7 Chapter 7: Dijiang Tribe
July 14th, 1991
Earth - ?????????
Xu Family Compound.
It's been nearly a week since Jack learned he'd be going to America. While Mattias and Shang-Chi were busy training with Wenwu; Jack was making sure that he had everything he needed in his [Infinity Castle] space while he waited for his paperwork to be complete. Weapons, armor, clothes, money, and training gear were the main things being stocked in his dimension.
Oddly enough, Jack found that Morris seemed to love his [Infinity Castle] space more than anything. He could be found wandering near the edge of the starless expanse, usually on his back; dozing off.
Wondering what he was doing, Jack approached Morris. With the help of the [A.I. Chip] Jack was able to compile a rudimentary understanding of Morris' language over this past week by analyzing his chirps and interactions with Ying Li.
"Hey, Morris, whatcha doing? Mom seems to be worried about you. You're always lazing about in here." Jack asked with curiosity while picking him up and scratching his belly.
"Chiiirp Chirrrrp CHIIIIIRP," Morris replied lazily.
"A.I. Chip, please translate," Jack thought.
[Ding Request Received! Translating...]
[Morris: It feels good here! Yummy snacks in the air! There's so many foods!]
Reading what Morris said, Jack was a little stunned.
"That's good that you're eating your fill Morris, just make sure you go and check in on Mom when you get the chance. She's sad about me leaving, and she's going to need you there to comfort her," Jack said while stroking Morris' four fluffy wings.
"Chiirp Chirrrrrp Chiirrrrrp?!" Morris broke out of Jacks grasp and started running around in circles with Jack in the center, chirping frantically.
Having the A.I. chip scan what Morris said again, Jack was stunned with the outcome.
[Morris: Jack can understand Morris?! Wonderful! Morris, no leave, Jack! It's wonderful in here! So much foodies floaty about, Morris always full! Morris wish whole family could move in here. It's too bad it's so small in here...]
Processing what Morris said, Jack said, "Morris, this place can grow infinitely larger with the input of energy of any kind. You're welcome to bring your family here whenever you want. You can build homes and live here if you wish."
"Chiiirp Chiirp Chirrrp!!!!!" Morris seemed to have consumed cocaine. After hearing what Jack said, it jumped around Jack like Yoda, chirping wildly.
After what seemed like hours of chirping and jumping, Morris ran out of the [Infinity Castle] space for the first time in a week.
Translating again, Jack laughed out loud and ran after Morris.
[Morris: Really?! That's great! My family won't be so hungry anymore and they can eat all the foodies they want?! Yay!!! Jack, the bestest! Yay! Follow Morris! Morris, bring you to Big Queen Dijiang! Big Mommy Dijiang will be so happy with new home! Yay!]
Following Morris out of the [Infinity Castle] space and into the courtyard, they ran past the training Shang-Chi, Mattias, and Wenwu. Ying Li and Xialing were sitting and watching them train, but seeing Morris so excited, they decided to follow after Jack and Morris to see what they were up to.
With Morris running out of the Xu Family Compound with Jack, Ying Li, and Xu Xialing in tow, Ying Li could be heard yelling, "Jack! What's going on with Morris? He seems so happy!" Ying Li asked in happiness.
Filling her in on their conversation, she was at first baffled that Jack could understand Morris. Even she herself was unable to do that. She was only able to make inferences based on their years of companionship. After processing that and learning Morris is leading them to the Queen of Dijiangs, she didn't even know how to respond.
The family of three spent around 30 minutes running after Morris, with Ying Li having to pick up Xialing 2 minutes into the journey. Coming to a giant mountain in the back of the Xu Family Compound, Morris could be seen at the entrance of a cave tunnel, waving his four fluffy wings at the three behind him to signal them to follow him in.
Ying Li was confused. "How could the Dijiang Queen be in this mountain? Isn't there only one entrance into Ta Lo, with the Qingming festival marking its opening? Why is Morris leading us into this cave?" Ying Li couldn't help but think.
Creating a small circle of ice above his palm, a flashlight could be seen falling onto Jacks hand from the circle. Turning it on, he said, "Well, let's follow Morris, shall we?" with a smile.
Ying Li just nodded, and Xialing seemed less scared going into a dank cave with Jacks happy go lucky attitude.
Following a winding path after Morris, they seemed to come to some sort of Chinese-styled torii gate. Dragons, Phoenixes, Nine-Tailed Foxes, Qilins, and what seemed to be giant tusked lions were seen adorning the gate.
After Jack shone the light on this gate, Ying Li let out a shocked gasp.
"Impossible! What is a Ta Lo structure doing here?! Is this an entrance?! Impossible! The Great Protector only made one entrance to Ta Lo, I was told!" Ying Li seemed to have found the existence of this gate impossible. She was muttering to herself and was perplexed.
"Chirrrrp CHIIIIRRRRRP chirrrrp" Morris seemed smug and was dancing around in a happy little jig.
Jack, after translating, laughed.
"What did he say, Jack?!" Ying Li asked urgently. She needed to know if there was more than one entrance into Ta Lo. This was extremely important news for the inhabitants of Ta Lo.
Jack translated to Ying Li what Morris said.
[Morris: Haha! Stupid humans! Did you think the Great Protector would only make an entrance for you dumb-dumbs? As if the Great Protector would be stupid enough to trust the lives of Ta Lo's creatures in the hands of dumb-dumb humans. The Great Protector knows Dijiangs and the other creatures are way smarter than humans. The Great Protector spread gateways all throughout China as getaways for us.]
After Xu Xialing and Jack had a good laugh at Ying Li's shocked face. They could then see Morris sitting down in front of the beautifully decorated torri gate, seemingly preparing for an impossible task.
After raising its bulbous head, it let out a beautiful melody.
"Chiiirp Chiiiiirp Chiiiirp Chiiiirp" Morris was extremely serious letting out his melody.
Before Jack could bother asking his A.I. Chip to translate what Morris was saying, a glowing orange spark lit up in the middle of the gateway. Gradually turning larger, a completely different scene could be seen on the other side of the gate.
A giant cavern the size of multiple stadiums could be seen with glowing stones and crytals adorning the walls. Countless tunnels were scattered along the walls of the cavern, seemingly leading to nowhere. Hundreds of creatures that looked like Morris could be seen lazing about this cavern. They seemed lethargic and slow. Morris ran into the gateway without a second thought and let out a series of chirps. Translating what he was saying, Jack became nervous.
[Morris: Dijiang Brethren and Sisters, I have found a new home filled with foodies! The Great Jack, my human caretaker, has under his control a chaos dimension filled with floaty foodies that are good for the tummy! Take me to the Queen so that we may move and enter a new age of fullness!] Morris said with the utmost seriousness and a puffed up chest.
The lethargic Dijiangs were at first despondent, but with the mention of food and the chaos dimension, they perked up and were chirping wildly. They seemed to be celebrating. Wings of all different colors were seen shimmering and flapping.
"CHIIIIIRRPRPP CHIIIIIIIRRRRRRRP CHIRRRRRRP" A cacophony of chirps was building within the cavern. Thousands of Dijiangs were seen pouring out of the caverns tunnels that were adorning the walls. Seeming to be high on cocaine, the faceless creatures were tumbling about on the floor, one shameless Dijiang couple could even be seen rubbing their faces together.
After 20 minutes of celebration, the Dijiangs seemed to come to a conclusion and ran towards the biggest tunnel adorning the cavern walls. Thousands of small fluffy creatures were seen pouring into the tunnel, their little butts wiggling against each other.
[Morris: Follow me guys, I'm bringing you to the Queen!] Morris let out a few chirps.
After translating to his shellshocked mother and sister, they followed the horde of Dijiangs into the tunnel.
After 20 or so minutes of following the Dijiang horde, they saw light in the distance and finally arrived at a large opening. Absolutely stunned by the sight in front of them, they stopped for a few seconds to admire the sight in front of them.
A giant cavern filled with exotic blue plants and trees could be seen everywhere, lighting up the cave in an ethereal blue light.
Following Morris down into the cave, they came to a giant stone structure that reminded Jack of the Lion Kings stone platform where Mufasa ruled the Animal Kingdom from.
Ying Li seemed reverent, and she said, "No inhabitant of Ta Lo has ever stepped into the mystical Dijiang caves. This is their holy ground. We're the first in recorded history to see such a thing," Ying Li said seriously to her children.
A rough estimate of around 5,000 Dijiangs could be seen under the stone platform, seemingly waiting for their God to come and give them orders.
Before Jack could ask Morris what was going on, a beautiful yet powerful chirp could be heard echoing from the stone platform with footsteps that seemed to cause the entire Dijiang cavern to tremble ringing out.
The Dijiangs all instantly stopped chirping, waiting for this being to show itself.
After what seemed like hours of waiting, a figure could be seen slowly walking up to the stone platforms podium.
It was an elephant sized Dijiang. It has pure white fur, with 12 wings that were glowing an ethereal light blue. Instead of the usual 4 legs a Dijiang has, it has 6. Another odd thing about this Dijiang was its two white horns that were adorning its faceless forehead.
Taking in the beauty of this creature, Ying Li, Xu Xialing, and Jack were all mesmerized.
Morris ran up underneath the giant podium and let out a few chirps while jumping around happily.
[Morris: Mommy, I found new place with lotsa food and yummies! My human has an entire growable chaos dimension under his rule, isn't that awesome?! He even understands Dijiangs! He's super trustworthy! Please tell Morris he did good job!]
"Chiiiirp Chirrrrp Chiiiirp" The Queen Dijiang seemed surprised and then extremely happy. It let out a pleasant melody that Morris seemed to find great comfort in. Turning its attention to the three humans next to Morris, it locked its faceless face onto Jacks and let out a series of chirps again.
[Queen Dijiang: Human, are you the one with a chaos dimension that understands our language? I feel the aura of chaos coming from your soul... Morris tells me that you're a trustworthy person. You see, we are all celebrating because of you. What many don't know is that Dijiangs thrive in environments based on chaos and negative energy. We feed on that energy to keep us alive and power our innate spells. Recently, this cavern and all the rest spread throughout Ta Lo have seen a drastic decline in chaos and negative energy. If your dimension is as good as Morris claims, I'm willing to become your magical familiar in exchange for the continued survival and sanctuary of my children.] The beautiful creature explained to Jack.
At first, Jack was seriously listening to the beautiful Dijiangs predicament, but was completely stunned when it offered to become his magical familiar. What the hell was that? Knowing the creature in front of him was extremely powerful, he didn't even bother scanning her as he was barely able to scan Morris.
Thinking that having a being such as the [Dijiang Queen] as a magical familiar couldn't be anything bad, he said, "Great Dijiang Queen, I accept your offer, I'm just not sure what a magical familiar is or if the dimension I own will be up to your standards".
The Dijiang Queen chirped back in response,
[Dijiang Queen: A magical familiar is a creature or animal that life bonds with a being with magical potential. Some of your innate talents and attributes will be inherited by me, while some of my talents and attributes will be inherited by you. If either one of us dies, a major impact on the soul will occur. Because my phsyique and energy reserve is so strong, you'd most likely die instantly if I were to die. If you were to die, the change to myself would be negligible since you're so weak. I'm only offering to become your familiar because I smell the scent of a Cosmic Entity on your soul, and your infinitely expanding chaos dimension is the key to my races continued survival. If you didn't have the trust of Morris, and the potential and power to save my children, then this offer would never be made.] The majestic Queen Dijiang explained to the mournful Dijiang population and the curious Jack.
After processing that, Jack made a decision and approached the Dijiang Queen. After he reached her, he made a doorframe that could fit the Dijiang Queen out of ice. Motioning for the Queen to follow him, he walked into his dimension.
Once the Queen took a step into the [Infinity Castle] space, it took a deep breath and let out a long, happy chirp.
"CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRP," the meldoy that came from the Queen seemed to soothe Jacks soul.
[Queen Dijiang: What a beautiful dimension you own, Jack! It's perfect, I feel at home here! The chaotic and negative energies in this space are at least 1,000 times more bountiful than the caves of Ta Lo.] After explaining that, the elephant sized Dijiang could be seen rolling on the grass of Jacks dimension.
After 10 minutes of exploring and playing in the dimension, the Dijiang Queen approached Jack and sat down in front of him. Before Jack could ask what she needed, the A.I. Chip sent him a notification.
[Ding! Familiar Bond activated by the [Dijiang Queen] in front of you. Accept? Y/N?]
Stunned by this prompt, Jack accepted immediately. Feeling their souls almost merge together, he felt everything the Dijiang Queen was thinking and feeling. Her worry for her children and the hope she felt as soon as she took a step into Jacks Dimension. He felt energy entering his body and strengthing everything.
"A.I. Chip, show me the stats of the Dijiang Queen," Jack said after he felt the bond complete.
[Ding! Command Received! Scanning familiar...]
[Name: Stella
Race: Dijiang Queen
Attributes:
Strength: 1092.3
Physique: 1200.5
Vitality: 1220.2
Soul: 1002.5
Energy: 1200.5/1200.5
Innate Talents:
Immune to Illusion: The Dijiang race is innately immune to illusion effects.
Queen of Dijiangs: Convert consumed chaos and negative energy into newborn Dijiangs.
Illusion Master: As the Queen of Dijiangs, her illusions are the most powerful; consuming energy can make the illusions more powerful and corporeal.
Queens Song: Depending on the pitch and yaw of the chirps produced, make any creature lower in soul stat than you fall into various negative or positive effects.
Aberrant Anatomy: The Dijiang race is gentrically built to have a 360° vision and a physique that allows for continuous strengthening through chaos and negative energy.
Space Energy: Seemingly, because of brief contact with an [Infinity Stone], this creature has inherited the attribute of [Space], causing unknown effects to their powers.
Sub-Zero-Space Avatar (X-Gene, Passive): Awakened by your familiar contract; you are now connected with an unknown dimension that is in a constant state of Sub-Zero temperatures. Use the space energy on the fringe of this dimension for your own usage. Channel more and more energy through this dimension through the improvement of your Physique attribute.]
Looking over the Quee- No, Stella's stats, Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing. Feeling the power coursing through his body, he asked the A.I. Chip, "A.I. Chip, what differences have been made to my attributes and innate talents?"
[Ding! Scanning...]
[Attributes:
Strength: 150.3
Physique: 270.5
Vitality: 150.2
Soul: 190.5
Energy: 245.6/270.5]
Seeing his boosted stats, Jack was stunned. Nearly on the level of Spiderman, just from a single contract.
Looking at his new attributes, he was extremely satisfied. He then turned his attention to his new innate talents.
[New Innate Talents:
Immune to Illusion: You are now innately immune to illusion effects.
Aberrant Anatomy: You are now able to have a 360° vision and a physique that allows for continuous strengthening through chaos and negative energy.]
Seeing that he only inherited 2 innate talents, he was downtrodden.
"Hmph, if I wasn't so powerful, you'd be lucky to get one. Not to mention all the stats you got from me," a cute voice that seemed to be from a 5-year-old girl rang out in his head.
"Stella?!" Jack thought in his mind, confused.
"How the heck do you know my name?!" The voice sounded shocked.
"Er, it came to me when you bonded with me," Jack said quickly.
"Hmph, whatever, you can call me Stella. Anyways, I'll need to expand this space to fit all our children in," Stella thought.
"OUR CHILDREN?!," Jack gasped out loud.
"Hmph, of course they're our children, you signed a soul bond with me so that automatically makes all 5,345 Dijiangs your responsibility as much as they are mine," Stella said smugly.
"Ergh, I guess that sorta makes sense?," Jack thought forlornely.
While Jack was processing the fact that he became a father to 5,345 Dijiangs, Stella made her way to the edge of the [Infinity Castle] dimension.
Activating her energy reserves and [Space Energy] innate talent, the fringes of Jacks dimension expanded wildly. From the size of a football field to nearly a square mile, the size of Jacks dimension expanded close to 500 times its original size.
Looking at Stella work in shock, Jack couldn't help but think he hit the Jackpot contracting Stella as his magical familiar.
"Hmph, damn right you did," Stella said after completing the expansion. Frost trees and glowing blue space trees and plants could be seen littered throughout Jacks new dimension. The size it was at now could easily fit 10,000 Dijiangs, let alone 5,000.
Deciding it was time for the Dijiangs to see their new home, Stella exited through the icy door way that Jack constructed into Ta Lo to corall her children into their new home.
Exiting through the doorway and seeing her children patiently waiting, she let out a series of chirps, which Jack didn't even need the A.I. Chip to understand anymore.
"My children! Your new father and I have opened the gateway to our new homeland! It's even better than I could've imagined! We will now be the protectors of Stella and Jack's dimension! Everyone, please give a round of applause for Jack, our savior!"
"CHIIIIRRRRP CHIRRRRRRRP CHIRRRRRRRRP" Thousands of Dijiangs were celebrating wildly, ready to explore their new home.
Ying Li and Xu Xialing were completely stunned, having no idea what's going on; hearing only excited chirps and whistles.
"Jack, please make an entrance for our children to fit in," Stella chirped in a regal way, making sure to not lose face in front of her children.
Deciding to play along, Jack bowed to Stella and said, "As you wish my Queen, your command is my will," With a flourish of his hand, a giant ice portal opened up beneath Stella's podium. He felt Stella become bashful through their connection, and he couldn't help but let out a laugh.
The Dijiangs were going crazy seeing this portal materialize. As soon as it did, Jack saw them stampede through the portal, running and flying as fast as their limbs could carry them.
After entering the portal, Jack could hear them excitedly talk to each other.
"Did you hear we have a new papa?", "Look how beautiful our new home is!", "Look at all the yummies floating around!", and many other random comments were being spewed a mile a minute.
After Stella got them settled, she exited the portal and asked Jack to close it. After closing the portal, Jack, Ying Li, and Xu Xialing were escorted out of the Dijiangs cavern to the outside world. Looking upon the mountain that the Dijiangs have been living in for millenia, Stella couldn't help but let out a sigh.
Jack, Ying Li, and Xu Xialing were admiring the scenery of Ta Lo while Stella was reminiscing. Seeing the village she grew up in as a child miles away and down the mountain, Ying Li couldn't help but wipe a few tears away from her eyes. She was telling Jack and Xialing stories of Ta Lo when she suddenly felt the ground tremble beneath her.
Quickly turning around, Jack, Ying Li, and Xialing were shocked when they saw the mountainous cavern start to tremble while covered in a light blue light.
"HNGGGGGGGGGGGGG" With an obvious struggling sound, Stella could be seen surrounding the mountain in a blue space energy. With a loud *POP* that seemed to travel all throughout Ta Lo, the Dijiang mountain cavern that's been standing guard over Ta Lo for over a millenia disappeared.
"Jack, hurry up and open a portal to your dimension before the Gods start snooping around over here," Stella said urgently.
Hearing an angry shout that seemed to come from a monkey, Jack quickly opened a doorway to his dimension, hurrying in after Stella and his family. Seeing a monkey flying towards him on a cloud with a red and gold staff grasped in his hand, Jack gave a small wave and disappeared into his dimension, his ice door melting as he took a step through.
When Jack took a step into his dimension, he was completely stunned. There, on the very edge of his dimension, the Dijiang Mountain Caverns could be seen.
