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DD II Shrine

Ancients Arrive
Episode written by Sandra Ryan

     The episode opens on a sunny day in Metro City.  A bunch of kids are outside playing on the sidewalk when smoke begins emerging from a sewer vent.  Suddenly, the Shadow Khan emerges and fires a terror disc at a kid who is rollerblading nearby.  The kid then evidently falls down a pit.  As the kid grabs onto a root to stop from falling, the root appears to come alive and begins growling at him, which scares him even further.
     The camera then cuts to a girl who is playing on the sidewalk.  Khan hits her with a terror disc and she suffers a hallucination in which she is about to be eaten by a giant spider.  Khan then fires terror discs at three more kids while saying vampires feed on blood; he feeds on fear.
     In a peaceful park setting, Billy, Jimmy and Kona are watching Michael as he fights in a tournament with another young martial artist.  As the boys exchange attacks, Michael gains the upper hand and scores a point.  However, this tournament is quickly interrupted by the young girl from earlier when she runs right across the sparring mat while trying to evade the giant spider illusion.  Billy grabs the girl and asks her what happened, but Jimmy says "later with the questions, bro" and slices at the giant spider illusion, causing it to vanish.  The brothers note that it must be terror discs, which means the Shadow Khan is back.
     The brothers then jump into a nearby section of the park and transform into the Double Dragons and Kona transforms into his Dragon Warrior costume as well.  Jimmy then spots another kid running from a man-eating tree and blasts it with his sword, causing the illusion to disappear.  The brothers spot other illusions and other kids as well.  They then note that Khan is targeting kids, and Kona says his strength is useless against something that exists only in a child's mind.  The brothers say that they have to stop the source of the illusions, and they head off to find Khan.
     The Dragons then find Khan standing over what looks like the previous hole that the first kid fell down.  As the Dragons watch without interrupting, Khan begins chanting something that sounds like a summoning spell.  He calls on his "Terror Warriors" to arise, and Kona says they must stop him now.  However, Khan says they are too late, and four warriors wielding various martial arts weapons appear before the Dragons.  Khan tells his minions to crush the Dragons, and the Terrors Warriors attack the Dragons.
     The Double Dragons manage to put up a good fight, but Kona gets hit by a terror disc (the Terror Warriors can create illusions with their weapons), temporarily disabling him, and Billy steps in to save him.  Before the two Dragons can even catch their breath, two Terror Warriors reappear and launch another attack against Billy and Kona.  Meanwhile, Jimmy is busy fighting another Terror Warrior in the sewer when the Terror Warrior wraps the chain/rope part of his weapon around Jimmy and causes him to suffer a hallucination that he is being chased by a bear.  Billy then drops down into the sewer and knocks the Terror Warrior out of the way.  As he helps Jimmy escape, Kona jumps in and blocks the Terrors Warriors' blasts using a large metal panel. 
     The three Dragons jump out of the sewer and back into the construction area they were previously fighting in.  Before they can attempt to go any farther, the Terror Warriors jump in front of them, ready for another fight.  Billy then fires his sword at the warriors, but the energy blasts pass right through them.  Billy appears completely stunned, stating, "Dragon bolts don't affect them...."
     Jimmy then tells Billy to follow his lead, and Jimmy opens fire on a nearby support pillar with Kona following suit.  The Dragons bring down the unfinished building on the Terror Warriors only to see them emerge from the rubble unharmed yet again.  The Dragons are forced to retreat as a nearby news van catches some footage of the event. 
     The Shadow Master is then seen watching the news on a TV screen in his Dojo.  He is aware that Khan has resurrected his ancient warriors and says "how unfortunate."  In this scene, the Shadow Master is shown wearing the armor Khan previously gave him, and he's holding Khan's shield as well.  Countdown then speaks from inside the shield and says, "We're going to make them eat plasma, right master?"  The Shadow Master laughs and says not quite yet.
     Back at the Dragon Dojo, the brothers and the Dragon Warriors are watching the mass hysteria on a TV/computer screen in the garage/underground section of the Dojo.  Billy slams his fists on the computer terminal and says there has to be a way to stop this.  Jimmy says without the Dragon Claws, they're useless against Khan.  Billy then says they need armor, and they both say "Komodo Kami!" at the same time. 
     Billy, Jimmy and Kona head through a back alley toward the Komodo Dojo.  When they arrive at the door, they see a sign saying all classes cancelled.  Billy says that Kami would never close her dojo.  However, Jimmy hears some people chanting/meditating, and the Dragons enter the dojo.  Inside, they find Kami and Su Lien meditating.  Su Lien jokingly states that they will get nothing done with these three here, and she suggests tea.
     Billy asks Kami for new armor, but Kami says a few months ago she decided to put all thoughts of revenge behind her, and she went to Su Lien for guidance.  Making new armor would bring all those bad feelings back. 
     Just as Jimmy tells Kami to look outside to see the devastation for herself, a Terror Warrior breaks through the glass ceiling and hits Kami with an illusion which causes her to see the Shadow Master in her reflection in the water (the Dojo looks like a Japanese teahouse and apparently has a small bridge built over a small stream of water for aesthetic purposes).  The brothers blast the warrior with their swords, but once again, the blasts do nothing.  Su Lien then says that there is another way, and she tells the Dragons to focus their chi energy to make this evil go away.  As Su Lien and Kona each put their hands together in a praying position, the brothers hold their swords forward, and the four focus their chi, causing the Terror Warrior to fly out of the dojo through the hole in the ceiling.
     Meanwhile, Kami is lying on the floor and nearly crying because her worst fear is that deep down, she's just as vengeful as the Shadow Master.  Su Lien says Kami's chi will never be in balance unless she understands her anger against the Shadows.  The Dragons are offering her that opportunity. 
     Kami says that the armor must be tempered in the Black Flame, but what if she bows to its dark power?  Su Lien says she must balance the yin and yang in herself and in the armor.  Kami decides to help the brothers.  Kami is then seen designing three new sets of armor on a computer (one for herself, two for the brothers), and a nearby assembly line begins crafting the sets.
     The brothers arrive at the Shadow Dojo and carry the armor inside.  Kami tells the brothers to watch for the Shadow Master while she takes care of the tempering process.  Jimmy wonders if Kami is OK, and Billy says he's more worried about why the Shadow Master let them in without a fight.  Kami begins the tempering process and says that her father called it the ultimate armor.  She says she will wear it proudly.
     However, the Shadow Master appears behind Kami and laughs as he notes there are three suits of armor; two for the Dragon Masters, which he will destroy, and one for himself.  On the other side of the Black Flame, Billy and Jimmy begin fighting the Shadow Warriors when Jimmy says he will watch Kami's back. 
     The Shadow Master congratulates Kami on her dark side winning once more, and he blasts her toward Billy.  The Shadow Master then puts on the third set of armor, and his armor changes to a new form which looks somewhat like Kami's previous armor, except the chest and arm areas are now open, like a sleeveless shirt.  There also seems to be some sort of power pack on his back which is connected to a wrist-mounted blaster on his right arm.  And the Shadow Master's weapon now looks more mechanical, almost like a wrench. 
     The Shadow Master uses his new armor to blast Jimmy over the nearby ledge (the Shadow Dojo has always had a central platform built above an apparently bottomless pit), but Billy grabs his hand.
     As Kami runs toward the two remaining armor sets, the Shadow Master blasts them and tosses Kami aside as she yells "you'll destroy them [the armor]!"  Kami then nearly falls over the ledge as well and Billy is forced to hold onto both Kami and Jimmy.  As the Shadow Master is about to blast everyone over the ledge, the Dragon Warriors blast the Shadow Master's weapon out of his hand and run into the dojo to save the brothers and Kami.
     Everyone then opens fire on the Shadow Master, but his new armor makes him impervious - or so he claims.  Kona tests this imperviousness by picking the Shadow Master up and chucking him across the room.  In a surprise move, Kami then dives directly into the Black Flame and grabs the melted armor pieces.  The Dragons and Kami then leave the Shadow Dojo as the Shadow Master fires at them with his wrist-mounted blaster.  As the Dragon Cruiser heads back toward the Dragon Dojo, it drives past a TV shop where we see the Shadow Khan on a bunch of TV screens telling everyone that the city now belongs to him.  Everything appears hopeless.
     Back at the Dragon Dojo, Billy, Jimmy, Kona, Kami and Su Lien are looking at the melted armor pieces.  Kami says the armor has been warped by the Black Flame and she doesn't think she can fix it.  Su Lien then says there is another type of tempering that is stronger than the Black Flame.  Kami must balance the evil with the good. 
     Kami sits on her knees and says "I will choose hope."  Energy then shoots from her hands, tempering the armor.  Su Lien then says "The armor is good," and she tells the Dragons to try them on.  Billy and Jimmy put on the armor and touch their swords together, saying "Ultimate might.  Ultimate right."  The brothers transform into their new, fully powered armor.  Jimmy's armor is blue on the outside and features a Dragon-shaped blaster on his right arm (sort of like Mega Man's arm canon).  Billy's armor is red on the outside and features two blades which can be fit together to use like a propeller.  Their new masks completely cover their faces as well.
     Billy uses the propeller blades on his back to fly himself and Jimmy toward the Shadow Dojo.  As the Shadow Master heads out in his Shadow Plane to face Khan with his new armor, he spots the brothers in their new armor.  The Shadow Master then attempts to blast the Dragons, but Jimmy hits the Shadow Plane with a blast from his arm canon, causing it to crash into a nearby pool of water.  The Shadow Master ejects from the plane on one of its small, flying speeder bikes. 
     Billy says "my turn" and flies in front of the Shadow Master using his propeller.  He then detaches the propeller and faces it toward the Shadow Master, causing a strong wind tunnel which knocks the Shadow Master off his bike and into the water.  Billy and Jimmy then head onto "the main event" with "no intermission."
     Billy and Jimmy face off with the Terror Warriors and do quite well with their new armor and weapons.  However, the Terror Warriors manage to ensnare the brothers with the chain/rope part of their weapons, and the Shadow Khan fires a terror disc at them as well.  Billy says the only way out is to balance their chi.  The brothers then hold each other's arms like they're in a football huddle and do a loud "Ki-yah!"  They then snap the rope that was wrapped around them and blast the Terror Warriors as the illusions disappear.  Billy then holds his propeller toward the Shadow Khan, and Khan disappears in a vapor trail of smoke.
     Billy and Jimmy are seen standing on a rooftop with Kami and Su Lien as they watch the neighborhood children playing on the sidewalk once again.  Billy offers Kami the chance to join the Dragon Dojo, and Su Lien tells her to go with what her heart says.  Kami says yes, and we see Kami taking part in a formal knighting ceremony at the Dragon Dojo were she is made into a Dragon Warrior.  Kami then activates her armor (from season one) for this first time during this episode.  She joins the brothers in saying "By the power of the Dragon!", which is something she has always wanted to do.
     Epilogue Message: Billy and Jimmy are sparring inside the dojo.  They talk about how people have a good side and a bad side and how growing up is about learning your faults.  Don't focus on the bad.  Everyone has something they should encourage in themselves.

     Dojo Master's review: Ugh.  I really do not like this episode.  It just betrays everything that the series has established and turns the cartoon on its head.  I understand the Dragons are desperate and need new armor, but come on.  How could they could possibly wear any armor that has been tempered by the Black Flame?  They're Dragons for Christ's sake!  During season one it was established that the Black Flame could kill a good person like a Dragon.  And if Su Lien knew there was a better way to temper the armor, why even bother with the Black Flame in the first place?  Hell, why did Kami's father need to use the Black Flame for this process?  Wasn't it also established in season one that this was the only way to temper this armor?  Why not just give the Dragons a new Dragon artifact?  That makes more sense than this.
     I hate the look and function of the new armor.  It sucks.  First of all, "Ultimate might, ultimate right" is stupid.  Second, the armor looks like a cross between a power ranger and Voltron pilots.  At least the Dragon Claw armor looked like actual Samurai armor.  In fact, it was really just upgraded Dragon armor.  It was simply a more metallic and badass version of the brother's prior Double Dragon costumes.  But this new stuff is just ugly.  Also, while it was a bit odd that the brothers used swords in the cartoon since, uh, they're not allowed to harm anyone, at least the swords had a basis in martial arts - Chinese martial arts especially (based on the type of swords they're wielding).  Sometimes it was cool to watch weapons clash as the Dragons fought with the Shadow Master hand-to-hand, or weapon-to-weapon, instead of blasting green stuff at each other.  But now the writers have abandoned this and turned Billy and Jimmy into flying canons.  When did Double Dragon become Mega Man?
     I've watched this episode several times and I still can't figure out how the hell the brothers got rid of the Shadow Khan.  Did they blow him away with a strong gust of wind?  Did their good feelings just drive him away?  What is this "balance your chi" crap?  What's the point of new armor if you simply go into a football huddle, shout "Ki-yah!" and drive everyone away with positive feelings?  Am I watching Barney now?
     Screw this episode.

Rating: F