As Valmont and Jackie crossed swords, shifting back and forth through the battlefield, Valmont quickly noticed that Jackie's expression - as intense as it was - showed conflict. "Something bothering you, Chan?" he asked as he attempted a disarming strike, hoping to capitalize on his opponent's distraction.
Jackie readily blocked the disarming strike, shifting into a fierce counter almost without seeming to think as he sighed sadly. "What you said before, about the Demons deserving a second hearing...it made me think." As he had Valmont briefly on the defensive, he pressed forward as he mused. "They have been locked up for a long time. Legends say it was for trying to conquer the world...but humans did that back then, too. In fact, many old human cultures indulged in the same things Demons are derided for from our modern perspective. Rather hypocritical of us to not allow Demons a chance to grow, when we have as a species. So if any Demons who come out the portals just want to live on Earth and are willing to behave by the laws of the magical side of the world...maybe they should be given a chance to."
"So if Tchang Zu had come out ready to live peacefully..." Valmont began as he backflipped away from the blade before bringing his own back up to clash.
"I'd have tried to talk Uncle out of banishing him," Jackie confirmed as they each pressed forward, applying pressure through the blades.
And I've outsmarted myself, Valmont thought silently. "Still, your pursuit is necessary in its own way," Valmont observed. "If you lot weren't actively hunting them, I wouldn't be having near as much luck getting them to listen to me."
Jackie smirked. "Is that how it is?" he asked calmly as they leapt back, ready for another clash.
As Viper continued to swing her staff back and forth against her opponent's trident, the clash of metal sounded over the battlefield, overlaid only by the occasional peal of thunder. She didn't know who this woman was, but the fact that she ran to Valmont's aid when Jackie attacked him told her Viper she was more dangerous than she appeared. The fact that the trident was still holding up despite striking it with enough force to shatter stone told Viper that there was something magical going on here. The magic-reading contacts she wore confirmed that, as it showed magic flowing out of the woman to surround her and infuse the trident. "Well well, it seems you've got more tricks than I expected. You aren't just a pretty face on a criminal's arm."
The woman chuckled darkly. "And you're just full of surprises," she purred softly. "Do try and keep me entertained while Big Blue over there lays waste. I haven't had this much fun in a long time, and I live for the challenge!"
Viper grinned as she started putting the pieces together. "So you've been helping him release the Demons?" she asked curiously.
"I came here to break into movies, remember?" the blue haired woman purred back.
"Nice cover story, but a woman with as much magic as you have wouldn't need help breaking into movies," Viper countered. "Natural magic users can demand top dollar in Hollywood. Which tells me that's a cover story based on information that isn't accurate anymore. So what has Valmont offered you to get you to cooperate this much...Bai Tza?"
As Viper expected, the correct identification of her opponent caused her focus on the magic she was pumping into the trident to waver, and Viper lunged in. Her enchanted staff split the trident down the middle before sweeping up to shatter the tines. Bai Tza staggered back, but then smirked. "You are full of surprises..."
"And the level of magic in the sets here means you can't tap any underground pipes for water," Viper snapped out, leveling her staff towards the disguised demoness. "Which means you are out of water, out of weapons, and out of options."
To Viper's surprise, Bai Tza laughed. "Only one out of three...and you were doing so well." Putting her hands to her dress, the entire thing shifted as it turned into water. Two bits solidified into a jungle-style tube top and loincloth, leaving the rest as writhing masses of water in Bai Tza's hands. "Ready for Round 2?" she demanded before lashing at Viper with a water whip that gouged the pavement when the ex-thief dodged.
Tohru struggled as he fought against all three Dark Warriors at once. It was proving exceptionally difficult, despite his size advantage. While he could easily outpower any of the three in a direct confrontation, he found he was in the same situation as he had been fighting Jackie while in Valmont's employ, as the three were too slippery to stand still and take it. On top of that, they were all able to hit hard enough to do real damage to him...though he'd thankfully managed to avoid Ren's boomerang blade. At first he hoped to get aid from Uncle, but it quickly became plain that Uncle was fully engaged in a struggle with Daolong Wong, sparing attention only to try and see what happened to Scootaloo. On the other side of the battlefield, Audrey III was trying to find ways to deal with the Shadow Khan without exposing himself to their herbicide weaponry. Tohru was on his own.
Thankfully, he did have one new trick of his own for just such a situation. Some deep meditation exercises had revealed that the reason he was so strong and released such devastating power when wielding the Talismans was because he had an excessive amount of Chi in his body...but it was naturally aligned perfectly with every cell. According to Uncle, Good Chi Warriors trained for years to achieve such things, and Dark Chi Warriors were created to be that way artificially. That Tohru was such naturally said he was meant for a great destiny. As such, Uncle had looked up a spell that Chi Warriors had used when pushed to their limits, one that allowed them to activate the Chi in their bodies to protect those that mattered most to them. Tohru spoke the spell now.
"Wǒ de shēntǐ shì dùnpái...Wǒ de shēntǐ shì dùnpái..."(1) As he chanted, his entire body began to glow the green of Good Chi, and he saw the Dark Chi Warriors flinching back. When Ren hurled his boomerang blade, Tohru lifted one hand and deflected the blade off his bare flesh, not even getting as much as a paper cut.
A grin crossed Tohru's face as he continued his new mantra. The tables had turned...
Scootaloo continued to tumble upwards past the clouds, surrounded in an aura of demonic lightning that prevented her from tapping her own magic and left her in pain on the verge of unconsciousness. She kept struggling to get past it, but the charge Tchang Zu had put into her was enough to keep her trapped like that well into LEO. This would prove to be the Demon of Thunder's biggest mistake, one he would never had made if he'd known any modern science.
As everyone who has studied weather or electricity knows, lightning is the result of opposite electrical charges in ground and sky being drawn violently towards each other to balance the charge. The greater the imbalance, the more intense and powerful the flash of lightning as positive and negative charges rush along the bridge between sky and ground. Magic functioned on rules similar to science, and thrived on balance. Where there was light, there was dark. Where there was good, there was evil. Where there was demonic...there was divine.
And Tchang Zu had just sent a naturally gifted wild magic creature up into the clouds super-charged with demonic electricity. It was only natural that such would draw a balancing power when it was in its own realm.
Scootaloo found herself sticking to the bottom of a cloud. Two heads - one green, one red - stuck out over the edge of the cloud, examining her curiously. When they saw the charge trapping her magic, the red face grinned widely as a rapid drumbeat began with the sound of rumbling thunder. "...I dressed up as you once..." Scootaloo murmured dazedly. The answering grin was vicious.
Scootaloo's body tensed as she felt divine lightning surge through the aura of demonic and into her body. Blue lightning patterns raced up her legs and along her feathers as the energy filled her, attuning her to the power so she could contain it. As the designs crossed her face, her eyes blazed blue, and she dove with the sound of a thunderclap, divine lightning trailing along behind her.
As she struck Tchang Zu hoof first with enough force to send him sprawling, she could only think one thing. This movie's gonna be AWESOME!
(1) "My body is a shield."