I created this story because I was unhappy with the way the TV show ended. There were a few loose ends, plot holes (many of a temporal nature), and interesting ideas that could have been explored much further. This is my attempt to do so. I apologize for not being the best of writers, and I will likely update this story very irregularly, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. I would appreciate reviews, as it's rather depressing to write a story no one's interested in.

Thank you. :)

Section 13 certainly was efficient. The baseball stadium was surrounded by vehicles, of every shape and size, and the whole place just swarmed with agents. Some were working to undo the damage Drago wreaked in his battle with Shendu, others were unloading supplies to continue the clean-up. Jade Chan knew that outside, many more people ringed the facility, directing inquisitive residents and passers-by away from the stadium. She even knew that footage from the security cameras were being "modified" by Viper to eliminate all traces of the battle; she'd tried to watch, until her uncle had dragged her away.

Jade sighed, and looked to where Jackie, Captain Black, and Uncle were huddled together, discussing something. Probably how to destroy any evidence she could use to prove her stories about their adventures were true. Oh well... She thought, The "petting zoo" fiasco, was enough to end Drew's teasing, and that was the worst part. She wished they would let her in on the conversation at least. This had gone from being the-most-epic-J-Team-battle-ever-kicking-demon-butt awesome, to "sit quiet and wait"-while-everything-cool-is taken-care-of-by-adults boring!

Someone tapped her on the shoulder, she spun around, it was Tohru. "You look bored," he commented, "perhaps we can find some way to help?"

"Tch, uncle Jackie's won't let me do anything interesting, and he's probably going to arrange a ride back to the base, or the shop any moment now. At least there's food there...I'm starved..."

Tohru grinned, and held out a bag, "Cracker Jacks? Since Section 13's cleaning up everything, I'd think the park could spare some snacks. And you could go look after Mordecai and Egbert. Jackie can hardly object to that."

She took the proffered bag with a grin, and he opened a can of grape soda. "Thanks." Jade began munching on the tasty clumps of popcorn, and turned towards second base, where the pig was snuffling at the dirt, with the rooster sitting proudly on his back. Watching them wouldn't be very interesting either, but at least it was something. She kicked at one of the blocky, angular stones half-buried in the sandy dirt-odd that, baseball fields didn't usually have any-and flipped it out of the ground.

Jade's breath froze in her throat. A red-enameled dragon emblem glinted up at her.

The Dragon Talisman.

Suddenly, the presence of other similar-looking rocks scattered around the base took on new significance, but how to collect them without anyone noticing, or wondering what she was doing? "Hmmm..."

Jade looked up at Mordecai, smiled slyly, then tossed a handful of her Cracker Jacks on the ground. Sensing food, Egbert flapped down from his perch and strutted towards her, with the pig waddling behind. Jade bent down, patting her porcine friend with one hand, while prying another Talisman from the ground. The Ox. Mordecai and Egbert consumed all the food in the time it took her to acquire the Sheep and Dog, but, showing glimmers of the intelligence that had marked him out from millions of his kind to receive the power of the Pig, Mordecai began to snuffle in the dirt. Pigs are excellent diggers, and in no time at all, they had unearthed all twelve between them.

Why they weren't carried into the Demon Netherworld with Shendu she had no idea. But they were here, the dragon-demon wasn't, and she was NOT going to complain. She stowed a couple in each of her pockets, including the concealed one inside the Section 13-style jacket Captain Black had given her for her birthday last year. The rest were buried in the bag underneath her remaining Cracker Jacks. Jade straightened up, patting the disturbed dirt down with one foot.

She turned, tucking the bag under one arm, and shuffled back towards the group, where the discussion was becoming more animated. Well...at least Uncle was becoming animated...

"Can you guarantee, though, that the Talismans are not coming back, because last time I thought they were destroyed it was just more trouble," inquired Captain Black.

"Aieyaa! Did you not seee Shendu fall into Abyss?!" retorted Uncle, "You are not blind, yeees? Talismans have gone with him! Do you not liiisten?!" He sounded as if he had made this point at least twice already. Jade put on her best innocent face, even though no one was looking at her.

"Uncle, please, try to calm down," pleaded Jackie, "Captain Black is just wanting to have some peace of mind."

"Piece of mind?! I'll give him piece of Uncle!"

"Uh...excuse me for a moment," the head of Section 13 turned aside, and gazed into the distance, speaking with someone through his earpiece, "Black here...yes...affirmative...good. They'll be out momentarily." He turned back to Jackie, looking relieved, "The car to take Paco, Jade, and Uncle back to headquarters just arrived. It's outside the south entrance."

"Thank you," Jackie turned around, "Jade, it's past your bedt-"

"I heard," Jade yawned, "And it's a school night, so I'd should probably go."

"No argu-" Jackie stopped short, "You don't want to stay?"

"And do what? It's so boooring here with all the demons gone."

"Uh..."

"See you tomorrow uncle Jackie!" Jade turned to go, picking up Supermoose from where he lay in a seat that had been in the stands this afternoon but was now closer to first base. "You know Mr. Moose they ought to give you a medal, you've fought Shadowkahn, Dark Chi Warriors, Demons...and you're just a big plush toy Tohru won at a fair!" She tucked it under her arm, and headed off to find her ride home.

Jackie watched her go, "Is it just me or is Jade acting odd- Ow!"

Uncle had delivered his signature two-fingered forehead strike, "Jade is exhausted; she knows she must go home and sleep. Has good sense, like Uncle." He followed after the girl, muttering to himself.

Just before crawling into bed, Jade reached under her dresser, and pried up a loose floorboard. She'd used it to stash all manner of things she wasn't really supposed to have, but this had to beat just about everything. She deposited her "Cracker Jacks" carefully inside. She fell asleep with a huge smile on her face. The future looked bright indeed.

A hunched man in a dark cloak crept through the hallways of a castle. The moon shone through the huge windows, clearly illuminating the hall. Strange swirling patterns covered them, and seemed to writhe and twist in the moonlight, but the man took no heed. He passed into a corridor, and lifted his hand. A ball of pale shadow formed. It somehow gave off a sickly, blue glow that could only nominally be called "light". He pushed the hood back from his face, revealing a wizened face, white hair, gray skin, mismatched eyes, and evil-looking tattoos. The front of his cloak parted slightly, and, if anyone had been there to see, they would have noticed a sword hanging from his waist. A straight, shining sword, with a hilt of gold and black leather. The man looked down the corridor, then started along it.

Daolong Wong, as he called himself-though that was not his true name of course-could barely keep from grinning with pleasure. Soo close, he thought, So close to the Circlet...He quickened his pace. Power at last lay within his grasp again. They would all pay. The cursed Chan. Thrice-cursed wizard. The meddling brat. All of them. His only regret was that Lo Pei was beyond his grasp. A thousand curses on that theif! He stopped suddenly, and pressed a hand to his forehead. His gray eye throbbed like a heartbeat. The old, old wound...so much pain...and darkness...but immortality...and power...a price worth paying a thousand times over. It had saved him so many times, mostly from death, the swift river of time that eroded his body, but could not sweep his soul away like all others. And recently, trapped in that hellish, ever-shifting nightmare of the Deja Vu Stone, the Eye had Awoken within him, and brought him back, it had granted knowledge as well, information that had led to this place, this night. Even now, he could feel it, a dark miasma on the edge of consciousness, ancient power, incredible malevolence. A price worth paying. He continued on. One of his hands stroked the sword hilt. A toy, really, compared with what he was about to gain, but he had already lost so often before by neglecting the little things, and the sword was powerful. And it brought back memories. Memories so old that he could barely recall them without the sword to remind him.

He entered a round chamber. The roof was a clear dome, and the moonlight made the wall shine like silver. It was covered with characters in the language of ancient China. Actually, "China" had been far, far into the future when these characters were used, but it was the same part of the world, and there was resemblance. Dalong Wong did not think there was anyone else who knew the tongue. He strode across the chamber, and touched one mark among thousands. The one for "power". Some people were too predictable, and not just humans. There was a flash of lurid red light, and a small receptacle appeared, chiseled into the wall where the symbol had been. Within it, untouched for millennia, sat a black silk cushion. And on the cushion, a ovular loop of braided gold wires. A golden claw reached up from one point of the oval, as if to grab and hold something. That would come later, but now the Circlet was his. Daolong Wong laughed, a harsh, cackling laugh. He lifted the crown and held it high.

"By the Circlet of Kemreswet, I name myself Emperor of All," he lowered it onto his brow and cackled again as if he had made a joke. There was a fell light in his eyes, but if anyone had witnessed his self-coronation they would have only noticed the gray one. It burned with dark fire. Power undreamed of would be his! It had been foretold! The future would belong to the darkness!