Author's Notes: And here we are at the second chapter for FOAB! Have to say, I really like writing this story, but ADF takes priority. This chapter we send more time with Jade, some time with the good captain, and we are introduced to the plot.
The Files of Augustus Black
Talismans: A Mystifying Education
The morning had started out pretty decent. In fact, it'd started out rather great as Jade rolled over on her stomach and lazily rubbed her eyes. The early hours of the day had never been her favorite and she wasn't one for activity until at least the good cartoons came on, but her no seemingly infinite number of channels flickered to something decent as she grabbed herself a breakfast bar, a tall glass of apple juice, and toast slavered with copious amounts of fruit flavored jam. After consuming her morning fair and taking a quick trip to the shower -Her own, personal shower. This, plus the flat screen and mini fridge just made her life so complete- she emerged in her standard attire and crashed back onto the bed with a smile. She'd get up later, maybe bug Kepler about that new molecular transmogrify-er ray he was droning on about…
…And then Captain Black had to ruin by telling her to get ready for school.
"But Captain Black!" she totally wasn't whining because that would be immature and not something someone as grown-up and sophisticated as himself should do when pleading her case "Why do I have to go to public school? I mean, can't you just home school me? I'm pretty sure Kepler-"
"No." The scientist/engineer deadpanned, eyes fastened to his latest project as he marched through the halls. Jade did her best to ignore how creepy that was.
"No, Jade." The man himself kept walking, casually checking off items from a clipboard that seemed to appear from nowhere "The paperwork's already been filed and notified and your class' are set. Besides, public school gives you a chance to mingle with other kids your age."
"Tsk, if I wanted to do that, I'd just go to the arcade, or MooseWorld, or the skate park, or-"
"The point is, Jade, that public school can be a rewarding experience. You never know what kind of people you'll meet." They climbed into the phone booth, the glass sealing behind them just as Jade retorted with a smart remark
The car ride this time was considerably less awkward than last time. It'd only been a week since her little stunt with the manned drone, but thankfully the damaged done was mostly superficial as it'd only been a minor observation system and not something truly important. Since then, Black had done what he could to keep her occupied on less destructive pursuits. This meant devoting a few hours of his time to the girl during his breaks to watch a movie, play a board game, or simply talk to her. He was surprised by how much enjoyed their time together and she was elated to finally spend so much time with someone.
By the time they pulled up to the school, Black was finishing a tale of his youthful exploits in stopping a splinter cell based in the mountains of Montana and Jade was listening with rapt attention as they climbed from the truck. It was still, the hall mostly empty as class had recently started and Jade chewed her lip nervously as her grip on her guardian doubled. Black raised a dubious brow before giving her a warm smile and ruffling her hair.
"I'll pick you up at three, alright?" Jade gave a very reluctant nod before receiving one more affectionate head ruffling in parting before drudging up her considerable courage and walking through the door.
The classroom itself was larger than she was use to with a fair amount more of students whose names she'd probably only passing-y remember. The teacher, a middle-aged women with brown-reddish hair tied into a messy bun, paused in her instruction of multiplication and studied the girl before her. Jade, honest as she was, could admit that the eyes behind those eyes shone with a piercing intellect garnered from years of experience building the minds of kids like herself and the single look seemed to sum up her entire assessment of the girl: Do Not Cross Me.
"Everyone," her voice commanded absolute authority, the backs of all the sundry students snapping ramrod straight "we have a new student. This is Jade Chan, from Hong Kong, China. Jade, why don't you take a seat near the middle with Drew."
Thankful that she wasn't one of those 'Tell us something about yourself so we might have some nugget to dig up should we ever decide to talk again' teachers, she gratefully made her way to the middle of the rows, taking the empty seat next to the dark-skinned lad with glasses. Satisfied with the proceedings, the women went back to tapping out equations on the blackboard, the lackluster energy of her voice quickly filtered out as Jade toyed with her Super Moose Eraser.
"Hey." The young Chan started, turning her head to and fro before it settled on her neighbor "You really from China?"
"Yeah." Her reply was bit dull, tinged with incredulous and wary suspicion "Why?"
"Do you know karate?" Jade could say so much about that statement: like how it was stereotypical, how it was borderline racist of people to think just because she was Asian she was naturally gifted with movie-star level combat skills, how she'd likely be asked that same question a dozen times before lunch hour. Instead, she answered thusly.
"No, but I do know some martial arts." She'd asked -alright, begged.- her parents to let her take self-defense lessons and not that boring, new-age garbage about how to take down a purse-snatcher. Any idiot could aim a kick to the crotch; if she was gonna take someone down, it'd be with style. "I could show you some, if you want."
"Really?" His enthusiasm bled through with almost glaring transparency before he roughly coughed into his hand and assumed an aloof, bored look "I mean, it's cool. If you want."
"Drew, Jade. Quiet back there." The two's conversation may have broke off but Jade's wide grin didn't, even in the face of boring arithmetic.
[FOAB]
'Uncle's Rare Finds'
The sign was wooden, painted with bright and muted colors with writing beneath that was written in the owner's native tongue. Black stared at the sign, as he usually did whenever he'd been forced to venture here when his friend was studying something, or practicing his forms, and wished not to be disturbed. Seeing as he'd spent roughly five minutes gazing at the sign, he deemed it a long enough wait for him and then ventured inside.
"You Are Late!" Well, at least he was home.
Black sighed, brushing past a collection of Vases from some long forgotten era of some illustrious dynasty before coming up to the counter where behind an old, Asian man in a vest and long sleeve rolled to his elbows was hunched over what he assumed was the shield Jackie had sent over.
"I'm sorry I'm late. I had some other errands I-"
"No Excuses!" Black flinched at the volume, his ears ringing as he dug into them to sooth the noise "You were suppose to be here Yesterday. Uncle Verryyy Specfic!"
The Captain actually raised an eyebrow. "No, you said to meet you today-"
"Unacceptable!" The man turned, revealing a cord that trailed to his ear where a phone was held, his freehand racking through his grey hair "You will deliver Tome of Quan-Xing Tomorrow or Uncle Shall Nevvver Deal with You Again!"
The phone was slammed against its receiver with a disgruntle 'Hmp!' before the old man took notice of his presence. The agent repressed the sheepishness creeping up his spine and simply offered a simple wave as greetings.
"Captain Black." he nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose "On time as usual. How come nephew never on time like Captain? Always late, for all reasons! Uncle never understand!"
And just like that, he's somehow put his friend as a matter of interest once again without doing anything other than showing up on time. Then again, the elder Chan, simply named Uncle, never ceased to latch onto any reason to criticize the more trivial portions of his younger kin's aspects. The man had been wary of his friendship with Augustus at first, but saw how easily and effortless he calmed his nephew and brought out the best of his personality, so he'd allowed their relationship to stand. And as he grew to know the Captain, so too did his respect for the man. Which was partially the problem.
While he was supportive of his nephew's choices in life, both good and bad, he never did understand why he choose such an occupation. It seemed a waste of his potential, seeing how he possessed all manner of skills that might've been better employed in other areas of expertise. He'd admit he always held slight hope that the boy might purse a career in acting, as he had in his youth, but, it was not to be. So, when faced with the Captain of an entire secret governmental organization dedicated to for a singular, noble purpose, Jackie's uncovering of the artifacts of the distant days was a bit…meek. A youngster like him should be looking towards the future, not back in the past. True, he ran a busy in antiques, but he was an old man. He'd earned the right to be hypocritical if he so chose.
"Well, you know Jackie. He's always doing something." Which is why he was saddled -Given. Not saddled, as that implied an unwanted burden and Jade certainly wasn't that- with his niece. "So I take it this is the shield."
It was a very nice shield too. Carved symbols of golden petal-like marking that surged towards the center, which held a stone that was marked with the red rough amalgamation of a bird of some kind. Black tilted his head. Why on Earth was that there? He reached for it and then retreated his hand, the back of it stinging courtesy of a two fingered rap.
"No Touching! Uncle must Do Research on Writing. Verrryyy Old." His piece said, he retreated to the back of the store where his personal library of dead languages presided and Black sighed as he fell backwards into a chair.
He'd promised Jackie that he would personally see to the shield's safe delivery to the museum himself and to do that meant he'd have to sit and wait for Uncle to to finish translating the writing. Truthfully, he wanted to just take the shield and be done with it, but no. The writing could be important, detailing some secret message from long ago, a window into the lives of figures of past glories. Personally, he thought it was just chicken scratch, but then again, that's what he perceived most other symbol-based systems of communication to look like. So, he simply busied himself and waited.
Time seemed to trickle by at a snail's pace, each method to alleviate his boredom growing less and less efficient with each repetition. Field reports and activity logs proved too mind-numbing after the first hour, as did going over the events of his calendar. The next hour was filled with doodling, tapping his pen, and mentally going over a few combat scenarios. The one after that was whittled away with pacing, coin tricks, and browsing the store's wares. And the one following that was filled with fiddling with a puzzle on his phone, more pen tapping, and more pacing. By that time, the clock read two-thirty and the worry of being late picking up his charge nagged at the back of his head. He opened his mouth to ask of the progress of the translation but the words never actualized.
Because at that moment, the Dark Hand's Enforcers walked in.
From there posture, stride, and casual confidence, he suspected they assumed him some random, run-of-the-mill counter clerk instead of the high-trained, professional operative that he was. The leader, a pale skinned man with striking red hair, green eyes, and appallingly out-dated polyester suit and medallion, strolled up and gave him a smarmy grin.
"You work here?" Well, seems they really didn't know who he was.
"You can say that." His coat was still hung on the back of his chair from his previous bout of pacing and he felt naked without it and the concealed weapons within. "How can I help you gentlemen today?"
"We've been informed that you have a certain artifact that our employer is very interested in." Black kept his face carefully blank, even as his fingers twitched towards his pocket "We'd like to purchase it for a modest sum of money."
"I'm sorry, but it's not for sale. Sure you don't see anything else you like?" He was inching back casually towards the chair and his long coat, as discreetly as possible when a loud crash sounded in the air.
"See, here's the thing." Finn spoke as another of his crew, his larger, red-eyed companion, stepped over a pile of broken porcelain as he swaggered over to a display of fine china plates "Our boss is pretty dead set on that piece. And if it's not for sale, well. Let's just say it's either that piece or the pieces my associates are liking."
Another loud crash rang and Uncle stuck his head out from his backroom, mouth open to yell before witnessing the destruction of his lifeblood.
"Uncle's Antiques! You Will Pay For That!" Black decided that now was a good a time as any with the man distracting their attention and retrieved what he needed from his coat.
"I don't think we've been properly introduced." He held out his badge as well as a piece of his own, trained between the temples of the leader who suddenly looked less sure of himself "I'm Captain Augustus Black of Section 13 and I'm placing you under arrest."
"Section 13? Isn't that those guys the boss said to stay away from?" The big guy had a hesitate look about him now and held a much firmer grip of the vase he was preparing to throw. "What now, Finn?"
"Now?" Finn's expression was harried, the smooth confidence from before evaporating in the face of the known threat "Now we do this!"
Finn retrieved his own firearm and as if on cue, the other two did as well and soon, the small store was filled with the sounds of gunfire. Black had pulled the older man down with him as he used the wooden counter as cover and fired off a few blind shots. He heard a loud shout followed by the shattering of what he believed was some late Victorian-Era tea set before rolling from wooden safety to a polished, garnished pot. The bullets ricocheted off the heavy ceramic, sitting other, less durable pieces that had the entire store echoing in an orchestra of broken antiquities.
"Aiya! Uncle's Shop is for Antiques, Not Shootouts From Spaghetti Westerns!" Black agreed with him on that much and focused fire on the larger of the Enforcers, who was inadequately positioned behind a painting of some kind.
"Got it!" The Captain twitched and turned his head just in time to watch as the Asian ran from the back room with the shield in hand. He'd been so preoccupied with the two in front of him, he'd forgotten the third. Well, he wasn't about to just let him leave like that.
Ignoring the cry from Uncle, -'Not Geisha! Is Collectable!'- he hurled the figurine into the back of the man's head where it broke with a solid 'thuck'. The Enforcer went down and Black sprint forward in the lull. Scooping up the shield and using it for its intended purpose before sprinting out the door into the streets. He pounded down the avenue, ducking behind a corner just a round grazed his shoulder. He hissed, but pushed down the pain, continuing down the wide street as the men followed, the sound of their weapons discharging effectively dispersing the civilians.
"Get back here!" Finn yelled, firing a trio of shots, all of which were avoided as the Captain ducked into the alleyway.
Black, making a split second decision, chucked the shield into a pile of garbage before directing his attention to the fire escape, whose ladder was tantalizingly out of reach. Cursing under his breath, he jumped for it, knowing he'd still be inches short, when it rattled and fell low enough for his grip to catch…Weird, but convenient. He hurriedly scaled the iron bars, clearing it just as another bullet glanced off the wrought iron.
"Goddammit!" Finn howled, already making haste for the ladder "Com' on!"
"But Finn, the shield's right there." Chow jerked his thumb at the pristine artifact amidst the fetid trash "Shouldn't we just take it and go?"
"Not before we get this bastard!" Finn knew it probably wasn't the best idea since they did have the shield and all, but his pride simply wouldn't allow for Captain Ahab to just jet off scot-free. Of course, there was also the sizable pay bonus involved should they manage to be the ones to stick a fork in the head of the group in charge of their downfall -seriously, how badass were they that they needed and entire secret agency dedicated to taking them down? Very, that's how much.- "Now, move it!"
Black managed to just barely clear the distant between the adjacent building and the alley between, displacing the shock with a roll and sprinting for the stairwell just as another shot hit the door where his head was a mere second ago. The building was thankful empty and upon exiting, he made a quick right-
"Argh!" Pain raced up his arm as he felt blood pour from his open wound, a crimson hole torn through his turtleneck sleeve. His gun clattered to the ground and he whirled, taking in the sight of Finn leveling a shot for his head. He fired and Black raised his arm to block.
But the shot never came.
The Captain and Enforcers all watched as the shot meant for Black seemed to ricochet in mid-air, driving into a brick wall. As the Enforcers tried to wrap their heads around what just happened, Black pushed his arm away and observed in a stupor as the seventies-theme man was thrown bodily into his buddies. He simply looked down at his hand, wide-eyed.
Finn groaned, picking himself up from the impromptu pile, only to find the man gone.
"Are you kiddin' me?" he felt his forehead throbbing and not just from the head trauma "He's freakin' physic now?!"
[FOAB]
Jade sat on the steps of the school, watching as the last of her classmates was whisked away in a green Mercedes. She rose her arm to steal a glance at her watch, the colorful moose character informing her that it was fifteen minutes to four, which meant she'd been waiting for forty-five minutes which meant her ride was late. She sighed.
And the day had gone so well too.
The morning lessons were as exciting as watching paint dry while listening to old-timey music, the only relief coming in the form of her neighbor Drew who was quick to chat her up and then pass notes when their teacher gave them their second to last warning. She found the boy interesting: he owned an impressive collection of Cyber Ninja Pirates Gaiden, had a wicked sense of humor, and knew enough about the goings-on to keep her up to speed. Sure, she'd found he had this tendency to rag on people perhaps a bit too much, but it was a habit she easily navigated and felt would be curb in time.
As promised, she demonstrated what she knew of her martial arts, going through a few practice forms before settling into a basic kata that was easy enough to execute and look sufficiently awesome when she did it. Drew had animatedly and unabashedly shown his admiration and all but demanded to be taught some of the flasher moves. Jade had felt something warm spread through her at that moment, a feeling of…of rightness when he asked that and her smile only grew when he fisted the air in triumphant. The lunch break was spent guiding him through the proper motions, the right footwork, getting him in the right mentality all of which seemed to be out of the lad's reach. By the end, he'd successfully managed to perform five amazing face-plants, three cross-legged stumbles, and a single, improbable bicycle kick that almost worked but gravity had vetoed the motion and sent him crashing smack on his head.
After Jade managed to stifle her giggle fit and Drew stopped glaring daggers at her, the rung and they returned to class where after a series of notes, Drew finally felt once more in a good mood and they spent the remainder of the day writing out elaborate little stories to one another. At the final bell, Drew had waved Jade off as he hopped in a red semi belonging to his dad and promised to bring a copy of Cyber Ninja Pirates Gaiden: The Blood Bath II tomorrow.
Yes, her day had been, in a word, awesome.
And then Black decided not to show up. She'd be lying if she said a part of her wasn't nagging on about being right, that Black was just like all the rest. That he only hung out with her out of obligation, not because he actually enjoyed spending time with her. She hated to give in to that part of herself but evidence supported the theory and experience told her it could and did happen. She had just been hoping he'd be different from the rest.
Better.
And then he came sprinting down the sidewalk, sans long coat -And how badass was that long coat? Really, was it just a rule that all one needed to be awesome was a long coat?- running like a man possessed. Jade huffed, hitching her backpacked filled with annoyingly heavy homework, as she crossed and shot him a withering gaze.
"Nice of you to finally show-Hey!" Her surprise was warranted; the man just scooped her up like a sack of potatoes and kept running "What's the big idea?!"
"Not now, Jade." His voice was labored and heavy with exhaustion, but Jade managed to push that aside as she fixed a glare at the back of his head. How dare he not let her finish her scathing and well-deserved rant about how sucky it was of him to just go off and leave her…like…
"Black? Are you okay?" She felt something wet against her pants leg and hesitantly reached down to brush over it, her hands coming back chillingly red "Captain Black?"
"Not now, Jade." And that promptly shut her up long. At least until a trio of men rounded the corner and she yelped as gunfire, actual, life-threatening gunfire, whizzed past them. "Keep your head down!"
No need to tell her twice, her head already buried in his chest as her ears rung from the sailing ammunition. They turned down another street and she felt Black pause, which was enough of a change given their current situation -They were being freakin' shot at!- that she chanced a look. He had a hand extended, face contorting with effort as he held it towards a fire hydrant. At that moment, the men gave bounding and Jade fidgeted in his grasp and was about to tell him to stop being constipated and go already when groaning filled the air. Turning back, she watched in amazement as the metal structure creaked and groaned before lifting from its bolted stance to rocket sideways and into the largest of them with a very audible 'Oof!'
"You're physic?" She was pretty sure she was in shock, but then again, it's not everyday your guardian whose head of an secret governmental organization also turns out to be able to move stuff with his mind. "Cool."
"Apparently." He was back running now, ducking inside a building and pushing past the crowd inside as he made for the stairs. He took them three at a time, her ears distantly registering the shocked and panicked surprise of the people below as their assailant gained on them. They burst through to the roof, the Captain stopping when he noticed the wide boulevard separating them.
"Crap. We don't have time to turn around." He was obviously frantic, she could see his mind racing as it scrambled for a solution. Jade thought the answer was obvious.
"Just jump it," he intoned and received a look in response.
"That's more than a forty foot gap. I can't jump that." he stated matter-of-factly and Jade rolled her eyes. Man, adults really had no imagination even with superpowers.
"You're physic, remember? Just jump and don't fall." It was clear to her that he was questioning her sanity, but she easily brushed it off "Trust me."
The moment she uttered those words, the door burst open and the men started barking orders. No other favorable options left, Black took a step back, said a quiet prayer, and leapt.
She'll attest to clinging a bit more firmly to her guardian, but that was due to the fact that they were now hovering in the air nearly a dozen stories up and she wanted to make sure she didn't add to the numerous other stains of San Francisco. For a brief, fleeting moment, she thought they'd fall to their doom due to her stupid idea, but after a passing moment of sinking, they floated. Black seemed more surprised than her really, but took the chance to move forward as though wading through a pool on the deep end. After a few seconds, they landed, the Captain's steps shaky as he steadied them and turned to look back at the men who simply stared, too stupefied to even shoot. Deciding not to see how long that'd last, Black ran and leapt to another building.
Once they were far enough away, Black looked down at his charge and casually started back conversation.
"So, you saw how my day went. How'd yours go?" She thought back on the events prior to the abrupt bout of moving target practice, superpowers, and leaping impossible gorges and a bright smile lit her face.
"I made a friend."
Author's Notes: And, we're done! It was going to be longer, but I felt this was a good place to stop for now. And now, for the questions!
Jade and Black: Bonding: If you'll notice, I added Jade to this stories tag of characters because after Black, she's probably the deuteragonist of this story. Her bonding with Black replaces that of Jackie and Torhu, plans for him later, and a good portion of this fic might end up a bit…fluffy. Just letting you know.
Jade and Drew: BFFs: I think, in any other circumstance, Jade and Drew would be great friends. Sure, Drew can be a bit jerkass-y but that's why he has Jade, to kick him back into line whenever he goes too far off the rails. As shown here, he likes Jade because she's both new and exciting. He likes that she likes the things he likes and that she knows stuff he doesn't. Jade likes Drew for the same reasons. And boy, are they gonna be seeing a lot of each other soon…*cough*Forthchapter*cough*Notforeshadowing*cough*
Uncle's Rare Finds: Shootout: The Enforcers are criminals. Top tier criminals with enough experience and expertise to climb to the top brass of one of the most powerful underground organizations in the world. The reason they seem so inept is mostly due to the fact that they're pretty much out of their element with all this magic crap. That and Jackie Chan is pretty much unbeatable in his universe, seriously half the stuff he does is pretty much impossible for a regular person. The reason they didn't pull guns on Jackie all that often is because the man outran a train wreck, lava, and kicked their ass with windshield wipers. Windshield Wipers. If even the ninjas and big bads can't handle him, what use would a gun do?
Captain Black: Downgraded?: Black is not Jackie. He is not a nigh-unbeatable, physic breaking, reality warping martial artist. He doesn't have magic…He doesn't have any extra training…The Enforcers were shooting at him, they aren't poor-shots, he just can't dodge bullets. Black is still badass, but he's dealing with somewhat more competent Enforcers and has now been introduced to magic. Trust me, he's gonna be taking several levels in Badass, just not immediately.
Rooster Talisman: Where?: Guess…I'm sure people are still gonna guess wrong, even if it's glaringly obvious.
Anyway, that's all for now! TTF-Oh! By the way, this fic will only update once a month until ADF is finished so yeah, don't expect the same rapid fire , for me at least, updates like it receives. TTFN!
