I don't own Jackie Chan Adventures.
NI TANG
Chapter 10
After thinking hard Hsi Wu decided to go out again and leave Ni Tang to guard the slave. The world had changed so much and he was not going accept that there was no way of travelling to Rome to free his sister. Shendu had travelled all around the world without problems, he could do it too.
He took his human form, which he had started to call Seymour like they were two different people. It was fun, these stupid people would never know who they were really dealing with. He looked around on the street with his new brown eyes and considered what he should do. At first it had felt a bit weird to walk without his huge wings balancing him, but he had got pretty used to it by now. Like he was born to it.
"I do wonder..." he muttered to himself trying to look like he knew what he was doing. So, he had to find an easy way to Rome, which was located in a totally different continent.
The technology of the humans had developed much, they had invented a cart which didn't need horses and small boxes which played music without instruments or singers. So they had to have a way of travelling across the seas without wasting a huge amount of time.
How could he find out what he needed withoutarousing suspicion? If he just asked these humans would think of him as an idiot. Who really didn't know these things? Hsi Wu sighed in frustration.
Shendu had got the easy way out. He had lived in a human body, which had money, men and knowledge about this world. He and NiTang didn't have any of these and they would have a hard time trying to open Bai Tsa'sportal.
Then when their sister was free everything would be easier. She was the oldest after Tchang Zu, Po Kong and Tso Lan and would know what to do and when. Then again, the slave had been right, Hsi Wu didn't actually want to see his siblings again. At the moment he was the oldest and most respected one, it all would be gone when they freed Bai Tsa.
But he couldn't think like that. Life in the Netherworld was boring and frustrating, there the other demons didn't have anything else to do than to make his life as horrible as they could. Here they would have the whole world and none of them could possibly even think about wasting time because of him.
He still had to solve how he and the slave would travel to Rome. Across the sea orby flying, if these humans had not discovered how to teleport themselves and Hsi Wu didn't believe in that. This city and humans just didn't feel like they knew how to do advanced magic.
Ni Tang had found out what he needed by asking help and Hsi Wu consideredif he shoulddo the same. The idea didn't sound that good, he didn't want to admitthat mortals knew something better than him. If Shendu just was here...
The fire demon was annoying and selfish and Hsi Wu didn't come along with him very well, but right now the dragon would be useful. He had been cursed into a statue for centuries and had been allowed to see the world change.
All he had was a young slave who didn't do what was told and a little brother who couldn't transform into a human or use his powers. Hsi Wu frowned, he sure didn't have any luck with these things. But he was a demon and would not let anything to stop him from succeeding. Besides, Shendu would still be in the first square without humans, it would not be so bad to use them. He just had to be clever.
There were some people with him on the street and he gave them a glance before choosing a middle-aged woman, who was pushing a stroller in front of her. Mothers were always easy to handle. He took a friendly expression on his face and walked nearer, smiling faintly.
"Excuse me, could I bother you for a moment?" he asked politely and the woman turned to look at him with her brown eyes.
"Of course, how can I help you?" she asked stopping next to Hsi Wu.
"Could you tell me have you ever visited Rome?" the sky demon asked and the woman looked at him in surprise.
"Rome? What would you do with that information? Oh, but of course, this is a school project, isn't it?" she asked and Hsi Wu nodded immediately. The woman had given him an excuse and he could use it again.
"Yes, a school project about Rome," he answered. The woman let out a sigh and shook her head. "Unfortunately I have never been able to visit Italy. I'd like to though, Rome is a very beautiful and magnificent city. But it's too expensive for me," she said and Hsi Wu tried to give her a friendly smile.
"That's sad," he said.
So now he knew it was expensive to travel to Rome. It was something, even if it made this more difficult.However, he was happy for finding out something. He thanked the woman and continued.
Next he stopped a man who was carrying a suitcase and seemed to be in a great hurry.
"What now?" he snapped angrily and Hsi didn't bother to smile.
"I'm doing a school project and I'd like to know what you think about the fact it's so expensive to travel to Rome," he said and the man frowned.
"I've visited the city once and you can write down that the airlines take enormous fees and give nothing in return," he said sharply and Hsi Wu congratulated himself. So it was possible to fly to Rome.
"What do you mean?" he asked when the man was already about to continue and turned to look at him in annoyance.
"Don't you have anything better to do than to torment me? Well, take the airports at first, you have to wait there for who knows how long for the plane to leave and if you have really bad luck you'll lose your luggage too!" he snapped and left. Hsi didn't bother to follow him, he was too busy considering these new facts.
An airport? It had to be the place where people flew to Rome. But how did it work? Was it a magical wayoftraveling or had the humans discovered something more technical? And where could he find one?
Well, he could think about that later. Now when he had found out something he would return to Ni Tang and fetch the slave, who would bring the Pan Ku box with her. Actually he wanted to take the polar demon with him, it would be fun to be in charge of a bigger group, but he was not stupid. Now when there were more than one of them they had to use it in their advantage. And what would be a better way than to trick the chi wizard?
Hsi Wu smiled to himself and returned to his brother as fast as he could without attracting too much attention. He went in and blinked his eyes trying to adjust them in the dark as fast as he could. At the same time he gave up his human form and Ni Tang and Jade heard how his body creaked when he grew his wings and tail back.
"Now I know how we'll get to Rome," he announced in victory. He nodded towards Jade even though he knew the girl would not see it and grinned.
"I and the slave will leave for an airport right now," the sky demon continued and enjoyed when he saw Jade's shocked expression. How had the demon found out that information so soon, she wondered.
Ni Tang nodded. He was not worried even if he wasn't allowed to be there to free sister Bai Tsa. Hsi Wu was older and could keep the girl in line. And he was pleased when he was left alone in San Francisco. For some reason he didn't like being pushed around by Hsi Wu. He wanted to decide what he did and he knew how traitorous that thought was.
"I'll count on you and believe you know what to do here, Ni," Hsi Wu said and then he thought about something. If this airport fun was so expensive two children would never get in without problems. And that was what they wanted to avoid so he had to give up the form he liked so much.
Hsi Wu was not a child, he was thousands of years old and clearly and adult. His siblings preferred adult forms when they transformed, but the sky demon had always thought children were better. Firstly, it felt right when you considered he was the youngest and children had some advantages.
Children were weak, of course, but they were swift and fit into places where adults couldn't go. They could go almost everywhere without anyone paying them attention and they were often underestimated by their opponents. None of his siblings had nothing against Hsi Wu playing a child, they thought it somehow fit him.
But what about now when he wasn't the youngest anymore? Would it be stupid to use a child's form if Ni Tang didn't do that? Would the younger brother get the impression the sky demon was ready to admit he was lower? It was not like that, he was better and stronger than Ni Tang, no matter what he did.
He didn't have time to think about that now, he would concentrate on that when Ni Tang learned how to transform. Hsi Wu glanced at Jade to see what she looked like and begun his transform. His wings and tail disappeared, his skin became paler and his body more like human's. He grew black hair with three strands to symbolise his horns, red eyes turned intobrown and he was suddenly wearing an orange T-shirt and blue jeans he had seen someone wearing on the street. He seemed to be about 20-year-old Chinese man. Perfect to be the slave's big brother.
"Let's go slave, Bai Tsa is waiting for us."
Jade let out a sigh when she finally saw the sun again. She had been afraid she would never get out of the darkness and now it seemed everything was not lost. She looked around her and tried to remember what everything looked like. She would have to find this place again when she led her uncles here.
"Lets' go," Hsi Wu said and Jade turned to face the demon when she heard how his voice had changed. It was not the harsh voice of the sky demon or the bit more pleasant way of speaking he had as a human child. The girl frowned when she saw the man at least twice as old as she.
"I thought you were a kid," she remarked a bit surprised. Hsi Wu slit his eyes and snorted.
"Then you are stupid, I'm more than thousand years old," he announced proudly and Jade rolled her eyes. She didn't know why, but it was a disappointment to see that Hsi Wu was an adult too. Maybe she had felt somehow pleased when she had thought someone as young as the sky demon could be so strong. Well, now she knew better.
"I'm your big brother Seymour and we are on our way to Rome to meet our relatives," Hsi Wu said trying to make sure the girl remembered how the plan worked. Jade frowned not pleased.
"You should choose a better name, Seymour is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," she pointed out.
"Better than Jade," Hsi Wu said in annoyance. He had used the name Seymour for a long time, had liked the way it sounded like his real name and now this slave dared to mock him?
"Yeah, sure, your opinions are so ancient," Jade said grinning and Hsi Wu glared daggers at her. He would not allow her to speak to him like that! If the girl was not so important he would have thrust his claws in her chest and ripped her apart, enjoying the sweet scent of warm human blood... But no, he could not do it yet. If ever, the girl was actually Ni Tang's slave and the demons had strict rules about slaves and owning them. Without Ni Tang's permission Hsi Wuwas not allowed to hurt the girl and it annoyed him even more.
"Let's go," he said again, but Jade didn't even move. Seeing the sun had reminded her that she was in a city full of people. The demon could not force her to do anything as long as doing that would attract attention.
"I don't think so," she said andmade a daring dive into the streets.
"Come back now!" Hsi Wu shouted and rushed after her. He would not let the slave escape this easily and humiliate him like this! If it hadn't been a day with many people there to see he would have taken his own form and caught the girl by flying, but if he wanted to get her without making the whole street panic he had to use this pathetic human body.
Jade glanced around her and couldn't really believe it. She was free! It was stupid and dangerous to escape from a demon like this with the Pan Ku box, but she had never been known because of her great common sense. Now she had to get to Uncle's shop and tell him everything about the polar demon and the new plan of the demons.
People gave her funny stares when she rushed past them but she didn't even notice it. Adrenaline gave her more strength and she didn't feel even tired when running from Hsi Wu, who was probably after her. She held the box tightly against herself not daring to drop it, she had to get it away from the demons.
She recognised the street she was running and her hope started to die. It was a long way to Chinatown and she would not be able to run the whole time. So she just had to continue as far as she could and stay in the crowd.
"Hey! Watch where you are going!" a young boy exclaimed when she crashed into him and Jade muttered a quick apology. She didn't hear what the boy mumbled after her and didn't even care, she just had to get away.
Hsi Wu followed Jade from a short distance and left after her. He was not afraid of losing her, he could smell her easily even in a city this big. And he had hunted humans before and knew how the mind of a panicked child worked. She would try to find a safe place.
He was faster than her and would catch her sooner or later. There was no reason to hurry now, the girl would just tire herself when rushing around like that. The sky demon smiled but started to run anyway, no matter how fun this was he had work to do.
Unlike Jade he didn't crash with humans, he was not in such a hurry and he was much more agile despite the fact he was bigger. The form he had chosen was not the best one for hunting, it was not strong and didn't have muscles, but he had no problems with following the girl and catching up with her. When she heard steps behind her Jade knew the game was over and she was about to choke in her desperation. This couldn't be like this, she wanted to go home! She had never been this desperate, usually she had her unbelievable luck to help her and she never failed like this.
But it seemed Hsi Wu was immune to her luck and it didn't affect him. Jade felt strong hands grab her from her shoulders making her to stop and she panted trying to get more air. She turned around to see what she had feared, Hsi Wu in his new human form.
A small smile played on the demon's face and he didn't seem to be out of breath at all.
"Oh Jade, my sister. It's so like you to start a game of tag in the middle of a city, but you should be more careful. Or else you might get really hurt," he said kindly but Jade understood the hidden threat in his voice.
Hsi Wu grabbed her from her wrist and forced her to follow.
"Because it seems I can not trust you we have to do this. We can not let sister Bai Tsa wait, can we?" he said sharply and dragged the still out of breath and reluctant Jade with him.
"Excuse me, I wonder where the nearest airport is located?" he asked politely from the next person they met and he gave them a funny glance. The man gave them the introductions and told them to take a taxi, it would take too long to walk. Hsi Wu thanked him and they continued before the sky demon stopped again to think.
"So, we need a taxi..." he said aloud and looked around. What was this taxi and how did you use one?
"Taxi is a huge magical creature that eats demons," Jade remarked and Hsi Wu glared at her.
"Sure, this whole city is so magical," he commented dryly.
This new time was a big disappointment. He had believed he would find a magically developed society, which would amaze him even after centuries, but it seemed humans had totally forgot magic even existed. He didn't sense magic anywhere, not even simple one, just childish tricks some people considered real magic.
He frowned, where could he find a taxi? Asking wasn't an option anymore, it had to be something everybody knew and he didn't want to humiliate himself anymore. Then he saw something from the corner of his eye and drew a deep breath.
A cart with no horses with a clear 'taxi' sign on the roof. The sky demon smiled to himself, everything seemed to work just fine.
"Taxi!" he shouted and waved his hand to attract the attention of the man sitting in the cart. He watched in great interest as the man drove the cart next to them and somehow lowered the glass so that they could talk to each other.
"Could you take us to the nearest airport?" he asked and the man shrugged.
"Why not, that's why I exist," he answered and Hsi let Jade go in first so he could see how it really happened.
It was soft to sit inside and Hsi Wu had to congratulate humans for it. What a brilliant idea to put pillows inside to make the sitting more comfortable. Of course rich people had been doing it for a long time, but considering the filth inside of the cart this man could not own very much.
"So, where are you going to travel?" the driver asked to start a conversation.
"I and my sister are going to fly to Rome to meet our older sister," Hsi said and elbowed Jade when she made a face. The driver snorted.
"Some people have luck, Rome is a great place," he said.
"Indeed it is," Hsi Wu admitted and he really meant it.
He had visited Rome only once but had liked the city. The architecture and culture was so different than in China and everything had been so fascinating. He had even befriended one of the Roman gods, a small one whose name he couldn't even remember anymore, and had spent an interesting week getting familiar with the city and the humans. He had even disguised himself as a gladiator and taken part in a fight. He had of course won easily but had not participated after that, one time was enough and after that he had tried other things. They jumped out of the car when they arrived to the airport and Hsi Wu turned to face the driver.
"How much do I owe you?" he asked and the man frowned. After a short consideration which had nothing to do with the taximeter he told his price and Hsi Wu put his hand in his pocket like looking for his wallet.
But instead of paying him Hsi grabbed his hand and looked him in the eyes. He whispered a word and let go. The driver didn't seem to look any different, but there was a dazed look in his eyes and he smiled like he wasn't quite right from his mind.
"Thank you and have a nice flight," he said kindly before driving away.
Jade watched as he left and turned to face Hsi Wu. It was clear the demon was going to get them into the plane by using the same method but she had another idea too.
"Hey, Seymour," she called and the sky demon glanced at her in surprise. Was she really talking to him?
"Yes?" he asked not knowing what to expect and Jade shrugged.
"When this all is over could you use that same trick to get me in to an adults' disco?" she asked.
To be continued...
