Dawn of the Dragon

"JADE!" Good-Jackie shouted, running after the car, but it was no use, it had gone.

"Too bad," he heard bad-Jackie say dismissively, already forgetting their previous fight. "I kinda liked her; she's scrappy,"

"She's family!" Good-Jackie said in exasperation, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "And they now have Valerie too! We have to save them!"

"We do?"

"Err…" Good-Jackie stammered, wondering what on earth he could do to get his bad twin to do something good. An idea of inspiration came to him, and he turned to his twin with a little smile. "You get to fight more bad-guys?"

Bad-Jackie grinned.

Valerie and Jade sat in the back of the car, huddled together as the car drove on in silence. Valerie held Jade close, trying to offer some form of comfort, even though her own knees were shaking from nerves. She was determined not to cry, even though her heart was racing in a constant state of terror, the fear so thick it felt like she was going to throw up at any moment. Her mind was screaming, her father's warnings and horror cases coming back to her in horrifying clarity. She knew the saying: once kidnapped someone only had 72 hours to find you, because after that you were more than likely gone forever. In order to prevent herself from going into hysterics, Valerie dutifully repeated the mantra of her father's instructions and teachings over and over in her mind, the words helping to calm her. But then, she felt Jade shiver beside her, and she looked down, realising that the girl must have been terrified. Jade didn't know anything about being in a hostile situation – granted Valerie had never been in one either, but at least she'd been told what to do. Valerie held the girl a little tighter, and Jade shrunk into her in response, though Valerie was surprised to realise that Jade wasn't crying or even whimpering, her bravery shocking the older woman.

"Jade…" Valerie whispered, ducking her head so that her hair swept forward to hide her face. She spoke low so that Tohru wouldn't hear them, though the giant man was hardly even paying them any attention. Jade looked up at Valerie, eyes wide but filled with courage that humbled the woman. "Where we're going, you need to keep quiet – don't say anything unless you're spoken to," Valerie told her, her voice mechanical as she repeated her father's words that had been engrained into her memory from countless lectures.

"We need to get out of here – get back to Jackie," Jade whispered back to her, looking about at the car determinedly, as if she could see a structural weakness that would allow them to escape.

"Jade, if there is an opportunity to run, you need to take it. Don't hesitate, don't look back. Just run." Valerie whispered to her quickly. One thing her father had always told her: heroics get you killed. Be a hero when you have the greater numbers and the greater firepower, otherwise, you act like its every man for himself.

"Wait – what about you? I'm not going without you!" Jade's eyes widened, as if she had read Valerie's thoughts right off of her mind.

"Listen to me, they will underestimate you because you're a kid, so whatever happens, you need to run as soon as you can! Once you're safe, you can then get Section 13 to come and get me," Valerie said, her eyes caching the girl's, begging her to understand, to listen.

"How do you know what to do?" Jade asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"My dad was a cop," Valerie murmured as she looked out of the window, realising that they were now more towards the City Centre, and Valerie realised that she recognised this route: they were getting close.

"'Was'? You mean he's retired?" Jade asked.

Valerie paused, her heart clenching as the painful memories threatened to swallow her. Before she could say anything however, darkness enclosed them. Valerie was startled, before realising that the lack of light was due to the fact that they had entered an underground parking-lot, the lights on the ceiling casting a very dim glow into the car. It wasn't long before they stopped, and Valerie held on to Jade a little tighter as Tohru exited the car. A second later, Valerie's door opened, and Tohru appeared, snatching at Valerie's arm and dragging her out of the car. Valerie kicked and struggled, Jade launching herself out of the car in a vain attempt to help her friend. However, Finn appeared as if out of nowhere, snatching the child out of the air, quickly bringing her wrists together as he tied them up with rope. Jade attempted to struggle more, but Valerie quickly shook her head at her, urging her to comply in case the Dark Hand thought that only one hostage was needed instead of two. Jade hesitated, but then did as she was told, going limp in Finn's grasp and letting him tie her up. Valerie felt the painful pinch of rope around her wrists as Tohru bound her expertly, not too tight to cut off circulation, but tight enough that there was no chance of the bindings coming free. When he was done, he held on to one of Valerie's arms whilst he reached back into the car for the box of Talismans. Valerie had almost forgotten they were there. With a simple command, Finn plopped Jade next to Valerie and then got into the car to go and park it, Tohru pushing the pair of prisoners in front of him towards an elevator in the wall. Glancing behind her, Valerie noticed how Tohru wasn't watching them carefully, but his presence made escape very unlikely.

"If you see anyone you don't know, don't let them see you looking." Valerie whispered down to Jade who was walking closely beside her. "You need to be able to say that you haven't seen anything and you can't report them. If they know you've seen things you're not supposed to, they'll never let you go," Valerie couldn't bring herself to say that if Jade saw something she shouldn't it was more than likely that their captors would kill them.

"Okay," Jade whispered back, before looking up at Valerie, offering a hopeful smile that Valerie couldn't return. "Jackie's coming Val, he'll get us free."

"But which one?" Valerie murmured.

"Come on!" Tohru said gruffly as he pushed them into the elevator, and then squashed in after them, pressing the button for the top floor.

The ride up was slow, silent and tense. No one dared speak, no one dared even move. Valerie eyed the box of Talismans, knowing that there was nothing she could do but still feeling the need to keep them out of Valmont's greedy fingers. She at least hoped that blasted box gave them the same trouble to open as it did her. She snuck a glance at Jade, who was eyeing the box as well. They shared a silent look, before Jade subtly wriggled her foot on the floor – of course! Valerie thought as she remembered: Jade had the other half of the Tiger Talisman, the Dark Hand now had all the Talismans, but hopefully they wouldn't find the final piece. It was a very slim hope, but still, she could hope that they might suspect her or Jackie more than they would Jade.

Finally, the elevator chimed and the doors opened out onto a very familiar looking hallway. Tohru pushed Jade and Valerie out of the elevator, ushering them down the red carpet of the hallway. Valerie eyed the lush dark walls that held too many shadows for her liking, each adorned with all manner of priceless antiques that once made Valerie giddy, now they were nothing more than pieces of junk in her prison. Tohru had them enter through the double doors at the end of the hall, and Valerie entered the one place she had hoped never to come back to. Valmont stood in front of his large mahogany desk at the other end of the room, raising an eyebrow at them as Valerie and Jade were pushed further into the office.

"Hostages?" Valmont said as he eyed the two females before him, looking down his nose as if they were little more than dirt beneath his boots. "I suppose they could prove useful should Chan decide to interfere. Tie them up over there." He indicated to a cabinet along the wall, and Tohru began to drag them –

"Not the older one." Came a voice that seemed to fill the entire room with a serpentine hiss, one that made Valerie shiver as she thought she recognised it from somewhere. "Bring Miss Payne to me…"

"As you wish, Shendu," Valmont sighed as he glanced over his shoulder, perhaps to speak to someone who was sitting at the desk behind him?

Valerie felt her stomach go cold, knowing that to receive any special treatment was bad news for her. She resisted as Tohru brought her to Valmont, digging her feet into the red carpet, not wanting to be anywhere near the slimy crook. But she could do nothing against Tohru's strength with her hands tied. Valmont reached for her, but she flinched her arm away from him, glaring daggers at the man as she gritted her teeth. Valmont didn't seem to be the least bit phased however, and snatched at her anyway, to which Valerie instantly began to struggle to be free, her earlier advice going completely out of her head at the touch of this loathsome man.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" she hissed venomously, continuing to struggle. However, Valmont seemed to grow tired of this, and so increased the pressure of his grip, until Valerie hissed in pain, bending to his will as she felt her flesh pinch in his grasp. She could already tell that the flesh would bruise, and with his free hand, Valmont grabbed her hair, wrenching her head back as he pushed her towards the back of the desk, causing Valerie to cry out in pain.

"Careful Valmont," the voice growled out, suddenly seeming very close, the power of the voice humming through the air. Valerie snapped her eyes but in the space behind the desk there was no one save for her, Valmont and the dragon-statue he had on the wall. But then, she saw the red eyes on the statue begin to glow as if from heat, and a vibration seemed to emanate from it, making the air shift around her. "I will not have you damage my things…"

Valerie felt her breath freeze in her throat, eyes going wide and her mind coming up blank as she was suddenly met with an impossible truth. Her mouth became agape as she tried to uselessly suck in air, her body freezing in place. It couldn't be right! She thought. It's not possible! Despite everything she had been through in the past few weeks, nothing could have prepared her for this, even now a part of her brain screamed that it defied all logic – it must be a trick!

"The statue talked?!" Jade's voice came out loud and as equally shocked and surprised as Valerie felt. So Valerie wasn't going crazy, she thought, she wasn't the only one to think that this was impossible? But was it a speaker set – someone speaking through the statue from another room? She had to believe that, otherwise she couldn't possibly comprehend the implications. Valmont reached into a drawer and retrieved a zip-tag, bringing Valerie to beside the statue and securing the ropes around her wrists to the iron frame that held the statue onto the wall. He then left her there, confident that she couldn't escape, even as Valerie pulled on her bounds and struggled to wriggle her wrists free.

"Struggle all you wish," came the serpentine hissing voice from the statue, causing Valerie to snap her head up to look at it from where she was huddled on the floor, her breath quickening as some instinct deep inside of her told her to run. "There is no escape now… how I have waited for this moment…"

"What… what are you? This isn't possible!" she whispered, disbelief evident in her voice.

"I told you to keep an open mind…" said the voice, and Valerie could hear him (for it definitely sounded male) grinning at her. "I did warn you that you would be very surprised when something proved you wrong…"

Valerie felt her air choke in her throat, her heart beat stilled and utter shock and disgust filled her entire being. She DID recognise that voice! It all came swimming back to her: the face, the eyes, the voice. This was the one who she had been dreaming about; the one who she thought was just part of a persistent dream. It had been haunting her, she realised it with a sickening sensation that this thing had been stalking her, had spoken with her, had tempted her with its sweet promises that she had not thought much of at the time. Her stomach rolled and she thought she'd be sick, as she realised that this was no trick, this thing was real and it was speaking to her! Disgust and self-loathing utterly filled her, that she had trusted the spirit that had been in her dreams, she'd sometimes thought about it during her waking hours, its promises to her last night she had actually wanted. She felt as if she had been consorting with the devil himself, her bones turning to jelly as the gravity of what her foe was hit her. The awful realisation left her breathless for so long she thought she would pass out.

"You retrieved the Talismans then?" Valmont's calm and cool voice brought her back to the present, and she swallowed air helplessly, trying to distract her mind in any way she could.

"Yes, Master." Tohru said humbly with the bow of his head. He then placed the box of talismans on Valmont's desk, and Valerie felt a little angry at how Valmont only had to push the lid for it to open. Valmont grinned, and Valerie wanted to spit on the ground. Valmont then turned towards the statue, whom Valerie guessed was the Shendu that Valmont had referred to. Almost giddily, Valmont then began to place the talismans in specific slots along the statue's body, ones that Valerie had not noticed before.

"… eight… nine… ten and eleven…" Valmont counted as he placed the last few talismans in their place.

"Yes! I can feel my power returning!" the statue said, its voice revelling with barely contained dark excitement. Valerie tried to shrink herself further away, though her bound wrists prevented her torso from going more than two feet.

"You guys are working for a statue?" Jade asked out-loud in disbelief.

"QUIET!" Tohru bellowed at the girl.

"Eleven and a half?" Valmont raised an irritated eyebrow as he placed one half of the Tiger Talisman in its slot but saw that there were no more talismans in the box. He then scowled as he turned to Tohru, holding his hand out expectantly. Valerie felt her stomach freeze, locking eyes with Jade as they both realised what was happening. Tohru, appeared completely confused.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"WHERE IS THE OTHER HALF?!" Both Valmont and Shendu shouted at Tohru at exactly the same time. Valerie tried to shrink away from the force of such anger, she could practically feel Shendu's wrath as his demonic growling got louder and louder with his seemingly growing temper. Once again, Valerie subtly eyed Jade, who was doing her best not to look conspicuous, shifting her foot uneasily.

"You stupid lummox!" Valmont hissed nastily. "Go and find that Talisman – before you make me do something I will regret."

"It's always Tohru's fault," Tohru grumbled to himself in a voice so low that Valerie barely heard him as he headed out of the office. "Everyone blames Tohru."

"Fear not, my dear," came that serpentine voice, crooning sickly sweet by Valerie's ear, making her flinch as she snapped her gaze back to the statue, who's eyes were glowing brightly. Valerie got the impression that even though his stone face wasn't facing her completely, he was still watching her: she could feel his eyes on her face, and supressed a shiver.

"I-I'm not afraid," she tried to force out, but couldn't hide the way her voice trembled in time with her quivering stomach. The statue, Shendu, must have noticed for he cackled at her with no small amount of a patronising tone.

"Your bravado is amusing but will do you little good now," he told her, and she could hear the leer in his voice.

"How can you be talking? You're a statue!" Valerie decided to change the subject in the face of such an unnerving statement.

"Oh, I am far more than that." Shendu purred out with dark amusement, and Valerie subconsciously tried to make herself seem as small as possible. "I am a being from Ages past. I am of a world of magic and greatness, where the natural order of the world was much different than today… and I am the herald of the return to that era."

"What do you want with me?" Valerie whispered, her voice croaking slightly from how dry her throat suddenly felt.

"I told you once before that I find you rather fascinating…" Shendu's voice murmured to her, surrounding her as it did in the dream, and Valerie tried to shake off the effect of being surrounded by that entrancing voice, doing her best to resist. "It is not often that one meets the key to handing them the world,"

"I'm not giving you anything!" she snarled, eyes snapping back to the statue's head to glare up at it defiantly.

"Oh, I think very differently. But that can wait. You're with me now, that's all that matters, Valerie…"

"You know my name…" She knew it was obvious, he had said her last name earlier, but to hear this thing whisper her first name so personally made her spine feel like a rod of ice.

"And more," she could hear him grin, and it seemed as if the statue was about to say more. But then suddenly, Shendu grew quiet, even his constant serpentine hiss faded briefly, as if he were distracted by something. A second later, the glow to his eyes returned, the hiss came back, a little more determined than before, and Valerie felt his gaze move away from her and towards Valmont. "The Chans are in the building. They do not possess the missing half."

Valerie felt her heart soar at the thought that the two Jackies had come – she and Jade were going to be rescued! Valerie and Jade looked at each other, their eyes meeting as unescapable smiles bloomed across their faces with hope. However, Valmont didn't seem to agree, his brow knotting with frustration, his eyes taking on a dangerously impatient gleam.

"Well it must be… somewhere…" He trailed off, angry tirade coming to a grinding halt as a thought suddenly passed across his face. Valmont then turned, looking between Valerie and Jade suspiciously. Valerie shrunk back, knowing that this was coming, yet the reality of his eyes roaming over her body was still very unnerving and frightening. Sneering, Valmont quickly strode towards her, as Valerie had hoped he would, thereby giving the two Jackies enough time to get up here – she hoped. She tried to dodge out of his grasp, though there was really nowhere for her to escape. Very quickly, Valmont snatched one of her legs in his vice like grip.

"Get off me!" Valerie snarled viciously as she struggled and kicked against him, utterly repulsed by his loathsome touch as he frisked her, his hands patting up and down her body as he searched for the last half of the Talisman. Valerie thought she could at least distract him long enough, though it didn't help much, even as she tried to make it as difficult for Valmont as possible. Loud shouts could be heard from the hallway outside, meaning that the Jackie twins were so close, causing Valerie to redouble her efforts as she continued to fight. Valerie could hear the statue growling ever so slightly, as if unhappy, which made her nervous as to who it was growling at, but it said nothing. Valmont soon gave up, even after checking her shoes and down her sleeves. He abandoned her there in favour of hurryingly turning towards Jade, who was frantically pulling on her ropes in an attempt to be free, her eyes filled with panic as she saw Valmont advancing towards her. Valerie shouted profanities and curses at Valmont, trying to redirect his attention towards her, but he remained unmoved from his course. Jade glared at Valmont, showing him her teeth like an animal as she tried to jump up and kick him – like Jackie had been teaching her. But she couldn't get up high enough with her wrists bound to the cabinet, and Valmont quickly caught her leg. Both Valerie and Jade realised her mistake at the exact same time, and the girl began to struggle in earnest, even as Valmont tried to pull off her shoe.

"Jackie!" Jade screamed out helplessly, and as if summoned by her will, the doors to the office burst open, and there stood the two Jackies, both looking identical, as the bad-Jackie had lost the black jacket. Valerie thought her heart would burst with relief at seeing the pair of them again – a childish part of her feeling safe, as if everything would be alright, snatched from danger by the brave heroes. The pair of Jackies both saw Jade being pulled by Valmont, one having a look of fear, the other of outrage, and they leapt into action. Bad-Jackie charged, kicking Valmont in the chest, and sending him flying across the room – but Valerie was horrified to see Jade's shoe in his hand, the half of the talisman falling into his lap. Good-Jackie then came up to Jade, quickly untying her hands. "Stop him! He has all twelve!" Jade shouted in panic, pointing at Valmont.

Valmont leapt to his feet, racing towards the statue on the wall behind him. Valerie tried to kick her legs out to trip him, seeing the two Jackies racing towards them. But Valmont easily jumped over her, coming to a stop in front of Shendu. Everyone shouted for Valmont to stop, but all he did was smirk, and placed the last half of the talisman into its slot.

A bright white light burst out of the statue, causing Valerie to hiss as she turned her eyes away from the glare. She saw the two Jackies suddenly freeze in mid-air, grunting in pain as they were suddenly forced together, their bodies melding into one, and there floated the original Jackie, whole and himself again. He then fell to the floor, groaning as he tried to get back up to his feet.

"Game over, Chan," Valmont told him with a smug smirk, before he turned back to look at the statue that was still shining out a bright white light. "Way over…"

Valerie looked up with her mouth open in frozen awe, a wind suddenly ripping through the office from nowhere, pulling her hair in all directions, sending the papers on Valmont's desk fluttering about the room as if a tornado were in with them. White light began to peak through the lines on the statue, as if it were coming from within it, and then – it moved! Valerie watched in growing horror as the head of the statue moved, its long neck swinging like a trapped animal trying to break free of its confinement as it roared. One by one, the talismans along its body each began to sink into its flesh, the stone becoming muscle and scale, the very hangings on which Valerie was tied to vanishing, allowing her to fall to the floor in a heap. She looked up, frozen in place with fear, as from the sides of the statue arms reached out, hands flexing with serrated talons at the end of each of its fingers. From the bottom, a large dinosaur-like leg came out, stamping on the desk and crushing it instantly beneath the creature's weight as it stepped out fully. There was a moment before it stretched its back… and the end was revealed.

Unable to move, her body completely still and not responding to her commands as she gazed upon what her instincts told her was death incarnate. A dragon stood within the office, but unlike anything she had ever seen in illustrations or stories. It stood bipedal on two legs, its back straight like that of a human, with muscular arms and grasping hands and bulging shoulders and chest. A thick and spiked tail lashed behind it, though its coiled neck and face seemed the same as it was when it had been a statue: a long lizard-like face with bristle whiskers, eight crowning horns, large fangs, red eyes and swirling tattoos from the bridge of the snout to its brow. The scales on most of its body were a dark green, whilst though on its chest and belly were bronze-gold. Strangely, blue-grey robes covered the crotch of the dragon like shorts. The creature straightened itself, arms going wide and holding them out, head tilted to the ceiling that it brushed where the thing stood at almost between fifteen and twenty feet tall!

"I… LIVE!" the dragon roared, its voice deep and menacing though still contained some of that same serpentine hiss from before. It now sounded like a living creature, and it knew it, voice filled with triumph even as if dropped its arms and looked upon the mortals below it, a very loud growl rippling through the air menacingly, the red eyes glowing with the promise of nothing but death. "At long last… my powers, restored!" the dragon spoke, voice filled with awe as he looked at his hands as if for the first time, placing a fist to his chest as if to feel the hit of flesh. "Speed, invisibility, astral projection!"

Valerie could hear the grin in the dragon's words, one that was reflected on Valmont's face as he smugly and greedily looked at the creature he had just unleashed. Laying behind the creature, Valerie was out of its line of sight, and so carefully gathered herself up to her feet, pressing her body against the wall. Her hands were still tied, though she was now free to move with the hangings on the wall that she had been tied to gone. Looking out, Valerie's eyes met Jackie's as he still knelt on the floor in front of the beast, Jade huddling behind him, her eyes wide, and for the first time Valerie saw true fear etched onto the little girl's face.

"That thing's why Valmont wanted the talismans?" Jade hissed out in shock. And as if remembering that they were still there, the dragon cast its gaze upon them.

"And my personal favourite…" the dragon Shendu purred out, trailing off with his smug tone. Suddenly, the dragon flexed his claws and made his hands into a certain formation as he turned to face Jackie and Jade. "Combustion!" a fire ball suddenly exploded from his hands, shooting across the office towards Jackie and Jade. Jackie barely had enough time to throw Jade out of the way of the deadly attack, throwing himself to the floor as well. The fireball hit the wall right behind Jackie, causing the brickwork to explode outwards onto the city below, creating a giant hole in the side of the building. Jackie was sucked out of the office before he had time to even get up, falling out and into the abyss.

"NO!" Valerie screamed, eyes going wide as she watched in frozen horror as her friend had surely plummeted to his death.

"Jackie!" Jade screamed at exactly the same time as her, going to the edge to look out, her hair whipped about by the winds. But then, Valerie screamed a wordless cry as she saw the floor beneath Jade crumble and the girl tumbled down, scrabbling for a hand hold, but it was useless and she screamed as she fell.

"JADE!" Valerie screamed again, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't believe it, they couldn't both be taken from her – she refused to believe it! Without thinking, she went to run to the edge, but before she could make it even a step, the large tail of the dragon was in front of her, pushing against her and pinning her to the wall behind her. The instant she felt the touch of the scales against her, Valerie's whole body stiffened as she felt as if she had been struck by lightning, the electricity racing through her body and immobilising her as she stood there with mouth gaping open in a silent scream. She felt as if fire was burning her flesh, and would have screamed had she found the voice. Her eyes fluttered as she almost passed out from the force of whatever-it-was that now coursed through her; but from the electricity and the fire she felt energy seep into her core. It filled her up until she thought she would burst from the force of it, and in an instant she felt whole and complete, everything else in the world eclipsed as to what she felt in that moment. It was something she had felt hinted at before: when she had touched the statue without knowing what it was, then she had felt a fraction of the true strength of this power, and now she was getting the full capacity of it. It was something powerful and uncontrollable and raw and it ripped through her as if it would tear her apart if she did not find a suitable place within her to store it.

"Ahhh…" she heard Shendu sigh as if in ecstasy, and it frightened her, both by the pleasurable sound with which he made, and also how clearly she could hear him. The rest of the world seemed muted to Valerie as she struggled to mentally keep herself in one piece, but Shendu she could hear as if he were right next to her, his voice surrounded her, echoing as if it were within her. "The power of my Other is now mine to command!" he roared triumphantly in her mind, and Valerie felt him pull at the electricity that sparked between them, sucking the power out of her just a little, but it was enough to ease the pressure inside of her ever so slightly, and she sighed with relief. Although he hadn't taken a lot, it was still enough that Valerie could sense that he radiated power in unimaginable waves. She didn't know how she could tell this, but somehow she could picture it in her mind the same way as she heard his voice inside her. She then felt the dragon's tail move away from her, and the moment the contact broke, Valerie felt all of the energy leave her. She gasped for breath as if she had been drowning, almost fainting on the spot from the sheer relief she felt at not having to hold together her very essence from splitting apart to contain such energy. Her knees quickly gave out, her body utterly spent as she slid to the floor. Slowly, the world came back to her, and she opened her heavy eyes as she struggled to keep her arms holding her up. Shendu was growling irritably to himself, a sound that was most terrifying as it echoed out loudly from his huge chest. "A pity the effects do no last…" he muttered.

It was then that the doors to the office opened, and in walked Tohru, Finn, Chow and Ratso. They stopped right in their tracks as they saw the huge, hulking, humanoid dragon in the office. Each of their eyes widened and their mouths fell open as they gasped in shock. Finn gulped, and was the first to find his voice.

"Whoa… Shen-DUDE!" he said in amazed awe.

"Err… welcome to earth?" Ratso put in.

"Good to see ya up and around…" Chow quickly added shakily.

"Well," Valmont chuckled smugly, and even though she felt exhausted, Valerie wanted to claw that smug look right off of his face. "The office is a shambles, but the lost treasure of Ching Xi Hung, should more the cover the cleaning deposit."

"Regrettably, Valmont," Shendu said, though his tone made it very clear that he wasn't regretting anything. "You did not provide me with the Talismans." He said as he pointed a large claw at the human before him. "Jackie Chan did."

"A technicality!" Valmont spluttered in outrage. Shendu lunged forward, bending to bring his large face just inches away from Valmont's, causing the man to gasp as he leaned back to give himself some room, though his feet remained frozen to the spot.

"Read my lips," Shendu hissed. "No treasure for you!" he then snarled, bearing his teeth ferociously as Valmont quickly backed up.

"Tohru," Valmont said tightly, trying to save face and appear cold and calm, even though Valerie could see his hands shaking. "Make this dead-beat pony up."

"You go bro!" Finn said quickly, almost jumping out of the way with a false smile to a very nervous looking Tohru.

"Yeah, we're right behind ya," Ratso jumped in shakily as he and Chow began to back away as well.

"In spirit!" Chow added.

"B-but Master…" Tohru quietly begged, his face suddenly pale as he held his shaking hands nervously in front of him.

"Valmont, you can't do this!" Valerie shouted out weakly as she struggled to her feat, leaning her bound hands against the wall to take most of her weight. "You can't make him fight that thing, it's suicide!"

"DO IT!" Valmont hissed as he whirled around to face Tohru, baring his teeth as he lost all control of his temper. Tohru looked like a wounded animal as he flinched from his master's wrath, but gulped nervously as he obediently walked forward.

Valerie almost felt sorry for the big guy as she watched him walk towards the waiting Shendu. Her heart was fluttering with fear and anxiety – no matter how large Tohru was, how could he expect to beat a dragon?! It was then, out of the corner of her eye, that Valerie saw movement at the hole in the wall. She held back a gasp for fear it would attract attention, as her heart soared when she saw a familiar dark head climb to the lip of the hole, hanging on to edge of the office floor as he looked into the office, unnoticed. Jackie's gaze caught Valerie's and tears of relief swept into her eyes as she smiled. Jackie was alive! At that moment she didn't know how he had miraculously survived, and she didn't care! If he had managed to save himself from that deadly fall, was it possible to hope that Jade could be alive as well? But a growl brought Valerie's attention back to the fight at hand, as Tohru stamped forward, trying to be as intimidating as possible to the very unbothered looking Shendu. Tohru braced himself and leapt towards the dragon, meaning to take out his legs, but as his feet left the ground, the huge man remained stranded in the air for a split second. Valerie saw the panic that engulfed his features as he was lifted into the air by an invisible force until he was brought face to face with Shendu.

"Need I remind you, that I possess the power of levitation… and super strength," the dragon told them as if he were bored, raising a hand and with but a single finger, all he had to do was flick Tohru straight in the face. The sound alone was as if a car had suddenly slammed into the huge man, and Tohru was suddenly sent flying backwards like a speeding bullet. Valmont and his men barely had enough time to dive out of the way as Tohru came crashing through the doors behind them, along the hallway, through the shaft of the elevator and out of the far side of the building. Valerie heard Tohru screaming as he fell, before he was cut off perhaps a little too quickly by a faraway impact. Was it possible that Shendu had sent him all the way into the next building?! Valerie looked up in frozen horror at the dragon that growled threateningly at the mortal men still in the office. Valmont swallowed thickly, still trying to act as if he were in control when everyone could see that he was near to soiling himself.

"Fine." He said tightly, his voice a little high and strangled. "Treasure's yours."

Shendu growled his very clear agreement.

Valerie saw a flicker of movement, and her eyes snapped to Jackie as he jumped back into the office and grabbed one of the electricity cabals that was broken and hanging out of the ruined wall. He threw it through the air, electricity sparking from the end of it as it sailed like a whip. The cabal struck Shendu in the back, forks of lightning spitting out across his hide. Shendu roared, back arching and head rearing back as the electricity engulfed his torso in a dazzling display of bright light, causing Valerie and the others to shield their eyes from the glare. But one of the dragon's arms lashed out and struck the cabal, dislodging it from his back as it fell to the floor, and the dragon turned to face Jackie, appearing to be completely unharmed as he glared at the mortal man before him.

"You." He growled. Jackie gasped, as shocked as Valerie to see that the dragon had come from that encounter without a scratch. Surely that amount of electricity should have at least knocked the dragon to his knees! But –

"He ain't even singed…" Chow and Ratso mumbled with awe and fear, taking the words right out of Valerie's mouth, so to speak.

"That, gentlemen," Valmont said a little shakily. "Would be our cue," and he and the others turned and fled the office.

"Go!" Jackie shouted, and Valerie tried to push herself away from the wall as quickly as possible, despite how tired her body felt. She went to run, hands still tied, but only managed to make it a few steps when she suddenly felt her feet leave the ground. Valerie screamed, kicking her legs wildly as she was lifted higher until she was brought face to face with Shendu's far too real face.

"Ah-ah, I think not, my dear," he purred to her, his voice thick with amusement and mockery. With but a gesture of his head, Valerie was sent flying backwards until she hit the wall behind the colossal dragon. The wind was knocked out from her lungs, leaving her breathless and gasping for air as she slid down to the floor, huddling in a heap on the ground as she tried to gain back the function of her body. She tried to push herself up, but an invisible force weighed down against her, unyielding to her and effectively pinning her in place. Panicked, Valerie struggled but it was no use, she helplessly looked up to Jackie who was facing an advancing Shendu.

"Who… What are you?!" Jackie asked in stunned dismay as he gazed up at the creature before him, Valerie could practically see the denial in his face as he looked upon a creature that should never have existed.

"I am the Keeper of the Talismans," Shendu said, an evil grin spreading along his muzzle as he stood threateningly above Jackie. "I am the apocalypse of which legend speaks. And I AM, once and for all… your executioner!"

Valerie felt her blood run cold as she remembered those words. But before she could think of anything else, Shendu's body began to glow as if fire were igniting along his flesh. The hum of building power was almost deafening, and Jackie seemed to recognise it as he quickly turned and ran down the office. Shendu's eyes followed him as he sucked in a breath, and then a torrent of fire erupted from his jaws, shooting out as the flames leapt after their intended victim.

"BAD DAY! BAD DAY! BAD DAY!" Jackie chanted in a panic as he ran ahead of the flames that chased him down the hallway, leaving him nowhere to go but the elevator shaft. He leapt into it just a second before the flames reached him. And that was when Valerie lost sight of him, as the flames burst into the shaft and exploded out of the hole that had been created by Tohru earlier.

"Jackie!" Valerie shouted when the flames passed, but no one answered her. For a dreadful moment, she thought he had been killed either by flame or yet another deadly drop. But then, she had other things to worry about, for as he heard her voice, Shendu turned and fixed his glowing blood red eyes upon her. Valerie shrunk away, trying to sink into the ground as she remained frozen in fear, her body shaking in terror as the dragon then began to walk towards her…

Jade paced on the sidewalk, wringing the phone in her hands anxiously as she waited with a trembling lip. What could be taking so long?

After she and Jackie had fallen out of the building, Jackie had narrowly saved them both by clinging to the ropes attached to man cleaning the windows of the skyscraper. Jackie had landed to safety, and had caught Jade just in time – with the help of the window cleaner. Despite Jade wanting to go back up to face the monster, Jackie had insisted she head for the ground, and the window-cleaner was not the type of man to let her get her way. So once she'd reached the bottom, Jade had called Captain Black, as Jackie had asked her to. When she told Black that she, Valerie and Jackie had been kidnaped, he'd at first thought her to be playing a prank on him again, but unfortunately it was no prank at all. Once she told him that she was at the Dark Hand headquarters and gave Black the address, he'd quickly believed her, and said that he was on his way. So now Jade was waiting outside the skyscraper, every minuet that passed seemed like an hour as she looked back up towards the top worriedly. She had utter confidence that Jackie could beat anything – she idolised him. But he'd never faced a monster like this before, even Jade's vast imagination had not expected to see such a thing! And Valerie was up there too!

Jade then heard the distant sound of roaring engines and looked up with bated breath as she saw four cars and two large vans come racing down the road. All the vehicles came screeching to a halt in front of her, the smell of burning rubber rising in the air as the tires left long black marks on the road as the drivers slammed on the brakes. From the cars came Section 13 agents, and Jade could have collapsed with relief, the welcomed sight enough to make all the tension in her little body evaporate. Captain Black exited the lead car, his face set in grim determination as he marched up to Jade.

"Captain Black! Quick!" Jade shouted hurriedly, the panic slowly creeping back into her body as she thought they might be too late if they went any slower. "They're on the top floor!"

"Simmons, Corvec, Tait, Johnson – you're with me. The rest of you, stand by." Captain Black ordered his men, who all nodded seriously, and four agents quickly walked behind their leader as he marched into the lobby of the building, Jade jogging at his side to keep up. They walked through the lobby and came to the elevator, noticing that the lift was already on its way down. It arrived with a calm 'ding' and Jade felt her impatience intensify at how slow everything around her seemed to be as she shifted from foot to foot. The doors to the elevator slowly opened, and who should be standing there, but Valmont and his three main goons.

"Surprise." Captain Black said triumphantly with a smirk as Valmont and his men gasped. The four agents behind Black rushed into the elevator, the cramped space offering no room to fight back, and the four criminals were quickly put into handcuffs. They were marched out of the elevator and into the lobby, Black and Valmont exchanging icy glares as the later passed by with a shove from the agent. Black was about to turn and walk behind his men, when Jade grabbed onto his sleeve and dragged him into the lift.

"Come on!" she said desperately, pulling a very confused looking Captain Black into the elevator. The doors closed behind them, and Jade hit the button for the top floor, and the elevator obediently began to take them up. Once they were moving, Black looked down at the clearly agitated child beside him with a bewildered frown.

"Jade, what's going on?" he asked, a note in his voice holding suspicion.

"Val and Jackie weren't with them – they must still be up in the office!" Jade told him as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. Somewhere above them, they heard a loud crash along with a deep rumble that shook the elevator, making the lights flicker above them before it continued its ascent. Black looked up, Jade relieved to see that he no longer had that doubting look on his face. The secret-agent watched the ceiling with a very serious look in his eyes, his hand going to his belt where his gun was holstered. But they heard nothing else, only the 'ding' as the elevator reached its destination and the doors opened out onto the now ruined hallway. "This way!" Jade marched forward, dragging the Captain behind her.

Even Jade was very surprised yet unnerved to see the hallway and office doors completely wrecked. It looked as if something had been blasted through the walls and then torched the hallway with a flame-thrower. Everything in the hallway had been burned to a crisp to such a degree that it couldn't even sustain flames any longer. Jade swallowed thickly, hoping that amongst the charred remains of Valmont's wealth, she wouldn't find her uncle and friend. As they neared the end of the hallway, Jade heard the pounding footsteps of the monster, her fears being realised that Jackie had not yet dealt it. Frantically, the girl pushed the agent into the wall as they huddled behind the edge of the ruined doorway, and gestured for the older man to be quiet. Captain Black pressed himself flush against the wall with her, and a look of confusion entered his eyes as he heard the large footsteps. Jade gestured with her head for Black to look around the wall, and the Agent obeyed, kneeling down to lean around her. Jade saw the exact moment when his eyes located the dragon in the office, his face grew pale, his eyes wide with astonishment and disbelief, though he made no noise. Jade leaned out next to him to see what was happening.

She saw no sign of Jackie, but her eyes immediately found Valerie lying huddled on the floor unmoving though she was awake as the woman's eyes were wide with fear as she looked up at the monster walking towards her. For a horrible moment, Jade thought that the dragon-thing would eat her friend, and was prepared to run out to stop such a thing from happening. But surprisingly, the dragon merely twitched a finger, and Valerie sagged as if a weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. The woman desperately tried to crawl away from the beast, a scream building in her throat, but the dragon only had to take a step in order to catch up with her. One clawed hand reached out and took hold of Valerie, its fingers encircling her waist and her arms left out of its grip. Instantly upon its touch, Valerie gasped, her whole body going stiff, her back arching and eyes widening as if in pain. The dragon too took a sudden intake of breath, a growl vibrating through the air that even Jade and Captain Black could feel hum in their chests with its power. Jade watched helplessly as the dragon held Valerie in his hand as he walked towards the hole in the wall. Realising what was about to happen, Jade went to run, to stop them; but quicker then she thought possible, Captain Black snatched her into his arms, one hand encircling her arms and pinning them to her sides, the other closing over her mouth to stop her from screaming. Jade struggled but it was no use, and she was forced to helplessly watch as the dragon jumped out of office and into the open air. Instantly Captain Black released Jade and they both ran to the hole to watch the dragon as it sailed through the air, despite having no wings it flew with arms outstretched in front of it. Jade could see Valerie clinging to its fingers for dear life as if she feared she might be dropped. And then, as it soared, there was a sudden flash of green and bronze, and the dragon was literally nothing more but a blur as it disappeared into the horizon.

"Jade…" came Captain Black's very shaky voice, causing Jade to turn to the adult who looked very pale and unnerved at that moment. "Please explain."

"I think it used the levitation talisman combined with the speed talisman so it could fly." Jade explained. It made perfect sense: the rooster talisman was levitation but only the rabbit talisman could give the speed that made that very familiar looking blurred streak. It was kind of obvious from a logic kind of way: levitation + speed = flight. She'd have to remember that one.

"What?!" Captain Black looked at her as if she'd lost her mind, causing Jade to realise that she had probably answered the wrong question. Captain Black looked back out onto the now empty sky, his eyes wide and filled with desperate denial. "What did all that so it could fly?!"

"Got me," Jade shrugged, before her expression sobered as she looked out at where she had last seen the dragon… and her friend. She hoped she was alright. "But it used to be a statue."

"Holy smokes… so Jackie was right all along… the Talismans were real…" Black breathed after a moment of silence as if he couldn't even believe what he was saying, the realisation on his face making it obvious that he now believed.

"Told ya," Jade muttered.

"Help!" came a familiar cry, and Jade gasped, spinning around as she ran back through the office and into the hallway where she was sure she had heard the sound.

"Jackie!" she called out, though no one was there. She looked around, confused, but then heard a banging. She and Captain Black ran to the elevator, and ducked their heads inside the still open doors in time to see a panel in the elevator's ceiling being pushed down by a fist. And then, down tumbled a very familiar looking man, who groaned as he lay huddled on the floor. Jade fell beside her uncle, shaking his shoulder desperately. "Jackie?"

"Jackie, you alright?" Captain Black asked as he helped the man to his feet.

"Yes, I'm fine." Jackie groaned, shaking his head as if to rid himself of any lingering dizziness. He blinked and looked around as if realising where he was and what had happened. He looked to the other two frantically. "What happened?"

"Jackie… that thing… it took Valerie…" Jade murmured, emotion sweeping through her as she realised what that might mean for Valerie. Tears stung the girl's eyes, and Jackie's mouth fell open as he gasped in horror.

"No!" he hissed to himself as he ran past them into the office, stopping when he found it completely empty. A look passed onto his face, a look of fear and despair, but also one of determination as he narrowed his eyes on the hole in the wall. "We have to get to Uncle's shop. Now."

Author's Note: And... CLIFFHANGER! :D But seriously, I have been wanting to do this episode for SO long! So for both dramatic purposes as well as chapter length, I thought that here would be a rather good place to stop :) I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and please don't forget to review! I love each and every comment so please keep them coming ;)

Until next time!