And she can do all that and still be able to perform twelve tumor removals in one week." Kim said, making Ann beam with pride.
"What do you do for a living, Jackie? Besides saving the world from magical demons in a top secret facility." James said with a chuckle, making Jackie smile back.
"Well, I'm an archaeologist for the university in San Francisco." Jackie explained. "It's a really fascinating job."
"Yeah, Jade told me about that." Kim said with a warm smile, allowing more of the tension to ease. "She told me during this one time you two traveled to England to stop a magical society from using Stonehenge to revert the world to the Dark Ages. Pretty spanking if you ask me." Jackie blushed under his smile. Jade sure did have a habit of wanting to boast about their adventures together.
"Cool! So you're like Indiana Jones by day…" Jim smirked.
"...and James Bond by night!" Tim grinned.
"Hoo sha!" both twins smiled and high fived each other. Jackie gave a good hearted chuckle.
"You boys certainly have the most wild imaginations." Jackie grinned.
"Well, the boys can be quite a handful, but they're are very gifted." James said with a smile, making both Jim and Tim grin smugly, and Kim rolled her eyes at that. "Very gifted to the point where they got to be enrolled in high school as freshmen."
"Say Jackie, do you have a picture of Jade?" Tim asked.
"Oh why sure." Jackie smiled, pulling out his wallet, showing them a picture of Jade. Jim and Tim's eyes went wide. Normally, they would joke about how girls have cooties and make gagging noises when Kim and Ron began to kiss. But there was no joking about cooties or gagging noises. It was silence. Then smiles.
"No way." Jim and Tim said with awe upon seeing the picture of Jade in her usual white long sleeve shirt covered by her orange short sleeved hoodie, blue high water jeans, and red sneakers, wearing her usual confident grin.
"She dresses like a dude." Jim said with a love struck smile. Kim was beyond confused. Shouldn't the Tweebs be teasing Jade because she was a girl?
"She looks awesome." Tim said with an lovey smile. Ron and Rufus grinned, knowing that can only mean one thing: love.
"What in the…" Kim wanted to say before it finally came to her, and she began to grin to herself. The Tweebs? In love? She couldn't resist. "Oh, Jim, Tim…are you two crushing on Jade?"
Jim and Tim's eyes went wide again, this time with embarrassment. If Kim spreaded word that they had a crush on a girl, she would never let them live it down. "What?! NO!" Jim and Tim denied, earning laughs from everyone.
"We don't even like girls!" Jim tried to deny.
"Especially cool, tomboy looking, awesome girls like her." Tim said with a lovey dovey smile, much to Jim's annoyance.
"TIM!" Jim exclaimed, making everyone laugh some more.
"The little Tweebs in love!" Kim giggled. "Who would have guessed?"
Jackie smiled to himself as the tension between him and Kim finally began to ease. He decided now was the time to ask something that's been on his mind for a bit. "So, Mister and Mrs. Possible, how is it that you two are very open minded when it comes to your daughter going on missions?"
Ann spoke up first. "Well, it wasn't easy to tell you the truth." she said with a blush and smile. "When we first heard about Kimmie's first mission, we were quite frightened."
"We even thought about actually grounding her until she was 18." James chuckled. "But of course, we both remembered the promise we made to each other when we first got married."
"What promise?" Ron asked, feeling very curious himself.
"Well, our parents were very strict with us when we were growing up." Ann explained. "My mother refused to give me my allowance unless I'd allowed her to pick out my clothes for school."
"My old man welded my door shut for blasting off the family station wagon with bottle rockets." James began to laugh, making Ann laugh as well. "Anyway, when we got married, we decided if we ever had kids, we would not be so strict like our folks were, and trust that they would make the right decisions."
"And luckily that promise still holds up today." Ann smiled, glancing over at Kim. "We trust our Kimmie to do the right thing and make the world a much safer place. And we couldn't be more proud of her."
Kim began to beam herself, incredibly lucky she had two understanding, open-minded, loving, and wonderful parents such as hers. Sure, they could be incredibly embarrassing like the time they chaperoned during a ski trip, or incredibly strict like when Kim went to a mission while sick. But they always trusted her, had her back, and loved her very much. "Thanks guys." Kim smiled.
Jackie smiled when he heard that, knowing that he should have listened and trusted Kim. And now he began to wonder if being strict when it came to raising Jade wasn't working out as well as he thought. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to be a bit more open minded…
Back in San Francisco, right in the halls of the San Francisco Public Library, the Hexsquad and Team Dragon were sitting while waiting for Jade to come back with as many books about Phillip Wittebane, magical creatures, and whatever else they needed in order to defeat their enemies. "Well, this library is a bit different than the one I work at." Amity said with a small smile. The young Blight loved to volunteer at the library, reading to little demons and witches. That's where Luz finally discovered a soft side to Amity. And of course, that's when she met Amity's twin brother and sister, Edric and Emira, and almost caused a whole lot of trouble with their pranks.
"How's that?" Rose asked with a curious smile.
"Well for one: you don't have decimal system drawers that spit out cards if you feed them candy." Amity said with an unsure giggle, remembering that the library in the Boiling Isles has those.
"And you don't have flying books hanging right over you." Luz giggled with her girlfriend.
"Well, if I can be frank, your guys' library sounds so much more fun than ours. I would take monster drawers over boring librarians and slow internet. You'll have to show us sometime." Jake said with a grin.
"Maybe we will." Willow smiled. "How does that sound, Spud?" She then noticed that Spud began to doze off and drool all over the table. "Spud! You fell asleep."
Spud then woke up. "Huh? What? Wow. I can't believe I fell asleep in the library." Spud said, pulling out a neck pillow, nightcap, eye mask, and a jug of coco. "Without making use of my special study time slumber wear. The quiet, the calm, my trusty jug of my sleepy time coco. Nothing says 'night night' like a library."
"Is he always this prepared?" Gus whispered to Jake.
"Pretty much." Jake shrugged with a grin.
"Oooh! COCO! GIMME GIMME!" King exclaimed.
"King, shush! You have to be quiet! Do you want us to get kicked out?" Trixie whispered.
"Oops. Sorry." King blushed as Jade came back to their table, carrying as many books as she could.
"I maxed out my library card." Jade grunted as she placed the heavy books on the table. For a pre-teen girl who could sneak into a secret agent facility while on a motorbike and take on a demon, she was pretty weak without any magic. "I found all I could on magical creatures, the history of the Huntsclan, ancient China, etcetera."
"This should be enough. Thanks, Jade." Luz smiled as Jade sat next to her.
"Ok everybody. Grab a book. Let's start cracking." Rose said, passing books along to her group. The group then read in silence, hoping to find something that could crack the case. As time began to pass by, the group was getting a bit drowsy, the weight of boredom crushing in on them.
"Well this stinks." King complained, leaving the table. "I'm going to see if I can find any snacks to satisfy my king belly." He then ran toward the snack machine.
It wasn't long until Jake spotted something that made his eyes go wide with surprise. "Hey guys! Check this out." Jake said, getting everybody else's attention. "It says here that in 1890, a troll living in Atlanta described his previous living experiences in the Boiling Isles. He said upon discovering a way into the human realm, he decided to stay, and thus more trolls began living among magical creatures living in secret." Team Dragon was awestruck at the notion that magical creatures used to live in the Boiling Isles.
"Wow. Who would've guessed?" Rose asked, still awestruck.
"Well, Eda did say that all myths humans believe is the result of the demon realm leaking into the human realm." Luz said with a sheepish smile.
"No way." Jade said with an awe struck smile. "Just imagine: vampires, mummies, werewolves, and pixies from a different dimension."
"And fairies! They're so tiny and taste delicious." Amity smiled before blushing as she saw Jake, Rose, Spud, and Trixie stare at them with horrified faces.
"OK, we're all going to have a serious talk about that when you encounter fairies in this realm." Jake said sternly.
"Yeah. I'd rather eat a whole talisman raw than eat a fairy. Gross!" Jade said, feeling horrified as well.
"Did you even eat a whole talisman?" Willow asked with a smile, feeling quite curious herself.
"Not really. Swallowed was more like it." Jade said before explaining how she came to live with her Uncle Jackie and her very first adventure hunting for the Talismans. "You see, I was from Hong Kong, and wasn't really good at school. My parents hated that." Luz nodded in understanding, having gone through so-called 'behavioral troubles' herself in school. "Anyway, they sent me to America to live with Uncle Jackie. I wasn't looking forward to it, but after seeing Jackie butt whoop those Dark Hand thugs, I knew it was going to rock!"
Jake let out a good natured chuckle. "Good to know. But what does that have to do with swallowing a talisman?" he asked.
"Oh right. So after that, me, Jackie, and Uncle went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. And Uncle was explaining all about how the talismans have magic powers, and Jackie was trying to tell me about power within. So, when my soup came out, I somehow ate so fast I swallowed the Rooster Talisman, the very first one we caught. Then when the Dark Hand guys came out swinging, I started to fly and lift things with my mind. And let me tell you, magical powers rock!" Jade finished with a grin.
"Can't argue with that." Jake smiled, giving Jade a high-five.
"Amen to that." Luz smiled and nodded.
Rose then gasped, having found what she was looking for. "Guys, this is it!" she whispered excitedly as she read what she has found. "It says here that the Huntsclan was founded in 1692, right near the start of the Salem Witch Trials." Luz's blood almost boiled at the sound of the event. She hated that part of history, killing innocent people who are accused of witchcraft. "It was founded by Phillip Wittebane, who would call himself the very first Huntsman, and his brother, Caleb, who would become his Huntsboy. They were able to capture a total of 129 people accused of witchcraft. But then Caleb left the group and the Human Realm upon meeting a witch named Evelyn, who managed to captivate him with her magic. Due to his brother's absence, Phillip began to go insane, ordering his Huntsclan to scale up the capturing, even people who aren't accused of practicing witchcraft."
Everyone quietly gasped, knowing Phillip Wittebane was way more unstable than they thought. It was unthinkable that these Huntsmen can round up innocent people in villages or colonies and put them on trial for a crime they didn't commit. Rose continued. "Phillip Wittebane was then captured for executing a governor in the colony of Plymouth Rock, but somehow managed to escape and head back to Gravesfield."
"And that must have been where he discovered Eclipse Lake." Luz realized, knowing that when she was trying to build her own portal back to the Human Realm, Phillip's journal detailed about Eclipse Lake, and how it was a gateway between the two realms, contaminated with Titan's Blood.
"Despite the notion that Phillip Wittebane was guilty by all means, the Huntsclan never stopped the duties upon which the original Huntsman bestowed upon them. Throughout history, their mission had evolved from rounding up witches to hunting magical creatures. They have managed to infiltrate special societies and governments all over the world, not resting until the world was 'cleansed' of all magic." Rose finished. Everyone around the table was dead silent, not sure what to make of it. Jake now truly believed he made the right decision over wishing that Rose was never taken by the Huntsclan, because is she still was…
"TIMBER!" King's voice rang out, snapping everyone out of their silence, only to gasp as the bookshelves began to fall like dominos, leading back to the table and King landed on it, carrying a bag of candy.
"King? What did you do?" Luz asked sternly with an arched eyebrow.
"I just trying to get candy. Lemme tell you, these human machines are tough to open! I had to push it to make sure it knew who's king around here!" King boasted, unaware of the damage he caused.
Just then, the librarian approached the group with an angry look. Jade gulped and smiled nervously, knowing they were in serious trouble. "I think that's enough research for today, don't you all think?" she giggled nervously.
"Uh, yeah. We'll just be heading out to lunch right now." Jake smiled nervously as they fetched their stuff and prepared to head out, with Luz carrying King and Spud carrying Trixie.
"Sorry about the damages, ma'am. We'll try to fix them soon. Have a good day." Rose giggled nervously as the kids all ran out of the library before the librarian had a chance to catch them.
Meanwhile, over in Dalon's hideout, the Huntsman was busy sharpening the sword, making sure it was strong enough to cut through the Titan's fur so he could suck enough blood to render Jake powerless. As he continued with his work, Finn, Ratos, Chao, 88, and 89 began to talk amongst themselves. "So dudes, tell you what: how about you get Mr. Wong to rid us of these makeovers and we can give you two of the nobel animals all to yourselves?" Finn asked with a grin, hoping to be rid of this body change. Sure the powers were great, but they looked like KISS.
"That is tempting." 88 grinned before saying, "But no can do. The Huntsmaster is already on pins and needles hoping to kill the Dragon."
"I didn't think he'd be willing enough to make a deal with the old dark chi wizard." 89 commented.
"Well then surely you would know that your boss might double cross our boss in a heartbeat." Chao grinned.
"And we'd be willing to get him off your backs if you get the old evil off ours." Ratso smiled.
But before they could even reach a deal, the Huntsman yelled, "Monkey Fist! Dalon! Gather!" With that, Dalon and Monkey Fist approached the Huntsman as he finally finished shaperning the sword. "The weapon is ready and our catch is out in the open. All we need…is a bargaining chip."