Disclaimer: Jackie chan adventures does not belong to me, and I don't intend to profit from this. Just to let you all know, this has next to nothing to do with the main characters. So don't complain that they're not here, and use your review for constructive criticism, please.

Discontent Spirit: Chapter 1

Merrill Lynch was always discontent.

She could never decide on whether mother was right, or father was right. Mother always said, with her strict criticisms and tone, "The Lord is watching over us, so don't do anything stupid, because there's always someone watching."

Father always said, with his lazy smile and skeptical outlook, "Don't listen to her, she just says those things to make you behave. Kind of like Santa!"

She never could tell what was really right or wrong, leaving her little more than a little girl looking at the two options, instead of making a choice. She just allowed it to happen, honestly not caring about the outcome.

From then on, she always needed absolute proof in order to believe something. This lack of spiritual contentment, among other things, is what led to the events that followed.

It was an unusually foggy evening in San Fransisco, to the point where you can barely make out anything across the street. 20 year old Merrill was returning home from a semi-formal party at her friend's house, as the calf-length teal dress had showed. Her short copper hair was clipped to the back of her head, and her leaf green eyes scanned the street ahead of her.

She reached a crosswalk, and seeing that the sign said that it was okay to cross, obliged. She was no further than halfway across when, almost out of nowhere, a large pickup truck came barreling towards her. She had barely enough time to process what happened before everything went to black.

Stars, nothing but stars. She felt like she'd be falling for eternity with these stars. Then she saw fire, then blue. Blue fire? She started feeling wind and fell into a deep sleep...

Over 2000 years before the Chan family met Shen Du, on the coast of what's now called Beijing, a fisherman in gray-blue scrubs was reeling in his catch, when he felt a strange, spine chilling feeling. He looked around by instinct, and saw something shining in the sky.

It was blue and fiery like a wisp, and as it got closer, he realized it was in the shape of a maiden. He had ran up to the nearby village to spread the news, "There's something in the sky! Look at the sky!" That they did, and had a similar reaction. By the time the story reached the emperor, she had fell into the sea.

The emperor was calmly sipping his tea at a meeting with his generals when he heard about the falling maiden. He immediately thought it was another one of those demon's schemes to suede him away from this palace, so they could assassinate him in the open. He refused to leave the safety of his home and ordered one of his generals to imprison the girl, should she ever reach land.

A team of ten, four monks, two carriage drivers, and four guards, had been sent. The short ride from the headquarters was uneventful, but when they reached the end of the sandy road, they could see a crowd. A crowd of men carrying assorted farming tools, apparently aiming them at something at the center of their circle.

With the orders of the guards, the people parted, revealing the bizarre figure laying dead in the sand. The monks were the first to approach, and noticed traits that no human would have. They took extreme caution, and placed the dead creature into an already prepared cage, and set off.

The locals never truly understood what it was, but they put faith in their Emperor that he would know how to fix it.

Merrill had woken up in a chilly cage, dazed. "Let's see, I was walking home, I crossed the street... I heard a noise... and I fell asleep?" she thought groggily. She was still contemplating what had just happened, when she heard a loud bump. She shook her head, attempting to wake herself up.

Thinking more clearly, she noticed more details about her surroundings. First, there was some pieces of paper with symbols on them tied around the bars of her cage, and when she tried touching them, they hurt. Second, she was in a wooden carriage with four men, who were wearing what appeared to be Buddhist monk's robes. Also, her clothes were now white instead of their original teal. The last thing she could immediately realize was that her hair had grown down to her hip, and it was very messy, like it was in the ocean.

"Was I in water? Where am I? Who the hell are these guys?" she silently asked herself.

Noticing that the girl was awake, one of the monks had spoken up, "We apologize, spirit maiden, but we cannot let you go. The emperor commands it until you are proven innocent." She looked confused, understandable since:

1. She was just called "spirit maiden" and 2. the monk spoke in Chinese, yet she somehow understood him perfectly. "What did I do?" Merrill asked, her voice sounding unsure of itself. Another monk responded with, "The emperor believes you have something to do with these demons that have been plaguing the country. Until we find out who you are and what you're doing here, we have to keep you in this cage, spirit."

"Demons? What are they?" our protagonist asked, raising an incredulous. All that she could tell was that she had fallen unconscious on the street, and then got somehow transported into the 1st century.

"The Demon Sorcerers are the most recent threat to the entirety of China! Everyone knows that." the third monk pointed out, as if he was talking to a child.

"Well, I'm new here. So, could you now please explain to me as to why you keep calling me 'spirit'." she spoke in an irritated tone. "You aren't aware? You're a Yaoling, a spirit. The fact that those sutras hurt you is proof." the first monk answered to a shocked and confused Merrill.

The carriage was a bumpy vehicle, and every time they hit something on the road, Merrill's cage would jolt. It was really starting to bug her, and the monks seemed to be getting ready for a fight. Considering the irritated grimace adorning the ghost woman's face, it was no surprise that the monks were getting cautious.

They finally arrived at a sort of fortress, with a watchtower at each of it's four corners. The monks were escorted out of the carriage by a quartet of large men in heavy armor. She couldn't quite fathom why, but Merrill thought they looked like real weaklings.

The two closest to her had blank and weary expressions, while the ones behind them were bright eyed and a slight bit frightened. Suddenly, the larger one asked "What is your name, spirit?"

She didn't want to give him her real name to a stranger, and then a thought appeared in her mind. It was about that one time she was messing around on a translator website. When she entered her name, Merrill Lynch, it translated into "Mei Lin".

She then answered him "Mei Lin."

The more experienced looking guard seemed satisfyed at her answer, before turning to his partner. Nodding to each other, the large guards picked up her cage. and began carrying her into the fortress.

AN: I never realized how bland my old writing was, until now. Man, I need to give my startup story more love, or else it might get too boring. Please post your thoughts in a review.