Notes: Heya all! It's been a while since I last updated, so I think I should add this chapter in fast. Hopefully you'll find the next chapter up in a week, perhaps. It's time I got on a schedule - I'll keep writing every Sunday evening. Sorry about the delay, man. This fic has been around for two years, I think it's time to get a move on.
Season 4 is wonderful so far, isn't it? I love the episode in which Captain Black got possessed. Poor guy!
I've decided to give Valmont a little time here because a) I feel sorry for him, b) he hasn't been in it very much and c) I feel bad for what's going to happen to him later on.
"The Tiger"
Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
--William Blake
THE DEMON WITHIN
Chapter Fifteen: Thy Fearful Symmetry
All was dark.
The room seemed so quiet, so still, that it was almost suffocating. The heat from the candles, which were lit all around the bed and formed an almost celestial rectangle amid the darkness, didn't help, either. Only the clock made a sound, a most annoying tick tick tick sound.
Oddly enough, the ticking didn't annoy Valmont as it normally would. But tonight, Valmont was too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice. Tonight, he would be bidding Shendu a farewell once and for all.
As he sat in the uncomfortable wooden chair that was pulled up by the bedside, thoughts rolled through his head like a tsunami. For a whole year, he'd been trapped in his own head, under the watchful eye of a temperamental demon. It had been utter torture, to say the least, and he was genuinely surprised that he hadn't gone mad...
...so surprised that he was almost suspicious.
For the past six months, he had longed to kill Shendu, to kill himself, to do *anything* if it would get rid of the (formerly) "oversized lawn ornament." There was nothing like an ancient demon sorcerer invading your thoughts, your privacy, just for a few laughs. Valmont could try to top Shendu with his own brand of sarcasm, but it was never enough. Valmont couldn't read Shendu's thoughts. Shendu had been quite truthful all those times he had declared himself to be the more powerful of the two.
Which led Valmont to wonder whether, after tonight, Shendu would ever *truly* be gone.
This thought had swum through his mind vaguely, and, perhaps subconsciously, he had ignored it. Today it resurfaced with a vengeance, when he had been outlining in his mind how to get the Dark Hand back on its feet. Suddenly, it all sounded so...trivial. He kept himself hopeful by promising himself that once this was all in the past, he would reconstruct The Dark Hand and, in the process, collect all the money he'd been deprived of during his residence in the Helm's Fish Cannery--with interest! In fact, the thought of this money was what really kept him going. He had always believed in the past that money can solve anything.
"Anything," he repeated to himself aloud, a shiver running down his spine, the kind of shiver one gets when one knows he is only fooling himself.
He chewed his lip and stroked one strand of platinum blonde hair--his dirty, oily, no longer carefully gelled platinum blonde hair--with his dirty hands, which were obviously no longer washed every ninety minutes. Suddenly he felt so foolish. He felt foolish for ever spending those thousand dollars on a statue that was worth far less than a penny, for ever *believing* that the statue would really deliver him his much-deserved treasure, and for believing that things really could go back to the way they used to be.
These thoughts were enough to make him angry--so angry that he had to shake his head. Of course he wasn't thinking straight. What happened to his spirit? His *determination*, for God's sake? He couldn't give up; that would be letting Shendu win, letting him control him.
And if there was one thing Valmont made sure of, it was that he would never be controlled by anyone. That was *his* job. His personal philosophy: Always be right; always be on top; always trust money. Money was the only thing he'd ever fully trusted, and it had gotten him through so far.
Until now.
Valmont's body seemed to absorb the heat like a sponge. Although he had been grateful for being allowed to wear his favorite green Armani suit, he rather wished he was wearing something lighter.
*Allowed.* He was *allowed* to wear the suit. Ha.
As hot as he was, he was glad he was not the one laying on that bed that was surrounded by tall, flickering candles. Instead, Jackie Chan was, and he was supposedly unconscious; in the twelve hours that Valmont had been watching him, Jackie hadn't moved once - Valmont was hoping that he would form a blood clot and perhaps have a stroke. But that was wishful thinking: Shendu had told him that no matter what happened, the talisman magic would keep him alive. To amuse himself, Valmont thought of all the ways Chan could die right now while he was waiting.
Shendu had told him to "watch Chan or perish" while he rested until tonight. It was the easiest assignment he had ever given Valmont, and also the most boring one. No one was even allowed to come into the room - Shendu was very passionate about he and Chan being well-rested. A shadowkhan could have watched just as easily, but Valmont suspected that Shendu wanted him to be bored and irritated and think about how bleak his future looked. Meanwhile, Thorne and three of his men were practicing a chant, a similar chant to the one that Valmont's own men had spoken in their first attempt to exorcise Shendu.
Valmont glanced at the clock: midnight. One hour left and he would be a free man.
Free, and completely broke.
************
"Sure is a bumpy ride."
Finn heard Chow's very true comment as something heavy and log-shaped impacted his stomach. Once he caught his breath, he shoved the leg away and said, "Watch it, will you!"
"Heh. Sorry," Ratso grinned apologetically.
In addition to being terribly cramped and sore, the Enforcers were also blinded by the seemingly boundless darkness. They had been this way for roughly six hours, and were beginning to question the point of this quest. After learning that the crime organization Big Brother planned an attack on Rupert Thorne's group in San Diego, which was where Valmont was hiding, the Enforcers climbed aboard one of B.B.'s vans in an effort to rescue Valmont. The only thing that stopped the Enforcers from hijacking the van was the fact that they had no idea where Thorne's hideout was. Thus, Finn swore that once this adventure was over, he would steal a map or something.
"Gee, I wonder I'll ever feel my foot again," Chow remarked.
"Well, I can definitely feel my back," Finn said, grimacing. "I could sure use some Aleve right now."
"Or Aspirin."
"Or Motrin."
"I want my GnomeKop," Ratso said longingly. He received no response. Assuming they didn't hear him, he began to repeat, "I want--"
"I think I'm going to die," Finn announced, "if we don't get of here soon. I'm seriously regretting we ever did this."
"Me too," Chow agreed. "It's not like Valmont would ever do this for *us.*"
Ratso was quite startled by this comment. "Of course he would!" he said innocently.
"No, he wouldn't," Finn sneered. "I mean, doncha remember what happened to Tohru? We thought he was dead 'cause of Valmont!"
Ratso was quiet for a moment. Then he asked slowly, and rather sadly, "Then why *are* we going?"
Come to think of it, Finn couldn't quite say why himself. Within the past day or so, he'd had very little time to be metacognitive. His immediate reaction to the news of Valmont's endangerment was fear. And worry. Valmont was, well, the major part of their gang...he was the only thing keeping the Dark Hand from collapsing - holding out a small basin with weak arms, saving the master Loki from another drop of poison...
And Loki was a thick mass of blackness, to which Finn's whole world belonged: Valmont, Shendu, Chow, Ratso - himself. Maybe that was why? A bit of the saying "honor among the thieves," perhaps? Who knew?
"Because -" Finn hesitated, then changed his mind. How could he ever explain this to them? "Because I want to know where my next paycheck'll be coming from."
Both Ratso and Chow seemed satisfied with this response, because they said no more. They were all tired: the only thing keeping them awake was their soreness. And even though the driver of the van didn't have a license (and with good reason), the car ride had to end eventually, whether by a nasty crash followed by death, or an actual safe arrival. Luckily, the later had occurred first. For the Enforcers, it seemed impossible to cheer.
At Finn's command, they waited. "The B.B. agents are probably going to shoot while hiding behind their cars," he explained, "so we're going to have to bust out of here as soon as the fight begins. In the middle of all confusion, they won't notice us."
"But Finn," Chow spoke up, a drop of consternation in his voice, "what if *we* get shot?"
"Uhh..." Finn didn't sound too hopeful to them. "Hopefully, we won't. If you roll on the ground, there's less of a chance of that happening.
After a moment of shocked silence, Chow said, "Uhhh, you go on ahead--"
"--we'll catch up with you later--" Ratso agreed.
"--I mean, heh, I'm not worried about any paychecks--"
"--yeah, I'm poor, and loving it!"
"Aw, c'mon, guys!" Finn begged. "You mean you're actually going to let me risk my life alone?"
"Err..." Chow seemed at a loss for words. "Well, we support you all the way!"
Chow and Ratso were Finn's two best friends. It came as a shock that they would sell him out so willingly. "You guys *suck*, you know that?" Finn snapped. "Don't you even care about the Dark Hand?" No reply. "Don't you even care about *me*?"
"Of course we care about you!" Ratso said this remorsefully, but Chow sounded angry.
"Well then, now I need your help, and I expect you to follow me! So are you coming or what?"
But they said nothing. The precarious silence ensued. Outside, the muffled bangs of bullets announced that the war had begun. With a tired sigh, Finn fished his gun from his pocket.
"Yeah, well," he murmured, "see you."
"Finn, *don't*!" Chow rushed forward, and weakly outstretched his arm, but Finn just stood there. A moment later, Finn kicked the door open, and dived.
************
At that moment, five people were cramped into a rather small - but fast - jet plane. Uncle had brought dozens of books which he thought might be helpful, but no one seemed to be having any luck. They all worked silently and diligently in their seats.
At length, Captain Black, who sat alone in the front, pulled his eyes from 'Black Magic: Spells and Rituals From Around the World.' He rubbed his temples and sighed tiredly. Checking his watch, he said, "It's no use, Unc. It's already a quarter to one, and no one's found anything. Like Jade said, we need that Archive!"
He received only a whack on the head from his companion behind him. "We must not give up!" Uncle cried, his voice hoarse from stress. "Jackie is counting on us!"
"Tch. Like Jackie even knows we exist at this point," Jade made her cynical contribution from all the way in the back of the jet. She expected Uncle to say something, but he only returned to his research. Olivia, who sat next to her, did look at her sadly for a moment, but she quickly turned back to her research as well. "This is so stupid," she muttered to herself.
It really wasn't that stupid, but Jade was terribly frustrated. For the first time in a long time, she felt utterly helpless. In the past, she'd always been right beside Jackie. They'd helped each other - they'd been on an equal footing. They'd even faced Shendu together! It felt weird now that everything seemed to be slowly sliding out of her control.
She looked out the window. Beneath them, a toy city gleamed hopefully, like a beacon in a black sea.
With a little more hope, she returned to the old dusty book she'd been skimming through.
************
The flames surrounding the bed licked the air with a greedy anticipation. With an equally greedy gleam in his ruby eyes, Shendu watched the flames intently, as though they would spontaneously shoot heavenward. Soon, he would be traveling down that familiar rode of glory and power. Absolute power. Nothing tasted sweeter than the sight of the lesser - and the rivals - bowing to you. Yes, he would destroy Asia, and then conquer all the other continents. His promise to release his siblings could wait a few thousand years. Perhaps he could even persuade them, too, to bow...
Abruptly, Shendu stood up and paced down the floor; it creaked with every step. He mustn't allow his dreams to carry him away. That is how fools are born.
He stopped by the bedside. Upon turning around to see the clock, he was delighted to see that the long-awaited moment would arrive in ten minutes. He turned his gaze to the body on the bed. On Chan's face was a clear visage of bitterness, as though he had just drunken a pint of lemon juice. Equally noticeable was his blanched features. He also finally seemed to have stopped perspiring from the heat of the candles, but Shendu really didn't care. All that mattered was that he didn't die. And he definitely wouldn't die.
The two remaining talismans were kept in each of Shendu's pockets. He took them both out, and, carefully avoiding contact with the flames (humans were so vulnerable and insignificant, he thought arrogant), placed them in each of Jackie's hands, tightening his fingers around them. Holding each fist, Shendu muttered a few words in an ancient dialect of sorts - he was reciting an old spell he'd learned from the Demon Archive. It was brief, but Shendu could feel the bitter warmth transcending into Jackie's skin. This spell was supposed to transfer the talismans' magic into the vessel - and it did so successfully. Jackie never stirred.
Grinning, Shendu tossed the talismans carelessly behind him; they hit the wall and clattered to the floor. He stood there for a few minutes, apparently lost in thought, but still deadly aware of the time. Five minutes went by, and then he summoned three Shadowkha. The shadows coalesced into life before him and bowed.
"Fetch me Thorne's mindless enforcers who will conduct the chant tonight," he commanded them. Shendu smiled wickedly to himself as the shadows slinked out of the room.
************
"FINN!"
Like a specter, Finn was gone - he rolled into the blackness as though he'd never been there at all.
Chow stood there limply, as though frozen. Ratso, in an usual spectacle of quick thinking, shut the doors of the van tight. The darkness consumed them once more.
"Hope he's okay," Ratso murmured.
"Yeah," Chow muttered numbly. "Me too."
The sound of bullets pierced Finn's ears as he hit the ground with a thud and rolled over the asphalt. Lucky was the best word to describe Finn - no bullet had hit him during what had resembled a suicide mission. However, he had very little time to thank God or whatever, because he was still in a danger zone. And he had to get out - fast.
His finger still tight around his pistol, Finn raced around a pair of bewildered Big Brother agents, seeking the safety of the van's cover. One agent was shot by one of Thorne's men; the body fell with a sickening thud. As the other was turning around, Finn shot him as well.
Now came the tricky part. Finn had to run to Thorne's brownstone fast enough so that no one would notice in time to shoot him. However, Finn really wasn't all that worried. After, he was Mr. Clean - in all his ten years of service to the Dark Hand, he never got shot once. Finn waited until he heard the shooting reach its peak. Then, he slipped from behind the van, from out of the dread of the hanging shadow, and sped towards the light of the streetlamp.
Sometimes, though, the revealing light can be a big mistake.
It was ten years of experience collapsing in an instant, and as it collapsed, so did Finn. He was deaf to his own cry as the pain burned a hole into his leg; his gun clapped against the ground and skidded out of sight.
************
The door slammed open as the Shadowkhan entering, three struggling men in tow. Shendu watched with a sort of contemptible approval as they murmured incomprehensible pleas of freedom. A billion more cowering souls would make Shendu feel overwhelmed with liveliness.
The men were deposited before Shendu's feet, their hysterical murmurs getting louder. "Silence!" Shendu hissed, and they obeyed, with the exception of one or two whimpers. The future seemed closer than the present, and Shendu grinned.
"Stand," he commanded them; they did so, a little awkwardly. "You have the parchments?"
They nodded.
"Take them out. First, we shall do some preparatory work."
The three enforcers scrambled through their pockets to find the bits of papers with the spells scribbled down on them. They all looked so incapable that Shendu really did have to wonder if perhaps they truly were idiotic for humans rather than simply scared. It was a good thing that the chant was a bit like magic in itself - the chanter didn't even have to speak the language fluently to complete the spell. A little nervous himself, Shendu glanced at the clock - two minutes to one. They would have to hurry.
When they were finally organized, Shendu barked at them, "Now read the parchments - and whatever you do, *don't stop* until the spell is complete."
Although they all nodded, one man, who seemed to be shabbier-looking than the others, stuttered, "B-but, how will we know when it's done?"
"Trust me - you will," Shendu said, flashing one of his twisted grins. The man hastily looked back down at his paper.
And so it began. Beguiling, deliberate, and evil, the incantation floated into the ears of both Shendu and Jackie. Shendu stood watched Jackie with a deceitful grin that was eternally embedded into his face. No change had occurred yet in Jackie's face.
One minute to one.
The flames turned a dark blue, suddenly - so dark that it was almost black. An iciness chilled the air. Anticipation hammered in everyone's heart.
Fifty seconds.
The enforcers, engrossed in the spell, did not notice as a portion of the far wall crashed down. Like locusts, the roaches scurried in a stampede around the room - across the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. When they passed, and the dust cleared, the giant figure of a sumo wrestler was visible. He stepped inside, and four other people - a secret agent, an old man, a young woman and a little girl - emerged.
Forty seconds.
Shendu's anger peaked, and dozens of more Shadowkhan arrived. "Stop them!" he hissed, grimacing and pointing at the band of unlikely heroes.
"Bring it on!" Captain Black called out as he began to tackle three of the dark ninjas. Olivia joined in without quite as much fervor, Uncle was forced to defend himself briefly and Jade backed into a corner, observing everything.
Meanwhile, the chanting only grew louder and more fervent, and the color of the flames was slowly turning black.
Twenty seconds.
Uncle gasped. "Tohru!" he cried, pointing to the enforcers. "Stop the chanting!"
Tohru, flinging a Shadowkhan aside, advanced on the enforcers. But before he could get close, a sudden cloud of flame was shot at him via Shendu. Fortunately, he leaped out of the way, but as he did so he crashed into a wall. Several more Shadowkhan surrounded him.
Ten seconds...
With a gasp, Jade sprinted across the room and performed a jump kick aimed at the enforcers - but a Shadowkhan caught her leg. Dangling upside-down, Jade tried to fight them off desperately, but to no avail - she was punching air.
Uncle made a last desperate attempt to struggle through the mass of Shadowkhan towards the Enforcers, but they held him back.
Suddenly, the Shadowkhan stopped fighting as though they were waiting expectantly.
There was a dull rumble from somewhere.
"Yes," Shendu hissed to himself, arms raised heavenward.
The candles were shaking. Simultaneously, they collapsed neatly and in an organized manner into the bed - it was the weirdest sight that Jade ever beheld.
Darkness swallowed them whole as the power failed them. A disconcerting blackness illuminated Shendu with a roar of thunder. He was screaming - presumably with agony - but Jade realized that he wasn't the only one. Valmont's voice joined him in the background. The voices switched places until only Valmont's remained. Abruptly, it stopped, and there was only darkness. They heard the dull thud of a body falling to the ground.
A deceitful moment of peace ensued.
The moonlight illuminated the room to some degree. They watched as the silhouette of the figure that had been lying on the bed slowly sat up. It rolled its head on its shoulder languidly before looking at the stunned crowd.
But the most disturbing part of all of this was when it opened its eyes. While they were fairly large as usual, the whites were a little too visible...
And the brown irises lacked their usual softness; a thin red ring outlined them and the pupils.
"Greetings," said the voice of both Jackie and Shendu.