Author's Note: Quickly! Just wanted to say that I have skipped over Episode 5 with the Thunder Demon in California. Whilst that did happen and there will be mentions of it in this chapter, Valerie didn't partake in that mission and nothing really happened that was different, so I thought it best not to waste time on something that was practically the same as the original episode. So here we are, onto "Queen of the Shadowkhan"! Hope you like it! :D
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"How can this be?!" Bai Tza hissed as she recoiled, horror and disgust apparent on her face as her hair of tentacles writhed in agitation.
"Are you certain of this Xiao Fung?" Tso Lan asked with a raised eyebrow as he cast his red eyes upon the wind demon. All of the demons looked to Xiao Fung, though he did not seem overly concerned by being surrounded by his siblings.
"Perfectly." Xiao murmured with a somewhat serious look, though he was enjoying the rising anger from his siblings. He could now practically taste the torture that would be inflicted on Shendu in retaliation of this news! "One does not readily forget the feel of potent magic in the air. The girl's blood sang to him, I heard the part of her begging to be joined to him."
"A human Other?" Dai Gui gaped, astounded.
"Is it even possible?" Po Kong asked with a frown.
"Perhaps," Tso Lan murmured thoughtfully, his smaller pair of arms clicking their claws together as he thought aloud. "The other half that completes the whole does not discriminate in which vessel it resides in,"
"So it would seem our dear brother has been keeping secrets…" Hsi Wu grinned mischievously as he knew that this could only mean more fun for him.
"It is a disgrace!" Bai Tza snarled, clearly the most vexed by the news. "She is a lowly human! Beneath us in every way!"
"If this is the reason our brother is failing us…" Tchang Zu growled out.
"Then she is an unwanted distraction…" The water demon finished for him.
"From what you say Xiao," Hsi Wu said with a pointed claw to the wind demon. "It seems that Shendu has not taken the girl for his own yet,"
"Which means he does not have the power granted by her… yet." Tso Lan mused.
"Let us hope that Shendu only has want of her power, lest he dishonour our kind further with touching her filth," Tchang Zu murmured darkly.
"As if you never had an appetite for the softness of female flesh, brother." Hsi Wu muttered sarcastically. Tchang responded by sending a bolt of lightning into the sky demon, who screeched as he jumped into the air. "OW!"
"The questions remains, dear siblings," Xiao said, the last two words coming out with clear sarcasm, drawing their attention back to him. "What are we to do about it?"
The seven demons didn't respond, each looking at each other suspiciously as they kept their own council, each with their own ideas on how to "resolve" this situation. They all unanimously agreed that should Shendu be joined with his Other, he would be granted enough power to rival any force on earth, making him too powerful for the demons' liking. They all became wide eyed at the possibility of an Other, boosting their own powers and completing them in a way that would make them sheer forces of nature itself. But the fact that it was Shendu who had found his Other was most aggravating to the seven demons, who each thought on their own plans.
It was obvious that Tchang Zu and Bai Tza wanted the human girl irradiated. Xiao Fung seemed to be bitter since his return from the mortal world, and so only fuelled the anger of the two more violent demons, which was only made worse since Tchang Zu had also returned. Though Po Kong and Dai Gui were perplexed by the news, they didn't seem to be overly bothered, and were happy to dismiss the situation. Tso Lan and Hsi Wu however were troubled but were equally interested, their curiosity outweighing their disgust. No matter their separate thoughts, the demons all agreed that one way or another, this situation had to be dealt with.
Shendu finished off his current letter with a flourish of his signature, a smirk of amusement on his face. With but a wave of his fingers and a murmur of an incantation, he focused his magic and on the bottom corner of the parchment appeared a symbol of a snarling dragon. Satisfied with the result, Shendu placed the letter into its envelope and with but a pull of his mind summoned a shadowkhan to appear from the shadows of the wall next to him. Handing over the letter to the shadow-warrior, Shendu mentally sent his instructions as he did every time, and the ninja disappeared from sight. Just as it vanished to deliver its burden, Shendu heard a knock upon the door to the office which Shendu had transformed into his own personal "chambers".
"Shendu, sir?" Finn murmured as he poked his head around the door, seeming a little out of breath. "We've got it,"
Shendu sneered to himself but followed the thug out of the office towards the docking bay of the cannery. Shendu had grown tired of this pathetic dump which he was being forced to reside in, and so decided that it needed more of a personal touch to better suit his needs. So he'd sent out the Dark Hand thugs to retrieve some of his old possessions which Shendu had hidden for emergencies back when he had still been living and ruling Asia. What the enforcers had brought for him now was a large chest filled with various items of magical potency. The weak humans all struggled with the weight of the thing as they hefted it into the cannery.
"Ah-Ah!" Shendu warned as he directed them through the doorway. "Gingerly… watch your step." The enforcers grunted and groaned to themselves as they struggled into the main room. "Place it over to the left," Shendu instructed, before suddenly wincing as Valmont seized control.
"And into the incinerator," Valmont retorted in a snarky tone. "We could use some firewood."
"Silence!" Shendu snapped as he took back control, looking over his shoulder as if he were talking to someone who was physically there – a matter of habit as of late. "With some sprucing, this fish-heap will be worthy of housing a demon sorcerer!"
"Ex-demon sorcerer." Valmont remarked.
"I may be vanquished…" Shendu hissed as he strode over to a large mirror, showing Valmont his own reflection with Shendu's head over his face like a mask. "But I am still in charge Valmont, as you can well see!"
"This is my hideout, and my body, Shendu," Valmont crossed his arms as he stared into the mirror defiantly, ignoring the straining of his enforcers behind him.
"Which reminds me," Shendu smirked as he picked at the disgusting yellow tie of Valmont's suit. "I have a change of wardrobe in mind for us,"
"You wouldn't dare!" Valmont gasped in horror.
BANG! The chest slammed to the ground as the enforcers were unable to hold its gigantic weight a second longer. Shendu seized back complete control of the body as he whirled around to glare at the pathetic humans who were all panting beside the fallen – if for now undamaged – chest.
"That is a thousand year old heirloom from the Ling Dynasty!" he snarled.
"Yeah, but it's so heavy!" Ratso moaned.
"Can't we just leave it here?" Finn asked breathlessly.
"Enough with your whining!" Shendu snapped furiously. "Place it over there. Now." He ordered, pointing to the corner. The Enforcers groaned, but did as they were told as they struggled to lift the weight of the chest back up and move it to where Shendu requested. As they finally let it down, they each sighed with relief, though Shendu did not let them have peace for long. "You three!" he pointed to Finn, Ratso and Chow. "I want you to retrieve something for me,"
"Again?" Chow moaned, but was silenced by Shendu's scathing glare.
"I require something that will ensure my victory in our next missions," Shendu told them cryptically. "Something Chan will not be prepared to face… my archive."
A few days later
Valerie looked over her newest letter again, though she had received it a couple of days ago, she was still perplexed at the sheer audacity in it. And seeing as how it was the last letter she received, she was a little confused how there was not a new one. As she usually received a letter every few days, she found it odd that the letter she was expecting was late. Though she was quick to remind herself that she wasn't expecting letters and that she detested the idea of them. But she couldn't deny that she found it odd that she hadn't received a letter on time, was it possible that Shendu had finally given up? She doubted it as she reread her last letter.
Valerie,
I missed your presence on the trip to California. Whilst my brother Tchang Zu is a rather barbaric individual that I would have rather you not met, I cannot deny that I was disappointed not to see you. Are you avoiding me since our little "adventure" in Hollowlands Prison? Although I find that highly amusing, I cannot think it true. You're too stubborn for that. Your fiery spirit is most invigorating. But still I would wish to see you, and I always get what I want. You should not keep me waiting so long, for whilst I can be patient, you may find my frustrations to be very demanding sooner or later.
Though I have no doubt that our paths will cross again in the very near future, should you ever wish to call upon me do not hesitate to ask. Simply place your finger on the symbol at the bottom of the page and wish for me, and I will come to you most readily. I would not deny my bride her wish of me.
Ever patiently waiting for your word,
S
Valerie set her jaw in determination, her mouth pressed into a hard line as she placed the letter back on the counter where she had left it beside her apartment phone. Every time she read the letter she felt a mixture of outrage at the demon's nerve yet also amusement. Some part of this was actually funny to her, which she found quite disturbing when she thought about it. But ignoring the letter on the counter, Valerie quickly picked up her bag as she left her apartment, quickly making her way to Uncle's shop where she was to begin her shift for the afternoon.
When she arrived, she found Jackie back from his most recent trip in Eastern Europe, where he'd been following the Dark Hand on some unknown quest of theirs. It had been a rather recent development, especially since it hadn't been so long since Jackie and the others banished the Thunder Demon in California. Valerie hadn't gone because Uncle had insisted that she stay and watch the shop, which she had done so without complaint. After her little mishap in Hollowlands Prison, Valerie had been fine with taking a back-seat. Upon seeing Jackie, she smiled as he turned to wave to her in greeting.
"Hey Jackie!" she said cheerily. "How was the trip?"
"My trip was good, thank you," he smiled in return.
"Which demon did you stop this time?" she asked.
"Actually, there was no demon," Jackie shrugged. "The Dark Hand were after a book,"
"A book?" Valerie's eyes widened, her interest immediately piqued as she dumped her bag behind the counter and came to join Jackie with Tohru and Uncle in the back room. She saw that Uncle did indeed hold a book that looked ancient. It was a hardcover book bound by leather with ancient and frail looking parchment for pages, and upon its red cover was the picture of a snarling demonic head. What was strange was that Valerie didn't recognise the head on the cover, but she felt something in her core tremble in the presence of the book, a feeling of wrongness coursing through her the closer she came to the book. It was most disturbing.
"The archive of demon-magic," Uncle murmured as if in awe, flipping open to a page in the centre of the book revealing ancient Chinese text that seemed barely readable. Uncle ran a finger along the page, and Valerie gasped when she saw a trickle of magic react to the old man's touch. "It's an encyclopaedia of spells written by the Demon-Sorcerers themselves. But it may hold clues which will help defeat the demons who created it." he then turned to Jackie, Tohru and Valerie who were standing behind him in the backroom, listening to him carefully. "You three! Clear room for my new research project!"
"Yes Uncle," all three of them murmured in unison. They all then set to work on clearing the room, Valerie taking it upon herself to go to the bookshelves and try to find tomes from the recently organised books that may help deciphering the ancient text. She quickly found ancient history books as well as translation books and books on ancient text, quickly piling them in her arms and bringing them to Uncle's desk.
"So, let me get this straight," Valerie murmured thoughtfully. "We're now going to use a book filled with demon-magic to try and stop the demons, even though such bad-magic could be dangerous?"
"We must use whatever we can to stop the demons," Tohru explained, though his sympathetic expression seemed to suggest that he secretly agreed with her.
"But don't we use good magic?" Valerie asked.
"Ancient proverb…" Uncle said without turning away from the book. "Never bring knife to a gun fight."
"How is that an ancient –" Valerie went to say but was interrupted when Uncle turned to look at her sharply.
"One more thing! Get back to work!" he snapped. Valerie growled to herself, but did as she was told.
It was then that Valerie noticed Jade walk into the store, quickly coming into the back room, humming to herself. She was on time to arrive back from school, but as Valerie watched, she raised an eyebrow at how obviously the child was trying to act inconspicuous. Uncle placed the demon archive on his desk whilst he went into the kitchen, presumably to get himself some tea, Valerie would guess. Jade stood herself on the set of steps leading to the bookcase, and seemed to wait until Jackie passed her, his arms filled with books.
"Hey Jackie! How was your trip? Have you lost weight? Can I get a tattoo?" she asked so quickly that Valerie was unsure that she even separated her words.
"Say what?" Valerie mumbled, blinking as she tried to decipher what Jade actually said.
"Huh," Jackie chuckled, seemingly unaware of what his niece said. "My trip was – AH!" he gasped as he suddenly flung the books into the air in his shock. Valerie winced as she heard the beloved books hit the floor roughly, and held out her arms to catch the one or two that came her way, grunting as they landed in her arms. "A tattoo?!" Jackie demanded.
"Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase Jackie!" the girl begged with a huge winning smile. "All the kids at school are –"
"No." Jackie interrupted as he picked up his fallen books.
"But –"
"No." he said again as Valerie handed him the books she caught.
"But –"
"No."
"But –"
"No tattoos for Jade. Period." Jackie said firmly with a warning point of his finger. Jade groaned as Jackie closed the door on her, seeming to completely dismiss the matter.
"Drew was right," she mumbled, pouting as she sat down on the steps.
"Right about what?" Valerie asked as she came over, looking at the little girl with curiosity.
"Drew's got a tattoo, and I said I would get one, but he said that Jackie would never let me," she sighed.
"Jade," Valerie frowned. "You do realise that getting a tattoo is a very painful thing, right? And they're also permanent. I really doubt that a little boy at your school has a real tattoo."
"Real or not, he's still making fun of me, Val!" Jade said passionately. "He's always saying how I'm a liar about the Dark Hand and the Shadowkhan, this time I just wanted to prove I could do it, just to see the look on his smug face!"
"Jade…" Valerie sighed, sitting beside the girl on the steps, placing a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. "I know school can be tough… but do you really need a tattoo to prove something?"
"I just wanted to show him, Val," the girl said, pouting, her golden eyes shining. "Just once,"
Valerie could sympathise with that. She knew that kids could be cruel, and that sometimes you just wanted to do something to fit in with the crowd, and sometimes that meant trying to be the biggest and the best. And whilst Valerie didn't agree with a little girl getting a real tattoo, she did understand the need to show others exactly what you were made of. When she'd been growing up, she'd longed for the opportunity to show her bullies that she was more then what they said. And suddenly, Valerie smiled as she got an idea.
"Hey, tell you what," she said as she squeezed Jade's shoulder, drawing the girl's miserable attention to her. "How about I help you out?"
"Really? How?" Jade asked, wide eyed.
"Jackie may say 'no tattoos', but there is more than one way to stick it to Drew," She smirked with a raise of her eyebrows as she gave an implying look.
"My tattoo doesn't have to be real," Jade said slowly, a grin slowly creeping across her face as she understood. "It just has to be gnarly!"
"Now you're getting it," Valerie nodded. "So, whilst Jackie and Uncle are busy here, how about you come to my place tonight? We'll tell Jackie that you're coming for dinner and I'll babysit you until he comes to get you. But, while we're there, we can have some 'girl time'." She grinned with a wink.
"You know how to make a fake tattoo?"
"It's not very hard," Valerie scoffed. "So, what do you want your tattoo to look like?"
"I don't know. What am I gunna –?" Jade broke off as her eyes seemed to catch on something. She got up and walked towards the demon-archive on the desk, and at the snarling face on the front. She turned back to Valerie with an excited look. "Whoa… this! I want this!"
"Err…" Valerie looked uneasily at the face on the book cover, that sense of foreboding and evil crawling across her skin once more. "Are you sure?"
"Yes! Come on Val! I told Drew I was going to have the gnarliest tattoo ever! It's gotta be this!"
"Okay…" Valerie murmured nervously. She didn't want to touch the book, but how bad could one little picture be? "We can't take the book, so… you got pen and paper?" Jade retrieved a pen and ripped a piece of paper from her note book that she got from her schoolbag, and handed them to Valerie. The older woman quickly covered the image on the cover of the book with the paper and copied the image as she drew the lines. When she was finished, she turned back to the excited child. "Right. Get your stuff together and I'll tell Jackie about our little 'girl's night',"
Jade beamed up at Valerie, before running off to get her things.
"I will put up with a lot, Shendu," Valmont shook in fury as he glared into the mirror at the reflection of the dragon. "But I draw the line at wearing a dress!" as if to demonstrate, he gestured down at his body, which was wearing a long black robe with wide sleeves and a blue collar with pointed shoulders. Upon the chest was a pin that was a small golden replica of Shendu's statue form. Shendu quickly took control of the body as he glared back at the mirror.
"This is a sorcerers robe!" he corrected heatedly, utterly relieved at the freedom of movement this clothing provided, as well as the fact that it was more preferable for one of such accomplished magical talent such as himself. He suddenly heard choked back laughter and turned to see the enforcers stride into the newly refurbished cannery, smirks on their faces as they looked up at him.
"Shendu-dette," Finn smirked as he mockingly bowed with a giggle.
"Pretty dress," Ratso murmured in agreement.
"Very becoming," Chow added.
Shendu hissed at them in anger, which quickly shut them up.
"Where is my archive?!" he demanded angrily at seeing their empty hands.
"Err… Chan's got it." Ratso said quickly.
"But it wasn't our fault!" Chow held up his hands defensively.
"That's right! The Shadowkhan were there too," Finn nodded agreeably. Shendu, completely at his wits end with their excuses for constantly failing, narrowed his eyes dangerously at their insult. He began to stalk forward, deliberately slow, towards them.
"The Shadowkhan are my puppets," he said in a low tone. He came down the stairs from his new platform that held his mirror and magical equipment, past the burning braziers and torches that cast shifting shadows over his face. "They do only what I command. Are you suggesting this is MY fault?!" he demanded as he came nose to nose with Finn, glowing eyes burning dangerously.
"Uh-uh." Finn quickly shook his head as he quaked in fear.
"Then redeem yourselves!" Shendu snapped as he whirled away from them. "No doubt Chan has brought my book to his Uncle's shop,"
"Awww," Ratso groaned. "But every time we go there we get our butts kicked!"
"You have never been there," came the deep voice of Hak Fu as he emerged from the shadows. "With me."
"Very well," Shendu declared. "Hak Foo, see if you can retrieve my archive for me. You are looking for a book with a symbol like this…" flames erupted into the air from Shendu's outstretched hand, and with his magic he bent the flames in order to make them form a picture of the snarling head of Tarakudo, an ancient evil that Shendu would rather forget. Hak Foo nodded, and Shendu extinguished the flames as his minion turned and left the cannery.
Jackie was surprisingly happy to have Jade spend some "girl-time" with Valerie. It was rather easy to convince him to let Jade stay for dinner at Valerie's apartment whilst she babysat, much to Valerie's surprise but happiness. Jade was ecstatic. It was quickly agreed that Jackie would pick Jade up at nine so that they could head home to go to bed because it was a school night. So at six, Valerie and Jade called a cab and left the shop to head over to Valerie's apartment, Jade holding her school bags and books, including the paper with the design of her tattoo. Valerie was quick to see it and stood where Jackie wouldn't see it as she and Jade got into the car and drove away, Jade bouncing in her seat the entire way.
However, both of them were unaware that they were being watched. They were unaware that Hak Foo, who had just pulled up into the shadows in one of the Dark Hand's remaining untraceable cars. He'd been planning to storm the shop, when he'd seen Valerie and Jade exit the shop, and what should he see? Why, in the little girl's arms he saw the exact symbol he was supposed to be hunting. As the woman and child got into the cab, Hak Foo made a decision to follow them as he trailed them at a distance.
Valerie and Jade were completely unaware as they made it back to Valerie's apartment. Jade had immediately jumped onto the sofa, flicking through the channels on the TV whilst Valerie ordered pizza delivery. They'd then watched TV and laughed and joked about, Valerie feeling actually rather normal and light hearted as she sat with the little girl as if they had always been sisters. Jade reminded Valerie much of her as a child, though Valerie had never been so daring and adventurous, she had still been considered odd and imaginative as a kid. It made Valerie smile to see Jade so happy and enjoying herself in her company.
Their pizzas soon arrived and the two feasted whilst still watching the TV. Valerie had then cleared away the trash and put the leftovers in the refrigerator so that they could either be eaten later or tomorrow. It was only then, that the two giggled with excited grins as they set about with their conspirators plan. Whilst Jade had retrieved the design, Valerie had gone into her bedroom and returned with eyeliner and hairspray. Jade had looked in confusion at the two appliances.
"Hairspray? Eye-stuff?" she frowned. "Val, you don't wear make-up,"
"Of course I don't," Valerie agreed. "As a self-proclaimed non-girly-girl, I only ever wear makeup on special occasions, and even then only a little. But even I know that every girl (girly or not) has to have girl-tools for the odd chance when she might need it. This is that time,"
"But what does that do?" Jade asked, still confused.
"Simple. I'll draw the design onto your ankle or wrist or wherever, and then I'll hairspray it. The chemicals in the hairspray that keep your hair up can also keep the tattoo from smudging and fading."
"How long will it last?" the girl asked excitedly, but was suddenly a little nervous.
"Don't worry," Valerie smiled. "This will only last for a day at most before it fades. It will last long enough for you to show your classmates and then it's easy enough to wash it off in the bathroom before you come home. Simple. Now, where do you want it?"
"On my ankle," Jade said as she thrust forward her leg eagerly.
Valerie chuckled, before placing the design next to her as she held Jade's foot with one hand and held the eyeliner-pencil with the other. Valerie had never considered herself good at art or drawing in general, but she was a good copier. It was not hard to copy the lines and shapes of the snarling face onto Jade's ankle, though as she drew, she couldn't help the feeling that what she was doing was wrong. She brushed aside such superstitious thoughts and finished the drawing, reaching for the hairspray and spraying it onto Jade's ankle. They both coughed on the fumes, but when they looked, the tattoo was perfectly in place.
"And I'm bad to the bone, yes!" Jade cheered.
On time, Jackie arrived and picked Jade up to take her home. Jade and Valerie waved goodbye, Jackie cheerily stating to see her tomorrow afternoon at the store, and they left. Valerie then set about gathering up her text books in order to do some reading before her class tomorrow for a few hours. Turning off the TV, she settled herself on the couch and began to read on the ancient cultures of Tibet and China and how the two were linked. She was only a few pages in, when she heard a knock on the door. Confused, Valerie looked up, blinking, as if she's misheard. But then the knocking sounded again on her door. Smiling to herself, Valerie got up and walked towards the door, just imagining Jade on the other side as she reached for the door handle.
"Alright, what did you forget – ARGH!" Valerie screamed as she opened the door, her eyes suddenly widening as she beheld the massive figure of Hak Foo standing in her doorway. Valerie slammed the door shut, flicking the lock on the door as she steadily backed away, her breathing suddenly hysterical as she began to panic. She looked about, trying to find a weapon of some sort, before she saw the phone. She ran towards it –
"ELEPHANT SMASHES TREE!" she heard the shout a second before her door was smashed open as Hak Foo came crashing through. Valerie screamed as she held up her arms to protect her face from the flying debris. As the dust settled, Valerie looked up in horror at the enemy that had just invaded her home. "Where is it?" Hak Foo asked in a growling voice.
"I-I don't know what you're – AH!" she cried out as Hak Foo suddenly pushed her, knocking the wind from her lungs as he slammed her against the wall. Valerie tried to regain the breath that she'd lost, as Hak Foo leaned in close to her face, his eyes dark as he glared at her.
"Do not toy with me." he said in a low and dangerous voice. "Where is the archive?"
Panicked, realising what he was now after but still determined to stop him, Valerie blindly kicked out, her foot connecting with Hak's stomach as he grunted from the slight pain. It wasn't enough to push him off, but it was able to make him loosen his grip ever so slightly. Valerie used the moment as she pushed herself out of his hold and made to run past the large man. However, she didn't make it three steps before she suddenly felt something clench around her wrist and wrench her arm, making her hiss in pain as she turned to see Hak Foo holding her. He tried to pull her towards him, but Valerie furiously pulled her arm out of his grip, ignoring the ache in her socket as she faced off against him warily. Hak Foo curled his lip as he tightened his hands into fists.
"MANTIS STRIKE!" He shouted as he drove his fist forward towards her.
As if on instinct, Valerie hastily replicated the move she learned with Jackie, bringing up her forearm to block the blow and sweep it aside. She felt her forearm ache with pain and she knew that it would bruise, but she was amazed to see that she had successfully blocked the blow. Hak Foo himself seemed a little stunned. And taking advantage of that fact, and feeling a little cocky, Valerie did as Jackie taught her again. Striking out straight and true from her "home" position, Valerie's fist connected with Hak Foo's jaw, sending him staggering back. Valerie yelped in pain as the bones in her fingers threatened to break, already turning red and the skin just one layer away from splitting. But she didn't have enough time to worry about her injuries, as Hak Foo came charging back towards her with a snarl. Valerie did the same again, though with her other hand, aiming for Hak's diaphragm as she punched –
"MONKEY SNATCH'S FALLING FRUIT!" Hak Foo yelled as he caught Valerie's fist easily in his hand. Valerie only had a moment to look up in horror, before the large man launched his fist at her. Valerie felt pain explode across her jaw, making her teeth rattle as her head snapped back, she tasted blood in her mouth and her vision went white for a moment. She felt as if her knees were about to give out as she suddenly lost all ability to function as her brain struggled to comprehend what had just happened. But the iron grip still surrounding her fist kept her in place from staggering back or falling. As she rapidly blinked her eyes open, Hak Foo let go of her hand only to kick her in the gut. Valerie wanted to scream, but all that came out was a strangled groan as the air was pushed from her body.
She fell to the floor in a heap, gasping for breath, her vision going dark at the edges as her heart raced with panic at the thought that she might not be able to breathe in time. But suddenly she sucked in a huge breath, groaning and coughing on the floor as she rolled from her back and onto her front. Running on instinct, Valerie's fearful mind only knew that she had to get away, to run away from the threat. She pathetically tried to crawl towards her shattered door, when all of a sudden, she felt something grab hold of her hair and wrench her head back.
Valerie hissed as sharp pain exploded across her scalp, her hands flying to the hand which held her hair automatically. She felt the hand pull on her hair, and she was forced to follow it, staggering to her feet as she struggled to pry the fingers from her blonde locks. Gritting her teeth, Valerie strained to see Hak Foo out of the corner of her eye, hissing and spitting against the pain she felt all along her jaw and now across her head.
"I will not ask again." Hak Foo growled out into her ear. "Where is the archive?"
"Go to hell!" Valerie snarled as she brought back her left arm, and drove her elbow back into Hak's face. She felt her arm jolt and fiery pain in her elbow as she felt the man's nose connect with her arm. Hak cried out in pain, letting go of her hair as he stumbled away from her.
Valerie almost fell to the floor on wobbly knees as the force that had been holding her up like a puppet on a string suddenly vanished. But even with her mind becoming more muddled with pain and fear and her body less responsive as she felt exhaustion begin to take over with the pain, she still managed to make a run towards her kitchen. She stumbled and almost fell over as her sense of balance seemed to be out of line as her vision swam, but she managed to make it. She immediately rifled through her knife draw until she found the largest, sharpest carving knife she owned. Whirling around as she heard large footsteps behind her, Valerie brandished the knife in front of her as if it were a sword, bearing her teeth like a feral animal as she glared at her attacker. Hak Foo seemed to pause at the sight of the knife, but his eyes seemed to mock the small blade.
He made a move to reach for her, but Valerie automatically slashed out with her knife, almost blindly, all tact and calm gone to be replaced with simple flailing with her frightened mind. However, she hit her mark, as Hak Foo recoiled his arm away from her with a cry of pain, looking down at his arm they both saw that Valerie had slit open a large gash in his forearm. Hak Foo roared as he charged at Valerie, who cried out in panic as she brought the knife above her head, stabbing downwards towards Hak's neck as he came at her. But once again, the larger man caught her wrist easily in his large hands, and thrust his other fist forward into her face.
Valerie cried out as white-hot pain flashed across her cheek and she staggered back until she hit the counter behind her. Using her arms to prop her up on the work-surface as her legs seemed incapable of holding her up a second longer, Valerie tried to look at her opponent, but her vision was swimming in and out of focus. Her cheek felt on fire and it was becoming increasingly difficult to see out of one eye as she panted past the fire in her throat. She only briefly saw Hak Foo storm towards her, taking hold of her shoulder with one hand as he drove his other fist into her stomach. Valerie could have sworn her feet left the ground as she screamed, almost feeling something breaking inside of her as once again she couldn't breathe. She collapsed to the ground, and Hak Foo left her there.
For a few moments, Valerie kept coming in and out of consciousness like the waves of a tide, only briefly aware of the sounds of objects being smashed, of papers being rummaged and someone growling in frustration as heavy things fell to the floor. Valerie groaned in pain, every muscle in her body aching, her face felt like it was a balloon whilst her skull felt too heavy to lift. It was a struggle to breathe properly and her lethargic mind fluttered in brief panic as she knew that she needed to concentrate all of her efforts on breathing or else she might die. But as she blinked her eyes open, trying to force herself to stay awake, she got brief images of Hak Foo destroying her apartment as he searched for the archive that was not there. And as she watched him destroy her home, Valerie felt a rage unlike anything she had ever felt before, putting new energy in her limbs and determination in her heart as she could only run on the base instinct to get this monster out of her home!
Looking around, she saw the debris from her shattered door littering the ground, and weakly she reached out for the largest piece. It went by unnoticed by Hak Foo as Valerie struggled to even get to her arms and knees, panting with the effort required to even do just that. She felt splinters from the door-piece pierce her palms as she used it as a cane to support her weight and hoist herself up into a staggering standing position. She wobbled like a zombie as she came up behind Hak Foo, her anger building with volcanic and psychopathic pressure as she saw him pull apart her bookshelves behind her TV. With what seemed like immense strength, she hefted the piece of debris above her head as if it were a baseball bat, her sides heaving as she fumed her anger as she glared at the back of Hak's head.
"GET OUT!" she screamed as she swung.
With lightning speed, Hak Foo spun around, holding up an arm which blocked the piece of wood just centimetres before it hit his head. With a growl he wrenched the wood out of her hands, before twisting his body as he aimed a high kick at her. Valerie flinched at the last moment, so the blow that was aimed for her face struck her shoulder instead, causing her to scream in pain as she felt her bones almost crumble from the force of the blow. She staggered back, which only gave Hak Foo the room for his next attack as he leapt into the air.
"ANGRY CROW TAKES FLIGHT!" he shouted, and poor Valerie couldn't even lift her arms to protect herself as he struck out a leg which hit her full force in the temple. Valerie's vision went white, and she fell backwards, feeling completely weightless, the last of the fight leaving her as she was barely conscious. Only the pain kept her just in the realm of the waking, and as she hit the floor, she was only vaguely aware of something warm and sticky trickling down her head and from her nose, and then of something grabbing hold of her arm and lifting her up.
Once again she felt a sense of weightlessness, and idly thought of the possibility that she had been thrown through the air. Suddenly, her back met an extremely hard resistance that contorted her body a second before she heard a catastrophic crash and tinkling noise in her ears. She felt small flames in her back and along her arms and face as little things cut and sliced open her skin, and as her eyes opened briefly she saw that her glass coffee table lay in broken shards all around and beneath her.
She almost completely lost consciousness after that, only vaguely aware of noises and slight light behind her eyelids. It seemed to be an eternity before silence finally fell around her, and an eternity more before she could finally muster the strength to open her eyes. Every inch of her body hurt, she felt like she was choking, only able to breathe through her mouth as blood was pouring from her burning nose. She could feel hot liquid trickling out of her in many places, only small though it only added to her lethargy. Her limbs felt too heavy and she was only aware of her legs but unable to move them. She just wanted to lay there and fall into the abyss of sleep that yawned beneath her, but some part of Valerie's brain seemed to register that this was wrong. Some instinctive part of her took control, some ancient part of her self-preservation knew she needed help.
Looking around with just her eyes, forcing her breath in and out of her lungs, Valerie spotted her plugged-in phone on the floor, surrounded by discarded papers amongst the mess that Hak Foo had left. That self-preservation instinct seemed to latch on to that one object, only recognising it as safe. So, even as her arms felt like lead, Valerie dragged herself towards the phone, not even having the energy to hiss as she barely registered the pain of the glass shards beneath her cutting open all new cuts along her body as she dragged herself along the floor. After what seemed like a gruelling eternity, Valerie reached the phone, and with a shaking hand clutched the surprisingly heavy receiver. She could have wept for joy to hear the dull tone that meant the phone was still working. And with painfully numb fingers, she weakly pushed in the first number that came into her head, though with every second it was getting harder to stay awake… to keep her concentration going…
"Hello?" a voice suddenly sounded in the phone, almost absurdly loud but seeming to be so far away at the same time…
"Jackie…?" Valerie whispered, unable to say anything else as she screwed her eyes shut to keep the world from spinning. "Jackie…"
"Valerie?" Jackie asked, seemingly confused. "What's the matter?"
"Jack… Jac…Jackie…" Valerie moaned out as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.
"Valerie!" she heard the worried shout but she couldn't respond, it was too far away. The receiver became too heavy and it fell from her hands right as she collapsed. As her hand fell to the floor, it fell onto a piece of paper, her bloodied fingers falling onto a coloured symbol she could barely recognise. Before she lost consciousness, Valerie could only think of one thing in her clouded mind.
Help… she begged desperately to whatever force would listen. I don't want to die…
Shendu was readying himself for rest when he suddenly felt a tingle down his spine and a constraining weight across his chest, seemingly to latch onto him and pull him in a certain direction. The demon knew the feeling of magic that left his skin prickled as its energy passed over him, but he also knew what type of magic was being used on him.
He had been summoned.
He grinned to himself smugly as he knew that the only one who had a way to summon him was Valerie, and she had just willing called to him. Had his charms finally worked? He could just imagine her giving in to desire and that need to feel completed, to be joined with him as their halves of a whole demanded. Well, he had told her that he wouldn't disappoint her, and so he wouldn't. Following the pull of the summons, Shendu used his powerful magic to make his body disappear from the Cannery and allow him to be pulled to the place of his summons. He opened his eyes as he materialised at his destination, but was rendered speechless at what he saw.
All around him there was nothing but destruction. A broken doorframe greeted him as he entered an apartment that he half recognised but couldn't believe that it was in such a state. The pictures on the wall now lay smashed on the floor, draws had been pulled out, papers and books littering the ground, furniture was turned over, and the glass coffee table was smashed into thousands of jagged pieces. But as he entered, Shendu felt the very uncomfortable sensation in his nostrils as he scented familiar blood in the air. He had to force himself to remain still as some part of his spirit was suddenly crashing against the walls of his consciousness, yearning to answer the song in the blood he smelt. It was an impulse he had felt before, to devour the blood and its potent magic that it would grant him, but he knew he couldn't, at least not in this body.
Shendu had to force himself to move stiffly as he tried to ignore the song of the blood that was screaming at him as it filled the air until he didn't want to breathe at all. His read eyes searched the wreckage, noting that the entire apartment was in a state of complete desolation, and he was left to wonder at what had happened. And then, his eyes caught on something on the ground, and his stomach went cold for a split second. He saw the vague impression of a body, and he dared not move to confirm it as truth until he saw the rise and fall of its back.
In three great strides he was suddenly kneeling beside the body, carefully turning it onto its side, as he looked down in horror. Valerie lay beneath him, her body battered, bloodied and bruised. She had dozens of lacerations on her front, down her arms and across her face and neck. Her nose was bloodied, as were her temples and knuckles. She had extensive bruises blossoming along her swollen cheeks, one of her eyes was almost closed over, one side of her jaw was black and swollen, and beneath her clothes he could see more bruises forming along her pale flesh. He could hear her heart still beating, though her breathing was ragged and laboured even as she lay completely unconscious.
Shendu felt a violent rage suddenly swell within him as he looked upon the broken form of his Other. He wanted to burn the building to the ground, he wanted to hunt the ones who had done this to her, for she was his and to see his possession be so badly damaged was unforgivable. If she had died and he had been unable to prevent it, he would have been furious! From the looks of it, she still seemed to be on the threshold of death's door, and that was incentive enough for Shendu to act.
As gently as he was able to, Shendu pulled the broken body from the rubble, carefully lifting her though she still groaned pathetically in pain. With one arm cradling her behind her back, and the other going beneath her knees, Shendu carefully lifted Valerie into his arms bridal-style. She fitted perfectly against his chest, her head resting against his shoulder, her dirtied and matted hair covered her battered face from him. A sense of urgency in his movements, Shendu hissed as he left with one last look at the trashed apartment, in vain trying to catch the scent of another person, to give him so clue as to her attacker. But her blood filled the air too much with its potency, masking any other scent from him. Valerie's body shivered in his embrace as she subconsciously wormed her way towards his feverish heat, drawing his attention back towards her. Realising that his time was of the essence, Shendu used his powerful magic to make him vanish once more as he and Valerie disappeared.
And not a moment too soon, for as the pair disappeared, loud clomping footsteps came racing down the hall as a man suddenly came speeding around the corner and ran straight into Valerie's apartment through her broken door. Jackie came screeching to a halt with a gasp as he looked around the ruined apartment with wide and horrified eyes. He began to hyperventilate as panic formed in his chest, looking around frantically as he looked for the owner of the trashed apartment.
"Valerie!" he called out as he looked through the tiny apartment, under upturned furniture, through the rubble, shifting aside fragments of broken objects. "Valerie!" he called out again, desperately, helplessly. How could this have happened? He'd only left her an hour before when he'd picked up Jade, how could this be in a matter of an hour? Glass crunched under his feet as he walked over the broken glass coffee table, his insides turning and hysterics building in his chest with worry as he noticed the blood on the floor. Jackie grabbed fistfuls of his hair, panting to try and stop himself from completely panicking as he tried to think of a way he could find his lost friend. Frantically, he pulled his cell-phone out of his pocket and speed-dialled the first number.
"Black here." Came the immediate response.
"Captain Black!" Jackie all but gasped into the phone, his eyes continuing to roam across the broken home.
"Jackie?" Black asked, voice filled with concern as he heard the desperate plea in his friend's voice. "What's wrong?"
"It's… It's Valerie, Captain Black," Jackie murmured in horror. "Something awful has happened…"
When Shendu arrived at the Fish Cannery, Valerie still held in his arms and unresponsive, he immediately and quickly took her through to the Office that he had made into his own personal chambers. Kicking open the door, he strode with deceptive calm as he gently placed the small woman upon the couch that he'd been using as a bed. As soon as she was settled, he immediately left her side, jaw clenched shut as he tried to ignore the lure of the scent of her blood that was now all over his robes. He marched into the main room and went over to where his three enforcers had made their little camp beds. He quickly awoke them, causing them to moan about the late hour, until they caught sight of the foul mood he was clearly in which quickly shut them up. Shendu ordered for Finn and Ratso to go into the city to retrieve female clothes, much to their confusion and murmurings behind his back. The demon ignored them – though their words about his fetish for dresses deeply irritated him – and instead demanded that Chow retrieve the "first-aid" kit, as humans called it. Chow had been most confused but did as he was told, retrieving the box of medical equipment for Shendu.
Taking the box to his chambers, Shendu knew that whilst magic would be a much quicker solution he would need time to concoct potions for Valerie to drink willingly. Time which he did not have as he knew some of her wounds needed treatment now. For all of mankind's uselessness, Shendu had to admit the efficacy of this modern age's use of medicine. He sat on the edge of the couch beside the unconscious Valerie as he opened the medical box and quickly set about doing his work.
Holding one of her limp and dainty hands in his, Shendu carefully held her hand palm up as he took a pair of tweezers and patiently began to remove every wooden splinter and glass shard that remained stuck in her flesh. He was quick and deceptively calm though he was fighting every instinct inside of him as the scent of her blood flooded his senses. He then began to remove the shards in her forearm as well, and once that was complete he set about using the sterilising liquid onto a swab of cloth before dabbing at the wounds. He could smell the alcohol in the liquid, and knew that if Valerie were conscious she would be hissing and writhing in pain, but she didn't move an inch, so lost was she to unconsciousness. He cleaned the wounds from her hand to her elbow, and then used the bandages from the medical box to cover only the larger gashes and cuts. Once that was finished, he reached for her other hand, and did the same.
Then, the fire demon turned to her face. Again he felt the rage inside of him as he looked upon her once untamed beauty that was now crushed and beaten out of her beneath bruises and blood. He tried to regain that deceptive calm, that form of detachment so that he could do his work, though as he carefully stroked her hair out of her face, he couldn't help the urges inside of him. He brushed them away without giving them much thought, donning a mask of cold indifference, as if she were a simple object in need of fixing. He couldn't see any glass shards in her face, so set about washing away the blood from her face and nose. With deft fingers he gently checked to see if her nose was broken, though he was thankful that it wasn't. He washed away the blood and carefully dabbed at her still bleeding split lip, and once again used the alcohol to clean her wounds. When he was finished, her face was clean but mottled with bruises and swollen in places until she was almost unrecognisable. Shendu wanted to suddenly spew fire as his hands shook with the force of his anger that only seemed to be growing within him.
Her blood was no longer so strong in the air, so Shendu felt that he now had more of leash of control over himself as he realised that he need to see to her… torso. Looking down at her cut, blood speckled t-shirt, Shendu fought down the rise of animal instinct at the thought of her body about to be revealed to him. He tried to form that detachment from the situation as he gripped her top and ripped it off of her body. She still had undergarments on – which he was thankful to see – but as her female body was revealed to him, Shendu couldn't help but think that here was the object of his desires, completely helpless and vulnerable to him. He could do whatever he liked, and delicious thoughts swam through his mind, hazing his vision as he fingers delicately stroked the side of her pale waist –
Shendu hissed with the effort to wrench himself away, sides heaving as he fought for control of himself. He turned completely away from her, not daring to look at her until he had a firmer grip on his impulses. Damn this woman! He thought with a snarl. What was she doing to him? He had had his fair share of the pleasures of the opposite gender in the past, when he had ruled China he had had his choice of countless concubines. So why did he feel as if this one female was driving him to insanity? Was it because he longed to be joined with her, that he was drunk on the promise of the power she would give him? He had made the decision to make her his bride, including everything that entailed. But she had refused him, made him wait, so perhaps it was that frustration suddenly seeing the outlet his body was craving. And he was a demon-sorcerer for heaven's sake! He took what he wanted, he need not keep to any sense of morals or forms of human decency! But… he had given her his word that he wouldn't do anything unless she said so. And whilst he was not well known for keeping promises, he had to remind himself that this one would be worth it, as he imagined not taking from her, but her willingly offering him what he desired. He sighed at the thrill that mental-picture sent through his body, oh how sweet the taste of victory would be…
Feeling that he had better control over himself, Shendu stiffly turned back to face the unconscious woman, and once again picked up the tweezers as he pulled shards of glass from her belly. He then cleaned and bandaged the worst wounds, and then rolled her onto her side as he inspected her back. Some of the worst fragments of glass and bruising was on her back, and Shendu was deeply disturbed by how large the pieces of glass were that he removed from her skin. He remembered seeing her glass coffee table smashed in her apartment, and deduced that she must have landed on her back on the coffee table, shattering it in the process. Once the wounds were clean and the worst bandaged, Shendu allowed his fingers to drift down her spine, not for any sense of pleasure, but to check for any broken bones. The worst of the bruising was along the line of her spine, and from the evidence back in her apartment that she'd dragged herself away from the coffee table, Shendu feared that she may have broken her spine. But to his utter relief, he found nothing broken, bruised but nothing that would compromise her ability to walk. He then felt along her back to see if any of her ribs were broken, and was unnerved to feel cracks and lumps that shouldn't be there. Though he also took it as a sign that none of her ribs had pierced her lungs, so she would be okay for now.
It was then that Shendu heard Finn and Ratso return, and they came barging into the office without invitation. Shendu snarled at them, instinctively wanting them out of his den where his most precious possession lay injured, like a wild animal he bared his teeth at them. The two men gawked at Valerie unconscious on the couch, but quickly backpedalled out of the office upon seeing the look on Shendu's face. They handed over their bags filled with women's clothes, Shendu having no doubt that they stole them as he rifled through the contents of the bags. The clothes were either dresses or far too large for Valerie, and he growled to himself at his men's incompetence. Though he thankfully managed to find a top that seemed to be closer to Valerie's size, though it still seemed to be a little large. But it would cover her and thankfully put temptation out of Shendu's mind. He redressed her, and then put a blanket over the top of her so that she would be warm as she slept. He then left her, taking the medical box with him and locking her in as he exited the room.
Walking back into the main room, Shendu went to his raised platform as he began to work tirelessly with his mix of potions. His extensive knowledge on magic made it easy for him to recall a healing tonic, and seeing as his real magic was diluted as a spirit and he did not have the horse talisman, Shendu had to rely on alchemy. He worked through into the early hours of the morning as he fused the ingredients and allowed the potion to brew. At some point during the process the enforcers had questioned him on Valerie though he had silenced them with an impatient hiss. At another point, Hak Foo had returned to rest, though Shendu ignored his empty-handed return in favour of continuing to watch over the potion. It was around five o'clock in the morning when the potion was finally ready, though Shendu had a second batch already brewing for when Valerie may need another dose.
Placing his potion into a bowl, Shendu ignored his snoring enforcers as he made his way back to his chambers, the pot of steaming broth in his hand. He was calm and stoic, until he was just outside the door to the office, and his acute hearing picked up noises. He heard rustling as something moved, and he heard a throaty yet sleepy moan. Shendu realised that his 'patient' was coming around. Feeling his stomach coil with anticipation, Shendu unlocked the door and stepped inside.
A/N: So I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had a really fun time writing it. Seeing as how I have a lot going on for this episode I decided to split it up for you lovely readers ;) And besides, I didn't want it getting too long.
You may have noticed that although I skipped over the previous episode, I did include the banter between Shendu and Valmont, just for hilarity sake! hahaha! XD
But please review! Tell me what you thought of: The demon-sorcerers? Shendu vs Valmont? Valerie helping Jade with her tattoo? Hak Foo vs Valerie? Shendu to the rescue? Shendu's ending POV? Would love to hear all your thoughts! Until next time x