Ch 3 ~ The Vaults
Jade pulled on a dark turtleneck and black jeans. She took a small laminated card and fingered it in her palms. Earlier, when she had checked in to see if Captain Black had returned, she had pawned the vault access key from the drawer hidden under his desk. Now, she placed the card under her pillow. Hearing footsteps in the hallway, she quickly dove under the covers of her bed and picked up a handy comic book, flipping to the middle. There was a brisk rap on the door.
"Jade?"
"Come in!"
The door opened and her uncle came in, having cast off his jacket and kaki shorts in favor of brown slacks and the blue sweater Jade's mother had given him.
"It's getting late, Jade. Shouldn't you get some sleep?"
Jade feigned a yawn, sending a fleeting nervous glance at the trash can which held several empty caffeinated soda cans that she had gulped down earlier to stay alert. She covered her mouth with her palm.
"Now that you mention it, I am a little sleepy." She glanced over at her beside clock. "10:00 already? Well, I'd better get some shut-eye. Could you turn out the light, Jackie?"
Jackie frowned. Strange, Jade usually resisted his numerous attempts to get her to go to sleep before the late-night talk shows. Especially on weekends.
"Jade, what are you up to?"
The girl looked scandalized. "Tch, what happened to not jumping to conclusions?"
He sighed. "Alright. Good night, Jade. Sweet dreams!" he grinned.
"Night, Uncle Jackie!" Jade said, dropping her comic book to the floor, resting her head on the pillow, and closing her eyes. Jackie smiled. He had to admit his niece could be cute, much more so when she was innocently asleep then when she was getting in trouble for fighting in school or emerging from some hiding spot when he least expected it. Hopefully, Jade wasn't up to something, but Jackie resigned himself to accepting that even if she was, he wouldn't be able to stop her. He shrugged, flipped off the light, and shut the door.
Minutes after Jackie had gone, Jade threw off the covers and remade the bed over some pillows so that if Jackie checked in, it would look like she was there. She pocketed the cardkey and climbed up on top of her bunk bed, balancing precariously on the bedpost as her eyes began to grow used to the dark and objects around her took recognizable shapes. Her small hands grasped the air vent frame and easily took it off. Jade has thought it wise to unscrew the hinges to that valuable passageway a long time ago. The girl lay the frame gently on the pillow and hoisted herself up into the metal ventilation system. Belly rubbing against the bottom of the tunnel, she slithered along until she reached the 5th opening, the one overlooking the vault door.
After nervously checking to make sure there were no guards on patrol, Jade climbed to the ground and swiped Captain Black's card through the scanner. The door opened, revealing a smaller door. She went up to the keypad and punched in the numbers "007"
"Access Denied" said the computerized voice of the keypad.
"What?! Tch. .he changed the password, duh. Think, Jade. . .uh. . ."
She punched in Captain Black's cell phone number.
"Access Denied."
"Okay. . ." She tried his home phone, the first digits of his license plate, and his birthday to no avail.
On a whim, she typed 12345, and to her surprise, the vault opened. 'Ooookay. . .actually, that's pretty clever. I mean, why would anyone guess that?'
Jade walked into the vault, and looked at the odd glowing yellow floor. Seeing as she hadn't enough time to 'borrow' Jackie's rope and grappling hook, she wasn't sure how to get across, and if she wanted to get the talismans out before the Dark Hand arrived, she didn't have time to work out the security code, either. Then, she remembered the laundry cart outside the first door.
Cursing herself for not thinking of it earlier, Jade ran back through both doors and filled her arms with bed sheets, then ran into the vault. She tied the sheets together, almost wishing she had spent longer than a week as a Buttercup Scout or at least listened to Jackie occasionally because her knots were not very tight. But they would do.
It took several tries of trying to get the rope over the high support beams before she thought to use her shoes as ballast. Jade untied the small sneakers and stood in her socks as she finally was able to get the rope ready for climbing. She knotted the first sheet to the vault door, and hoisted herself on top of the support beam.
Suddenly, she remembered the cameras watching the talismans. She had been caught by those before. Taking the superball that was still in her pocket, she took careful aim and fired at the first camera. The lens shattered, and the ball bounced off the wall returning to her hand, allowing her to take out two other cameras.
Then, she lowered herself cautiously down into the center of the vault. This was when it all went wrong. Jade had scarcely reached for the Rat Talisman when she felt the sheet in her hands become loose and longer. It didn't take long for her to realize her fragile knot was coming apart. Scrambling to grab the next sheet before she fell to the deadly floor, Jade managed to knock several talisman's from their perch. As she gripped the sheet above her, the first sheet fell along with the talismans. Jade sighed with relief as the sheet she had dropped didn't fall but draped over the talisman case. Suddenly, alarms went off everywhere. 'What? Oh, I am sooo grounded. . .' The talismans she had kicked when scrambling for the next sheet had fallen and triggered the alarm, as well as the floor. She watched the horse, rat, and dog- as well as the dragon and tiger that the sheet had disconnected- glow white hot with heat and power. Then, the knot she had tied the blanket to the door with broke, and Jade fell.
She scrambled the grab anything, and managed to dislodge the rest of the talismans, before getting a secure hold on the base of the talisman case. The girl groaned, a sharp pain in her head and her left arm. Her clenched shut eye opened and caught sight of a glowing talisman below her-the horse. Groggily she reached for it, but when she lifted it, she felt not the familiar tingle of the healer but a sharp pain. 'Duh, Jade, the floor,' she thought to herself angrily.
Then, the talisman crumbled in her grip, and she dropped the pieces to the floor, feeling strange. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched a figure in black nearby, moving swiftly to hide. 'The spy!' She tried to get up to follow, but slipped as she was moving up, and fell to the floor finally losing consciousness.
Jackie lay in bed, halfway between sleep and consciousness. He was tired from a day's work, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Perhaps he should have listened to Jade. She was upset, and who knows, perhaps there could have been something to her suspicions. It may have been worth it to at least check her lead out, just to keep his niece from worrying.
Jackie sighed and climbed out of bed, opening the door to his room and walking over to Jade's bedroom in his green and blue pajamas. Knowing full well that she was probably already asleep, he carefully creaked open the door to her room. Yes, she was lying on top of her bunk, peaceful as can be. Jackie resolved to tell her he'd checked up on the talismans in the morning.
The archaeologist frowned. There was still something bothering him. . .Jade was hardly a sound sleeper. He'd known from various trips he'd been on with her that she tended to toss and turn and kick off her covers while she slept. He crept silently over to the punk and pulled back the blanket- revealing pillows. At that moment, the alarms went off across Section 13. Jackie let out a long-suffering sigh, and ran back to his bedroom, grabbing his cell phone and dialing Captain Black. The captain picked up his own cell phone, recognizing Jackie's number.
"Nothing to worry about the alarms, Jackie. Coming from the talisman vaults, troubling because as you know, Shendu still resides there, but every guard is making his way to the vaults right now. No escape."
"I'm very sorry to waste your time, Captain Black, but I bet I know who your intruder is. My niece isn't in bed."
Captain Black's voice sounded troubled. "You sure, Jackie? If it's Jade I want to shut the security shield off, it's on double power for intruder protection."
Jackie nodded, then realized his friend couldn't exactly see him. "It's her alright. I'm very sorry. Rest assured she'll be in a lot of trouble."
Jackie wriggled into his pants and hastily pulled his sweater over his head, messing up his jet black hair. He began running in the direction of the talisman vaults. There was already a squad of agents going the same way as Jackie. And, surprise, the large door had been opened. Jackie ran inside, and then drew back in surprise. His niece lay on the thankfully shut-off floor, hand clenched tightly around the fragments of one talisman. The rest of the talismans were nowhere to be seen.
The Section 13 agents began scouring the vaults, and finally one shouted "Up there!" A dark figure was atop the support beams on the roof. Jackie quickly leapt on top on the talisman case, to the lowest beam, and up the next few until he reached the top, but the figure had already vanished. He looking for the thief, but his attention went to Jade, who was being taken to the Section 13 Infirmary. His duty was, of course, to his niece, and if the thief had any idea how to work the talismans, he was probably already gone.
Author's Note ~ Well, this chapter was longer than the last one. Sorry I took so long to update, I could've sworn my last update was only a week ago. I'm gonna have some update troubles soon, as I'll be on vacation and then back in school, so I'll try my best to keep to some schedule, Chapter 4 should be on time or even early, but if Chapter 5 is late, don't hurt me! And a million hugs to each and every one of my reviewers. You guys rock. ^_^ I wish I could thank each one of you individually, but I just hate Author's Notes that are about a page long and take more time to read than the chapter. And everyone, give a big round of applause for my good beta reader, Caily. She's been so good considering that lately I've taken to e- mailing her the fic in panic about a day b4 it's supposed to come out. *blush* Don't thank my lousy beta, Spooji. :p
Jade pulled on a dark turtleneck and black jeans. She took a small laminated card and fingered it in her palms. Earlier, when she had checked in to see if Captain Black had returned, she had pawned the vault access key from the drawer hidden under his desk. Now, she placed the card under her pillow. Hearing footsteps in the hallway, she quickly dove under the covers of her bed and picked up a handy comic book, flipping to the middle. There was a brisk rap on the door.
"Jade?"
"Come in!"
The door opened and her uncle came in, having cast off his jacket and kaki shorts in favor of brown slacks and the blue sweater Jade's mother had given him.
"It's getting late, Jade. Shouldn't you get some sleep?"
Jade feigned a yawn, sending a fleeting nervous glance at the trash can which held several empty caffeinated soda cans that she had gulped down earlier to stay alert. She covered her mouth with her palm.
"Now that you mention it, I am a little sleepy." She glanced over at her beside clock. "10:00 already? Well, I'd better get some shut-eye. Could you turn out the light, Jackie?"
Jackie frowned. Strange, Jade usually resisted his numerous attempts to get her to go to sleep before the late-night talk shows. Especially on weekends.
"Jade, what are you up to?"
The girl looked scandalized. "Tch, what happened to not jumping to conclusions?"
He sighed. "Alright. Good night, Jade. Sweet dreams!" he grinned.
"Night, Uncle Jackie!" Jade said, dropping her comic book to the floor, resting her head on the pillow, and closing her eyes. Jackie smiled. He had to admit his niece could be cute, much more so when she was innocently asleep then when she was getting in trouble for fighting in school or emerging from some hiding spot when he least expected it. Hopefully, Jade wasn't up to something, but Jackie resigned himself to accepting that even if she was, he wouldn't be able to stop her. He shrugged, flipped off the light, and shut the door.
Minutes after Jackie had gone, Jade threw off the covers and remade the bed over some pillows so that if Jackie checked in, it would look like she was there. She pocketed the cardkey and climbed up on top of her bunk bed, balancing precariously on the bedpost as her eyes began to grow used to the dark and objects around her took recognizable shapes. Her small hands grasped the air vent frame and easily took it off. Jade has thought it wise to unscrew the hinges to that valuable passageway a long time ago. The girl lay the frame gently on the pillow and hoisted herself up into the metal ventilation system. Belly rubbing against the bottom of the tunnel, she slithered along until she reached the 5th opening, the one overlooking the vault door.
After nervously checking to make sure there were no guards on patrol, Jade climbed to the ground and swiped Captain Black's card through the scanner. The door opened, revealing a smaller door. She went up to the keypad and punched in the numbers "007"
"Access Denied" said the computerized voice of the keypad.
"What?! Tch. .he changed the password, duh. Think, Jade. . .uh. . ."
She punched in Captain Black's cell phone number.
"Access Denied."
"Okay. . ." She tried his home phone, the first digits of his license plate, and his birthday to no avail.
On a whim, she typed 12345, and to her surprise, the vault opened. 'Ooookay. . .actually, that's pretty clever. I mean, why would anyone guess that?'
Jade walked into the vault, and looked at the odd glowing yellow floor. Seeing as she hadn't enough time to 'borrow' Jackie's rope and grappling hook, she wasn't sure how to get across, and if she wanted to get the talismans out before the Dark Hand arrived, she didn't have time to work out the security code, either. Then, she remembered the laundry cart outside the first door.
Cursing herself for not thinking of it earlier, Jade ran back through both doors and filled her arms with bed sheets, then ran into the vault. She tied the sheets together, almost wishing she had spent longer than a week as a Buttercup Scout or at least listened to Jackie occasionally because her knots were not very tight. But they would do.
It took several tries of trying to get the rope over the high support beams before she thought to use her shoes as ballast. Jade untied the small sneakers and stood in her socks as she finally was able to get the rope ready for climbing. She knotted the first sheet to the vault door, and hoisted herself on top of the support beam.
Suddenly, she remembered the cameras watching the talismans. She had been caught by those before. Taking the superball that was still in her pocket, she took careful aim and fired at the first camera. The lens shattered, and the ball bounced off the wall returning to her hand, allowing her to take out two other cameras.
Then, she lowered herself cautiously down into the center of the vault. This was when it all went wrong. Jade had scarcely reached for the Rat Talisman when she felt the sheet in her hands become loose and longer. It didn't take long for her to realize her fragile knot was coming apart. Scrambling to grab the next sheet before she fell to the deadly floor, Jade managed to knock several talisman's from their perch. As she gripped the sheet above her, the first sheet fell along with the talismans. Jade sighed with relief as the sheet she had dropped didn't fall but draped over the talisman case. Suddenly, alarms went off everywhere. 'What? Oh, I am sooo grounded. . .' The talismans she had kicked when scrambling for the next sheet had fallen and triggered the alarm, as well as the floor. She watched the horse, rat, and dog- as well as the dragon and tiger that the sheet had disconnected- glow white hot with heat and power. Then, the knot she had tied the blanket to the door with broke, and Jade fell.
She scrambled the grab anything, and managed to dislodge the rest of the talismans, before getting a secure hold on the base of the talisman case. The girl groaned, a sharp pain in her head and her left arm. Her clenched shut eye opened and caught sight of a glowing talisman below her-the horse. Groggily she reached for it, but when she lifted it, she felt not the familiar tingle of the healer but a sharp pain. 'Duh, Jade, the floor,' she thought to herself angrily.
Then, the talisman crumbled in her grip, and she dropped the pieces to the floor, feeling strange. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched a figure in black nearby, moving swiftly to hide. 'The spy!' She tried to get up to follow, but slipped as she was moving up, and fell to the floor finally losing consciousness.
Jackie lay in bed, halfway between sleep and consciousness. He was tired from a day's work, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Perhaps he should have listened to Jade. She was upset, and who knows, perhaps there could have been something to her suspicions. It may have been worth it to at least check her lead out, just to keep his niece from worrying.
Jackie sighed and climbed out of bed, opening the door to his room and walking over to Jade's bedroom in his green and blue pajamas. Knowing full well that she was probably already asleep, he carefully creaked open the door to her room. Yes, she was lying on top of her bunk, peaceful as can be. Jackie resolved to tell her he'd checked up on the talismans in the morning.
The archaeologist frowned. There was still something bothering him. . .Jade was hardly a sound sleeper. He'd known from various trips he'd been on with her that she tended to toss and turn and kick off her covers while she slept. He crept silently over to the punk and pulled back the blanket- revealing pillows. At that moment, the alarms went off across Section 13. Jackie let out a long-suffering sigh, and ran back to his bedroom, grabbing his cell phone and dialing Captain Black. The captain picked up his own cell phone, recognizing Jackie's number.
"Nothing to worry about the alarms, Jackie. Coming from the talisman vaults, troubling because as you know, Shendu still resides there, but every guard is making his way to the vaults right now. No escape."
"I'm very sorry to waste your time, Captain Black, but I bet I know who your intruder is. My niece isn't in bed."
Captain Black's voice sounded troubled. "You sure, Jackie? If it's Jade I want to shut the security shield off, it's on double power for intruder protection."
Jackie nodded, then realized his friend couldn't exactly see him. "It's her alright. I'm very sorry. Rest assured she'll be in a lot of trouble."
Jackie wriggled into his pants and hastily pulled his sweater over his head, messing up his jet black hair. He began running in the direction of the talisman vaults. There was already a squad of agents going the same way as Jackie. And, surprise, the large door had been opened. Jackie ran inside, and then drew back in surprise. His niece lay on the thankfully shut-off floor, hand clenched tightly around the fragments of one talisman. The rest of the talismans were nowhere to be seen.
The Section 13 agents began scouring the vaults, and finally one shouted "Up there!" A dark figure was atop the support beams on the roof. Jackie quickly leapt on top on the talisman case, to the lowest beam, and up the next few until he reached the top, but the figure had already vanished. He looking for the thief, but his attention went to Jade, who was being taken to the Section 13 Infirmary. His duty was, of course, to his niece, and if the thief had any idea how to work the talismans, he was probably already gone.
Author's Note ~ Well, this chapter was longer than the last one. Sorry I took so long to update, I could've sworn my last update was only a week ago. I'm gonna have some update troubles soon, as I'll be on vacation and then back in school, so I'll try my best to keep to some schedule, Chapter 4 should be on time or even early, but if Chapter 5 is late, don't hurt me! And a million hugs to each and every one of my reviewers. You guys rock. ^_^ I wish I could thank each one of you individually, but I just hate Author's Notes that are about a page long and take more time to read than the chapter. And everyone, give a big round of applause for my good beta reader, Caily. She's been so good considering that lately I've taken to e- mailing her the fic in panic about a day b4 it's supposed to come out. *blush* Don't thank my lousy beta, Spooji. :p