Hi everyone, thanks again for your patience. This is one part of J-WITCH that I've been wanting to write for some time as we are introduced to a new antagonist, and I'm sure you all know who it already is based on your guesses. Things are about to get interesting, so with all that being said, let us begin.

Enter the Oni

The girls of WITCH, along with Jade and even Alchemy sat at a table in the Chan family shop, Uncle's Rare Finds, as they were currently having a study session with Jackie; though it seems Jade was among those that appeared the most bored.

"Dullsvile." Jade muttered aloud as she placed her head on the table.

"That's not even a real element." Taranee commented as she read her science textbook.

"No, but she's bored out of her head, kinda like I am right now." Irma sulked deeper into her chair.

"E equals MC squared? The hell does that even mean?" Cornelia questioned.

"Isn't that supposed to be math? Not science?" Will commented with a groan.

"Sounds more like Spanish." Hay Lin lightly complained.

"Come on, this stuff isn't all that hard to figure out." Alchemy said as she looked at some of her notes.

"Girls, your science midterm is next week." Jackie told them. "Let's keep going."

"How come we're studying lame science but Tohru and Caleb get all the fun magic stuff?" Jade complained, causing Jackie to roll his eyes slightly as the group glanced at the table on the other side.

"Uncle is waiting." The elder Chi-Wizard held a flashcard with a symbol on it in front of the pair; Caleb looked about as bored as ever, but Tohru tried to think of the answer.

"I don't know, a Passling repellent? OW!" Caleb felt a slap on his forehead.

"Incorrect! Tohru, answer?" Uncle asked his apprentice.

"Oh, I know this one!" Tohru stated. "Uh… that is the symbol for a conjuring spell… one that requires garlic… and uh… ginger."

"Correct." Uncle replied. "IF YOU WE'RE MAKING CHICKEN CHOW MEIN!"

That exclamation not only blew Tohru and Caleb back, but also got the attention of everyone else. "I don't see why we have to know all this fancy magic stuff." Caleb stated. "Just give me a sword and the bad guys will go down easy."

"Have you not been paying attention to recent events?!" Uncle reminded. "Now that Phobos has Elyon by his side, his forces will do what they must to protect her. Phobos cannot take her magic now, so he has swayed her to his side, and in order for her to stay in his confidence, he will act most cunning. Therefore, we must be prepared for whatever trick the Forces of Darkness has planned for us."

Meridian

Elyon continued to roam through the royal gardens, still under the illusion spell placed by her older brother, before she kneeled down to kneeled down to a pond and fed some ducklings some breadcrumbs before they swam away. As she looked in the water, she saw the reflection of Phobos standing over her.

"I've noticed something on your mind, Elyon." Phobos said. "What troubles you?"

The girl sighed for a moment before she stood up. "I'm from Meridian but… how did I end up on Earth? What happened to me?"

Phobos motioned for her to sit down with him on a nearby stone bench, which she did. "Elyon, I'm sure you've noticed that you wield incredible magic power." Phobos began. "The reason for that is because you are the heir to the throne."

Elyon looked both surprised and confused. "Wait, but you're my older brother. How can I be the heir, shouldn't it be you?"

"That's not how it works." Phobos explained. "Meridian's royal line is based on matrilineal succession, so only a queen may rule, or a king consort should the queen choose to marry."

"So, you can't be king?" Elyon asked in a sympathetic tone. "That must suck, I'm sorry."

"It's quite alright." Phobos assured with a feigning smile. "I've accepted that a long time ago. But, back to the topic at hand, because you are the heir, you wield more power than anyone in Meridian, and your power will only continue to grow. However, there are those that wished to obtain your power for themselves. Shortly after your birth, those assailants had infiltrated the castle, and murdered our parents in their sleep."

Elyon gasped as a pained look fell on Phobos' face before he continued. "After that, they stole you from the castle, while also framing me for the deed, and used the ensuing chaos to escape. I am still uncertain as to how you ended up on Earth of all places, and I am truly sorry it took so long to find you. Because of our parents' murder, I stepped up and attempted to bring order to our kingdom. But the true culprits spread lies and deceit, claiming me to be the murderer of not only my parents but you so that I could become the ruler of Meridian." Elyon continued to listen to her brother as she felt a great deal of sympathy toward him. "Because of that, the assailants had used these lies to create a Rebellion, thus beginning a war that has lasted many years, more than a decade even. I have tried to bring order and peace, while also doing everything I can to find you… but after so long… I… had to assume…" Phobos gave a small sigh before finishing. "I had thought they had killed you."

Elyon looked in shock at that particular statement and looked upon her brother with pity upon seeing the look on his face.

"Perhaps if I had been stronger, I could have saved you, and we would have been together." He felt a pressure around his right arm as he looked to see Elyon hugging it as she looked up to him with a smile.

"We're together now, that's all that matters." She said sincerely, to which her brother smiled as he returned the embrace with his own. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with all that all by yourself. It must have been so lonely."

"Fortunately, I have had those who remained loyal to assist me." Phobos said. "But… not a day goes by that I don't miss mother and father, and you."

"And you still don't know who killed them?" Elyon asked.

"Unfortunately." Phobos confirmed. "They've proven to be very adept at hiding themselves. And while I have no proof of this, I believe that the ones who murdered our parents were also responsible for giving your friends the Heart of Kandrakar, in order to turn them into their own personal enforcers."

"What?" That really made Elyon upset. "They did that to my friends?!" She clenched her fists as she stood up with determination. "Phobos, I want you to teach me how to use magic!" He looked in surprise as she continued. "I want to save my friends. If we work together, I'm sure we can show Meridian that you're not really the bad guy, and we can find out who really killed our parents and see to it they get what's coming to them!"

Though surprised at first, Phobos smiled as he stood up. "I will do everything I can to help you master your power, Elyon. But be careful." Phobos told her. "The Rebellion, and by extension your friends, believe you to be my prisoner. They'll do what they can to try and 'rescue' you, while the mastermind waits in the shadows to try and take your power. So, until you've mastered your power, I don't want you to leave the castle grounds, and I'll even assign a few bodyguards to remain by your side."

Elyon smiled slightly before a joking face formed. "It feels like I'm being grounded almost." She joked.

Phobos gave an amused half-smirk. "Forgive me, but I lost once. I'd rather not lose you again."

"You won't lose me." Elyon promised as she gave her brother another hug. "I know we only met recently but, you're my big brother. And I love you."

Phobos returned the gesture. "I love you too." Much of what Phobos said was indeed true; he was not the culprit for his parent's murder, someone else had assassinated them in their sleep and was likely the one who stole Elyon away. And he did indeed try to bring order to Meridian, but once his framed crime was leaked to the public, most quickly turned against him and the Rebellion was formed. However, once he had Elyon's power, he would see to it that nobody would ever threaten his realm again.

"My prince." Cedric had approached the pair as he gave a bow. "Daolon Wong has need of you."

Getting the subtle message in his right-hand's request, Phobos stood up. "I have to go Elyon, I'll be back soon."

"Alright." Elyon nodded as she walked away, with Phobos following Cedric in another direction.

Once inside the castle, and proceeding to the lower levels, Cedric was allowed to speak freely. "My lord, if I may, what exactly do you plan to do with Elyon once you've acquired her powers?"

"After I've absorbed all her power, I will erase her memory of everything magical related and return her to Earth, as though she was never in Meridian to begin with." Phobos answered. "As far as she'll know, she's a simple mortal girl."

Cedric was somewhat surprised by that. "Forgive me, my prince, but that seems rather lenient of you."

Phobos turned with a minor glare to the shapeshifter. "She's the only flesh and blood relative I have left! I have done many things in the past thirteen years, but I will not become the heartless monster that those foolish rebels claim me to be! Once I have her full power, I will end all conflict in Meridian and our realm will finally be at peace! And I will not hear another word of it, understood Cedric?"

Though he narrowed his eyes slightly, Cedric bowed in response. "Clearly, your majesty." Once Phobos turned to proceed further down the stairs, Cedric glared slightly in his direction. 'He is far too soft! But that may not matter, once he has acquired Elyon's power, I will take both of theirs for myself! And it Meridian will be my realm to rule!'

The pair had finally made it to Daolon Wong's personal chambers as his Dark Chi Enforcers, along with Frost, had gathered several key ingredients from across Meridian.

"Passling ash." Wong required as he held his hand out.

"Check." Chow put a tube of ash in his hands, which Wong poured into his cauldron, filled with a dark blue liquid.

"Huggon eyes." Wong required the next ingredient.

Finn shivered as he gave Wong a sack of the eyeballs in question. "Check." Wong poured them into the cauldron as well.

"Ground gargoyle wins." Wong listed another ingredient.

"You wouldn't believe how hard it was to ground this." Ratso said as he handed him a tray of the ground substance, which Wong poured into the cauldron.

"Finally, the blood of a dragon." Wong looked towards Frost who glared.

"This had better be worth it." Frost said as he handed Wong a sack of the aforementioned blood. "Do you have any idea how rare dragons are in Meridian?! I may be the best hunter in this kingdom but finding rare and endangered species is more than difficult!"

Wong poured the contents into the cauldron. "You needn't worry. I have amassed the necessary spell ingredients to increase the power of our Shadowkhan forces."

"I had thought the Shadowkhan were already under our control." Cedric said as he and Phobos walked closer.

"While this is true, we've only been scratching the surface." Wong explained. "My studies have shown me that there is far more to the Shadowkhan than we can know. And while the princess may be on our side, her friends will undoubtedly try to rescue her. We need to be prepared as they will likely bring more effort into this conflict."

"Do what you must, but I best be satisfied with the results, wizard." Phobos warned.

Wong gave an annoyed glance as he began to recite a dark chant, while waving his hands over the cauldron as the bubbling dark liquid began to spin and twirl. Soon, the symbol of the Shadowkhan had formed in the liquid. "Yes! It is working!" A dark blue light shinned out of the cauldron, getting their attention.

"Come forth, my Shadowkhan minions!" Phobos stated with a smirk as he walked in front of the cauldron. "Come my army and unleash your darkness!"

"Your army?" A new and demonic voice spoke up, surprising all the bad guys present as they looked into the bubbling liquid to see a red, horned, demonic face with yellow eyes and white facial hair actually speaking to them. "I am the one and only king of the Shadowkhan!"

"What…. What is this?!" Phobos questioned as the others could only look in confusion, but Wong seemed to recognize this being.

"Tarakudo…? Awakened…?" The stunned Dark Chi wizard voiced his surprise aloud.

"And ready to reclaim my ninja-magic." The being apparently named Tarakudo stated. "A task for which I will require… assistance." He said somewhat embarrassingly before he materialized himself in the form of a large floating demonic head above the villains, much to theirs, and even Phobos surprise.

Tarakudo concentrated as he a psychic wave was unleashed from his head, allowing him to telekinetically grab Daolon Wong, Cedric, Frost, and even the Dark Chi Warriors before he unleashed another psychic wave to blast a hole into the wall, allowing him to fly outside while also telekinetically carrying the villains with him, leaving only Phobos as even he could only look in shock over what had just happened.

The floating demonic head had made its way to the surface as he floated in the air to observe the land around him with the villains floating in toe. "Hmm… this doesn't look like Earth." He brought the villains in front of him. "Tell me, what place is this?"

Despite all of them, especially the Dark Chi Enforcers, being stunned about floating in mid-air like this, Wong was the first to answer. "Dark one, you dwell within the world of Meridian, a separate realm from the Earth."

"I see." Tarakudo began to laminate as he overlooked the landscape of Meridian once more. "So, there are other realms besides Earth, the Shadow Realm, and the Netherworld. How interesting. But I must get to Earth."

"Yeah, you're gonna have to wait for a portal to show up." Finn said.

"Cause there's this magic wall thing that keeps Earth and Meridian separate." Chow added.

"And it's not the kind of wall that you can break down with a hammer. It's kinda hard to explain." Ratso also said.

"Be silent." Cedric told them before he addressed Tarakudo, using this as an opportunity to understand the Shadowkhan a bit more. "If you would like, I can show you how to find a portal."

"That won't be necessary." Tarakudo stated as he floated himself, and the villains he still had in his telekinetic grip, closer to the ground. "My minions and I were able to traverse between the Shadow Realm and Earth with relative ease. Traversing into the Shadow Realm and using that to cross into Earth shouldn't be too difficult." He concentrated on a rock as a symbol, which appeared to be a carving of his face, was etched onto the rock before a swirling black portal opened up in front of him. "You might wanna hold your breath." Tarakudo advised the other villains as he flew into the portal, with them being pulled in as well.

Earth

Captain Black's van suddenly pulled up to Uncle's Rare Finds as the head of Section 13 ran into the store where Jackie, his family and friends, including all the girls, were. "Jackie, Section 13 has spotted Cedric, Daolon Wong, and their buddies in Heatherfield!"

That got all their attention. "The bad guys are here?! Awesome!" Jade smirked as Will quickly pulled out the map and shined the Heart of Kandrakar over it, only to see nothing appearing.

"What? No portals?" Will voiced in surprise as everyone else looked in surprise and confusion.

"I'm sorry but… why are we looking for portals?" Alchemy asked, still not completely used to all this magic-business.

"It's how the bad guys cross to Earth from Meridian." Cornelia explained.

"Oh, right." Alchemy said.

"But if there's no portal, how did they get here?" Hay Lin asked.

"Maybe they used that inversion point again at Cedric's old bookstore?" Taranee asked.

"Yes, that may be the only explanation." Jackie assumed.

"We can ask them ourselves once we find them." Caleb stated.

"Hold your horses, rebel-boy. We still have no idea where they are." Irma told him.

Captain Black's phone rang, which he promptly answered. "Black. The Airport? Send in every available agent!"

Uncle quickly snatched the phone away, much to Black's surprise. "Your assistance will not be necessary! Magic will defeat magic! Goodbye!" He threw the phone away as he was the first to walk outside, followed by Tohru and everyone else. "Portal or no portal, the Forces of Darkness have entered our world! We must find and defeat them! Hurry!"

"Yes!" Jade stated as she ran out, alongside Alchemy.

"Alright, time for some action!" Alchemy also said excitedly, only for Jackie to block their path.

"No, you two are staying here."

"What?!" Both girls exclaimed at the same time.

"But I thought you said I could come on missions now!" Jade complained.

"And I want to help!" Alchemy also shouted.

"Alchemy, no offense, but do you have any idea how to fight magic?" Cornelia questioned, causing Alchemy to sulk as she couldn't come up with an answer.

"But I know how to fight magic!" Jade stated.

"Jade, you still have a test to study for." Jackie told her.

Jade groaned as she and Alchemy walked away. "Sorry guys." Hay Lin smiled apologetically as the van drove away with everyone else.

"Well, this sucks." Alchemy complained as she and Jade saw the van drive away. "They're fighting some kind of big bad evil and we can't do anything to help them!"

"Who said we can't?" Jade gave a knowing smirk.

Airport

"Serve me well and your reward will be great!" Tarakudo told the villains comprised of Cedric, Frost, Wong, and his Dark Chi Enforcers, all of whom stood on the tail way just outside an Airport dock.

"Serve?!" Frost exclaimed in anger before glaring at the floating demon. "Listen closely… I am Meridian's greatest hunter alive! I serve only Phobos! Not some…!" His ranting was brought to a halt as the humanoid Cedric placed his hand in front of the hunter.

"Forgive me, Tarakudo, was it?" Cedric spoke professionally. "Though we are already in service to Prince Phobos, I see no reason why we can't work together. Perhaps we can find a mutually beneficial agreement in doing so."

Tarakudo looked rather impressed. "Ah, it seems someone here knows how to make deals. Very well, but before we talk, we must first acquire something of mine that I lost long ago. Now, where might I find this 'airplane' vehicle you mentioned?"

"Oh, there's one in there." Ratso pointed to a private jet that was unmanned at the moment inside a building. "You guys know how to hotwire a plane, right?" He asked his friends.

"We hotwired cars before, but never airplanes." Chow shrugged.

"How hard can it be?" Finn asked as they walked inside toward the plane.

Not long after that however, Captain Black's van rolled up as Jackie, Will, Irma, Tohru, Uncle, Caleb, Cornelia, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Captain Black all came out.

"Visitors?" Tarakudo asked.

"Chan, the Guardians, and their allies." Cedric responded.

"These fools are always getting in our way." Frost scowled.

"Perhaps now might be the time to unleash your Shadowkhan minions, oh mighty Tarakudo?" Daolon Wong spoke to the demon in question.

"Not just yet." Tarakudo answered "It's been several centuries since I've been in a fight. Time to stretch my legs, metaphorically speaking anyway."

Tarakudo gave a demonic roar as he shot at the heroes and hovered over them; they all looked in surprise and shock, while the five girls practically screamed as they all fell flat on their backs.

"Is that a floating head?!" Will almost screamed.

"Okay, that's actually kinda terrifying!" Hay Lin practically shivered at the sight.

"Caleb?" Cornelia asked the rebel leader who looked about as stunned as they did.

"Never seen that thing before!" Caleb stated as he was already on his feet and ready for a fight.

However, Tohru appeared the most terrified as his pupils shrunk. "Oni…"

"Uncle?" Jackie asked his uncle, hopping he had an answer for what this being was.

"The symbol of the Shadowkhan!" Uncle exclaimed, recognizing the face of the demon.

"What fun is a symbol, without drums?!" Tarakudo teased as he used his powers to telekinetically lift a series of barrels and threw them at the heroes; forcing them to scatter and avoid them. All save for Tohru, who appeared to be frozen with fear.

"Tohru!" Captain Black tried to push the large sumo out of the way. "Come on big fella! Trying to save you a nasty bruise here!" However, he was quickly hit and knocked down by a barrel, which appeared to knock Tohru out of his trance.

"Captain Black!" Tohru was quick to run and pick up the unconscious captain and move him to safety.

Meanwhile; Jackie and Caleb went on the offensive as the engaged Cedric and Frost respectively while Uncle entered a magic duel with Daolon Wong. Cedric ducked underneath Jackie's kick before he backed up and transformed into his massive snake-man form, much to Tarakudo's pleasant surprise.

"A shapeshifter. Haven't seen one of those in a while." Tarakudo mused as he saw Cedric reengage Jackie while Caleb continued to parry punches from Frost before the floating head directed his attention toward the regrouping girls.

Will was among the first to get serious as she immediately took out the Heart of Kandrakar and say the magic words. "Guardians Unite!"

Tarakudo had to wince slightly at the bright light as he bore witness to the transformation of the five mortal girls into the powerful Guardians known as WITCH. "Hmm, now that's something new."

"You like that? Well you're really gonna love this!" Irma thrusted her hands forward as she shot a blast of water at him, but Tarakudo was able to use his powers to erect an invisible psychic barrier to block the water, much to Irma's surprise. Cornelia was next as she tried to grow a series of plant tendrils from the ground to completely ensnare Tarakudo, only for him to easily phase through the plants as if they weren't even there. He felt a powerful breeze try to blast him from above, curtesey of Hay Lin who tried to hit him with a point-blank air attack from her mouth, but it barley blew him away as it only ruffled his facial hair and eyebrows a little bit. Taranee tried to summon a series of fireballs which she threw at him, but much like with Irma's attack, Tarakudo unleashed a psychic wave to blast them back.

"Ah, you wield elemental magic." Tarakudo observed as Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Cornelia hovered in front of him to blast their respective elements at him, or a large rock from the ground in Cornelia's case. "A certainly powerful ability. But I'm afraid you're all still relatively inexperienced with your power." Using his own psychic powers, Tarakudo telekinetically took control of each attack, pulled them around his floating self, and shot them back at the surprised Guardians. The air attack hit Cornelia, the rock hit Irma, the water burst hit Taranee, and the fireball hit Hay Lin, as all four of them were knocked onto the ground.

Will tried to fly down on Tarakudo with a kick to get him from behind, but she was quickly ensared by his psychic powers and brought up to his face. "You don't have any elemental powers, do you?" The demon-head asked as Will struggled in his grip. Tarakudo however got a good look at the Heart of Kandrakar. "Or maybe you do… but it's just not active yet. Perhaps your powers have been weakened somehow."

"What are you talking about?" Will questioned.

Tarakudo however paid it no mind. "No matter, it's not my concern at the moment." He quickly threw Will to the ground as she skid towards an airplane.

"Ow…"

"Will, are you alright?" Alchemy asked as she and Jade tried to help her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine I…" Her eyes quickly widened as she turned around to see her two non-magic friends. "Jade?! Alchemy?!"

"Should you really be surprised at this point?" Jade raised an eyebrow with a smirk, causing Will to roll her eyes in annoyance.

Alchemy gave a sudden scream as she noticed the approaching Tarakudo, causing Will and Jade to turn around and see the floating demon head.

"Whoa…!" Even Jade was surprised to see something like this.

However, once Tarakudo set his eyes upon Jade, he recognized her. "You." For a brief moment, he saw her in a different appearance. One with pale blue skin, red eyes, a long black with a dark purple, spikey, top. "The former Queen of the Shadowkhan." An intrigued smile formed on his face. "Returning to the Forces of Darkness?"

Will quickly grabbed onto Jade and Alchemy and tried to fly away. "Sorry! Not happening!"

"Eh, what Will said!" Jade quickly agreed.

"In time." Tarakudo said with a patient sigh. "You're young."

A blast of chi-magic tried to strike him from behind, only for it to pass right through him. Tarakudo turned around to see Tohru trying to blast him with chi-magic with his blow fish, with Taranee and Irma backing him up with blasts of fire and water respectively, but he simply curved them away with his own psychic powers.

"Sensei, the spells are not working!" Tohru called out to Uncle, who was still busy in a wizard-duel with Daolon Wong, clashing their respective spells from their blowfish and dark scepter, though it seemed Daolon Wong had the advantage as he pressed on to blast Uncle back into Tohru while Tarakudo also used his powers to blast back Irma and Taranee as all four of them collided.

"That is because you do not study hard enough!" Uncle chastised his apprentice.

Meanwhile; Jackie continued to dodge and parry the massive fists from Cedric as the humanoid snake tried to lash out his tail at him, but Jackie leapt over it before jumping straight to Cedric's face to land a solid punch to knock him down. Jackie quickly waved his hand and sore knuckles as Cedric attempted to pick himself up and tried to smash his fists onto Jackie, but Hay Lin had created a tornado around Jackie and used the air to pull him out of the way.

At the same time, Caleb threw a punch to Frost, who caught it relatively easy before picking up Caleb and throwing him away. However, Frost had little time to celebrate as a series of plant-tendrils shot from the ground under him to propel him into the air straight towards Cornelia who landed a solid punch on his face to knock him to the ground, close to the regrouping Cedric and Daolon Wong.

All the heroes had regrouped together as well as Will set down Jade and Alchemy behind all of them and prepared themselves to reengage the enemy. However, before the fights could resume, a private jet began to pull out of the nearby hangar, the same one the Dark Chi Enforcers had managed to steal and operate. "Gentlemen." Tarakudo hovered over Wong, Frost, and Cedric. "I do believe our flight is departing."

With that, Wong had waved his scepter, creating a large plum of dark smoke to engulf himself, Cedric, and Frost before they vanished completely, while Tarakudo simply vanished into thin air with his own powers.

"Where did they go?!" Caleb questioned.

"Where do you think?!" Cornelia replied as she pointed to the plane that was already pulling out and gaining speed on the runway.

"Jackie!" Captain Black called to him as he had commandeered a staircase truck and had gunned it straight towards the departing plane as the five Guardians tried to fly and catch up with it as well, leaving Jade, Tohru, Uncle, Alchemy, and Caleb behind.

The pursuing heroes were close to catching up with it, but Chow, who was at the controls, began to pull the plane up into the air. Will and Taranee were able to grab onto the tail of the airplane as Irma and Cornelia tried to grab onto the right wing, with Hay Lin on the left. At the same time, Jackie had leapt from the top of Captain Black's improvised ride as it was pulled underneath the ascending plane. Jackie was able to grab on to the front wheels as they were pulled into the plane.

However, the five Guardians weren't so lucky as they each lost their grip one-by-one before the plane pulled away from them and shot into the air.

"There's no way we can catch up to an airplane!" Will exclaimed.

"And even if we could, I doubt even our Guardian powers can protect us from the lack of oxygen that high up." Taranee added.

"Don't worry, I think I saw Jackie get on-board." Hay Lin said.

"Wait; Jackie all alone, with three of our biggest baddies, and a floating head that whipped the runway with all five of us!?" Cornelia questioned as all the girls winced in realization.

"Yeah… that's not gonna be pretty." Irma said.

Jackie opened the floorboard as he got into the main compartment of the jet, only for Frost to hold out a bag in front of him. "Ordinarily, I'd crush you without a moment's hesitation." Frost commented as face looked green. "But… I think air travel… isn't agreeing with me." Frost ended up puking into the bag.

"Don't worry Frosty." Finn smirked as he, Ratso, Wong, and Cedric, back in his humanoid form, had already sat down and buckled up. "You ain't the only one about to feel air-sickness." He opened the emergency hatch on the wall, causing a vacuum to pull Jackie out of the plane.

"Hopefully that will finally rid us of that meddlesome fool." Wong sneered.

"As the Guardians are capable of flight however, that seems unlikely." Cedric said.

"BAD DAY! BAD DAY! BAD DAY! BAD DAY!" Jackie screamed as he fell from the sky towards the ground. However, he wouldn't have to worry for very long as Hay Lin quickly flew upwards to create a vortex of wind to slow Jackie's descent, allowing Will and Cornelia to fly in and grab him by the shoulders.

"And that's why you don't exit out of an aircraft without a parachute." Cornelia attempted a joke as Jackie tried to catch his breath.

"Thank you." Jackie said sincerely as they descend slowly to the ground.

"So, I'm guessing this means you're never gonna go skydiving, right?" Will tried to joke as well, resulting in Jackie giving a half-smirk as they set him down on the ground with Hay Lin, Irma, and Taranee flying down to meet them; Captain Black, Tohru, Uncle, Caleb, Jade, and Alchemy running up as well.

"Jackie! Are you alright?!" Jade asked urgently.

"Yes Jade, I'm…" His eyes quickly widened as he only just now realized his niece was here. "Jade?! How did you even get here?!"

"You really want me to answer that?" Jade responded.

"No time for this!" Uncle quickly stated, getting everyone's attention. "Quickly, now! We must follow floating head!"

This only earned a fearful groan from Tohru.

Later that night; Jackie, Will, Hay Lin, Tohru, Irma, Cornelia, Caleb, Taranee, and Uncle rode in a private jet that Captain Black arranged for them as they tried to follow the path of the plane the villains stole.

"Earth has vehicles that can actually fly through the air?" Caleb wondered aloud as he looked out the window with Cornelia sitting next to him. "Well, color me impressed."

"Who would have thought there'd be something on Earth that you would actually like." Cornelia joked.

"I didn't say I didn't like Earth." Caleb said. "It does have some good things to it." He smiled at Cornelia, as she blushed and tried to brush her hair back.

"Yeah, alright." Hay Lin spoke over her cell phone. "Thanks again Grandma. Okay. love you too. Bye." She hung up as she spoke to everyone else. "I just got off the phone with Grandma. She said she'll cover us with all our parents."

"Be sure to text her a 'thank you' from us." Will said.

"I'm still not comfortable with having her lie to your parents like this." Jackie said as he looked at the radar on his laptop.

"Would you rather prefer to tell them that we're fighting evil monsters and wizards from another dimension?" Irma asked somewhat sarcastically.

"I'd at least like to find out what our newest bad guy is." Taranee said as she did some typing on her laptop. "You said it was related to the Shadowkhan?"

"Yes, the Symbol of the Shadowkhan." Uncle answered as Tohru continued to sleep on the chair across from his sensei. Though from the sound of it, it wasn't exactly a pleasant dream.

The young child Tohru slept in his room in Japan as a shadow of a horned creature loomed over him, its silhouette seen through the screen of his door. He was brought awake by the creeping sound of his door opening, though he was startled at the shape of the silhouette. Young Tohru quickly covered his mouth and hid underneath his blanket.

He peeked one out as he could scarcely make out features that weren't human on the creature behind his door. His eyes shook before the monster behind it opened it up with a roar.

"Mommy!" Tohru was startled awake as everyone looked to him with surprise and concern.

"Tohru?" Jackie, Uncle, and Caleb asked at the same time.

"Whoa, are you okay big guy?" Hay Lin asked with concern.

Tohru laughed nervously as he wiped the sweat from his face. "Bad dream."

"Let me guess." Jade revealed herself, as well as Alchemy, from the upper compartment. "Mr. Creepy Head."

"Jade?! Alchemy?!" Will questioned. "Oh, why am I even surprised?" She muttered to herself.

"You two are supposed to be with Captain Black!" Jackie chastised.

"We're your back-up." Alchemy said as she and Jade got down. "No offense, but you guys didn't seem to do well against that head-thing."

"Right. And you got any ideas on how to take that thing down?" Cornelia questioned irritably.

"Eh, we'll think of something." Jade shrugged.

Hay Lin sighed as she pulled her cell phone back out. "I'll text Grandma about your parents to, Alchemy."

"The head…" Tohru got everyone's attention. "It reminded me of the Oni…"

"The what?" Irma asked.

"When I was a child growing up in Japan, my mother told me tales of the Oni." Tohru explained. "Hideous horned demons, who would sneak into the rooms of disobedient children."

"And what do they want with these 'disobedient children'?" Jackie asked in a joking sense as he spared a glance at Jade, who only stuck her tongue out at him in response.

"The Oni would…" Tohru gulped. "Eat their souls!"

"Okay… that sounds pretty terrifying actually." Caleb said with widened eyes.

"So that head-thing eats kids' souls?" Hay Lin asked. "Um, we're technically teenagers, so does that mean we've passed the 'expiration date'?" She asked with a nervous laugh.

"It's like some kind of Japanese boogeyman." Alchemy said.

Uncle gave a scoff. "Fairy tales. Floating head cannot be Oni."

"It can't?" Tohru asked in a hopeful and relieved tone of voice.

"Of course not!" Uncle stated. "Everyone who has controlled the Shadowkhan has been Chinese! Shendu, Chinese; Daolon Wong, Chinese; but Oni are Japanese."

"Phobos isn't Chinese and the Shadowkhan work for him." Caleb added.

"Shadowkhan work for Phobos through Daolon Wong who is Chinese!" Uncle replied.

"But the Shadowkhan are ninjas, and aren't ninjas supposed to be Japanese?" Will asked.

"Yes, that's exactly right." Taranee said as she was on her laptop, prompting most of her friends to get in close. "I've been doing some research. Ninjas did originate from Japan, and certain Japanese myths actually depict ninjas as Tengu, which is often used to associate with goblins or even demons. But I haven't seen anything Oni related. At least not yet."

"Well whatever's the case, that floating head thing is definitely the original owner of the Shadowkhan." Will said, that much everyone can agree on.

"So, is he Japanese or Chinese?" Alchemy asked.

"I am telling you; floating head is Chinese!" Uncle stated.

"Well, I think he's Japanese." Taranee argued, but upon seeing Tohru shiver, she quickly spoke to him. "Eh… But I'm not saying he's Oni. Maybe he's a demon who doesn't eat kids' souls?"

"And why would you even be worried about that?" Cornelia asked. "You're a grown man, Tohru. I'm pretty sure he's not interested in your soul if they eat kids' souls."

"If that's true, why did he have Daolon Wong, Cedric, and Frost with him?" Caleb asked. "They work for Phobos."

"Duh! It's a classic supervillain team up!" Jade stated. "Haven't you read any comic books?!"

"Great, but how are we supposed to fight him when that thing took us all down without even trying?" Irma asked before leaning to Tohru and whispering to him. "By the way, you wouldn't happen to still remember any of those Oni stories, would you? I'd like to try them on Chris so I can traumatize him into not being such a nuisance."

Suddenly, Jackie's laptop lit up, getting everyone's attention as Jackie looked at the computer. "Radar indicates that the stolen airplane has landed in Hong Kong."

"See? Hong Kong. Chinese!" Uncle said with a victorious smirk as Taranee, Cornelia, and Caleb all rolled their eyes.

Once they landed, all the heroes followed the trail of the villains they were pursuing and found themselves standing before a set of familiar ruins that the Chan Clan immediately recognized.

"Shendu's palace?" Jackie questioned.

"Wow, Father-Time really took a baseball bat to this place." Irma commented on the bad condition the ruins were in.

"Actually, Jackie and I did that, after we kicked Shendu's dragon butt!" Jade smirked as she performed a kick for emphasis.

"But why did they come here?" Caleb asked.

"Shendu collected many artifacts possessing great magic." Uncle replied. "Floating head may be seeking one of these."

"Hey guys, over here!" Will called to them as she found a rather large hole which she had inspected. "Looks like this was dug up recently."

"Then into the rabbit hole we go." Cornelia said.

"Except we're not going into Wonderland." Taranee commented.

Though most of the group had already gone inside, Tohru seemed rather hesitant. "Eh… I will stand guard outside."

"Don't worry Tohru, we're here for you." Hay Lin assured as she and Alchemy each held his hand.

"Besides, it's just a silly old head, right?" Alchemy tried to calm him down.

Tohru gulped. "Just a silly old, soul-stealing, Shadowkhan-controlling, head."

This caused both Hay Lin and Alchemy to look nervous themselves as they ended up holding Tohru's hands even tighter for their own comfort before the trio followed their friends underground.

Meanwhile; Tarakudo had led Cedric, Wong, Frost, and the trio of Dark Chi Enforcers through the maze of underground tunnels underneath the ruined palace before finally making it to their destination. Which appeared to be a large chamber filled with all sorts of treasures, but what Tarakudo was focused on was the large stone chest that laid in the middle of it.

"Ah, consider it a gift." Tarakudo said as he led the villains closer to it.

"Oooh, just like Christmas." Ratso said excitedly.

"Bet there's a ton of treasure in it!" Chow seemed just excited.

"Quit your childish antics and open it!" Wong ordered them as the Dark Chi Enforcers and Frost used their combine strength to open the stone lid to reveal the contents inside.

"A mask?" Cedric voiced his curiosity aloud upon seeing a dark red demonic looking mask with green hair on the back and short yellow horns at the top, an open mouth with yellow teeth, and bright red eyes.

"Dude, we came all this way for a mask?" Finn questioned.

"I've hunted animals that were more valuable than this piece of junk." Frost said in a disappointed tone.

"This 'piece of junk' is what Shendu drew the power necessary to control his Shadowkhan army." Tarakudo explained. "And through which your magic, Daolon Wong, channeled that very same power."

"So, this mask is the source of the Shadowkhan." Cedric mused with an intrigued smirk.

However, none of the villains appeared to notice that the heroes have caught up with them and hid behind the entrance, having heard everything the villains all said. Will looked toward Jackie has he had a serious expression on his face before nodding to her, giving her the signal to bring out the Heart of Kandrakar.

"Seeing how you look so interested Cedric, perhaps you'd like to see how it fits?" Tarakudo suggested.

Cedric picked up the mask to inspect it himself. He'd be a fool to say he wasn't cautious. There was apparently a lot more to the Shadowkhan than he originally felt, and he wasn't about to blindly follow the apparent 'King' of the Shadowkhan without knowing all the details. However, his contemplation was brought to an end as a bright pink flash blinded and surprised all the villains.

Using the flash to his advantage, Jackie was quick to run in and pull the mask from Cedric's hands before kicking him in the chest to knock him back. When the flash subsided, Jackie leapt back with the mask to regroup with the transformed Guardians, along with Jade, Uncle, Caleb, Tohru, and Alchemy.

Upon seeing the heroes Cedric immediately got back up and transformed into his humongous snake form; he tried to lunge at them, only for his path to be barred by Tohru who grappled and wrestled with the humanoid snake. Daolon Wong tried to blast dark chi magic at Irma and Hay Lin, who combined their respective water and wind power for a surging storm attack, which they unleashed on the dark chi wizard to not only override his attack, but also blast him all the way to a pile of treasure on the other side of the chamber.

The Dark Chi Enforcers and Frost tried to charge Jackie, Will, Caleb, Cornelia, and Taranee as the bespectacled girl unleashed a torrent of fire, forcing many of them to scatter as one fireball hit Chow, causing him to explode and vanish in a plum of dark smoke while Jackie and Caleb both leapt into the air to deliver a double flying kick to Frost to send him crashing into Cedric who was still wrestling Tohru. Cornelia shot several rocks from the ground to send both Finn and Ratso flying as Will met Finn in the air to deliver an airborne roundhouse to send Finn crashing hard on the ground where he vanished.

Ratso was the only surviving Dark Chi warrior as he landed on the ground in front of the hovering Tarakudo. "Again!?" The floating demon head questioned in annoyance. "Who are these people?!"

"Well, Jackie Chan is some kind of do-gooder." Ratso explained. "Those fairy girls are some kind of magic guardians, and the big guy over there used to be one of us but now he's on their side, and that kid is some kind of rebel leader, and the old guy pointing a blow fish…" He was silenced by a chi-blast from Uncle, causing the Dark Chi Enforcer to vanish.

Uncle blew the smoke from his blowfish like a cowboy as he stood alongside a smirking Jade and Alchemy. "Who else wants a piece of Uncle?!" He challenged.

"Bad guys beware, because J-WITCH is in the house!" Irma smirked as the five Guardians regrouped along with Jackie, Caleb, and Tohru.

Tarakudo glared at the heroes in question. "You have no idea who you are dealing with."

"And just who are we dealing with?" Will questioned with a glare of her own.

"No seriously, who are you?" Hay Lin asked as well. "Because we've been wondering this whole time and we don't even know what you are."

"Bow before Tarakudo!" The floating demon head announced dramatically. "King of all Shadowkhan! Lord of all Oni!"

Uncle gave a gasp of realization. "So, you are Japanese!"

"Told ya." Taranee smirked at Uncle.

Tarakudo unleashed a powerful psychic blast that knocked back all the heroes. "And now you know." He remarked to them.

The recovering Daolon Wong noticed the mask that fell from Jackie's grip once the heroes were blasted back by Tarakudo. "Retrieve the mask!" The dark chi wizard ordered as Cedric recovered to try and slither for it.

Jackie quickly ran and slid toward the mask before the humanoid snake could reach it and kicked it across the ground. "Cornelia!" Jackie was then pinned to the ground by Cedric as the blonde Guardian used her earth-powers to shoot the mask into the air where she tried to grab it.

"I got it!" However, the mask was pulled through the air away from her, curtsey of Tarakudo's own psychic powers.

"Mind over matter." Tarakudo lifted the mask towards himself, but Hay Lin quickly flew in to unleash a powerful blast of wind from a breath of her mouth to blow the mask away before she quickly flew in to grab it herself. However, she was blasted out of the air in the back by Daolon Wong as the mask fell towards him.

However, Jade tried to run and stop him, only for Frost to run towards her from the opposite direction to try and stop her. "Mine!"

"I don't think so!" Frost stated as they both leapt, only to end up crashing into Wong just before he could reach the mask. The mask fell in the scuffle and accidentally landed directly on the face of Frost the Hunter.

The second the mask made contact with Frost's face; it grew around him to completely engulf his head before the mask essentially merged with Frost himself. "What… what is going…?!" Frost questioned as he felt a surge of power flow through his body as he stood up to reveal the mask was now a part of his face as he gave a demonic growl.

Jackie, Will, Jade, Irma, Uncle, Cornelia, Tohru, Hay Lin, Taranee, Alchemy, and Caleb all looked in complete and utter shock at Frost's new appearance, as even Cedric and Wong were caught off-guard.

"What just happened?!" Caleb questioned.

"It looks like that mask-thing merged with his face!" Taranee said.

"It kinda looks like it is his face now!" Alchemy questioned, sounding rather disturbed herself.

"Handsome devil, isn't he?" Tarakudo remarked with a smirk. "Let's allow Frost to familiarize himself with his new powers, while the rest of us make further preparations." Tarakudo then vanished into thin air before Cedric and Daolon Wong were telekinetically lifted into the air by the Oni king's psychic powers and pulled out of the chamber.

"Uh… what does he mean by further preparations?" Jade asked with worry.

Jackie, meanwhile, attempted to pull the Oni mask off Frost's face, but it didn't even budge. Frost merely swatted his hand to knock Jackie back.

"Eleven against one." Oni-Frost commented, his voice sounding deeper and more demonic than before. "Now that hardly seems fair." He then unleashed a rather loud roar, which honestly sounded more like an animal-call, which wasn't all that inaccurate as the group saw all the shadows in the chamber move directly toward them.

"Um, guys…" Will said in a frightened tone. "…I'm thinking this mask thing gives Frost the power to summon…" All the shadows surrounded the group before the solidified in the form of at least a hundred familiar ninja-like soldiers. "…Shadowkhan."

"Get them." Frost ordered, resulting in the Shadowkhan leaping at the gathered heroes; but Hay Lin was able to create a powerful tornado to blow all the Shadowkhan away, allowing the heroes to scatter and gain some breathing room as they faced the recovering enemy forces.

Uncle drew his blowfish and immediately opened fire with chi-blasts, while Taranee did the same with a series of fireballs to blow up each Shadowkhan that came close to her. Cornelia tried to use her earth-powers to raise a series of plant tendrils from the ground and walls to smack and even impale the incoming Shadowkhan that came close to her. Hay Lin hovered in front of a horde of treasure as she used her air powers to lift several pieces of treasure from the ground and throw them at the charging magic ninjas, scoring several direct hits. Irma used finger-guns to try and blast concentrated shots of water as Will flew underneath her to deliver a flying kick to one Shadowkhan before relying on hand-to-hand to defend herself from several Shadowkhan soldiers that surrounded and attacked her.

Jackie was in a similar scenario, using punches and kicks to knock back the Shadowkhan that were on the attack. Caleb was kicked back into a pile of treasure by one Shadowkhan, and as they went on the attack, Caleb was quick to draw a jeweled scepter on instinct and use it as a make-shift weapon to beat the Shadowkhan back. At least a dozen Shadowkhan attempted to jump and pile themselves on Tohru, but he merely flexed his arms to knock them all back.

"Is it always like this for you guys?" Alchemy asked as she and Jade hid behind the same stone chest that the mask was retrieved from.

"Oh yeah." Jade replied. They both however saw Tohru get knocked down and slide at the feet of Oni-Frost.

"Boo."

Tohru's childhood fears awakened as he found himself literally paralyzed with fear.

"Come on Tohru! You faced guys way bigger than him!" Hay Lin called to him as she was on the defensive from several Shadowkhan herself.

"Yeah! Face your fear, T!" Jade also called.

"Show that demon who's boss!" Alchemy also shouted to him.

This seemed to work in encouraging Tohru to stand up as he tried to leap and overpower Oni-Frost with raw strength. However, Oni-Frost was able to effortlessly stop and pick up Tohru with one hand and hang him over his head, much to the shock of everyone present, including those who were still fighting the Shadowkhan.

"I've lift bags of flour heavier than this." Oni-Frost smirked before he nonchalantly flung Tohru behind him into the stone chest that Jade and Alchemy hid behind. Though they were able to get away in time, Tohru's impact had shattered the entire chest.

"For God's sake! How many Shadowkhan does this guy have!? It's like we're fighting a whole army!" Cornelia exclaimed as she flung several rocks and debris at the Shadowkhan that kept charging her.

Uncle was on top of a pile of treasure as he was having similar trouble, barley keeping the Shadowkhan at bay with his chi-blasts. Though Taranee was quick to fly to his aid as she created a ring of fire around themselves to keep the Shadowkhan at bay.

"Cornelia's right! We take down more, Frost brings two more to take its place! It's like a hydra!" Taranee commented.

"We must remove demon mask from host in order to defeat Shadowkhan!" Uncle exclaimed. "Jackie, one more thing! You, girls, and rebel leader keep Shadowkhan busy so Uncle can cast proper spell!"

"What the hell do you think we're doing?!" Irma exclaimed in frustration as she ducked underneath a hail of shurikens before shooting a point-blank geyser attack from her hands to blast back three Shadowkhan, only for one to leap behind her and knock her down with a kick.

She was surrounded by three Shadowkhan who were ready to finish her, but salvation came in the form of Jackie who dropped in with a kick to knock one Shadowkhan back before lashing out two punches to knock down the remaining two before pulling Irma out of the way.

"There are too many of them to fight!" Jackie stated as he, the Guardians, and Caleb regrouped only to find themselves facing the same number of Shadowkhan as before.

"Let's use the tunnels to our advantage." Will said as she gazed back towards the entrance, remembering the maze they had to work their way through before coming here. "Come on!"

Following Will's lead, her fellow Guardians flew with her as Jackie and Caleb ran alongside them, the young rebel leader turning around to call to their mask-wearing adversary. "Hey Frost! Come and get us!" Caleb challenged as they ran into the tunnels.

Oni-Frost only smirked in anticipation. "Let the hunt begin." He ordered his Shadowkhan to give pursuit as he walked after them, leaving Uncle, Tohru, Jade, and Alchemy alone.

"Sensei, what spell do we need?" Tohru asked Uncle, who only shrugged as he honestly had no idea.

"Hey, guys! Over here!" Alchemy called to them as the pair met her and Jade near the rubble of the stone chest where a large stone tablet was in pieces, but the girls were able to put the pieces together like a puzzle depicting a battle between samurai and demons.

"Maybe this picture book can help us." Jade said as they tried to make it out. "What does it say, Uncle?"

"These are Japanese kanji; Uncle only reads Chinese." The chi-wizard stated.

"Um… I read Japanese." Tohru said. "But… it has been many years. In fact,… I am probably too shaky so forget that I mentioned…"

"Tohru, read kanji now!" Uncle ordered.

"Yes sensei!" Tohru said immediately.

Meanwhile; Jackie, Caleb, and the Guardians continued to try and make their way through the maze of tunnels underneath the ruins of Shendu's palace.

"You think we lost them?" Hay Lin asked in a hopeful tone.

In direct response, a Shadowkhan leapt from the shadows on the side, but Jackie delivered a kick to knock it back as they were quickly surrounded by more than two dozen Shadowkhan soldiers that leapt out of the moving shadows.

"No Hay Lin." Cornelia replied. "I don't think we have."

Once again, the Shadowkhan were on the attack as they leapt at the heroes. Taranee and Hay Lin combined their powers to create a vortex of wind and fire to surround and protect themselves and their friends and blow away most of the Shadowkhan. Once it vanished, the heroes went on the attack as Irma shot a series of water blasts at a group of Shadowkhan while Cornelia collapsed a section of the ceiling to crush six Shadowkhan at once.

Will flew into the air to meet three Shadowkhan, which she was quick to dispatch with a series of punches and kicks. Caleb, still holding the scepter he got from the treasure horde, used his makeshift weapon as a club to smash down two Shadowkhan that leapt at him before Jackie ducked underneath one punch from a Shadowkhan, grab it by the wrist and fling him over into three more before sweeping his feet to knock four more down.

"The kanji tell of ancient warriors who once cast a spell to defeat this Oni…" Tohru read the inscriptions on the tablet aloud for Uncle, Jade, and Alchemy. "…Trapping its spirit within the mask. The key ingredient… was Japanese steel, specially forged for a samurai sword."

"Aiya!" Uncle exclaimed. "We will not find steel of samurai sword here because Shendu is not Japanese!"

"Well, I don't know about a sword…" Alchemy said as she picked up one of the shurikens a Shadowkhan had thrown earlier. "But would a ninja star do?"

"Well, it doesn't say 'made in Taiwan'." Jade assumed as she looked at it before Alchemy handed it to Uncle.

"Alchemy, what makes you certain this is Japanese steel?" Uncle asked upon inspecting the shuriken.

"Well, Taranee did say that ninjas are Japanese, and the Shadowkhan are ninjas so…?" She shrugged, sounding rather unsure herself.

With no other choice however, the four began to work on preparing the spell and hopped it would be enough to defeat Frost and his new Oni-powers.

Meanwhile; the Guardians, Jackie, and Caleb found themselves literally cornered in a larger chamber with their only exit blocked by three dozen Shadowkhan, and they had no other way to escape.

"Uh oh, dead end." Will gulped.

"Emphasis on 'dead'." Cornelia commented as the group saw the Shadowkhan part and open a path for Oni-Frost to walk in and face the group himself.

"And now the predator has his prey cornered." Oni-Frost smirked almost sadistically. "I will rip each of your heats out and eat them whole!" He said with a demonic growl.

They all seemed rather disturbed by that particular comment. "Uh, is it just me, or does he sound even worse than before?" Taranee noticed.

"It's not just you." Caleb replied. "Frost is evil, but he's never actually eaten people before!"

"It must be the mask." Jackie deduced. "It might be corrupting him and turning him into an even worse monster."

"As if this guy wasn't bad enough." Irma muttered as Oni-Frost charged them, forcing them to split up and avoid his crushing fist that cracked the ground where he punched at them.

Caleb was the first to attack with a punch, but Oni-Frost effortlessly caught it before flinging and using Caleb's own body as a weapon to knock down Hay Lin and Taranee before throwing him at Cornelia to knock them both down. Irma tried to blast him with a point-blank water attack, but Oni-Frost quickly ducked and charged Irma to deal a powerful punch into her abdomen, knocking the wind out of her and even spilling some blood from her mouth as she was flung into the air before crashing onto the ground.

Will flew down with a kick to Oni-Frost's chest and knock him back slightly before she grappled with him and tried to press her own strength against him, but Oni-Frost only smiled with an eager growl as he pressed down even more strength, overpowering Will while also attempting to crush her hands in his grip, resulting in Will grunting and even yelling in pain. The pain was fortunately brough to an end as Jackie leapt to deliver a punch to Oni-Frost's face and knock him back slightly.

Jackie however waved his hand as he gave a slight wince in pain as Will pulled herself back up. "Thanks Jackie." However, Jackie didn't get a chance to reply as Oni-Frost quickly rushed in to deliver powerful punches to both of them, not even giving them the time to retaliate as they were knocked onto the ground.

With his back turned; Caleb, Irma, Hay Lin, Taranee, and Cornelia tried to get the jump on him with their respective powers, or weapon in Caleb's case, but Oni-Frost quickly leapt into the air to deliver a series of powerful punches and kicks to knock them all onto the ground in a pile together. He even picked up the scepter Caleb had been using and snapped it in half for emphasis of his own superior strength.

"It's over, fools." Oni-Frost told them as they all groaned and attempted to pull themselves up. However, they all heard a pair of familiar voices reciting an unfamiliar chant from behind.

"Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku." The group turned around to see Tohru, with Jade and Alchemy at his sides. Sitting on top of Tohru was Uncle as they both recited the chant while Tohru held the shuriken as he and Uncle channeled their chi-magic into it. "Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku. Nukeru, He Men Ja'aku."

"Yes, it is." Jackie said with a relieved smile as the girls and Caleb each shared a smile of their own.

A beam of green magic shot from the shuriken toward Jackie as a green aura formed over both his hands, much to his confusion. "Jackie! Remove mask!" Uncle told him.

No time to waste, Caleb and Will both leapt behind Oni-Frost and grabbed him by the arms while Jackie leapt on top of him and grabbed the mask with his glowing hands. Cornelia, and Irma grabbed onto Jackie as they pulled on him, while Hay Lin and Taranee grabbed onto Will and Caleb respectively as they tried to pull Oni-Frost back while Jackie attempted to pull the mask off with Cornelia and Hay Lin pulling on Jackie who tried to pry the mask off.

"Get them off me!" Oni-Frost ordered his Shadowkhan as they quickly leapt to try and pull the heroes off their master. However, this only worked in favor of the heroes as there was more force being applied to pull the mask and Frost apart.

"It's not coming off!" Alchemy and Jade both shouted at the same time.

"Patience." Uncle told them.

It was tough, and they all gave it as much effort as they could; but Jackie, the Guardians, and Caleb, and incidentally the Shadowkhan, were able to successfully separate the Oni mask from Frost's face. The force sent all of them flying backwards and apart from one another, skidding on the ground.

Jackie looked and saw that the mask was now in his hands, with everyone else seeing the result as well. "We did it! We got it off him!" Hay Lin cheered.

Frost growled as he quickly pulled himself up. "Kill them all!" Unfortunately, his Shadowkhan had already vanished, and he had lost all the strength he gained from the mask. He then looked nervously at the glaring Guardians, Caleb, and Jackie as they pulled themselves up. He backed up slowly, only to back into the larger Tohru, who cracked his knuckles.

"Boo."

Knowing he lost this fight; Frost ran away as fast as he could as the heroes regrouped to celebrate.

"That was a close call." Will said.

"True, but we still won! Score one for the good guys!" Irma smirked as she and Jade shared a high-five with Cornelia doing the same with Alchemy.

"Perhaps this would be safer in the vault in Section 13." Jackie said, referring to the Oni mask in his hands.

"That's a good idea." Taranee agreed.

"Best to keep that thing far from Phobos or anyone else like him." Caleb also agreed.

"New evil Tarakudo has been defeated." Uncle nodded in approval.

"Um… one more thing." Tohru got their attention as he addressed the stone tablet from before that he pieced together, indicating that it wasn't over.

"Oh no." Jackie face-palmed, having a good idea what was coming next, while the Guardians, Caleb, Uncle, Jade, and Alchemy only looked even more nervous than before.

Frost had made it outside the ruins of Shendu's palace as he looked around for any of his allies, but they were nowhere in sight. "Just perfect." He spoke in a sigh. "How am I supposed to get back to Meridian…!" He suddenly screamed as he was telekinetically lifted and pulled into the air away from the palace ruins.

He was pulled and slammed into the ground near a waterfall where Tarakudo, Cedric, and Daolon Wong were waiting for him.

"Where is the mask?" Wong questioned as Frost picked himself up.

"They took it." Frost answered with a low growl. "I almost had them, but that wizard used some fancy spell to let them pull it off my face!"

Cedric hissed as he loomed over the frightened hunter. "Insolent fool! You have failed!" The large shapeshifter was about to punish him, but Tarakudo stopped him from doing so.

"That's enough." The Oni King said in a calm and patient tone. "It is but a minor defeat."

"Oh? And why is that?" Cedric asked.

"It appears I have underestimated Mr. Chan and these so-called Guardians." Tarakudo admitted. "Clearly, I need more information, and it seems you might be able to provide me with such. Come, let's return to Meridian." Tarakudo looked towards a large rock as he concentrated and used his powers to carve his symbol onto the rock, causing a dark portal to open up. "Our mission, has only yet begun."

Though surprised; Wong, Cedric, and even Frost were nonetheless intrigued as they followed Tarakudo into the Shadow Realm to cross back into Meridian.

Back inside the tunnels, Tohru read the contents of tablet for Jackie, the Guardians, Jade, Uncle, Caleb, and Alchemy. "It goes on to say, that Tarakudo once terrorized the land of Ancient Japan with his trusted Oni generals. Each demon general controlled its own army, which were comprised of a different tribe of Shadowkhan."

"Wait… tribe?" Cornelia asked. "You mean, all those Shadowkhan we've fought before…"

"We're just part of one tribe." Tohru confirmed.

"And if… each tribe is different…?" Hay Lin begun nervously.

"What are these… other Shadowkhan like…?" Irma asked in an equally nervous tone.

"I would prefer not to have to find out." Jackie said, just as unnerving as everyone else.

"But I've got a bad feeling we will find out, knowing our luck." Will commented.

"What does the rest say?" Alchemy asked Tohru who continued to read.

"Tarakudo's reign came to an end when the spirits of his generals were trapped within masks." Tohru read. "Nine generals, nine masks."

"Nine different tribes of Shadowkhan…?" Jade asked with a gulp.

"Each with their own unique powers or abilities…?" Taranee was already sweating.

"What are we waiting for!?" Uncle exclaimed. "There are eight more masks, which we must find before Forces of Darkness do!"

"Let me guess, the masks were scattered across the Earth?" Jackie assumed.

"Yep." Tohru confirmed. "Uh… one more thing."

"What now?" Cornelia groaned.

"Should the nine masks ever be rejoined…" Tohru continued to read. "Their combined power may summon enough Shadowkhan to engulf the entire Earth in eternal darkness."

If they weren't scared before, they certainly were now.

"It might not just be Earth." Caleb said, getting their attention. "Tarakudo is definitely a dangerous threat, but those were Phobos' henchmen back there. And if those two end up working together… It'll make the situation much bleaker, for both Earth and Meridian."

"Aiya!" Uncle exclaimed. "Tohru must do research!"

"He must?" Tohru asked worriedly.

"You were told childhood tales of Oni by mother." Uncle told his apprentice. "You read Japanese, you are Japanese, so you must do research!"

Tohru gulped. "Yes sensei."

"Well, at least you got an assistant to help you out." Taranee said as she put her hands on Tohru's shoulder, volunteering herself to help.

"I don't know a whole lot about monsters or Japanese legends, but I still wanna help." Alchemy also volunteered. "And since I can't exactly help in a fight…"

Though still nervous, Tohru was nonetheless grateful for their support. "Thank you."

"Well, look at the bright side." Jade said to the rest of her friends.

"Bright side?!" Cornelia questioned. "As if we didn't have our hands full enough with just Phobos, now we're about to go to war with a floating demon head, his nine generals, and like a million monster ninjas! How the hell is there a bright side?!"

"You guys finally get to embark on an infamous Chan-Clan world tour!" Jade said, trying to bring some excitement to the group in this otherwise bleak scenario, but it didn't appear to work.

"Yeah, lucky us." Will muttered as she and Jackie shared nervous expressions.

Meridian – Phobos Castle

It was late at night as Elyon had already gone to bed, while the dark prince continued to sit on his throne room when the chamber doors opened, allowing Cedric, Daolon Wong, and Frost to enter.

"So, you have returned." Phobos glared at them, still not pleased how they suddenly vanished on him.

"There is no need to blame them, Prince Phobos." A new voice said as Tarakudo's face emerged from one of the stained-glass windows on the side before he faced the prince. "Their disappearance was a result of my own actions."

"I remember you." Phobos stood from his throne. "You claimed to be the 'King of the Shadowkhan'."

"Tarakudo, the lord of all Oni, at your service." He introduced himself. "I apologize for my earlier rudeness, and I would like to make it up to you with a proposition."

"I'm listening." Phobos raised a curious eyebrow.

"For some time, you have been using the Shadowkhan as enforcers in your rule over this realm of Meridian." Tarakudo began. "But what if I were to tell you, that you were only scratching the surface of what the Shadowkhan truly are?" That got Phobos attention as Tarakudo continued to explain. "You see, the ones you have been using hale from only one tribe, when in fact, there are a total of nine tribes of Shadowkhan, each tribe with their own unique and deadly abilities that are capable of instilling terror into the hearts of even the most disciplined of warriors."

"And how would one command these tribes, as I've apparently been only in command of simply one?" Phobos asked.

"You see, many centuries ago, the spirits of my generals, demons that each led one of the Shadowkhan tribes, were imprisoned within nine separate masks." Tarakudo's face shifted to show the previous mask, before shifting to show several different Oni masks of different shapes and colors before reforming his own face. "These masks were scattered across the realm of Earth long ago, but I know how to find them. Once a mask is placed on someone's face, that person not only gains the strength and power of the Oni spirit within the mask, but complete and total control over the Shadowkhan tribe that demon general commanded. And should all nine masks be rejoined together, one can summon enough Shadowkhan to engulf an entire realm into eternal darkness, where all good magic will fade into nothingness. A realm like Earth for instance or even… Meridian." He finished with a smirk.

Phobos had an intrigued smile on his face. "Well, you certainly have caught my interest, Tarakudo. But few things are without a price, so what is it that you wish in return?"

"Information." Tarakudo answered. "Specifically, on our mutual enemy: the ones called Jackie Chan and the Guardians. And seeing as we have a common enemy, I propose an alliance. We will work together to retrieve the masks, I will provide you aid and information regarding the Shadowkhan, as well as the means to further cement your reign in Meridian; and in return, you tell me everything about Mr. Chan and those young ladies, and assist me in using our combined power to rule over the Earth. With our combined powers, we will rule over not just one, but two realms; perhaps even more."

That was all Phobos needed to hear as he smiled evilly. "Then it seems we have a deal. I would shake your hand, but you don't seem to have any."

Tarakudo only smirked somewhat humorously as he used his powers to pull several rocks and pebbles from the ground and bring them together to form a stone hand that he telekinetically controlled and held towards Phobos. "Is that better?"

Without a doubt in mind, Phobos shook the stone hand with his own, thereby solidifying the alliance between the Dark Prince of Meridian and the King of the Shadowkhan.

Done.

Yep, Tarakudo has finally made his appearance and has formed an alliance with Phobos. (However, unlike Cedric or Wong, Tarakudo has no ulterior motives. It's what I like about Tarakudo as a character, he may be evil, but he is honest and respectful to his subordinates and allies. So you can expect him and Phobos to actually get along quite well). The Oni and Tarakudo have proven to be quite the challenge for the Guardians and Chan Clan as Tarakudo himself seems to be able to overpower the WITCH girls relatively easy, and he is even able to bypass the Vale to cross between Earth and Meridian via the Shadow Realm.

Now WITCH is about to join the Chan Clan in a world-wide race to stop Tarakudo and Phobos from retrieving the eight remaining Oni masks, while also working to try and save Elyon from this evil duo. What's in store next for our heroes? Find out soon as they try to retrieve the second Oni mask before the Forces of Darkness can. Until then, stay safe and stay healthy out there.