I don't own Jackie Chan Adventures and no money is being made. Don't sue, please.
NI TANG
Chapter 20
Ni Tang was very worried.
It had been pretty long since Hsi Wu had left to free their sister and he should have been back already. Ni Tang didn't know how long it would take to find the portal, but he had got the sky demon out so fast and didn't think Hsi would be any slower.
But maybe they had faced unexpected problems? Maybe the slave had run away or maybe they justhadn't found the portal? Ni believed that such an intelligent demon as Hsi Wuwould know what to do, but how long would it take?
People were careful now and it was dangerous to move at night. Ordinary people hadn't noticed anything but for some reason more men had started to appear on the streets.
Ni suspected they were there because of him, but he couldn't say why and from where. Jackie Chan hadn't seemed like a man with a huge army, but maybe he was very rich and had hired one? Or then he just had very powerful friends.
Well, whatever it was Ni didn't dare to go out as much as he wanted to. He hid in the dark warehouse waiting forhis siblings to return and thought he was slowly going out of his mind. The polar demon wanted to feel the wind on his skin and spend some energy, just sitting there got to his nerves.
When Hsi Wu returned he would teach him how to take a human form. It was useful not only to him, but also to their mission. He would be able to go out without having to be extra careful and he could take part in opening the rest of the portals.
If the others just came back before something bad happened.
Jade couldn't say when she had last been this relieved. They had returned home to San Francisco and now she had the perfect opportunity to run away again. On top of that she had missed the city and the familiar atmosphere made the demons seem nicer too. She had been incredibly happy when hearing that Shendu had not managed to kill Jackie. The fire demon had been in a very bad mood forthe whole trip, either because of his loss or the pain in his back. Jade believed it was because of both of them, she didn't think anyone would be happy after such an experience.
But Shendu had deserved it and Jade hoped Hak Foo had pushed the steak through the dragon. That would have killed him and they would have got rid of the demon they hated the most.
It had been a surprise to her that Shendu wasn't the strongest one of the demons, or the leader. She hadn't really fought with the others and had not learned to know them like she knew Shendu.
Well, now she knew Hsi Wu and Bai Tsa and if she didn't find a way to escape Po Kong would soon be familiar too. At this point she couldn't say anything about the mountain demon, but she seemed to get along with her sister.
Po Kong had taken a human form too, it would be impossible for her to walk around in her real form. Now she looked like a middle-aged, a bit plump woman whose black hair was tiedto a neat bun. She was dressed in a black dress which almost reached her ankles and a green shirt. Her eyes were brown and she wasn't as ugly as Jade had expected. In fact, she looked pretty nice and somehow like a mother.
She was also much more talkative than her siblings, which Jade considered to be odd. At times Po Kong seemed even nice and she didn't treat her as badly as the rest. She was slowly starting to understand that all of the demons didn't share identical personalities and she had to consider if one of them could actually be nice.
They walkedin a small group in the streets of San Francisco towards the building where Ni Tang was supposed to wait for them. They had no idea what had happened to the polar demon or what he had done during the time they had been gone. Jade hoped he hadn't succeed in anything, this group caused enough problems already.
Bai Tsa walked side by side with Po Kong and got admiring looks from the men they passed. She really was beautiful and exotic in their eyes; she seemed to be old enough to have some experience but there was still an aura of youth around her. No one paid any attention to Po Kong and it didn't seem to bother her; she was very different than her frivolous sister.
These two demons didn't really cause any trouble and they didn't even seem dangerous right now. She couldn't say the same about Shendu, the fire demon was glaring daggers at everybody and snapped when someone tried to talk to him. Soon everybody was sick of it and they left him to sulk alone. His walking seemed to be pretty difficult, despite the spells Po Kong had cast his back was very sore and he wouldn't be ready to fight in a while.
Hsi Wu then, he seemed to be nervous and he glanced around all the time. Jade believed he was worried about his little brother, though she couldn't imagine the sky demon as a caring creature. But maybe she was wrong and the demons could show affection, she had already learned they were able to whisper to each other, hit on people and do other weird things. No one paid any special attention to anyone besides Bai Tsa, which was a disappointment to Jade. She had hoped they would meet someone who knew her and could tell her family where she was. And that reminded her that she didn't know what her disappearance had caused in the school. She had been away for almost two weeks and she had no idea what Jackie had told her teacher. Maybe she should thank the demons for this extra vacation once they banished them all back?
"It's difficult for a group this big to creep inside a warehouse with no one noticing. We would cause too much suspicion," Bai Tsa said when they started to get near their destination. Po Kong nodded.
"I've thought about it and I know what to do. I have a simple and easy spell which makes us boring and useless to a mortal eye and they won't care about us anymore. Jade here is of course an exception," she said and Bai Tsa looked at her in worry.
"How long is the effect? I don't like the thought that mortal men won't notice me anymore," she said and Po Kong gave her a small smile.
"Only afew hours," she assured and the water demon relaxed. Shendu rolled his eyes and sighed, why did his siblings have to be idiots like those two? He hoped that at least Dai Gui was there, with him he could get along somehow.
Shendu had always wondered why he hadn't formed any real friendships with any of his siblings. Before the birth of Hsi Wu he had been the youngest one and suffered because of it. He had been the teased and abused one and none of the older ones wanted to have anything to do with him. And then when Hsi had come Shendu had wanted him to taste the suffering and had that way ruined his chance to make friends with him.
Hsi Wu had run to Tso Lan for guidance and to everybody's surprise the moon demon had accepted the newcomer. That made Shendu even more angry andit fed his bitterness, why didn't anyone pay him attention like that?
But demons were not meant to care, just to destroy. At least that was what their father had always said to them. And Hsi Wu was a special demon, just like Ni Tang, and needed more attention. Yet Shendu didn't consider it fair and after that he didn't seek for acceptance, he was fine on his own.
Yet it didn't seem to be like that, he had been hurt by a mortal and without the spells of Po Kong he would be very weak and suffering from a blood loss. And he didn't like the way how Po and Bai supported each other, that was just so frustrating! And it would get worse when that idiot Xiao Fung came along.
Po Kong muttered few simple words and blew some yellow powder, which Jade knew nothing about, on them.
She didn't feel herself any different and was disappointed, sure she had the right to experience something exciting if she had to stand the demons? Oh well, maybe something neat would happen when they found Ni Tang. He seemed to be the most interesting of the demons and Jade hadn't really had time to get to know him.
Now when no one paid them any extra attention they hurried up not caring about how Shendu complained about his hurt back and arrived to the warehouse pretty soon. Po Kong climbed in first and it looked pretty amusing to see her going in through the small window. After that it was Jade's turn and the mountain demon took her in as if she was a small child, which didn't make Jade any more happy.
Ni Tang flinched when the window was suddenly opened and light burst in. He jumped on his feet immediately, his first thought was that he had been caught.
He didn't feel any better when a plump woman came in, but Jade who climbed in after her made him relax and sigh in relief. His siblings had finally returned. The polar demon glanced curiously at the black haired woman, was she really sister Bai Tsa? He had expected his beautiful sister to choose a different kind of form. But maybe he had judged her wrong?
Then he found out he had been right after all. After Jade another woman appeared and she looked much more like Bai and Ni realised that the first female had been Po Kong. No wonder they'd taken long if they had freed two demons instead if just one.
"I can not climb in like this! What a stupid hideout Ni has chosen!" an angry voice was heard outside and Ni lifted his brows in interest, that hadn't been Hsi Wu. Was there someone else too?
Bai Tsa sighed and shook her head.
"Honestly Shendu, stop acting like a baby. I don't hear Hsi Wu complaining," she said.
"He didn't get a steak in his back!" Shendu protested angrily. Bai Tsa was clever enough to understand that, she just wanted to torment her little brother when she had the chance.
"But if he had, he'd take the pain like a real demon!" the water demon snapped and Shendu slit his eyes.
"A real demon? I'll tell you something about real demons!" he answered but to everybody's surprise Bai Tsa slapped him before he managed to continue.
"Shut up Shendu!" she hissed angrily and Jade frowned. Something wasn't right, it seemed like the demons had a big secret of some sort...
"Ni Tang, it's great to see you alive," Hsi Wu greeted his brother, coming in past Shendu. Ni nodded and agreed, he had been afraid his siblings would never return. But it had been worth the wait, now there were five of them, only four to go.
"Now tell me how I get in if you are so wise!" Shendu suggested after recovering from the shock and Bai snorted.
"I don't care, you can live in the trash. I don't think anyone will miss you." she said and turned her back to him.
Shendu clenched his fists beaming with anger. His position in the family was getting worse and worse and he didn't even do anything wrong! Maybe it would be better to leave the others to do as they pleased...?
He could move away where he didn't have to think about his family, which no longer appreciated him as it should. He might not be the wisest or strongest, but he was still an important demon and this hurt his pride. He was being treated worse than Hsi Wu!
Po Kong sighed and shook her head. As the oldest after Tchang Zu she didn't understand the stupid arguments of the younger ones. And she didn't like the way Bai Tsa treated Shendu, it just made the fire demon much more difficult. They couldn't afford that now.
"That's enough Bai," she said tightly and the water demon turned to look at her in surprise. Was Po really on Shendu's side? Suddenly she felt like they were still young fighting over something useless and she pursed her lips angrily.
"Fine, but he still has to get in on his own," she said and concentrated in searching the warehouse. Po helped Shendu in and the fire demon was grateful enough and didn't snap at her.
Very few could actually believe it, but the tremendously ugly Po Kong was the mother figure of the demon family. She was a good leader, maybe even better than Tchang Zu, but she would never be in the lead. Unlike demons usually she liked children even when she wasn't eating them, but had been too young to look after Tso Lan, Dai Gui and Bai Tsa when they were born. The next one had been Xiao Fung and Po had taken the wind demon under her wing and defended him from the older brothers, especially Dai Gui. Male demons had a nasty habit to attack their younger brothers to show them their place, but when the huge and strong Po Kong had stood in front of Xiao no one had been able to touch him.
Maybe that was why Xiao had grown into a strangely calm and weird demon, as a child he had not participated in the fights and he didn't have thecompetitive spirit most of the demons had. Even Tso Lan, who always looked so calm, was more aggressive and tight than the wind demon. Through his whole childhood the moon demon had been forced to look out for Tchang Zu, who luckily hadn't been much older than him.
Bai Tsa had not been interested in her younger brothers but had joined Po when she defended Xiao, maybe she didn't want another Dai Gui in the family.
Shendu had been born right after Xiao Fung and Po hadn't had enough time to take care of two children and the fire demon had been completely without help. Tso Lan didn't appreciate the barbaric fights but had not stepped in to stop them and so Tchang Zu and Dai Gui had had free hands with the small dragon.
Because of that Shendu was a proud and bitter demon who never gave up or solved a problem without violence. He had never been taught anything else and he had no desire to learn.
Strangely enough Tso Lan had been ready to take care of Hsi Wu even when he hadn't defended Shendu. It was just what the fire demon needed to get more mad, how was it possible that someone like Hsi, who wasn't even a real demon, got more attention than him?
At this point he had been old enough to make his own decisions and since it was clear no one liked him he wouldn't like them.
Shendu's fate was not special, it was very normal that one of the younger ones got mistreated and usually this weakling died at some point or just gave up. Shendu hadn't done either, nothing had broken his self-confidence and pride.
Actually Shendu had been lucky, he knew how to take care of himself while Xiao Fung would never survive long without the support of his older siblings. Po admitted she had totally ruined the wind demon, but it couldn't be helped anymore.
She glanced at Jade, who had sat on a box. The girl thought they were completely heartless and bloodthirsty, which was very true. It was what humans thought of them, but they had never considered that some demons really cared for each other. The siblings argued and fought a lot, but Po didn't believe any of them would kill another. The Netherworld had made them a bit closer than average families.
Shendu wrinkled his nose and snorted. "This is a bad place, we are in the middle of the city. Chan and the chi wizard will find us if we are not careful enough," he commented.
"I like this. And I didn't plan this to be our final hideout," Ni defended quickly. The others glanced at him, Ni had changed a bit. The Ni they knew would have never talked back.
"Chan won't become a problem, I will take care of him and his family," Po Kong announced smiling. Bai frowned curiously.
"What are you up to?" the water demon wanted to know.
"If what you say is true they will concentrate on many chi spells, but they don't have my experience and wisdom. I'm thinking about helping them a bit," she said and only Shendu understood immediately what their sister meant.
He smiled slyly, Po had got a great idea. It was the best one for them, but would mean that Bai was the leader again. And that was something he didn't like.
Jade tried to listen what Po's good idea was, but the mountain demon was clever enough not to talk about her plans when the girl was there. It frustrated her, demons, especially Po Kong, shouldn't be this intelligent! She pursed her lips and hoped she could see something. She had got used to the sun light and it was a nasty surprise to return to the darkness.
"You promised to teach me how to take a human form," Ni reminded Hsi Wu after some time. They were almost alone, Bai had left to have fun and Po Kong had wanted to put her plan into motion as soon as possible. So the only ones there were them, Shendu and Jade, who both wanted to be somewhere else.
The sky demon nodded eagerly. If Ni turned out to be a good student he might learn the skill in about a week. He kind of knew it already, he just had to remember how to do it. Then they could venture the streets of San Francisco and Ni could help them to open the rest of the portals.
Shendu tried to sit as comfortably as possible and listenedto the conversation of the two demons. He too was waiting for the transformation of Ni Tang.
It would be very interesting.
To be continued...
