Author Notes: Life is difficult, what can I say? After months of hiatus I'm back to present the newest chapter in the story. Thanks for waiting patiently people! On with it!
-Disclaimer: Jackie Chan Adventures belongs to Warner Channel and John Rogers. And I gain no profit out of writing this.
The March of the Black Queen.
Chapter 10.
Queen of the Hill.
Ratso shifted gears sending the truck gushing to 90mph through the highway. There were no more helicopters but random news aircrafts following them but the euphoria, the feeling of crushing their enemies with a flick of her wrist was pushing adrenaline into her body at alarming rates. She felt so powerful, almost like judge, jury and executioner, the latter sending a rut of doubt into her body, and while her faithful employees tapped their firearms restlessly, at the ready, it did not bother her. A weapon was a weapon and she needed every card this time to win, keep lethality perhaps out of the picture for now, though the option was lingering there.
Now it was a race against time.
The highway continued for eleven more miles before it ended in a spiral ramp to an exit and then into a residential area, most likely blocked by now, with specific orders to try to stop the truck but nothing lethal. She was playing them alright, anticipating their futile rescue mission from her 'darkness'. But nothing that ninjas, firepower and the smashing power of twenty tons couldn't handle.
Finn checked his magazine, putting four more on the dash board, Chow felt comfortable with three on his jacket and one lock and loaded. The city lights aura had disappeared forcing Jade to remove her sunglasses, storing her in her jacket as she sighed with relief, despising Las Vegas with a burning anger that left her feeling bitter and itching for another fight but not now, the city was going to be left behind soon enough as she counted the exit numbers, scratching off miles in her head, following the truck internal GPS unit.
The air gushing through the bullet holes and the whine of the punctured truck exhausts was leaving a plume of smoke on the highway, like a beacon to follow.
"We don't know the ETA, over"
"10-4, waiting on the intersection, they should be here any minute now"
There was also that, police talks running around the scanner that her crew brought, with a wave of her hand she forced to silence it, it was giving her a headache, besides, and they would meet them head on soon enough. By now, the public had been advised to steer away from a particular truck full of bullet holes, by the erratic and fast way that Ratso was driving, professional as it was, was more than enough to clue them in. Jade could visibly see the cars parting their way; slightly adjusting her new found ability up to two miles, she could see the rotating red and blue specks of light up ahead at the angle they were in.
"Be ready boys, less than four miles"
Nobody said anything as Ratso squeezed the steering wheel with a crack of his leather gloves.
The lights were now visible even to their human eyes; she winced as Chow peeked his submachine gun through the window, ready to fire at a moment notice. Wasting no time, she summoned her ninjas on top of the trailer, fifteen of her elite stood at the ready in a solid combat stance, ready, eager for their abilities to be released; it wouldn't be for long.
"Just to l't ya know. Dis is our longest and most intense job we ever had so far" Finn added suddenly with a grin. "It has been extreme"
"Oh yeah, not even when we ran with Valmont we did anything of the sort, talismans be damned with you on our side" The ABC added nodding.
"Wickedly fun" Ratso added behind the wheel with a chuckle.
Jade licked her lips in anticipation, basking in pride. "And it only goes better from now" Her sadistic smile brought shivers to the enforcers but at the same time, they felt contempt in being part of this little achievement.
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In a race against time, the J-Team and the remaining forces of Section 13 were gathered only about fifty feet from the blockade. Captain Black had deployed a digimap on a field table, tracking their objective in real time with a feed from his UAV drone flying hundreds of feet above, through its infrared optics they could track that vehicle whenever it went. Whatever was in mind at the state of affairs went outside the window the moment Jade robbed more than six casinos, riddled up an entire city in a costly revolt and took down two helicopters in the spawn of just two hours. It truly put things in perspective about the gravity of the situation and the kind of threat they were facing and the disbelieving speed in what everything had developed.
Jackie for his part knew very well that she had them where she wanted them, cradling her hands around them, making them go where she wanted them to go. As much as he hated it, they needed to let her guide them, falling in whatever trap that may lay on wait, they will have to spring it. So without nothing more to add to the table of operations, he decided to walk away to think, a very rare trade in him, as he always counted with his family to have his back, but now he felt so conflicted that he needed his peace, enjoying the calm before the storm.
Viper watched him go, sighing sadly but knowing he needed the space, the others nodded at him as he passed them by, the expression that Jackie had was one of pure defeat, one never seen in the champion that have faced the most dangerous demons that Earth have ever seen. It depressed them very much, the mere fact that the most loved of their family unit was twisted into a demonic reflection of herself, committing hideous acts, but fighting her, a look alike made them twist in sorrow. After Jackie, Tohru was perhaps the most afflicted of them, half hearing what Captain Black was explaining, but he forced himself to listen with a slight shake of his head.
"We have the upper hand here. The area around the exits is cordoned up to two miles, the exit ends directly into a residential area that exits on the desert. I was thinking that the nearest means of escape is a hidden plane on around the surrounding peaks. Right here" He tapped the Charleston Peaks, just sixty miles away from the city. "It is surrounded by forests and mountains, but there are no plains big enough to land a small plane and take off so by now I do not know what their plan will be, I think Jade is going to load her money there and jump off state somewhere. We need to stop them from getting in the park and take off…even if they do, we have the Air Force on standby, they can lend off some jets to intercept them and force the plane to land if possible".
The J Team stared at him, processing Black's plan.
"Understood" Viper said loosely, staring in Jackie's direction then walking away after him, while Black barked some intelligible orders to his crew, apprentice and master were left alone side by side. In the chaos of the moment, they stared at their surroundings and then at each other, stricken but determined. There was a silent understanding between them that went beyond titles and that was the duty to know what had to be done, especially in this circumstances. The years of treachery and crime were long behind Tohru and instead, his past life was pavement and filled with his new family, a family he swore to protect no matter what. His resolve hardened, nodding at Uncle who knowingly smiled back, a thin smile gracing his old lips.
A breeze blew softly around Uncle making him smile meaningfully. "All due time my apprentice. While Niece seems far out of reach, a fish will always return to the river it was born into, tainted as it is. Let's practice the caging smell, quickly! We don't have much time"
"On it Master" The gentle giant nodded before he was held back by Uncle's hand.
"I heard Black trucks have portable stove…make some tea?"
It was Tohru's turn to be surprised. "Tea…now? Are you jesting Master?"
Uncle smacked Tohru in the head with two fingers making him wince. "Tea is never a joking manner! Uncleeeee needs his tea to calm his frayed nerves, now tea!"
"Yes Sensei" The mountain of a man went with him; it would give him some time to think in this dilemma.
Jackie went to the river clearing, basking in the calmness before the storm, the fight was not over yet, yet his own inner storm raged within, threatening to consume him in anguish and fury, ten folds what he felt when Captain Black was hospitalized when Valmont sent him to the hospital. He felt himself breathing hard, the fires of his ire crashing against who he was, trying to overthrow his principles before the cold air of his inhalation calmed the hurricane of his soul, in and out, slowly but dissipating the lightning clouds of his anger away, a warm touch at his bicep heightened his serenity to a nice cool, as familiar fingers traced and wrapped around him, fingers he knew from mere touch and that distinctive smell that he has loved for years. It was no coincidence that Viper wore that certain perfume every time they met and as always, his head cradled the crook of her neck with a blissful smile, forgetting his problems on her warm body and fragrance, he sighed wrapping his fingers at her side, letting her put her chin on his shoulder.
Alone, they watched the river bank, fingers squeezing and releasing, the same motion being repeated slowly. Piece by piece, Jackie felt being patched together through Viper's love that radiated through the air, the pain that Jade left in her wake being slowly dissipating from his system. Her usual mission garb, a black turtle neck was more than enough to propel her warmth into his back.
"After this mess is over, let's hit my apartment. You need to relax and loosen up and I know exactly what you need", you know, someone to watch out for you" She whispered into his hear. It was more than enough to make Jackie blush and then snort, knowing exactly that she was lifting her eyebrows suggestively in a fake show of manliness. If there was something that he liked more about Viper, it was her dry sense of humor. Completely relaxed, he took her by surprise, throwing her forward and swoop her off her feet, his hand supporting her by the back. She laughed at the corny position, snaking her arms behind his neck.
"Maybe is me you have to watch out for"
She giggled at the dorky quote pressing her lips to his.
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Back on the truck the enforcers celebrated even more with a fist pumping screaming Jade.
This was exactly what she was speaking about when she talked about power.
Perish the thought; she shook her head paying attention to her surroundings, peeling her eyes completely at everything that surrounded her. With the city behind now, she could see anything coming miles away, cockiness was often the mistake that the many villains they faced often spew before being defeated. Besides the helicopters appearing, everything was going to plan as it was. She made a motion to Ratso who nodded, immediately knowing their next destination.
Chow for his part toyed around with the grip of his MP5, looking from the cracked side mirror to Jade's face, frowning as he did so. This was, as said, the most intense thing they've done at the moment, but one small part escaped him, bugging from the very beginning, with the adrenaline rush, he felt that the question inclined some answering.
"Are we going to take the talismans?"
The Queen did a double take, blinking before nonchantly shrugging her shoulders. She might have noticed, but suddenly six pair of eyes had their complete attention
"Thought bout it. It's in the plans alright…in a different way, I think that the best way to build a good employee/employer relationship is to be completely honest. I plan to take it unto myself, the chi, the power, leaving the talismans as fancy cut rocks. It happened once, a long time ago, problem is that a certain wizard, one of your past employers…when you were orange knows how to control chi…"
The enforcers looked at each other, processing the information, but it was Finn who was first to answer.
"You haven't had the magic part figure it out have you?"
Jade immediately blushed looking aside, faking being interested in the desert around them.
"Give me a break here! I've been a villain for a week here…but we will get there, I can feel it. It's hard to explain, but being a Shadowkhan Queen…there's a certain voice, something that my subconscious is drowning that I can't hear right now, but it makes me feel that we're in that path, its close, I just don't know where to begin…but it will come, I can assure you gentlemen. For now, let's focus in getting out of here in one piece. Chow, how long till we reach the park?"
Checking the GPS, he lifted his hand. "Fifteen mins at this speed"
The Queen grunted an answer, quickly getting bored with the desert environment, wanting this to get over quickly as possible, though she enjoyed the change of setting. As the gloom of the desert extinguished light, the torrent of the nimble Sin City was nothing more than a bad memory now, she felt contempt
"We aren't off hot water yet. I assure you that Baldie is already cooking something else to brush off his burnt dishes and it is coming. We need to hurry" She said glimpsing at the cracked door mirror, several red and blue spots flashing over and over again. "Or everything goes to hell"
Ratso gave her a wicked grin. "Choo Choo! Kickass train'a coming"
The Queen grinned slightly, her eyes never leaving the cracked mirror, red glowing eyes staring back.
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As in cue, a black colored object appeared deep in the skies.
A longed body like a fire match with two twenty four feet wings protruding from the aircraft with a V shaped wings on the tail, a propeller rotated at fast speeds propelling the aircraft smoothly in the air. A rotating body that housed high tech camera and surveillance equipment scanned the area down below.
Its tearless retina that housed an infrared camera zoomed in the target, an eighteen wheeler heading at top speeds, brushing cars and barriers as it went in its destructive way. Down below Section 13, the agents radioed Captain Black, who sat in the crippled Black Hawk, a headset plugged to its still working radio.
"We got them, Sir. Electric Eye in pursuit of target"
For a moment Captain Black let himself grin in response, nodding at the object hundreds of feet off the ground, tapping his fingers aimlessly on the helicopter door.
"Roger, keep overwatch and report any change of the target route"
"Affirmative, Electric Eye, out"
Black let the headset drop directing his attention to a walking Jackie and Viper, at the lift of his eyebrow, Viper shook his head and he nodded, understanding their privacy, perhaps for another time he would press his concerns for Jackie, for now he have a duty and an organization to run and worrying about one of his top members and childhood friend feelings was not going to help the situation. If he had ever learnt something over his two decades in the espionage and as the leader of an organization that operates behind the curtain is to always keep a sharp mind and just shove all negative things inside a box and shut the lit. There would be time to think about it later on, regardless of how betrayed, furious and even wounded he felt about Jade, facades needed to be maintained for the moral and organization of the operation.
It was one of the unfortunate things that came with leadership, with dozens of men and women looking at him for guidance.
He shook his head to clear his head, approaching his crew and his best pilot in an effort to hang with his men, the Chan clan needed their members to heal their wounds, as welcome as he felt between them, he always felt like an outsider and so he gave them their space. The captain of Section 13 looked at his watch, advancing in their direction and then retreating some steps back. It was a very peculiar sensation that started at the tip of his toes until it reached his forehead, sighing again he advanced towards the pair at the riverbank, preparing himself mentally to what was to come.
As he walked, he could feel the sensation of someone watching him and he was right. Viper's eyes shot to his, almost feeling her eyes through him. If a single look would kill, he would have exploded in millions of tiny pieces.
He grunted, interrupting the moment. Augustus Black wished he had disappeared from the face of the earth, still feeling the dead ray that Viper eyes on him, looking away he cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner.
Jackie almost gave him a pitied look, almost…
"Jade was sighted not too far from here. They're heading North-West, the highway is almost over and all exits are blocked by concrete barriers. They have no way out and I intend to be there to apprehend her and her new associates with you on board Jackie, it won't be an easy fight"
The archeologist nodded, loosening his embrace on his girlfriend to her complete disappointment, but it was to business now, not play, a fact that Viper understood, though she wished it was under better circumstances. Irritably accepting the situation, she crossed her arms, lifting an eyebrow at the approaching mountain of a man, with Uncle set on his massive shoulders as the old man drank a cup of his tea and the smell it brought to her nostrils, flickering her nose in distaste she laughed at the predicament they were in.
"I can assure you Uncle, that flights are tea prohibited, you better drink it fast before we take off"
The older man for his part frowned and was about to retort before the mountain of a man hands waved the incoming fight, patting the older man legs. "There will be always more tea waiting for you Sensei, I will make sure of that"
Uncle grinned. "That's all I needeeed! To hear. Now…let us prepare"
The J-Team gathered all around, Black taking Jackie's side, not trusting Viper in the slightest at this moment. Their hands were placed reassuringly on each other shoulders, embracing each other.
"We still need El Toro's support…" Black muttered. "But we have enough man power to bring her down. I trust you guys, always"
Viper decided that for now he could be off the hook, adding. "We will worry about muscle later, for this we need a plan. With eyes on her, we can trap her, question is, how do we keep her under lock and key? A chi cage sounds…too close quarters"
At the triumphant look that went through Tohru's expression, she knew then that he was about to throw them a bone, but Uncle beat him to the punch.
"Uncle and apprentice reshaped their solution! A chi cage is taxing on maintaining and the possibilities of failure are too much, we thought of an easier way, just looking into the past. We can re-use the spell that we used to trap little shadow eater in a jar. It should hold her for a while we research a more permanent method to hold her permanently"
The solution was there, in the bare, but to Jackie, it sounded more of a possible maybe. Odd that he was never a defeatist but losing the sunshine is his day was the catalyst to starting to crack him. Powers that destroyed century old empires, demons, sorcerers who wanted the seat of the world power, monsters who would kill anyone in their path, and he had survived it all with just merely a broken arm and a pair of legs in the process, But to lose her, broke the man. It was as they said, to defeat an unstoppable warrior, you attack the heart. And so he found himself staring at Viper yet again, begging her to make just everything go away in spite, until they have to face the music.
Nevertheless he found himself nodding at the plan, his smile completely missing with his eyes speaking volumes of his pain, rage and regret burning like two smelters, shimmering and boiling into a dangerous creation.
Shaking his head to clear the storm of his soul, Jackie Chan promised he would not fail her. Losing was not an option here.
The J-Clan put their hands together.
"For Jade!" They chanted as the incoming battle that would resume once more.
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The truck veered violently before the highway exit going through the railing violently, landing a few off the road before landing in a screech of tires and sparks, busting the grille and both tire guards to pieces, the concrete barrier quickly left behind. Yet the truck continued in the same direction, into a quiet neighborhood of a single lane, the police still hot on their tail. As soon as a U-turn was made, they were facing the open desert that extended for miles. A sight of sand and distant mountains with no ending, no vegetation and nothing to stop them but a mere fence that was stepped through without a second thought. Sand spew everywhere, leaving the shadow of a cloud in its wake as the big and tired wheels crunched through the sand, busted exhaust smoke following it.
"Ugh!" Someone interrupted the calm that had taken over the few moments. "More sand!" The pale man complained spitting against the windshield in disgust, with more sand entering through the cracks of the bullet holes inside the truck.
"Shuddap Ratso" The Queen murmured, completely understanding his feelings, but leaving the unquestioned jaded environment from her complains.
A dozen patrol cars went through the debris, their sirens distorting the short incursion that just began through the cold sands of the desert. Without fear of collateral damage or damage to property, the officers could finally open fire without repercussions. Order that seemed obvious as the vehicles accelerated to over 140mph, firearms peeking through the windows. A Chevrolet Tahoe got too close to comfort on the right side of the truck, Chow responded in kind letting a fully automatic burst from his MP5. Jade screamed, smashing her fingers into her ears, hating every second of it, never used to gunfire noises, especially so close to heart. The bullets slammed into the engine block, tearing off the radiator and intakes, the hood exploding in a hiss of crunched metal, smoke and a fountain of red coolant that seemed to be blood belonging to the SUV, the policeman turned right and smashed against a small clay foothill, finally coming to rest, looking like a sand cloud on the truck's mirror as it was left behind.
Persistent as always, the Queen growled, two burst of her breath were let loose from her window, three ninjas materialized in thin air, letting the speed to carry them to their objective, each landing in three SUV's that got too close to the complete dismay of its occupants, immediately firing on the threat. To their complete horror, bullets just phased through with no damage. The ninjas quickly drew shooting stars letting them under the tires and for good measure, pulled swords off their robes and stabbed the engines clean through the hood into the air intakes and twisted. Oil shot off them in a giant streak, splattering against the windshield. The cars lost control and one by one they were taken off the race, dying in a swirl of sand and burning oil. The ninjas disappeared back into thick white smoke, traveling back where they came from into the waiting mouth of Jade, swallowing the essence back into their body. She growled as in pain, blinking the tears away with a grunt of annoyance, by now the toll of using her powers came crashing through the front door, snarling in an inhuman manner, her fingers dancing on her face. But as quickly as it comes, it leaves her, feeling drained and apprehensive.
By now, the noisily police radio that Ratso was in possession of blared to dozens of voices all at once, but they all agreed on something, shot the tires and surround the truck; with a flicker of her fingers, the radio was turn off with the sickly and deplorable smile from The Queen.
"Activate it" She ordered.
The Irishman who had a pistol on his left hand fudged around his jacket looking for something, with a grin, his fingers touched the familiar weight of hardened plastic and metal, pulling it out. It was a small square box, four by four inches, with a level on the top. The olive green detonator twirled on his fingers before leaving the pistol on his side, pulling the antenna from the device, without blinking he pressed the button. Behind the truck random explosions cracked the sands immediately making their pursuers to slam on the brakes. The effect is immediate, tires go flying in all directions, the armored SUV platting keeping the vehicles somewhat intact, though the windshields crack on impact showering dozens of glass on their occupants as many vehicles flip on their backs with the tempo of more explosions that flip the last SUV on its side, lurching to a stop almost after fifty feet. Behind them, more patrol cars slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the flipped vehicles and immediately dismount to help the trapped policemen inside their vehicles, risking their lives in the attempt.
Back in the truck Jade is licking her chomps on delight. "I hope they don't forget our farewell gift anytime soon" Her smirk falters. "You didn't kill anyone didn't ya?"
Chow shrugs. "Charges were light on plastic explosives and no shrapnel was used. I wanted the explosion concussion to break down their vehicles. "He flipped a thumb at the cloud of smoke and sand that still was reflected in the truck mirrors. "They seem to be okay"
That seemed to satisfy her for now, while her gut was screaming at her about J-Team and Co not giving up so easily. And as far as destiny was concerned, her instinct and gut feelings WAS always right.
At that very moment, the Electric Eye followed the development of the chase.
Its tearless retina focused directly over the burning wreckages of many of the police SUV's, zooming in the survivors being rescued and dragged from the scorched sands, smoke and fire soaring in the air. The report came back towards a main screen in the crippled helicopter, its occupants, crammed in the guts of the helicopter gasp in cold terror traveling from their brains into their cores, shivering in disgust and dread as the weight of what Jade have become is placed on their shoulders.
A week.
It was all it took to twist the bizarre image of what was once Jade into this abomination, power hungry maniac who would not stop to get her away, regardless of who ended up wounded or dead. The UAV picks the truck moving now unopposed across the sand, a column of dust following it. The camera moves back to the destroyed vehicles, dozens of people walking away from the destruction, some limping, some falling around the destruction before being helped to their feet, the fire is by now consuming the wreckage in a volley of fire, burned sand poignant in the air of the desert. Two helicopters land around the disaster zone, evacuating the wounded. All but Black part their eyes, concentrating and favoring the wall over the reality of the situation, the horror being washed away by a feeling gnarling at their moral compass, but moving them in the right direction.
The Section 13 is the first to wake from this daze, barking orders and ordering a new helicopter to pick them up.
Jade was in the move, and they intended to follow whenever she went, to put a stop to this madness, once and for all before it escalated into a deadly confrontation. And this time, there would be no winners.
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He was getting restless.
Daolon Wong was a character that has the waiting game completely memorized. After all, he was ancient as an old oak tree, three centuries under his belt as an malicious wizard. Observing, plotting towards a common cause, upholding the perpetual balance between good and evil rather than his own gain. He might have been defeated in his scheme to rule those that deserved to be conquered for being mere insects, a wrench in his plans so to say thrown again and again by the warriors of light residing in the human city known as San Francisco but now, there was a new player in the board. Her cunning mind had been the act of his defeat constantly but her naïve and rash personality had been her undoing in multiple cases. He could still remember the power of all the talismans surging through his ancient body, powering him to a level of power that could only be bordering on Godlike. He wanted that power again but for now, he could only recall about the Déjà vu stone. It might not have rectified his defeats, but it gave him his powers back, not fully of course, his chi eaters were gone and no matter how many dark tomes and spell he had chase after. That door was closed to him, thanks to that good for nothing sugary wizard.
The thought sent a picture of imagining Uncle burning from dark chi fire, cooking as his body disintegrated to ashes scattered to the four winds. But that time would come later, for now he would wait, as he always had for decades for that appropriate moment to reveal himself once more.
Jade's unpredictable nature was the one that made it so dangerous, coupled with her sharp intellect might prove itself to be harder to convince her of an alliance. Controlling Khan was not the same as being their master, he was just merely asking the puppeteer to lend him some strings, in this time and age; he unfortunately had to change his modus operandi. If it was the only way to cement power into the new world, even with so many putzes in it, it was a necessary measurement to close this long and tedious chapter. He was tired of it, he had sold his soul, done hundreds of life sacrifices, killed his way to the very top, he had sacrificed, risked, maimed and destroyed lives to brush the sands of time itself just for a foothold more of power and now, it is, without an inevitability cause the need to have an equal, someone who could share his very same goals.
He thought that the new player could be that person but never without safeguarding his own intentions. It seemed that he only possessed the uncanny ability to abstain from disloyalty from one common goal, to uphold the dark forces of evil, and a fellow player, was to be an ally but due Shendu's betrayal, he needed to be careful, this territory was new to him but finally he have come to realize that to win, he would need to tread on thin ice, risk his integrity and open his defenses to have a partner. As far as the times came and go, the world was getting smaller and smaller for persons like him. Now technology ruled the skies. Centuries ago, magic was the only way to accomplish and express power and fear. To accomplish the impossible, to obtain the unimaginable, to dominate the untamable, now everything was possible. Communication was at a mere thumb switch, with those hellish little boxes humans nowadays called cellphones, he have ever seen them in hands of younglings as young as five summers; eyes that could see you from thousands of feet away, teleportation devices, flying machines and transportation. After the industrial revolution, his seat of power tilted sideways, falling off the movie reel with kingdoms and countries courts not asking for anything else. Even when he revealed himself for who he really was, technology was there to supplement his services. Even in war, he was replaced by technological advances; why help in conquering a city with fire when they had incendiary bombs? Why summon a monster from unseen universes when they had monsters themselves on tracks.
Everything had changed. Corruption had finally taken a seat in the high power around the world, with elite families that even had outlived him in generations controlling the future of dozens of events in the globe from the shadows.
But now, the game changed.
Ah yes, if he could count with something is in the blissful ignorance of the average man. The once mighty powers that once ruled the Earth disappeared one by one, diminished as mere child stories to scare children to not misbehave, converted into fairy tales but the Lord of Shadows, who was known as Tarakudo had been the wakeup call for a glimpse of the past, perceptions in a mix of appetizing terror and the dreaded crash of reality all around them, that nothing was at it seemed.
He welcomed it with open arms into an era where everything could be like it was before. A simpler time where finally men would fall back to the ones he knew, where fear was not just war, famine, money and disease, but monsters that hid in corners ready to snatch and devour, where his powers would be worldly feared again, his orders and influences followed without a whim.
That's where the brat came into play.
She was a growing force to be reckon with. Where she had been, destruction, chaos and fear followed her step by step. Humans could stay with their disgusting technology, his way still worked. There was a twinkle in his green eye, a twinkle shared by another set of green eyes that watched the truck from dozens of feet into the air. A croaking noise seemed to follow the flying black figure through the air and it was only the pale moonlight who revealed a raven, flying into the shadows of the night.
The pale moonlight was the only companion that the shoot-up vehicle had, it was a good thing since the lights were gone from the firefight. Sand easily reflected the light they needed to reach their destination. Chow again checked his GPS, adjusting the pale man direction to Charleston Peak, the highest peak in the state. By now the truck was struggling to maintain the same speed, finally the firepower applied to the heavier vehicle took its toll with the radiator smoking, no headlights, some engine sensors damaged and a shot up tire that was not making the trip through the sands easier. Chow quickly redirected them to the route of Highway 157, the truck veering viciously into the open highway bringing with them a splash of sand. Like the Mohave Desert, it was uninhabited, with no cars coming their way. The clock now tilted into 1AM, the operation now extending into the third and last hour of the operation.
Now the clock was really ticking.
It wasn't like if they did not plan for something like this, plans after all were never fool proof after all mused Jade as she flipped over her phone and dialed a number given by Chow. Hundreds of miles away, into the trunk of the car used by the Enforcers earlier in the day were jungles of wires connected to a plastic wrapped object taped to a cellphone; the screen of the device flashed to life, the caller ID identified it as 'Bomber-Man'. The cable currently welded to the exposed mother board sent a signal to another wire connected to a firing circuit guided into a cabled primer that ran along the bags and divided into the five olive green packs of five pounds of C4 plastic explosive each. A massive explosion ran through the parking lot with enough force to send the engine block a three hundred feet away, engulfing the small shop that Finn had entered just a mere five hours ago, disintegrating the small office as the bomb worked its magic in and out, hundreds of molten metal shot in all directions like a machine gun, puncturing holes in the parked trucks before they exploded in fire and with it, the heat singed the fuel tanks making them go in flames.
The colossal fireball could be seen from the sky in the distance of the dark and turbulent streets of Las Vegas, illuminating the city in a dull orange haze.
"Signal lost, please reconne-" Jade ended the call, throwing the phone off the window. She grinned to which the enforcers rolled their eyes. When she asked in a complete extravagant manner to delete a block off the map, they thought she was insane, and perhaps they still thought that, to think that the young girl that they've known to be reckless and impatient could throw a complete exaggerated manner fit that they did not agreed at first, but money, money made things easier to accept. The Enforcers had hung their morals in a tree a decade ago.
"Was seriously making all that boom-boom to delete evidence necessary? Probably we blew an entire block!"
Chow quickly placed another checkmark on the plan schedule in his tablet.
She fought back the need to growl, and also to gauge out Ratso's eyes. "I can take constructive criticism but with the entire police force of this state chasing after us, PLUS, Jackie and co, and I bet the feds too, we don't have the precious time to let Chow work his magic. The boom-boom that you so eloquently described fits this much better…'sides, nobody got hurt, at least not that seriously" She chuckled at that, crossing her arms and stealing a look. "I know that all the millions of dollars in repairs probably put us number one on the terrorist watch list, also adding the fact that we just sucked Vegas dry, bitsy meenie me think we gotta get off state…is everything ready Chow?"
"Jet's ready to go, it's a good thing that we found that company, curiously placed on Ebay…it just screams desperate"
"That or the notorious description like…Don't let the pictures fool you, it's worse in person" She snickered. "A guy I haven't seen in a while was even employed by it, shame it will go down in smoke and under new management" She pointed a finger at herself.
"Oooh, can I be the vice president, I've always li-" Ratso was interrupted by a finger and a groan of annoyance.
"While I really have to be grateful for your excellent idea, your input is not welcome. I already have plans of what can we do with a print shop business. Plans that we will discuss after we get off this rock. I swear I can't believe people live here, after Las Vegas, it's just rocks and sand " She groaned, cradling her face in her arms while peeking through her fingers, she piped up at the sign that now said 'Welcome to Charleston Peak Trail. The incoming road divided into several forks for different touristic attractions at the mountain, the truck veered to the right fork, quickly going up the mountain, three miles later, the coughing and almost dying truck finally came to a rest, parking at the side of the road. The mountain went on, but no current road went into it, the walls too steep for any of them to build. They were in the highest traversable spot of the colossal mountain and the biggest attraction that it could offer at a place called Mary Jane Falls.
Off road biking.
Earlier in the day, the gang had visited this place in tow with Jade, who actually loved its rides. Paying customers would rent offroad vehicles like buggies, race bikes, dirt bikes, former surplus vehicles and follow a trail that went down and up, which she believed was build by the owner of the establishment, pilling enough rocks, concrete and dirt to make a track around the forest that surrounded the peak. It was astonishing given the altitude they were in, but nevertheless, the idea of using this store as a front to destroy their current transport vehicle and using another to transport the goods was just too good to be left alone.
Sighing in relaxation, Jade cracked her neck, observing her surroundings with her newly discovered night vision, quickly peering her eyes in the distance and in the sky. Currently she was unopposed and with everything running smoothly, she was surprised at the lack of Jackie Chan. They were either afraid of another surprised in the road or the situation in the big city was so big that the forces available to them was lacking in support. A feral grin sprang in her face, quickly summoning two ninjas who destroyed the fence housing the ride they needed for the task. The old Army Deuce and a Half looked something off the Vietnam war, but according to Ratso, who had confessed at a time being in the National Guard when he was very young had said that they were very trusty and reliable trucks. The old and faded woodland camouflage did not look as impressive to her, but it was a bulky vehicle, and its cargo capacity was enough with the secondary trailer attached to it and more than enough to pull the loot to the Mojave Desert.
She went to work immediately, slamming her palms together and shoving her arms in an arc.
Twenty four red shapes popped off the ground, slowly coming from the ground in humanoid shapes before taking form, their arms crossed over their chest. As their demonic eyes fell on their Queen, they all bow respectfully at her. It was a sight that she never ceased to appreciate. Her finger extended to the eighteen wheeler and then to the Army truck.
"Load everything into that vehicle" And as always, her orders were followed to perfection. Per instructions, the place and truck were to be destroyed to delete the evidence. Fingertips, GPS chips and surveillance equipment were to be disposed immediately. She had already done and left her mark in the city of Sin, she might as well embellish her crimes with some more.
Ratso and Finn took the cap of each fuel tank in the eighteen wheeler, placing a dirty rag in each fuel tank, waiting for the ninjas to finish. Finn checked his watch, nodding at the ever watching Queen who nodded in approval as he crossed all but the last mark of their plan. Ten minutes later, the hundreds of millions in jewels, precious metals and plain cash were secured in the interior of the M35 'Deuce and a Half' truck, the green cargo cover closed and buttoned up, the ninjas dispersing on plain air. Finn checked that the cargo was properly attached to the truck, giving the thumbs up to Ratso. The big man climbed into the cockpit, grunting as he sat in the not too looking comfortable green seat. She was about to ask if he needed keys…but the big man just flipped the gear to Neutral, pushing a lever next to the steering wheel, then rotating another that immediately activated all gauges, climbing up and falling down, his thumb jammed a red button on the right, the engine came to life, shouting an empty can of Soup she did not notice was in the exhaust, down the road.
A loud buzzing came from the truck annoying the hell out of her.
"Can you cut that off?!" She snarled back.
"It will die out on its own!" Needless to say, the five waiting minutes for that buzz to go down were an eternity. After pushing the throttle and making sure that the truck was on working condition, Ratso gave the good to go. The truck was loud enough to rattle her teeth, its turbo diesel whirling in the air, to his part Ratso was in his element, just like if he saw an old friend once more, grinning like an imbecile. Jade shook her head at the annoyance, quickly phasing into the cargo hold of the truck. The truck gave a violent lurch that made the money rattle forward, but then smoothly sailed forward down the road, its driver happily changing gears, sending the truck one hundred yards down the road before stopping.
Finn and Chow lighted up the rags and ran as quickly, putting their asses on gear to the waiting Army truck, quickly climbing on its back as Ratso put the truck one more time in gear. The explosion tore the fuel tanks from the bolts holding them in place, the force of the fire was enough to push the truck on two wheels before it came to rest back to the ground, the cabin engulfed on flames. The fire gushed around the detonated fuel, burning the truck to a husk. The Queen decided not to pursue the spectacle, quickly pointing at the road bellow, the Army truck went forward back into the fork, turning left in the junction, exactly where they came from.
The stink of diesel was making her wiggle her nose in disgust but she did not voice it and onward the truck went where they came from. In a surprising turn of events, the cavalry still hadn't come for them which made her anxiety grow tenth fold, her elongated nails tapping her legs unconsciously, a deep growl building in the back of her throat. Why they hadn't come yet? The question drew into herself, criticizing the punctuality of the plan, minute by minute, everything had come to perfection so far, victorious in every encounter of these hours, even against them, short as it was, her abilities were growing at an exponential rate. Yet the little seed of doubt seeped into her brain, its roots spreading into her brain and before she could blink again, she swore she saw a glint in the night skies, her eyes widened in recognition, quickly turning upward, her hands pressed against the windshield. Through her night vision, she could observe a plane like object, around five thousand feet, her eyes squinted into slits, trying her best to observe the object, barely past the virgin state of her new ability but could hardly follow it in the darkened skies.
"We're being observed" She said, her feet swinging over Chow's legs, balancing herself to her feet pressing her palm against his face rudely, the Irishman just lurched his body forward letting her climb to her feet to the window, her face still looking at the object. They had nothing on hand that could deal with the flying bug, teleportation was too insufficient at that distance, her powers not really having the potential and no way in hell her ninjas could get up there. The current trait of thought made her think of Kai Ching, the very first person forcefully recruited into her gang…nevertheless, she didn't even knew if there was a spell to combat a flying plane in haste, she could learn later. Tsking in anger, she peeled her pearly whites with a hiss.
"This is completely out of the scope in the plan" Chow added. "An UAV is a complete different adversary. They will track every of our moves"
The Irishman waved his hands around. "Thanks for the afterthought Captain Genius".
Chow scowls and its about to retort when both his face and Finn turns sideways from a stinging slap from an annoyed Jade who hisses through clenched sharp teeth, earning a chuckle from the truck driver.
"I don't pay you for whiny lil' fights. Step it on Ratso". While the diesel engine whined in protest, another engine whirled with a powerful turbo prop. Aboard another helicopter, Jackie and Co boarded, the machine lurching to the side as Tohru entered the machine. In the cockpit, the pilot and copilot prepared to take off, checking their instruments and flipping a couple of switches; Captain Black was the last to board, being handed a headset by the copilot, finally in command, he arranged the microphone closer to his mouth.
"All units, move out to designated grid"
The helicopter tilted forward, its rotors spinning extremely close to the ground as it gained altitude, armored cars and trucks quickly followed in a designated route. The pilots flipped their night vision goggles, scanning the ground below. Jackie frowned, trying his best to scan the endless horizon of dark earth, fruitless he turned to Viper who was actually getting her own goggles from her bag, putting her hair behind the night vision and put them on.
"Much better" Exclaimed the former thief, observing the environment around them, but quickly a small frown drew on her face, a fact that Jackie found quite funny. She always did that when she thought it would improve a situation, but only made it the same.
Uncle and Tohru were mixing ingredients in a small cauldron in the center of the plane, Black had suggested ratchet straps to secure it
The helicopter caught on another transmission, immediately directing his head to Captain Black.
"A large explosion, enough to vaporize four blocks was just reported minutes ago in the industrial sector. Seems that the recently retired business rented eighteen wheelers and trailers for companies. The ten acres complex was blown sky high, it could be the target"
The door gunner was quickly to load his M240 Bravo, racking the bolt open, opening the feed cover and slipping a fresh belt before slamming the feed cover home. Jackie and Co looked at that concerned, though Black just waved them off with a smile. His acute instincts told Captain Black what he needed to know.
"It's only to disable their vehicle if it comes to that. That truck was hit so many times that I'm surprised still runs. Our UAV detected an explosion somewhere on the Charleston peak, there's too much clouds to get an accurate reading, many robberies have been reported as well in the big city, we can't really stop them all, we got bigger fish to fry" The helicopter shook violently for a second sending its crew face forward.
"Turbulence" The pilot informed its passengers.
Uncle hummed. "Tell your man to still this dodooo! Uncle still is preparing spell with Tohru!" The wizard shook his fist in anger and went back to the potion. The cauldron was glowing into a golden yellow before Tohru added mummified remains of an animal an what looked like a purplish powder. The potion immediately cracked the pot around the edges to which Uncle shoot the mountain of a man a deadly look, he blushed and went to the potion, adding a small quantity of a blue vial. The cauldron stopped shaking, finally stabilizing into a bright green. Wizard and apprentice smiled widely as Uncle retrieved an empty vial, unplugging the cork.
Taking a small quantity of the potion, Uncle sealed the vial, the liquid glowing brightly; Tohru took the liberty to take more in a bigger bottle, jamming the cork shut.
"Always make extra" Chuckled Tohru, Jackie and Co grinned at the memory.
Jackie caught the attention of Black tapping his shoulder. "Do you want to check that explosion?" The archeologist frowned. "It's like if Jade lid this whole place on fire, every undesirable is doing as they please."
"We do as any Vegas citizen would do Jackie" Captain Black smirked. "…we follow the money trail"
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Author Notes: That was a hard one! Unto the next chapter the conclusion of the Las Vegas robbery! What is Jade and co gonna do with the J-Team following so closely behind?
As always comments, concerns, review or PM me! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!
From Houston
D4rK