– CHAPTER 3 –

Section 13

"Jade? Is that you?" Captain Black asked in surprise.

"Captain Black!" She ran to hug him.

"It's so good to see you again. I confess that Section 13 is not the same without you."

"It's very boring in Hong Kong too. Everyday is the same routine, nothing interesting ever happens..."

"So, why did you come here earlier this year? Missed San Francisco that much?" Black asked while walking beside Jade in Section 13's corridors.

"That too, but there's something I want to ask you, that's why I came here."

"Well, what is it?"

"Hmm..." She glanced at Jack, who was coming right after them. "Talk later, I have to get rid of him first," she whispered to Black, carefully gesturing at the boy. Augustus immediately understood and turned around.

"Jack, Vinicius is here in Section 13. Oh, and I think Alice is, too. Don't you want to play with them?

Jack smiled. "Sure. Where are they?"

"They must be in Kepler's laboratory or in my office," Black answered smiling. Jack hurried to the laboratory, and Captain Black and Jade looked at each other, grinning.

"Well, what did you want to ask me?"

"Captain Black, do you remember that you told me I could be a secret agent here when I grew up?" she asked hopefully and he rubbed the back of his head.

"Did I?" he confirmed unsure and Jade frowned.

"Yes! And Jackie heard it too!"

"Yeah, maybe I did..." he said, still not remembering.

"It doesn't matter. The point is that you still recognise my skills, right?"

"Right..."

"So, I want to be an agent, like Viper!"

Black thought for a while, which made Jade a bit angry.

"You're too young yet, Jade. I don't know if it'd be possible to give you such an important position here. Maybe, if you accept to start with smaller works..."

"What? No! That'd be so boring!" she complained.

"I thought you'd say so."

"It's not fair! I came from Hong Kong, from the other side of the world, just for this, and you reject me?"

"Look, I can try to talk with my superiors. They may require a mission as a test to see how you do."

Jade smiled again.

"Now we're talking! And how long will that take?"

"Not much, I guess. Some days, at most. You have a place to stay, don't you?"

She shrugged. "Only until Viper and Tohru come back."

"Tell me, have you already told Jackie about this?"

"No, I wanted to surprise him. But since it's going to take some time, I'll have to come up with an excuse."

"It's all right, Jade. You're skilled and clever, I'm sure you'll be approved," he said, smiling at her.

"Thanks." She smiled back. "Anyway, I'm going now. Bye!" she quickly said, turning around and hurrying to where jack had gone.

oOo

Jack was playing a board game with Captain Black's children. One of them was Vinicius, a red-haired boy with green eyes who was one year older than Jack and his best friend. And there was also his twin sister, Alice. She had the same colours of hair and eyes, but was a bit shy.

Jade abruptly entered the room, making Jack flinch.

"Hi! How are you all?"

"Jade! At last!" Vinicius said with a wide smile playing on his face and running to hug her. "You're my salvation! You're the only one who can break into Section 13's vault!"

"You go, then." Jack said, crossing his arms. "I knew Jade was going to try something when she got here, and I told her and I wouldn't come with her."

"Then you two go and I'll stay here with Jack so that he won't be alone," Alice timidly suggested. Jack flushed slightly; she was always so thoughtful and nice to him...

"Whatever," Jade replied, shrugging. She knew that Jack had a crush on Alice. Sometimes, she imagined how cute they would be as a couple in a couple of years.

"Come on, Jade! Let's go!" Vinicius called her, pulling her by the wrist. Jade smiled and the duo rushed out of the room, leaving Jack alone with Alice.

"So, how are you, Jack?" the girl asked to start a conversation and put an end to the awkward silence.

"Terrible. Jade will end up getting me in trouble again, I just know. I think she's up to something... Besides, there's this girl in my class who won't stop bugging me."

"A girl?"

"Yeah, she's new. It seems that she has just moved from England. She's not very nice, thinks she's so much better than everyone. She picks on me the most, for some reason."

"Maybe she likes you," Alice suggested.

"Likes me? She hates me!"

"Some people are too shy to say they like someone, or just don't know how to express their feelings. Then they pick on that someone, because they think that's the only way to attract their attention."

"But I don't think this is the case. I'm sure she does hate me."

"Hmm... Have you done something wrong to her?"

"I just tried to make friends with her... You know, to be nice." He sighed and shook his head. "But let's not talk about bad things. So, any news?"

"Oh... yes..." She suddenly blushed. "Did you know that there's going to be a dance in our school... next month...?"

"Yes, I did," he answered, also blushing.

"I know it's still early to ask this but, but... who are you... going with?"

"I... err... well..." He could not answer, which made her nervous.

"I-I see... It's okay. It's none of my business who you're going with, I was just –" she quickly said, but was interrupted by Jack.

"No, it's not that. It's just that... I'm... not sure yet..." He looked away.

"Oh."

"What about you?"

"Nobody has asked me yet. Maybe it's too early."

He looked fondly at her. "Don't worry. Someone will invite you for sure," he tried to comfort her, but in all honesty, he did not want any other boy invited her. He wanted to be the one to go with her. He just didn't have enough courage to ask her out yet...

oOo

Jade broke into the vault with usual ease and took a glance around. Everything was in the same place as it had always been. The vault's security had been reinforced several times, but she still could easily invade it.

"Hey, Shendu. I'll have to borrow some of your talismans again, okay?" she said in amusement, waving towards his cell.

Jade could hear his angry hiss and smiled, turning to where lay the talismans. There was a vial around them, but Vinicius had made it all easier, since he had told her the password to open it. She typed a sequence of numbers and letters on the keyboard beside the vial. When it lifted, Jade took the snake, the rooster, and the ox talismans.

She kept them in her pockets, pressed a button to make the vial go back down, and carefully got out of the vault. She used the snake talismans so that nobody would see her and ran to a small room, where Vinicius was waiting for her.

The boy noticed her arrival when the door opened and closed apparently by itself. Jade turned visible again and showed him the three talismans.

"Here you go. Have fun."

oOo

It had been almost half an hour since Jade and Vinicius had left and Jack still hadn't been able to ask Alice out. She was silent as well, waiting for him to say something.

But all their hopes were gone when Jade came in, smiling triumphantly.

"I got the talismans!" she announced.

"Very good, Jade!" Alice complimented, making Jack grimace.

"Alice, you shouldn't congratulate her for doing something wrong!"

Jade frowned. "What's wrong about borrowing something? Besides, I have the right to take them any time I want. I risked my life more than once because of them, you know!"

"Aww, I'm so jealous of you, Jade," Vinicius' bodiless voice commented, scaring Jack and Alice. "I wish I could have fought demons, dark chi wizards, ninja masks, and all that cool stuff, too!"

"V-Vinicius? Are you here?" Jack asked. His friend immediately appeared next to Jade, holding the snake talisman in his right hand.

"Invisibility. It's one of my favourite powers," the red-haired boy stated. Then the door opened and he quickly hid the talisman in his pocket. Jackie came in, getting innocent looks from Jade and Vinicius.

"Hi, Jackie," the duo greeted.

"Jade, what were you been doing?" he asked in suspicion.

"Nothing, I was just talking with the children," his niece answered. He sighed, deciding not to insist. "I came here to get you and Jack to dinner. Uncle said he has something important to tell us."

Jack sighed in relief; the longer he was with his father, the less likely it was that Jade would drag him into another suicidal adventure.

The three Chans said goodbye to the twins and left Section 13. However, instead of going back to Uncle's Rare Finds, Jackie took them to a different way.

"Eh? We're not going back to Uncle's shop?" Jade asked curiously.

"No, Uncle is waiting for us in a restaurant," Jackie replied.

"Which restaurant?" Jack wanted to know.

"Panda-Hanten," his father answered happily.

"Oh, no! Not a Chinese restaurant! Why do you always take me to a Chinese restaurant when I come from Hong Kong? I want some spicy, Mexican food!" Jade complained loudly.

Jack pointed at her and laughed. "It serves you right!"

"Shut up."

To be continued...