Nothing is mine. Mikään ei ole minun. Ingenting är mina. Ich besitze überhaupt nichts.
Jackie sipped his coffee and sat on a sofa in front of the TV. The floor was cold under his bare feet, but he didn't care. It actually felt quite good. He opened the TV and took another sip of his coffee. He was pleased to see the News had just begun.
"Early this morning the San Francisco Police received a call from eastern city. The police was informed that there was a body laying on the street and men were immediately sent to investigate. It turned out that there were actually many bodies, all slaughtered."
Jackie frowned. Yuck... He didn't want his coffee anymore.
"The coroner of the police has not yet managed to recognise the claw marks on the bodies, but she suspects that they were done by a huge dog or a lizard. Citizens are recommended to be careful and inform the police of all wild animals."
Uncle stepped in the room just when a picture of the street, soaked in blood, appeared on the screen.
"Horror movies better if you watch them at night." he stated.
"This is not a horror movie Uncle. Something has slaughtered people on the street." Jackie said in worry. He didn't think anyone close to him was a victim, but it was still very serious.
Uncle gave the TV a better look.
"Hmm." he said.
"The police think it is a huge dog. Maybe a Doberman, they are bad." Jackie said.
Uncle shook his head.
"Not a dog. Nor a cat. Something else, something evil." he said.
"Something magical?" Jackie asked. Uncle nodded.
"Uncle has the willies. Shendu is up to something, Xu Lin's dreams prove that and a dragon could easily do that." he said.
A shadow was cast on Jackie's face.
"So Shendu has decided to have some fun." he said darkly.
"Maybe. We don't know any other dragons." Uncle replied.
He was so tired...
Valmont turned over on his bed and buried his face in his pillow keeping his eyes closed trying to fall asleep again. Part of him seemed to know that if he woke up he'd have to face something he wouldn't like and he didn't want to do it quite yet.
His mind was a mess and he didn't catch any of his own thoughts. He tried, but they just escaped from him.
Why were his muscles so sore? He hadn't done anything that would make him tired.
Strange...
He felt something wet and sticky on his skin. When he moved his fingers he noticed they were wet too and realising that woke him up a bit.
He lifted his head and opened his tired eyes. He had to yawn. It felt like he had stayed up the whole night.
Valmont rose and supported himself with his elbows and pressed his fingers on his temples. It was a reflex, he always did that when he was tired, but this time it felt different.
Somehow wrong.
And he noticed why it was that way when he glanced at his fingers. They were totally covered in red, still warm blood!
Some of it was starting to cool already and it felt horrible against his skin. He didn't feel pain anywhere so the blood couldn't be his own, but that didn't really make him feel any better.
Valmont looked at himself. The whole bed was covered in blood, his sheets were coloured red, his pyjama was in blood and he was sure that if he looked in the mirror he would see that his white hair was also drenched in someone else's blood.
At first he was too shocked to do anything but sit there and stare at the horrible scene, but then he did what everyone would have done in the same situation.
He screamed.
And screamed and screamed.
Shut up, it is not that bad.
"I am covered in blood!" Valmont said to the Nameless not even realising who he was talking to. All that he could think about was that he had awoken in the middle of this disaster.
Naturally, but don't worry. It is not your blood.
"But I don't want anyone's blood on me!" Valmont snapped and rose from the bed. His feet felt like pudding and he trembled from head to toe. He had to lean on the wall and his hand left a red mark everywhere he touched. He felt cold and thought he had to be white as a sheet.
There was so much blood...
Of course this wasn't the first time Valmont saw blood, it was impossible to find a crime lord who hadn't killed someone, but he had always taken care of it with a civilised way. A quick shot, that was all.
He had never killed or seen anyone kill with such a ... demonic... way as this.
Demonic... The word rang in his head like a broken violin.
You didn't say that when you killed those people. You enjoyed it when you tore them apart. the Nameless said sounding amused.
Valmont blinked and tried to gather his thoughts. He didn't remember anything of the last night, but...
He shook his head.
"I didn't kill anyone." he said. The door to his bathroom was open and he stepped in to wash his face and hands. He would have to take a shower and find a way to get rid of the bloodied sheets and pyjama as fast as possible.
You did. Ni Tang has grown restless and wanders out at night when it is dark. When it is his time. the Nameless argued.
"Ni Tang? Did I kill them as Ni Tang?" Valmont asked.
Yes.
The crime lord snorted in amuse. Now that few minutes had passed he didn't feel as shocked and upset as moments ago and could think straight.
"You lie." he stated. The Nameless was quiet for a while and Valmont could almost sense the creature's confusion.
What do you mean?
"Ni Tang is not a fierce demon. He has no claws and there is now way he could tear anything apart. Even his powers haven't fully woken." Valmont replied.
Don't you mean your powers?
"Whatever." Valmont sighed in frustration. "But that doesn't change the truth that I didn't kill anyone. I don't know what you've done or how you did it, but I had no part in it."
Valmont took off his bloodied pyjama and turned on the water. His body was covered in blood and some of it was starting to dry and it felt good to be able to wash it all away. And he was also starting to get more interested in this case. Maybe more than was healthy.
What did the Nameless think he would gain by this? What did that creature want from him? Did he want to wake Ni Tang? Stop him from waking? Or was there a third side to this, one that he knew nothing about?
He hoped that he'd know more of old legends and magic, maybe he then would have been able to solve this mystery. His brother probably -
Valmont frowned. He didn't have a brother. Especially not one with red eyes and four arms. This was the first time in a long while since Ni Tang was allowed to think. He had only a sister and remembering that gave him a nasty remind of that Sharon had chosen a really bad time to visit him.
That was another extra problem, what did Sharon want?
Valmont wasn't naive enough to believe his sister had decided to stop by just because she missed him. There had to be something behind it. He would just have to find out what and then decide what he was going to do. But at first he would have to do something about the Nameless.
"Why did you do this? What good is it to you?" he asked. The Nameless was silent. And then Valmont heard it, merely a lost whisper inside his head.
Through innocent blood and tears of a demon.
She sighed in relief. San Francisco, finally. Now she was safe and dared to breath freely, here Shendu and the others wouldn't get her.
Viper's optimism wasn't because of the city police, security or even Section 13, merely because Jackie Chan lived in San Francisco. Dangerous things happened around the man all the time, but he and those close to him always survived them.
She trusted that Jackie and his old uncle would know what was going on and could tell her the answer. Then they'd beat the demons and she could return to her home in New York.
She wasn't actually helpless, but Jackie knew demons better and with the man her odds to survive were much bigger.
"Keep the change." she said to the driver of the taxi. She was now in front of Uncle's shop and didn't hesitate to open the door.
"Hello? Jackie? Jade?" she asked as she stepped in. She stopped at the door when she saw an unfamiliar girl who looked at her a shy expression in her brown eyes.
The girl bowed.
"My name is Xu Lin. Jackie is in the library with his uncle." Xu Lin said.
"Thank you. I am Viper. Are you a friend of Jade?" Viper asked and Xu Lin nodded.
"Yes, I am visiting her." she said.
Viper didn't know was it a good idea for a shy - and nastily said, weak looking girl - like Xu Lin to be around when they started to talk about demons, but she thought Jackie would send her away if he saw it necessary. He probably would, Jackie was overprotective, Viper had really seen the trouble to convince him to let Jade in a disco without an adult to look after her.
She stepped in the library and stopped to lean against the door frame. Jackie, Uncle and Tohru sat there in the middle of books and each of them was reading something. No one noticed her arrival.
"So, how is it going?" Viper asked and three heads turned to see her.
"Viper! What are you doing here?" Jackie asked in confuse and almost dropped his book. Viper shrugged.
"That is quite a long and not very nice story." she replied. Jackie offered her a new question with his eyes.
Viper snorted.
"Shendu. Xiao Fung. Bai Tsa." she said shortly.
"Three demons!" Jackie exclaimed and stood up. Tohru and Uncle looked very surprised too.
"Demons? Where?" Jade's interested voice was heard behind Viper and the woman turned around to see Jade and Xu Lin who had crept there.
"Good question, where?" Uncle said. Viper glanced at the two girls, then at Jackie.
"Okay if they hear it?" she asked meaning Xu Lin. Of old experience she knew that Jade would get involved anyway, but there was no need to endanger Xu Lin.
"It won't hurt. Especially if you have news about Shendu." Jackie said. Viper glanced at him in confusion, but didn't ask anything.
"I saw the demons in New York. They were very interested in me and acted like they needed me for something. Especially Shendu, he clearly led the trio." she said.
Uncle frowned.
"Shendu as the leader? Strange, Bai Tsa and Xiao Fung are older than him and would hardly give up the position." he said.
Viper shrugged.
"They didn't seem to get along. Apparently Bai Tsa has drifted away from her family and Shendu uses it as a weapon against her. And Xiao Fung is just a lazy fool."
"Don't underestimate him, he is a demon too." Uncle stated.
Jade listened this conversation in thought. Only Xu Lin knew that she had met Hsi Wu a while ago and for some reason she didn't want Jackie and the rest to find out. At least not yet. She glanced at her friend afraid of that she might reveal something, but Xu Lin nodded slowly as if she knew what Jade meant.
"What do the demons want from New York?" she asked.
"I don't know, they seemed to be after me. Maybe they want to have revenge because of what happened five years ago." Viper guessed. "Though I had no part in it."
Jackie rubbed his cheek darkly.
"And they will follow you here. We must be very careful." he said. It was their luck that only three demons seemed to be on the move and though Shendu was dangerous each of the three was pretty young.
Then he thought of something.
"Shendu certainly knows you are here, so he will follow you right?" he asked.
"Of course."
"In that case he doesn't want us to know he is here, but to surprise us. So it is very unlikely for Shendu to commit a murder." Jackie continued.
"A murder?" Viper asked in interest expecting Jackie to reply, but Jade did it.
"Yeah! All papers write about it! Something slaughtered six people on the street and the whole place was covered in blood!" she told. Jackie frowned.
"Jade, that is not a good thing. You should not be that excited." he scolded.
"I know, I know, but..."
"May I ask why Bai Tsa is in bad terms with her family?" Tohru asked after being silent the whole time. He rarely spoke in situations like this and concentrated in listening and judging the facts.
"No idea." Viper replied and though she was a good actress Jackie heard the stutter in her voice and noticed the quick movement when her eyes met the floor. He frowned. Viper was hiding something.
But maybe the woman had her reasons. And she was an adult, she had the right to do as she pleased. On the other hand, if it had something to do with the demons they should know about it too. Jackie decided that he would talk with Viper once they were alone.
Viper nodded at Xu Lin.
"What about her? If I got it right she has something to do with this." she said. Uncle nodded.
"True. Xu Lin is having dreams about Shendu and a huge battle. I believe she has a hidden ability to see the future and she will live with us until we have found out what is going on and helped her to get rid of the dreams." the old man said.
"Really? I am sorry." Viper said with compassion and turned to face Xu Lin. It had to be horrible to have dreams about the violent and cruel fire demon.
Xu Lin smiled.
"It doesn't matter. Everything is fine." she assured. She knew that Uncle would come up with something and in the end she could return home without her terrible dreams.
Jackie placed his book on the table.
"We should talk more while Uncle and Tohru continue the research." he said.
"Can we come too?" Jade asked.
"No Jade, not this time. And I mean it." Jackie replied and from the strict tone of her uncle Jade knew that this time it was for the best to do as she was told. And if she was lucky Jackie would say Viper something that would eventually lead to the day when she had an aunt.
"All right. Come on, Xu Lin." she muttered a bit disappointed.
Viper had gone through this so many times in her dreams, especially at nights when she couldn't sleep. In the dreams Jackie always wanted to talk with her and as if by magic managed to overcome his shyness and clumsiness that always took over him if they started to talk about something romantic.
But in the dreams Jackie never talked about demons.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Viper asked.
"You didn't tell us everything a moment ago." Jackie guessed. They were in Jackie's room upstairs and had closed the door. It was one of the places where Viper's dreams always took place. The other fantastic place was - strangely - the ruins of an ancient temple. Probably because Jackie was an archaeologist.
"What do you mean?" Viper wanted to know. Well, she knew it already, but it was worth a try.
Unfortunately Jackie knew her too well.
"You know it. You know something about Bai Tsa and didn't tell it to us." he said.
"Maybe it is a subject I'd rather pass." Viper snapped. She could say it without sounding impolite, but it bothered Jackie nevertheless.
"You sure? It could be use for us and you can always tell me anything. We are friends, right?"
Viper snorted and smiled.
"Yes Jackie, yes we are." she replied. Suddenly it felt really difficult to be in the same room with Jackie and Viper wanted to scold herself. She had already promised herself she was over with Jackie and didn't feel anything but friendship towards him.
"Then why can't you tell me?" Jackie asked.
"It is kinda personal." Viper replied.
"Personal? Something that has something to do with Bai Tsa?"
"Yes."
"I see."
There was an awkward silence and Jackie shifted from one foot to another. Viper didn't usually keep things from him and he didn't like it that she did it this time. Especially since it had something to do with the demons.
"Don't worry Jackie, what I haven't told is not important to you and won't affect the future. Maybe I will tell once I have thought it over." Viper said then.
Jackie nodded.
"All right." he agreed. He knew Viper would tell once it was time. Or when it was necessary.
He was already about to suggest that they'd return down to see if Uncle and Tohru had found out anything new, but then Viper's sharp eyes noticed something. The woman walked to Jackie's table.
"What is this?" she asked in interest and pointed at the broken Chinese artefact. It was the same one whose(?) mystery Jackie was trying to solve and he was surprised to see Viper was interested in it.
"Oh that? It is something I am investigating. I haven't found out much, but Uncle says it has something to do with Sha Fuju and - Viper?" he started but stopped when he noticed Viper wasn't listening to him. The woman stared at the artefact with a thoughtful expression in her eyes and stretched her hand out to touch it.
"I think it is fascinating." she said and took it in her hands.
Jackie frowned.
"Fascinating?" he asked in confusion. He watched how gently Viper held the artefact and started to suspect that this too was somehow connected to the mystery that just grew deeper with every passing day.
Dai Gui opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was darkness, but it didn't bother him. He was the earth demon and saw in dark better than any of his siblings, and his eyes that sensed warmth immediately told him where he was. He also sensed that he wasn't alone.
It might have made him feel nervous if he hadn't known the aura of the visitors and that he was in safe hands.
Po Kong and Tso Lan.
The next thing the earth demon paid attention to was the pain that covered his body like a thick blanket. His head ached and he didn't even want to try moving yet, it was better to stay still and see what his siblings were up to.
"You are awake." Tso Lan said softly. Dai Gui didn't see his brother anywhere, but he knew he was close.
"Where... where are we?" the earth demon asked.
"In your underground palace in Europe. We didn't want to try moving you in that shape." Po Kong replied.
"Is Dai Gui badly hurt?" Dai Gui wanted to know.
"You were, but thanks to my healing spells, not anymore. You can probably stand up already." the mountain demon said and Dai Gui followed her order. Moving hurt, but he knew he would feel better once he stretched his muscles a bit.
"The place is still standing. I thought my visitor wouldn't let it remain after destroying me." he said.
"So you know who attacked you?" Tso Lan asked. The moon demon was sure it was the same being who had attacked him and he wanted to find out who they were fighting against.
Dai Gui nodded.
"He looked like a human and talked like a one, but his powers were too strong for him to be a mere mortal. I believe he is a creature summoned from another plane of existence and that he has taken a human form. It means he can be anyone, because I believe all magical creatures have escaped from this world a long time ago." he said.
"Escaped?" Po Kong repeated in surprise.
"Yes, humans take all space and there is no room for magic. Dai Gui wants to leave too and join ones like him." the earth demon said.
Tso Lan rubbed his cheek.
"A magical creature from another world... That means he doesn't work alone, but serves someone who has summoned him. Bad for us." he said.
"Do you still think it is Heing Meh?" Po Kong asked. Tso Lan nodded and Dai Gui stared at them in shock.
"Heing Meh? But... that is impossible!" he exclaimed.
"Who else?" Tso Lan asked.
"But the legend of Heing Meh is very old and it can't be trusted. Why should it come to truth now?" Dai Gui wanted to know. For a moment he had forgotten the pain and it didn't interest him now.
"There is no better time. According to the legend Heing Meh, the demon of Nothing, will crush all magical creatures under his fist. Now that everyone has fled from this world and only we are left it won't be very difficult. And we don't even have Tchang Zu on our side." Tso Lan explained.
Dai Gui shook his head.
"Unbelievable... Our family is shattered, we are no match for him." he said.
"We shall see. Anything can happen." Tso Lan said. Then he thought a while. "Did your attacker tell you his name?" he asked.
"Of course not his real name, but he called himself Shin." Dai Gui replied.
The whole world and its future lay in pieces in front of him and he watched those pieces hoping he knew how to make them a whole thing again. He knew it was important to find out what they would create were they brought back together, but there were so many pieces that he didn't think he could do it.
A hand touched his shoulder. It was heavy and Chow knew that at time he would have feared, but now it felt just reassuring.
Then there was a slash of a whip and familiar hissing. The weight of the hand disappeared and he was alone again.
Chow sighed and stared at the pieces.
You will never make it. a voice said to him. He didn't bother to look around himself, there was nothing to be seen.
Something hit him in the back and he fell. He felt warm blood on his back and wondered what had happened to his strong friend.
An invisible hand took the pieces and scattered them all over.
And then the world exploded in front of his eyes.
Chow woke up with a flinch and realised he had fallen asleep in front of their TV. It was strange, it was the middle of a day and he wasn't supposed to be tired. And yet he felt really sleepy and wanted to fall asleep again.
He yawned.
"Had dreams last night?" Ratso asked in worry. He believed Chow hadn't slept because of his dreams and did it now instead.
"No, I slept well." Chow replied shaking his head.
"You sure?" Finn asked. He didn't like this at all, now when Chow had dreams again something horrible was most certainly going to happen.
Something demonic that would affect their life too.
"Of course I am. You don't have to look after me as if I was a child." Chow said sounding annoyed.
"All right, dude. No need to be so touchy." Finn said and stood up.
"Where are you going?" Ratso asked. Finn shrugged.
"I don't know, on a walk I guess. Valmont hasn't contacted us in a while and I want to think it over." he said. He rarely thought about things, but now seemed to be the time to do it.
Chow frowned.
"Be careful." he said then. Finn stopped at the door.
"What do you mean? I'm just going out for a while." he said in confusion.
"I know, but something..." Chow started. He didn't finish his sentence, but was silent shrugging then. For a very short moment he had felt that Finn wouldn't be coming back in a very long time, but the feeling was gone now.
"Nothing." he said.
To be continued...