Doppelganger

Shendu entered into the mind of Valerie, her dream swallowing him up and sucking him down into the depths of her subconscious like a tempest that swept him aside with its whims. He endured through the spinning sensations and cacophony of sounds that surrounded him, keeping himself still and calm as he waited for everything to readjust itself. Slowly, the whirlwind ceased and Shendu found himself released from the storm as he was brought into the dream. And almost immediately he could tell that he had intruded onto a nightmare. The feel of her mind around him was covered in her fear and dread, like a pulsing hum that he could not so much hear, but rather feel.

Looking about him, Shendu realised that he was in the middle of a forest, the trees long since stripped bare, the branches like claws or spears that jutted out from the trunks threateningly. A blast of icy wind whistled through the trees, creating an eerie howl, and stirring up the dead leaves and pine needles that littered the forest floor. It was then that Shendu became aware of the other presence not far from him. He saw a child running through the forest, dressed in dirty boots and a thick coat, her hands in woollen mittens. Her long scraggily blonde hair was wild and streaming out behind her as she ran, and sparkling blue eyes looked about in wide eyed fear. Shendu recognised the girl from the one picture he had seen – this was a much younger Valerie. Shendu quickly flew after her, deciding to follow the panicking child in order to see how this developed. The child seemed absolutely terrified of the forest around her, a scream building in her throat which refused to be released. As her fear grew, it affected the nightmare, feeding it. Each snap of a twig, rustle of dead leaves or whistle of wind, became animalistic growls, monstrous snarls or horrifying shrieks.

"Mommy! Daddy!" the child called out pleadingly, seeming to see something at the edge of the forest, and running for it as fast as she could. Shendu only saw shadows that only had the brief impression of a human-like body. But the young-Valerie went blindly towards it, terrified out of her mind and going to the only thing she deemed as safe.

However, as she raced out of the treeline, Shendu suddenly found himself slammed into a different environment. This time, he was in police station, or at least he guessed so by the number of uniformed law enforcement. They were gathered around a much older Valerie, one that was not too dissimilar from the one that Shendu now knew. But her hair was a little longer, and her eyes held a little more youth to them… that seemed to be fading by the minuet. Several men were around her, their faces grim or angry or even as upset as Valerie seemed to be becoming. She was sitting on a chair and one policeman was kneeling in front of her, his face grave. Shendu hovered closer to hear what they were saying.

"…They pulled guns out," the officer was saying. "They panicked and –"

"No!" Valerie screeched suddenly, the sheer volume and menace in her voice enough to make Shendu blink in surprise. "No, you're lying! You're lying!"

"I'm sorry Valerie," the officer tried to say, his voice gentle, his eyes pitying her. "We called your mother. She's coming… It's gonna be alright," he added, trying to be soothing, but his voice even made it obvious of the bleak lie that was there.

Valerie couldn't respond, she had frozen in place, her breathing hitched into shallow and quick succession. She fixed her eyes on a specific spot, unable to tear her gaze away as her hands held a grip on the arms of her chair until her knuckles turned white. Tears gathered in her eyes and spilled down her face, and she was weeping, sobbing, crying her heart out, though she seemed to be completely unaware of what she was doing, her awareness locked away to whatever corner of her mind she had sealed it.

"Valerie," the officer said, voice trying to coax her back to reality. "Val –"

Valerie screamed, pushing herself forward, and as she did so, the scene shattered, and once again both she and Shendu were sent hurtling into a different scenario. This time, Shendu found them to be in a great vault, the light dim, only illuminating a specific spot. Valerie stood in the pool of light, now looking to be very much like the young woman Shendu knew, with her shoulder length blonde hair, and much more serious eyes, the innocence inside of them murdered along with her father. Valmont stood not ten feet away from her, in a similar pool of light, holding his hand out to her, a malicious grin on his face.

"You should have taken a different job, Miss Payne," Valmont sneered as his hand began to glow. "This one is very hazardous to your health,"

It was then that Shendu realised that all of these seemingly random dreams were dramatized memories that Valerie was reliving in her nightmares. She was enduring all of her past fears, from childhood all the way to the present.

From Valmont's hand, a light appeared, shooting out towards Valerie, hitting her in the face and engulfing her in fire as she screamed. Valmont laughed crazily, his eyes dancing with an evil depth. Shendu heard Valerie's scream, that same instinct welling inside of him that she was HIS thing, and those who would harm his toys would be destroyed for such a sin! Valmont's laugh only added insult to the injury and Shendu snapped under the onslaught of his emotions.

He leapt at Valmont, his astral form driving right through him, before turning to bathe the human in fire. Oh, how he had longed to do this when he had originally learned of the human's transgression, and now he finally got to do it, even if it was with only a figment of Valerie's imagination. Surprisingly, the dream interacted with him, whereas normally, Shendu would be ignored, a foreign element in the mind that didn't belong and therefore was ignored. But the dream-Valmont suddenly screamed as he burst into flames, his flesh melting from his bones as he disintegrated into nothing but ash. Then, all was silent, and Shendu was left with nothing but Valerie, as they remained in the vault, only a single pool of light illuminating Valerie, and Shendu happily welcomed the darkness of the shadows as he allowed them to conceal him. Valerie looked up and around her, her face no longer touched and marred by flames, and she looked about with wide eyes, searching for him, as if she could sense him there.

Once again, Valerie managed to surprise him, able to know that he was there without him needing to prod her. But he still hung back in the shadows, watching her as she tried in vain to search for any movement.

"It's you again…" she trailed off, as if she were only slightly uncertain at this point.

"Disappointed?" Shendu smirked at her, her head snapping towards the direction of his voice, but he had already silently moved to another part of the shadows, hoping to keep her confused on his whereabouts.

"Well… I don't ever dream about the same people twice, except for…" she trailed off, a broken look in her eyes as she glanced behind her, as if she could see the part of the dream she had just come from.

"Most humans cannot even tell when they are dreaming, yet you know?" he asked her.

"Oh I know it's a dream. I wouldn't be talking to a spirit in real life,"

"How do you know I'm a spirit?" he asked her quickly.

"A disembodied voice from the shadows – what else would you be?" her quick and witty reply had Shendu smirking slightly in amusement.

"You do not believe in spirits?" Shendu asked her with curiosity.

"Some things are rather hard for me to accept as real without proof,"

"You should keep an open mind, or you will be VERY surprised when something does prove you wrong," His red eyes glowed in the shadows around him, thinking of the time that would be soon approaching, when he would very much like to surprise her. Seeing the glow of his eyes, Valerie turned, and their gazes finally met.

"Maybe…" she said in a quiet voice, unable to look away from him, and once again, Shendu had the feeling that she was seeing him as if she could see nothing else in all the world. Her gaze held equal fascination and awe, yet no fear. It surprised him of how much he felt naked under her eyes. He then heard her ask: "In these dreams, why do you watch me?"

"I find you rather fascinating," Shendu answered her after a small beat of hesitation as he tried to put his thoughts together after her sudden question. "Does this bother you?" Not that it mattered to him if she was bothered or not, he would continue to do so anyway.

"I wouldn't normally make up a spirit watching me – it's kind of creepy."

"Then perhaps this is not a figment of your imagination…" Shendu purred out, trailing off as he slowly revealed his astral form from the shadows, the twining serpent coils behind him curling through the air. He heard Valerie give a small intake of breath to show her surprise, her eyes widening as she took in the full measure of him.

"That's not possible," Valerie's voice became quiet, a look of doubt crossing her eyes.

"Tell me, why are you suddenly so nervous?" he couldn't help the grin in his voice. He could practically hear her heartbeat suddenly escalating; her breath was becoming a little quick, and her fingers twitched, even if she never took her eyes off of him.

"Because normally after I realise that I'm dreaming, I wake up…" she trailed off, eyes watching his every movement, but Shendu realised that she was not frightened, but entrance. "And I don't want to wake up," she told him slowly, breathlessly, as she continued to stare into his eyes. Shendu was surprised by her answer, and held her gaze, slithering his way slowly closer to her.

"Why?"

"Because when I'm awake it's all too much!" She said in a suddenly desperate voice, tears filled her eyes, though not ones of grief, but of anger and frustration. "I want it all to go away! I want to be left in peace and for no more danger, no more grief!"

A plan was suddenly forming in Shendu's mind, one that made a small sly smile spread slowly across his face. He smoothly and slowly wormed his way towards her, so as not to startle her. He began to circle her, making a soft hissing noise in the back of his throat as a way of comfort. Valerie seemed a little nervous still, watching him warily, though he continued to curl around her, his voice deceptively soft as he next spoke.

"What if I could give you all that you wished for?" he purred into her ear, making her flinch slightly, though he continued to wind his body closer to her, though not touching her in any way.

"Y-you could?" she stumbled a little over her words, doubting. But as Shendu almost wound his way completely around her, he brought his face just inches from hers, and she looked into his eyes again, a look of blind hope in her eyes. Shendu had to restrain himself from celebrating an early victory. The prey had found the lure, now he just had to reel her in.

"I could give you the world if you wished it!" he told her, his voice dripping in hushed and soothing tones, seducing her even as its poison coated her mind. "Imagine it: a world where you endure no more suffering, where all your problems cease to exist, where there is nothing but peace for you. It would be a world where you were untouched by humanities sins,"

"That… that would be… wonderful…" she breathed, as if the words were stolen from her breath, as if she dared not say them any louder.

"Soon, Valerie, that day will come, and all your wishes will come true," he promised her, his work of temptation almost complete.

"They will?" she asked, as if daring to believe.

"You have a destiny ahead of you, and it is coming soon."

"That's hardly comforting," she muttered to herself.

"I will be there beside you. When the time arrives, come to me, trust me, give yourself to me, and in return the world will be yours." He vowed, coiling himself tighter around her, bringing his face closer until she had nowhere else to look, and no room with which to move, all she could focus on, were his glowing red eyes as they bore into her very soul.

"What… what are you?" she whispered, something stirring in her gaze.

"The proof that not everything is as you believe it to be," he told her, his eyes shining a little brighter, a promise of magic flowing like a current of electricity in the air. He heard her gasp, and felt the dream around him quake as she began to awaken. Taking that as his cue, he vanished from her sight, removing himself from her mind.

As he exited the dream, Shendu immediately went to exit Valerie's apartment at seeing that dawn had already come and gone. As he left, he only cast one last glance behind him at the woman who now looked about her in slight distress, blinking the last remnants of her dream from her eyes. Shendu smirked to himself, pleased with himself as he suddenly realised that he now knew exactly what he wanted to do with his Other. He then turned away, and passed through the walls and into the open; he wormed his way through the sky back towards Valmont's building, immediately going to the top floor and entering Valmont's office. Shendu settled his astral form back into his stone encasement, just as Valmont entered his office. Shendu did not say anything, being in an uncharacteristically good mood after his night activities. He was actually feeling optimistic about Valmont's latest report on the hunt for the last talisman.

He was greatly disappointed. Valmont explained to him that his enforcers had gone to southern Texas where the Tiger Talisman had been located, and how Tohru had lost the Talisman to Chan after a brief skirmish during a pie eating contest. The absurdity of it all combined with his renewed frustration, made Shendu snap. He roared as he let loose a stream of fire which Valmont quickly avoided. As the flames and smoke cleared, Valmont stepped back in front of his desk to face Shendu with a façade of cold calm firmly in place. Only Shendu's demonic growl could be heard in the tense silence that followed.

"After nine centuries," Shendu hissed out in a dangerously quiet voice, Valmont shifting nervously before him. "All twelve talismans have been recovered. Yet I possess only three. While Jackie Chan has NINE!" he roared, spittle would have been flying from his mouth had he any means to produce it. Even so, his disembodied voice still made Valmont wince. "You have failed me Valmont!"

"Now Shendu," Valmont tried to speak calmly in a placating manner, which only made the stone dragon's metaphorical blood boil. "Just because Chan's locked them away in Section 13, doesn't mean we won't find–"

"The New Year approaches!" Shendu snarled. He saw the brief moment of confusion on Valmont's face before recognition set in. Of course, Shendu was talking about the Chinese New Year, what else would he be talking about?! The western tradition of celebrating New Year in the middle of winter was utterly absurd, at least the Chinese had the sense to see that a new year started when all four seasons were over. "It is essential that I have all twelve talismans before then if you ever wish to lay eyes upon the treasure of Ching Xi Hung!" Shendu hissed to Valmont, for truly his plan could not take true effect if he had to wait an entire year before exacting his vengeance.

"Tohru!" Valmont called out, turning his now scowling face towards the office door. The giant of a man came stomping his way in, looking at his master with calm expectancy. Valmont gripped his cane in his hands rather tightly, and Shendu could feel the frustration and desperation growing in him. "Bring me Jackie Chan!"

Tohru nodded obediently, before stalking out of the door once again.

"He will surrender the location of Section 13," Valmont vowed to Shendu. "With proper… prodding," the human said menacingly, turning to show Shendu how he took apart the top part of his cane to reveal an electrical blade that hissed and spat threateningly.

Shendu would have grinned: for once, Valmont had come up with a plan that he greatly approved of.

"Chinese New Year rocks! Especially the sweets," Jade whispered gleefully as she eyed the basket of candy on the counter. Valerie smirked as she looked up from her book of Chinese translations, watching as the girl tried to sneak her way over to her prize. Valerie stifled a yawn as she turned her attention back to the book.

"Jade…" Jackie said in warning yet playful manner, Valerie could hear the smile in his voice. "Two more days till New Year's." Valerie heard the girl groan.

Valerie shook her head, smirking to herself, though she didn't look up from her book, glancing over to the back of the Tiger Talisman that Uncle had placed in the middle of the desk for comparison. She had to wonder how Lo Pei had hidden these Talismans, for how could one come up in a pie eating contest of all places? Anyhow, with Jackie and Jade now safely at home, she and Uncle had spent the morning pouring over the old man's books to try and find a good translation of the inscriptions. Once again, Valerie stifled a yawn – her dreams had become really messed up lately, she was thinking of going to a doctor, lest she continue to get worked up over it and lose more sleep and god-forbid fall asleep in class! But she focused her mind on the pages of the book in front of her, trying to match it with –

"Uncle!" Valerie exclaimed as her eyes widened on a very familiar character on the page. She double checked it matched the one on the Talisman, like a twisted jigsaw puzzle, though she was correct – she'd found it! Uncle quickly came over to her, shooing her aside as he leaned over the page to study the text. Not two seconds later, his eyes widened.

"HOTCHA!" He shouted out, causing the other two to turn to him and Valerie. Uncle pointed to the page, holding the Talisman in his other hand as he read the passage. "Jackie, the Tiger Talisman possess the power of balance,"

Jade was simply an orange blur as she flew by, snatching the Talisman out of Uncle's had and nearly tripping Valerie over as she ran to the top of a stack of books. Valerie glared up at the girl as she righted herself, her lack of decent sleep not making her mood any brighter.

"Cool!" Jade exclaimed excitedly. "So whoever has it can't lose their –whoa!" she shouted as suddenly the books she was standing on began to wobble and then collapse, sending the girl tumbling through the air. Valerie was more surprised that she didn't find this worrying at all and just accepted it as normal, rather than fussing over the child. Jackie easily and almost lazily caught her in his arms, raising a brow at her in a pointed look.

"The kind of balance your parents in Hong Kong sent you here to learn," he told her in a firm voice. Jade 'harrumphed' grumpily.

"Balance?" Valerie snorted as she began to pick up the books on the desk. "More likely she needs anger management," at the comment, Jade stuck her tongue out at Valerie, who chuckled before returning the gesture.

"Within each and every one of us lies conflicting forces," Uncle told them all, peering over his glasses at them with a knowing look in his eyes. Jackie placed Jade on the ground, and Uncle took the opportunity to demonstrate as he indicated to the Talisman in her hand. "Yin and yang, light and dark, good and evil."

"Pft, like Jackie has a dark side," Jade scoffed.

"Agreed," Valerie murmured as she continued to sort through the piles of fallen books, muttering about how no one cared for good books these days.

"I do," Jackie said, a teasing tone in his voice. "Her name is Jade,"

"Bu-dum-bum-tsh!" Jade muttered. "Balance? That's not even a real power,"

"Good!" Jackie said cheerily. "Then I will enjoy taking this powerless talisman to Section 13, so we can put this quest to rest,"

"While Jade will enjoy making tea for her dear old Uncle," Uncle smirked down at the little girl, who growled to herself.

"So, it's finally over, all twelve Talismans are found, no more going off to the middle of nowhere," Valerie couldn't help but smile wistfully at the thought as she picked up a stack of books, ones that needed to be put back in their place which was in the book shelves upstairs. It was rather nice to think that they could have some normality back into their lives.

"It would seem that way," Jackie said cheerily. Valerie grinned as she stood up, holding the books in her arms as she walked out of the study, Jackie following at her heels.

"I do wonder what Captain Black would ever do without you," Valerie smirked as she climbed the stairs.

"I'm sure he'll be fine catching the Dark Hand without me," Jackie called up to her as he made to go to the front door.

"I'll toast to that," Valerie chuckled back down to him as she went into Uncle's private room at the top of the landing, going to the far wall as she tried to locate the places for the books on the shelf. It was impossible however, as the books were all arranged in no order, seemingly stuck in any random place. "I swear you'd need a year to find anything in this shop. Should probably start trying to catalogue and arrange all of this mess myself," she muttered under her breath as she tried to find any whole in which to place the books in her arms. Once she was done, she quickly exited the room, shutting the door firmly behind her – Uncle really complained if he felt a draft in there – and went back towards the stairs.

"What happened to Jackie, he is such a cry-baby," she heard Uncle ask in bewilderment as Valerie made her way down the stairs.

"He's such a jerk!" Jade said angrily as she scowled at the kitchen.

"He's in the library weeping all over my research," Uncle said, placing his hands on his hips, eyeing the room with clear confusion.

"No, he's in the kitchen," Jade argued stubbornly, just as Valerie reached the bottom of the stairs, looking at the pair in slight confusion but amusement. "Raiding the fridge…" Jade trailed off, a look passing between her and Uncle.

"Jackie?" they both called out simultaneously.

"Seriously?" Valerie chuckled. "I can't leave you guys alone for five minutes and –"

She was interrupted as she heard footsteps enter the room, causing Jade and Uncle to yell in surprise, leaping back as they recoiled in shock. Valerie frowned, before quickly turning… and seeing two identical Jackies. One was drying their eyes of tears, the other was holding a carton of milk, causing him to burp loudly. Valerie froze, utter shock bringing everything inside her to a complete standstill. At the noise, both Jackie's turned to each other, shrieking in surprise as they beheld each other. That was it. Valerie didn't even manage to get a single word out, before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted.

"Valerie?" came a voice as the darkness began to thin around her. Valerie groaned as she slowly came to, opening her eyes to clear away the fog in her mind. She put a hand to her head, groaning as she tried to sit up, despite her spinning vision.

"Hey Val, you okay?" came Jade's voice as she saw that the young girl was sitting on the arm of the armchair that Valerie had been placed in, looking at her with worry. Valerie grunted, sitting up straight as she rubbed her aching temples.

"Uh… what happened?" she mumbled.

"Well…" Jade trailed off uneasily, glancing over her shoulder. Impulsively, Valerie looked where the girl's eyes had gone, and then her gaze caught on two Jackies. At first, Valerie thought she was seeing a mirror, but then she noticed one looking at her anxiously, the other impatiently. And then, her memory returned.

"Jumping Jesus on a pogo-stick!" Valerie screamed as she suddenly jumped out of her seat, almost uprooting Jade as the woman leapt away, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open, heart racing to such a degree that she felt like she couldn't get air in. She feared she would faint again, and so forced herself to breathe. "But-how-what-UNCLE!" Valerie yelled helplessly, resorting to the last way to get answers her brain was scrambling to find.

"The Talisman broke in half," Jade said instead, causing Valerie to look over to where Uncle was leaning over a text book, Jade walking towards him, even as she spoke to Valerie over her shoulder. "So now we have two Jackies,"

"But-How?!" Valerie stuttered.

"When the talisman broke, Jackie's Yin was separated from his Yang," Uncle said thoughtfully, leaning back up from the book.

"Whoa…" Jade murmured. "Jackie light and Jackie dark…"

"I am the dark side!" one of the Jackies said woefully, holding up his hands in despair. "I murdered a bug!" he cried out as he began to weep.

"Well, that settles on figuring out which is which," Valerie muttered dryly, though she still eyed the pair warily. Jade however, didn't seem to hold any trepidation, as she walked straight up to the other Jackie.

"You're the side who ate my candy?" she asked with a scowl and a threatening tone – or, as threatening as a child of her size could be. The 'bad' Jackie did nothing but smirk at her. "You're evil! EVIL!" Jade shouted in a way that reminded Valerie an awful lot like when Jade had been possessed…

"Not evil," Uncle said as he placed a calming hand on Jade's shoulder, silencing the girl. "Just lacking sound judgement without his good side to guide him," he gestured to the other Jackie.

"So, it's not good and evil?" Valerie asked, confused. "Just the good and bad traits of the… "whole" Jackie?"

"Precisely," Uncle nodded to her. "Balance comes in many forms: the light to the dark, the two sides that make the coin. Sometimes it is within ourselves, other times it is other forces against us. Some find someone that compliments and opposes the forces within them, completing them in a spiritual sense." He then turned to the two Jackies. "Now, each of you has half of the Talisman?" the two fished into their pockets to retrieve the perfect halves of the Tiger Talisman. "Good… You must join them together to reunite into one Jackie –"

"Me and whimpy?!" the Bad-Jackie pulled his talisman back quickly, looking utterly outraged at the very idea.

"Ooh, please no!" the Good-Jackie pleaded in a meek voice as he clung to Uncle as if for protection. "He burps out loud, without saying 'excuse me'!"

"We're dealing with two kids rather than two Jackies," Valerie muttered as she looked at them both.

"What's that, broad? Didn't hear you," the Bad-Jackie shot at her icily with a scowl. "You got something to say?"

"Just saying you need to man up so we can have the real Jackie back – not a cry-baby and a good-for-nothing punk," Valerie snapped as she defiantly folded her arms across her chest. She decided to try and ignore the way her heart was starting to increase its beat at the thought of an angry bad-Jackie.

"How about I sock you in the teeth to shut that trap of yours!" Bad-Jackie snarled at her.

"Try it," the words were bit out before she could stop them, mentally remembering how the broom had been left not two feet from her reach.

"Enough!" they both paused at Uncle's shout, looking over at him as if just noticing him. "You must restore balance!" he shouted furiously at the two Jackies, and then hit them both with two fingers on the head. Both of the yelped in pain, one rubbing his head, the other scowling; Bad-Jackie then hit Uncle with the same move. Valerie gasped, as if the world had just shattered… had he just… "Ooooooh! You will pay for that!" Uncle growled out furiously.

Uncle slapped two fingers at Bad-Jackie, who slapped him back, only for Uncle to slap him back, and Bad-Jackie slapped him in return… on and on they went, seemingly unending as the pair were both just as stubborn as the other. Neither seemed to be giving up, and that was when Valerie noticed Jade walking out to the front of the shop, just as she heard the squeal of car breaks from outside. Curious, Valerie followed the girl, as they looked out the window to see a white car pull up outside the shop. Valerie narrowed her eyes, focusing to try and see through the tinted glass of the car, only for the door to open, and out climbed Finn, Ratso, Chow, Tohru, and other men in smart suits.

"Err… Jackies…" Jade called out nervously.

"Jade, come away from there, now!" Valerie whispered, a sense of dread forming in her stomach as she saw the men outside reach into their coats and pull out all assortments of weapons. Valerie quickly pulled the girl away from the window, as if fearing they would jump through the glass, as they retreated, Valerie pulled the child close, wishing for her old baseball bat in her hands.

"The Dark Hand!" she heard the Jackies say in unison, though one was said in pure terror, the other with dark glee.

"Hide the Talisman!" Uncle told the two Jackies quickly as the Dark Hand thugs approached the shop, and the pair of them stuffed them into their pockets.

"Looks like they're ready to invade!" Valerie murmured, her voice betraying her nerves as her stomach trembled. She eyed the approaching men as they walked threateningly towards the shop.

"What are we gonna do?!" Jade asked with wide and slightly fearful eyes.

"Laugh like circus clowns while they scream for mercy." Bad-Jackie growled out as he held up his fists in a battle ready position.

"Oh, that's very good ranger-rick," Valerie snapped sarcastically, not in the mood for the tough-guy crap. "Any other bright ideas!"

"RUN!" the Good-Jackie screamed, quickly running to the side door of the shop.

"What?!" Valerie looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Where the hell is he going?" Jade shrugged at her.

"Guess we'll never know if two Jackie's are better then –whoa!" she was cut off as the Good-Jackie suddenly leapt back into the shop and snatched her up in his arms.

"This is no place for children!" he said fearfully as he ran back out of the shop with Jade.

"Jade!" Valerie shouted after her, wanting to snatch the girl back, but she and Jackie were already gone. Valerie was about to run after them, when the front door to the shop suddenly burst open, and in came Tohru, followed by the other enforcers, looking as menacing as ever.

"Chan, you're coming with –" Tohru was saying, but stopped, eyes widening as Jackie leapt into the air and kicked the giant man in the face. Hard. Tohru grunted as Jackie's foot collided with his jaw, sending him to the ground with a loud 'thud', making several antiques rattle. On instinct, Valerie reached out to steady the precious items. She, Uncle and the other enforcers looked down in shock at the now seemingly unconscious Tohru.

"Hey!" Finn said, clearly taken aback. "You didn't even let him finish!"

Bad-Jackie said nothing, only glared at the Dark Hand enforcers, clicking his neck as he continued to stare at them. Then, he leapt into action. Valerie just watched in open mouthed shock at the ferocity with which he fought. The real Jackie had never shown such anger and force when fighting, and it almost frightened her as she edged towards the back room, reaching around the door for the broom handle. The touch of the firm wood helped to steady her, her heart fluttering nervously as she continued to watch the Bad-Jackie thrash the Dark Hand enforcers, at one point stripping Chow of his black jacket to put it on himself. He was so focused on his fighting, the Bad-Jackie didn't even notice when Finn reached into his pocket for the half of the Talisman; even when Valerie tried to shout a warning, Bad-Jackie did nothing. One by one, the bad Jackie forced them out of the shop where he followed into the street, Uncle and Valerie running to the window to watch. Jackie only stopped in his beating of the thugs to snatch Chow's glasses from his face, putting them on before growling at the men, sending them running back to their car.

It was then, that Valerie and Uncle heard groaning, and turned with a gasp to see Tohru stirring as he sat himself up. Without thinking, heart still hammering in her chest, Valerie planted herself in front of the giant man, holding the broom up like her old baseball bat as she tried to look as threatening as she could. Tohru blinked himself awake, looking up at her in confusion.

"Get out of my shop." Valerie growled out at him, tightening her grip on the broom.

Neither of them knew what would have happened next – honestly, Valerie was playing a bluff card in the hopes that Tohru would listen to her instead of deciding that she was no threat and attacking. At that moment, they all heard the scream of tires as a car pulled away at high speed, causing the pair of them to look through the ruined door to see the car the Dark Hand pulled up speeding away. And then they saw bad Jackie running after it. Valerie blinked in surprise – for all his hot-headedness, Valerie didn't think bad Jackie to be stupid enough to think he'd be able to catch up to a car on foot. Tohru however, decided to quickly get to his feet and quickly exit the shop, following after Jackie and the runaway car. Valerie and Uncle were right behind him, standing in the street as they stared down the road at where the car, bad Jackie and Tohru had gone.

"Great," Valerie muttered sarcastically. "Just great! Now we've lost both Jackies and no way to put them together!"

"We need to get the two Jackies back," Uncle told her in a very serious tone. "We must reunite the talisman as one, only then can we have the real Jackie."

"I'll go and look for where cry-baby and Jade went, they can't have gotten too far," Valerie said, before quickly running down the opposite way to where the Dark Hand car had gone. She had a feeling that good Jackie would have gone in the exact opposite of any conflict, and so ran down the road, calling out for Jackie and Jade as she went, hardly paying attention to what a lunatic she must look like.

Valmont stood in front of Jackie Chan, tied as he was to the chair in Valmont's little "interrogation" room. Finn and Chow stood behind Chan, watching him with stoic but angry expressions. Valmont noted how Chow was missing his usual jacket and glasses, which Chan was now wearing, curiously enough. Chan himself seemed calm, almost arrogantly so as he smirked from where he sat in his chair. Valmont sneered at him, looking into his hand at half of the Tiger Talisman that Finn had given to him when Valmont had entered. Valmont was actually rather surprised his enforcers were competent enough to capture Chan in the first place, especially after the recklessness that Chan had supposedly displayed. Tohru had briefed Valmont on what had transpired: Chan's rather psychotic fighting style, the chase through San Francisco, the fish truck, and then Chan being so caught up with beating the hell out the enforcers he had failed to notice Tohru, before the behemoth had knocked him unconscious. Still, at least they'd managed to get something done right.

"Half a Talisman?" he said, clearly disappointed, before sighing in exasperation, and tucking the talisman in his suit jacket pocket. "It's a start, I suppose," he then turned towards Jackie Chan, glaring at him icily. "Now tell me the location of Section 13 or –" he was suddenly interrupted by the shrill noise of his phone calling. With a growl of frustration, Valmont reached into his pocket and snatched out the phone. "What is it?!"

"We got Chan!" Ratso cheered with a smug grin on the video phone.

"I know," Valmont said deliberately slow to try and vent his frustration, speaking as if he were talking to a simpleton. "He's right here."

"No he's not," Ratso frowned, clearly confused but a stubborn look crossed his face. "He's right here!" he then turned the phone so that Valmont could see a very familiar looking figure.

"Oh, hello! How are you?" on the phone appeared Jackie Chan, grinning like the goofy idiot he was as he waved to the phone.

Valmont blinked in surprise, quickly looking from the phone, to the man sitting in the chair, both identical to each other. Valmont looked back and forth, clearly confused. What on earth could be… he then reached into his pocket for the half of the talisman, a sense of intuition forming in his gut. Quickly excusing himself, Valmont went straight to his office, coming before Shendu, who was growling softly with impatience, watching the human as he approached. Valmont quickly explained the situation, wanting answers from the stone demon to see if his hunch was correct. It wasn't as outlandish as Valmont might have once believed, the Talismans had done stranger things, and he was talking to a statue after all, it was no leap of the imagination. Shendu thought for a moment, clearly intrigued and perplexed by the situation as Valmont, before speaking.

"The Tiger Talisman is the glue that binds the conflicting powers of all the other talismans, into one unified whole." Shendu explained, before pausing for but a moment, clearly thinking as the rumbling hiss filled the office. "If it was divided by Chan," Shendu went on to say. "It is likely that Chan himself is divided, into light… and dark."

"So, which Chan do we have?" Valmont said thoughtfully, a little smirk playing on his lips as he took a quick guess as to his answer. A plan slowly came to his mind as he went back to the interrogation room. The real Jackie could never be swayed to do anything for Valmont, other than when his family or friends were in danger. But a darker side of Jackie… Valmont had always said that a humble man has no price; but an ambitious man can always be bought. As he entered the interrogation room, he was slightly surprised to see Chan, Finn and Ratso laughing in hysterics.

"You know what Chan, you're alright," Finn chuckled, drying off his eyes from where he had been laughing so hard.

"Yeah," Chow agreed. "Too bad we gotta eliminate ya," and then they all burst into a fight of laughter again.

"Perhaps there is another option…" Valmont stated calmly, causing the others to still and be silent as he stepped into the room fully, walking towards Chan, towering over him as he spoke. "Bring me the talismans from Section 13, and I will make you rich!"

Jackie was silent for a full minuet, staring up at Valmont as if judging the truth of his words. And then, he smirked.

"Works for me,"

Valerie had all but given up on her search for good Jackie and Jade. She'd been looking around for almost an hour, out of breath, her body screaming for respite. But panic had started to set in – what if the Dark Hand had gotten to them? What had happened to Jade? Unable to stem the flood of hysterics that was sure to break out, Valerie went to the only place she could for help – Section 13. She quickly thought through a story to tell Captain Black, hoping that he would believe her and let her into the CCTV footage all over the city. It would be easier to find her target if she had eyes looking everywhere. She ran towards down the back alley, coming towards the seemingly innocent phone-box on the side of the wall, the same one that Jade had described to her. She only hoped that she had the right –

Valerie almost tripped over her own feet in shock when she saw two very familiar figures running just ahead of her from the phone box. It couldn't be! After all her searching, and she found them here?!

"Jade?!" Valerie cried out disbelievingly. The girl turned, beaming when she saw the older woman running towards them.

"Val! You're here – good! You can help us!" Jade said with a brilliant grin.

"What? What are you talking about? What's going on?" Valerie demanded as she stopped in front of them, panting heavily from her exertion.

"You need to take a break – and start exercising more," the good Jackie told her with a concerned frown. "You lungs are clearly not used to all this running,"

"Gee, thanks…" Valerie muttered sarcastically.

"It's the bad-Jackie!" Jade told her, voice pitched with worry. "He's stolen most of the Talismans!"

"What?!" Valerie squawked, eyed going impossibly wide. "Why would he do that?!"

"I don't know. He's taken everything but the other half of the Tiger Talisman – he's going to give them to the Dark Hand! We gotta find out where he's going," Jade said determinedly.

"I might have an idea – I know where Valmont and the others meet," Valerie said, only a second after the words left her mouth, did she realise what she'd just done.

"What?!" it was Jade's turn to recoil as she looked up at Valerie with disbelief. "How do you know where they are?"

"Remember when I quit my job?" Valerie said hesitantly, wringing her hands nervously. "Well… I was a delivery girl, and… I may have found Valmont's office…"

"What?! And you didn't tell us?!" The girl demanded angrily.

"I wanted to!" Valerie said helplessly, miserably. "But I overheard them say that they've got bugs listening in to us, they said they'd kill us if we knew anything too important – I didn't know what to do!"

"Well, where is he then?" Jade said angrily, folding her arms across her chest and looking very much like an angry adult at that moment. Valerie hated the look of suspicion and disappointment in the child's eyes, it tore her apart, but there was nothing for it now but to come completely clean.

"It's a skyscraper in the uptown part of the city. Right in the centre of everything, Valmont's working there under D.H Industries," Valerie explained.

"D.H – Dark Hand, duh!" Jade muttered to herself, slapping a palm to her forehead. "Okay, we need to stop bad-Jackie from giving the Dark Hand the Talismans, we need to get ahead of him!"

"But how do we stop him?" Valerie asked, something inside her like fright making her shift uncomfortably. "He's got crazy kung-fu skills and a bad attitude to boot!"

"Blubber-boy here, won't fight him," Jade grumbled moodily as she pointed a thumb at the good-Jackie.

"Fighting is not nice!" Good-Jackie said in a scolding yet whining tone.

"Where's the other half of the talisman?" Valerie demanded quickly.

"Safe here," Jade said as she wiggled her foot, indicating the talisman stuck in her shoe.

"Well, we need to stop bad-Jackie anyway, how long ago did he take the Talismans?"

"He's two minutes ahead of us!"

"Come on then, we can still catch him up!" Valerie turned on her heel and sprinted back down the alleyway, despite her body screaming out against it. She pushed on ahead, determined to catch the bad-Jackie before he did something the rest of them would regret.

The three of them made their way through the back-alleys, trying to follow the path that the bad-Jackie might have taken. Several times the good-Jackie would try to start a conversation, but mostly it was pitiful snivelling or being overly too pleasant, and it was quickly driving Valerie nuts. Not even the real Jackie was this sugar-sweet, and it grated on Valerie's spine just as badly as the arrogance of the violent prone bad-Jackie. It reminded her of when her mother had taken her to a theme park as a child, before her parents had divorced. Valerie had begged to go to Disney-world, her parents couldn't afford it and so decided to take her to a cheaper knock-off park. The people in dress-up there had been so over-the-top sweet and goody-goody that even six year old Valerie had grown irritated with it, and punched the Fairy-Princess straight in the face. She restrained herself now by reminding herself that this was Jackie, and also Jade was likely to beat her to it, by the way she kept growling at the good-Jackie to shut up.

Finally, one back alley took them to the backyard of a block of abandoned warehouses, and it was there that they saw the bad-Jackie up ahead. Jade, having more energy than the others as children always did, ran ahead of them, quickly skidding to a stop in front of the bad-Jackie in order to halt his progress.

"Wait! You can't do this!" the girl shouted up at him desperately, pleadingly. "If the Dark Hand gets all the Talismans then… something really, really bad is gonna happen!"

"So?" bad-Jackie growled at her with an uncaring look on his face.

"But you're not evil! Remember? Uncle said everyone has yin and yang, you can't be all yang," the girl tried desperately to get through to her uncle, but Valerie could see the slipping patience of the bad-Jackie, and she panicked, putting on an extra burst of speed in her attempt to reach them.

"Yang-dang-doodle-dooby-dooby-do," the bad-Jackie snapped dismissively as he pushed her aside, shoving her into the ground.

"Jade!" Valerie shouted, skidding to a halt by the girl, her anger over coming her as she saw her little friend pushed into the ground carelessly, as if the bad-Jackie didn't care whether she was hurt or not. Letting her anger fly, Valerie did the one thing her father always told her NOT to do: she struck first. Her fist flew through the air, landing a little off target as she grazed bad-Jackie's cheek and nose, cracking his glasses in the process. Pain scorched through her hand, though she tried to ignore it as she stood protectively over Jade, glaring at Jackie, trying to ignore the way her heart was panicking, screaming at her to demand what the hell she had done!

"I liked these…" the bad-Jackie growled out as he scowled at her, tossing aside the orange glasses to the ground, the box Valerie guessed containing he talismans, going with it.

"Good, they looked ridiculous on you anyway," Valerie drew back to wit to hide the way she was absolutely terrified of the way he was cracking his knuckles as he glared at her dangerously. Jackie charged at her, yelling as he leapt into the air, thrusting out a leg meaning to strike her across the face. Valerie was petrified in place, mouth agape as she could do nothing but look like a fish as she waited for the blow to fall… but it never did.

Suddenly, the good-Jackie struck out at his twin, kicking him in the side and sending the bad-Jackie off course, to where he hit the ground and went rolling into the dirt. Valerie and Jade looked up, amazed, at the good-Jackie who was wincing at his brother as if he feared a reprimand. The bad-Jackie looked up at him in outrage, though the good-Jackie just held up scolding finger.

"Uh-uh! It's not nice to drop-kick little girls," he said in a condescending kind of voice.

"See!" Jade said, coming around the adults to look at bad-Jackie, pointing to his twin as if that was all he needed. "If he has a fighting side, then you've gotta have a… uh… nice guy side!"

"Once I give these to Valmont," bad-Jackie snapped as he climbed to his feet, pointing to the box on the floor. "I'll have a rich guy side,"

Before anyone could move, Jade dashed past everyone and snatched up the box in her hands, before running back and ducking behind Valerie's legs again. The bad-Jackie scowled at her, eyes narrowing on her in anger.

"Give me that you little gnat!" he snarled at her furiously, and Valerie felt the girl shrink into her shadow at the sight of her uncle so angry.

"Uh-uh-uh! Name calling is not nice either!" the good-Jackie said to his twin, waving his arms as if to ward off his brother's bad behaviour. Bad-Jackie narrowed his eyes on the good-Jackie, his scowl deepening as the pair seemed to stare each other down, the tension on the soon-to-be battle field rising with each passing second. Sensing where this might go, and realising that they had a perfect opportunity, Valerie slowly leaned down, never taking her eyes off of the bad-Jackie, as she put a hand on Jade's shoulder.

"Jade, come on!" she whispered to the girl, and gave her a slight push. Turning, the pair of them then quickly dashed off to the side of the yard, quick to get out of the way as they heard a battlecry as the two Jackies then began to fight. Valerie only turned briefly to see that despite their very different fighting styles – bad-Jackie offensive and aggressive, and good-Jackie defensive and almost passive – they were equally matched. Valerie then quickly turned to Jade, reaching for the box in her hands. "We need to get these back to Section 13,"

"No! We need to help good-Jackie!" Jade protested, looking up at her with disbelieving eyes.

"From himself?" Valerie asked as if the girl had gone mad.

"He's gonna need some magic backup to help him!" she said defiantly, eyes imploring the adult in front of her.

"But Jade –" Valerie tried to say, though she was cut off when she heard the two Jackie's cry out in pain, causing both her and Jade to snap their gazes back to the two fighters.

"Oh… let's get you an ice pack for that…" good-Jackie said sympathetically as he calmly walked towards his seething brother, who launched a much more violent and angry attack. It seemed that the more wound up bad-Jackie became, the more reluctant to fight good-Jackie grew.

"Oh alright, fine!" Valerie threw up her hands in defeat, knowing that she didn't have much of a choice – at this rate the two Jackies might kill each other if there wasn't a clear winner. "Quickly, go get me a screwdriver!" she instructed Jade, who quickly ran off to somewhere in the yard and brought back an old tool box.

The tools were big and rusty, and Valerie had to dig through the box to find the smallest screwdriver she could. When she found the smallest one, she tried to fit it into the screw slots that surrounded the lock on the box, but quickly realised that the screwdriver was still a little too big. She then tried the same thing on the hinges at the back, but the screwdriver was too rusted to stick and stay in place, brittle from disuse and uncooperative.

"Any sign of Chan?" Valerie heard a voice that struck her core as she recognised it as Valmont's. She looked around, realising that it had sounded close, but could not see anyone else in the yard apart from her, Jade and the still fighting Jackies.

"No," came Tohru's curt reply, and Valerie snapped her head towards the mouth of an alley where she saw at the end, on the road, the front bumper of a white car.

"Then get off your tremendous behind – I want those Talismans!" she heard Valmont yell angrily.

"Yes. Master." Tohru's voice came strained and very angry, causing the knot in Valerie's stomach to turn to ice.

"The Dark Hand… they're here!" she hissed to Jade, looking about in fear for another escape.

"Quick then! Get the box open!" Jade told her, her voice filled with panic as she looked torn between the two Jackies and her shared fear of the Dark Hand appearing at any moment.

Valerie was about to argue, that if the Dark Hand were here, then they needed to get all of these Talismans to safety. But then, her eyes caught on bad-Jackie as he picked up a broken pipe and began swinging it at his brother like a club. Fearfully, desperately, Valerie quickly turned back to her task, this time with renewed urgency as she now tried to wedge the screwdriver head into the lip of the box and wrench it open.

"Hurry Val… Jackie needs help…" Jade groaned fearfully, staring at the ongoing battle that was out of Valerie's line of sight.

"I'm trying…" she grunted, straining against the screwdriver as it resisted her strength to force it open. There was a moment where nothing happened, and then, suddenly, the force gave way, and she jolted, the lid springing open. "There!" she exclaimed triumphantly with a grin.

And then a shadow fell over her.

"No! These aren't the talismans!" she heard Jade say quickly, desperately, and Valerie spun on her heel in time to see Tohru looming over them, Jade standing in front of her, her arms held out as a feeble looking shield.

"Jade!" Valerie screamed.

It all happened so fast – Tohru tried to swat the child out of his path, seemingly not in the mood for anything. Valerie plucked up the box with one hand, closing the lid in the process, and tucked it under her arm. With her free arm she spun and snatched Jade up, holding the girl on her hip as she then tried to run. She didn't even make it a step before she felt someone yank on her t-shirt, choking her a little and sending her flying back off of her feet. Valerie and Jade yelled as they were suspended in the air, Jade clinging to Valerie as Tohru hoisted her up over his shoulder, not bothering to try and detach her from the box of Talismans and walking away. Valerie desperately clung on to the little girl, whilst also struggling in her captor's grasp, her father's voice screaming in her mind that she shouldn't let herself be taken! Never be taken!

"HELP!" Jade screamed out for someone, anyone, to hear. But it was no use, Valerie caught a glimpse of the two Jackies pause in their fight, but they were too far away already.

The world tilted as Tohru swung Valerie off of his shoulder, and threw her into the back seat of a car, the box of Talismans clattering onto the floor of the car, hitting Valerie's head on the way. Jade landed on her stomach, winding her, causing Valerie to try and suck in any breath she could before her mind could work. She heard the slam of a car door, and then forced her mind to work as she sat up and even with Jade on her lap, she tried to open the car door, only to find it locked. Fearfully, panic starting to set in, Valerie beat her fist against the car-window, trying to make it break, but to no avail. She felt the car start as Tohru turned the key in the ignition. She had only a few seconds left; hyperventilating, Valerie screamed a wordless cry, leaning back as she tried to kick at the door. She thought she felt it give just so slightly, but then, the world tilted again as Tohru slammed his foot on the gas, and they were speeding away. Jostled in the back, it took Valerie and Jade a moment to grow accustomed to the pitching of the car, before they were clamouring to the back seat to look out the rear window, despair evident in both their faces as they watched the two jackies become pinpricks behind them. Jade's eyes filled with tears as she looked out helplessly, a scream building in her throat.

"JACKIE!"

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed it - we're now getting to the part that I've been wanting to write for AGES! :D Please don't forget to review!