You Made Me Beautiful: The Sequel
Part One
Brenna "Snakelady" Dawkins
A Jackie Chan Adventures Fanfic
Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: Jackie Chan and subsequent characters belong to Jackie Chan and associates. It'd be pretty useless to sue me since I have nothing! I've made no profit nor will see any from this fic.
Summary: With VampireNaomi's permission, I have taken it upon myself to continue her fic since she had no plans to. When we last saw Finn, he was at the mercy of the evil William and it seems no one is there to help the thief--- or is there?
(Author Notes: Okay, anyone who's seen the first Nightmare on Elm Street might recognize some of the story in here. I thought I'd borrow the idea in order to help poor Finn out.)
Finn's skin crawled as William inspected his new prize. He wanted to run from the monster, but to where? The city was desolate and empty.
The monster grabbed up his red hair in his clawed hand and buried his nose in it, inhaling deeply. William sighed loudly with a pleasure he hadn't had in ages. He felt almost as one would when high. Lovely locks! Lovely scent! He traced a nail down Finn's twitching cheek, ignoring the waves of terror that emanated from the thief.
"Yes, you are my lovely!" William breathed excitedly.
"Hey, don't mean to harsh your buzz or anything--- but look, what did you mean by one hundred years? Heh, I mean, one hundred years is such a relative term and all." Finn managed to say without faltering much. "I mean, the hundred year war was such bunk and all--- heheheheh." His nervousness caused his voice to rise in pitch.
The monster began to run his fingers through Finn's hair, watching it as though mesmerized as it slipped between his fingers. "What wonderfullness!" He almost whispered.
Finn flinched. He was dead meat. Even worse, he was William's meat now. That was it. His life was pretty much a shut book from now on. He was so screwed and what was worse, he knew that no one back home cared one lick.
"What--- are you gonna do--- to me?" Though he really truthfully didn't want to know.
That horrible voice twisted its way into his ear, making his whole body seem to want to shrink away. "Take my pleasure of you."
Finn felt the urge to run. But he knew it would be a useless gesture. God, he'd been in bad situations before--- but nothing like this. He was going to die here, at the hands of this insane and disgusting creature. A creature that not even Shendude could stomach. It was bad if a demon couldn't stand something. Wait a minute--- Shendude couldn't stand him. Finn inwardly groaned. It was hopeless!
He yelped when William nipped his ear lobe. "Scream for me-e-e-e!" William commanded.
But Finn froze from the terror and tried to shrink away from the beast. William's eyes flashed angrily at the denial. His hand clamped around Finn's throat and squeezed, "Scre-e-e-eam!"
Finn found his hands trying to pry William from his body, but the grip was there to stay. William angrily gave him a shake and his body felt it fully and he was suddenly dangling, feet a good foot off the ground, neck rolling back with the force. He kicked, struggling, trying desperately to free himself. On a whim, William let Finn drop to the ground with a heavy and unbalanced thud. Finn, realizing he was free from William's hold, decided that empty or not, anywhere was better then right beside that monster. He made a break for it, choosing a direction to run randomly.
William watched his 'friend' dash away with a grin on his face. "Playing a game with me. How nice. So nice to hunt. So nice to have someone to play with!" He hung back a bit longer, to make things more interesting. Soon, the hunt for Finn would be on!
A week later, Chow came out of his dark mood. During the week, he'd taken note of a certain Enforcer's absence. At first, he thought Finn was possibly being sulky and doing a damn good job of avoiding him and Ratso. He apparently hadn't been asked by Shendu to work on any jobs during the past week, so he also figured he was in trouble with the demon. Which made sense. Finn was always pissing Shendu off in one way or another, through either his easy going flippancy or just the sheer bumbling of a job. Chow wasn't that concerned--- yet. If he didn't see Finn in the next couple of days, he was gonna press the demon about it. But as of now, he knew it wasn't wise to piss Shendu off, because just as he was getting off of his dark mood, Shendu was back into another one of his own.
"Captain Black, I'm very uncomfortable with this." Jackie confided in the tall, bald-headed leader of the covert government facility called Section 13.
"It's going to be okay, Jackie." Captain Black tried to sooth his concerned friend. "This sort of test is perfectly suited for Jade."
"But it involves the talismans. And this equipment you are using is still in its experimental stage." Jackie pressed him.
Captain Black smiled, "We need a subject in her age bracket so we can fully explore the benefits of this technology. Nothing bad happened when we used you and Uncle to test upon."
Jackie nodded slowly, "Well, yes. It still makes me nervous."
"I understand, Jackie. It's going to be up to you whether or not Jade will take part in the experiment."
Jackie sighed. For a change, he and Black were discussing things alone, in Black's office, without a certain nosey child underfoot. He knew once Jade heard about this, she'd jump post haste onto the gurney and plug herself in before hearing anything about the possible risks. It was this reckless tendency she had that made him hesitate on Black using her for the experiment. Sure, nothing negative had happened to him or Uncle. But Jade, one never knew just what she'd do in certain situations where a little forethought might be the difference between life and death. Jade was too fearless. And that was a constant worry for Jackie.
He knew that quite a bit of her exuberance was due also in part for her desire to help. If only he could get her to learn the art of caution and patience--- it would make life easier for him, that was for sure.
"You are certain of the machine's safety?" Jackie asked, still worried, but also wanting to help Captain Black, and maybe give Jade a chance.
Black nodded, "She'll be surrounded by my best staff, and you can be right by her side if you wish."
"Well, then I guess it's all up to Jade." Jackie conceded.
Black's smile widened and he clapped Jackie on the shoulder. "And we both know what Jade will say to that."
Jackie had to chuckle at that. "Yeah. Du-u-u-uh."
Moments later found Jade eagerly strapped to the gurney. She was attached to the machines and eyeballed the sheep talisman that was also hooked up to the same machine.
"So, I'm supposed to do what again?" She asked, clearly excited.
"Just hang out. We're going to be recording your brainwaves and heart rate during the procedure." Black instructed.
"A-a-a—a-a-w!!!" Jade whined characteristically.
"Relax, Jade." Jackie instructed as he stood beside her, carefully watching over the procedures. He looked up at Black who nodded. "Close your eyes, now. The drip should be making you feel like taking a little nap."
Weird, it was. Her eyes closed of their own violation and she soon found herself floating above her body. Cool! The sheep talisman at work! She did a few experimental loop-de loops for the fun of it in mid air. Then she soared from one end of the room to the other, buzzing Jackie and Black without them being awares. Giggling, she flew all around, until she grew bored. Well, she wasn't going to just hang around that boring old lab when she could go out on the town and do whatever she wanted without anyone knowing. And besides, she knew she had a certain amount of time to spend out of body. Black had said they were going to run some tests before she had gone under and she knew she had at least an hour to be in this state. She wasn't about to waste it either!
So she flew towards the wall, hesitated. There were no windows. Then she shook her head. She was a phantom--- she had no physical properties on this side of existence! Fearlessly, she flew through the wall and hunted for the way out of Section 13. It didn't take her long, she knew the place inside and out. Soon she was swooping down the streets of San Francisco, searching for anything exciting. She flew down to the Warf, knowing if Jackie knew she was down there by herself, she'd be grounded until she graduated high school. But he didn't and wouldn't! She smiled secretly to herself again and flew through a few buildings. She scoped out the Ghiradelli's factory and had to remind herself she couldn't pick up anything there. Shrugging, she was off again.
Her flight through a certain building on the waterfront made her stop and take a second look. It was Valmont! What was he doing in some skuzzy abandoned fish cannery? She could hear a familiar voice arguing with another familiar voice. The Enforcer's! Then it hit her--- she just found the Dark Hand's hideout!
"Woah, wait until I tell Uncle Jackie!" Then she frowned and groaned. She couldn't tell him anything without him knowing she'd left the confines of Section 13. She still had time though to scope out the area, and maybe next time they were out and about, she could inadvertently lead Jackie and Black there. So she flew down for a closer look, watching Chow argue with Ratso over something. Valmont didn't look happy either, but he was trying to leave, but Chow didn't seem to want him to for some reason.
"Whaddaya mean he just left?" She heard Chow ask Valmont angrily.
"Don't worry about it. What's done is done." Valmont said simply and stormed out of the room.
Jade wondered what that was all about and decided to take a look around. For the first time, she could really snoop and not be afraid of getting caught! She wrung her hands together with a mischievous glint in her eye.
She went through another wall in the hideout and found the Dark Hand bathroom. Just as quickly, she left that room, not really wanting to explore that particular haunt. Jade swooped from room to room, looking for anything that might be telling. So far, all she discovered about the Dark Hand hideout was that it was a dump. There wasn't anything interesting to be found. She had thought that they'd have some huge stash of booty from past heists piled up somewhere at least--- but there was nothing like that that she could see. Well, that was rather disappointing. Maybe the Enforcers weren't that great at being thieves after all?
Jade made her way into another room and balked. The room looked like an office. There was a desk and a chair and the typical bookcase and other things that said office. But that wasn't what interested Jade. There was a place just above the desk where it looked like the air had broken. There was a thin, hairline fracture that bled a golden glow that was blinding to look at directly.
Ever curious, she headed straight for it. She only meant to study it closer, but the closer she got to it, she could feel a strange power coming from it. It tugged at her, and when she tried to resist it, the pull was that much fiercer. She jumped up and tried to fly away, but it took hold of her and before she knew it, she was dragged into the glow. She cried out in surprise and struggled, but there wasn't anything she could do. The next moment, she found herself standing in the middle of a street in a desolate city she wasn't familiar with.
"What happened and where am I?" She wondered aloud. "I am going to get so-o-o-o-o grounded." She sighed.
Well, naught to do but check the place out. She leapt into the air to jump start her flight, but found she only hopped. Frowning, she tried again and discovered she could no longer fly. Freaky, she thought.
Oh well, she began to walk around, carefully looking about her, keeping an eye and ear out for any danger. Hanging out with her Uncle Jackie taught her that danger seemed to happen automatically to Chan's. It was a weird enigma.
She strolled down the street, feeling creeped out by her surroundings. Determined weeds broke up the vacant street and sidewalks. None of the tall brick buildings seemed to have any glass in their windows and no doors on the street level. It was eerily quiet. No people, no cars, none of the familiar sounds of the city. The sky looked freaky too, she noted, it looked washed out, like over exposed film and full of black clouds that forever hung and looked like it would never release their rain.
There wasn't even any trash lining the streets, like a well lived in city would have. Down another street, she found the very same thing. Well, this was a bore. She sighed and turned around, trying to see if she could figure out which way was north, but realized there was no directional light from the sky. She jumped when she heard what sounded like a scream coming from a nearby alley. Jade spun around and dashed towards the direction the sound came from. She heard the scream again and then something like a crash, like maybe someone running into a metal trashcan or two. Someone was in trouble, Jade guessed and hurried to the site, not knowing what she would find. She only had fifteen minutes left to be out of her body, so maybe that was time enough to help whoever or whatever it was that needed help.
She rounded the corner and ran into something hard. It knocked the wind out of her and made her fall backwards onto her butt.
"Ow!" She moaned and glanced up accusingly at who it was who knocked her down. Then stared. "Finn??"
The fear that had been on his face before had turned into shock. "You??? What are--- how did---- where did----?" But the Irishman couldn't seem to finish a complete sentence as he stared at Jade.
"Wait, that was YOU I heard screaming, wasn't it?" Jade stood up, rubbing her sore behind.
Finn frowned, then glanced back over his shoulder at the direction from which he'd come running, "Look, twenty questions later kid, we have to get out of here!" Finn shakily stood and futilely dusted off his now filthy white disco suit.
"Why?"
Finn sighed, "Because HE will find me and I don't want, nor have ever wanted to be his," and Finn visibly shuddered, "'friend'."
Jade was about to open her mouth to ask what he was talking about when another noise came from the shadows of the alley. Fear quickly overtook Finn's face and without thinking, he grabbed Jade's sleeve and hoofed it to the next alley, dragging her with him. She was too amazed to do much more then try to keep up. Finn was fast and she almost stumbled and fell, but he yanked on her sleeve and she regained her feet.
"What do you think you're doing?" She managed to ask but was automatically shushed by the thief. She bit her lip and let herself be dragged to what she guessed would be safety. The problem was, safety from what? Finn wasn't in the mood to talk, so she hadn't a clue. They found another alley and Finn looked from left to right, like he was looking for something.
"There!" He whispered loudly at her and pointed.
He intended them to climb a rusty and broken down fire escape to the second story. It didn't look that safe to climb, but Finn dashed towards it without a second thought. Jade looked annoyed, but silently followed, not necessarily wanting to be left behind in such a scary place. They scrambled up the fire escape that creaked and teetered due to their added weight. Jade followed the white clad form in front of her, knowing her time there was running out. If it was really Finn who was the one who needed help, could she bring herself to help him?
They finally stopped in a vacant room where all the windows were blown out and all the plumbing and wiring looked like it was about to fall out of the ceiling on top of them. The only light in the room came from the pitiful light outside.
"So, you going to tell me what you're doing here?" Jade asked him warily. She knew she couldn't trust him. He was a thief, after all. And who knew how many times had he tried to hurt Jackie?
"You first, kid." He scowled at her and then anxiously turned his head to check the open window they had entered. All clear so far--- he heaved a heavy sigh and ran his hands through his dirty and unkempt red hair.
He looked tired, to Jade. Obscenely tired. How long had he been running from whatever it was? But he was staring at her, expecting her to answer him. She supposed she owed him one if he really might have just saved her life, though she doubted it.
"Sheep talisman. I was flying around, happened upon your guy's so- called hide out. Got sucked in here by that glowing thing." She shrugged. "Who are we running from?"
She saw Finn's reflexive glance back at the window before he answered, "William. I--- don't know who or what he is, but Shendude's a pussycat in comparison." He shuddered again.
"And you're here beca-a-a-ause?" Jade prompted.
A troubled look crossed Finn's eyes and Jade wondered what that was all about, "I was sacrificed to him. By Shendu."
"But--- you're a part of his Dark Hand. You're his Enforcer." Jade tried to make sense of it.
Finn shook his head, "Not anymore. I was dumped here. Left to the torture at the whim of this William."
Jade cocked her head, feeling the tug of pity at her heart. She had no idea what to do. This was not what she was expecting.
"I don't have much more time here." She admitted to him.
She heard the anxiety in his voice as his eyes went wide. "You can't leave me here!"
"I have no choice. I'm hooked up to some machines. I'm in the middle of an experiment. I wasn't even supposed to leave Section 13. But I got bored waiting around there. If Jackie knew I had gone abroad, I'd be in serious trouble."
"But we're in serious trouble right now!" Finn reached for her.
"I'm sorry, Finn. I just don't know what I would be able to do to help you anyway."
Finn felt like he was on the verge of hysterics. He was going to be left alone--- again. He didn't think he could bear it! He felt like a rat cornered by a hungry cat who chose to play with it's food even after its prey was long dead. He was exhausted from all the running. He'd been in hiding off and on all that month. Every now and then, William would find him. And when that happened--- God! William loved to make him scream. Said it was good for his soul. It was never the same method twice, either. So far, there was no bloodletting, but it was always just up to that point. Then he would allow Finn to escape and the hunt would begin again. The longest Finn had been on the run was five days straight.
Then Jade yelped as she saw a dark and twisted figure leap through the window they had come through. She scooted backwards, eyes wide as she caught her first glimpse of what she guessed to be William. Finn whirled around and swore when he saw who it was.
"It's William! Damn it! Run, kid!" Finn scurried to his feet as did Jade but William was faster. The monster leapt onto Finn's back and the two fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Jade turned and was torn between running to safety and going back and somehow helping Finn who was wrestling with the horrible thing. But even as she made her decision, she had no time to act. Finn, during his fight with William happened to look Jade's way and see her slowly dematerialize. "Wait! Kid! Don't leave me here!"
But Jade never heard his plea as she was dragged back to Section 13.
To Be Continued---
Part One
Brenna "Snakelady" Dawkins
A Jackie Chan Adventures Fanfic
Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: Jackie Chan and subsequent characters belong to Jackie Chan and associates. It'd be pretty useless to sue me since I have nothing! I've made no profit nor will see any from this fic.
Summary: With VampireNaomi's permission, I have taken it upon myself to continue her fic since she had no plans to. When we last saw Finn, he was at the mercy of the evil William and it seems no one is there to help the thief--- or is there?
(Author Notes: Okay, anyone who's seen the first Nightmare on Elm Street might recognize some of the story in here. I thought I'd borrow the idea in order to help poor Finn out.)
Finn's skin crawled as William inspected his new prize. He wanted to run from the monster, but to where? The city was desolate and empty.
The monster grabbed up his red hair in his clawed hand and buried his nose in it, inhaling deeply. William sighed loudly with a pleasure he hadn't had in ages. He felt almost as one would when high. Lovely locks! Lovely scent! He traced a nail down Finn's twitching cheek, ignoring the waves of terror that emanated from the thief.
"Yes, you are my lovely!" William breathed excitedly.
"Hey, don't mean to harsh your buzz or anything--- but look, what did you mean by one hundred years? Heh, I mean, one hundred years is such a relative term and all." Finn managed to say without faltering much. "I mean, the hundred year war was such bunk and all--- heheheheh." His nervousness caused his voice to rise in pitch.
The monster began to run his fingers through Finn's hair, watching it as though mesmerized as it slipped between his fingers. "What wonderfullness!" He almost whispered.
Finn flinched. He was dead meat. Even worse, he was William's meat now. That was it. His life was pretty much a shut book from now on. He was so screwed and what was worse, he knew that no one back home cared one lick.
"What--- are you gonna do--- to me?" Though he really truthfully didn't want to know.
That horrible voice twisted its way into his ear, making his whole body seem to want to shrink away. "Take my pleasure of you."
Finn felt the urge to run. But he knew it would be a useless gesture. God, he'd been in bad situations before--- but nothing like this. He was going to die here, at the hands of this insane and disgusting creature. A creature that not even Shendude could stomach. It was bad if a demon couldn't stand something. Wait a minute--- Shendude couldn't stand him. Finn inwardly groaned. It was hopeless!
He yelped when William nipped his ear lobe. "Scream for me-e-e-e!" William commanded.
But Finn froze from the terror and tried to shrink away from the beast. William's eyes flashed angrily at the denial. His hand clamped around Finn's throat and squeezed, "Scre-e-e-eam!"
Finn found his hands trying to pry William from his body, but the grip was there to stay. William angrily gave him a shake and his body felt it fully and he was suddenly dangling, feet a good foot off the ground, neck rolling back with the force. He kicked, struggling, trying desperately to free himself. On a whim, William let Finn drop to the ground with a heavy and unbalanced thud. Finn, realizing he was free from William's hold, decided that empty or not, anywhere was better then right beside that monster. He made a break for it, choosing a direction to run randomly.
William watched his 'friend' dash away with a grin on his face. "Playing a game with me. How nice. So nice to hunt. So nice to have someone to play with!" He hung back a bit longer, to make things more interesting. Soon, the hunt for Finn would be on!
A week later, Chow came out of his dark mood. During the week, he'd taken note of a certain Enforcer's absence. At first, he thought Finn was possibly being sulky and doing a damn good job of avoiding him and Ratso. He apparently hadn't been asked by Shendu to work on any jobs during the past week, so he also figured he was in trouble with the demon. Which made sense. Finn was always pissing Shendu off in one way or another, through either his easy going flippancy or just the sheer bumbling of a job. Chow wasn't that concerned--- yet. If he didn't see Finn in the next couple of days, he was gonna press the demon about it. But as of now, he knew it wasn't wise to piss Shendu off, because just as he was getting off of his dark mood, Shendu was back into another one of his own.
"Captain Black, I'm very uncomfortable with this." Jackie confided in the tall, bald-headed leader of the covert government facility called Section 13.
"It's going to be okay, Jackie." Captain Black tried to sooth his concerned friend. "This sort of test is perfectly suited for Jade."
"But it involves the talismans. And this equipment you are using is still in its experimental stage." Jackie pressed him.
Captain Black smiled, "We need a subject in her age bracket so we can fully explore the benefits of this technology. Nothing bad happened when we used you and Uncle to test upon."
Jackie nodded slowly, "Well, yes. It still makes me nervous."
"I understand, Jackie. It's going to be up to you whether or not Jade will take part in the experiment."
Jackie sighed. For a change, he and Black were discussing things alone, in Black's office, without a certain nosey child underfoot. He knew once Jade heard about this, she'd jump post haste onto the gurney and plug herself in before hearing anything about the possible risks. It was this reckless tendency she had that made him hesitate on Black using her for the experiment. Sure, nothing negative had happened to him or Uncle. But Jade, one never knew just what she'd do in certain situations where a little forethought might be the difference between life and death. Jade was too fearless. And that was a constant worry for Jackie.
He knew that quite a bit of her exuberance was due also in part for her desire to help. If only he could get her to learn the art of caution and patience--- it would make life easier for him, that was for sure.
"You are certain of the machine's safety?" Jackie asked, still worried, but also wanting to help Captain Black, and maybe give Jade a chance.
Black nodded, "She'll be surrounded by my best staff, and you can be right by her side if you wish."
"Well, then I guess it's all up to Jade." Jackie conceded.
Black's smile widened and he clapped Jackie on the shoulder. "And we both know what Jade will say to that."
Jackie had to chuckle at that. "Yeah. Du-u-u-uh."
Moments later found Jade eagerly strapped to the gurney. She was attached to the machines and eyeballed the sheep talisman that was also hooked up to the same machine.
"So, I'm supposed to do what again?" She asked, clearly excited.
"Just hang out. We're going to be recording your brainwaves and heart rate during the procedure." Black instructed.
"A-a-a—a-a-w!!!" Jade whined characteristically.
"Relax, Jade." Jackie instructed as he stood beside her, carefully watching over the procedures. He looked up at Black who nodded. "Close your eyes, now. The drip should be making you feel like taking a little nap."
Weird, it was. Her eyes closed of their own violation and she soon found herself floating above her body. Cool! The sheep talisman at work! She did a few experimental loop-de loops for the fun of it in mid air. Then she soared from one end of the room to the other, buzzing Jackie and Black without them being awares. Giggling, she flew all around, until she grew bored. Well, she wasn't going to just hang around that boring old lab when she could go out on the town and do whatever she wanted without anyone knowing. And besides, she knew she had a certain amount of time to spend out of body. Black had said they were going to run some tests before she had gone under and she knew she had at least an hour to be in this state. She wasn't about to waste it either!
So she flew towards the wall, hesitated. There were no windows. Then she shook her head. She was a phantom--- she had no physical properties on this side of existence! Fearlessly, she flew through the wall and hunted for the way out of Section 13. It didn't take her long, she knew the place inside and out. Soon she was swooping down the streets of San Francisco, searching for anything exciting. She flew down to the Warf, knowing if Jackie knew she was down there by herself, she'd be grounded until she graduated high school. But he didn't and wouldn't! She smiled secretly to herself again and flew through a few buildings. She scoped out the Ghiradelli's factory and had to remind herself she couldn't pick up anything there. Shrugging, she was off again.
Her flight through a certain building on the waterfront made her stop and take a second look. It was Valmont! What was he doing in some skuzzy abandoned fish cannery? She could hear a familiar voice arguing with another familiar voice. The Enforcer's! Then it hit her--- she just found the Dark Hand's hideout!
"Woah, wait until I tell Uncle Jackie!" Then she frowned and groaned. She couldn't tell him anything without him knowing she'd left the confines of Section 13. She still had time though to scope out the area, and maybe next time they were out and about, she could inadvertently lead Jackie and Black there. So she flew down for a closer look, watching Chow argue with Ratso over something. Valmont didn't look happy either, but he was trying to leave, but Chow didn't seem to want him to for some reason.
"Whaddaya mean he just left?" She heard Chow ask Valmont angrily.
"Don't worry about it. What's done is done." Valmont said simply and stormed out of the room.
Jade wondered what that was all about and decided to take a look around. For the first time, she could really snoop and not be afraid of getting caught! She wrung her hands together with a mischievous glint in her eye.
She went through another wall in the hideout and found the Dark Hand bathroom. Just as quickly, she left that room, not really wanting to explore that particular haunt. Jade swooped from room to room, looking for anything that might be telling. So far, all she discovered about the Dark Hand hideout was that it was a dump. There wasn't anything interesting to be found. She had thought that they'd have some huge stash of booty from past heists piled up somewhere at least--- but there was nothing like that that she could see. Well, that was rather disappointing. Maybe the Enforcers weren't that great at being thieves after all?
Jade made her way into another room and balked. The room looked like an office. There was a desk and a chair and the typical bookcase and other things that said office. But that wasn't what interested Jade. There was a place just above the desk where it looked like the air had broken. There was a thin, hairline fracture that bled a golden glow that was blinding to look at directly.
Ever curious, she headed straight for it. She only meant to study it closer, but the closer she got to it, she could feel a strange power coming from it. It tugged at her, and when she tried to resist it, the pull was that much fiercer. She jumped up and tried to fly away, but it took hold of her and before she knew it, she was dragged into the glow. She cried out in surprise and struggled, but there wasn't anything she could do. The next moment, she found herself standing in the middle of a street in a desolate city she wasn't familiar with.
"What happened and where am I?" She wondered aloud. "I am going to get so-o-o-o-o grounded." She sighed.
Well, naught to do but check the place out. She leapt into the air to jump start her flight, but found she only hopped. Frowning, she tried again and discovered she could no longer fly. Freaky, she thought.
Oh well, she began to walk around, carefully looking about her, keeping an eye and ear out for any danger. Hanging out with her Uncle Jackie taught her that danger seemed to happen automatically to Chan's. It was a weird enigma.
She strolled down the street, feeling creeped out by her surroundings. Determined weeds broke up the vacant street and sidewalks. None of the tall brick buildings seemed to have any glass in their windows and no doors on the street level. It was eerily quiet. No people, no cars, none of the familiar sounds of the city. The sky looked freaky too, she noted, it looked washed out, like over exposed film and full of black clouds that forever hung and looked like it would never release their rain.
There wasn't even any trash lining the streets, like a well lived in city would have. Down another street, she found the very same thing. Well, this was a bore. She sighed and turned around, trying to see if she could figure out which way was north, but realized there was no directional light from the sky. She jumped when she heard what sounded like a scream coming from a nearby alley. Jade spun around and dashed towards the direction the sound came from. She heard the scream again and then something like a crash, like maybe someone running into a metal trashcan or two. Someone was in trouble, Jade guessed and hurried to the site, not knowing what she would find. She only had fifteen minutes left to be out of her body, so maybe that was time enough to help whoever or whatever it was that needed help.
She rounded the corner and ran into something hard. It knocked the wind out of her and made her fall backwards onto her butt.
"Ow!" She moaned and glanced up accusingly at who it was who knocked her down. Then stared. "Finn??"
The fear that had been on his face before had turned into shock. "You??? What are--- how did---- where did----?" But the Irishman couldn't seem to finish a complete sentence as he stared at Jade.
"Wait, that was YOU I heard screaming, wasn't it?" Jade stood up, rubbing her sore behind.
Finn frowned, then glanced back over his shoulder at the direction from which he'd come running, "Look, twenty questions later kid, we have to get out of here!" Finn shakily stood and futilely dusted off his now filthy white disco suit.
"Why?"
Finn sighed, "Because HE will find me and I don't want, nor have ever wanted to be his," and Finn visibly shuddered, "'friend'."
Jade was about to open her mouth to ask what he was talking about when another noise came from the shadows of the alley. Fear quickly overtook Finn's face and without thinking, he grabbed Jade's sleeve and hoofed it to the next alley, dragging her with him. She was too amazed to do much more then try to keep up. Finn was fast and she almost stumbled and fell, but he yanked on her sleeve and she regained her feet.
"What do you think you're doing?" She managed to ask but was automatically shushed by the thief. She bit her lip and let herself be dragged to what she guessed would be safety. The problem was, safety from what? Finn wasn't in the mood to talk, so she hadn't a clue. They found another alley and Finn looked from left to right, like he was looking for something.
"There!" He whispered loudly at her and pointed.
He intended them to climb a rusty and broken down fire escape to the second story. It didn't look that safe to climb, but Finn dashed towards it without a second thought. Jade looked annoyed, but silently followed, not necessarily wanting to be left behind in such a scary place. They scrambled up the fire escape that creaked and teetered due to their added weight. Jade followed the white clad form in front of her, knowing her time there was running out. If it was really Finn who was the one who needed help, could she bring herself to help him?
They finally stopped in a vacant room where all the windows were blown out and all the plumbing and wiring looked like it was about to fall out of the ceiling on top of them. The only light in the room came from the pitiful light outside.
"So, you going to tell me what you're doing here?" Jade asked him warily. She knew she couldn't trust him. He was a thief, after all. And who knew how many times had he tried to hurt Jackie?
"You first, kid." He scowled at her and then anxiously turned his head to check the open window they had entered. All clear so far--- he heaved a heavy sigh and ran his hands through his dirty and unkempt red hair.
He looked tired, to Jade. Obscenely tired. How long had he been running from whatever it was? But he was staring at her, expecting her to answer him. She supposed she owed him one if he really might have just saved her life, though she doubted it.
"Sheep talisman. I was flying around, happened upon your guy's so- called hide out. Got sucked in here by that glowing thing." She shrugged. "Who are we running from?"
She saw Finn's reflexive glance back at the window before he answered, "William. I--- don't know who or what he is, but Shendude's a pussycat in comparison." He shuddered again.
"And you're here beca-a-a-ause?" Jade prompted.
A troubled look crossed Finn's eyes and Jade wondered what that was all about, "I was sacrificed to him. By Shendu."
"But--- you're a part of his Dark Hand. You're his Enforcer." Jade tried to make sense of it.
Finn shook his head, "Not anymore. I was dumped here. Left to the torture at the whim of this William."
Jade cocked her head, feeling the tug of pity at her heart. She had no idea what to do. This was not what she was expecting.
"I don't have much more time here." She admitted to him.
She heard the anxiety in his voice as his eyes went wide. "You can't leave me here!"
"I have no choice. I'm hooked up to some machines. I'm in the middle of an experiment. I wasn't even supposed to leave Section 13. But I got bored waiting around there. If Jackie knew I had gone abroad, I'd be in serious trouble."
"But we're in serious trouble right now!" Finn reached for her.
"I'm sorry, Finn. I just don't know what I would be able to do to help you anyway."
Finn felt like he was on the verge of hysterics. He was going to be left alone--- again. He didn't think he could bear it! He felt like a rat cornered by a hungry cat who chose to play with it's food even after its prey was long dead. He was exhausted from all the running. He'd been in hiding off and on all that month. Every now and then, William would find him. And when that happened--- God! William loved to make him scream. Said it was good for his soul. It was never the same method twice, either. So far, there was no bloodletting, but it was always just up to that point. Then he would allow Finn to escape and the hunt would begin again. The longest Finn had been on the run was five days straight.
Then Jade yelped as she saw a dark and twisted figure leap through the window they had come through. She scooted backwards, eyes wide as she caught her first glimpse of what she guessed to be William. Finn whirled around and swore when he saw who it was.
"It's William! Damn it! Run, kid!" Finn scurried to his feet as did Jade but William was faster. The monster leapt onto Finn's back and the two fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Jade turned and was torn between running to safety and going back and somehow helping Finn who was wrestling with the horrible thing. But even as she made her decision, she had no time to act. Finn, during his fight with William happened to look Jade's way and see her slowly dematerialize. "Wait! Kid! Don't leave me here!"
But Jade never heard his plea as she was dragged back to Section 13.
To Be Continued---