The Lost Daughter
"My patience wears thin, Valmont," Shendu growled out threateningly at the human before him. "Every moment spent in this stone encasement is an eternity lost!" he shouted as he reached the end, unable to hold his temper as his eyes shone to almost a blinding brilliance. He had been on edge the past few days, his anger more reinforced what with most of his talismans out of his reach and the fact that he was stuck with buffoons as minions!
"I assure you, Shendu," Valmont said stoically in an attempt to sooth the riled stone dragon before him, which only served to make Shendu all the more infuriated. "My men are spending every waking moment searching for your Talismans,"
"Aw, come on! I wanna see the baseball scores," came the voice of Ratso as he and Finn entered the office with a newspaper in hand as they squabbled over it. Shendu glared over Valmont's shoulder at the proof against the human's words, even as the criminal boss winced slightly and turned to glare at his enforcers, who didn't see as they were too engrossed in the paper.
"Ah-ah!" Finn snapped as he tried to keep the newspaper away from his friend. "Not till I check out Stewie Cabloie, he's da bomb!" Finn grinned to himself, and failed to notice Ratso reach over him and pluck the newspaper from his hand. As he did this, Shendu thought he saw something on it, something he had never thought to see in this era.
"You two!" Shendu barked, causing the enforcers to freeze as their eyes slowly met Shendu's, and he could hear their heart beats begin to race. Oh, how he missed being able to rip humans apart when they displeased him, their screams were most soothing to his ever constant anger issues. "Come closer…" he ordered.
"Uh-oh," Ratso mumbled fearfully as they came close to the desk, and noticeably within roasting distance should Shendu chose to blast them with his fire.
"Show me the parchment…" Shendu ordered as he was already casting a hard stare at the object in question. Ratso seemed taken aback, before offering the demon the back of the newspaper with a curious look.
"You a Giant's fan Shendu?" the burly man asked as he showed the sports articles.
"ARGH!" Shendu snarled with impatience. "Turn. It. Over!" Ratso was almost shaking as he turned the newspaper back the right way and cowered behind it as he showed Shendu the front page. There! Shendu saw it, the picture that had grabbed his attention: Lo Pei. He felt seething hatred rile through him as he glared at the picture, as if he could claw the real man apart for what he had done to him.
"What, the hair-plugs add?" Ratso asked stupidly.
"The statue of Lo Pei…" Shendu hissed.
"Ha! You wanna see Lo Pei, you should check out my salary!" Finn grinned, before looking over at Ratso. "Get it? Low–Pay?"
"Fools!" Shendu hissed at them, causing them to freeze in place as they looked at him. "Lo Pei was the Chi Warrior who scattered my Talismans to the four corners of the Earth, and turned me into a statue." He explained, once again losing himself in memories of that wretched day.
"Well I guess somebody did the same to him, huh?" Ratso said thoughtfully as he studied the picture on the newspaper.
"What goes around comes around?" Finn added quickly.
"No, that is simply a statue, made of terracotta." Shendu murmured, though he couldn't help but smirk at the idea of Lo Pei suffering the same fate as he. What sweet justice would that be for Shendu? He was lost in such a delightful thought that he almost didn't notice Valmont snatch the paper and read the article studiously.
"Who's leggings bear inscriptions…" he read aloud.
"Ahh…" Shendu said, clearly on the same thought track as Valmont, and he would have grinned if he could. "Which may provide precious clues as to the whereabouts of the remaining talismans," How lucky could he be for the ancient fool to leave a map to the talismans for anyone to read, including the Demon-Sorcerer. He then brought his attention back to Finn and Ratso as he ordered them: "Bring the terracotta warrior to me,"
"You did WHAT?!" Valerie shrieked as she looked down at Jade with huge eyes.
"Okay, I swear it wasn't my fault!" Jade said hurriedly, clearly panicked. "I came racing home and it was in the middle of the shop! I swear I didn't do it on purpose!"
"My first day back and already I'm done for?! You guys don't understand the meaning of normal, I swear!" Valerie was in shock, she couldn't comprehend what was happening, her mind was struggling to understand what had happened. How could this be?!
Valerie had been in the museum in order to try and find inspiration for her next university paper on the ancient Huns of Mongolia. Whilst there, she had seen a new exhibit, a Chinese statue of terracotta of a man named 'Lo Pei', interested, Valerie had listened to the spokeswoman as she gave a little history on the statue, how it was made hundreds of years ago in honour of a great warrior of ancient china and who supposedly travelled the four corners of the earth. It was whilst looking at the statue that Valerie had noticed inscriptions on the legs of the statue… inscriptions she recognised from all of Uncle's books. She had immediately contacted Jackie so that he might somehow come and see the inscriptions for Uncle to study, they might hold clues to how to find the other Talismans if Valerie's hunch was correct! But Jackie had done better. Due to his good relationship with the museum as an archaeologist, he managed to get the statue on loan for a day so that he and Uncle might right down the inscriptions and translate them. Valerie had been practically ecstatic at the hope of getting hands on with a piece of history as she had always dreamed of, but she had only gone to the back room in order to find more books to offer translation… and then she'd heard an almighty crash. She came back into the room a second later and found Jade huddled over a pile of rubble on the floor where the statue had once been. It had taken all of Valerie's willpower not to scream or faint!
"Oh… broken statue…" Jackie mumbled as he seemed a paler shade of white as he paced back and forth across the shop.
"Sorry!" Jade whimpered.
"Broken statue!" he said again.
"Sorry."
"Broken statue!"
"Sorry!"
"Jasmine tea to calm the nerves," Uncle said as he came into the room carrying a tray of cups and teapot.
"Thanks!" Valerie whispered as she snatched at a cup and down it in one, ignoring the way it burned her tongue and she could feel it sweep down her throat, igniting a fire all the way to her stomach. Jackie opened the top of the tea pot in order to look gloomily at the tea leaves swirling within.
"Yes, I can see my future in the tea leaves…" he muttered dryly. "The museum contacts the University," he said as he began to count off his fingers. "And my career winds up like that statue: Ruined! – Ow!" he yelped when Uncle slapped him with two fingers.
"Your career NOT IMPORTANT!" the old man yelled. "Now we will never read the inscriptions…" he said in a dark and foreboding tone. "Knowledge has been lost forever!" he wailed, then stopped as a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Must call my insurance agent, see if I'm covered for this…"
"This isn't happening – this isn't happening – this isn't happening!" Valerie whimpered to herself as she sat herself down by the stairs and began to rock back and forth.
"Er… Val?" Jade asked nervously. "You alright?"
"Alright?!" the woman shrieked as if frightened. "Do you not understand? We would need to pay what that statue cost – more than all of our salaries combined ten times over! I was the one who told Jackie about it and had it brought here! The statue is broken! If the University finds out that I was with you when it was broken – God! This isn't happening!" she buried her head in her hands.
"Look," Jade said as if it were no big deal. "All we gotta do is figure out which pieces go where, like a big jigsaw puzzle," she then grabbed two pieces of the statue at random and tried to fit them together, adding two other pieces to it. The pieces didn't match, and hastily fell back down. She looked helplessly at Jackie. "I'm just trying to help!"
"I think you've helped enough already!" he snapped.
"It's not like I meant it!" she pleaded.
"Jade," Valerie said a little sternly. "Sometimes it's not about whether you meant it. Because whether you did or not, we're still in this mess! It'll take a miracle to get us out of this now!" she stormed into the kitchen after Jackie, meaning to get another cup of tea to calm her frantically beating heart, though her tongue still tingled from the burn of the last cup. Yet, if Valerie had stayed in the room just a little longer, she would have noticed a sudden spark in Jade's eyes.
But even after another two cups of tea, Valerie still felt the wings of panic beating in her chest, causing a wind of anxiety to race through her veins. Jackie even wondered if she should go and have a lie down, she was getting so wound up. But no, Valerie could remember feeling this before, when she would break something as a child and feared her father's reaction – or worse her mother's when she was visiting her in Toronto. S from experience, Valerie knew that there was nothing else for it. There was only one solution: binge read.
Valerie loved books, they helped to take her consciousness off to another place, what she called her mind palace, where her imagination was free to roam and where she could easily envision the words on a book as if they were the true reality. In her mind palace, her body became completely relaxed and she was able to focus her energies on something other than whatever was bothering her. It was the reason why books became her best friends whilst growing up, when she had no friends at school, or daddy was forced to work late at the station. However, Valerie had not brought any books with her to the store today, literally being in a hurry to get out of the door after sleeping in past her alarm clock seeing as she had been up all night the night before saving Jackie. So, she simply went into the back room and plucked a random book from one of Uncle's shelves. His book collection was in bad need of a sort out, and Valerie mentally made note that she would have to do it at some point soon. Settling down onto the armchair, Valerie did her best to settle into her mind palace and lose herself. As she read, Valerie had to admit that Uncle had a weird sense of book genres, she would have thought him to be a non-fictional-historical man, yet she was reading an old book on magical demons. She read for an hour, absorbing the text as she lost herself and slowly calmed as she read through the ridiculous book that talked about demon-sorcerers banished to a form of hell, even the different types that were banished.
"JACKIE!" she suddenly heard Uncle shout, jarring out of her mind palace with a jolt. Valerie came rushing out of the back room as Jackie leapt down the stairs two at a time.
"Uncle?" he asked worriedly.
"Broken statue is missing…" Uncle murmured, mystified as he indicated to the floor, for indeed, the statue – or whatever had been left of it – was gone.
"But how?!" Jackie asked. "The Dark Hand?"
"They wanted the inscriptions too!" Valerie gasped.
There was a loud "BANG" as the door was flung open, and everyone turned to see the three Dark Hand enforcers looking mean and angry in the doorway.
"We know you got the statue, Jackson," Finn said as he pointed an accusing finger at Jackie. "Where is it?"
"It's…" Jackie tried to say, but Valerie could see that he was struggling.
"Missing –" "– Broken." Jackie and Uncle said at the same time. They looked at each other in quiet panic. Valerie face-palmed, as she slowly edged along the wall, trying to go unnoticed as she shifted towards where her cricket bat that was leaning against the counter.
"Broken –" "– Missing." Jackie and Uncle said again desperately trying to go with the others option, but failing miserably.
"You need to get your story straight," Chow growled as he and the others stalked towards them.
"Okay…" Jackie said as he and Uncle backed up, looking over his shoulder at Valerie, who looked as nervous as he was now with her bat just out of reach. Jackie's eyes then caught on the tea pot on the counter. "But first… tea!"
He flung the tea pot, and Ratso caught it in his large hands. He instantly yelped as he juggled the hot tea pot from hand to hand, the pot hissing like a snake as it burned at his skin. He then threw it to Chow, who yelped and quickly threw it to Finn, who began to juggle it as he screeched and threw it away from himself.
"JACKIE!" Uncle screamed in panic. "TEA POT IS ANTIQUE!"
Jackie grabbed the tray as Valerie snatched up her cricket bat and they both charged at the enforcers. Jackie quickly caught the tea pot on the tray and hastily gave it to Uncle, as Valerie charged past him and swung her bat at Ratso's head. However, what she did not foresee, was the big man turning and catching the bat with one hand, stopping its momentum jarringly.
"Can't fool us twice, little missy," Finn sneered.
"Uh-oh." Valerie squeaked. Chow yelled as he kicked her in the stomach, sending Valerie flying as she lay wheezing on the floor, curling into a ball as her body screamed in pain as she tried to regain the breath into her lungs. But Jackie was soon standing over her as he took a flying kicking at Chow with an angry yell, flipping over in order to block Finn and leading up with a strike to the chest to send him flying into the wall. Finn lay dazed for a moment, until his eyes met the antique sword hanging on the wall. All three enforcers grabbed a sword, and Valerie had enough strength to sit herself up next to Uncle's legs as she watched with dread as the three now armed men faced off against a lone Jackie.
"Time to cut to the chase, Chan," Finn said angrily. "And I do mean cut!" and they charged.
In a blind panic, Valerie quickly looked around for something, anything, that might help… and saw the tray and tea-pot in Uncle's hands.
"Sorry Uncle," Valerie muttered as she stood as fast as she possibly could, and snatched the broiling hot teapot, and threw it at the enforcers. It hit Ratso first, the teapot breaking against his shoulder and the scorching hot contents splattering over him and then splashing onto the other two. It took them a second to realise what had happened, before they started screaming and tried to mop away the hot liquid that was burning them.
"Come on!" Finn shouted to the others as he desperately tried to overcome the pain that left his eyes watering. "Let's get out of here!"
"The statue's not even here!" Ratso yelled pitifully as all three of them ran out of the store. Valerie sagged against the side of the counter, holding her stomach, wincing at the thought that she was definitely going to bruise.
"So if the Dark Hand did not take the broken statue," Uncle said thoughtfully. "Then who?"
"My little helper," Jackie said angrily.
"Jade?" Valerie said. "What would she do with the statue? Where would she go?"
"I'm not sure, but I need to find her." Jackie said.
"I'll go to," Valerie said as she brought herself back to her feet. "We can cover more ground if we split up. Knowing Jade, she could be anywhere,"
"I know."
"Okay humpty-dumpty," Jade smirked as she looked at the pile of rubble she had assembled in her room at Section 13, tossing the horse talisman in her hand triumphantly. "Maybe all the King's horses couldn't put you back together again, but he never had one of these…"
She turned the talisman to the broken statue, activating it and watched as the blaze of late engulfed the rubble and suddenly the pieces of terracotta were assembled once again into a whole statue. Jade felt grinned as she felt like dancing in victory! Oh, she couldn't waitto see Jackie's face when he saw how she had resolved this problem all on her own!
"YES!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Jackie will be stoked! Especially if I help Uncle figure out what these chicken scratches say about the talismans…" she said thoughtfully as she looked at the engravings on the legs of the statue. However, she soon realised that despite the fact that she had grown up in Hong Kong, she had not a clue as to what the inscriptions said. "As if," she uttered, before looking at the talisman in her hand, an idea coming to her mind. "So why not get it right from the horse's mouth?"
She quickly disappeared to the vault, getting past all the security systems that were meant to keep her out, yet she always managed to get past. She returned to her room a few minutes later, the rat talisman in hand.
"Motion to the motionless," Jade said thoughtfully as she looked from the talisman to the statue in front of her with a smirk. "Okay rat, do your thing!" she activated the talisman, watching in quiet fascination as the talisman shot towards the statue and seemed to embed itself deep within the chest of the warrior-statue, right where its heart would be. Jade was momentarily blinded by the flash of light, forcing her to shield her eyes. When she looked back however, she was amazed. "YES!"
Before her stood a living and breathing man, definitely Chinese with his high cheekbones and smaller eyes. He had a long dark beard and dark hair that framed his face like a lion's mane. He word green and gold robes with a strange belt strapped around his chest and over one shoulder. The man blinked several times as if he were awakening from sleep, looking at his hands and his surroundings as if in confusion.
"Where am I?" he asked in a gruff voice.
"The real world!" Jade said excitedly, forcing the warrior to look down at her and acknowledge her. "Cool, huh? Now, Talismans pop-quiz time."
"Talismans?" the reanimated warrior demanded as he pointed to her. "What do you know of the –" he stopped as his eyes caught on the horse talisman that was still in Jade's hand. "The horse!"
"Yep." Jade smiled. "Used my little pony here to do a patch job on your… erm… self!" she finished quickly.
"How can this be?" he asked, almost to himself. "As the dandelion scatters its seeds to the four winds, so did I scatter the Talismans to the four corners of the earth." He rumbled in a mysterious voice.
"That was then, and this is Section 13," Jade told him proudly. "Got a mess of 'em right here. Safe and –"
"Here?!" the man asked in almost outrage.
"Well, not right here," Jade stumbled, realising that something was off with the way the warrior was staring at her and the talisman in her hand with a scrutinizing gaze. She made a conscious ffort to hide the talisman behind her back. "Downstairs in the, er, vault –"
"Show me!" the warrior demanded.
"Er… can't." Jade said vaguely, wondering if the man-lost-time would know what she was talking about if she told him the whole truth. "You gotta have clearance to –"
He simply walked past her to the door.
"As the silkworm sense the nearness of the armoured beetle," the warrior said as he walked down the halls of Section 13 to the vault, Jade trailing behind him. "I sense the Talismans are at hand…"
"Not even warm!" Jade said desperately, trying to intercept his path as they came to the vault door. "Oh well! So close! But you need a pass key."
The man didn't even seem fazed as he took a scroll out from his sleeve, and held it in front of him, Jade watching in fascination as the scroll literally levitated in the air, glowing a pulsing green.
"Energy Scroll!" the warrior thundered. And in a blaze of green light, the scroll sent a blast straight for the vault door, completely obliterating it and the second door that led through to the vault interior. Jade's mouth hung open in horror as she watched the warrior calmly walk over the rubble and into the heart of the vault.
"Or one of those…" she squeaked as she hesitantly followed.
"Some are missing!" the warrior exclaimed as he came up to the casing that held the talismans, his eyes widening in alarm as he looked over each and every talisman that Jade and Jackie had gathered so far. "Where is the Dog? The Pig? The Monkey? The Rat?"
"Err…" Jade said nervously. "The Rat's closer than you think. See… when I brought you to life, it kinda got stuck inside your –" she was cut off by a loud crash as the warrior smashed the glassing protecting the talismans, reaching inside to retrieve each and every one.
"I must once again safe guard these," the warrior said calmly, in an almost mystical voice. "Lest the fall into the hands of the Ultimate Evil." He whispered the last two words with equal parts horror and hate as his eyes narrowed almost angrily. The warrior then moved aside his beard, and his belt across his chest seemed to flip in place, revealing slots inside of it with perfect talisman holes. Suddenly, the talismans began to glow blue and flew to the warrior's belt to slot themselves inside the holes as if they had just been drawn there by a magnet, even the horse in Jade's hand. When all of them were safely stored away, the warrior's belt flipped again and hid away the talismans from sight.
"Freeze!" somone shouted, and both Jade and the warrior turned in surprise to see two of Section 13's agents training their guns on the ancient warrior. But of course, he had no idea of the danger posed to him, and just narrowed his eyes in determination.
"Yes. You will." He murmured, before turning around and reaching into his sleeves to retrieve another scroll. "Immobiliser Scroll!" he thundered and with a flash of green light, the two agents were suddenly frozen in place, unable to move. Jade gasped in fright, though the warrior merely walked past the two agents calmly. Jade scrambled after him. However, at the other end of the hall, Captain Black and his men were waiting with their guns ready; but upon seeing Jade, Captain Black's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed the shoulder of the nearest agent.
"Hold your fire!" he barked at his agents. "Watch out for the child!"
"Energy Scroll!" the warrior commanded as he withdrew another piece of parchment. For a sickening moment, Jade thought he would direct its blast onto Captain Black. But instead, the green light flashed upwards, blasting apart the ceiling, rubble raining down and leaving a huge hole in the roof that lead straight to the outside world above. In a moment, the warrior had leapt out of the hole and was gone, leaving Captain Black and Jade to watch where he had gone.
Captain Black turned his level stare onto Jade.
She only offered him a nervous smile.
Valerie and Jackie got the call of Jade's whereabouts not a few minutes later and were quickly on route to Section 13. Upon entering, they soon realised that something very bad had gone down, and followed the commotion to the Vault, where Valerie was unnerved to see that the Vault had been completely blasted open! Inside, Jade was standing by Captain Black, and Valerie felt her blood drain from her face as she noticed the talismans were gone. All of them.
As they approached, Captain Black said something to Jade and made his way to speak to some of his investigators.
"Well, I tried to be of help," Jade was saying somewhat smugly.
"Yes, and I wish you would stop helping!" Jackie said angrily, before turning to look at the empty talisman casing with fear evidently written on his face. "The talismans! How?!"
"Err…" Jade looked from Valerie to Jackie nervously. "You know that broken statue?"
"Lo Pei? Yes?" Valerie encouraged edgily, wondering what on earth Jade could have done to make the situation any worse.
"Well… he's not so broken anymore…" she finished.
"What?!" Both Jackie and Valerie blinked in surprise at the same time.
"Don't worry Jackie!" Jade said quickly, hopefully. "I can help!" Jackie glared at her. "Oops. The 'H' word." She mumbled miserably.
"Jade, what exactly happened?" Valerie asked sternly.
"Well, I thought that I could help fix what I broke," Jade began very quickly, making it extremely hard to follow what she was saying. "So I used the horse Talisman to put him back together, but then I thought: why not help you figure out where the talismans are? So I used the rat talisman and now… he's sort of… walking and… talking and…"
"JADE!" Jackie screeched.
"I'm sorry!" she said quickly.
"Why would you do such a thing?!" Valerie gaped.
"I'm sorry!"
"Did you learn nothing from gnome cop?!" Jackie persisted.
"I thought I could help!" she whined.
"Yes, but your help has only made things worse!" Valerie growled out in frustration.
"Please let me help!" the girl begged. "I promise to help set it right, I promise!"
"I think you've done enough!" Jackie snapped. "I will go and try to retrieve the talismans. Valerie will watch you to make sure you don't cause any more trouble."
"But Jackie –"
"No buts!" he said as he walked away.
Valerie resigned herself to babysitting duty, but at least it would keep Jade out of anymore trouble.
Yeah. That lasted for all of five minutes.
Valerie had left Jade in the laundry room under the surveillance of Section 13 agents. Captain Black said that Jackie had Jade do chores in order to earn her keep like she would do at home. Valerie had naïvely gone with that plan and let Jade out of her sight for more than a few seconds when she went to go and get a drink. She'd returned to a disaster!
Her jaw had almost hit the floor as she gasped, staring in shock as she saw the laundry room flooded with a tidal wave of bubbles! It was so thick that no one could see into it as if it were a dense fog, and it was sweeping out of the room even as agents tried to beat it back, some even venturing into the depths in order to search for the child within.
Valerie grit her teeth in frustration and turned around to race towards the entrance. She had to find Jade, and that kid was in sooooooooooooo much trouble when she found her!
Jackie had managed to ask a few people about the walking statue – and boy did he feel like a complete idiot for asking if people had actually seen a walking statue. But surprisingly, a few people had believed him, claimed to have sighted the strange looking man and pointed Jackie in the right direction. However, Jackie was a little nervous to see that Lo Pei seemed to be heading for Alcatraz Prison. Hopping on a ferry, Jackie had only just arrived on the famous island prison, when he saw the man-who-was-previously-a-statue in all his glory, green and gold robes, black beard and all. The warrior Lo Pei was standing over a great hole in the prison grounds with a talisman in his hand and appeared to be about to drop it into the hole. A flash of panic swept through Jackie as sprinted towards the figure.
"Wait! Please! Don't do that!" Jackie shouted, waving his arms in the air to catch the man's attention as he ran towards him. Lo Pei looked up, seeming slightly confused as he looked at Jackie ponderously.
"Who are you?" he asked somewhat curiously.
"I am the one who burrowed you from the museum," Jackie stated breathlessly, though at the look of continued confusion on Lo Pei's face, Jackie quickly hurried on. "You need to come home, and the Talismans need to be returned to Section 13, out of reach of the Dark Hand,"
"I know nothing of dark hands." Lo Pei stated stoically. "Only that the Talismans must remain hidden, lest they fall into the hands of the Ultimate Evil." He murmured, and Jackie felt a shier run down his spine at the last words, though he couldn't understand why.
"The ultimate evil?" he repeated curiously. "What is that?"
"You dare ask a sacred warrior to speak its name?!" Lo Pei demanded, suddenly seeming furious as he loomed over Jackie.
"But you're not a warrior!" Jackie said quickly, backing up as he tried to calm the situation. "You're a statue – Terracota! You know… knock-knock." He clucked his tongue as he knocked a knuckle against his head to demonstrate. However, this didn't seem to appease the statue-man, if anything, it seemed to only make him angrier. "I'll prove it to you," Jackie smiled as he pulled out a newspaper with the picture of the statue of Lo Pei on the front.
"Scroll Magic!" Lo Pei exclaimed, suddenly spinning as he kicked Jackie in the stomach, knocking the wind from his lungs as the man was sent flying backwards.
"Actually… daily tribune." Jackie wheezed as he rubbed his head and tried to get his breath back. "Okay… new plan," Jackie said as he stood up, holding up his hands to try and seem unthreatening as Lo Pei still stood ready for an attack. "How about we work together? You know the location of the remaining talismans, right?"
"Yes," Lo Pei said fiercely. "And that is knowledge you shall never possess! Energy Scroll!" he thundered as he took out a scroll from his sleeve with a blinding flash of green light.
Finn was eagerly retelling the story in front of Valmont and Shendu, who were both listening with equal parts suspicion and interest.
Upon realising that the statue wasn't at the Antique Shop – and after nursing their wounds – Finn, Ratso and Chow had taken the Dark Hand helicopter in order to fly over the city in search of any clues as to where it had gone. What they had not expected to see, was the statue alive and moving! They had all been confused and shocked out of their minds when they had seen the very likeness of the statue of Lo Pei on Alcatraz island fighting and using some form of magic on none other than Jackie Chan! They had all discussed about what to do; despite their orders to apprehend the statue, so long as it was moving and doing all those magic-mumbo-probably-gonna-hurt-jumbo, they had no chance. So they had quickly decided to report back to Valmont and Shendu.
"…And he was whopping Chan pretty good," Finn said a little nervously, all three enforcers unsure of what reaction their report would create.
"Rather ironic, is it not Shendu?" Valmont turned to Shendu with an amused smirk on his face. "The statue of the man who turned you into a statue is no longer a –"
"Silence!" Shendu hissed with barely supressed fury, his eyes glowing dangerously, which shut Valmont up pretty fast. "So Lo Pei has become a living being…" wasn't that just another thorn in his scaly side.
"Probably used the talisman – Oh!" Ratso grunted in pain when both Finn and Chow elbowed him in the stomach from either side of him.
"Lo Pei possess a talisman?" Shendu demanded, directing his voice onto Valmont accusingly. "And your men do nothing to retrieve it?!"
"Big V, you should have seen the guy," Finn pleaded though his tone was very serious. "He's packing paper!"
"Exploding kind!" Ratso added quickly.
"We'd be toast!" Chow finished.
"You are expendable," Valmont muttered under his breath.
"However," Shendu said. "The Talismans are not." He then thought for a moment, a wicked idea forming in his mind as he turned his attention back to the enforcers. "You shall employ a weapon more powerful then scrolls: Cunning." The enforcers seemed to know that this plan might not sit well with them as their eyes widened slightly. "You will convince Lo Pei that you are his allies: fellow warriors of the Ling Dynasty."
"Err…" Finn said nervously. "Maybe you haven't noticed Shendu, but we don't exactly have that ancient warrior look," he motioned with a hand to his immaculate yet ridiculous white jacket. With but a mental pull, Shendu summoned a shadowkhan, holding garments and robes of authentic robes of ancient Chinese warriors.
"You were saying?" Shendu said testily.
"So we're going undercover," Chow grumbled.
"And one more thing." Shendu snapped at them, turning their attention back to him. "If Chan is there to reclaim the statue, it is more than likely that the rest of his meddling group are with him. Should you happen to see Miss Payne in the vicinity, I want you to remove her from Lo Pei's location, make sure that they do not interact for any longer than necessary."
"What? Why?" Ratso asked dumbly.
"Have you imbeciles forgotten that the Rat Talisman gives motion to the motionless?" Shendu spat angrily. "It grants whatever it activates the usual power of whatever that object is. That is why this statue can summon scroll magic. But more than that, it gives the statue all of the memories and thoughts of what it is supposed to be. There are some things I do not wish for that statue to repeat onto unwelcome ears." Shendu growled as his eyes glowed dangerously.
"And take Tohru with you, just in case…" Valmont added.
"Okay then, no problem." Finn said quickly as she all but shoved his team out of the door and away from Shendu's growing ire.
It was only when the room was silent, that Shendu turned his focus back onto Valmont.
"You had best hope that your men succeed, Valmont," Shendu hissed to the human before him. "I have suffered your failures for long enough! This time, should your men fail me, I will be forced to take my frustrations out on something or someone else…" the demon's gaze made it perfectly clear what he was implying, and he was most satisfied to see Valmont shiver involuntarily as he stared up at Shendu.
Valerie got out of the cab, throwing her change at the driver as she walked towards the railing that overlooked the bay, where a familiar orange hoody was standing by a sight-seeing binoculars machine-thing, looking at Alcatraz. Valerie had only managed to find her when she had gone to Captain Black and asked him to look into surveillance in the city in order to find her charge. Captain Black had understood her predicament and was surprisingly helpful as he personally got her into public security cameras and street cameras in order to try and spot where Jade had gone. They'd finally managed to find her, and Valerie had quickly left to get her. As Valerie now approached, she thought she heard the girl murmur Jackie's name under her breath.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Valerie asked, causing the girl to gasp in shock and turn around to see the stern look on the older woman's face as she tapped her foot on the pavement.
"Uh… heh," Jade chuckled nervously. "Hi Val, watcha doing here?" she asked in a too obviously innocent tone.
"Jade…" Valerie said slowly. "You were supposed to stay at Section 13 with me,"
"I know!" the girl pleaded suddenly, her eyes wide and desperate. "But this is my fault! I have to make it right Val! Jackie's in trouble!"
"I understand Jade, but what exactly do you plan to – whoa…" Valerie trailed off, her eyes going wide as she looked up past Jade to see a man literally floating in the air! He looked like something straight out of an old Kung Fu movie, with green and gold robes, and a long black beard with dark eyes. He literally floated over the bay until his feet touched down on the shore not far from them. It took Valerie a moment to notice that the man was the spitting imagine of the statue of Lo Pei, and then it took her a minute longer to notice that Jade had left her side and was running towards the man. Valerie gasped and quickly run after the child.
"Hi!" Jade said overly cheery as she stepped in front of the ancient warrior. "Remember me?" she grinned.
"Out of my way, child," Lo Pei grumbled grouchily as he strode past her.
"Child?!" Jade said in slight outrage as she tried to keep up with the man. "You should be calling me master and granting me wishes!" But still the warrior ignored her, and Valerie saw Jade set her jaw with a growl; Valerie knew that look, the 'You've-made-me-mad-so-I'm-gonna-do-something-impulsive' look.
"Jade!" She quickly yelled as she finally caught up with them and drew the child away in the case that the now walking warrior might lose patience with the young one. Valerie quickly pulled Jade behind her protectively, even as the warrior turned at the sound of her voice to see this new predicament.
But when his eyes caught on her, they suddenly widened and what seemed to be a dozen different emotions flew across his face: surprise, confusion, sorrow, hope, happiness, grief, and others. Valerie looked at him in confusion not knowing what to do as he continued to stare at her, mouth opening and closing as he took a timid step towards her.
"Mei?" he said in a hoarse croak that seemed to break inside of him as he continued to stare at her, as if not daring himself to hope.
"What?" Valerie blinked in surprise, shuffling her feet nervously.
"Mei!" Lo Pei suddenly launched himself at her, and Valerie couldn't even squeak in surprise, nor did she have the time to try and get out of the way of what she supposed was an attack, when suddenly, the ancient warrior wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. Valerie was stunned to stillness as she felt one hand at the back of her head, cradling her like a child as the bigger man folded around her, crushing her against him though not to the point to hurt her. "Mei! My little may-flower, I have found you,"
"Excuse me?" Valerie squeaked quietly, almost so low that she thought he didn't hear her.
"My blessed child, I thought I had lost you," the great warrior said as he released her from his arms only to hold her face in his hands as he beamed down at her, his eyes glistening with tears. "But as the birds return to their nesting grounds every year, so too have you returned to me, my daughter,"
"What?!" Valerie yelped as she tried to duck out of his grip. "I'm sorry, but there must be some mis–"
"I very convincing spell of concealment you wear," the warrior said, smiling proudly upon her as he gestured to all of her. "I am proud to see that you have hidden yourself so well, it would break my heart to see the Ultimate Evil find you again," as he spoke that name, Valerie felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine, something racing through her veins that she could not completely suppress. "But any father can know his beloved child anywhere… your eyes, your mother's eyes… they sparkle like the still water, the same as the day you were born,"
"Look, Lo Pei," Valerie tried to say gently, something within her not wanting to hurt that completely overjoyed look she saw in the older man's eyes. "I'm sorry, but you've got it wrong –"
"There is nothing wrong," he interrupted hastily. "There's no need for you to hide any longer my dear, you are my daughter, my may-flower, Lo Mei,"
"Oh, look at this lovely family reunion!" Jade said overly brightly before Valerie could reply. "I bet this is something you don't want to do in public –"
"Jade!" Valerie hissed under her breath.
"– So how about we hop the number four bus to Section 13," Jade continued quickly to Lo Pei. "Return the Talismans to the Vault, and you two can sort out all your problems! No harm, no foul! What do you say big guy?" She grinned and held out a thumb's up as if she were a kid off of a TV commercial. Lo Pei frowned as he looked at the hand curiously.
"What is this strange gesture?" he asked almost to himself.
"Jade's idea of a sale's pitch," Valerie muttered to herself.
"It means A-Okay, we're pals," Jade grinned a genuine smile as she nudged the warrior as if they were old comrades.
"The small one is no pal!" came a voice, and everyone turned to see three figures standing across the road.
Jade and Valerie sucked in a breath in unison, and Valerie subtly took a step in front of Jade to try and shield her, a hand on her shoulder as they saw the three Dark Hand enforcers. However, Valerie had to blink in surprise, for all three of them (still with angry red marks on some parts of the exposed flesh of their necks from their earlier burns) were dressed in ancient Chinese robes much similar to Lo Pei's. Valerie had to wonder what on earth they were doing, but whatever it was, she felt a bad feeling in her stomach as she braced herself.
"She is the enemy, O great Lo Pei!" Chow stated as he pointed an accusing finger at Jade. Jade and Valerie were wide wide-eyed, almost unable to comprehend this costume show before them. Chow was in the middle, his gigantic sunglasses gone to show his more Asian features, Finn and Ratso flanking him and oddly silent as they allowed Chow to do the talking for them.
"You know my name?" Lo Pei asked, seeming genuinely surprised as he looked at the figures across the street.
"Sure, we're your homies," Chow said nonchalantly, slipping into his own way of speech right before a truck drove past and obscured him and the other enforcers from view for a half second. Valerie looked sharply over at Pei to try and see what he was thinking. Surely he wasn't buying this?! Especially after that slip up! "I mean…err… fellow warriors from the Ling Dynasty come to help!" he said quickly as they crossed the road towards them, Valerie taking an involuntary step back with Jade right behind her.
Valerie and Jade eyed Ratso and Chan who tried to cast them innocent smiles. Jade growled at them, and for once, Valerie was inclined to agree.
"As the, err, dew helps the morning glory to blossom," Chow said, stumbling for the right metaphor that he had clearly made up.
"Yep, that's us!" Finn said cheerily as all three of them smiled a little too brightly.
"No way you're buying this?!" Jade demanded to Pei, though she was quickly spoken over by Chow.
"The Emperor sent us to help you hide the Talisman…" he trailed off as his eyes caught sight of something. "Talismans." He corrected.
Valerie looked over sharply to see the belt that was wrapped around Pei's torso, the faint glow of their magic suddenly red before fading. Pei had all the Talismans from Section 13! How could she have been so stupid as to forget that fact?!
"You got so many," Chow continued as he and the enforcers leaned in with a greedy look in their eyes. "He figures we can do it faster and cheaper,"
"They're so lying!" Jade cried out furiously. "They're the Dark Hand! Bad guys! Enemies of Jackie and me!"
"You can't believe them!" Valerie joined in, her vote seeming to actually make Pei stop to look at her with the slightest hint of suspicion in his eyes towards the new three figures.
"Yeah Lo Pei," Finn added with a smile, drawing the old warrior's attention back to him. "You know Jackie, the guy who was trying to bust you up back on Alcatraz? He's her uncle," he pointed a finger at Jade, causing Pei to look at her with suspicion.
"By marriage!" Jade tried to explain away quickly and uneasily. "Hardly know him really, hehe," she laughed nervously and casting an innocent look up at the warrior. Valerie face-palmed.
"As the Lilly-pad offers respite to the weary bullfrog," Pei said calmly in his wise yet gruff voice. "So too is your service to our cause much appreciated," he said to the three enforcers as he took off his belt and held it out for them.
"No –!" Jade tried to say but was quickly grabbed by Ratso and Finn, who tried to stifle her cries.
"Jade!" Valerie cried out as she launched herself into the fray, only giving a brief thought as to her own health as she desperately clawed at her friend's captors, trying to prise the girl free. However, she didn't get far before Finn snatched back Jade and Ratso tried to grab at Valerie.
"Come on little ladies, you're not supposed to be here," Ratso leered patronisingly in Valerie's ear. Seeing this sudden development, Pei's eyes narrowed with anger as he suddenly brought the belt out of reach of Chow and turned on him.
"A sacred warrior would never harm a child!" he thundered. "You are imposters!"
"Yes!" Jade exclaimed in triumph as Valerie quickly stamped on Ratso's foot and managed to wriggle her way free as she snatched the girl from Finn and ran to safety. However, a large shadow fell over them all, and Valerie turned in time to see with horror filled eyes as she heard the familiar loud footsteps.
"Look out!" she and Jade shouted together, and Pei turned in time to see the giant figure of Tohru standing above them all, holding a small cab in the air!
"Your cab's here!" he growled out as he suddenly threw the cab onto the ancient warrior.
"NO!" Valerie and Jade screamed as the cab crushed the man underneath it and he disappeared from sight. They rushed to his side, a hand lying limply out from under the car, but the Dark Hand were already picking up the belt of talismans and making their exit. Valerie and Jade were left in shock by the body, unsure of what to do as they looked about in panic. This couldn't be happening!
"Energy scroll!" Jade cried desperately as she reached into the sleeve of the limp hand to retrieve a piece of parchment and flinging it into the air. However, nothing seemed to happen, the paper floating uselessly to the floor. Jade's eyes sparked with panic as she once again picked it up and flung it into the air. "Err, power up!"
"Jade –" Valerie tried to whisper, though her voice came out broken and cracked. She didn't know why, but she felt a gaping hole in her chest as grief threatened to overcome her again. She had only known this man for just a few minutes, so why was she mourning him? She was devastated because she's seen someone killed in front of her, yes, that was plausible. But why this despair? Was it because of the desperate joy she had seen in his eyes, the caring and soothing way he had held her in his arms? Or was it because he had called her daughter, and some pathetic part of her was desperate to cling onto any semblance of her own father? But Jade wouldn't listen, still trying to make the parchment work.
"Abracadabra?" she asked miserably as the parchment settled on the ground once again, lifeless.
"Jade," Valerie said again, reaching out to place a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder as she buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry. But it's too late, he's –"
"Levitation Scroll!" came a thundering voice, as suddenly the parchment on the floor blazed with a brilliant green light and the car suddenly lifted into the air. Valerie squealed in surprise, scooting backwards as she watched in pure shock as Lo Pei was revealed beneath the floating car, in one piece, not squished, and completely unharmed. With a way of his hand, the car settled down on the street beside him as he slowly sat up.
"You're okay!" Jade exclaimed with equal parts wonder, amazement and happiness. Lo Pei seemed confused as he looked at his hands as if waiting for fountains of blood to start pouring from unseen cuts.
"Yes…" he said a little unsteadily, still inspecting his hands. "But I have no wound…"
"Well…" Jade started hesitantly, as if afraid of hurting his feelings. "That's because… you're a statue." Lo Pei looked at Jade with a frown, as if she were an imaginative infant who constantly acted out a fantasy.
"Mei, are you both alright?" he asked as he looked up at Valerie, his gaze softening.
"Yeah, we're okay," Valerie murmured, wincing internally at the sound of him calling her a name that was not her own.
"Those false warriors in the employ of the Ultimate Evil now possess the Talismans." Pei said gravely as he stood, for the first time, a look of defeat and resignation passing over his face. "I have failed. And you are in great danger my daughter,"
"What danger?" Valerie asked, knowing her voice sounded slightly frightened even as he spine shivered again from something she could not name.
"Wait, we can get them back!" Jade said quickly. "Where's that old sacred warrior spirit? Eye of the tiger! Never say never! Hoo-Ah!" she cheered as she held out a thumb's up.
Once again, Pei looked at her hand with curiosity, something enkindling to hope in his eyes as he looked down at his own hand, and slowly, as if he were working out a puzzle, formed his own thumbs up sign.
"Well that's something I never thought I'd see," Valerie said, unable to hide her own smile.
"Jade!" came a sudden voice as everyone turned to see Jackie running towards them, desperately and urgently as he came to stand beside Jade. "No! Don't hurt her!"
"It's okay Jackie," Jade told him with a calm smile. "Me and Lo Pei are pals,"
"The old boy's not so bad," Valerie offered with a smile.
"Pals… A-Okay," Pei murmured as he saluted a thumbs up, which Jade returned. Valerie grinned.
"And the Talismans?" Jackie ventured.
"Oh dear." Valerie muttered. "That… didn't go as planned."
"Yeah, they kind of got away with them…" Jade murmured guiltily. Jackie looked devastated for a second, before rubbing a hand over his face as he shook his head miserably. "It's okay!" Jade offered brightly. "We'll get the Talismans back! Warriors-Yes!"
"Warriors-no!" Jackie corrected quickly as he knelt before his niece to look imploringly into her eyes. "You are a child, and I am an archaeologist… though not for long." He then looked at Lo Pei. "If I don't get you back to the museum." He then looked at Valerie. "And you should be keeping Jade at Section 13,"
"Hey, don't blame me!" Valerie said defensively. "The girl's a mini-Houdini,"
"Again you speak nonsense," Pei said to Jackie as he began to walk away dismissively. "As the crescent moon is duty bound to follow the sunset, so shall I smite this Dark Hand. Hoo-Ah!" he cried with a thumb's up.
"Hoo-ah?" Jackie asked Jade with a pointed look.
"Its… an ancient warrior thing,"
"Sure," Valerie muttered, though couldn't suppress a grin as she, Jackie and Jade followed Lo Pei down the street.
"Rooster, Ox, Bunny, Horsey," Chow listed off as he inspected the talismans in the belt as the chopper flew them towards the Dark Hand HQ. He and the other enforcers were grinning as they knew they had done good with this catch, even Valmont seemed impressed by his look on the screen through the video call. Shendu however, still seemed on edge. "We got the whole kitten-caboodle!"
"You failed to mention the Rat." Shendu said in a low and suspicious voice.
"Err, sorry big cheese," Finn said disappointedly. "No rat. Honest. We checked all his pockets,"
"That is because Lo Pei carried it within him you fools!" Shendu growled out. "You will remove it or face my wrath!" he snarled, his eyes glowing so brightly that they lit up the whole screen, before the line suddenly disconnected.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Lo Pei suddenly thundered in outrage as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and pointed up at a building across the street. Valerie winced as she saw that a huge poster on a billboard proudly displayed a picture of the statue of Lo Pei to be at the museum as its newest exhibit. She looked at Lo Pei as he studied the picture, a sense of realisation coming over him, and with it, another look of defeat as he seemed to deflate. "You were speaking the truth… I am a statue… But if this is true… how can it be?" he asked, equal parts mystified and upset.
Valerie cast a look over at Jade, who nodded guiltily before slowly coming up to Pei and touched the place where his heart should be.
"Motion to the motionless," she murmured. Pei flinched, a look of innocent hurt entering his eyes as he brought his hands to his chest, before sighing.
"Hmm, the power of the rat…" he murmured, and then slowly looked up at Valerie, his eyes finally studying her closely, and she felt like a bug as he inspected every inch of her face, as if he were mentally taking her apart and putting her back together piece by piece. "And you are not my daughter,"
"I…" Valerie began, a flash of guilt coursing through her as she knew that this information would hurt him, and she knew that she didn't want to do that, she didn't want to have to smash this man's hopes. "No." she finally said. "My name is Valerie Payne… my mother is Stephanie Payne, and father was John Lawson."
"Was?" Jade whispered, but Valerie ignored it, along with the stabbing ache in her chest.
"So my daughter… my Mei… she is still dead…" Pei's voice broke in a way that Valerie was very familiar with, and a wave of pity washed through her.
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I don't know who she is,"
Pei closed his eyes as a look of grief came over him, dejection in his eyes as he turned away from them and sat down in silence on a street bench, his whole posture seeming to be of one who had been beaten. Valerie had no idea why, but it cut her inside to see such a strong man such as this, reduced to such misery. She'd seen something similar, had experienced the grief he felt, for there was no pain quite like that of losing one of your family. It cut you to the core and the wound never truly healed. So, without knowing what she was really doing, Jade and Jackie remaining behind, as if they could sense the sudden need for privacy, Valerie walked over and sat beside the great warrior. They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, Valerie allowing him time to absorb, but she knew from personal experience, that each second spent in silence was another second for him to forget the good and only remember the end: the death, the anger, the sorrow. People often say that you need time alone to think it through, to let it settle, but when Valerie had been told that her father had been killed, she would have given anything for someone to talk to, someone to remind her of all the good things of her father, and not linger on the thoughts that he was dead, and he wouldn't be coming home ever again.
"What was she like?" she asked softly, and as she had hoped, Pei leaned back against the bench, his eyes seeming distant as a look that was not quite so sad entered his eyes.
"Mei was my only daughter," he said in a soft yet gruff voice, making him sound like a lion purring gently. "She and my son, I loved more than anything in the world. When everything is lost, your children are all you have, they were everything to me. Mei was beautiful and sweet, she loved nothing more than sitting in the gardens when she could, watching the birds."
"You two were close?"
"As close as a father and daughter could be," he told her, a hint of pride in his voice with a faint smile. But then, his gaze back sombre. "Where we lived… it was not a good place. A tyrant ruled our lands, we were no better than slaves. My family lived better than most… but it was still not a good life. My wife died in childbirth to my children, so I was all they had left. I taught my children to never stop believing, to find happiness in the moments where they could find it. That is why my daughter loved the gardens, she loved the flowers." He trailed off, a forlorn smile creeping across his face as he gazed out into nothing.
Valerie hated herself for asking her next question, but she had no choice. A small part of her would not let her rest until she voiced it; she needed to know.
"What… what happened to her?" she forced herself to ask with a slight croak, Goosebumps prickling up her arms at the familiar question she had asked the chief inspector only a year ago. She banished such thoughts furiously from her mind. She didn't like the answer then, and she didn't like to think about it now. All it did was bring her more tears and misery.
"The unthinkable…" He whispered in a broken voice. "She fell into the hands of the Ultimate Evil." He spoke the words with such utter loathing, Valerie felt her skin prickle. "He took her to be his bride, though she was unwilling. I had seen my only daughter snatched away from, with the promise of her eternal misery. My people had been made as slaves, but it was the only life we knew. But when my daughter was taken… I could no longer stand idle. I raised an army to save my daughter and my people from the tyrant, but… in vain." He ended on a whisper, and Valerie instinctively reached out to clutch his hand in hers, squeezing his fingers to try and offer whatever comfort she could.
"What happened?" she forced herself to ask.
"We stormed his palace, and our whole resistance fought against him in an attempt for freedom. But during the battle… my little Mei was killed. In my fury, I dealt with the evil that had plagued my homeland, I imprisoned him and took from him the sacred talismans. I mourned the death of my daughter… my little may-flower…" he paused in order to take an unsteady breath, tears in his voice though he would not show them in his eyes. He then slowly looked up at Valerie, his eyes searching hers as if she held all the answers. "You look like her," he said simply.
"But I'm not her…" Valerie murmured softly, needing to express the truth but not knowing how to be gentle with it.
"You have the same eyes… and something about you gives the pair of you a resemblance… it allowed me to be happy if just for a moment," he murmured.
"We all suffer loss, Pei," Valerie murmured, the truth ringing in her ears and making her stomach turn. "But it's how you deal with it that counts,"
"But I am not even who I think I am…" he said dejectedly. "I have had no real family, no real loss; I am not even a man but an inanimate object made of terracotta, with only the memories of a man,"
"Hey, come on," Jade said encouragingly as she came closer, a supportive smile on her face. "Everyone loves a statue," she tried to say helpfully with a thumbs up, though Pei merely seemed to deflate further at her words, Valerie's sympathy only rising as she instinctively squeezed the man's hand.
And then, faintly but growing louder, Valerie thought she heard the sound of motorcycles, standing from the bench, she looked curiously down the street, something not sitting well in her stomach. Being a cop's daughter, she had inherited her father's gut instinct for when something was about to go wrong. Jackie followed her gaze, just as suspicious as she was, and they saw three motorcycles with three familiar figures coming straight towards them.
"The Dark Hand!" Jackie exclaimed in slight panic.
"Why?" Jade asked, eyes wide. "They have all the talismans!"
"No they do not…" Pei said as he stood and stared down the street with an anxious gaze.
"They're after the rat!" Valerie exclaimed as she looked from Lo Pei fearfully to the fast approaching Dark Hand.
"Duh," Jade muttered to herself as she smacked her own forehead.
The Dark Hand were only fifty feet away, holding long baton-like-swords that sizzled with the hum of electricity. Valerie gasped and edged backwards, a hand instinctively going to Jade and Pei in an attempt to get them all to safet–
"Immobiliser Scroll!" Pei suddenly thundered as he unleashed a piece of parchment from his sleeve, and a blinding flash of green light suddenly commenced. Valerie winced as she shielded her eyes, but after a moment, when she finally dared to look, she saw that the Dark Hand Enforcers were all standing perfectly still on their bikes, eyes wide as they wondered what was happening to them, before all of them, comically slowly became off balance on their bikes and fell to the floor.
But then, Tohru suddenly appeared, the giant towering over the little group, a set of nun-chucks in his hands as he twirled them expertly about his arms in a threatening display. One that caused Valerie to shrink back with a whimper. But then, with a raging battle cry, Lo Pei sprang into the air and kicked both legs straight into Tohru's upper chest. With a cry, the giant man was sent flying backwards as if the arm of a crane had just smacked into him, and he landed heavily several feet away, groaning, and not getting back up any time soon. Valerie couldn't hold back her grin.
"Wow," she said as Lo Pei landed neatly on his feet and retrieved the belt of talismans from the still frozen Chow. "Who needs magic when you got moves like that!" No sooner were the words out of her mouth, then Valerie saw the shadows of the street suddenly come alive as Shadowkhan suddenly appeared everywhere to surround them. Valerie had seen the Shadow-warriors in passing when Jackie had encountered them before, but this was her first time meeting several dozen of them face to face, their black visages seemed to make them blend perfectly with the darkness, and they moved with inhuman speed, grace and precision. Everything about them screamed "un-natural" from their blue skin to their glowing red eyes, and Valerie gulped as she slid closer to Jackie. "Err, actually, magic would be good right about now,"
"We must go," Pei ordered, his voice rich with authority as he stood defiantly against the horde of dark figures. "As the bamboo stands firm against the furious hale, so shall I stay them off… so long as I am able."
"No!" Valerie said automatically, shaking her head desperately as she looked about. "You can't, there are too many!"
"I entrust you to guard the talismans," Pei continued, completely serious as he held out the talisman belt to Jackie, whilst keeping an eye on the shadowy figures. "And keep your world safe from the Ultimate Evil,"
"I understand," Jackie said gravely with a nod. "Thank you,"
"No!" Valerie said furiously. "Don't be a martyr! It's not worth it!" furious tears were pouring from her eyes as she came to stand in front of Pei, noses inches apart as she dared to look him square in the eyes. She didn't know why she was suddenly shaking, why her eyes were suddenly leaking, but she was suddenly in two states of mind, one on the sidewalk, and one demanding answers from a man she would never speak to again. "There are too many of them for you to handle on your own! Run! Get to safety! You have other things to live for! You have a daughter –"
"No, I do not," he told her sadly, a hand coming to rest on her shoulder, and Valerie felt the fire that had suddenly been in her veins deflate, and she blinked and looked up at him as if coming out from a dream. "Though you are not my child by blood, you are mine through my heart. Go now, be safe, and remember your father, as you have showed me to remember my daughter," he whispered.
Before Valerie could think to understand what he meant and how he could have known, Pei suddenly thrust the talisman belt into her hands and she slowly stepped away from him as he turned to face the Shadowkhan. With one last sad look, Valerie turned on her heel and sprinted for all she was worth as she followed Jackie who picked up Jade in his arms and ran with her towards the docks to where a jetski was waiting for them, likely the one that Jackie had used to get to the shore from Alcatraz. With each hard push of her arms, each harsh breath in her lungs, Valerie felt an ach in her chest that had nothing to do with her suddenly overworked respiratory system, and everything to do with the memories that refused to be silenced and go back to the hidden prison in her mind where she had banished them. Memories of a woman who had been turned back into a girl by the world's worst news, hearing people tell her the very thing she had always feared, the guilt that had flared through her, the lies told to her that everything would be alright when she knew that the world would never be the same again. As each memory came, she banished it just as quickly with each tear that fell.
They managed to reach the shore of the bay Jackie climbing onto the jetski and starting it up, Jade talking to him, arguing with him though Valerie couldn't hear what was said, she was numb to everything and hardly able to breathe through the pain in her chest that refused to abate with the memories. She quickly slipped the talisman belt over her shoulders and quickly turned to pick up Jade. The child quickly caught something from the air, and looking down at her hand, Valerie saw the Rat Talisman.
Grief warred with panic and survival instincts as Valerie quickly picked Jade up and deposited her on the water craft before squeezing on behind her as Jackie sped away and they left.
To say that Shendu was absolutely furious beyond all comprehension was an understatement! The fire that coursed through him was blazing to such a degree that he felt his own stone scales radiating the heat in waves as his eyes blazed, the temperature of the room soaring with his ever mounting temper.
"VALMONT, YOU COMPLETE IDIOT!" He roared so loudly, he felt the wall he was hanging on shake. "The talismans were in your men's possession and they lose EVERY. SINGLE. ONE?!"
"Now Shendu," Valmont tried to start cautiously, attempting to have his own sense of pride in his slightly defiant tone, though Shendu could see his knees give a slight shake with every other heart beat as his red eyes glowed so brightly it cast the human in a demonic shade of blood. "You were the one that told my men to –"
"ENOUGH!" Shendu roared as a jet of fire streaked from his mouth, causing Valmont to gasp as he leapt back out of range, as Shendu's frozen form could not move his head to follow the direction of his human prey. He ceased the fire in his throat, steam still hissing from his jaws as Valmont managed to readjust his tie as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, though Shendu watched his throat bob with nerves. "I am tired of your failures Valmont." the demon hissed icily, his tone full of malice and the promise of hurt which he would greatly relish. "I have warned you of what would happen if you tested me again, yet you have chosen to carry on with your complete farce of an operation!"
"Shendu," Valmont pleaded quietly. "I just need –"
"SILENCE!" Shendu snarled savagely, and Valmont quickly shut his mouth. "It seems to me, that you do not take this mission seriously, Valmont. So it is clear to me, that if my demands nor my play to your greed can not motivate you… then I must use other methods with which to make you more cooperative with my goals,"
Before Valmont could say anything, the doors to the office burst open, and Shendu was pleased to see Valmont turn and his face pale slightly when he saw two Shadowkhan enter the office, and held between them was a young woman. The shadowkhan held her by her arms as she kicked and struggled against them, though they still dragged her forward and shoved her down to the floor so that she was kneeling before the desk. The woman was absolutely terrified: her artificially blonde hair was messy with strands out of place from her struggle against the dark-warriors, her big doe-like eyes looked from one face to another with her huge amount of makeup smearing from her tears and sniffles; her small pouty lips were also puckered as she panted for breath. Her gaze seemed to snag on Valmont, a thin ray of hope shining in her eyes.
"Mr Valmont?" she asked shrilly, her voice already grating on Shendu's nerves, and he recalled vaguely that she was Valmont's secretary or something like that. "Sir?! What is happening?!" Valmont seemed to understand what was happening, and turned his gaze away from the woman.
Shendu didn't answer her with words, only hissed in a very unearthly way, and the woman's gaze snapped to the statue and her eyes widened as on an instinctual level, she realised that something predatory and deadly was beheld right before her. Shendu drank in her fear as if it were a sweet wine to his senses, rejuvenating him and making him all the more excited for what he was about to do. Oh, how he had missed this! The execution was only as fun as the screams were loud and piercing in his ears, and he hoped this woman screamed like a banshee. Heaven and Hell knew how much Shendu needed the release for his pent up anger and bloodlust.
The Shadowkhan slid their hands down to the woman's wrists, and pulled her body taught so that they were out of range, but she had nowhere to go. With a roar, Shendu unleashed a torrent of fire that suddenly raced across to the woman in front of him, the flames engulfing her in their depths and roasting her alive. Her screams met his ears like a song, and he relished every moment, turning down the intensity of the flames just enough to prolong her agony and her shrill screams without killing her outright in the furnace. The stench of burning flesh and bubbling blood and smoke filled the air, and Shendu saw out of the corner of his eye how Valmont was watching the proceedings silently, his face pale though not in sympathy for the poor woman, a handkerchief held over his nose and mouth. But all too soon, Shendu's symphony of death ended, the woman dying and then quickly turned to nothing but ash. The Shadowkhan returned to their realm of darkness at Shendu's silent dismissal, leaving him alone with the shaking human as the dragon trained his glowing eyes on the mortal.
"Do NOT fail me again…" he hissed, the warning clear and simple. Valmont nodded mutely.
I apologise for lateness and any and all mistakes but it is very late here in the UK and I am extremely tired... but I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and please don't forget to review!