Jade groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. The text had warned about the recoil of the power reflection spell being equivalent to the deflected impact, but she'd thought she'd dispersed it properly. Quite a way to learn she hadn't mixed that part properly.
Slowly opening her eyes, she saw a wall of green and yellow. Confused, she stretched out her hand and felt the rough, scaly flesh before her before managing to part two fingers...and stare out at the crimson void she'd seen through the portal she'd summoned Hsi Wu through to make him her familiar. She felt her blood run cold as she realized what had happened. Po Kong had been banished back through the portal, and she'd been dragged along somehow.
She saw something starting to approach, but before she could see details the fingers closed up tight. Before Jade could voice a complaint, she felt the entire world shift around her. She quickly realized Po Kong was shifting positions...for some reason.
"And that's three of us trapped here now," Tchnag Zu growled out, the voice making Jade stiffen. That must have been what she saw approaching!
"Still arguing peaceful coexistence is possible?" Dai Gui demanded cruelly. "It seems you were banished even with that outlook."
"For your information, I banished myself!" Po Kong snapped out disdainfully. "It was the only way to prevent that dark wizard's spell from draining Bai Tza until she didn't have any demonic life force left! There's no record of anyone who had undergone a Demonic Ascension reversing the process, and I wasn't about to take a chance with our sister!"
"You really chose her well being over your own freedom?" Tchang Zu demanded in shock.
A judgmental silence hung in the air for a time. "It seems some of us take our brotherhood more seriously than others," Po Kong stated flatly. "I'll be certain to keep that in mind."
"What is that you have there, sister?" Dai Gui suddenly demanded. Jade flinched as she felt something impact near enough for her to sense it.
"What are you talking about?" Po Kong demanded evasively.
"You can't hide anything from us, sister!" Tchang Zu snapped.
Jade pulled back as blue and red hands dragged Po Kong's fingers apart, revealing her to Dai Gui and Tchang Zu's view. "The girl!" Dai Gui proclaimed in shock.
"At least we shall have entertainment!" Tchang Zu declared as he gathered a lightning bolt.
"Don't you-" Po Kong began, but too late to stop him from throwing the bolt.
Before it could reach Jade, Hsi Wu blurred into place between her and his brother, taking the bolt himself as he screamed in agony.
"HSI!" Jade screamed in worry and fear even as Tchang Zu and Dai Gui laughed.
Tso Lan snarled angrily as he closed the viewport to the netherrealm he'd just finished opening. "And just like that, our idiot brothers have closed our options," he growled under his breath.
"How so?" Xiao Fung asked curiously.
"By now the fillies will have told the other Chans that the girl got pulled into the Demon Netherealm by Po Kong," Tso Lan continued. "It was plainly unintentional, and we could have played that to our advantage and actually gained the assistance of the Chans as far as freeing our siblings. While individually, Tchang Zu and Dai Gui may have flaunted Valmont's assistance, if the rest of us were united they would have been forced to play along...and eventually been happy with what he presented them. I admit the idea of ruling Mars was...appealing."
"And how is that no longer an option?" Xiao asked curiously. "I thought you were trying to contact Po Kong to tell her to keep track of the child?"
"Hsi Wu is bound to more than just the child by his familiar magic," Tso Lan explained angrily. "Given the level of the discharge Tchang Zu just threw, it's likely they would have felt it backlash through the spell! The fillies at the least would have felt it. How exactly can we argue our position when they can feel one of our own tormenting a brother?"
Xiao's eyes narrowed angrily. "I see. There's no way they'll help us willingly if they can feel that. And taking the chance they didn't is foolhardy."
"The only one who would have had a chance of convincing them would be sister Bai," Shendu spoke up, puppeting Valmont's body and holding Bai up. "But she has not yet recovered from what the dark wizard did to her."
"Is Valmont recovered from what happened?" Tso Lan asked hopefully. "And do you have any idea what happened?"
"No on both counts, brother," Shendu offered apologetically. "And I have no idea when he will recover. I cannot feel his mind."
"Damn," Tso Lan growled angrily. "Then we cannot afford to wait and hope he can come up with a better plan. We must take action now, before the Chans do and close our last opportunity. Since Tchang Zu brought this situation on us, he can wait until his own portal unseals. Let's see if the three of us can bring enough force to bear to cow the Chans in this world. At least they do not have access to Hsi Wu at this time."
"Four Demon Sorcerers against that group?" Xiao asked dismissively. "They will surely know they are outmatched."
"Don't be so sure," Shendu murmured dryly.
"Enough, both of you," Tso Lan snapped out. He crossed his arms as he slipped into deep thought. He would have to approach this carefully, show just enough force to convince the Chans to cooperate, but not so much as to cause them to call out bigger guns to try and overcome them, and not so little that the Chans decided they could handle them themselves without cooperation. That would be a delicate balance, after all, and there would be no second chances. One wrong move and everything would fall apart, and time was not on their side. Tchang Zu already showed he had no patience for the situation, and they had to move fast before the situation was beyond recovery.