Where we first left off, the J-Crew, Jovius’s Band, and The Covenant of the Dragon were inexplicably transported into a world that embodies an elemental force of nature: Tierra Mundo, or Earth-World. This sudden shift of planning was met with surprise and even horror from everybody involved. At Jason’s end, he would have to explain himself, as the knight was the one that unintentionally sent all of them into a different dimension and hopes in good faith that he doesn’t receive too harsh of backlash.

“Hey, everyone,” Jason called, getting the attention of his comrades, “I would like to confess something; something I should've been more transparent with.” he said with remorse.

Hamilton walked up to the young man and placed his hand on his shoulder; he looked at him with calmness and sympathy.

“It’s okay my boy, just tell me and everybody else what happened.” his teacher asked with sincerity.

Jace nodded his head, “Alright, I’ll do that right now.”

The knight came forward and explained the best he could on how everything happened. While in the middle of the explanation, Jeffrey started having some random aches and pains in his head but they proved not to be too debilitating. However, the physical stress in his head started to become more and more pronounced to the point that it couldn’t be ignored. Finally, the wizard felt a sharp pain in the back of his cranium that was so bad, that he fell to his knees.

Anya noticed this and ran to his assistance.

“Mr. McGruder, are you okay?” she asked out of concern.

“Yeah… I’m fine, I think.” Jeff responded.

Right then and there, Jeffrey had somehow discovered an epiphany so vivid, clear, and distinct, that if not restrained, would probably tear the fabric of reality in twain. Among that sobering moment of realization, he realized a painful, yet gratifying truth. In a rather bizarre turn of events, Jeffrey magically levitated off of his knees and back onto standing on his two feet.

The wizard took a deep breath, “You know something Jason? It feels like the moment we’ve stumbled upon you, we’ve basically signed our owned death warrant.” he said.

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Jason queried in a confused tone.

“Don’t give me that shit, I know you got some shady plans in store,” Jeff accused, “Tell me this: How did we REALLY end up in this dimension?”

“Well, there was this notification that was written in this really weird language that I don’t really know and so I-” the knight attempted to explain, before getting cut off.

“So now you’ve changed it to where you did something out of ignorance,” Jeff replied with a bigger accusation, “Whenever you’re unable to keep your story straight, it loses a bit of credibility. Thus, there's only one way that I can forgive any of this.”

Jeffrey then proceeded to pull a handgun and aimed at his ally’s head. Again, for some inexplicable reason AND with absolutely zero foreshadowing or even small hints implying that he had this weapon, now has it, because screw logic. Moving on (because I wouldn’t want to interrupt this roller-coaster of drama), upon seeing the handgun, the Willmore siblings were struck with fear. Fearing for their safety, Jovius and his band of angels swoop in and take them away to safety, even though they have the powers, abilities, skills, and equipment that could allow them easily defuse the situation, but fine.

“Jeffrey, what are you doing?!” Leslie shouted.

“I knew it, Jason was secretly working with the bad guys and started this whole mess to get us killed by his cohorts,” the wizard stated, “And thus, Jace was planning to betray all of us from the get go.” he concluded.

At first, there was a deafening silence save for the rumbling of rock happening throughout Earth-World. In reverence to his former friend finding him out, Jason gave a smug smile and then started snickering; then it escalated to a full on maniacal laughter. The laughter could be heard throughout the cave, echoing with unrelenting force. The knight then ceased, inhaling a huge amount of air into his lungs.

“You’ve finally found me out my old friend, con-fucking-gratulations!” Jace praised in an ironic manner, “However, there were some facts that were somewhat inaccurate, but I’ll be more than happy to correct them: Firstly, I’m not under the Cult of Uruzel; those idiots are so incompetent to the point that I wonder why they are still around to this day. Instead, I’m actually with the Clan of Archdemon Larazel.” he revealed.

The Knight then continued to reveal that he wasn't just a mere member, but was also a high-ranking member among them for specific reasons, namely he was adored by its high-priestesses for his ‘special gifts’. He continued on; once he lured the cult and their figurehead Uruzel into thinking that they conquered everything, Jason will use this opportunity to betray and overthrow them with his powers. Finally, when everything is over and done with, Larazel will become an infernal goddess and she’ll make him into a demon emperor; they will rule over El Mundo for all eternity.

Just don’t ask if the good gods and goddesses, along with their worshipers, will rise up and start a rebellion that will forever change history; that would just ruin the horror and drama.

Reacting to all this, Leslie fainted like a damsel in distress and David fell to his knees in sheer betrayal. Rather out-of-character for them.

“How could you Jason?” David said sorrow, “I thought we were family!” he shouted, while furiously slamming his fist against the ground.

“To be honest, I found something else better,” Jason remorselessly admitted, “Now that I’m serving a higher power greater than you, I think it’s appropriate to dispose of you all since you’ve outlived your usefulness to me.”

“Lilly, Manny, Tony, it’s time for all of us to go postal.” Jace suggested.

With golem-like efficiency, the trio took that as a cue to transform into their occult outfits and did so; for some peculiar reason, Tammy was nowhere to be seen. Now that they shifted into their true get-up, they were eager to shed blood; as for Jason, he took out black orb with a mystical rune on it. He raised up into the air and the object glowed dark red. He was quickly surrounded by a dark purple energy, soon being engulfed; Jason’s outer figure began drastically growing in size until it was around 13 feet.

After the energy disappeared, Jason was a completely different creature. His form was like that of a demon and a dragon combined, complete with onyx skin, red eyes, dangerous-looking armor, and red-bladed weapons. The air was filled with tension and horror; a group of well-trained knights would be instantly wiped out, let alone a normal person surviving an onslaught against this battle.

“Mr. Hamilton, take Leslie and find a safe place to hide.” Jeffrey requested.

“What about you?” David replied with concern.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” the wizard assured, “Now go, I’ll handle this.” he ordered.

Trusting his judgment and having good faith in Jeff’s abilities, the E.M.A. Teacher followed his wishes. He scooped up Leslie’s unconscious body and quickly left in a hurried pace to preserve both of the lives. All that remained was Jeffrey against a transformed Jason and his cohorts; the wizard couldn’t see the situation any other way but this one word: tragic.

He sighed in disappointment, “Man Jason, it really saddens on how far you’ve fallen,” he commented with regret, “But I know what this happened: you’ve grown impatient at the rate you’re growing, so you’ve joined a demonic cult, got initiated, and when you’ve met the high-priestesses, you couldn’t keep it in your pants; so bottom line: you’ve made a deal with the devil for more power.” the mage deduced.

“Pretty much, my old friend.” Jason confirmed.

“Was waiting to hear that,” Jeff remarked, “Well then, there’s nothing better to do but to get down to business, however, this gun won’t do me much good.” he stated, before tossing the firearm aside.

The wizard took out an adorned golden medallion and raised into the air, “Soul Release: Blue Spirit Dragon!” he shouted.

Waves of blue energy appeared and surrounded him; just like Jace, he was transformed into another creature. But this time, he transformed into a mighty spirit dragon capable of destroying a legion of demon soldiers.

“Only one of us is going to leave here alive.” Demon Jason declared.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s boogie.” Spirit Dragon Jeffrey remarked.

They all charged for each other. Then out of nowhere, everything came to a giant halt and everyone froze in place; Jeffrey was weirded out by the sudden stopping of time. Then suddenly, the wizard could hear his name echoing throughout.

“Jeffrey…”

“Jeffrey…”

“Jeffrey!”

The wizard snapped awake from his delirious fever dream, arising from his bed breathing rather heavily. After regaining his composure, he found himself in a large wooden shack with a female angel cleric tasked with healing him and overall, making sure that he’s in stable condition. Jeff looked to his left and right; he’s relieved that the entire scenario and situation was just a product of his imagination and desires.

“Hey angel, what happened?” the mage asked.

“Well, just as we arrived and your ally attempted to assess the situation by explaining himself, you’ve inadvertently blacked-out for some reason.” the angel explained.

“Wait, really?”

“Absolutely, you were out cold for almost half an hour.” the holy cleric confirmed.

Jeff reacted in a rather stunned expression. It seemed that when suddenly to a wholly different world, especially with absolutely zero planning and/or preparation, Jeffrey has this moment where his brain goes into emergency shutdown in order to prevent any serious damage. Also, that fever dream he had was essentially a manifestation of his desires of being the anime protagonist of a fantasy story: you know, where the protagonist is given a prophecy to defeat the dark lord, get tons of money, receive amazing powers, abilities, and equipment, and best of all, awesome side-chicks.

However, no matter how much he dreams about them, they will never happen. So the best Jeff could do was just shrug everything off and carry on.

Just as the wizard was pondering to himself about the recent events, the door opened; entering was Jason. Appearance-wise, he looked just like his regular self; no demon transformation, no occult tattoos, and nothing out of the ordinary in general. Upon entering the shack, the knight noticed that his ally had awakened and was alive and well.

“Thank god you’re okay, I thought I lost you there.” Jason stated with relief.

“Yeah, it’s good to see you again,” his friend replied, “Anyways, no need to tell me what happened; the nurse at my side did all of that.” he credited.

“Well, I guess I could save you the explanations.”

Yet despite that, Jeffrey was still confused by everything and wanted to get the bottom of it all.

“Jace, I know that I’ve just woken up, but we gotta talk man.” the wizard requested with utmost sincerity.

--------------------

Jason and Jeffrey were sitting on a campsite behind the shack; the shack in general was located in a town inhabited by boar Darwinians and dark-skinned Gula. Being in Tierra Mundo, plots of fertile land with unique properties such as accelerated growth, low maintenance, and resistance to pests were available to be utilized; it allowed the villagers to have a large and varied diet of various fruits, vegetables, and those derived from it. Overall, the village was doing pretty well with its numerous, thriving businesses being proof of that.

Moving on, Jeff was viewing Jason’s notification history and looking at the specific mission/quest box that his friend had received. It turned out that the knight was telling the truth, as even Jeffrey, who had a high translation skill, couldn't translate the text that the notification used. So basically, in the wizard’s eyes, Jace was essentially vindicated.

The thing is... that’s not really the main point. Instead, it’s something that Jeffrey had feared the day that Jason started to outdo himself when they were children.

“Look Jace, I know you’ve been trying to get yourself acknowledged and even proving your worth ever since we’re kids,” Jeff stated, “To be honest, I’m proud of you and hope you keep pushing forward.” he praised, along with being encouraging.

“Thanks dude.” Jason appreciated.

“However, the thing is… how much are you willing to give for power?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I went into comatose, I didn’t even realize it was all a dream until I woke up.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and during that short period of a bizarre delusion, you were essentially the bad guy who essentially sold his soul to the devil for power,” the mage said, “You transformed into a demon and I ended up fighting you, but there was no winner as soon as I woke up.” he claimed.

“Huh, that’s some dream you had.” Jace commented

“I know,” his friend acknowledged, “That’s why I’m warning you right here, right now: don’t sell out your humanity for the false promise of power beyond your wildest dreams, because I don’t want to suffer the pain of having to fight you in order to protect those that matter to me and you.” he warned.

“It’s okay dude; no matter how spectacular the offer may be, if it involves giving up my soul, I’ll never take it, no matter how much they sweeten the deal.” The knight promised.

Immediately after that conversation, Anya ran up to them with an urgent look on her face.

“Mr. McGuire, Mr. McGruder!” the wolf-girl called.

“Anya, what’s wrong?” Jason asked.

“There is some trouble going on at the town square!” Anya informed him with worry.

Jeffrey took a glance at his friend, “Well, it looks like we’re going to bash in some skulls again.” he remarked, before rising up.

“You bet.” positively responded Jace, before getting up with the aid of Jeff.

“Can you show us where the town square is?” the wizard asked.

Anya nodded and began leading the two towards the place. Deep down, Jeffrey hoped that Jason, in his quest to become powerful, has enough wisdom in him to not take the kindness of others for granted; it’ll be very messy between them if that day comes. For now, they’re good as both friends and allies.