Episode 11: Whiplash
(Note: I do not own the rights to Jackie Chan Adventures or any sort of possession to the property, this is just a fan story made up for the sake of fun that would really like it if it didn't up sued for anything, thank you.)
A full week had passed since the cane of Hung Lin had been taken by Zhao; this gave the Enforcer's enough time to mostly recover from the multiple thrashings they took that night. They now sat around in their apartment's living room. Finn was watching Ratso and Chou play Street Brawler 3 while they waited for Valmont to return.
"So who do you guys think this specialist is?" Chou asked in the midst of playing.
"Beats me, Valmont said they did a few things. A mercenary, a thief, and some kind of treasure hunter." Ratso said. "Did anyone catch the guy's name though?"
"Nope, but the guys sounds pretty tough. Let's hope he can help us finally get another paycheck." Finn said.
"Yeah…I don't think that half a millions gonna last us forever." Ratso said before Valmont walked in.
"Gentlemen, stand up and say hello to our new associate." Valmont said before he stood aside to let a tall, dark skinned woman with long blonde hair tied in a ponytail enter. "Meet Vanessa Barone."
"Hello boys." Vanessa said with an English accent, wearing an open red trench coat with a white, buttoned shirt underneath as well as black pants that matched her high heeled boots. She also had an Indiana Jones style whip holstered on her hip.
"Whoa…didn't see that coming." Ratso whispered to and Chou.
"Me either, but I kinda like what I'm seeing right now." Finn said back with a small smirk.
"Ms. Barone will be helping us on the next mission in Australia." Valmont said.
"Chan found another one?" Chou asked.
"Yes, and I can't wait to see him again…" Vanessa said sarcastically. "So I can give him some proper payback."
"So he beat you to then?" Ratso asked.
"I intend to even the score this time." Vanessa replied.
"I'm going to call the others and make sure their ready, I expect you all to be set by the time I get back." Valmont said before leaving the apartment to make a few phone calls.
"So, Vanessa…" Finn said with a smile as he approached her. "How about after we get that whip you and me get a bite to eat?"
"How about this…" Vanessa said with a fake smile back before pushing the heel of boot into the center of Finn's foot. "For the while I am here you will either call me Ms. Barone or ma'am, understand?"
"Yeah…I got you…" Finn said with his face fully expressing the amount of pain his foot was in. "Now can you please get off…ma'am?"
"Alight, since you asked nicely." Vanessa said with a smirk before taking her heel off Finn's foot and leaving the apartment.
"Owww..." Finn groaned while holding his sore foot with Ratso and Chou giggling behind him. "Shut it!"
"Snapping cobra kicks!" Hak Foo shouted as he attacked Zhao with multiple swift kicks that were all easily blocked by the emperor before Hak Foo was pushed back with a palm strike to the chest.
"You need to be faster than that general." Zhao said before he noticed to amulet around his neck finally start to glow again.
"I'll show you slow…lunging cheetah strike!" Hak Foo said as he tried to attack again with a fast charge right at Zhao.
"Hold it…" Zhao said as he simply stuck out his leg to hit Hak Foo in the center of the face before he took hold of his amulet and focused on the image of the next legendary weapon coming to him. "The whip of Zhu Jian." Zhao said after seeing the full vision while Hak Foo was on the ground holding his face. "We have a new destination general, push your nose back into place and let's be on our way."
Jackie, Uncle, Tohru and Jade all boarded the Section 13 jet for the ride to Australia. While Jade used the rest room and Uncle and Tohru were settling into their seats, Jackie made a call to Captain Black to make sure of something.
"You have all of them there, right?" Jackie asked Captain Black over the phone.
"I'm looking at them right now Jackie, we still have all the talismans right here." Captain Black said as he stood in front of the talismans inside the vault. "We've got the Ox, the snake, the rooster…" Captain Black said as he held each talisman to look at them closely. "The pi…huh?" Captain Black said in confusion as he picked up the pig talisman and noticed it immediately cracked; he closed his fist and sighed after he realized the talisman he was holding was a fake that crumbled in his grasp. "Jackie, we may have a problem."
"Understood…" Jackie said with a sigh after hanging up the phone.
When Jade walked out of the rest room, the first thing she saw was Jackie with his arms crossed as well as an annoyed look on his face.
"What's up Jackie?" Jade asked.
"Where is it Jade?" Jackie asked with his arms still crossed.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jade said innocently.
"The pig talisman Jade, where is it?" Jackie asked sternly.
"I really don't…" Jade wanted to keep trying to talk her way around Jackie, but the look he was giving her made her think lying would only get her in more trouble. "Fine…" Jade said before she walked over to her backpack to pull out the pig talisman and show it to Jackie.
"Jade, didn't I say you'd be grounded again if you took another talisman?"
"But I just want to help you keep the weapons from Zhao." Jade argued.
"Couldn't you do that without shooting heat beams from your eyes?" Jackie asked.
"Well I wanted the dragon talisman but I figured you'd expect me to go for that. So I took the pig instead." Jade replied. "Zhao's nuts Jackie, we need some extra fire power for him and the Dark Hand."
"We are trying to take care of both of them and cause no destruction while we do it, no matter what your intentions are Jade you cannot take talismans out of the vault without telling anyone."
"Well maybe if there was a chance you'd say yes I would. You watch Jackie, by the end of this whole thing you're going to be thanking me for bringing this." Jade said with a smile before putting the talisman in her pocket.
"Jade, if you're going to use that talisman it's going to be used responsibly. Only if you need to defend yourself, alright?" Jackie said sternly.
"Yeah yeah, alright." Jade said back without much care. "It's not like I'm going to be trigger happy with it."
"Just be careful Jade, although this doesn't change the fact that you're grounded."
"That's also why I didn't bother asking you." Jade said with an irritated pout.
The Section 13 Jet landed in Melbourne, which is where the portrait of whip of Zhu Jian showed and Section 13 later figured out was where the whip was currently. The portrait showed it to be in a small crate that seemed to be in the garage of a house belonging to a man by the name of Evan Davis.
"Do you all remember the address?" Vanessa asked as she, Valmont and the Enforcers walked off of the plane with eight of the professionals hired previously waiting for them.
"Aren't we missing a few of you?" Ratso asked.
"Two quit, Mark's still in the hospital. Lucky for you the rest of us still like that little extra on our paycheques for all this." A man with a Boston accent said to answer Ratso's question.
"As long as all of you all follow my plan then we'll have enough people to get the whip, and take care of Chan." Vanessa said.
"You shouldn't be forgetting Zhao Ms. Barone." Valmont commented.
"I'm not. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the thought of giving Chan what's coming to him." Vanessa said back with a smirk.
"Here you are mate." Evan said at the front door of his house while handing Jackie a nine section chain whip that neatly folded itself into a small handful of chains.
"And here you are sir." Jackie said as he wrote a cheque for the blonde haired, tanned skinned man in a tee shirt and shorts standing in front of him. "The museum will be very thankful for you selling this."
"No problem, after I moved my business into an old dojo building I've got about a dozen weapons and pieces of equipment to try and get rid of." Evan said back as he took the cheque.
"Well if the museum is looking for anything else we'll be sure to contact you. Thank you again Evan." Jackie said before he turned to Jade, Uncle and Tohru behind him. "Now let's hurry back to the jet."
"Oy mate, are those two friends of yours?" Evan asked while pointing down the street where Zhao and Hak Foo were now approaching from with their eyes immediately locking onto Jackie.
"Aiyaah! Zhao Li Tian!" Uncle yelled out once they all noticed Zhao and Hak Foo
"Run!" Jackie said before they all immediately moved to run away only to see a dozen dark monks appear in front of them with another dozen appearing with Zhao and Hak Foo.
"What the?!" Evan said completely baffled before he closed his door and locked it.
"You won't be going anywhere Jackie Chan, take the whip from him!" Zhao commanded before his disciples and Hak Foo all ran in to attack.
"Eat heat rays!" Jade said as she pulled the pig talisman out of her pocket to shoot two rays of fire from her eyes that blasted four monks coming at her, the others from that side of the street attacked Tohru who stood beside Jade. "I've got your back T!" Jade said before she fired two heat rays at three monks about to pounce on Tohru, blowing up a parked motor bike in the process. "Whoops…"
Uncle and Jackie fought the dark monks on the other side of the street, Uncle stood back and picked off disciples with stun spells while Jackie simultaneously fought Hak Foo and four dark monks with the folded up whip in his back pocket.
"Rampaging rhino fi…" Hak Foo shouted as he lunged at Jackie only to end up getting kicked in the chest by him.
Right after Hak Foo was hit three disciples attacked Jackie, he managed to fight them all off with a flurry off blocks and counter strikes but was almost fried right afterwards when one of Zhao's fireballs hit in front of him, causing Jackie to fly back about ten feet.
"I'm going to pry that whip from your cold, dead hands Jackie Chan." Zhao said as he waved his hand in front of him to summon his broadsword. "Even if that means I must remove your hands entirely."
Jackie got back on his feet and took up his fighting stance in front of Zhao. When Jackie noticed that Zhao had summoned his broadsword he decided to pull out the whip.
"Let's see what you can do." Jackie said to himself as he held the nine section whip with both hands and began to spin one end of it that had a foot's length of chain hanging from Jackie's right hand. The entire whip began to glow with a green chi aura as Jackie spun it.
"No you don't!" Zhao yelled before he tried to slash Jackie before he could use the whips power.
Jackie's response to Zhao's attack was swinging the chain around to strike Zhao in the head, but what Jackie didn't expect to see was the whip actually extend as he used it to cause the chain to sweep around in a fifteen feet circle that Zhao just barely ducked in time to avoid.
"Wow." Jackie said after he pulled the whip back to see it return to its original length. He looked at Zhao again and with his new knowledge of the whips ability Jackie spun and tossed the pointed end of the whip straight at Zhao to have it stretch out again, unfortunately Zhao managed to avoid it and when the whip flew by his head he quickly took hold of it. "Uh oh…"
Zhao dropped his broadsword so could yank the whip towards himself, making Jackie get thrown off of his feet while he kept a tight grip on it. Zhao tried to stomp on Jackie's head while he was on the ground but Jackie managed to roll out of the way and sweep his leg around to trip Zhao.
"You're not getting anything today Zhao." Jackie said as he quickly stood and pulled the whip back to himself.
"We'll see about that Jackie Chan." Zhao said as he lit his hands on fire and charged at Jackie.
"Angry crow takes flight!" Hak Foo yelled as he jumped high into the air. "Hawk strikes hippo!" Hak Foo said as he flew at Tohru to land a two foot kick into his chest and then land back on his feet with a backflip. "Wolf mauls bison!" Hak Foo said as he was about the punch Tohru while he was down but stopped when he had to duck down to avoid being hit by Jade's heat beams, although the top of his hair did end up slightly singed.
"Don't even try it." Jade said with serious look and her eyes glowing yellow.
Hak Foo knew Jade could easily blast a hole right through him with the pig talisman, he backed away slowly from Tohru until he felt his foot hit a garbage bin and he got an idea.
"Woodchuck chucks wood!" Hak Foo said as he picked up the blue, plastic recycling bin and tossed it over his head to fly at Jade.
Jade quickly shot the bin as it came towards her, just like Hak Foo was hoping for.
"Eagle eats field mouse!" Hak Foo said as he jumped towards Jade to try and grab her throat.
"Bwhaa!" Jade exclaimed in the few seconds she had to see Hak Foo coming and jump back out of the way. She tried to hit Hak Foo with two quick heat beams but he managed to move to the side in time to dodge and pressed his foot on the Jade's wrist until her hand was forced to open and reveal the talisman.
"I'll take that…" Hak Foo said as he reached down to grab the talismans but stopped when he saw Jade's odd expression.
Jade did her best to hold it back for fear of being hurt, but she couldn't help but let out a burst of laughter as she saw Hak Foo. "Looks like I got you after all."
"Huh?" Hak Foo said until he smelled the smoke, it turns out Jade managed to hit his hair again. Now the entire right side of it was starting to burn and catch fire. "Whaaa!" Hak Foo said in shock, immediately trying to pat out the fire.
"See ya!" Jade said as she took the opportunity to run away from Hak Foo.
After Hak Foo put out the fire, his hair was left looking lopsided and singed all along his right side.
"Grrr…hyena chases meerkat!" Hak Foo said right before Tohru stepped in front of him.
"Round two Hak Foo." Tohru said while getting into a sumo position.
Jackie had trained with many weapons in his life, the nine section whip being one of them. This allowed him to use the whip with excellent grace and technique and with the whips magic he was able to keep Zhao at bay. Zhao had to resort to many flips and quick dodges while Jackie kept swinging and spinning the whip around with its extending chain attacking Zhao from fifteen feet away.
"Give it up Zhao." Jackie said while spinning the whip beside him.
"I'll give you this!" Zhao said before he summoned two fireballs to throw at Jackie.
"Bwhaa!" Jackie exclaimed before rolling to the side to avoid getting hit by the fireballs, when he stood up again he immediately had to roll again to avoid Zhao slamming his flaming fist on top of him.
Zhao wanted to follow up with another fireball but right before he threw it Zhao was hit in the left shoulder by a stun spell from Uncle. He let out a small hiss of pain as he held his shoulder and looked to see all of his disciples gone and Hak Foo lying down with Tohru standing over him.
"You're on your own Zhao." Jackie said as he, Uncle, Jade and Tohru now faced the emperor. "Maybe it's time for you to surrender."
Zhao may have thought he was stronger overall, but he knew the Chan's strength in numbers left him at a disadvantage.
"I think not." Zhao said before tossing fireball in front of them all to create a green smoke screen that blocked their vision.
Everyone ran out of the smoke, but Zhao and Hak Foo had already ran through a nearby backyard to escape.
"Yeah you better run!" Jade said with a victorious smile.
"Let' hurry up and get back to the airport before Zhao has time to think of a new strategy." Jackie suggested before they all left the area to head back to the jet.
"They're all done; Chan's still got the whip." Chou said into his phone as he and two of the other men hired by the Dark Hand sat in a car with tinted windows down the street from where the Chan's fought Zhao.
"Good, now we know where Chan is going next." Vanessa said back as she stood with the rest of the Dark Hand. "And we'll be sure to meet him there."
"We need to pursue them." Zhao said to Hak Foo after they stopped running. "Do you know where their transportation is?"
"I have a good enough guess." Hak Foo said back.
"Good, let's go there immediately. Oh and general…" Zhao said before he eyed Hak Foo's hair. "That is why all my soldiers keep their hair tied back." Zhao said with a smirk before he moved to find Jackie.
"We're on our way now." Jackie said to Captain Black over the phone as he drove everyone to the hanger where the Section 13 jet was kept.
"Good, I'll double check that the pilots are good to go." Captain Black said before contacting the pilot. "Black to flight crew, are we all clear for takeoff once Jackie arrives?" Captain Black asked only to hear a minute of silence. "Black to flight crew, please respond." Captain Black said again, but there was still no answer back. "That can't be good…" Captain Black said in the midst of calling Jackie back.
"We are arriving now." Jackie said after he answered the phone. "Is the jet ready?"
"Jackie, something's wrong. I couldn't reach the flight crew." Captain Black said back, hearing no response. "Jackie?"
"Something is definitely wrong…" Jackie finally said back as he and everybody else was looking at the Dark Hand in front of the jet's hanger. "I'll have to call you back." Jackie said before hanging up the phone and getting out of the car.
"Greetings Chan." Valmont said with a cocky smile as he, The Enforcers and five of their professionals stood in front of the Chan's besides their means of leaving Australia. "I'm afraid you'll be missing your flight."
"What have you done with the crew Valmont?" Jackie asked sternly with the whip folded up in his hand.
"They're all safe inside the plane, and they can stay that way provided you give us the whip." Valmont said back with a smirk.
"I'm not giving you anything Valmont." Jackie said back. "Besides, I know I can hit you from here." Jackie said as he let the chain of the whip drop from his hand to show he was serious.
"And he's not the only one." Jade said while taking the pig talisman out of her pocket.
"But what if we're not the only ones to hit?" Valmont asked with a small chuckle as Jackie suddenly felt something tightly wrap around his wrist and yank him backwards.
"Bwhaa!" Jackie exclaimed as he was pulled back, lying with his back to the ground as he saw who pulled him. "Vanessa Barone?!" Jackie said while immediately trying to get up but was stopped by Vanessa's boot put on top of his chest.
"Long time no see, eh Chan?" Vanessa asked with a smirk as she enjoyed pushed her foot into Jackie. "Did you miss me after foiling my attempt for the Eye of Aurora?"
"Oww! No…" Jackie groaned in response.
"Hey!" Jade yelled as she saw Vanessa and was about to use the pig talisman on her until three more professionals got in the way.
"Keep them busy for me boys." Vanessa said as she grabbed the whip out of Jackie's hand. "While I get rid of Chan." Vanessa said with a grin as she lifted up her boot to stomp on Jackie, which was a mistake because as soon as Jackie felt the pressure off of his chest he quickly pushed his leg up to kick Vanessa in the stomach and cause her to fall back on her rear.
"It won't be that easy Vanessa." Jackie said as he stood up and took up a fighting stance.
"I think it will be." Vanessa said back as she got up. "Especially now that I have this." Vanessa said with a smirk as she held the whip of Zhu Jian in her hands.
"Take cover!" One of the professionals said as he, Finn and Ratso all had to dive out of the way of Jade's heat beams while she, Uncle and Tohru fought the Dark Hand.
"Stinken talisman…" Ratso grumbled while on the ground next to Finn.
"I know buddy, but if you can distract her I can deal with it." Finn said.
"Can't you distract her?" Ratso asked hopefully.
"Sorry bud, my plan." Finn replied.
"Awww…" Ratso said before reluctantly standing up and getting in front of Jade. "Hey, squirt!"
"What did you just call me?!" Jade asked angrily as she looked at Ratso with the pig talisman giving her eyes a fiery glow.
"Oh boy…" Ratso said right before having to run away from multiple heat beams fired at him.
"Atta boy Ratso." Finn said with a smirk as he snuck around Jade while she was focused on Ratso so he could try and attack her while she was distracted, the only problem was Ratso basically ran in a circle which made Finn have to duck and cover once Ratso ran past him.
Vanessa used the whip's power to her full advantage so that she could make Jackie have to frantically dodge her attacks from a safe distance, after a minute Vanessa finally managed to sweep the chain low to wrap around Jackie's foot and trip him.
"Face it Chan." Vanessa said as she pulled the whip back to herself. "You're outnumbered and out matched, there's no way for you to win this one." Vanessa said as she was about to use the whip again but was stopped by a kick to the back.
"Angry crow takes flight!" Hak Foo said as he jumped forward to kick Vanessa.
"Hak Foo!" Jackie exclaimed as she saw Hak Foo and Zhao standing behind him.
"Uh oh…" Valmont said as he stood back from the fighting going on and noticed Zhao and Hak Foo.
"It seems we arrived just in time." Zhao said as his eyes turned to Vanessa and the whip of Zhu Jian. "You, woman. Hand me that whip if you value your life."
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Vanessa said with as she got back on her feet. "Because I also value my pay."
"Letting you live would have been generous enough, but now you've irritated me." Zhao said coldly.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but now I really must be going…" Vanessa said as she began to back away from Zhao.
"You're not going anywhere!" Zhao said menacingly before creating a green fireball in each hand.
Jackie tried to attack Zhao, but he was quickly cut off by Hak Foo standing in front of him.
"You will have to get through me Chan." Hak Foo said as he took up a fighting stance in front on Jackie.
"Over here!" Valmont said as he opened the car door for Vanessa before turning to the Enforcer's while they were hanging back from fighting the Chan's. "You three, get to work and cover her."
"Couldn't someone else do it?" Ratso asked, hoping to not have to go anywhere near Zhao or Hak Foo.
"Yeah, we'll just switch places with the guys fighting T." Finn said.
"Now you dolts!" Valmont ordered loudly.
"Crud…" Chou said before he, Finn and Ratso ran towards Zhao while he was trying to hit Vanessa with fireballs.
"Hey, Zhao!" Finn shouted at the emperor with a hint of hesitation in his voice. "Over here!"
When Zhao turned his head to look at the Enforcers, he wasn't angry when he saw them. He only sighed.
"How many times must you three be beaten before you realize just how weak you are?" Zhao asked with a raised brow. "Leave me be fools, I have important matters to attend to." Zhao said before turning to Vanessa again right before she kicked him in the chest.
"He's all yours boys." Vanessa said with a smirk as she ran past the Enforcer's.
"Gee…thanks." Chou said sarcastically.
"Get out of my way!" Zhao said fiercely to the Enforcers as they stood between him and the whip.
"Really wish we could bubby…" Finn said honestly as he, Ratso and Chou raised their fists to fight.
Zhao immediately attacked the Enforcer's, starting by charging forward to deliver a brutal palm strike into the center on Finn's chest that knocked him back a few feet. Ratso and Chou were between Finn and tried to hit Zhao from two sides but the emperor was fast enough to simultaneously block both of their attacks and counter by grabbing Chou''s fist and throwing him over Zhoa's shoulder into Ratso.
"Hurry up!" Valmont shouted as he already sat in the driver's seat in one of the Dark Hand's cars with the engine already running.
"No need to worry." Vanessa said with a smile as she leaned in to look at Valmont through the passenger side door. "I've got what's needed right here." Vanessa said as she showed the whip in her hands.
"Wonderful, now get in and let's get it to him." Valmont said.
"Well…about that." Vanessa said right before she reached into the car and violently pulled Valmont out of it before hopping into the driver's seat herself.
"What on earth are you doing?!" Valmont asked while sitting on the ground.
"Sorry, change of plans." Vanessa said as she closed the passenger door. "I'm going to sell this whip to the highest bidder!" Vanessa said with a big smile before stepping on the gas to get away.
"What?!" Valmont exclaimed as he tried to open the car door, but Vanessa sped off right before he touched it. "No!" He shouted angrily.
Zhao had already left the Enforcer's lying in agony and was running after the whip. He saw Vanessa throw Valmont out of the car and quickly realized he would have to follow the escaping automoblie to get his hands on the whip.
"That vile woman!" Valmont said furiously before noticing Zhao running after her. "Blast!" Valmont exclaimed before turning around, seeing his professionals just about finished off by the Chan's and the Enforcer's just getting back up after getting beat by Zhao. "You three, with me now!"
"Ugh…Why's it always got to be us?" Ratso asked while shaking off a blow to the head.
"Cause we always need the money." Finn answered before the three of them followed Valmont into another car to purse Vanessa.
While Vanessa was busy betraying the Dark Hand, the Chan's were quickly dealing with the professionals thanks to Tohru's strength and the firepower of both Jade and Uncle. Jackie had been going toe to toe with Hak Foo the entire time, both of them landing a few hits but neither gaining the upper hand.
"Angry crow takes flight!" Hak Foo shouted as he tried to hit Jackie with a diving kick that he rolled out of the way from.
"How many times must we do this Hak Foo?" Jackie asked with slightly panting breath as he got into his fighting stance again.
"As many times as it takes to beat you Chan!" Hak Foo answered angrily. "Crocodile bites…" Hak Foo said right before he was shocked by a heat beam flying by his head.
"Yes, got it!" Jade said with a laugh as she looked at Hak Foo. "Now you got the full trim."
"What?" Hak Foo said before realizing that every point of his hair was now burnt off. "Why you little…!
"Oh Hak Foo…" Jackie said as he tapped Hak Foo on the shoulder to get his attention before punching him square in the face hard enough to knock Hak Foo out and make Jackie have to shake his sore hand. "Oww!"
"Jackie!" Uncle said as he and Tohru stood around the unconscious professionals and he pointed out the Dark Hand's hands car following Zhao while he was pursuing Vanessa. "You are letting whip get away!"
"No I am not." Jackie said with a serious look before running to his car. "Free the crew on the jet, I'll make sure they don't get escape." Jackie said before he got into his car to quickly turn it on and following the Dark Hand. "There's no way I'm letting Zhao get this one." Jackie said to himself as he drove.
"Hey Jackie, wait up!" Jade shouted as she ran after Jackie's car, not wanting to miss any of the action.
Vanessa drove madly through the streets of Melbourne. She sped past cars, took sharp drifting turns and was driving on sidewalks at some points to make sure she could get away. Zhao stayed on her the entire time by using his full speed and stamina. He ran through the traffic, jumped over cars and charged his way through a few groups of people. The Dark Hand was right behind Zhao with Jackie following behind them.
"This is insane." Jackie said with concern as he tried to drive fast and cautious of others around him at the time.
"This is pointless…" Jade said as she already her to stop and catch her breath, realizing she wasn't going to be able to keep up on foot. "Perfect!" Jade said happily as she saw a bike across the street and hopped on it to ride after Jackie.
"Hey, my bike!" A little boy shouted as he saw Jade ride off with his bike.
"I'm sorry I'll bring this back later thank you!" Jade said quickly as she peddled.
"I can't wait to see just how much you get me." Vanessa said to the whip as it sat in the passenger's seat. "It should be more than ten times what he would have been paying me." Vanessa said as she drove, skillfully avoiding anything on the road for a long time until she turned a corner to almost have a head on collision with another car. Luckily she pulled to the right just in time to avoid the car, although she did drive off the road and end up with her car turned on its side on a beach.
"You're not going anywhere now." Zhao said with a smirk as he saw the car turn over.
Vanessa kicked open the driver side door so she could climb out of the car with the legendary whip in her hands, she got out just in time to be avoid being in the car when it exploded from one of Zhao's fireballs but the explosion did knock her off her feet.
"If you're not dead I suggest you stay still like you are." Zhao said as he approached Vanessa with the whip lying in front of her. "Excellent, one step closer to my goal."
The blast had knocked Vanessa out cold, she didn't move at all while Zhao casually walked past her with the whip in his hands until he stopped to see the Dark Hand park their car in front of him.
"Uhh…boss" Ratso said to Valmont while sitting in the car as he saw Zhao holding the whip in front of them. "Maybe we should just…"
"Don't try and get out of this, you all know what I want you to do." Valmont said back with a serious look.
"Yeah, we do." Chou said as he, Finn and Ratso got out of the car. "Unfortunately…"
"Am I going to have to use this whip to hang you fools?" Zhao asked as the Enforcers faced him for the second time.
"With any luck no." Finn said under his breath.
"Alright then." Zhao said casually as he began to spin the whip. "Who wants to go first?"
The Enforcer's took a moment to look at each other to see who would be brave enough to make the first move right before Jackie's car pulled up right behind the Dark Hand's.
"Sweet." Finn said, happy to see Jackie for once. "Chan can fight Zhao for us."
"Alright, all of you stop right now!" Jackie said as he got out of the car and stood in front of the Dark Hand and Zhao.
"No problem with us doing that Chan." Finn said with a smirk as he, Ratso and Chou backed away from Jackie. "But Zhao might not be so eager to listen."
"I'm not." Zhao said while he still kept the whip at the ready. "No matter who tries to face me, it will end with this chain around their neck."
"You are not getting away with that whip Zhao." Jackie said sternly as he took up his fighting stance.
"Are you certain of that?" Zhao asked with a chuckle.
"Who do you think will win?" Ratso asked Finn as the Dark Hand watched the fight about to happen from a safe distance.
"Could go either way." Finn replied.
"It doesn't matter who wins as long as we still get the whip in the end." Valmont said.
"Now dance Jackie Chan!" Zhao said with a grin before using the whips magic to attack Jackie from afar.
Jackie wasn't going to let himself be forced to evade like when Vanessa used the whip, he used his agility and acrobatic skill to dodge through the chain and hit Zhao with two palms into the center of his chest.
"I'm actually quite light on my feet Zhao." Jackie said with a smirk.
"So it would seem…" Zhao said with an irritated look as he stood up again. "But that just means I'll have to break them!" Zhao said as he folded up the whip and tucked it into his belt so he could deal with Jackie with his own hands.
"They're pretty even so far." Chou said as he watched Jackie and Zhao fight each other.
"I kinda wish I had popcorn for this." Ratso said while standing between Chou and Finn.
"Jackie!" Jade said as she rode her bike onto the beach towards Jackie and Zhao.
"Great…the kid." Finn said.
"Don't let her help Chan." Valmont ordered once he saw Jade.
"Not a good idea V, she's rocking pig power right now." Finn said. "We get in front of her and we end up fried and sizzling."
"I'd prefer eating bacon over being it…" Ratso said.
"Just do as I say and I'll deal with her talisman." Valmont said with the idea already formed in his head.
"Ok boss." Chou said after the Enforcer's looked at eachother and decided to go along with Valmont's plan.
Jade was heading straight for Jackie along the beach until she had to come to a grinding halt with her back wheel making a small cloud of sand that faded after a few seconds to show the Enforcer's standing in front of her.
"End of the line kiddo." Chou said.
"Yeah, we'll be sure to let you have whatever Zhao leaves of Chan when they're done." Finn said.
"I'm not afraid to use this on you guys." Jade warned as she showed the pig talisman in her hand. "You've got to the count of three to move. 1, 2…" Jade didn't get to finish her counting because Valmont had snuck up behind her to kick the bike over and make her fall forward. "Hey!" Jade exclaimed as the talisman was forced out of her hand by Valmont while she was on the ground.
"Thank you very much." Valmont said with a big grin on his face as he looked at the talisman he was now holding. "You three, keep her restrained and watch for any others." Valmont said to the Enforcer's before looking past them to watch Jackie and Zhao. "While I get us that whip…"
Jackie and Zhao were in the midst of trading lighting fast jabs when they had to separate and both jump back to avoid two heat beams that pas between them.
"Pardon my interruption gentlemen." Valmont said with a smile and his eyes glowing from the pig talisman. "But I just thought I'd join in on the fun."
"You have the talisman?!" Jackie said shocked. "But that means…" Jackie said as he looked over to see Jade with her shoulders held firmly by Ratso so she couldn't get away. "Jade!" Jackie exclaimed. "Let her go this instant!" Jackie said with a furious look at Valmont.
"Don't worry about her right now Chan, currently this is just between the three of us." Valmont replied as he, Jackie and Zhao now faced each other in a triangle.
"I'm surprised you have this sort of bravery." Zhao said to Valmont. "Or it could be you showing just how foolish you are." Zhao said with as he looked at both Valmont and Jackie with a small grin. "But I guess there is only one way to find out."
"Jackie!" Jade called out as she tried to squirm out of Ratso's grip. "Let me go!"
"Just stand here and be quiet!" Ratso said back angrily before feeling a moment of pain. "Oww…and if you step of my foot one more time I will toss you in the ocean!"
Jackie, Zhao and Valmont all stood in a ready position as they looked at each other without even flinching.
"So, are either of you man enough to make the first move?' Zhao asked nonchalantly in the midst of a triple standoff.
"After you your highness." Valmont replied confidently.
"As you wish." Zhao said with a smirk before a making a fire ball in each hand to throw one at Jackie and Valmont.
Jackie gracefully flipped out of the way of the fireball hurling towards him while Valmont dove out of the way of his which left him lying down when he saw Zhao running towards him. He used the pig talisman to fire two heat beams at Zhao that the emperor ended up jumping over, Zhao would have hit Valmont with a flaming fist if Jackie hadn't cut him off with a flying kick to the side.
"Why thank you Chan." Valmont said with a grin as he stood up, his eyes glowed again to fire another pair of heat beams at Jackie but that failed when Jackie wasted no time to follow up his kick by sliding towards Valmont to avoid his heats beams and trip him at the same time.
"Blast you Chan!" Valmont said furiously as he turned his head to blast Jackie while they were both off their feet but he and Jackie swiftly dove away from each other once they heard Zhao's battle cry from above before he came down and his the ground with his fist to create a fiery shock wave in the sand.
"I will put an end to both of you." Zhao said as he stood between Jackie and Valmont while he summoned his broadsword again. "Starting with the fool…" Zhao said he quickly approached Valmont with his blade over his head.
Valmont had just enough time to look at Zhao and fire two more heat beams, they didn't hit Zhao because Valmont was looking a bit too high but he did blast the sword out of the emperor's hands. Before Zhao could counter or Valmont could follow up, Jackie jumped in to kick Zhao in the back so hard he flew right over Valmont.
"That's twice I've helped you today Valmont." Jackie said while staying in his fighting stance. "Don't expect a third."
"Fine by me Chan…" Valmont said as he stood up again. "I'll just help myself!" Valmont said as he fired two continuous heat beams that followed Jackie as he ran and flipped away from them along the beach.
"Bad day bad day bad day bad day!" Jackie said loudly and frantically.
Luckily for Jackie Valmont's heat beams were finally stopped by Zhao doing a brutal combination of tripping Valmont with a sweep of his leg strong enough to leave Valmont lying suspended in the air for the second Zhao needed to follow up with slamming his elbow into Valmont's gut hard enough to make violently him roll along the sand for about twelve feet. When Valmont had stopped rolling he was left dirty, bruised and holding his stomach with pained breaths.
"One down…." Zhao said with a smile at Valmont's suffering before turning his eyes to Jackie. "Now for you Jackie Chan."
"Poor V." Finn said after seeing Zhao's brutal attack on his boss. "He'll feel that in the morning."
"Should we try and help him?" Chou said.
"Well, he didn't say to…" Ratso said while looking at Finn and Chou which made him not notice Jade grabbing his arm right before she bit down hard on his hand. "Owww!" Ratso shouted as he pulled away from Jade to hold his sore hand, allowing Jade to run away from the Enforcer's.
"Hey!" Finn exclaimed as he and Chou tried to jump for Jade and stop her from escaping only to end up diving into each other head first and make Ratso trip over them as he tried to follow.
"You're going to end up far worse than him Jackie Chan." Zhao said menacingly while pointing to Valmont.
"I'm putting a stop to this now Zhao." Jackie said while eyeing the whip still attached the Zhao's belt.
"I'd like to see you try." Zhao said as he got into a fighting stance.
"Hiya!" Jade exclaimed as she tried to hit Zhao with a flying kick while he was looking at Jackie, unfortunately she wasn't invisible this time so Zhao wasn't very surprised at all.
"Nice try little one." Zhao said after he caught Jade by the foot and had her hanging upside down by it.
"Jade?! Jackie exclaimed with a panicked look, he immediately charged Zhao to get him away from Jade but Zhao did that himself when he tossed Jade at Jackie.
"You okay Jackie?" Jade said after she was thrown into Jackie and ended up sitting on him.
"I've been better Jade…" Jackie replied. "But it would really help if you stood up."
Zhao took a moment to admire the scene he made. The burning wreck of Vanessa's car, Vanessa herself still down and only just starting to be conscious again after the explosion, Valmont still holding his stomach, his Enforcer's tripping over each other and last but not least he got to enjoy seeing Jade helping Jackie to his feet.
"Is there no one left?" Zhao asked with a smile.
"I'm not done yet." Jackie said as he took up a fighting stance.
"Me either!" Jade said as she took the same stance beside Jackie.
"A good solider knows when to fight and when he had to retreat, otherwise their doomed to die on the battlefield." Zhao advised. "I suggest you learn that lesson before you and the child have to understand the hard way."
"Psst…Jackie." Jade whispered while still looking at Zhao. "You keep him busy while I get the talisman back."
"Enough stalling, Let us end this Jackie Chaaaa!" Zhao's sentence was cut short when he suddenly felt something wrap tightly around his neck and pull him to the ground.
"Vanessa?!" Jackie said as he watched Vanessa pull Zhao with her own leather whip.
"Looks like you didn't quite finish me Zhao." Vanessa said with a smirk as she pulled Zhao over to her so she could reach down and grab the legendary whip which also let Zhao raise his knee up to kick Vanessa in the face.
"I can easily fix that." Zhao said after kicking Vanessa away, making her let go of the whip around his neck in the process which he burned to ashes with his own chi fire.
"Oh dear, I liked that whip." Vanessa said with a small smirk after shaking off the hit to the face. "But I think I'll like this one even more." Vanessa said while opening her right hand to show she was holding the legendary whip.
"What?!" Zhao said as he looked down to see the whip off of his belt and looked back at Vanessa with his rage causing his eyes to have a green glow before letting out a battle cry and charging at Vanessa with both arms blazing.
Vanessa jumped to the side to avoid Zhao, who rushed forward with too much momentum to stop himself from tripping into the water that Vanessa was standing in front of.
"Enjoy your swim Zhao." Vanessa said with a chuckle before turning around to see Jackie in front of her.
"It's over Vanessa, put the whip down." Jackie said sternly.
"But Chan…if you focus on me, who's going to stop Valmont's men from taking Jade?" Vanessa said with fake concern while pointing behind Jackie.
"What?!" Jackie said as he quickly turned around to see Jade simply running over to Valmont to get the talisman out of his hand and give him a swift kick in the back for taking it from her. "But Jade is fi…" Jackie said as he looked to Vanessa again only to see her already running away down the beach, he put his palm to his face for a second before running after her.
"Come on…give me something." Vanessa said as she looked while running until she saw a jet ski someone had left with the keys in it after running away from the violence down the beach. "Perfect."
"Oh no…" Jackie said as he noticed Vanessa heading for the jet ski. "No no no no no!" Jackie said frantically as he did a full sprint to Vanessa to try and tackle her off the jet ski, unfortunately Vanessa managed to get the jet ski going just in time for Jackie to end up only hitting shallow water.
"Now we're even Chan!" Vanessa said with victorious laugh as she escaped on the jet ski.
"Where did she go?" Zhao said angrily as he on the shoreline soaking wet, when he heard the motor behind him and saw Vanessa getting away on the jet ski his arms immediately burst into a furious flame. "No!" Zhao shouted as he launched half a dozen fireballs that all ended up hitting behind Vanessa before she was finally out of Zhao's sight. "Grr…this is unbelievable." Zhao said to himself.
"Don't move Zhao!" Jackie said as he ran down the beach to face Zhao with water still dripping off of him.
"You're surrounded!" Jade said as she stood in front of Zhao with her eyes glowing like Zhao had seen Valmont's glow.
While Jade and Jackie focused on Zhao, the Enforcer's had the chance to sneak over to Valmont and drag him into their car to flee the scene.
"You're coming with us Zhao." Jackie said with a serious look. "Unless you want to follow your own advice and retreat."
Zhao wanted to rip Jackie's tongue out that last remark, but he knew that he wasn't in a good position to be on the offensive. He thought about his options as he looked back and forth from Jackie to Jade until he heard a familiar voice coming from the street.
"Emperor!" Hak Foo called out, finally arriving after having to run the entire way from the airport.
"Like I said Jackie Chan, a good solider knows when to retreat!" Zhao said as he created two fireballs again and toss them in front of both Jackie and Jade so they would be caught in a green, sandy smoke screen while he ran past them to Hak Foo. "Run general!"
"But…I just arrived to he…"
"Now!" Zhao ordered right before running past Hak Foo, who quickly followed behind.
"Ahhh! Jade exclaimed with her hands over her face as the cloud of smoke and sand aroun her faded.
"Jade?" Jade said with worry as he ran over to her and kneeled down to get a close look at what was wrong. "Are you hurt?"
"No…just sand in my eye." Jade said answered back. "How come the pig lets me shoot heat beams but no handle a bit of sand?"
"I don't know Jade…" Jackie said as he looked past Jade to see both Zhao and The Dark Hand gone, letting out a long sigh as he realized he lost another weapon.
While Jackie and Jade had to go meet with Uncle and Tohru at the jet to leave the country, a center benefactor of the Dark Hand was on his laptop and having a glass of fine wine when he received a call from Valmont.
"Don't tell me…it didn't go well." The benefactor said.
"It went absolutely bloody awful!" Valmont said replied from the back seat of the car the Dark Hand escaped in a short while ago. "That woman you hired took the whip for herself!"
"I know." The benefactor said back causally.
"You know? Don't tell me this was all some sort of plan of yours." Valmont said.
"No, one of the men with you informed me she tried to drive away with it. I also know Vanessa likes taking jobs that have major benefits for her, which is why I had a tracking device planted in coat just in case."
"So, you know where she is then?" Valmont asked.
"Yes, she's already flying out of the Australia." The man answered as he looked at a red dot moving across the map on his computer screen. "And it seems like her plane is heading straight for Mexico." The man said with a smirk
He was right, the private plane Vanessa arranged for herself was heading straight for the western coast of Mexico. After the plane landed Vanessa was feeling very pleased with herself until she opened the plane side door to see forty members of El Scorpians in front of her and all with guns drawn.
"Ms. Barone!" One member of El Scorpian shouted. "I suggest you give our employer what you owe him and come with us quietly."