The Life and Times of Juniper Lee: Rise of the Te Xuan Ze

The Life and Times of Juniper Lee: Rise of the Te Xuan Ze is a series special that takes place five years after the event of Season 3, marking the first evolution of Juniper's powers of the Te Xuan Ze.

Synopsis
June's powers are put to the test as a new source of dark magic shrouds over Orchid Bay City, destroying the Veil that hides magic from human eyes and setting back years of human and magic oppression. As her friends learn of her being the Te Xuan Ze, the stakes are high as not only Orchid Bay City is in a state of chaos, but the whole world. Can Juniper put her trust in her friends, or resort to keeping the secret alone?

Plot
The story opens up recapping what took place since June was the new Te Xuan Ze; from when she first encountered Auntie Roon, Maret, and Lex, to battling Steven the Sandman in and out the Dream Realm, and banishing The Demoness, Gigi, Darnock Demon and many others. It soon ends with Juniper reciting the oath of the Te Xuan Ze: "I am but a hand, I am but a vessel, I am the stone that balances the worlds", and she takes to battle a monster...with Jody watching her best friend in shock.

5 years later

At Ah-Mah's house, Juniper, now 16 in her battle armor from when she was battling Kai Yee, trains with her grandmother as Ah-Mah is still recovering from her battle with Auntie Roon. Just as she was about to land the final blow, Juniper hesitates and Ah-Mah asks why. June says that it's nothing, and Ah-Mah encourages her grandmother to stop hesitating and attack. They continue fighting with Ray Ray, 13, Dennis, 19, Monroe, and Lila, also 16, watching the sidelines with Ashley joining the group.

Ray Ray has never seen Jasmine and June fight like this before, when Monroe explains that Jasmine is still recovering from her injury by Auntie Roon. Dennis informs the two that their parents are going to be gone the whole Spring break as they will be all staying with Ah-Mah until they return. Lila is surprised to see Jasmine still holding on her own thanks to Lila's natural healing remedy when Ashley shows up out of the blue, announcing her status as the now 10th-degree sorceress, which Ashley could only assume to have been from when she was taming the Baguano beast. However, she realized then that it was rushed because upon leaving, she overheard one of her teachers talking to the Magic Elders, the same people Juniper met with Ah-Mah years ago. She's heard them say that stars have begun to align and sun and moon are set to be eclipsed, for they must prepare for the worst; the Encroaching Darkness draws near, which sparked concern in Monroe. Curious, Ashley did some digging and has found what they were talking about before; a prophecy called the Night of Eternal Darkness. Lila asks what it was, where Monroe responds that it's a prophecy that happens every 600 years after the Te Xuan Ze is chosen the same time Auntie Roon is banished. It involves the planetary alignment and the solar eclipse. During said eclipse, Orchid Bay City will be cast into a shadowy twilight and during that semi-darkness, certain creatures like Loki, Steven the Sandman, the Darnock Demon, Gigi, The Demoness, Mitch the Enchanted Rhinoceros, Maret, Monotuke, Donnie, Jean-Claude, and even the dark-hearted souls like Kai Yee gain infinite power. When the eclipse is total, the Veil is weakened. And darkness will spread throughout the world, transforming the innocent into dark magical beings and use them as an army to conquer the world. It is also said that on the 16th year of the Te Xuan Ze will the Night of Eternal Darkness happen again on Spring break...which is less than three weeks away. Ray Ray wondered if Kai Yee was corrupted the whole time since turning on the Elders, whereas Monroe responds that this was before the Encroaching Darkness happened. However, because of his actions while being the Te Xuan Ze, there was a darkness already stirring within him that resulted in the Elders imprisoning him in a jade statue. Lila asks if there's a way to stop it from happening, which Monroe sadly responds there is no way to do so, for all they can do is prep June for what is to come. But unbeknownst to them, one of Dennis' friends, Donnie is listening in on the conversation with a recorder in his hand from behind the bushes, implying that he has recorded everything per Jody's instructions. After being told from what she had witnessed, Donnie has had suspicions about the magic items Dennis keeps borrowing from June's room for LARP, especially since he's disregarded her role for hunting monsters just because she's a girl. And after he, Reggie and Zachary chastise Dennis for not meeting their standards and providing anything substantial for fantasy role-play, they've heard news of supervillains roaming in Orchid Bay City, which they chalked up to coincidence that Dennis had anything to do with it. But now, they were having second thoughts and felt guilty for kicking him out of the group. When they asked Dennis to come back, he politely turned them down, telling them that he has "found another calling of his choosing." Furthermore, when Auntie Roon resturned the second time, Donnie, Reggie and Zachary claimed to have seen monsters appeared out of nowhere and wreaking havoc all over the city. And just like with Jody, they too saw June leaping from building to building. Now that the pieces are coming together, it was time to have a talk.

The next morning, after being informed what Ashley told them, June had no choice but to cancel everything she had planned for Spring break while her parents are vacationing out of town. Ray Ray and Lila console with her, knowing all too well when it comes to liking Marcus for so long that she was willing to ask the one question; to finally be hers. Knowing Melissa, she is likely to jump the chance before June could, but it's a sacrifice she's willing to make as the Te Xuan Ze. As usual, Jody has been listening on their conversation the whole time without them knowing it. This definitely confirms her suspicions from what she had witnessed years ago and from what Donnie told her, she can't hold it in any longer. After passing by Ophelia and Roger, she signaled to meet up at her house with Donnie, Reggie and Zachary.

Characters and Appearances

 * Juniper Lee(voiced by Mae Whitman)- The current Te Xuan Ze and the main protagonist of the series, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee. As she enters high school year, June's new every-day attire is a majenta long-sleeve, turtleneck minidress under a green, cropped, sleeveless cheongsam-styled halter top with gold lining and her signature dragonfly logo, a gold chain belt with a hibiscus for a belt buckle at the waist, deep blue bellbottom jeans with magenta dragon scales up the sides and orchids at the end, and brown ballet-style flats with black toes. Her hair has grown to a waist's length and styled into a half-bun with the rest cascading down at the hips.