Chap. 5: Rescue
CRACK-KOOM
"Now what?" asked Cat. The sky began to darken and the wind picked up a bit. "I don't like this," said Didi.

SNAP. A bolt of lightning missed the girls by a few feet. "This is getting serious!" shouted Didi. "I have an idea!" Didi grabbed Tam by the ankles. "Form a chain," she shouted above the storm. "We'll be harder to hit this way, we're gonna play a game of snap the whip. Cat's behind me and Jazz is at the end."

The six of them linked up, hand and ankle, with Tam in the lead. Tam dove, leading the group closer to the ground. The chain slithered along like a snake, sometimes missing a bolt by no more than a few inches. "I can see the gate," Cat called out. "It's straight ahead."

They needed speed. Tam flapped his wings and led the chain higher and higher. Then suddenly, he dove suddenly, snapping the whip and throwing poor Jazz off into free fall.

Jazz's eyes widened as she lost her grip on Josie's feet. She watched as the rest of them spiraled downward, and through the stone pillars of the gate. Jazz furled her wings and began to dive quickly trying to catch up. She almost made it, when she was cut off by a sudden ZAP of lightning. Jazz flew to the right and tried to swoop around the crackling bolts. She flew in low until she was about a yard from the ground. She pumped her wings as hard as she could to stay a few feet ahead of the lighting as it struck. As the lightning got closer and closer to hitting it's mark, Jazz's flying became more and more erratic.

Soon her wings became a flurry of rapid beats. As one near miss scorched the soles of her feet, Jazz tucked in her head and screamed. This propelled her faster across the field, just as one bolt nearly caught up with her, she was through the stone pillars of the gate, and safe from the lightning.


The other side of the gate was a large room. Set in the floor of the room were thick silver poles. Some of the poles were about two feet apart, while others were slightly further apart. Right now though the group's main concern wasn't the room.

"Where's Jazz?" asked Didi. Lydia busied herself with removing the girls wings. "She lost her grip on my feet when we dove," said Josie. "I tried to tell you, but-"

Suddenly, everyone heard a high pitched wail coming from the gate. As it got louder and louder, everyone recognized it as Jazz's sonic scream. Jazz shot out of the gate propelled by her scream, and sped between two of the silver poles. Then she appeared on the far side of the room, bursting out from one set of poles and slipping into another. The whole effect was like watching someone run through a funhouse mirror maze. One minute she was here and the next minute...

Cat tuned her ears to Jazz's scream and positioned herself at one of the portals. As Jazz burst from between the two silver poles, Cat reached out and wrapped her arms around her waist. "Jazz," she said "It's me Cat. I've got you now, you can stop screaming." Jazz kept on screaming however, the lightning had made her panic. Cat felt her scream blast against the walls of the room, it was getting hard to hold on to her, Jazz was seriously scared.

"Knock it off Serena," shouted Cat. "Your being a total ditz." Cat's words penetrated Jazz's panic, and calmed her down enough that she stopped screaming. Jazz was panting heavily from the effort. "Just cause I'm...a little late at times...doesn't mean... you can call me... Serena," Jazz was back to normal. Cat hugged her friend tightly. The worst, for now, was over.

"Lots of gates," said Tam. Didi stuck her hand into one of them and watched it appear across the room. "Neat," she said. "I guess they're meant to confuse anyone who gets this far." Tam nodded. "You may be right," he said.

"How the heck are we gonna find the right gate with all these decoys here?" asked Lydia.

"I don't know," said Didi. "I honestly do not know. It's worse than a maze of mirrors." Cat walked up with a sleeping Jazz in her arms. Lydia let herself swell up again as Cat put Jazz on her friend's greatly swollen midriff. "That storm seriously scared her," said Cat. "I am majorly gonna put the hurt on someone before this is over."

"Chill out, Cat," said Josie. "We have to get there first, and so far we're stuck here."

"No we're not," said Cat. She sniffed the air and caught a whiff of something she didn't like. It was the mildew rot smell that traveled with the ghosts when ever they went anywhere. Cat walked up and down the rows of gates until she found where the smell was strongest. "This one," she said finally, almost a half hour later. By then, Jazz had woken up.

Gently sliding down the enormous swell of Lydia's girth, Jazz walked over to where Cat was standing. "Let's do it," she said.

"Are you sure you don't wanna rest a little more Jazz?" Cat asked concerned.

"I'm sure," she said. "We have to rescue Tam's sister, and we're gonna need everyone for that, including me. So whether I am at my best or not, I gotta do this."

"All right," said Cat, but she was going in first to make sure it was safe.


"Kendo, Dark Warrior," called Ming into the circle of fire. The Dark Warrior appeared in a heartbeat and kneeled before Ming. "Yes, mistress," he said. The air in the room grew a little colder than usual.

"Tam has returned," said Ming. "I can feel him at the final gate. His powers are much weaker now so he will be that much easier to catch. Prepare an ambush inside the courtyard, summon what help you need. We should take
no chances on his escaping again."

"Yes Mistress," replied the Dark Warrior. He drew his swords, slashed his X in the air, and vanished. Ming closed her eyes and thought to herself for a moment. As she thought, an evil scheme began to form in her brain. Ming concentrated on the stream of energy that fed her spectral form. She concentrated on reducing her intake of energy, to a thin trickle, soon she would begin to grow thin, and after that. "Well," she thought to herself. "They will not be expecting what's left to be much of a threat to them." She chuckled to herself with confidence.


The outer gate of Ming's palace was a thing of beauty. Carved from the greenest of jades and decorated with magnificent pearls, the girls had to stop for a moment to admire it.

"It's beautiful," said Didi.

"It's not real," said Cat. "I can see through it's illusion. It's not jade, it's iron." She thumped the gate with her middle finger and it gave off a dull metallic bong. "That's the element of earth helping you," said Tam. "Revealing the true nature of the elements before you."

"Interesting," said Cat. She placed her hand on the gate and was about to go in when she stopped. "I hear movement inside," she said. "An ambush. Ten regular soldiers, and maybe a few with special powers."

"More ghosts, huh?" asked Josie. Cat nodded

"One of these days, Cat, I gotta trade bras with you," said Didi. "Just to see what it's like to sense things like that." Cat pushed the gate open and walked in. No one was in sight, everyone was hiding and all but invisible, except to Cat. "Well since you guys went to all the trouble of setting up this ambush," Cat shouted. "We figured that it would be rude not to attend."

The soldiers came out from their hiding places, brandishing long knives. The were being led by the Dark Warrior. Tam doubled up his fists and mad ready to charge the specter, when Jazz placed her hand on his shoulder. "He's not worth it," she said. "Let me." Jazz let loose with her best scream straight into the Dark Warrior's chest, blasting him into three of the soldiers and knocking the four of them back over a yard. "Lets get 'em," shouted Didi. Cat tackled four of the remaining soldiers as Didi took the other three. Josie was about to help Cat with the extra soldiers when a man in a black gi and cape, and armed with a pair of sais, appeared in front of her. He made a stab at Josie. She was able to dodge the slender blade, and was about to introduce its wielders face to her elbow, when her opponent vanished.

"That's the Ebon Wind," Tam shouted. "He's Ming's ninja, he can teleport as well as you can, Josie." At that Josie vanished with a bamph.

Cat threw two of the undead soldiers over the outer wall and slammed the other two into it. She had hardly broken a sweat, when she felt the ground tremble beneath her feet. From around the corner of Ming's palace, came the biggest man Cat had ever seen. He was twice as tall, and three times as wide as she was, and looked to weigh several tons. That was all right, she liked a challenge.

Didi stuffed the last of the soldiers upside down into a tall vase. "Lydia," she called out. "Find Tam's sister, we need all the help we can get." Lydia nodded and grabbed Tam's arm. "Where would they keep your sister in this place," asked Lydia.

Tam thought for a moment and said finally, "I do not know, they kept us in separate cells in separate dungeons. That way we couldn't recharge our powers from the Spirit Well, and escape." Lydia shook her head. "Where are the dungeons?" she asked, with some frustration. Tam pointed at the great palace before them.

Lydia broke in the lacquered doors of the palace. Tam followed her into the great golden hall and tried to remember where the dungeon was where he was kept. On one side of the hall was a great red wooden arch, carved in the shape of an oriental dragon. It reminded Lydia of a giant red snake with short muscular legs, a beard, antlers, and a tail fin shaped like a wide spear blade. On the other side of the hall, were three doors that each led to a stairway going up.

"This way," said Tam. "I remember running out of that door when I escaped." The pointed to the far door on the right. "And if I were Ming, I would have kept my sister as far away from me as I could so I would have put her in here." Lydia followed Tam up the stairs. The came to a landing that revealed a row of lacquered doors with windows near the top. "Yes," said Tam. "These are the dungeon cells, my sister should be in one of these."

Tam stepped forward to look into one of the little windows. Lydia grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "Hold on for a minute," she said. "If this is where she is being held, then why aren't there any guards?"

"You're right," said Tam. "Lets go back and try that middle door."

"No," said Lydia. "We're in the right place, I am saying that it's curious that there are no guards." Lydia began to examine the room more carefully. The door they had just entered through had a dragon carved into it just like the arch downstairs. "Hmm," said Lydia. "Tam get back into the stairwell, I am going to try something." Lydia walked over to one of the empty cells and ripped the door right off its hinges. The carved dragon above the door began to creak and split, as it tore itself free of the frame. The wooden monster was only half as long as the hallway, but wide enough that it couldn't turn around to attack Tam. Lydia concentrated trying to increase the creatures mass and pin it to the floor, but for some reason, her powers wouldn't affect it. She was going to have to fight this thing on her own.

Lydia concentrated and shifted her shape. Her neck grew long and sinuous, as her face morphed into a long mouth filled with needle sharp teeth. Lydia changed her limbs into short stubby legs with webbed toes and thick sturdy claws. She then grew a long whip like tail, edged with a sturdy and sharp fin running along its length, from the base of her spine. She then grew to the same length as the dragon was, but not nearly as wide.

Tam could see Lydia's transformation from the stairwell. "A Nothosaurus," he thought to himself. Lydia lashed her head forward and sank her teeth into the dragon's neck. The wooden beast roared like a great oak that was being felled.


Josie had never fought another teleporter before, but then again neither had her opponent. The both of them led a fearsome chase that seemed less like a battle and more like a game of 'Hide and Seek'. One would appear and try to strike home a blow, only to have their opponent vanish into thin air before them, it was frustrating. Suddenly the ninja appeared in front of her, his sai barely missing her by a few inches. Josie teleported back a couple of yards out of reflex. Then an idea flickered into her brain like the sparkling wings of a dragonfly. Then she vanished, and bamphed into the ninja's view for an instant. She then reappeared, slightly to the left and about ten feet off the ground, and then she disappeared again. This time she appeared to the far right, and ten feet higher.

The Ebon Wind watched as Josie zig-zagged higher and higher, timing his opponent so he could attack her and finish her off quickly. Just as he readied his blade for a stab, the girl appeared in front of him and stuffed her fist under the ninja's ribs. The Ebon Wind felt his own breath rush out of him in a sudden rush, that drove him to his knees. As Josie raised her fists together to finish the fight, the ninja vanished. The fight wasn't over yet.


"Get off me," said Cat. She wasn't sure how old ton o' blubber had gotten on top of her, but now he had one foot in the small of her back and the other between her shoulder blades. To make matters worse, he seemed to be getting heavier.

Cat dug her hands into the ground beneath her and bent her elbows, and tried to push up. The wrestler lifted his foot and slammed it between her shoulder blades. Cat's arms flew out into a spread eagle position. Cat scowled, the son of a bitch was laughing at her.

"So I look like an earthquake when I walk like this, huh?" she thought to herself. "Ok one earthquake coming up." Cat bent her elbows again and slammed her hands into the earth. She then gunned out five fast reps that threw the wrestler of his balance, and sent him slamming into the ground.

"I asked you nicely," she said, angrily. Cat grabbed his ankle and threw him hammer style into the far wall, where he left a hole about the same size as he was.


Lydia's opponent tasted terrible, the lacquer that was used on the beast was horribly bitter. It was also very slick, so her needle sharp teeth had barely anything to hold onto. The dragon on the other hand had managed to get a hold of one of her forelegs. The wooden beast's teeth weren't sharp enough to tear flesh, but its jaws were very strong and could crush the bones beneath.

Lydia reflexively increased the mass and density of the bone in her leg. She then raised up on her hind legs, and pushed on her opponent with her free 'hand'. The bottoms dragon's feet were also coated with the slick lacquer, causing it to slide across the floor, and nearly into the stairwell. The dragon released Lydia's foot and tried to charge again.

Lydia backed off from the dragon, and began to change again. her legs grew thicker and stronger, as her long neck shrank and grew thick with muscle and bone. Her long snout shrank and became short blunt muzzle as her heat became capped with a thick helmet of bone.

Tam was confused. "A Pachycephalosaur?" he thought to himself, then in a flash. "Oh I get it." He ran back down to the bottom of the stairwell. Lydia raised upon her powerful hind legs and charged the dragon. She slammed her great, bony helmet into the dragon's side with such force, that it partially broke in half as it slid into the stairwell.

Tam heard the wooden beast tumble down the lacquered stairs and break into several large pieces. As Tam ran up the stairs, Lydia had almost returned to normal. "Ooh..." she said. "My head hurts."

Tam grinned at her. "Come," he said. "I can feel my sister's energy, we are very close." The pair ran down the corridor to the last door and stopped. "Figures that Ming would put her here," said Lydia. She reached up to grab the door to the cell and was thrown back by a nasty jolt. "Ouch," she said, shaking her hands.

"Mystic barrier," said Tam. "Are you all right?"

"Just shocked me," said Lydia. "Can you get it open?"

"I can try," Tam replied. He balled his right hand into a fist and made his left hand flat and rigid. Lydia had to turn her head, as Tam's hands flared and crackled with white hot energy. He then charged the door chopping with his left hand. The door, now crackling with it's own dark energy, now had a shimmering white crease in it. Tam drew back his fist and charged the door. "KIAI!!!!!"


Jazz was screaming. No pretty song to go with it, just a raw scream. The Dark Warrior had decided to attack her while she wasn't looking. Now he was getting what he seriously deserved. Jazz had him pinned to the wall with her sonic scream and was not going to let him down until either the fight was over or until there was nothing left of him.

Josie and her problem, suddenly teleported in beside her and distracted her for a moment. She stopped screaming just long enough for the warrior to get away, and draw his swords. Jazz ducked his slash and tripped the Dark Warrior before he could ready another. As Jazz inhaled to let loose another blast, the Dark Warrior slammed the butt of one of his swords into her gut. With the wind knocked out of her, Jazz could neither scream nor keep her balance. Jazz fell on her side and rolled onto her back.

"I've had enough of you," said the warrior in his cold stony voice. He raised his sword to deliver the fatal blow.

"I cannot ignore this evil," came a yell from the parapet. "RUNE FLARE ARROW!!!!!!" Jazz rolled aside as volley of fiery bolts rained down on the Dark Warrior. Some punched holes in his tunic, some exploded on contact, and some bolts set him on fire. The now blazing warrior looked up to the parapet wall and shouted, "Traitor!"

"Never," said the Black Arrow, jumping off the parapet to the ground. "I was never loyal to your foul mistress's goals." Then to Jazz. "Are you alright?" Jazz picked herself up off the ground. "I'll live," she said.

"Good," replied the archer. "Then lets finish him off." The Black Arrow drew another shaft from his quiver and nocked it to his bow. As the archer drew back the arrow, Jazz took in as deep a breath as she could hold and screamed. The blast caught the Dark warrior in the chest and knocked him over backward.

As the Dark Warrior picked up his swords and charged the girl and the archer, the Black Arrow loosed his shaft. The arrow immediately transmuted into a bolt of lightning. It then traveled down and along the ground, appearing as though it would fall short of it's target. The arrow then circled the Dark Warrior, stirring up a small whirlwind. It grew faster and taller until it lifted the swordsman off the ground and carried him far into the air. The sudden CRASH of a thousand bolts of lightning running down the length of the tornado, caused Jazz to jump. Somewhere in the chaos of the tornado, Jazz heard the Dark Warrior screaming.

Then suddenly in a heartbeat it was over, the vortex just vanished. A few bones fell from the sky, but other than that, it was over. "Divine Wind Arrow," Said the Black Arrow. "Saved especially for you, Sien Ti."


Jinn covered her face as the door exploded. She was unsure of what was happening, until her brother ran through the remains of the door. Jinn was delighted to see her brother again, but the strange woman who accompanied him made her nervous.

"It's all right," said Tam. "She and her friends came along to help rescue you." He turned to Lydia. "To you I present my sister, Sang Van Jinn." Jinn bowed slightly to the big woman. There was a slight glint of envy in her eyes, Jinn herself wished that she could be as tall and as pretty as this woman was.

Jinn was about 5'3" and as slender as a reed, her mother always cropped her hair in a short Vietnamese style. The girls at the American schools would tease her sometimes about her figure.

"Tam," said Lydia. "You and your sister better recharge your energies, I'll guard the door and watch for trouble." Tam and Jinn both gave a short nod and clasped hands. As they concentrated on the Spirit Well, their auras began to glow; Tam's a brilliant white, Jinn's dark and seductive. A slight breeze filled the room as the twin's auras became more and more pronounced. The wind swirled around the twins in a definite circle, as a strong corridor of energy erupted from the floor to the ceiling.

Jinn, all the while concentrating, still wished that she was as tall and as pretty as Lydia. Her eyes then shot open as she felt a change begin to happen to her. Her eyes flared with ebon energy as she began to grow taller. She began to get a little scared as her slender body began to bulge and swell with new curves. Her back shivered as her short hair began to cascade down her back like a dark waterfall, but what surprised her the most, was her breasts. Under her silk clothes, she felt her own petite bosom begin to swell and grow fuller and fuller. At the time when she and her brother felt that they could hold no more power, they released their hands.

"Wow," said Lydia. "Does that always happen when you two recharge?"

"The breeze and the brilliance, yes," said Tam. "But nothing like this has ever happened before." Tam had grown to over six feet tall, his shoulders were broader than anyone on the school football team. His hair had grown down to past his shoulders, and he looked to have as much muscle as Cat when she was transformed.

Jinn tried to shift back into a corner of her cell. "I just wanted to be pretty," she muttered under her voice. Lydia giggled. "Well you got your wish," she said. "And then some. Jinn you are knock down, drag out, beautiful."

"But my brother," Jinn said shyly. "I forgot what ever happens to me in the well, also happens to my brother."

"She is afraid that our mother will scold her for abusing the power of the well," explained Tam. "She once used it to turn her hair red, and mother scolded her for a week, and made me wear a hat until we could change back.

"Big deal, you turned your brother into a stud," said Lydia. "You have done nothing to be ashamed of." Lydia hugged the frightened girl. "Now come on and lets get out of here before any more trouble shows up."

Jinn looked up, as Lydia gave her a smile that made all of her troubles go away at once.