Jackie Chan Adventures: J: Enesis

CHAPTER SEVEN

"How did you find us?" said Jade, "I helped the tribe's leaders set up a Chi-ring around the valley months back. Nobody, not even that wizard that attacked Hsi-Wu, could pierce it without turning into a withered old mummy"

"All the more reason to prepare each of them with a slice of immortality" DaoLong revealed, pointing to the pendants on his and Jade's foreheads.

"There were ten of them in total...and now eight of them belong to a fine selection of Wizards that I took the time to visit. Each of them have been trying to overthrow the demon overlords for a number of years, now they may have a number of lifetimes to achieve what they must without fear of expiration"

"The Eight Immortals..." Jade realized, "You were responsible for their creation. You. This whole time"

"I am bonded to them through the symbiosis made possible by the latent telepathic capabilities generated from the Pendants. They can detect where I am, just as I can detect where YOU are"

"Me?" Jade said.

DaoLong pointed to her own pendant.

"The pendants were laced with a powerful symbiotic Chi tether. It links each Immortal who bears it on their shoulder"

"I lured you right to the Valley" Jade realized.

"Correct Lady Dragon" revealed a cackling DaoLong.

"YOU" Shendu snapped, "All this time, you were a wolf in our fold...you rescued Hsi-Wu with the express intent of gaining our trust, gaining MY trust, so you could subject us to the wrath of those...those animals"

"That's right young dragon. It's the Oroborus stratagem. The ultimate blessing, and the ultimate revenge, HE always knew you were fated to be his, to give him his son, and we made arrangements to ensure history remained on an exact path"

"Riddles...riddles, lies, deception, can I bear any more this day?" Shendu said in despair.

"Oh I think you will find what you hear next quite unbearable, but it will serve to burden you in your long life yet to come"

The cries of his family, his brothers, his sisters, his cousins, all those inhabiting the Dragon Valley's villages, suddenly rang out across the heavens.

A shimmering ignition of energy washed over the cliffs surrounding the beach, and everything swiftly fell silent.

"What have you done?" cried Shendu.

"Lu Dongbin has just sealed your entire village within the Demon netherworld" said DaoLong, "Be well prepared to remember that name in years to come"

Jade had heard enough.

"Give me back my son" she said, "Let Shendu go"

"Oh I intend to, time will resume on its correct course, but your journey? Your journey ends, and there is no turning back. For either of us" DaoLong hissed, pressing a switch on the head of the serpent cane.

"What did you do?" said Jade.

"I just trigged a compact explosive I hid within the cave we travelled to this time in, as I said, our journey ends, as now does your life" DaoLong hissed, and aimed his serpent energy cane at the young woman.

Blasts shot through the gaping jaw of the cane's emerald serpent head, leaving traces of hissing acid as the blasts danced across the sand.

Jade leapt over each blast. DaoLong gently placed the infant Dragon on the course dunes, his staff slowly shaped into a jagged sword, and he charged after Jade.

He hoisted the blade high in the air with both hands and leaned forward, Jade caught the blade with her hands, making sure to avoid the daggers embedded on either side of the weapon, she slipped the sword from DaoLong's hand and elbowed him in the stomach. DaoLong managed to score a modest kick to Jade's gut, and took the sword off of her, he used it to pry the immortality pendant off of her forehead .

Jade clawed him across the face with her nails, fetched two chi-erry bombs from her dress, and smashed both of her hands across DaoLong's face, causing it to shake and distort in a variety of absurd cartoonish expressions.

So long as he wore his own pendant, however, he remained un-phased by a blow that would fell any normal man.

DaoLong dropped to his knees, Jade closed in, but he was quick to grab her legs and throw her to the ground. He climbed over her body, grabbed her by the hair and used a long fingernail to mark his initials on her neck before licking a part of the trickling blood with his lounge, he then pushed her face down into the sands, attempting to suffocate her.

Shackled and helpless, Shendu could be heard praying.

Jade raised her right leg and caught DaoLong in the face with it, she emerged from her would-be sand coffin and pounded DaoLong in his disfigured looks with a right and left clubbing from her fists.

The battle had taken on a far less majestic form of combat. This was sheer naked emotional aggression; all real finesse was lost on the pair at this point.

Finally, Jade ripped the pendant off of DaoLong.

DaoLong was quick to recover and threw Jade off of him with his legs, he waited for her to get her bearings before laying out with a spear to the gut. He dashed over to Shendu and freed him from his shackles using an incantation given to him by Shendu

"Be sure to remember that" said the projection of Jade to Jackie

"Uh huh" Jackie said, paying attention, but far too drawn in to properly respond.

"Why do you liberate me?" he said

"Dispose of her, she is your enemy, she has led your loved ones to exile and ruin" said a desperate DaoLong, picking Drago up with his hands, "Do so, or I will see to it you will spend a lifetime despising your son"

Shendu approached Jade, pillars of smoke emerging from his breath.

"Shendu...no...please..." she said, "Don't become what I know you to be"

"What I will become, I leave to my son" he said. Looking on at the infant Drago

DaoLong looked at him, the innocent eyes widened, becoming blood red, the infant opened his mouth and a great pillar of fire engulfed and incinerated DaoLong.

As Drago crawled over to his parents, Shendu caught him and approached Jade.

"Share in this moment with me. It will be our last together, and just so you know, as adrift in the mind as he is now, before his capacity for learning grows, there will always be a part of Drago that will remember this day, and he will spend an age hating you for what you have done"

"Shendu...please, you have to hear me out, what DaoLong said, he..."

"Enough has been said. I must journey far from here. To train. To align myself with my siblings. Study the art of Dark Chi magic, I must GROW Jedda, if that is your name, and I must be true to my path, and not lead a false one. With you."

"But I've told you what I've seen...you become a monster"

"Perhaps a monster is what Aisha deserves" said Shendu, the tone of his voice conveying an innocent soul shattered, hurt and shaken, and someone whose purpose was now far too altogether clear.

Shendu looked out at the sun burning bright above him, he cradled Drago close to him, and, with one last longing look at Jade, he walked away.

e, &q=�Vy)�d