The J-Team
"I'll take the guy in the Ninja suit." Black said to Jackie. Jackie looked confusedly from Black to the dozens of Shadow-Ninjas in front of them.
"Better idea!" Jackie shouted as the Shadowkhan were suddenly leaping through the air towards them. Jackie grabbed hold of Captain Black's jacket and hauled him over the side of the building, jumping straight after. They yelled as they fell through the air towards the hard pavement below them. However, luckily for them, a huge poster was suspended from a lamp post, allowing Jackie to quickly snatch at the top of it, Captain Black grabbing it as well. They thought that it would halt their fall, but were yelling in fear as they were mistaken, the posted ripping and tearing with their fall, causing Jackie to yell: "BAD DAY! BAD DAY!"
Then, suddenly, they were jolted to a stop just before they hit the ground, the poster catching on its edges and halted their momentum. Jackie and Captain Black breathed a sigh of relief. But then the poster tore the final way, and they dropped the last foot to the ground heavily, and they groaned. As hey climbed to their feet, they found themselves surrounded by Shadowkhan once again as the beings emerged from the shadows. Jackie yelled as he suddenly felt something snake up his body and wrap around his arms before holding the back of his neck, pinning him in place. Captain Black was also quickly restrained, and the pair of men looked about fearfully as the Shadowkhan closed in for the kill.
"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao… Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao…" came a chant, and the Shadowkhan parted so that Jackie could see Uncle, Tohru and Jade not thirty feet away. Uncle was chanting as he held a puffer-fish in one hand and was hopping on one foot, Jade and Tohru holding steaming bowls of incense that filled the air with a heavy perfume. "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao…" Uncle continued to chant, and at his words, the Shadowkhan seemed to evaporate into dust as they all fell away until Black and Jackie were free.
"Whoa…" Black murmured in awe as he looked at his hand where the dust of the Shadowkhan steamed as it left his skin. The pair looked at Uncle in amazement. Uncle polished his glasses, before wordlessly turning on his heel and marching back towards his store, the others closely following behind. "Unc, that was some magic," Black said, clearly impressed as they re-entered the store. Tohru shifted past them as he went straight for the backroom.
"Bah," Uncle waved a hand dismissively. "Simple Chi spell, many others in my books,"
"So the Big Bad Dragon is back, and he's packing the Talismans?" Jade asked, looking at the others worriedly.
"Talismans are not important," Uncle said. "Shendu is a spirit now, not even the Talismans can change that…"
"Sensei," Tohru said softly as he re-entered the main store, holding an unconscious Valerie in his arms. Jade and the others gasped, having not noticed her absence until now. Uncle quickly came forward and placed a finger on Valerie's forehead, thinking for a moment.
"Put her on the couch Tohru, and place wet rag on her head." Uncle ordered. Tohru nodded before heading into one of the side rooms.
"So you figure he's on to something bigger mi compadre?" Black asked as he leaned down towards Uncle. The old man gave the agent a hard look, before walking away dismissively.
"The book Shendu stole from my library is a key to understanding his motives…" Uncle told the others as he led them into the now trashed backroom.
"But… which volume did he steal?" Tohru asked as he looked around at the hundreds of books that lay scattered around the room in heaps from where Tohru had crashed through the store after Shendu had sent him flying.
"How do I know?!" Uncle shouted impatiently. "We must take inventory!"
"So all these books have spells?" Black asked as he picked up a book to open it. Uncle quickly whacked his bald head with two fingers as he snatched the book from his hands. "OW!"
"Do not touch!" Uncle snapped. Black groaned in disappointment.
Jackie, Jade and Captain Black had raced back to Section 13 as soon as possible, Black quickly going to his office to call his superiors at the Pentagon in order to ask for reinforcements to deal with Shendu and his thugs. No matter what Shendu might be up to, it was clear that after the robbery in the financial district, the Dark Hand in control of the Talismans were too powerful in order to take on with the few agents that they had at Section 13. He'd then left Jackie and Jade to finish their packing to move out of the secret base. Suffice it to say that Jade was still not happy to be moving out.
"Jackie, we can't move!" Jade cried out desperately. "The bad guys are –"
"Too powerful for one archaeologist to stop, Jade." Jackie said over her as he continued to pack his things into a cardboard box.
"They'll still need you to consult, right?" Jade asked, just as Captain Black walked into the room behind her.
"Jackie," Black said as he walked up to his friend. "I just spoke with my superiors in Washington,"
"Are they sending reinforcements?" Jackie asked hopefully.
"They're… reassigning all Dark Hand matters to Section 12," Black sighed in frustration. "I never should have used the M-word. But there's no time to lose." Black said with renewed determination as he looked back at Jackie. "The mainframe indicates that Valmont has just left the country,"
"But… how will you –" Jackie asked in confusion as Black took the large cardboard box from his hands.
"My hands may be tied Jackie, but yours aren't." Black said. "I'll have a plane waiting for you as soon as you're ready to go." Black said as he turned and left the room.
"No!" Jade cried out after she'd managed to get a grip on her shock. "You can't!"
"But I have to go Jade," Jackie said softly, trying to make her understand, though he was a little surprised at her change of tune.
"Jackie, you can't face Shendu alone!" she told him determinedly. "You need back up!"
"That's why I'm going to get Uncle," Jackie told her.
"Uncle's just the brains, you need muscle on your team," she argued. Jackie shook his head at her as he left to go and pack his bag, leaving Jade on her own. Her face lit up as a thought struck her. "And I know just where to find you some…"
Valerie slowly blinked her eyes open as consciousness came back to her. Her head was pounding and she groaned as the light that filtered in through her eyelids hurt her brain. She placed a hand on her head, trying to blot out the light, her body aching as she turned… and promptly fell off her bed.
Yelling as she hit the floor, Valerie looked up around her with a groan, before her eyes widened in surprise to find that she was not in her room as she had thought she was, but instead was on the couch in one of the rooms in Uncle's store. Confusion overcame her until the memories began to filter back into her brain, causing her to gasp. Shendu had been possessing Valmont! He'd stolen a book! Wait… Valerie had to look at the window, realising that it was the morning – she'd been knocked out and then slept through the whole night. Her stomach was grumbling from hunger, and Valerie stiffly climbed to her feet, meaning to go to the kitchen when she heard the voices of Jackie and Uncle. They were talking, and Valerie made her way towards them until she was standing in the doorway of the backroom watching the two older men though they had not noticed her yet. Tohru was standing quietly in the corner. They appeared to be clearing up the mess Shendu had made when he broke in, putting books on random shelves. Valerie made a mental note to properly catalogue Uncle's library so that one could actually find what they were looking for, rather than the disorganised mess that Uncle kept it in. She noticed with a forlorn look that some of the books had been torn or broken in the break in, and she made another mental note to see if they were fixable.
"We cannot leave until we know what Shendu is planning!" Uncle said as he placed a book on a random shelf. "And we cannot know that until we know which book he took!"
"That's easy," Valerie said, causing everyone to gasp in surprise as they spun to face her.
"Valerie!" Jackie cried happily, a relieved look on his face. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, thanks Jackie," she said with a small smile. "Have a killer headache though."
"I will get you some aspirin," Tohru said gently as he left for the kitchen.
"Thanks Tohru," Valerie said with a small smile. "How are you feeling? Shendu threw you pretty hard,"
"I am well, thank you," Tohru told her softly as he exited the room.
"Valerie!" Uncle snapped, forcing Valerie to face the old man as her head snapped to attention, despite how much it spun. "You know which book Shendu stole?"
"Yes, it was –" she was cut by the sound of the front doorbell. Frustrated, Uncle turned to shout out into the main store.
"Go away! We are closed for inventory!" he shouted at whoever had entered.
"We are not customers…" came a deep yet accented voice, one that caused Valerie to turn with worry at the man's words.
"JACKIE! A BURGLAR!" They suddenly heard Uncle scream, and Valerie and Jackie came racing from the backroom to Uncle's side. Valerie was immediately met with the sight of a huge man standing in the main store, he wore a black suit, but upon his face was a red and gold wrestling mask. Valerie gulped, for the man was easily as large as Tohru, and with the fact that she could only see his eyes and mouth on his masked face made him look very ominous.
"Uncle!" Jackie shouted quickly as Uncle picked up a broom to brandish it at the masked man. "He is no thief, he is –" Uncle slapped Jackie with two fingers to cut him off.
"Of course he is a thief!" Uncle snapped. "He is wearing a mask!"
"Oh no, no, no!" came a small voice, and Valerie looked down, blinking in surprise as she saw a small boy by the side of the huge stranger, a boy with brown eyes, brown hair and tanned skin to go with his Mexican accent. "El Toro Fuerte never removes his mask!"
"Really? Ever?" Valerie asked with a sceptic look. It was at that moment, when Tohru entered the main store behind Valerie and Jackie, silently handing Valerie her pills and a glass of water –
"YOU!" El Toro shouted with a look at Tohru. "Dark Hand enemy!" and he charged. Valerie shrieked as she ducked out of the way as El Toro launched himself right at Tohru, sending him smashing back into a wall. A large scuffle ensued, as the two large men wrestled around the shop threatening to knock over expensive vases and antiques, forcing Jackie and Valerie to run after them to catch whatever seemed doom to fall and smash. At one point, Valerie heard Jackie cry out, and turned to find him shocked to see a rather pretty woman standing in front of him.
"I've heard of a bull in a china shop Jackie," she said in a silky purr of a voice as she looked at the two wrestling men. "But two?" she asked with a raised thin eyebrow and a slight smirk. She was very pretty, Valerie felt her own cheeks flame in embarrassment as she mentally compared herself to the new woman. She had gorgeously tanned skin, almost black eyes that sparkled, matching her long raven hair that fell in silky waves down her the back of her pink sundress. In comparison, Valerie considered herself to be blotchy pale, her scraggily blonde hair still looked messy from sleep and her clothes were wrinkled and a day old. Valerie looked at her scruffy sneakers in shame.
"Viper?" She heard Jackie ask. "No thieves aloud in Uncle's – OW!" Jackie shrieked as Valerie turned back to see that Uncle had struck him with two fingers again.
"How can she be the thief?" Uncle demanded. "She is not wearing a mask and wrecking my store!"
"Stop!" Jackie said as he ran over to the two wrestling men, waving his hands in the air as he tried to get their attention. "Tohru is – ah!" he cried out as Tohru unknowingly threw El Toro into Jackie, sending them both crashing to the floor.
"Oh, for the love of…" Valerie muttered, before she took a deep breath and shouted: "TOHRU IS WITH US!" Everyone froze and looked at her, El Toro looking at her with confusion. Tohru came to stand over the two men on the floor, looking at Tohru with almost no malice in his eyes.
"Valerie tells the truth," he said simply.
"Sorry." El Toro said as he picked himself up off of Jackie, causing the other man to groan from where he'd been squashed. The wrestler then turned to Valerie with a pleasantly polite smile. "And who might you be, senorita?" he asked.
"Valerie Payne," she murmured, extending her hand and he shook it, his hand dwarfing hers.
"Alright!" came an energetic little voice as Jade jumped from the bottom of the stairs and practically skipped towards the two newcomers, high-fiving them as she passed. "Viper! El Toro! You made it!" she then noticed the young boy standing beside El Toro. "Who invited you?"
"Jade! Manners!" Valerie hissed, but Jade just shrugged.
"I am El Toro's protégé," said the boy, seemingly un-phased by Jade's remark. "Wherever he goes, I go,"
"Okay Paco," Jade said. "But try not to get in the way while Jackie's kicking butt!"
"But it is El Toro Fuerte who will be kicking the butt, Yade," Paco said with a grin, pronouncing Jade's name as 'yade' instead of 'jade'.
"Jackie." Jade argued.
"El Toro." Paco snapped back.
"Jackie."
"El Toro."
"Jackie.
"El Toro."
"Oh, that's not going to get old quickly," Valerie muttered sarcastically as the two children continued to argue.
"Jade." Jackie cut in. "Explain."
"It's your team, duh!" Jade said excitedly. "The J-Team, the Chan Clan, the Chantastic seven!"
"Chantastic?" Jackie deadpanned.
"Seven, see?" she said, envisioning it as she pointed to each of them individually. "You and me make two. Uncle and Valerie are the brains, so they make four. And then there's Viper. And El Toro makes six –"
"And I, Paco, am the seventh member of the Yay-Team!" Paco said proudly.
"I actually had someone less… puny, in mind," Jade corrected as she looked at Tohru who was sweeping up the mess he'd made. He seemed surprised as he blinked at the child.
"I am honoured," he murmured as he bowed his head to them.
"Jade, I think you know by now that I don't do field work," Valerie said as she crossed her arms.
"Not got the stomach?" Viper asked.
"One brush with death is one time too many for my liking," Valerie bristled, though somewhere in the back of her mind, she remembered Shendu's words about not needing to fear him, how he wouldn't have let her come to harm. She quickly banished such thoughts.
"I'm sorry you all came here for nothing," Jackie told El Toro, Paco and Viper apologetically. "But I didn't realise my niece read so many comic books," Jackie said with a glare at the girl. "I cannot accept your help,"
"Never pegged you as the macho-type, Jackie," Viper purred as she pinched Jackie's cheek. Valerie rolled her eyes.
"I especially cannot accept help from a super-thief," Jackie crossed his arms over his chest at her.
"Ex-super thief," she corrected. "Went legit after the pink puma fiasco,"
"So the Dark Hand is back?" El Toro asked Jackie.
"Yes." Jackie nodded. "Though we do not know what they want. They stole one of Uncle's books and we need to find out which one it was,"
"Which I can tell you," Valerie said in an almost frustrated voice. "As I was about to say before everyone came barging in. Shendu took a book on ancient Tibet artefacts,"
"Ancient magic artefacts I bet," Jade added.
"Quickly!" Uncle snapped at Jackie. "Have Captain Black get us to Tibet. Tohru!" he then spun to face Tohru. "Watch the shop and take care of Jade! The rest of you…" he trailed off with a glare to the newcomers. "GET OUT!"
The Dark Hand's private plane was nearing its destination, and Shendu sat reading over the pages of the book in his lap. His new minions were all sitting at the back of the plane, as far from Shendu as they could possibly get, which Shendu was more than happy about. More time away from those imbeciles meant the more time he could think in peace. He continued to read through the old volume in front of him, red eyes skimming for what he was looking for.
After acquiring the book, Shendu had spent the night instructing Valmont's thugs to arrange for their departure to Tibet. He'd then spent the entire flight reading through page after page in an attempt to find what he knew was somewhere in the book. Shendu wondered briefly if his Shadowkhan minions had managed to rid him of the pest that was Jackie Chan, though he doubted the meddlesome human would be so compliant. But at least Shendu was one step ahead of him, for he now had the book that had been thankfully provided by Valerie. Ah… Valerie, Shendu smirked to himself. At least this body was good for something: it made him more compatible with his Other. He'd enjoyed the way her body, so petite and wiry, felt against him, and he'd most enjoyed watching her reactions to his prodding. His smirk turned into a grin. As he flicked through the pages of the book, he could almost detect the last remnants of her scent lingering on the pages where she'd had it tucked in the waistline of her jeans. He struggled not to purr.
"Ah…" Shendu breathed out as he finally found the page that he was looking for. "The Pan'ku box…" the book was rather vague on the Box's function though Shendu knew perfectly well what it did. However, the book did manage to give a very good history of the box's imprisonment in a temple which coincidentally enough, was not too far from where they were to land. Shendu grinned; it seemed that luck was on his side.
As they landed, the enforcers were the first to exit the plane, scouting around with Shendu's talismans always close at hand. Shendu hated to think of his precious talismans in their filthy grasps but he could not make use of them himself, so he would rather they be used to benefit him in this instance. As Shendu stepped off of the plane, he took in a breath of fresh air, looking towards the horizon where the outline of the temple – their destination – was but a speck on the mountain side.
"Soon my demon brethren shall be free," Shendu said to himself, grinning as his red eyes glowed brightly. "And their new reign of terror will begin…"
"Err… I don't know about this Jade," Tohru said nervously as he sat in his seat on the plane. "Uncle's instructions were very clear…"
"Uh-huh," Jade nodded as she came to sit by Valerie who was putting on her seat-belt buckle. "He said to watch the shop and watch me. Since I'm skipping town, you can't do both,"
"And Senor Uncle told all of us to get out of his shop," Paco piped up as he popped his head up from the seat behind Tohru. "So… we did!" he grinned cheerily as he looked back at El Toro and Viper sitting on either side of him.
Valerie couldn't fight her smile as she watched the exchange. It had been a rushed few hours for them. After Uncle and Jackie had left, Jade had put on her best negotiator face and convinced the others that it was best for them to sneak after Jackie in and attempt to help him. Valerie had initially protested, knowing that they may just end up in the way or putting themselves in danger. But one look at Jade's pleading eyes – as well as a comment from Viper – and Valerie was packing her overnight bag and hopping with them onto the next plane out of San Francisco to Tibet, with a few strings pulled by Captain Black, whom Jade had convinced to watch the shop. Valerie had to marvel at the girl's ability to make anyone do anything she wanted, except for her uncle. If the girl wasn't so set on being a secret agent one day (despite Jackie constantly saying no), then Valerie thought she would make a great politician.
"I still don't know why I'm here Jade," she said to the girl at her side, who looked up at her with her large honey eyes.
"You're working on Ancient Tibet at school, right? So you know things that could help us," Jade reasoned as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I'm doing a paper for the university, yes, but that doesn't mean I'll be of any help…" Valerie trailed off nervously.
"Val, you got brains, you got spunk, we need you." Jade told her with a bright smile. "Besides, don't you want to give big bad dragon a punch to the face to show him to not mess with you?"
Valerie chuckled, though her insides churned.
"So… I've never met El Toro and miss-snooty-thief over there," Valerie murmured with a gesture of her head towards the other members of the J-Team on the other side of the plane. "You wanna give me a catch up session on what I've missed?"
"Sure! I forgot you didn't know, hehe," the girl chuckled, almost embarrassed by her slip up. But then she began to talk, her face becoming as animated as her voice. "Well, El Toro we met when we were looking for the Ox Talisman in Mexico – before you arrived. El Toro was the champion wrestler, because he was cheating the Ox Talisman in his mask which makes you super strong. Anyway, the Dark Hand managed to get their hands on the talisman, unmasking El Toro and shaming him as his secret was revealed!" Valerie fought her smile at how Jade described the events as if they were an epic story only she could tell. "But Jackie and El Toro worked together to stop the Dark Hand, and get the talisman back, though El Toro won back his pride by continuing to wrestle but this time not cheating. Paco became his apprentice, and since then El Toro has continued to be the champion, hence he doesn't not remove his mask,"
"That's sounds rather honourable," Valerie smiled as she glanced over at the larger man who was talking to the skinny boy sitting beside him, a look of fatherly love in his eyes.
"And Viper, we found her a few weeks before we met you," Jade continued. "The Snake Talisman – which makes you invisible – was at a museum. Viper was a super-thief, able to get past any trap and sneak her way into anything! Viper was after a large jewel called the Pink Puma, and after a mix up accidentally stole the snake talisman. She then got cornered by Valmont and me and Jackie had to help her, and she then helped us get back the talisman,"
"Hmm…" Valerie murmured, not wanting to voice her opinion as she looked warily at the ex-thief. "You think Jackie's going to like us coming to the rescue," she said instead.
"No, he never does," Jade shrugged. "But I'd rather he be angry then dead. I mean, what's the saying? Oh! Better to ask forgiveness then permission. Right?"
"Right," Valerie smiled.
"It's my body!" Valmont growled out as he hung on to a tree, fighting with all his strength to keep his fingers rigidly placed into the painfully sharp bark. "And I say we're going home!"
"You dare defy me?!" Shendu hissed as he took control, using one arm to let go of the tree and grasp his claw-like fingers into Valmont's hair. He wrenched back, feeling the pain but not minding it as Valmont's body was dragged from the tree as he hissed in pain.
"OW!" Valmont whined. "My hair!" But still he tried to fight back, fighting Shendu for control as the body they both inhabited staggered backwards across the forest path. Ratso, Finn, Chow and Hak Foo all watched the exchange with confused yet worried eyes.
"You will suffer for – Argh!" Shendu was cut off as Valmont tried to choke himself, Shendu feeling the pain as the fingers closed around his throat.
"Get. Out. Of my – head!" Valmont growled angrily as he continued to try and choke himself.
Shendu snarled viciously, his control on one of Valmont's arms attempting to claw at the man's eyes in his fury, even as Valmont kept control of the other arm, pulling on his yellow tie as they staggered again.
"You mortal – ACH!" Shendu hissed as Valmont slapped his face.
"So…" Ratso trailed off as all of the enforcers watched the spectacle. "Who we rooting for?" he asked.
The others looked at him.
Valerie was chief in charge of Jade and Paco whilst they booked in to the motel. The motel was hardly anything more than a broken down shack, with old creaky and rotten wooden doors, cold stone walls and crumbling plaster. Valerie didn't like it one bit, not that she was picky or spoilt or anything, but when she could see the holes where rats had tried to chew through the plaster, she tended to be put off. The only reason they were here, was because Jade had asked Captain Black where Jackie and Uncle had gone, and wouldn't you know it, the Dark Hand thugs were there too! They hadn't been spotted yet, but Viper and El Toro and Tohru had quickly formulated a plan in order to get the Talismans back, thereby eliminating a large threat. Thankfully the Dark Hand seemed unaware of their presence, which was a relief, but Valerie was still very worried about having Shendu sleeping somewhere in the same building as her. They had all paid for one large room, and Valerie had quickly shipped the children off to bed, and surprisingly they hadn't complained too much, being too exhausted from the long flight. The other adults went to try and get the Talismans, so Valerie was stuck on babysitting duty as she sat in the room, overlooking the two sleeping children as she sat on her bed and pulled out one of her text books in order to catch up on her reading. She honestly didn't mind babysitting, they were good kids at heart, and it kept Valerie away from the worst of the fighting. She was no coward, but as she had said to Viper: one brush with death was one too many.
She was first aware that something was wrong when she heard shouting coming from down the hallway. Valerie slowly lowered her book, looking up with a frown as she strained her ears to listen for the sound. Like a child craning to hear her parents arguing, she tried to catch snippets, but only muffled voices could be heard. Then, she felt the rumbling. She gasped as she felt ever so slight tremors as the rickety building shook and heard the crashes of something – or someone – being thrown around. Then she heard a series of crashes and –
Valerie screamed as the wall in front of her burst open. She threw herself to the floor as something sailed over her head and hit the beam behind her. Quickly popping her head up, Valerie was relieved to see that the children were startled, but otherwise completely fine, the wall behind them smashed open and their beds littered with dust and light debris. Whatever had flown through the wall had gone through two walls, going through Uncle's room as the old man now looked up, completely startled. She then looked behind her to see the three enforcers picking themselves off of the ground, looking extremely angry.
"They have the Talismans!" Jackie shouted in panic.
"Sorry," she heard El Toro grumble.
"Run!" Valerie shouted and the two children didn't hesitate to obey her as they ran for a corner in order to stay out of the way of the fighting. Valerie picked up a fallen piece of wood that had been part of the bed that had been thrown with the enforcers, holding it like a bat as she readied herself for combat, even with her insides quivering.
Chow was the first to come at her, and she swung at him, aiming for his face, though he seemed to move too fast as he evaded her every strike. Valerie gulped as she saw the power of the rabbit talisman, and as he swung for a punch at her, Valerie knew it was going to hurt. He hit her in the stomach, causing her to grunt with pain as she was thrown off of her feet and flew back. She hit something large and dense, but still that did not stop her momentum. She felt her and her cushion hit several things before they smashed into a wall, or so she took from how she heard the crash and felt the dust rain down onto her. The thing she was on hit the floor, and Valerie was bounced off of it, landing heavily on something with a loud 'oaf!' She groaned, her arms feeling weak as she tried to push herself up. She'd landed on something soft yet firm face down, and she blinked dizzily as her vision swam back into focus –
And she saw that she was draped over a sleeping Valmont's body. Valerie gasped, and the eyes snapped open, the red glowing eyes of Shendu staring back at her. He looked at her for a moment, as if he couldn't understand why she was there. Then, a leer spread across his face, his eyes dancing over her face as he flashed his teeth.
"Well, well, isn't this a pleasant surprise…" he purred out, and she could feel the vibrations of his voice beneath her fingers where her hands were pressed against his chest. Valerie couldn't move, she couldn't breathe she was in such a state of shock. She felt his hands snake around her waist, and rational thought kicked in as she began to struggle. Before his grip could close around her, rational thought bombarded her mind and she began to struggle against him quickly worming her way out of his arms as she threw herself off of the bed and crawled away from him. He stood in one fluid motion, and looked like he was about to follow her, a predatory gleam in his eyes, but then he noticed the enforcers standing in the gap of the wall, with Jackie, Tohru, Viper and El Toro beginning to come back to awareness on the ground. Valerie saw the frustration etched into Shendu's face as he cursed under his breath, before looking back at his henchmen. "I trust you all had plenty of rest," he said in a tone of voice that made it clear he didn't care either way. "Now follow me!" he spat before walking through the hole and out to the nearest door.
Valerie sat there for several minutes after they'd gone, her body trembling, not daring to move as she looked blankly ahead. As the shock began to wear off, confusion slowly began to take its place. Shendu had walked away? He'd not come after her? To say she was relieved was an understatement, but then why would he do so after all his talk of "making her his"? Whatever Shendu was up to, it must have been extremely important for him to focus his full attention on it. Or was this some trick? Valerie let out a slow and shaking breath as she allowed her body to slump against the wall, her senses coming back to her as she heard Tohru groan as he lifted himself off of the others. The children then came in, crying out for their guardians, their faces filled with worry, and a grouchy looking Uncle was not far behind them.
"No yelling!" the old man shouted. "Uncle cannot sleep with –" he cut himself off as he caught sight of Valerie and Tohru, and he marched up to the large man, a scowl set on his features. "If you two are here," he asked shrilly with a glare at both Tohru and Valerie. "Then who is tending my shop?!"
"Don't worry Uncle," Jade said nonchalantly with an innocent smile. "It's covered,"
Valerie winced. Somehow she didn't think Captain Black of all people watching the shop was a good idea.
"Look what you did!" Jackie shouted, positively furious as Viper climbed to her feet, pulling off her mask and allowing her raven dark hair to flow in luscious waves down her back.
"Hey, it's not my fault you're not a team player," she commented snidely, but still with that beautifully silky voice.
"We only wish to help," Tohru provided in a placating tone.
"And without us you would have been pulverised," El Toro said as he stepped forward.
"I WAS pulverised!" Jackie yelled, angrier then Valerie had ever seen him. "And you!" Valerie's head snapped to attention as Jackie cast his angry eyes on her. "What are you doing here? With the children?! I expected better from you!"
"Jackie, no matter how you want to put it," Valerie tried to be calm even with her own temper flaring inside of her, which she quickly beat down. "You cannot take on the Dark Hand right now on your own!"
"I would have been fine if all of you hadn't gotten in the way," he shot with a glare at Viper. "And the Dark Hand still has all the Talismans!"
"I told you!" Uncle shouted as he pushed himself in between Jackie and El Toro. "Talismans are not important!"
"Of course Talismans are important," El Toro said, causing Uncle to turn and glare up at him.
"Talismans are not important!" he argued.
"Talismans are very important!" El Toro said insistently.
"Not important."
"Very important."
"Not important."
"Very important."
"Not important."
"Seriously?" Valerie muttered, frustration making her stomach burn. "Are we all really going to start behaving like children?!"
"It's your fault we lost the talismans!" Jackie snapped at Viper.
"No, it's your fault!" Viper angrily poked him in the chest.
"I guess so." Valerie muttered. It was then as she looked around, that she noticed that Jade and Paco were missing… Panic briefly fluttered through Valerie's chest. Where had they gone?! They were there just a minuet ago. "Err… guys…" Valerie called as her eyes continued to scan the room but still she could not find them. "Guys!" she tried to shout for attention, but still everyone was arguing too loudly to hear her, even with Tohru trying to calm everyone down. "Ah, screw this!" Valerie cursed as she quickly turned on her heel and raced out of the ruined rooms.
She passed through the corridors and ran down a flight of stairs to the main lobby of the motel, she knew that the children couldn't have gotten far, and knew that Jade-being-Jade would go after the Dark Hand and Shendu. As she passed through the reception area, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a wooden mop and bucket leaning against the wall. Without thinking, Valerie snatched up the mop and broke off the head, holding the long handle in her hands as she held it like a weapon as she continued to run out of the motel. Despite the fact that her insides were screaming as they shook with the force of her fear, Valerie knew that she couldn't turn away from this. She felt stupid and incredibly clichéd, but the children had been placed in her care, and she always took her job seriously. The adults wouldn't argue forever, and they'd come to the rescue, but Valerie needed to keep an eye on the children to make sure they didn't do something stupid before that happened. If she had to, she would pull them to safety and hide like a coward until the others arrived. She hated calling herself a coward, her father would have been infuriated to hear her say it, but Viper was right, Valerie didn't have the stomach for it. But she protected her friends, no matter the cost.
As she came out onto the dirt road, Valerie thought she saw a flash of orange on the road up ahead that lead towards the rocky side of the mountain, where she'd spotted the old temple as they'd rode into town. Gathering what little of her courage remained, Valerie started running after that blaze of an orange jumper as it lead into the hills.
They all walked into the temple, Shendu could feel that the air was ripe with ancient magic and it made his senses tingle. Though his henchmen didn't seem very bothered by it, in fact they seemed not to notice, such were the consequences of their blood being diluted of magic. The temple was old and crumbling around them, but Shendu cared not for it, his memory remembering what the book had told him, and listening to his senses that lead him to where the magic felt the strongest. They reached a wall, filled with carvings and seeming to be the end of the temple, but Shendu knew better. He gestured to Chow, who brandished the dragon talisman in his hand and blasted the wall apart.
They stepped into a large hall, the carvings on the wall eroded from the passage of time, the tapestries of the great Chinese dragon at the back faded but still a brilliant red and gold to match the ancient rug at their feet. A shrine was at the back of the hall, directly in front of them. Shendu walked straight towards the shrine, the enforcers following him, and the demon's red eyes gleamed as he saw what he had been searching for.
"Ah… the Pan'ku Box…" he whispered with a greedy gleam. The Pan'ku Box was a somewhat-elongated octahedronal looking box with eight green trigram designs at the top and bottom. The box itself was painted deep blue, save for the red diamonds just above and below the octagonal yellow marks centred on each of the box's four faces, and the thin yellow strips at the top and bottom edges. "Quickly, take it!" Shendu ordered the enforcers. The humans gingerly stepped forward, looking a little nervous as they stepped on either side of the shrine, looking from the box to an impatient looking Shendu nervously.
"Err… why don't you take it?" Finn asked nervously.
"I cannot touch it!" Shendu snapped with an irritated glare. "It is forged of good magic, and I most decidedly am not."
"Well," came a voice above them. "If nobody wants it – thank you very much!" and suddenly the Chan child swooped down from the rafters, holding onto a rope, snatching up the box as she passed. She came past Shendu, and he snarled as he tried to catch her, but the slippery eel of a creature twisted herself out of his grasp as she let go of the rope and started running towards the exit, another child joining her. But they didn't even make it four feet before Finn activated the rooster talisman and pulled the children into the air.
They cried out in panic as they fought for gravity, but it was no use. Finn hauled them back towards them, Hak Foo snatching the Pan'ku box out of the girl's hand as she passed him. Finn brought them until they were dangling in front of the angry looking Shendu, who sneered up at the girl with an old hate in his stomach.
"Exterminate the pests… Permanently!" he spat viciously, and the enforcers readily activated their talismans as they directed them onto the terrified children. They huddled together, looking at the men below them, obviously frightened, which Shendu greatly enjoyed. After the girl had been the one who had "killed" him, Shendu had been waiting for the chance to see her torn apart.
"Don't worry," she said to the boy at her side, trying to be brave in the face of certain death. "Jackie will rescue us,"
"No! El Toro will rescue us," the boy corrected.
"Jackie." The girl snapped.
"El Toro," the boy argued.
"Jackie,"
"El Toro," The enforcers looked at each other as it continued, completely confused by this display.
"Oh! Why don't I just save you!" came an aggravated growl from behind them.
The Dark Hand spun around to face the new intruder, to see Valerie standing there with a determined scowl upon her face. Before the enforcers or Shendu could do anything, the woman lashed out as she swung a long piece of wood at Finn, the strike connecting with the man's head with a loud 'crack'. Finn yelled in pain and fell limp to the floor, momentarily rendered unconscious, and the power in his talismans faded. The children yelled as the levitation holding them up vanished and they fell, though Valerie abandoned her weapon in favour of lunging past Chow in order to snatch the children out of the air. By this time, the other enforcers had overcome their shock and quickly began to fire their powers at her. Valerie screeched as she tried to dodge a blast of fire from the dragon talisman, a child under each arm as she leapt for the safety of cover behind a stone plinth. The others made to go after her, intent on finishing her when Shendu latched his hands onto Ratso and Hak Foo and flung them back before stepping in front of them, his face contorting in fury.
"Do not touch her you fools!" he shouted at them in rage. Chow helping Finn back to his feet, who was groaning back to consciousness curtesy of the Horse Talisman. Chow's face grew a little surprised as he spotted something at the entrance, and Valmont turned to see a particular band of humans. "Chan." He growled.
"The J-Team!" the children yelled with joy as they popped their heads out from behind the rock, before Valerie pulled them back down.
"Let them go!" Jackie said fiercely as he glared at Shendu. Shendu turned to face him, the enforcers squaring off with them. There was a tense pause as the combatants sized each other up, before the fight began.
Valerie ducked her head low, holding the two children down with her as they stared behind the solid square stone that was providing them cover. She carefully reached her head back up so that she could just peak over the top of the stone to see the start of the battle. At the sound of the huge battle-cry, Valerie's eyes were automatically drawn to Hak Foo as he threw the blue diamond shaped-box into the air to ready into a battle stance. The object sailed through the air, landing within reach of Shendu, who instinctively held out his hand to catch it. But as the box touched his skin, a sound like an electrical hiss erupted and a blinding green flare erupted around his hand. Shendu screamed, his body clenching with pain as he automatically threw the box back into the air, not caring where it went. Instantly the light faded but Shendu's hand was now smoking as if he'd been burned, and he growled in pain as he shook his scorched hand.
Her eyes widened at what this could mean, as she'd never seen Shendu look to be in any sort of pain before, not even when Jackie had blasted a hole through his chest! But then, in the next instant, Shendu seemed to have composed himself as he watched the ensuing fight between the J-Team and the Dark Hand with a cold mask on his face. Valerie watched as well, despite the fact that Jackie and co were extremely skilled, the Dark Hand were not making victory easy as they used the talismans: such as Finn firing at Jackie mercilessly with Heat-Beam eyes, or Ratso using invisibility to strike at El Toro undetected.
It was then, that Valerie noticed with a gasped shock that Uncle had entered the Temple as well. He peaked around the hole in the wall, but looked around the chamber with wonder in his eyes as he walked calmly through the battlefield. Not one fight managing to touch him, though Valerie held her breath as her nerves shook. She imagined he would be hurt at any given moment, but luckily he managed to make his way towards the back wall, where his eyes widened in awe.
"Inscriptions…" Valerie heard him murmur to himself before he stepped close to the back wall, which was indeed inscribed with an ancient text that Valerie couldn't understand. He began to vigilantly read, either not noticing or ignoring the fights going on behind him.
Valerie turned her attention back onto the fight, which she was a little excited to see was slowly turning in favour of the J-Team. Jackie and El Toro had managed to snatch a few Talismans from Finn and Ratso, whilst Viper managed to keep herself ahead of Chow every step, and Tohru was using Hak Foo's inexperience of the Talismans against him as he thwarted him at every turn. Valerie beamed, though her attention was once again drawn back to Shendu, who had managed to get some sort of container on the ground as he stood over the strange object that Jade had been so desperate to get when Valerie had come in. Shendu picked up Valmont's cane, and used it to try and push the box into the container. However, the green light shot up the cane and surrounded Shendu in another dazzling display, though he screamed again in pain as Valerie could hear the hum of electricity searing him to the bone. Again, when he removed the cane, all light ceased and his body was smoking.
"Jade!" Valerie whispered, and the little girl popped her head up beside Valerie, Paco on her other side. "What is that thing Shendu wants?"
"Don't know," Jade whispered back quickly. "He only called it the Pan'ku Box, and that's the reason he's here."
Valerie watched as Shendu growled at the box on the floor, before quickly moving to the side of the room to pull down a tapestry from the wall. She heard Uncle murmur something about a box from the inscriptions. Valerie didn't know what this "Pan'ku" box was, nor did she know why Shendu wanted it so badly, but she did know that if it was something Shendu wanted, it couldn't be for anything good.
"Right." She muttered to herself as something set in her stomach before she could think twice about it. She spun on her heel and crouched low as she faced the two children, looking at them in the eyes as she pointed a finger at them. "You two! Stay right here behind cover, in this spot. You are not to move out from behind here for any reason other than if you are in danger of getting hurt. However, if you HAVE to move, then you are to get out of this room and out of the Temple and not come back in. Am I understood?!" She had spoken so quickly she hoped they'd managed to catch it all.
"But – I – but… ahhhh!" Jade groaned in frustration and disappointment. Valerie had played her cards well, for she knew Jade liked to work her way around words to do what she wanted without technically disobeying. But Valerie knew this now and had been so precise in her instructions that Jade couldn't worm her way out of this one. Nodding to the two children, Valerie then leapt over the block that had been her hide-away, and raced into the fray.
She ducked under Ratso levitating though the air, and dodged around Tohru trying to avoid Hak Foo's relentless attacks. She was breathless as she come up to Shendu, who had managed to tear down the tapestry and hand now wrapped it around his hands until it looked like he had mittens on. Valerie pumped her legs faster as Shendu stooped to scoop the Pan'ku Box between his gloved hands. But even through the padding and boundaries between his flesh and the box, as he held it, it began to spit and hiss at him trying to hurt him again. The protection on his hands began to smoke as if it were about to catch fire, and Shendu gritted his teeth, sweat beading his brow as he attempted to fight back the pain. He shoved the Pan'ku box into the container and clasped the lid shut, throwing off the tapestry that had now caught fire – which was a very disturbing shade of green. He then turned back to the container, grinning as he reached –
Valerie skidded to a halt in front of him, hands quickly snatching up the container and holding it close to her chest in both hands as she smirked down at his surprised face.
"You won't mind if I take this off your hands, will you?" she asked, a teasing note in her voice as she turned on her heel and made to run back towards –
Shendu kicked her legs out from under her, causing Valerie to cry out as she fell to the ground, the container tumbling out of her hands and stopping just out of her reach. She quickly tried to scramble for it, but hands clamped around her ankles and dragged her backwards. Valerie rolled onto her back kicking at Shendu and trying to push him off of her as he climbed over her, hands clamping around her wrists and pinning her to the ground, even as she kicked and struggled beneath him.
"Get the hell off of me!" she spat as she continued to struggle, but it was no use, Shendu had a grip of iron as he flexed his fingers around her flesh, bringing his knees on either side of her legs in order to keep her from moving. He leered down at her, a smoky look in his eyes that made Valerie's stomach quiver.
"I am a demon sorcerer, my dear, you cannot overpower me," he mocked her as he easily overpowered her pitiful struggled. Valerie stopped struggling to glare up at him, her mind suddenly realising something that she could use…
"But you're in a mortal man's body now Shendu, that means you have weaknesses." She said with a secret smile.
"Like what?" he scoffed.
"This!" and she jerked her knee upwards with all the force she could muster, and hit him square in crotch. Shendu's eyes widened as he cried out with pain, rolling off of her as he tried to overcome this sudden surprise. Valerie didn't waste a moment as she rolled back onto her stomach and scrambled to her feet, snatching the container up with her as she ran –
She heard Shendu snarl in rage a moment before she felt raging pain firing across her scalp as he grabbed a fistful of her hair, making her scream as she was yanked back, her free arm coming up to hold on to his, trying to pull him off. He pulled her backwards and she was helpless to do anything but to follow him. He backed her up and then let her go a second before he slammed her back into the stone wall, causing Valerie to grunt as the wind was knocked out of her lungs. She felt his hands press her shoulders into the wall, pinning her in place, and she looked up dizzily at Shendu as he brought his infuriated face just inches from her own.
"You have fire Valerie, I like that… but I warned you not to test me!" he hissed at her viciously.
Valerie wanted to have a witty retort, but clamped her mouth shut as she stared up at the demon holding her at his mercy, her pulse dancing beneath his fingers as she tried to control her fear. A long silence settled between them as his red eyes gazed into hers, or it felt like a long silence, as in the back of Valerie's mind she still heard the sounds of the fight.
"Everything would be much easier for you if you simply did as you were told," Shendu sneered at her, as if his burning anger was now nothing more than mere annoyance, like she were a child pulling a tantrum.
"Like be your wife?! I'd rather rot!" Valerie bit out, unable to hold the words back, though her voice was shaking as much as her knees.
"You cannot escape your fate, Valerie. Mine or not, you cannot escape from me. You were made for me." he then paused, a softer and more secretive tone coming into his voice as he leaned daringly closer, his breath tickling her neck. Valerie found herself powerless as she couldn't look anywhere but at his eyes. "And I can make you very happy if you'd let me."
"Yeah, like that's going to – hmm!" her words were suddenly cut short as Shendu pressed his lips against hers.
His kiss was rough and hard as he all back smacked his face into hers, his lips crushing onto hers with brutal force. Valerie's eyes widened as she completely froze in place, unable to think, unable to move, the shock that filled her so completely made her brain glitch and shut down, leaving her unable to respond. She couldn't do anything as she stared at Shendu's closed eyes, confusion and shock giving way to fear as she felt his lips move against hers. Almost expertly, Shendu moved her lips apart to force his tongue into her mouth. For a moment, Valerie was overwhelmed by the taste of him, a rich yet smoky taste with just something bitter in an undertone. It was as if this managed to knock her back to her senses, as she then began to push against his shoulders, her voice muffled as she tried to shout at him. She tried to pull her head away, but one of his hands left her shoulder to cup her cheek softly, the reverent way he stroked her skin contrasting the hungry demanding way he took her mouth. Valerie put all of her might into pushing him off of her, using what little strength her arms had to make him take a step back. They parted, though Valerie was a little disheartened to see that she mainly managed to get Shendu off of her because he had let her, he was slightly out of breath and likely had parted from her in order to merely breathe. His tongue darted out to his lips, a look passing in his eyes as if he liked the taste of her.
"One day I'll have more than that from you." His words were hushed yet in a husky tone of his voice as he leered at her. "I'll have everything you are… You will be mine completely, and I'll kiss you every night. And more." Valerie was sure he saying these things just to disgust her, to horrify her, and in truth it was working as she stared up him, her spine shaking and making her entire body tremble. "This I can promise you."
Valerie was once again reduced to being a living statue as she froze in place, her eyes wide and terrified as she looked up at Shendu. The demon smirked at her, and Valerie was unable to do anything as he stooped down to pick up the container that she had dropped in her struggle against him. As he straightened himself, he gave her one last longing look, before turning on his heel and marching out of the temple. Valerie watched him go, unable to move, her heart in her throat, her mind screaming inside her head to do something, to not be as useless as she was proving herself to be! She didn't know how long she stayed there like that, but eventually something snapped her out of her haze as she heard a cry.
"RUN!" Finn shouted, and a second later, the Dark Hand came charging past her hiding spot as they too ran out of the temple, looking a little worse for wear. Valerie pushed herself away from the wall, stumbling slightly on shaky legs as she walked back towards the others, who hadn't noticed her and Shendu's little "incident", for which she was silently grateful. The members of the J-Team were rejoicing, congratulating each other as Valerie noticed that they had gleaming Talismans in their hands.
"We have all twelve talismans!" Jackie cheered.
"TALISMANS ARE NOT IMPORTANT!" Uncle screeched at the top of his lungs, causing everyone to look at him, including a suddenly jumpy Valerie. Seeing that he had their attention, Uncle seemed to settle himself, gesturing to the wall behind him as he spoke again, though this time in a much softer voice. "The inscriptions are."
Valerie and the others came closer to Uncle, listening intently as they were enraptured with interest. Uncle turned completely to face the wall, reading to them what he had learned.
"Shendu was one of eight demon sorcerers who terrorised the ancient world," Uncle began, and Valerie already felt her heart skip a beat in fear at the mention of eight demons! But still she listened. "Each with his or her own magic derived from: fire… sky… moon… thunder… earth… mountain… wind… and water… One by one, the demons were defeated by the Eight Immortals, the legendary heroes of Ancient China. The Immortals used powerful Chi spells to banish the demons to another realm then used the Pan'ku box to seal them in, each demon behind its own portal. The only thing that could locate and unlock those portals, is the Pan'ku box itself. So, it is a very good thing that Shendu did not get it."
"Err… yeah…" Valerie said nervously as she rubbed one of her arms, looking at the floor in shame. "About that… Shendu's gone and he took the box."
"AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Uncle screamed in panic, turning to the others and marching back through the temple at double speed. "We must get it back before Shendu finds the doors and releases the seven other demons!"
"Wait…" Jade said as she and Paco came out from behind cover. "So the job's not over?"
"No," Valerie murmured, her heart plummeting, her lips still tingling from Shendu's kiss. "It's not over…"
Author's Note: So I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, I apologise for any and all mistakes, I did do some editing but it was on the major mistakes, plus its midnight here and I'm exhausted -_-
Anyway, please review! I would love to hear any and all thoughts to help inspire me and also to help me see where you might like this story to go! :) Until next time!