|
Jalen is woken by Master Tan, who tells him that he must train for he has an important
task ahead of him. Something in the back of Jalen's mind is bothering him, but he can't quite place it
so he gets up and follows his master to the monastery's training area.
A horrified Ben Shan Vinh has found his brother's bloody body. When Jalen's phone rings
Ben answers it to find it is Patrick calling to tell Jalen he and the others are returning to Los Angeles.
Ben tells them that Jalen has been stabbed and Patrick immediately turns the car around.
As the car approaches Ben's house Patrick spots a figure running across the road, a
figure carrying a sword. He hands the wheel to Dana and leaps out of the moving vehicle in pursuit
of the figure. Dana and Ethan arrive at Ben's condo and find Jalen. Ethan realizes that Jalen was
stabbed through the heart and has already bled to death, there is nothing he can do.
Patrick chases the figure through several yards, a pursuit that has both he and his
quarry making superhuman leaps over fences and walls. Finally Patrick gets the other to stop and
Patrick can see that the man's sword is covered in blood. The man introduces himself as Val Woodson
and Patrick, knowing the Norse legends, recognizes him as Vali the Avenger, the son of Odin who avenges
Balder's death by killing Hodur the god of shadow. Val tells Patrick he does not want to fight, for he
would have to kill Patrick. Fighting back his anger and fear that this so-called god has already killed
Jalen, Patrick takes advantage of finally being able to talk to one of the Norse gods in person. Patrick
tries to get Val to help he and the others find a way to stop Ragnorok, but Val tells him that unlike
mortals, the gods have no choice in how the events are unfolding. Patrick lets Val go and takes with
him the slim hope that Val's words have given, namely that while the gods are helpless mortals like
he and his friends can still do something. Patrick heads back to Ben's condo.
Back at the condo Ben, Dana, and Ethan find themselves confronted by a
group of ninjas who emerge suddenly from the shadows. The ninjas are followed by a man in a dark
leather coat, the Master of the Shadow Walker clan! The ninjas proceed to take Jalen's body and
the others are unable to do anything to stop them. When Ben reveals that he is Jalen's brother
the Shadow Master seems surprised. He orders the ninjas to take Ben as well. Despite Dana and Ethan's
efforts the ninjas and their Master vanish back into the shadows, taking Jalen's body and Ben with
them. Patrick arrives just in time to see the Shadow Master vanish. There is little time to mourn
or figure out what has happened, though, as the group hears sirens approaching. Realizing that Ben
must have dialed 911 when he found Jalen's body the group flee the scene before the authorities can
arrive. They pile into Patrick's car and start the long drive back to Los Angeles.
At the Shadow Walker monastery Jalen is being put through a series of difficult
training sessions by Master Tan, who again reminds him that he has an important task ahead of him.
Despite the nagging sensation that he is forgetting something important, Jalen continues his training.
In an unknown location the Shadow Master has brought Jalen's body to the demonic
Doctor Maalik, who says that he thinks he can help. Meanwhile Patrick, Dana, and Ethan have returned to
Los Angeles but have decided not to tell Emma about Jalen's death until they find out what happened to
the body. With no clue as to what to do, and still in shock over the death, the group can only fall
back into old habits. Dana becomes more withdrawn and buries herself in her studies; Ethan goes back
to researching Hel and Asgard, hoping to find a way to reach the gods; and Patrick begins hitting the
demon bars. While the others are focusing on the Ragnorok problem, it is Patrick who is trying to
find out about the ninjas. As he makes his way around the demon underground in Los Angeles he begins
to find out about the Shadow Walker clan. Mostly he learns legend and rumor, but Patrick does learn
that a demon mercenary used to work around LA, a demon that claimed to have once been part of the
Shadow Walker clan. Patrick wants to find this demon, but his informant says the fellow hasn't been
seen in months, and is curious as to why Patrick would want to find Cerne. At the mention of the name,
Patrick goes white and immediately heads off to inform the others what he just learned. Meanwhile,
back at Maalik's hidden lab the evil doctor has placed Jalen's body on an operating table. He then
goes over to one wall and opens up a cadaver drawer, revealing the body of Cerne within it.
Patrick heads to the Oracle to see if he has any information. While there he suddenly
realizes that the shadows in the city are the wrong angle. He calls Dana who confirms what he is seeing,
the shadows in the city appear to be getting smaller. It is Ethan who realizes what is happening when
he sees that the shadows are not really getting smaller, they are moving, and they seem to be heading to Griffith
Park. Patrick, Dana, and Ethan meet at the park and follow the shadow trail. It leads them into the
woods to what appears to be a locked door that leads to utility tunnels under the park. Breaking in,
the group follows the tunnels and discover Maalik's lab. Peaking in the door the group can see Maalik
and the Shadow Master, as well as Jalen's brother Ben, who is chained up in one corner of the room.
Unknown to the group, Maalik has just injected Jalen's body with Cerne's blood. The trio burst in,
hoping to take out the villains quickly. Several shadow ninjas move in to attack while Patrick goes after
the Shadow Master. Just then Jalen's body sits up, apparently alive again! The group's hope fades,
though when the Shadow Master calls Jalen by another name: Cerne!
At the monastery, Jalen has finished his training and Master Tan is pleased. Then
Jalen begins to feel a pain in his chest and he realizes that he was killed. The monastery vanishes
and Jalen finds himself in an empty white space facing Master Tan. Then Master Tan changes shape into
a man who introduces himself as Caiel. Caiel says he is a servant of the Powers That Be and that he
intercepted Jalen's spirit when Jalen died. Caiel tells Jalen that by doing so he was breaking some
rules, but that he did it as a favor for one of Jalen's friends, Lauren! Caiel reveals that he has been
acting as Lauren's spirit guide for the quest she has been on since her spirit was severed from her
body. She saw what happened and asked Caiel to intervene. Caiel tells Jalen that Cerne's spirit now
controls his resurrected body and is attacking his friends. He will give Jalen the opportunity to
battle Cerne for control of the body, but that he cannot help once the battle starts. Caiel vanishes
and Jalen finds himself standing in a facsimile of the Shadow Walker temple's arena, facing Cerne.
Back in Maalik's lab Cerne, in Jalen's body, is battling Patrick while Dana and Ethan
fight off Shadow Ninjas. Dana kills one of the ninjas, but there are many more than they can handle.
Even Patrick is having a hard time, as Jalen's body seems to possess some of Cerne's powers now.
Within the spirit world, Jalen battles Cerne, and is eventually victorious. He reclaims control of
his body just in time to be stabbed by Patrick. Luckily thanks to Cerne's blood, Jalen is tougher
than he used to be. The remaining ninjas are quickly dispatched and the Shadow Master flees into
the shadows, leaving the heroes and Jalen's brother (Maalik had fled the minute the fight started).
The group are elated that Jalen is back and they head to the Blue Plate Diner for
some pie, where Jalen tells them what he learned about Lauren in the spirit world, and the group
tries to explain what they do for a living to Jalen's poor confused brother.
|
