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, Roger, and of course Marcus, she signaled them to meet up at her house with Donnie, Reggie and Zachary. Jody already called her sister Rachel and asked if they could have an indignation meeting in Rachel's room, who approves since she was helping her parents pack up for Spring break, and has understood completely about June's whereabouts since Lila came along. She's actually in a better mood because Brandon has asked her out on a date to make up for the many mishaps they had since Jody's sleepover. She even teasingly asked Jody about her "boyfriend" Dennis if he's coming over for the meeting. Jody responded that she does not really know what to call Dennis since he's also involved with what June is doing since she saw a bookcase full of spells, potions and charms. And now Ashley is in on it since she's last visited before Lila. Rachel asks if she could ambush either of them and take them back to her house, whereas Jody said to leave them alone for a while until everything is put together for the time being.

That night, after Rachel and Jody's parents left as soon as school is out, June's friends and Dennis'friends have all gathered in Rachel's room with Rachel bringing in the food and drinks. They had just finished listening to what Donnie had recorded at Jasmine's house, having not missed a single detail, including Lila's story about how she went from sasquatch to human upon meeting June, and Ashley going from 4th degree sorceress to 5th degree, now having moved up to 10th degree sorceress. To say that they are surprised is an understatement. But none of that compared to what they heard about the eclipse and the planetary alignment. Marcus, however, doesn't seem to comprehend as to what all of these events have anything to do with June. Jody tries to explain that June is not who he thinks she is, reminding him what they noticed about June's behavior. Ophelia remarked with how Jody "noticed" the way she was speaking to Roxanne in front of June. Or how Jody's sister behaves like an attention-craving war monger. Or that no one has heard from Roxanne (Jasmine) since her "departure", and her rejecting Roger's affections. Rachel recoiled at Ophelia's second comment and Jody tries to defend her, but the older sister admits in defeat that she's behaved that way because sometimes, she envies Jody for having great friends like June, Ophelia, Roger, Marcus, Ashley, and Lila. Judy is surprised to hear that kind of confession from her sister, and she was the one who's more scared in her shadow. Rachel now promises to be a better person from now on, for her sister and he friends' sakes. Donnie does not want to interrupt the sweet moment, but there is a matter of importance to discuss; from the recording, Ashley has also mentioned of an approaching darkness that somehow correlates to the storylines of L.A.R.P. Those who are black-hearted and even the innocent souls are drawn to this temptation and become corrupted by its power. Unless there's one powerful enough to destroy the Veil that hides magic everywhere, it's not permanent. Ophelia asks how are they supposed to help June if they can't see what she sees, with Rachel responding to leave it to her. They will have to wait until the time is right.

Elsewhere, something strange has occurred. In the void, where he's caged by his own son, Loki is seething with anger by the turn of events and tries to escape by himself when, in a flash, he disappears! At the movie theater, the same thing happens. The Demoness, whose name is revealed to be Kassandra, and her father Kordoth are still floating in space from a Star Wars parody where June left them. Just like with Loki, Kassandra disappears as well.

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 her junior year, June's new every-day attire is a dark red long-sleeve, turtleneck minidress under a spring green, cropped, sleeveless cheongsam 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. After her powers of the Te Xuan Ze have evolved, June had undergone a new transformation. Her attire consists of a short, sleeveless spring green cheongsam dress with gold lining as well as her dragonfly logo and slits on the thighs, azure leggings, and white boots tied with spring green ribbons up the knees. Her accessories are gold arm bracelets above spring green to azure blue fingerless gloves, a jeweled choker that resembles the bracelet she wears for sensing imbalance in the world, and a silver forehead tiara that corresponds into a heart with an oval-shaped magenta gem in the center. Her entire hair turns magenta with light purple streaks and styled in a low braid.
 * Ray Ray Lee(voiced by Matt Hill)- Juniper's youngest brother and secondary protagonist of the series, "The Life and Times of Juniper". Starting his sophomore year, Ray Ray is a now a pre-teen, reaching Juniper's previous height and gained a much more athletic body. His new attire is a bright red T-shirt with the Boomfist logo under a black long-sleeved bomber jacket, denim jeans, and dark gray slip-on sneakers. Upon receiving the full powers of the Te Xuan Ze, Ray Ray is dressed in an armor similar to June's dream one, only it's black with red chestplate covering the upper body along with a matching helmet and bearing the Boomfist logo.