Terror Of The Skies

Valerie breathed in, then out… concentrating on her breathing… letting her mind focus…

And punched straight into Jackie's waiting palm.

"Good." Jackie said with an encouraging smile. "You're hitting with a lot more strength and force, and your focus remains… uh, focused." He chuckled with a cheeky smile at his lack of words. "But you should open your eyes a little earlier, your aim was a little off."

"Okay…" Valerie said, bouncing on her toes as she prepared herself for another punch. Standing in her work-out joggers in the attic of the shop, she tried to find a place of calm in her mind, breathing deeply whilst trying not to sneeze on the dust.

Now that Valerie was completely back to health, she'd pressured Jackie into giving her more martial arts lessons. Her previous skills had been good enough to hold off Hak Foo for a few seconds, but she wanted to hold him off completely. She never wanted to be the victim again. It was like everything out of the horror stories her father had once told her, and it scared the living daylights out of her. She punched again, her fist more central this time in Jackie's waiting palm.

"That's good," Jackie smiled brightly, and continued to give instructions as she carried on trying to hit him. "Pivot on your back leg a little… more of a straight jab in your – oh!" He grunted, when her jab had a little more force then he was expecting and sent him staggering back a little. He groaned but still came back to her with an encouraging smile. And they began again. "Right. Okay, remember to remain light on your – now your losing force. Remember Valerie: you must harmonise yourself. It is both force and focus."

"What did I do wrong?" Valerie asked as she stopped in her attacks to look at Jackie, panting slightly as she felt the sweat gather on her back.

"You're thinking too much." Jackie chuckled sweetly. This was why Valerie loved training with Jackie: he was never forceful, only helpful and encouraging.

"It's hard not to think when you're giving me instructions whilst we're working." She quipped with a smile of her own.

"Sorry." He shrugged. "Maybe it would help if you pictured something to help keep that force. Now, hit again, this time picture me as Shendu."

Valerie punched again, but something felt off. Instead hear a resounding crack as her fist hit Jackie's palm, instead all she heard was a pathetic pat.

"What? That was weaker!" Jackie looked at her, confusion evident in his face.

"Sorry…" Valerie mumbled. She didn't tell Jackie that she found it very hard to muster enough anger to punch someone who had saved her life on more than one occasion. Just thinking about how she should want to punch Shendu but didn't want to made her brain ache.

"Never mind," Jackie said before his face lit up as he thought of a better idea. "Okay! Picture me as Hak Foo!"

That, Valerie could do. They continued on, until they heard a shrill voice suddenly yell: "JACKIE! VALERIE!"

"Coming Uncle!" They both called back in unison. They smiled at each other, before quickly climbing down the ladder of the attic and down the stairs from the second floor to the ground level of the shop. Valerie was immediately curious about how Uncle and Tohru had managed to tie a rope around the black demon tail, which writhed in place as it tried to wriggle free. They'd tied it to a coffee table, and Tohru held a pot containing a very strong smelling liquid.

"Whoa… what's all this?" She asked as she peered at what the master and apprentice had set up.

"Since the tail wants to find its owner," Uncle told them all as he dipped a brush into the pot containing the chi-potion. "I will coat it with the proper chi-spell ingrediants, then release it and let it lead us to Hsi Wu." He painted the tail with the mixture, and it instantly writhed in place as if burned by the mixture, glowing a soft green for a few seconds.

"Where it will reattach," Tohru continued for him. "Infusing the demon with the Chi-spell."

"Which I will activate, by blowing the flute." Jackie smiled proudly before giving the pipe a shrill blow.

"Aiiya!" Uncle screeched before rounding on Jackie. "Blow only once the tail attaches!"

"So, this is a trap? We're using the tail as bait?" Valerie asked.

"Yes," Tohru nodded.

"Okay, then how will we walk around with a tail? I doubt people are not going to stare." She frowned.

"We will disguise it." Uncle smirked as Tohru brought him a satchel, which he filled with all the sandwiches Valerie had made.

"What's all that, Uncle?" Jackie asked.

"Those nasty sandwiches he had me make this morning." Valerie grumbled. As soon as she'd entered the shop for work that morning, Uncle had had her slaving away in the kitchen making sandwiches filled with those nasty mung bean-things he seemed to like.

"Why do you need so many sandwiches?" Jackie asked.

"For the trip." Uncle said simply.

"Trip?"

"The Sky Demon could be half way round the globe by now!" Uncle yelled defensively.

"But surely someone must have seen it?" Valerie asked.

"Demons possess magic! Magic must defeat magic!" Uncle retorted.

"But what about regular people with cameras? Or satellite surveillance? Or –"

"You would be surprised at what people miss when they're not looking." Tohru murmured as if he dreaded the thought.

"So you have no idea where to start looking?" She asked with a pointed look at Jackie.

"Captain Black has no new leads, so…" Jackie said with an embarrassed smile.

"Great." Valerie muttered sarcastically.

"So we going inside to study?" Seymour asked as he and Jade walked down the street to the Shop. Just like the rest of this week, the pair of children had been so caught up in their own conversations that Jade hadn't even realised that Seymour didn't leave her to walk home and just came straight to her place. The young girl couldn't help the way her stomach flipped at the thought. She'd never had a friend like that before.

"Maybe later…" She said a little too quickly, stopping where she stood, her palms sweating as she tried to sort through her nerves. Having reflected on what both Valerie and Tohru had told her about her current 'feelings' for her new best friend, the ever fearless Jade found herself terrified by the thought of what she was about to do. "I… I wanted to give you something first."

She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a necklace with half of a coin dangling from the centre. She smiled sheepishly at Seymour's frown, and held it up. Seymour bowed his head in permission, and Jade slipped it over his head. She was careful not to touch him, as Seymour seemed pretty weird when she touched him. Once the necklace was on, the boy looked down at the necklace in confusion.

"See? It's a friendship medallion," Jade explained as she pointed to her own matching necklace. "You know, two halves of the same coin."

Seymour smiled, a smile that said he knew something Jade didn't. But she couldn't care, she was so happy to see him smile at her gift.

"Gee, I'd love to see how I– how we look in them!" Seymour grinned. "Do you have a mirror inside?" He asked before he turned to walk towards the shop's front door.

"You really like it?" Jade asked, ecstatic at the thought. "You could wear it to the spring dance!" She blurted, and then realised what she said. Her cheeks blushed a furious red, and she quickly tried to cover her mistake in a quiet voice. "Err, I'd wear mine, but I don't know if I'm going… are you?"

"Me? Why would I –" Seymour cut himself as if a thought had suddenly struck him. "Well, actually, I was thinking about going. But I need to call my mother first and get her permission. I guess I'll have to go inside to use your phone,"

"No prob." Jade smiled when he turned to leave to go in, and quickly snapped out her phone and offered to him. Seymour turned back to look at the phone, eyes wide as he seemed to not know what to do next.

Behind the two children, the door of the shop opened, and out walked Uncle, Tohru, Jackie, Valerie and…

"We got a dog?!" Jade gasped.

Valerie looked at the demon-tail, that Uncle had 'disguised' by through a blanket over the top, tied three balloons to the front to resemble ears and a nose she supposed, and then attached a dog collar and lead to it. She, Jackie and Tohru looked at the thing in confusion. Val thought it was either the most ridiculous costume ever or the most hideous "dog" ever to be born.

"… Interesting camouflage Uncle…" Jackie said slowly as he looked at the tail sceptically.

"This is a horrible idea." Valerie muttered.

But no sooner had the words left her mouth, then the tail suddenly pointed off to their right, like a hound pointing the direction of a scent. They all looked curiously at what the tail had found, and Valerie frowned in confusion as she saw that the tail was pointed directly at Jade and her new friend Seymour.

Suddenly the tail leapt free of its disguise and flew through the air towards the boy. Valerie's eyes widened as she realised what this meant. But quicker than thought possible, Seymour whipped off his bag, opened it and caught the tail inside, snapping the bag closed as he did so.

"Sti-rike!" Seymour shouted victoriously.

"Hsi Wu!" Uncle gasped before rounding on Jackie. "I told you I did not like him!"

Valerie was less concerned with that and more concerned with Jade as she saw Jade look fearfully at the boy next to her. "Seymour" snatched the girl's arm in his hand and pulled her towards him viciously.

"Y-you're…" Jade stuttered as her eyes widened in fear.

"A demon?" The boy purred at her before his face suddenly transformed into a hideous imp-ish creature, with dark skin, red eyes, a huge grinning mouth and long ears. "Still wanna go to the dance with me?" He sneered at her mockingly as his face changed back to that of the boy.

"Not!" Jade recoiled, but Hsi Wu didn't let her go. Jackie went to blow the flute, but Uncle quickly stopped him.

"No! After the tail attaches!" Uncle shouted.

"Jade!" Valerie yelled as she ran towards the girl and boy. His Wu suddenly grew wings from his back, flapping them into the air like a giant bat as he lurched off of the ground, holding Jade in his grasp roughly as he quickly soured into the air. Desperately, Valerie and Jackie tried to jump up to get to him, but the Sky Demon quickly kicked out a leg into Jackie's shoulder, sending the man falling into Valerie and the others. They all landed in a heap, winded, and Valerie looked up in horror to find Hsi Wu over twenty feet in the air with Jade struggling in his grasp.

"If you ever want to see your precious Jade again, I suggest you find a way to remove the spell from my tail!" He called down to them in a raspy version of the boy's voice, before turning and quickly soaring away.

"Jade!" Jackie yelled as he shot to his feet and tried to run after them. But it was too late, they were already gone from sight. Jackie then turned to Uncle, his eyes stormy in the darkest yet most frightened expression Valerie had ever seen on him. "Uncle! Can you remove the chi-spell?"

"What is hexed cannot be un-hexed…" Uncle tried to say.

"What about something else?!" Jackie demanded.

"I know!" Uncle snapped his fingers. "We can use a chi spell to cancel out the…"

Valerie no longer listened as the three men went inside the shop to gather the things they would need, seemingly assuming that Valerie would be right behind them. But the woman just stared after the space in the sky where the demon had fled with Jade, her heart wrenching itself in half as she desperately tried to think of what to do. What was she going to do? The demon had taken Jade – she was only a little girl! It was obvious now that the demon had played them all from the start, and for some reason that made Valerie furious. Both at the demon and at herself. Hsi Wu had carved his way into Jade's heart and now had ripped her apart without even knowing it, and Valerie had done nothing but fan the flames of Jade's innocent affection. Somehow, she knew she had to put this right. But how?

She knew one thing: the spell wouldn't work. If she knew anything of demons from her previous encounters with them, then she knew that they were all about trickery. They had to have a better plan then giving Hsi Wu what he wanted. They had to have something superior.

And instantly, Valerie knew what to do.

She would fight fire with fire.

Calling a taxi, Valerie gave the cab driver the address for the street leading to the secret alleyway. All the while through the drive her mind couldn't stop its restless thoughts. Terrible images of what could be happening to Jade flashed before her mind. But Valerie was surprised at her own reaction. Six months ago when she joined the Chans, instead of bursting into tears at something like this, Valerie felt her fists clench until her palms hurt where her nails dug into her skin. She felt a fire inside her veins, a burning heat of her anger that she could almost taste at the back of her throat. The cab driver must have been disturbed by her scowling and almost blazing eyes for he didn't say a word when she paid him and exited.

Finding the telephone-box, she quickly entered Section 13.

Jade had often described to her how she got past security of the secret base, the child did like to brag about her accomplishments. Something must have stuck in Valerie's brain, for whilst she found the air-ducts a squeeze to fit through, she still seemed to know from Jade's previous descriptions which way to go and when to drop down into the vault. She landed a little heavily on the floor of the vault, cursing to herself as she picked herself up and came to the centre of the room, where the talismans had been placed.

Up until this moment, Valerie detested the idea of using the talismans. Not only had she had bad experiences with them before, but the idea of magic changing her so abruptly just felt weird in her mind. Valerie wasn't like Jade, who leapt at the chance for a cool new power; Valerie felt that the idea of super-powers was a very daunting thing.

But this time it was different. Hsi Wu had taken Jade hostage, and Valerie felt an undying hell-like anger in her at the thought of the creep even harming just one hair on that girl's head. Now, Valerie would use everything she had at her disposal to get pay-back. The Sky Demon just messed with the wrong bookworm.

Pressing the combination on the lock, the pane of bullet-proof glass lifted from the talismans, and Valerie quickly snatched up several and placed them into her jogger's pockets. As her fingers touched them, Valerie felt the oddest sensation that the Talismans were inside her. She felt a warmth seep down her arms and into her core, something probing at her mind, and she couldn't help but feel like she was being assessed. But the Talismans must have found in her something they liked, for she felt something akin to satisfaction in them as she felt their powers settle in her core. She shook her head; how could talismans think? It was ridiculous.

She took the Rabbit, Rooster, Ox, and Snake. She contemplated taking the Dragon, but her skin crawled as she reached for it. A phantom pain rippled across her cheek as she remembered what that Talisman had done to her in the hands of Valmont, and decided to leave it where it lay.

Armed and ready, Valerie's only problem now, was how would she find the Sky demon.

Hsi Wu obviously had a plan, and would most likely come back for his requested spell. Valerie couldn't wait that long, and she couldn't let the demon have the advantage. She would need to catch him by surprise. But how would she find him? Where was he?

There was only one person who would know.

Carefully tip-toeing around the base, Valerie hoped that she had remained undiscovered as she made her way to the evidence room. After the attack on her apartment, Captain Black had brought most of the crime scene for forensic evidence to Section 13. One piece of paper she needed she knew would be here because it had had her blood on it during the attack. Rooting through the drawers, Valerie's eyes scanned each and every file until she found the right one. She smirked in triumph as she withdrew the letter she was looking for.

"Find Yin with Yang…" She whispered.

Jade sat on the top of the water-tower, scowling into empty space as the demon-in-disguise paced back and forth behind her. She was certain that Hsi only still wore the form of the ten year old boy to spite her. For every time she looked at him, she felt an ache in her chest that burned her. She felt sad because the only real friend she'd had turned out to be a lie, and then she was mad because she'd been deceived… and then part of her wanted the lie back. Any way she put it, it was enough to make her moody as she defiantly didn't look at the demon and stared into the empty skies around her.

The wind picked up a little, messing her hair and threatening to send her tipping over the edge. The moment they had landed and Hsi Wu had released her, Jade had tried to make a break for freedom, but had been quickly stopped. There was nowhere for her to run to, and the demon new it as he taunted her by pacing across the small space they had to share between them. Her helplessness only made her angrier.

"Don't be so glum Jade…" She heard Hsi Wu's voice behind her and she turned to regard him icily out of the side of one eye. "This is the start of a whole new adventure for you."

"I don't talk to traitors." The girl muttered stonily as she turned back around.

"I'm so hurt." Hsi Wu said sarcastically.

"Jackie's gonna kick your butt, you know." Jade smirked to herself as she imagined the ultimate butt-whop Jackie was gonna give the demon.

"I suspect he'll try, but if he does, he'll never see his pretty little niece ever again." Jade turned at the sentence, glaring at the demon-boy who had a smirk of his own.

"But you're gonna let me go when Uncle gives you the spell… right?" She demanded, though her words sounded a little helpless even to her own ears.

"I said that they could see you again… I didn't say for how long." Hsi Wu's smirk turned into a full-on evil grin that had Jade's blood boiling.

"Liar!" The girl shouted as she suddenly leapt up at the boy and started pounding him with her fists repeatedly as she shouted. "Liar! Liar! Liar!"

"Enough!" Hsi Wu barked as he suddenly grabbed hold of her wrist and lifted her into the air with super strength. Jade gasped as she felt that burning-electrical shock run through her body painfully. Hsi Wu shuddered also, but released her, allowing her to fall into a heap on the floor, where he loomed over her. "Everything will go smoothly so long as your uncles give me what I want. Otherwise… I'll have to see how well they can fly."

"No…" Jade mumbled as she looked up at the boy's eyes that she'd thought she'd befriended desperately.

"But…" Hsi Wu said slowly as he eyed her with a growing grin. "I might be a little more merciful… if you agree to something for me…"

"W-what?" She croaked.

Hsi Wu grinned.

Valerie waited in the empty park, the sun setting over the buildings of San Francisco that surrounded her. The swings swayed in the wind, creaking ever so slightly, and the other abandoned play equipment only further put Valerie on edge. Just her luck to pick a neutral zone that was creepy.

Looking down at the letter in her hands, her eyes skimmed over the familiar words, something dawning in her chest that made her tremble with anxiety: hope. She hoped that this would work. She hoped he would listen. She hoped she had enough sway over him to ask this of him. Otherwise… she didn't even want to think of that. So, taking in a shaky breath to steel her nerves, she pressed her thumb over the symbol in the corner of the page, and closed her eyes, imagining the form which she summoned.

"Shendu." She whispered.

When she opened her eyes, he was standing right in front of her.

It took every piece of her willpower to not give any sort of reaction to him, though she instinctively wanted to jump back in surprise. On any other occasion, she would have been quite proud of herself for staring levelly at him with such cool composure. Shendu was smirking at her through Valmont's lips, his red eyes gleaming as he gazed at her.

"Well, well, well," He drawled out slowly. "I receive a summons from you and you are not covered in blood this time. Certainly an improvement. Though I do wonder what would make you –"

"Hsi Wu kidnapped Jade." Valerie cut over him quickly, very aware of how close he was to her as his serpentine voice slithered across her senses, making her heart beat a little faster. Shendu blinked, seemingly surprised by her outburst, before settling back a half step away from her.

"Ah." Was all he said, his eyes suddenly watching her warily.

"He's taken her, and I don't know where and I don't know why." Valerie continued to say, anxiety evident in her voice as she looked up at him imploringly. "I need to get her back but… I need your help."

"This is certainly an extraordinary event: the ever defiant Valerie Payne is asking me for help?" Shendu snorted and Valerie tried to keep the shamed blush from creeping up her neck. The demon in Valmont's body then curled his lip as he sneered at her. "And why should I help you? What even makes you think I can help?"

"Because if anyone knows where Hsi Wu is, it's you." She snapped back.

"And you plan to confront him, do you? Rescue the child and be the hero?" He asked with disdain at such naivety.

"I'm not good at being the hero." Valerie murmured. "I just do what needs to be done."

"Honourable words. Did your father say them to you?"

"You know nothing about my father." She snarled with sudden fury as she glared up into his red eyes.

"You idolise him. You want to be him. And that is something I cannot allow." He retorted to her matter-of-factly.

"Because that would mean me being a decent person?!" She hotly demanded.

"Because it would mean you would make yourself a martyr."

"What…?" Valerie had to blink as confusion dawned on her as she tried to process his words and their meaning. Fear stirred in her heart, breaking the concentration of her anger as she wondered how he could have possibly known…

"I don't know everything that happened to you… but I know enough to piece together that much. And I will not assist you in some foolish quest so you can feel worthy of a dead man's legacy." He muttered to her, before turning on his heel dismissively before walking away.

"No, Shendu – please!" Valerie suddenly begged, and before she even knew what she was doing, she was rushing forward and grasping his arm and turning him to face her. Her breath caught in her throat when she turned him to find his red eyes fixed upon her and their noses were only separated by an inch of space. The human woman desperately tried to swallow past the nervous lump growing in her throat as she felt her gaze become caught in those mesmerising eyes. "I… I-I need you. I need your help."

"If I do this… You will have to give me something in return." Shendu murmured with that strange and hypnotic serpent-like voice of his.

"Anything, just help me!" She desperately agreed.

"You will promise me on your father's grave that you will pull yourself out of the conflict should you find yourself in mortal danger." He demanded of her in a quiet yet husky voice, not daring to pull away from her as he kept that magnetic closeness between them, and Valerie felt her heart skipping every other beat due to his proximity.

"Done. I promise." She said.

"And…"

"And what?"

"A kiss."

"What?!" Valerie blinked, blanching as she quickly tried to step back and away from him. But she suddenly felt his hand on the small of her back – when had he put that there? She was caught, though she placed her hands on his chest, ready to shove him away as she kept her eyes glued onto his face.

"One kiss Valerie. That's all I ask for." He said, his usual leer was not present, and instead he was looking at her with a deadly serious calm about him. Valerie suddenly didn't know which was more frightening.

She felt her stomach flip as the demon waited in silence for his boon. Her mind spun as she thought over everything that he'd said. Taking a deep breath, she rushed up onto her tip toes and threw her head back as she reached her lips to his. Her eyes closed without her telling them to. Their flesh barely brushed as she felt his breath tickle her tongue, and her lips only touched his for the briefest second before she quickly withdrew out of the touch and back onto her feet and taking a big step away from him.

"That was barely a kiss at all." Shendu growled as he looked at her with wide and indignant eyes.

"You said 'a kiss'. You didn't specify what kind or how long for." She replied tartly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Cruel." He grumbled.

"I thought Demon's always worked around technicalities." She smirked at him in triumph.

Shendu grinned.

"I've given you what you wanted. Now fulfil your end of the bargain." She demanded.

"Very well. Hsi Wu has made his nest on the water tower on the south-east industrial district." Shendu said finally.

"Thank you." Valerie murmured in a rush immediately as she made to leave.

"You do not fear I might be lying?" His voice stopped her in her tracks, and she turned to look back at him, feeling another blush creep into her cheeks as she had to contemplate the truth of her answer.

"I… I trust you not to be." She murmured. Shendu watched her for a long moment, and Valerie felt a fluttering in her stomach as she turned to leave again.

"Oh, and Valerie…" He called her once more, and again she turned back. "You may want to keep her away from Hsi Wu quite soon. Before he can bind her."

"Bind her?" She echoed uneasily.

"The child is Hsi Wu's Other." Shendu said gravely. Valerie felt her blood turn to ice. No! It couldn't be! But it made sense! And the situation suddenly had way more gravity then Valerie had previously thought.

"Wh-why are you telling me this?" She asked Shendu in the middle of her confused and panicked thoughts. And that was an important question. Why would Shendu sell out his brother like that?

"I am ambitious." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I do not want any of my wretched siblings to be on equal standing as me. You denying Hsi Wu his Other does my job for me without me being implicated. But if you want to save your friend, I suggest you hurry."

She didn't waste another moment as she used the power of the rabbit talisman to speed away. The world sped by in a blur, reminding her of when Shendu had kidnapped her. But this time, Valerie felt her own limbs moving with that super-acceleration, yet she didn't feel as if she were moving at all. A shriek rose from her throat in panic as she feared smashing into a building at this kind of velocity. Her stomach flipped and threatened to make her throw up at the dizzying pace and rush of wind in her face, but she bit her lip as she forced herself to keep it under control. But it turned out that she didn't need to fear crashing into anything. Despite the speed with which she ran, it was as if Valerie could still see things coming towards her clearly, and it only took her a couple of turns and several long and straight roads before she came to the industrial estate. She stopped when she came by all of the factories, almost skidding off of her feet as she was jarred by the sudden loss of momentum. Her brain wobbled in her skull and she thought she would throw up again, but managed to contain it again as she bit her lip and concentrated on keeping control. Once her breathing was back to normal, Valerie decided she would walk around to find the water tower.

It didn't take her long, as right between a cookie factory and a mattress warehouse, she found the one she was looking for. Looking up at it from the ground, she couldn't help but gulp a little at the imposing height. She couldn't see if anyone was up at the top, but she trusted Shendu enough to know that this was the right one. It almost felt weird to her to even say that she trusted Shendu. But pushing such thoughts aside, she fished into her back pocket and pulled out her phone.

"Valerie!" Came Jackie's urgent voice after the second ring. "Where are –"

"Jackie. I'm at the water-tower in the south-east industrial estate." She quickly cut over him. "Bring the flute." And she snapped the phone shut before he could reply.

Looking down at the snake and rooster as she fished them out of her pockets, Valerie felt her throat go dry as she contemplated what she was about to do. She never did like to put herself in danger, she hated it, and it was what had gotten her father killed. But she hadn't been lying to Shendu, she only did what she had to do. And right now Jade needed her. So she focused on the Talismans, and felt a warmth run through her as the Talismans began to light up in her palms. Valerie gasped back a breath when she saw her own body disappear, and then felt as if she was about to fall flat on her face when her feet lifted off of the ground. Trying to control her racing heart and squeamish stomach, she looked upwards as she mentally commanded herself to go up.

As she floated up to the top of the water tower, she saw exactly what she was looking for: Jade sitting on top of the water-tower, the bag containing the tail next to her. The demon Hsi Wu was standing over the young girl, still in the form of the young boy, only he still had the large bat-like wing protruding from his back. Invisible as she was, Valerie remained unnoticed by both, and listened as the two talked.

"All we need to do is exchange blood, and it's over." Hsi Wu was saying with an excited grin on his face. Valerie felt her blood run cold. So Shendu had been telling the truth: Jade was Hsi Wu's Other. Valerie didn't pretend to know everything about being someone's other half, but she did know that allowing a demon to have ultimate power was not a good thing.

"And you'll leave Jackie and the others alone?" Jade asked uncertainly, as if she doubted the demon's words herself.

"As promised." Hsi Wu's signature grin only grew wider, twisting the young boyish looks of his disguise.

"Why do we even need to do this?" Jade asked with a curled lip of disgust. Valerie could have sighed in relief. Jade didn't know yet, and if she could help it, Valerie intended to keep it that way. It would be better if Jade never knew that kind of horror that was waiting for her.

"The whys don't concern you, Jade." Hsi Wu sneered. "Just do as I say,"

Jade growled under her breath, and turned her back on the demon-boy. When Hsi turned from her also and began to pace with a thoughtful look as he lost himself to his own musings, Valerie floated closer to Jade.

"Hey." She whispered. Jade turned startled by the hushed voice, though when she didn't see anything she opened her mouth to speak, but Valerie quickly put an invisible finger over her lips. "Shhh! Don't speak! But I think you're going to need these." Setting herself down on the metal water-tower next to Jade, Valerie gave the girl the Rooster and Rabbit Talisman so that Jade could make her escape.

"Talismans? Val, you rock!" Jade whispered with a beaming smile.

"Now use them to get out of here!" Valerie hissed back, still invisible.

"What?! No way!" Jade argued defiantly, seemingly outrage at the thought.

"Jade, you must –"

"What are you whispering about?" Came the rasping voice behind them, and they both turned with a gasp.

Hsi Wu loomed over the small girl and Valerie unintentionally. Suspicion made his eyes seem unhinged, as he peered at Jade. Valerie felt her anger and hatred for the demon return as she gazed upon the one who had broken Jade. Knowing that she had to give Jade an opening to run, Valerie told herself that was what she was doing as she made herself reappear and become visible once again, and lunged for the Demon. She felt warmth run down her arm as another Talisman activated, and as her fist connected with Hsi Wu's face she heard bones crunch from the force. Hsi Wu cried out in pain and surprise as the force of the blow sent him off of his and shooting backwards through the air and into another building.

Valerie stood there blinking for a moment, confused by what has happened. But then she looked into her pocket, and saw the Ox Talisman illuminated. And then she remembered that Jade had told her that the Ox granted super-strength. Cool, she thought. She heard a flap of wings and saw Hsi Wu racing back towards them, covering in dust and rubble and scratches and a nasty black eye.

"No one messes with my girl." Valerie told him with a smirk as she lifted her fists, ready to fight again. Hsi Wu's eyes widened when he recognised her and frowned in confusion.

"What the –"

"Hey friend!" Jade's voice cut over his and both the Demon and Valerie turned to look at the little girl standing not three feet away, arms crossed casually as she smirked. "Wanna dance?"

"Let's." Hsi Wu grinned maliciously. There was a flash of light, and suddenly the disguise of the boy was removed, and the demon stood in all his horrifying glory. Black skin, pointed face, large ears, huge wings, an imp-like body and a twisted grin plastered on his face. Seeming to disregard Valerie, he lunged for Jade. But at the last moment, Jade shot into the air. Hsi Wu looked around for her, and his eyes widened in shock when he found her hovering in the air six feet away.

"Heeya!" She screeched as she suddenly shot towards Hsi Wu in a blur and kicked him in the face. The Demon shrieked as he was sent spinning backwards, but quickly managed to right himself and gazed at her in bewilderment.

"You! But… how?" He asked.

"Talisman math. Levitation plus speed equals flight." She smirked as she hovered in a circle effortlessly. Hsi Wu growled before he flew after the girl, who was nothing but a blur ahead of him.

"Valerie!" She turned at the sound of her name, and smiled when she saw Jackie climbing to the top of the tower, with Uncle panting right behind him. Jackie gasped when he looked up to see Jade and Hsi Wu chasing each other through the sky.

"Jade!" Jackie gaped.

"I tried to tell her…" Valerie offered sheepishly.

"Hurry!" Uncle's voice cut over them as he went towards the bag that had been left by the demon. "We must free the tail!"

All three of them then tried to pick up the writhing back and open the zipper, but it quickly became stuck due to their frantic pulling. However, none were aware that Hsi Wu had spotted them and dove towards them.

"My tail!" He hissed as he barrelled into all three of them and snatched the bag from their hands. Jackie was sent to the ground, but Uncle and Valerie were sent flying back off of the edge. They both screamed as they fell, but Valerie managed to catch herself on the railing at the edge of the tank of water. Uncle wasn't so fortunate, and went over the side. Valerie screamed as she reached out to catch him, but was relieved when she saw Tohru holding onto the ladder with one hand and Uncle dangling from the other. They all looked up as Jade flew past.

"Jade!" Uncle shouted up to her. "You must release Hsi Wu's tail!"

"You got it!" The girl shouted back as she raced through the air after the fleeing demon.

With her super speed, Valerie watched as she easily gained ground on the unsuspecting demon and snatched it right out of his hands and was gone again before he could blink. The demon gave a high and ear-splitting shriek as he turned in the air and raced back after Jade at an impressive speed, almost catching up to the girl. Valerie knew that Jade would need more time, and so ran alongside the railing until she was directly underneath where Jade was flying to.

Jade sailed overhead first, and Hsi Wu was not far behind. Using her super-strength, Valerie jumped into the air and snatched hold of Hsi Wu's ankle as she pulled him down.

"Have a nice trip…" She gritted her teeth as she held onto the railing with one hand and swung the demon with the other and all but threw him towards the ground. "See you next fall!"

But then, Valerie realised that she had made a horrible mistake. As she released Hsi Wu to throw him down to earth, the demon flipped and suddenly latched onto her wrist, his claws cutting into her flesh. Valerie screamed as he pulled her off of her feet and dangled her in the air as he hovered.

"Let us see how well you can fly!" The demon snarled… and released her.

Valerie screamed as she fell, rolling head over heels through the air towards the ground. Her heart was racing inside her chest and she thought she would be sick before her skull was smashed on the pavement below. Tears stung her eyes as she closed them and prayed for salvation.

"Got you!" Jackie shouted and Valerie felt her arm socket scream in pain as she was suddenly lurched to a sudden stop in the air when someone grabbed hold of her. She looked up to see Jackie on the ladder where he had slid down to rescue her, one hand firmly holding onto her wrist. He smiled down at her.

"Thank you…" Valerie whispered, tears of relief stinging her eyes as she looked up at her friend. Jackie swung her back towards the ladder, and Valerie snatched onto the rungs as she hugged her body against it gratefully. It was all she could do to calm her heart and stop her trembling body as she began to climb down towards the ground.

"Are you not going to help us?" Jackie asked in confusion.

"I… I can't… I made a promise." Valerie said weakly, her heart twisting with guilt as she knew she should be up there helping. But she had made a promise, and she kept her promises. Fishing into her pockets with one hand, she grabbed hold of the Snake and Ox Talismans before tossing them up to Jackie. "You take these. You'll make better use of them then I will."

"Thanks." Jackie nodded before quickly climbing back towards the top of the tower. Valerie continued down, but once she reached the ground, she heard the flap of wings and looked up to find Hsi Wu racing after Jade furiously.

"I want my tail!" He shouted in a frustrated tone.

"All yours." Jade replied as she turned and unleashed the contents in the bag.

"No! Wait!" Hsi Wu pleaded as he tried to turn and fly away from the black missile that came straight towards him. But as he turned he only gave the tail the right target as it latched onto its owner.

Valerie heard Uncle chanting, and then the demon was encased in an orb of green light as the spell took effect. Hsi Wu screamed, and when Jackie gave a fierce blow of the flute, he was sent soaring away back towards where Valerie assumed his portal to be, and was banished.

"Tails. You lose." Jade murmured.

Valerie wasn't fooled by Jade's act of not being bothered by the fact that her best friend had turned out to be a demon. It made Valerie's heart ache with guilt to think that she had encouraged the young girl with her crush, and had only gotten her hurt. Despite Jade's act to Jackie and Uncle, Tohru and Valerie shared a glance that communicated that they knew it was all for show. Valerie was packing up her things to leave for the night, Jade and Tohru were folding laundry, when Jade sighed dejectedly.

"You were right about the good and evil thing, T." Jade murmured as she held up a black and white sock. Valerie paused in collecting her study books, her heart twisting as she turned to look at the little girl.

"Jade…" She said quietly as she came towards the duo. "I… I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you to go after Seymour, it wasn't fair and –"

"Hey, Val," Jade smiled at the older woman. "You didn't know either. It's okay."

"But –" Valerie tried to say, but Jade hushed her as she came up to her.

"It's okay." She said softly. "Besides, you came to help me. That makes up for it." Jade murmured softly before she wrapped her arms around Valerie's waist and pulled her into a tight hug. Valerie didn't know what to do at first, but a small smile grew across her lips as she returned the hug just as fiercely.

"Do not worry about Seymour." Tohru tried to say reassuringly, bringing Jade's attention back to him. "There will be other dances, Jade,"

"Dance, schmance." Jade waved away dismissively. "I am so over Seymour. I just miss having someone around who listens."

Tohru hummed thoughtfully, attentively paying attention to the girl's every word. Valerie felt a spark in her mind and nudged Jade with her elbow towards Tohru. Jade seemed confused, before a beaming smile grew across her face.

"Someone like you!" She said with realisation.

"Hmm?" Tohru mumbled, looking at Valerie in confusion, who could only smile.

Jade then pulled off the other half of the friendship medallion that she had picked up off of the ground where Hsi Wu had discarded it. She held it up for Tohru, who smiled a small but very affectionate smile as he leaned his head over towards her. She slipped the necklace over his large head, though the medallion got caught on his nose at one point. When he pulled away, the necklace was a snug fit around his neck.

"Yin and yang, big and small, you and me." Jade said as she stood up and leaned against Tohru, a large and heartfelt smile on her face.

Valerie's smile was so warm that it even reached her eyes. Without another word, she picked up her back and silently left them to it as she exited the shop. The early summer night was mild and she didn't bother to do up her jacket as she looked up at the stars, a smile on her lips as she walked the whole way home.

But unbeknownst to her, across the street, the shop was being watched.

Green eyes watched the shop, red hair fluttering in the breeze of the night. Her leathers hid her well in the shadows, and no one had spotted her. The Hunter had been watching the shop all afternoon, ever since the occupants had arrived home from something. She had been drawn to San Francisco because of the sightings of the same man around the incident at the baseball stadium. And now she had discovered the residence of the mysterious man in the blue sweater.

He seemed human enough, so the Hunter was put at ease by the knowledge that she wouldn't have to kill him or his acquaintances. However, very strange things happened around this man, or he always seemed to find these strange things. Either way, her task was now clear, she would watch the man, she would follow him, and she would let him lead her to her next target.

Author's Note: A big shout of thank you to InsanityisReality for being my Beta - you rock!

So I hope you guys enjoyed what I did with this chapter, and I hope it was satisfying for all you Hsi Wu lovers ;) We'll be seeing him again soon, but I wanted this to end on this note so that things will be a little tense later on.

Anyway, please review! I can't wait to see what all you guys think! Please know that I do look at each and every review, and they all touch my heart and I do take everything you say on board. I try to reply to everyone, but if I don't its only because life is very busy. Until next time!