Disclaimer: Ladies and gentlemen, I've decided that after reading a few stories about how Jade became Queen of the Shadowkhan that I was going to try my hand at writing my own tale related to this. Please bear in mind that I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures, Sonic and The Black Knight/Sonic Unleashed, and any other special guests that you'll see later. Thank you, that is all, and now I present to you the first chapter of my newest story.

The Blue Knight and The Dark Queen

Masks of the Shadowkhan

It was your typical day in San Francisco in Chinatown, where life is going as usual for our heroes. Currently Jade had her head on the table as she was grumbling about studying the capitals.

"Dullsville," the preteen complained.

"No Jade, the capital of Georgia is Atlanta," Jackie explained, "Your geography test is tomorrow. Let's try Oregon."

"Why does Tohru get to study the fun stuff?" Jade whined again as she and Jackie looked in the direction of Uncle and Tohru, who were going over chi spell ingredients.

"Uncle is waiting." Uncle said to his apprentice as he held up a card.

"I know this one. That is the symbol for a conjuring spell," Tohru answered, "One which requires garlic and ginger."

"Correct," Uncle praised, then yelling as he added, "If you are making Chicken Chow Mein!

"You plan on becoming Chi Wizard?" Uncle asked his sumo apprentice. The Elderly Chi Wizard then added, "Then you must prepare for day when new evil enters our world."

XXX

Over in the San Francisco Prison, life was not going so well for the Dark Hand Enforcers, for they had line cook duty and needless to say the food they had to serve could be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

"Bon appétit," Chow said as he placed a spoonful of gruel on a prisoner's plate.

"Want gruel with that?" Ratso added as he added more gruel to the pile.

"Today's special," Finn added another spoonful of the slop to the plate. Once the convict was out of sight the enforcer turned, facing the kitchen saying, "Hey how's that special sauce coming?"

Daolon Wong was chanting over a pot with a blue substance while Hak Foo leaned on a wall next to the disenchanted Dark Chi Wizard.

"This had better work, wizard," The Black Tiger hissed.

"While I no longer posses my full dark chi powers I, Daolon Wong, have amassed the spell ingredients required to make our escape," the wizard responded, and with that he continued chanting his spell.

"Come to me, yes," the dark wizard responded as he got the symbol of the Shadowkhan to appear, only to get it replaced by a red floating head with yellow golden eyes, white eyebrows, a white mustache, and a white beard in the pot.

"Liberate us, Shadowkhan," Daolon commanded as a blue light shined from the pot, "Rise, my army of darkness."

"Your army?" said a voice that caused Daolon and the Dark Hand to look towards the source of said voice, which was revealed to be the red head in the pot. "I am the one and only King of the Shadowkhan!"

"Tarakudo awakened?" Daolon questioned.

"And ready to reclaim my ninja magic," Tarakudo proclaimed as he looked around, "A task for which I will require assistance."

"We have to go check on dessert now," Finn spoke quickly as he and the other Enforcers backed away as Tarakudo emerged from the pot. The King of the Shadowkhan then used his mental powers to lift the Enforcers and levitate them out of the prison as the alarms started blaring. Tarakudo then used his mental powers to close the prison gates while he was still carrying the Enforcers.

XXX

Back at Uncle's Rare Finds, Captain Black's van pulled up with Black himself opening the door.

"Jackie, the Dark Hand thugs have escaped prison," Captain Black announced with worry before noticing that Jade had some kind of a headache.

"Daolon Wong!" Uncle screamed.

"Good news is the wizard is still in custody," Black replied. On cue, his cell phone started ringing.

"Black," the Captain answered, and after a few seconds he responded, "Miller Airfield, send in every available agent."

Black was cut off as Uncle grabbed the phone from him.

"Your assistance will not be necessary," Uncle responded to the person on the other line, "Magic will defeat magic, goodbye."

"Daolon Wong or no Daolon Wong, a new greater evil has forced its way into our realm." Uncle explained, "When we find Dark Hand thugs we will find this evil. Hurry!"

"Yes!" Jade leapt up, only to be caught by Jackie in mid air.

"Fifty states, fifty capitals," Jackie said sternly as he pointed to the shop. Jade sulked back inside, though if he had been paying attention he would've noticed traces of red in her eyes.

XXX

Meanwhile, the Enforcers, after having found their old outfits, were at Miller Airfield speaking with Tarakudo.

"Serve me well and your reward will be great," The King of the Shadowkhan said to his soon to be new henchmen.

"Look we appreciate you busting us out, Tarakudo-san." Finn explained, "But we're a little burned out on the whole henchmen for hire thing."

"Ah, you require motivation," Tarakudo responded, and on cue he used his powers to cause some oil drums to fly high into mid air then fall just an inch above the Enforcers' heads, leading them to cower.

"We're on board!" Ratso yelled quickly.

"When do we start?" Chow asked in haste.

"Ready to work," Finn added as the barrels moved away, causing them all to sigh in relief.

"That's the spirit!" Tarakudo praised before asking, "Now where is this Dark Hand jet?"

On cue, Captain Black's van arrived with Jackie Chan and company stepping out.

"Visitors?" Tarakudo asked, turning to Finn.

"Jackie Chan and friends," Finn answered.

"He's always getting in our way," Ratso added.

"So now would be an excellent time to bring on the ninjas," Chow suggested.

"Not just yet," Tarakudo ordered, "Ready the plane."

Jackie and company noticed the floating head moving towards them roaring loudly.

"Oni," Tohru whispered in shock, shivering in the process.

"New evil, right?" Jackie asked his uncle.

"The symbol of the Shadowkhan!" Uncle responded.

"Now what fun is a symbol without drums?" Tarakudo quipped as he levitated many oil drums at the group, causing everyone but Tohru to dodge them; strangely, they didn't hit the sumo at all.

"Tohru!" Captain Black called out as he rushed to help get Tohru to safety.

"Come on, big fella, trying to save you a nasty bruise here," the head of Section 13 reasoned, before he got hit with an oil drum which knocked him out onto the ground.

"Captain Black!" Tohru spoke as he ran over to help the head of Section 13 and get him to safety while Uncle and Jackie went to deal with Tarakudo.

"Jackie, quickly, floating head!" Uncle yelled to his nephew as Jackie went to fight the floating head.

Tarakudo responded by using his mental powers to throw various airplane parts at the archeologist. Jackie dodged by moving out of the way and he found a red biplane under which he took cover.

"Hi, Jackie!" Said a voice, which turned out to be Jade.

"Listen, before you get mad, the capital of Kansas is Kansas City," the preteen continued.

"The capital is Topeka, and that is not the point," Jackie answered back just as he heard his niece say, "uh, oh", and turned to notice Tarakudo near Jade.

"You," the King of the Shadowkhan said as he noticed the symbol of the Shadowkhan in her eyes and saw the Dark Jade from her time as the Queen of the Shadowkhan, "The former Queen of the Shadowkhan, returning to the forces of darkness."

Jackie took action as he picked up Jade with one hand and carried her off to safety, or at least attempted to, while shouting, "Thank you, no, not today."

"What Jackie said," Jade continued as Tarakudo reappeared in Jackie's path.

"Oh but I insist," The King of the Shadowkhan spoke and on cue he roared loudly. The roar was the loudest thing Jade had ever heard, she couldn't think of what to do here; in fact she couldn't think period. Honestly, her teeth were aching from the noise! Her head was about to split like a tomato under the sun; she could only grab it with her hands as if trying to force it to stay together.

Then something snapped, and the pain was gone. She didn't open her eyes but she realized the roar had stopped and there was only a ringing in her ears. The ringing was giving way to something else, a voice? Yes, she felt quite alright now, in fact drifting off to sleep seemed quite a good notion.

Jackie, getting one of his feet back under him, went to a kneeling position, ears still full of ringing from the sound attack the floating head had hit them with. A glance showed the head still there as if being a floating head was perfectly fine; in fact it looked quite pleased with itself. Since it didn't seem to be doing anything dangerous at the moment his attention turned to its next natural point, Jade. He was relieved she was getting to her feet, he had worried she might be hurt taking the brunt of that attack as she had. Then she opened her eyes, revealing glowing crimson orbs rather than her own eyes. Her skin darkened to blue, spreading out from her eyes then affecting her face and then running down her neck until Jackie saw the color claim her hands and legs. Finally, the tattoo Tohru had erased long ago once again inscribed itself as if administered by an invisible hand, in the middle of her forehead. The Queen of the Shadowkhan was free once more and looked to her liberator with interest.

"Many thanks for freeing me once again;" Dark Jade said to the floating head, "I can once again resume my rightful place as Queen of the Shadowkhan."

"Welcome back to the dark side," Tarakudo praised as they prepared to depart for the Dark Hand jet, "Now let us take our leave."

Jackie was still in shock from the effects of the roar as he watched the floating head leave with his niece on board the Dark Hand jet.

"Uncle this is terrible, Jade has been corrupted by the floating head and is now leaving with it!" Jackie yelled only to get hit by Uncle's fingers.

"Aiyaa!" yelled Uncle, "The new forces of darkness have grown stronger now that Jade has resumed her role as Queen of the Shadowkhan! We must call upon help to deal with the new forces of evil!"

"How do we do that and return Jade to normal?" Jackie asked, again in a panic, only to get Uncle's patented two-finger smack.

"Aiyaa! One thing at a time, Jade is too powerful for us to take on right now, we must call for help to even out the balance of power and follow floating head," the elderly chi wizard responded again.

XXX

Jackie, Tohru and Uncle were on board a Section 13 jet trying to find a lead as to where the floating head had taken Jade. Uncle was working on new spells to defeat the floating head as well as rescue Jade from the forces of darkness, along with calling for help to accomplish that goal. Jackie was watching the radar function on a laptop for any sign of the Dark Hand jet while Tohru was sleeping. He was dreaming of his life back in Japan when he was a kid. He heard something outside his room so he hid under his blanket hoping the monster wouldn't find him. Suddenly the door started to open and the face of a demon came into view.

"MOMMY!" Tohru yelled as he woke up, causing Jackie and Uncle to look as the sumo strangely, "Sorry, I could not sleep."

"Let me guess," Jackie suggested, "The floating head right?"

"The floating head reminded me of the Oni. When I was a child growing up in Japan my mother told me tales of the Oni," Tohru explained, "They were hideous horned demons who would sneak into the rooms of disobedient children and eat their souls."

Jackie could see that Tohru was shuddering at that last part while Uncle didn't look that impressed.

"Simple fairy tales," Uncle noted as he was preparing spell to summon help to even out the balance between light and darkness, "Floating head cannot be Oni."

"It can't?" Tohru asked hopefully.

"No, everyone who has controlled the Shadowkhan has been Chinese: Shendu, Chinese; Daolon Wong, Chinese; Jade, Chinese. But Oni are Japanese," the elderly chi wizard explained just as Jackie's laptop beeped.

"According to radar, the Dark Hand jet has landed in Hong Kong," Jackie informed.

"See, Hong Kong Chinese," Uncle explained as the plane headed to Hong Kong.

XXX

"Shendu's palace?" Jackie questioned as he saw the ruins of said palace.

"Shendu collected many artifacts holding great magical power," Uncle explained, "Floating head may be seeking one of these."

Uncle and Jackie were heading to the entrance of the catacombs of Shendu's palace when they noticed that Tohru was not following them.

"Tohru, what's wrong?" Jackie asked as he noticed the sumo seemed to be troubled by something.

"I will stand guard out here," Tohru said, as he was still creeped out by the floating head.

"Tohru, Jade needs our help to save her from the dark power that has corrupted her and if you were afraid of something then she would probably want you to face your fears for her sake," the archeologist said to the sumo, who nodded as he followed Jackie and Uncle into the catacombs.

XXX

Meanwhile, Tarakudo, Queen Jade, Finn, Ratso, Chow, and Hak Foo were in those very same catacombs when they saw the chest at the end of the hall.

"Consider it a gift," the King of the Shadowkhan spoke to his assistants as Ratso and Chow went to open the chest.

"I feel like a kid at Christmas," Ratso smiled eagerly as he was close to the chest.

"I bet there's a ton of treasure in here," Chow said as he and Ratso began to open the chest only to find a red mask with fangs and green hair that gave the illusion one would think that there was a demon in there.

"Dude," Finn complained to Tarakudo, "You brought us all this way for a mask?"

"It was from this mask that Shendu drew the power to control his Shadowkhan army and through which Daolon Wong's magic also channeled that very same power," the lord of all Oni explained as Tohru and Jackie were observing from behind a pillar while Uncle was preparing a spell to summon champions of goodness to help save Jade and defeat the new evil, "At one time, this mask allowed our resident Queen of the Shadowkhan to control the Shadowkhan before good magic sealed her away. But now that she's back, she's ready to take her rightful place as the Dark Queen."

"Jackie," Uncle said to his nephew as he finished summoning the champions of goodness, who at the moment were hidden by a shroud of good chi magic until the right moment.

"I know, Uncle," Jackie said as he leapt into action.

"Why don't you try on the mask and see how it fits," Tarakudo said to Hak Foo, who reached for it and was about to put it on.

"Peak-a-boo!" Jackie said as he took the mask from Hak Foo.

"Why am I not surprised?" Queen Jade spoke up, getting ready to kick some butt.

"Seagull shucks oysters!" Hak Foo said as he charged at Jackie.

Finn and Chow went to help only to be blocked and thrown aside by Tohru like ragdolls.

Ratso made a move to get the mask and he was almost there until a blue blur raced around him and threw him aside next to Tarakudo. The blue blur turned out to be a blue hedgehog with six quills on his head, a tan stomach, and white gloves and red-and-white running shoes. On his right hand was a metal gauntlet, which he was using to hold a sword. The steel of the blade was folded perfectly and glistened diligently in the few rays of light that were allowed to breach the mist. The handle was crafted of the finest gold with sterling silver wire crisscrossing over the hold and the crest of a dragon embroidered over the hilt.

"What a ride," the hedgehog exclaimed. Seeing that Jackie was having trouble with Hak Foo, he went to his aid only to run into Dark Jade.

"Okay, any suggestions Caliburn?" the hedgehog asked his sword.

"I am not familiar with this creature but do not let its appearance deceive you," the sword, now known as Caliburn, answered, "I would suggest you destroy it as soon as possible before the situation grows worse."

"Rodger that," the hedgehog confirmed as he was about to go for a slice attack, only for Jade to dodge it.

"Again, who are these people?" Tarakudo asked Ratso, very annoyed with the interference that Jackie, Tohru, and the sword-wielding hedgehog were causing.

"Well Jackie Chan is some kind of do-gooder and the big guy over there used to be one of us but now is on their side, the hedgehog over there with the sword is Sonic the Hedgehog wielding the sword Caliburn and his buddy Miles "Tails" Prowler is sure to be around here and he's a yellow fox with two tails with the I.Q. of a genius and the old guy holding the blow fish... ow!" Ratso said explaining about Jackie, Tohru, and Uncle, before he was hit by a beam of green light fired by said old guy with a yellow twin-tailed fox standing right next to him prepared for battle, who was indeed Miles "Tails" Prowler.

"Who else wants a piece of Uncle?" Uncle exclaimed, with Tails standing right next to him.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with," Tarakudo shot back, hoping to intimidate the chi wizard.

"Enlighten me," Uncle retorted, not in the least bit intimidated.

"Bow before Tarakudo, King of all Shadowkhan, Lord of all Oni," Tarakudo proclaimed.

"So you are Japanese," Uncle said in surprise only to get hit by a telekinetic blast from Tarakudo, and then he suddenly saw Jade standing right next to him.

"Now you know what you're up against old man," the Queen of the Shadowkhan sneered as she prepared to finish the chi wizard off for good but her attention was diverted as she had to dodge sword swipes from Sonic and Caliburn.

Jackie meanwhile had the mask in his hands and threw it to Tohru as Finn jumped him. Tohru tried to catch it, but Tarakudo used his mental powers to catch the mask.

"Mind over matter," the King of the Shadowkhan intoned as he moved the mask over to Hak Foo just as Jackie had flipped Finn off of his back.

"Sonic, stop him!" Tails called out to the blue hedgehog.

"Rodger buddy," Sonic said as he went to get the mask away from Hak Foo.

"I don't think so, you filthy rat," Chow said as he reached for the mask as well.

The two foes made it to the mask at the same time as Hak Foo but the mask slipped from their grasp as they fell to their feet and the mask suddenly landed on Chow's face.

"Hey, wait a minute, what's going on?" Chow groaned as the mask stuck to his face and became almost like a second skin to him with Chow's glasses becoming the eyes of the demon like face.

Everyone stared at Chow's transformation, too stunned to speak.

"I wanted that," Hak Foo muttered as he picked himself off of the ground.

"Handsome devil, isn't he?" Tarakudo commented, "Chow here shall stay and familiarize himself with his new power, along with her highness rediscovering her powers while we make further preparations."

The King of the Shadowkhan disappeared and levitated Finn, Ratso, and Hak Foo out of the catacombs, leaving the heroes with Chow and Jade.

"What does the floating head mean by further preparations?" Sonic asked as he prepared his sword.

"From what I can understand," Caliburn answered, "It sounds like bad news is afoot."

Jackie was trying to pull the mask off of Chow's face only to have no effect whatsoever and was thrown off by the Enforcer.

"Five against two, now that hardly seems fair," Chow commented in a tone that mixed his own voice with that of a demon as if there really was a demon within the mask.

"Indeed, now show these fools what you can do," the Shadowkhan Queen suggested, and on cue the possessed Enforcer roared loud.

"Caliburn, what's going on?" Tails asked as shadows started to form around them.

"I have a feeling that the evil within the mask allows the host to summon creatures of darkness which the ones who summoned Sir Sonic, myself and yourself to this world know best as Shadowkhan," Caliburn explained as the dark pools formed into vast armies of Shadowkhan.

"Any ideas?" Tails asked the group right before Dark Jade snapped her fingers.

"One," Sonic said as the Shadowkhan charged at the group, "We fight."

On cue, Sonic used Caliburn to slice up the Shadowkhan, and Jackie used his martial arts to fight off the Shadowkhan while Uncle blasted them with chi magic. A group of Shadowkhan tried to bury Tohru but the sumo merely flung them aside, only to be kicked from behind by Dark Jade and three of the Shadowkhan, which caused him to land at Chow's feet.

"Boo!" the masked Enforcer said simply and Tohru suddenly started freaking out.

"Tohru, the bravest warriors are not those who fear nothing," Caliburn explained as he and Sonic were busy slicing the ninjas, "They are those who are willing to face what they fear most."

Encouraged by the words of the sword, Tohru charged towards Chow, only to be lifted like a ragdoll and held in mid air.

"Light as a feather," Chow teased as he threw the sumo into the stone chest.

Meanwhile, Uncle was busy blasting Shadowkhan left and right while dodging the constant attacks.

"Aiyaa! We must remove demon mask from host in order to defeat Shadowkhan!" Uncle reasoned, "Jackie, Sonic, one more thing – keep Shadowkhan busy so Uncle can cast proper spell."

"We are trying Uncle!" Jackie said, sounding like he was running on empty as he and Sonic were doing their best to fight the numerous swarms of Shadowkhan.

"What spell would we need sensei?" Tohru asked, only for his sensei to indicate that he had no clue while Tails noticed the broken tablet that was on the stone chest.

"Perhaps the inscriptions on this kanji might have an idea of what we're up against here," Tails suggested as he started putting the pieces of the tablet together, "Though I don't have enough time to cobble a translator right now."

"And what do you think you're doing?" Dark Jade asked as she saw the group near the tablet. She summoned a swarm of Shadowkhan and was about to have them attack before a blue blur drew their attention.

"Hey slowpoke," Sonic teased, "You fight like a puny little shrimp. In fact, I know shrimps that are better at combat than you."

"After him," Jade roared to the Shadowkhan as she and the ninjas started chasing Sonic.

Sonic had raced back to Jackie while he was taunting Chow, who instantly sent the Shadowkhan after him as well. The duo met as they were leading the Shadowkhan away from Uncle, Tails, and Tohru.

"So, got any ideas Jackie?" Sonic spoke to the archeologist/martial artist.

"Try to keep the Shadowkhan busy until Uncle can find a way to remove the mask," Jackie answered back to the hedgehog as they kept running.

Back with Tails, Uncle, and Tohru, they had just gotten the tablet back together and were devising a strategy on what to do with the information.

"So anybody have any idea what it says?" Tails asked.

"These are Japanese kanji," Uncle responded, "Uncle only reads Chinese."

"Uh, I read Japanese, but it has been many years… in fact I am probably too shaky, in fact just forget I ever said-" Tohru spoke up before being interrupted by Uncle.

"Tohru read Kanji now!" Uncle yelled to his apprentice.

"Yes, sensei," Tohru meekly responded as he started to translate the kanji while Tails used what equipment he brought with him to help with the translations.

Over with Sonic and Jackie, the duo found themselves in another part of the catacombs and a Shadowkhan leapt at the duo before being cut down by Caliburn. The shadow veil was starting to overtake them as more Shadowkhan came out of the darkness and attacked Sonic and Jackie only to be thrown, tossed, kicked, or sliced. Jackie and Sonic dodged almost all of the ninja attacks while pummeling more of the Shadowkhan.

"The kanji tell of ancient warriors who once casted a spell to defeat this Oni by trapping its spirit within the mask," Tohru explained to Uncle and Tails as he read from the kanji, "The key ingredient was Japanese steel, specifically forged for a samurai sword."

"Aiyaa!" Uncle exclaimed, "We will not find steel of samurai sword here because Shendu is Chinese, not Japanese!"

Tails had a pretty good idea of where to find some Japanese steel and flew to where Jackie and Sonic were fighting the Shadowkhan.

Over with Jackie and Sonic, the duo was just catching their breath but heard the sound of something flying through the air and saw numerous shuriken being flung at them. The duo moved quickly to dodge them as the ninja stars stuck in the wall. The duo moved again as more shuriken were flung at them, almost slicing them badly while one struck right near Tails, who had just moments before arrived after the shrunken struck.

'Well, based on what Tarakudo said about himself and the Shadowkhan,' Tails thought, 'this has got to be Japanese steel.'

Meanwhile, Sonic and Jackie ran to a light part of the catacombs beneath Shendu's palace only to find themselves surrounded by Shadowkhan and watched as Chow and Jade walked through the ranks on the backs of some of the kneeling Shadowkhan.

"Smack down time Chan," Chow said as his black jacket ripped, while he flexed his muscles and went to work using the martial arts skills that he suddenly gained while wearing the mask. Sonic and Caliburn watched with interest and worry.

"Caliburn, can't we do something to help him out," Sonic complained as he watched Jackie get his butt handed to him.

"I would think so but it seems we have our own problems to deal with right now," the sword explained as Sonic barely dodged a sword swipe from Jade, who seemed to have suddenly gained twin black steel samurai swords and was using them to swipe at the cobalt blue hedgehog.

"Face it, hedgehog," Dark Jade taunted, "When it comes to sword play you suck as a knight."

"He is more of a knight then you will ever be of a queen, you obnoxious little upstart," Caliburn shot back in Sonic's defense only to have to block another sword swipe from the angered queen while Chow continued to pummel Jackie, who was thrown towards two Shadowkhan.

"You've been working out Chow," Jackie commented as the Shadowkhan threw him back into the fight.

Meanwhile, Uncle was examining the shuriken that Tails had brought to him.

"Tails, what makes you think this is Japanese steel?" Uncle asked the twin-tailed fox who was standing right next to the cauldron that was bubbling with the spell ingredients.

"From what you have described," Tails explained, "I have found that since the Shadowkhan are Japanese, then the shuriken they use must be made from Japanese steel."

Back with Jackie and Sonic, the archeologist was getting his tail handed to him quite badly as Chow continued to put the hurt on him, while Jade had just gotten the upper hand over Sonic and sliced across his quills, leaving both of them knelling to the ground.

"It's over Chan," Chow said simply while the queen prepared to deliver the final blow to the two heroes. But before she could do so, the sound of chanting was heard and they all turned to see Tohru carrying Uncle on his shoulders with a glowing shuriken surrounded by a green aura in his hand and Tails flying right beside them. The shrunken shined a green light onto Jackie, whose hands then began to glow green.

"Jackie, remove mask!" Uncle commanded. Jackie leapt towards Chow's face and began to tug on the mask.

"Get that pest off of Chow now," Jade ordered the Shadowkhan and on cue the Shadowkhan began to grab Jackie and Chow in an attempt to remove Jackie from the Enforcer.

"Uncle, are you sure this will work?" Tails asked Uncle and Tohru, the former having gotten off the shoulders of the latter, as Sonic rushed towards them with Caliburn in hand.

"Patience, Tails," Uncle simply said.

Jackie continued to pull on the mask, and after a few minutes the mask came off Chow's face.

"Destroy him!" Chow commanded to the Shadowkhan… except they had vanished the minute the mask was removed.

"I would suggest we take our leave," Jade reluctantly spoke up, and on cue she summoned two Shadowkhan to take Chow through a dark portal to Tarakudo, and was about to leave with them but not without some parting words.

"You win this round, but this is not the end, only the beginning," the dark queen said, and before anyone could answer she jumped through the dark corridor and left with the portal closing up soon after.

"Perhaps this would be safer at the vault in Section 13," Jackie suggested as he was still holding the mask.

"New evil has been defeated," Uncle said.

"Um… one more thing," Tohru said pointing to the kanji, indicating that the job was not over yet.

"Oh no," Jackie groaned while face palming.

XXX

Meanwhile, Chow and Jade found themselves outside near a waterfall, where Tarakudo, Hak Foo, Finn and Ratso were waiting.

"Don't do that," Chow said to Jade, who merely indicated that Tarakudo wanted a few words with him.

"You have failed me," the lord of all Oni simply said, causing Chow to go to the ground and kneel for mercy, causing the demon to continue, "Do not fret; this is but a minor defeat."

"That's cool," Finn commented on how lenient Tarakudo was being.

"Tarakudo's an okay guy," Ratso simply said, already knowing that he was much nicer than Shendu and Daolon Wong were.

"Besides, our mission has only yet begun," the King of the Shadowkhan said as he floated away, his voice getting deeper in the process.

"It has?" Ratso questioned.

"Jackie, Uncle, and Tohru along with Sonic, Tails and Caliburn are probably going to seek out the other eight masks," Jade answered Ratso's question while continuing, "and knowing Jackie and Uncle, the vault will probably have extra protection to keep Tarakudo out."

XXX

Back with the heroes, Tohru was explaining what was on the rest of the kanji.

"The kanji goes on to say that Tarakudo once terrorized the land with his trusted Oni Generals," Tohru translated, "Each demon general had control of their own army which were derived of a different tribe of Shadowkhan."

"How different are we talking about?" Tails asked worried.

"Hopefully we can avoid having to find out," Jackie responded.

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

"Nine different tribes of Shadowkhan to deal with?" Sonic commented, "Sounds like an invitation to party. Ow!"

"You fool, this is not the time to be taking this situation lightly," Caliburn scolded.

"Talking sword is right," Uncle added after he hit Sonic with his patented Uncle smack, "There are eight more masks which we must find and locate before forces of darkness do."

"Let me guess," Jackie stated, "The masks were scattered across the earth?"

"Yep. Uh, one more thing," Tohru responded as he finished reading the kanji, "Should the nine masks ever be revived the combined power between them may summon enough Shadowkhan to cover the entire planet in eternal darkness."

"Aiyaa! Tohru must do research!" Uncle stated.

"He must?" Tohru, Sonic, Tails, and Caliburn asked, seeing that Uncle usually does all of the research in these matters.

"You were told tales of Oni by your mother," Uncle responded, "You read Japanese, you are Japanese, so you must do research!"

"Alright, a new adventure." Sonic cheered, "Lets save the world again."

Jackie just groaned at Sonic's comment, knowing the he was starting to act more and more like Jade, which really started to hit home for him right now. But he had to focus on the task at hand and summon the courage to rescue Jade and stop Tarakudo from corrupting his niece any further.

Never expected Jade to fall to the Dark side huh? well after hearing about this for a while I decided to try my hand at writing something like this so enjoy. anyway Next time the heroes find themselves in Tyoko Japan to find a lead to the remaining Oni Masks one of which is closer than they think. however the dark forces have their own evil ends to uphold and unfortunately the heroes have not only new evil to deal with but a new breed of shadows.

Read and review and if anyone has any good ideas for next time stuff in the post script please suggest it. Thank you that is all.