Recently, I found out that Paco and El Toro spell "Yackie" and "Yade", not "Jackie" and Jade... I didn't know that and I'm too lazy to change the names in the previous chapters, so the changes begin from now on.
VampireNaomi – Thank you!^^ I'll try to write more sweet romance scenes, since the romances are beginning to develop (I think). I just wish that JCA had more female demons, because I had a hard time deciding the couples...
Forgotten Love – Wow, thank you for the great review and for translating my fic! Well, unfortunately that 'Valmont-reminds-her-of-someone' thing will have to wait some while. I was planning to solve it in chapter 25, but now I see it won't happen so early... oh, I'm so slow! Oh yeah, Portuguese killed Indians, but some of them are still alive. The young ones refuse to keep their tradition, though. Sad thing, there's nothing worse than giving up your own culture.
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Chapter 20: The Ambush
"What are you looking at?" Bai Tsa asked angry and Valmont flinched.
"But it's you who was looking at me!" Valmont defended and she clenched her fist.
"Don't talk back to me!" she snapped slapping him and he yelped, almost falling from the bed. He felt liking snapping something at her, but he was smart enough to understand that if he did so, she would hit him again. Then he just glared daggers at her, rubbing his face where he had been slapped. Bai Tsa frowned before his stare.
That look...
Bai Tsa looked at him deeply in the eyes. That look of his had been already seen seven years ago, and some days ago, but she felt like she had seen this very same scene before. And this time there was something different in his eyes and yet similar to some other occasion that she could not remember right now.
Déjà vu?
"BAI TSA!!" the voices of her siblings were heard when they suddenly entered the room and she turned to face them with an alarmed expression.
"What? What happened??" she asked.
"Are you torturing your slave??"
"Why didn't you invite us?"
"And why there's no blood in here??"
Bai Tsa slit her eyes and they blinked waiting for answers.
"I am not torturing my slave! And no matter how older you are, you do not have the right to invade my room like that!" she snapped and Dai Gui observed the room, which was too small and uncomfortable for his sister liking.
"This is your room?" he asked in disbelief and she flinched.
"Well, I meant that you do not have the right to just interrupt me and interfere in what is none of your business." she stated and the three siblings glanced at each other, then at Valmont. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and the three demons raised a brow.
"What were you two doing?" Po Kong asked with a suggestive tone, and both Valmont and Bai Tsa flinched and blushed.
"What do you think I was doing?! Don't start to think of strange things about me! I would never have anything to do with a stupid human like him!" she snapped pointing at him and pushed her way past them, leaving the room. "I don't believe you! You are just jealous because you still don't have a slave!"
Po Kong glanced at Valmont one more time and was pleased to see how he was still blushing. She looked at her sister going away and smiled.
Jade opened her eyes and saw she was lying alone in the observatory. Considering the color of the sky, it should be almost dawning. She got up and walked to the wall of the observatory. She leaned on it and observed the sun that was slowly rising in the horizon.
"Good morning, Jade..." a voice said behind her and Jade turned around smiling. She saw the sky demon in his human form and hugged him.
"Oh, Hsi Wu... I never had such a wonderful night before."
"Yeah..." he muttered. "Jade... come with me..." he said taking his true form and lifting her. He then flew up and quickly arrived at their hideout. Her smile died and she sighed.
'Oh well... good things never last too long...'
"Sorry, Jade..." Hsi whispered and kissed her face. He then landed and carefully opened the front door. They looked around and walked quietly to the room where the demons usually were. Hsi Wu barely went in the room and was surprised by his siblings.
"Hsi Wu!!!" Tchang Zu thundered making the air around him shake.
"Y-Y-Yes... Tchang... I mean... master?" the sky demon answered trembling.
"Why did you take so long???"
"B-Because.... ehr... I... do not... well.... it is that.... you...."
"Answer me already!!!"
"Honestly, Tchang Zu..." Bai Tsa began but was interrupted by her oldest brother.
"It is 'master'!!!!" he demanded and she rolled her eyes.
"Whatever... master.... Hsi Wu didn't return because he didn't want you to punish his slave." she continued. Hsi looked unsure at his sister, but didn't say anything.
"If I killed the slave, we would not have the perfect bait!"
"Exactly, he was afraid that you did the other punishment." Bai Tsa explained.
"What?! I would never do that with a Chan!"
Everybody looked at him in surprise.
"No?"
"Of course not! What do you think I am?"
Nobody answered.
"Well... I... did not know that... sorry, master..." Hsi Wu said after a long while. Maybe it was better not to argue with Tchang Zu. The thunder demon nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when they heard an airplane approaching. "Shendu and Xiao Fung are back!" Hsi Wu said and everybody left the house. Soon the group arrived and Valmont ran to his daughter, hugging her so tightly that the girl was almost blue for the lack of oxygen.
"Aw... D-Dad..." she said almost mute, still fighting to breathe.
"Julia! I missed you so much! I thought you wouldn't return ever again!"
"D-Dad... I... gh... I was out for some few days..." she managed to say and Valmont stopped hugging her and stared at her a bit puzzled. When Jade approached, she was surprised too.
"Julia, you... grew up..." he said noticing that his daughter looked to be slightly older.
"Ah, it's just you... Don't be over-dramatic..." Julia said rolling her eyes.
"No, he's right, Julia. You are... a bit taller..." Jade said.
"Silence! We have to prepare the ambush as soon as possible!" Tchang Zu said impatiently entering the house and the others followed him.
"First, we have to think of a place for the ambush." Po Kong began while everybody gathered in the main room.
"We could do it in Shendu's old hideout." Hsi Wu suggested and Bai Tsa looked angry him.
"A fish cannery?!"
"I like fish." Xiao Fung remarked grinning.
"Who cares???" Bai Tsa shouted.
"Good idea, let's set the ambush at the fish cannery." Tchang Zu decided and Bai Tsa could just be quiet and crossed her arms in annoyance.
"When are we going to do that?" Tso Lan wanted to know.
"At noon."
"And how are we going to inform the Chans?" Dai Gui asked.
"Writing a note."
At Uncle's shop, the atmosphere was tense. Uncle approached Jackie, holding a paintbrush.
"Jackie... are you sure you want to do that?" Uncle asked and Jackie nodded.
"Yes, Uncle... I am sure." he answered. Viper was sad for her husband's decision, but he had already managed to convince her that the lives of Jade and their son were more important. Uncle used the paintbrush to write the kanji of 'soul' in his forehead and in his right wrist.
"Now we have to find the demons." Uncle said and suddenly a stone was thrown at the shop, breaking the window.
"Aiiyaahhh! Damn children!" the old man yelled grabbing a broom and leaving the shop. "Do you know how much a wind-" he stopped and drew a deep breath when saw the wind demon in his human form grinning in a childish way, beside the sky demon, who was shaking his head and sighing. "JACKIEEEEE!!!! TOHRUUUUUU!!!!" Uncle screamed and the two men came out running to help him. The two demons ran away and Jackie tried to follow them, but Uncle pulled him by his shirt. "Come back here, Jackie!"
"But... Uncle..." Jackie stuttered but was whacked in the head by him.
"Do not question Uncle! We take care of them later."
"Hey, look at this!" Viper called and they entered the shop again.
"It seems that the demons want to... negotiate." El Toro said reading a piece of paper that had been tied to the stone.
"Why? What is written there?" Jackie wanted to know.
"They say that will let Jade and Jack live in return of your and Uncle's lives." Viper said.
"Uncle, that is perfect! Thus we won't need a locator spell to find them. We have just to go there and once Jack and Jade are safe, you cast the spell to banish all the demons to that other dimension... uh... what was its name again?" Jackie asked.
"The Realm of Eternal Suffering." Tohru answered.
"And where do we have to meet the demons?" Paco asked.
"Uh... Let me see..." Viper murmured reading the paper again. "We have to go to the Helm's Fish Cannery, at noon."
Everybody glanced at each other.
"The Helm's Fish Cannery?"
One o'clock in the afternoon. After searching in the whole fish canner, Jackie and Uncle met again in front of the main door - still inside the factory. Jackie scratched his head in confusion and Uncle was thoughtful.
"Strange..." Jackie said and his cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Jackie, why is everything so quiet there?" Tohru asked. He was in a car, some meters away from the fish cannery, along with the rest of the J-Team.
"The demons are not here, Tohru!" Jackie answered.
"No?"
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Jackie confirmed and on that moment two people suddenly opened the door. They were with a girl and a boy, and were very breathless.
"Chan...." the woman hissed.
"Uh... Bai Tsa and Shendu?" Jackie asked unsure and took the cell phone to his ear again. "Never mind, Tohru. They have just arrived..." he said and hung up. "Jade! Jack! Are you all right?" Jackie asked in worry and the duo nodded, and Bai Tsa laughed evilly - as she could with her still breathless breath.
"Better than you two will be very soon!" she declared pointing at them.
"Let's put an end to that already! You already made Uncle wait way tooooo long!" Uncle complained.
"...Well, we had a little setback when Bai Tsa refused to come..." Shendu said cynically just to pick on his sister, who slit her eyes and decided to ignore him by now.
"But we did not know that you were in such a hurry to die!"
"Where are the other demons?" Uncle asked glancing around himself and Shendu laughed aloud, crossing his arms self-confidently.
"You hear that, Bai Tsa? They want to know where our siblings are..." he said and she laughed too.
"Fools."
"You don't know either, do you?" Jackie asked and the two demons sweatdropped.
"It is not of your business!" they shouted.
"But they are coming soo- Oof" Jade said and Bai Tsa elbowed her.
"Jackie... we have to banish all the demons at once, or else we will need another sacrifice..." Uncle whispered to his nephew.
"I think the others will come soon. I'll try to save time." Jackie replied.
"They are planning something..." Bai Tsa whispered in suspicion.
"Do not worry, sister dearest. We still have our 'secret weapon'."
The two demons took their true forms and Jackie was on guard.
Viper was observing the fish cannery with binoculars while the rest of the J-Team was in around the car.
"Any luck?" El Toro asked.
"Not yet." Viper answered and they heard the sound of something hitting the car. They looked horrified at the completely destroyed car that was thrown to the other side of the street, and when they were turned around, saw the rest of the demons.
"Uh... Was that part of the plan...?" Paco asked sarcastically and everybody backed away.
"Destroy them all!" Tchang Zu ordered and the demons began to chase them.
"We have to take the demons to the Helm's Fish Cannery, then Uncle can banish all of them at once!" Viper said and the group nodded.
"Bad day, bad day, bad day, bad day..." Jackie repeated while trying to dodge the fire and water attacks of Shendu and Bai Tsa. Uncle and Jade tried to stop them, but Bai Tsa began to fight against them, leaving Jackie for Shendu. The fire demon began to try to hit Jackie, consequently destroying the fish cannery during the attempts. Luckily, the Chinese man was very fast and agile. Meanwhile, Uncle was using his magic blowfish to hit the water demon with good chi.
"Jackieeee! You'd better call the rest of the J-Teaaaaam!!!!" the old man yelled without noticing that it would be kind of impossible at the moment.
"But Uncle..." Jackie tried to explain and was hit by Shendu. The archaeologist fell to the ground and before he could get up, Shendu pressed him against the ground with one of his hands.
"It's your end, Jackie Chan!" he declared victorious, but then noticed the kanji of 'soul' written in his forehead and in his right pulse. Shendu immediately let him go and backed away. Bai Tsa stopped attacking Jade and Uncle and turned around to her younger brother.
"What are you doing?! You just had the chance to kill him!!!" she snapped and Shendu shook his head.
"No! If I kill him, we are going to be banished to the Realm of Eternal Suffering!" the dragon explained and Bai Tsa immediately understood.
"AAIIIYAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Jackieeeeee!!!!!!! The demons realized everything and it is all your fault!!!!!!" the old man blamed.
"B-But... I-I... don't... Ahh! Never mind..." Jackie said in defeat. When the two demons were about to run away, everybody was surprised when the rest of the J-Team entered the fish cannery being chased by the demons.
"No! We have to leave now!!" Shendu and Bai Tsa tried to say, but Tchang Zu ignored them.
"Do not be cowards! After them!" the thunder demon ordered and in the middle of the just formed mess, Uncle managed to approach Jade and Jack, who were together trying to protect themselves from the demons.
"Jade! You and Jack have to go now! Uncle is going cast a very dangerous spell!" he yelled and Jade hesitated, but trusted her uncles and carried Jack to run with him.
"Alright, Uncle!"
"STOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!!!!" Tchang finally screamed and everybody stopped.
"All of you! Kill Jackie Chan!" he ordered and all the demons, except Shendu and Bai Tsa, concentrated in chasing Jackie. Hsi Wu noticed Jade running away and flew after her.
"Wait! You cannot kill him!" Shendu warned but was completely ignored.
"Jade! Where are we going?" Jack asked while was carried by his cousin and Jade didn't answer, just concentrated in running as fast as she could. And that was what she did until Hsi Wu appeared in front of her.
"Hsi Wu, get out of my way!" she demanded.
"Jade... you have never been the type of person who runs away from a fight... What are you up to?" he asked in suspicion and Jade clenched her fist angry.
"Wow, they are having a great time there, huh?" a voice commented behind him.
"Julia!" Jade exclaimed in surprise when seeing her friend beside her father.
"Hsi Wu, take those two to a safe place while I do something about that mess." the girl calmly said and Hsi frowned.
"Hey, you don't give me orders!"
"But I know you want to do so..." Julia said smiling suggestively and glancing at Jade. The sky demon hesitated a bit before finally admitting she was right. He grabbed Jade with Jack and flew away.
"Julia, what are you going to do?" Valmont asked worried.
"Come on, dad. Let's help them!" she said pulling him by his hand.
"But... help who?"
"Enough! I am not going to stay here just to be banished to that damned realm!" Shendu snapped.
"Neither am I!" Bai Tsa agreed and when the duo was about to leave the Helm's Fish Cannery - or what remained of it - they ran into Julia, who now was shining, dragging her father along with her.
"Eh... Julia...?" Shendu murmured puzzled with the power she was concentrating.
"Jackieeee! Stops running away and face the demons!" Uncle ordered.
"But Uncle, one demon is missing..." Jackie reminded while dodging countless attacks.
"We take care of him later, do as I say! Now!" Uncle ordered and Jackie suddenly stopped, bravely turning to face the demons. Tchang Zu laughed in victory.
"So you finally decide to give up, Chan?"
"Noooooooo! Don't kill him! Don't kill him!" Shendu screamed desperately and Julia, noticing the urgency in the dragon's voice, decided to interfere.
"Stop!" she demanded and Uncle, seeing that Jackie's death approached, began to chant the spell. Tchang Zu threw a powerful electric attack that hit Jackie and Julia, who had dived to try to save him. A huge purple portal was opened in front of the demons and in the next moment there was an explosion that could be seen even some kilometers away from the city. The explosion didn't get to kill anybody, since it was a black chi explosion, but it injured the humans who were there and stunned the demons. Julia was the only one who didn't suffered even a scratch, and after the purple smoke had vanished, she looked around herself and saw only rubbles of the fish cannery burying the J-Team, her father and some of the demons.
Hsi and Jade looked in horror at the place where the explosion had happened and Hsi Wu returned as fast as he could. He left Jade and Jack in the ground and they looked at everybody. Some of them were unconscious, others were close to that.
"Oh, my God! Jackie! Uncle! Tohru! Viper! Paco! El Toro!" Jade screamed while looking for them in the rubbles.
"Dad! Mom!" Jack joined her.
Hsi Wu and Julia were still a little disoriented. They weren't sure about where to start, and fortunately some demons managed to get up by themselves. Po Kong looked to be the one in better shape, and helped her younger siblings who were still unable to move. She helped Shendu, Bai Tsa and Xiao Fung. Tchang Zu helped Tso Lan, and Hsi Wu tried to help Dai Gui, who refused it.
"Tchang Zu... I think we should... retreat..." Tso Lan said and his oldest brother nodded.
"Retreat!" he ordered.
"Wait! What about the slaves?" Bai Tsa reminded weakly.
"Hsi Wu! Bring the slaves!" Po Kong ordered and the demons made an effort to take their human forms and run.
"I bet that in one minute this place will be full of reporters." Julia said seriously and Jade bit her lip.
"Hsi Wu! Leave me here taking care of the others! I see you later!" Jade pleaded and Hsi nodded. They kissed and Julia and Jack stared at them openmouthed.
"But do not forget that you are still mine, Jade!" the sky demon said and quickly grabbed Julia and her unconscious father, and flew to their hideout. The only thing that Jade could do at the moment was to look for their relatives and friends and call an ambulance.
To be continued...
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Where are the enforcers, you may ask... Well, don't worry. They're going to have a participation in this. I can't make them very funny like in the show or some fics here, but I'll try. And before you ask me, I didn't mess up with the realms' names. There're two realms here, one for the demons banishing and the other for the sacrificed being.
Now I have two things to ask:
1) Don't you think that Shendu should be a good guy at least for one episode? Think about it... Tiger talisman!^^ Please, sign the petition that is on my profile, or on VampireNaomi's.
2) Please read my one-shot fic "Dark Rain" and write a friendly review to make me happy. If you think it really sucks, then just forget it and read my other fics, hehe!^^"
Thank you!