Jackie stared down the gun barrel. "Vlad… why?" he asked.

"That is not your problem. I do not kill you because I owe something to your wife. Of course, I can always repay her some other way."

"But- I can't leave him," he said, motioning to Valmont's body.

"You can and you will," said Vlad, motioning with the gun to the door. "Good night, Jackie."

Jackie walked towards the door, past the grinning curator-

and turned around quickly as a snake to kick the gun out of Vlad's hand. The curator's eyes followed it as it slid across the floor. He started running for it, but Jackie tackled him from behind, sweeping Vlad's feet out from under him, causing the curator to flip onto the floor.

"Who are you working for?" Jackie yelled, his foot on the other man's chest.

Vlad looked past him and smiled.

"Chan, move!" came Valmont's voice. Jackie flung himself to the side, narrowly avoiding a bullet from the gun held by a Russian Enforcer.

Vlad scrambled up and turned to see Valmont, still with blood on his shirt, standing right in front of him. His eyes widened in horror. "Boris!" he shouted, and the enforcer started shooting again.

Valmont sped over to Boris, picked him up by his lapels and threw him across the room. "Get the gun!" he ordered Jackie, who picked it up and pointed it at Vlad.

"Give us one reason we shouldn't kill you now, Vladimir Ivanov," Valmont said calmly. "You had a contract with the Dark Hand, not to mention the trust of this man here. What was so important that you risked your life to try and kill me for it?"

Vlad was shaking. "I will never tell you," he sputtered.

"Chan," Valmont said.

Jackie brought the gun to Vlad's temple. "Have you ever played Russian Roulette with a gun other than a revolver?" Jackie asked softly. Vlad whimpered. "I don't know about you," Jackie continued, cocking the gun. "But I'd like to try."

"All right!" Vlad screamed. "I'll tell you whatever you want!"

"Who's trying to get Pandora's Box?" Valmont asked.

"I-I do not know! She calls herself Pandora-she-she hired me to kill anyone poking around for the pieces-that's all I know, I swear!"

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Jackie asked Valmont.

Valmont moved closer to glare at Clad. The man was hyperventilating. "Yes. He's scared witless. He cannot lie." Valmont turned to Jackie, "Kill him anyway."

Vlad's eyes darted towards Jackie, who smiled, then hit him on the head with the butt of the gun. He crumpled to the floor.

"I don't believe that did the trick." Valmont said mildly.

"I wasn't trying to kill him," Jackie said, "This is a job for Interpol."

Valmont sighed. "I was beginning to have high hopes for you, especially after that Russian Roulette line."

Jackie smiled. "The gun wasn't even loaded. I emptied the clip when I picked it up."

"What if he had called your bluff?"

"I would have knocked him out and called Interpol. It was a win-win situation." He glanced at Valmont's blood stained shirt. "How did you survive that?"

"I'm surprised you're forgetting your talisman powers so quickly," Valmont said. "The horse for healing and the dog for immortality, remember?"

"But shouldn't the horse have worked when you were knocked out by the thief?" Jackie asked suspiciously.

"I have to voluntarily use the talisman powers and I do so sparingly," responded Valmont. "For the more I use them, the more power Shendu gains over me. And I seriously doubt you want to deal with him again." Valmont pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "We missed out chance with the thief tonight. We shall have to quickly figure out where the last piece is before tomorrow to prevent her from causing the end of the world."

"Her?" Jackie said. "You know who it is?"

"Think, Chan. Who is the only other person who knew we were coming here tonight?"

"Jing?" Jackie said. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Tonight only confirmed the suspicions I had after we spoke to her. She made the mistake of mentioning Pandora's Box in Singapore. Neither you nor I mentioned it, yet she knew exactly what was going on."

Jackie sighed. "Well, at least we know who we're up against." He paused, then said. "Where do we start now?"

"Where we should have in the first place," Valmont answered. "The internet." He looked down at his shirt. "Blast. You can't get blood out of Egyptian cotton, and the hole is irreparable. I suppose I've seen the last of this shirt." He realized Jackie was staring at him disbelievingly. Valmont cleared his throat. "Right," he said, "Let's go."

"Here it is," Jackie said on the plane a few minutes later. "The Dublin Museum of Antiquities. They are just opening an exhibit on daily life in Assyria. And here," he pointed at a picture on the screen "is a lock to 'an ancient jewelry box.'" He smirked. "I don't think it was jewelry they wanted to keep safe."

"Indeed," Valmont said. "Good work, Chan." He paused as his phone rang. "Valmont. Yes. Really. How obnoxious. We were just there. And how did your project pan out?" he listened for a few moments, then, "Excellent. I look forward to seeing it. Thank you, Finn." He hung up. "Jing was in Russia last night- but in St. Petersburg. We were so close…" he trailed off, then focused. "But she shan't win again."

"No," Jackie said, a hardened look to his features. "She won't."

"Well that is a relief," Valmont said as they walked into the Assyrian exhibit and saw the lock.

"You're sure the Shadowkhan are fast enough?" Jackie asked as he glanced at the display case.

"The more appropriate question would be am I sure I am fast enough?" Valmont commented.

"Well?" Jackie turned around to look the villain in the eye.

"Yes," Valmont smiled. "You know, most people wouldn't question my skill."

"If I was afraid of you, Valmont, you wouldn't have brought me here," Jackie said, smiling wryly. "Maybe you should do a run through, just in case."

Valmont rolled his eyes. "Only because I have nothing better to do."

Jackie was going to go crazy in a few seconds. He was usually a very patient man, but he had been severely lacking in sleep or the past few days. Sitting down and staring at a bunch of display cases as he waited for the moon to rise was not helping matters.

He got up to stretch, then something caught his eye. "Now!" he yelled, and started running towards the lock.

Valmont flung out his arm as he ran in the opposite direction. Two Shadowkhan on each window blocked the moonlight with a big black cloak. It was pitch dark until Valmont slammed on the lights to reveal Jing face down on the floor, Jackie tying her hands up behind her back..

Valmont sauntered over to Jing as Jackie stood up. "Well, Pandora, where is the rest of your box?"

Jung didn't respond. Jackie knelt down. "We know how this works, Jung. The moonlight is blocked. You're powerless. So tell us where the rest of the pieces are-"

"Or else," Valmont smiled evilly.

Jing smiled. "Ah, the old 'good cop, bad cop' ploy, eh?"

"I'm not a cop," both men said at the same time.

"Well, that's interesting," Jing responded. "Because I'm not powerless." She shot black and blue fire out of her free hands at the two…

But both had been around villains far too much to miss a cue like that, and had ducked and rolled to safety.

"I thought you said you were good at knots, Chan!" Valmont yelled.

"I am! But-"

"Those aren't my only set of hands, " Jing said.

The two men stared in horror at Jing. She did indeed have a normal set of arms, tied behind her back- and a more grotesque pair, like a T. Rex, that appeared to be coming out of her ribcage.

"What are you?" Jackie asked.

"Just a servant to a master," Jing said. "For now." Jackie and Valmont exchanged glances. She was a talker. Excellent.

"What do you mean by that?" Valmont said. "Surely you do not think your master will be pleased with you releasing chaos."

Jing laughed. "Why wouldn't he be?" she asked. "It is him I am releasing. I think you two should stick around and meet him." She whirled around and caught Jackie with her power, slamming him against the floor. "No, please do not try anything stupid." She turned around waving her true arms, which had broken their bonds, and slammed Valmont against the wall, binding him there as well. "I do so want you both to be here to see the triumphant return of an ancient and powerful demon sorcerer," she said. "Tso Lan."