Esmira had spent much of the night in her head on what had happened in Marrakech; a lot of her focus came from what Deliah said. As ridiculous as the wizard wanted to find the notions of the "grave curse" and similar ideas, Esmira couldn't deny it had some merit. It made more sense to her just as her eyelids got heavy and drifted asleep.
Esmira found herself standing before the steps in front of the Museum of Natural History. The sun was shining overhead San Francisco and there were many people out and about in the city minding their daily lives. The wizard let out a tired sigh and sunk her head. "Here we go again," she muttered with a pitiful shake of her head. "I don't know if I can keep doing this."
"You can if you are not alone," a voice said. She felt a gentle hand on her right shoulder, causing her to look up to see Deliah grinning at her.
"Deliah? Is that really you, or are you a figment of my mind?" Esmira asked in her skepticism and looked down at her beaded necklace, seeing that the middle white bead shone a bright green. The demon held out her hand to flash a small bulb-shaped vial containing a light sunset-colored liquid. Esmira's eyes lit up in her delight. "Ah, the Dream Walker potion!"
"I waited until you went to sleep to get this from the attic," Deliah explained as the vial disappeared in thin air. "I figured the best way to understand the problem is to put myself in your shoes."
"You didn't have to do that," Esmira said with a tired smile.
"Well, I am here now," Deliah coolly responded with a smile. She looked up to the entrance of the Museum of Natural History with a curious brow. "So this is the museum?"
Esmira breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a wave of relief wash the fatigue and worry from her being. Even if it was just a dream, the wizard felt more comfortable and confident now that Deliah was here to support her. "In my past dreams, I went in," the woman jerked her head towards it.
"And there is where shadows and Chan are?" Deliah asked and Esmira nodded. The demon let out a curt exhale through her nose and pursed her lips together. "Will the shadows attack us?"
"That depends," Esmira answered with a hesitant shrug. "In the past, I never got noticed or hurt or anything, but still."
"Okay," the demon readily nodded. She offered her hand to Esmira, who grabbed it and led her niece up the steps to the museum entrance. Then, the visual streets of the city distorted into the inside of the building and placed the women in the middle of a long spacey, hallway with many kinds of artifacts around them on walls and on platforms.
Esmira crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head to the right. "Now we wait."
Deliah did her best to hide her tense appearance as she turned her head to look at the museum's interior from where she stood. She turned to the displays of artifacts and art on the walls and pedestals that were adjacent to the wall. "It is just a dream," the demon whispered to herself and took a deep breath. After a moment of silence, her purple eyes narrowed to slits and stared at the floor. "It's quiet, like th-"
"Bad day!"
Esmira snapped her fingers with a sly grin painted on her lips. "There it is!" She sprinted down the hallways to follow the source of the cry. Deliah was close behind her, watching how the dream's surroundings were steadily changing around them.
"There's no one here except for you and us, Mr. Chan. I have made sure of that," a deep voice bellowed.
Esmira stopped sprinting when she reached an opening of a grand open hall room. The designs of the room weren't entirely like her other dreams, but she could still tell they were inside the museum. "So this is what it all looks like?" the demon whispered. Esmira mouthed a "sh" as her answer and Deliah nodded in her understanding. The wizard stayed close to the wall and peeked her head around the corner to look into the room. Deliah followed her aunt's lead and crouched down to peak around the corner as well. They could see Jackie facing a group of four people, three men and one woman, all in black suits. Neither Deliah nor Esmira could see the faces of the men because the latter's backs were towards them. Two of the men and the one woman stood side by side with their hands neatly folded behind their backs. The third man stood in front of the trio and was the one speaking to Jackie.
"What do you want? How did you find me?" Jackie asked, his eyes focused on the people before him.
"It wasn't too hard to find you," the fourth man and presuming leader of the group puffed. "And I know you know why I'm here."
"Hopefully to sit down and talk things out?" Jackie asked optimistically with a crooked smile. The Leader shouted out an order to his men and pointed to Jackie. His subordinates nodded and made moves to remove their suit jackets, cracked their knuckles and necks, and prepared themselves into fighting stances. One man had reached into his suit to pull out a black baton, which extended out to light up electrically. Another man pulled out a nunchaku and spun it around, switching it in and out of both hands.
"I do not remember you saying anything about the Jackie character fighting?" Deliah questioned with a raised brow and turned to Esmira.
Esmira's eyes lit up in shock and concern at the weapons the men wielded. "Me neither," the wizard replied and scratched the back of her head.
The three lackeys rushed towards Jackie, moving to hit the man all at once. Jackie worked to dodge all the hits and jumped back to gain some space. The man holding the nunchaku hurried after Jackie and drew his hand back to accidentally smack a large porcelain vase on a pedestal. Chan gasped and immediately swooped down to grab the precious relic, just barely missing a blow from the nunchaku as he carefully placed the vase on the floor. He then grabbed a nearby broom and swung it around as his make-shift weapon. The man with the baton jumped up to crash down on Jackie, but the latter dodged at the last minute to sweep the broom under his feet so he would fall. Chan then twirled the broom around his head, then used the end to jab into another man's stomach and face.
"Chan is just one man, yet he is taking them all with ease!" the demon said in awe. "He must have been a formidable warrior in a past life."
Esmira let out a heavy sigh and rested back against the wall. She glared at the floor while the fighting continued around the corner. "This isn't right," the elder woman murmured and crossed her arms.
"What's not right?" Deliah asked, her focus still on the fight happening.
"Everything," the wizard awkwardly emphasized and gestured with her hand. "In the other dreams, there wasn't any fighting and there were no other humans here besides Jackie and his niece," Esmira noted aloud and stroked her chin. "What happened to the shadows, and where's the girl?"
"Rrr! Let me go!"
"Is that her?" Deliah pointed ahead.
"Let my niece go! It is me you want, not her!" Jackie yelled.
The two henchmen who previously attacked Jackie were sprawled out on the floor unconscious, then disappeared into clouds of black dust. It was now the Leader and his female subordinate standing beside him. This woman held a small kid in her arms, the girl desperately trying to work free of the hold. Jackie's face contorted into one of fury as he was set in a fighting position, looking ready to pounce at both the Leader and woman. Esmira leaned her head in and squinted her eyes. "I can't get the best look of the kid from here, but it sounds and sort of looks like her, so I think so."
"On the contrary. I trust that Jade"—the Leader deeply chuckled as he mockingly patted the girl's head—"will jog your memory. I will release her if you hand over the gemstones you currently have."
Deliah's eyes lit up in surprise and her head oddly ticked to her right. "The child... " the demon whispered. "She looks... familiar."
Esmira cocked her head and gave her niece an inquisitive eye. "She does?"
"Why can't you bullies leave us alone?!" Jade snarled.
Deliah nodded slowly. "Very familiar, but I cannot remember where."
Jackie kept his glare on both bad guys and swiftly grabbed the broom propped behind him on a pillar. "Catch!" he called out and tossed it in the air. The Leader looked up with a gasp and stepped back while the lackey dropped Jade to catch the stick with both hands. Once Jade was freed, she hit the ground running into her uncle's arms for him to quickly untie her. "Go go go!" the man exclaimed and made the shooing motion to his niece to run away behind him. The Leader yelled out orders to the woman in a foreign tongue while pointing at Jackie and the escaping Jade. The woman simply nodded and reached to her waist to pull out a gun from the holster.
"No!" Jackie and Esmira yelled. The latter summoned her pod rattle in her hand and fired an energy blast at the minion's back before she could fire. The woman fell to his knees, causing the gun to slide away. When the lackey fell on her face, her body disappeared into dust that wisped away until there was nothing left. The Leader gasped in shock as he watched his underling vanish before him in a matter of seconds. He turned around to see where the blast came from and was promptly shot square in his chest by a glowing blue beam from Deliah's right open head. The man was hit with such force that he flew back into the wall on his back and disintegrated into dust until he was no more.
Deliah stepped out from behind the wall and took a grand look at where the bodies of the bad guys previously stood. "Fortunately for them, this is only a dream," the demon remarked with a proud sneer.
Esmira stepped from behind the wall as well to see the room with Jackie as its only occupant. "You should have waited," she scolded Deliah with a look of displeasure.
Deliah turned up her nose and rolled her eyes. "Waited for what? A signal?"
"I couldn't see what that man looked like."
"Why does it matter?"
"Because knowing these details makes it easier to memorize!"
"So you want me to sit by and allow the bad person to fire her gun?"
"We're in the Dream Realm, Deliah. She wouldn't get the chan-"
"Who are you?"
Esmira and Deliah halted in their conversation and turned their heads to see Jackie standing on his feet far from them. He wore an uneasy expression and was in a weak fighting stance, unsure of what to think. Esmira blinked in disbelief at Jackie's words and how his eyes danced back and forth between her and her niece. "You... can see us?" she slowly asked.
Jackie gave a wary and hard stare at her. "Who are you people?" he repeated firmly. "Are you here to fight me too?"
"You do not want to fight us," Deliah hissed as she took a combative stance. Esmira quickly stuck her arm in front of the demon before she could move and shook her head. Deliah reluctantly sighed at this and dropped her stance. "[Fine,]" she gruffed and crossed her arms.
"You're Jackie Chan, right?" Esmira asked.
"Who wants to know?" Jackie blurted out. Esmira held out her pod rattle in the man's direction and used her free hand to press against her temple. The magical instrument rang out a faint hum and the first pod of the rattle glowed a light green, matching the same color and aura as the glowing bead on her necklace. This strange action caused Jackie to become more defensive as he took a step closer to Esmira. "What did you just do?" he demanded.
"Interesting," Esmira muttered and finally opened her eyes. She smiled at the man and placed her hand over her chest to take a small bow. "It is good to finally meet you, Jackie Chan, even if it's through a dream," she kindly greeted. "You've been in my dreams for a long time now."
Jackie frowned and turned his head in his suspicion. "What are you talking about?"
"I've asked myself that a lot of times too. That aside, I'm here to warn you."
"Are you threatening me?"
"Save your apprehension and listen to what she's saying!" Deliah snapped.
"I don't want to beat around the bush with you, Mr. Chan," Esmira solemnly stated. "I've been having dreams for months that you and your family encounter serious dangers because of some gems you're connected to. My niece and I aren't interested in them, only in this strange link we share with you. We mean no harm."
Jackie kept and blankly stared at Esmira as she talked, only moving to blink. When the wizard finished, he remained silent for a long and still moment until he exploded into a fit of laughs.
"This is expected," Esmira flatly said with a shrug.
Deliah deeply scowled at Jackie. "Something amuses you?" she asked him in her annoyance.
"I am sorry, it's just that this all sounds too crazy to be true! I mean, I am in a dream," Jackie said as his laughter subsided. "I can hardly remember the last time a dream made me laugh."
"Fool," Deliah murmured with a shake of her head. Despite what Ezmi said, the demon couldn't understand why Jackie took such levity in the wizard's words, let alone having the audacity to laugh like she was telling one of her witted jokes and puns. Even then, Deliah would've preferred the latter choice (as it would make sense), but this seemed disrespectful. "I am out," the demon held up her hands to say. "I'll see you in the morning, Ezmi." With that, the demon phased out of the plane, leaving only Jackie and Esmira in the room.
"This isn't the first time I've been laughed at. If we met outside of here, it'd make a lot more sense," Esmira said as she tapped her chin in thought. She opened her hand and a medallion about two inches wide suddenly appeared. It dangled from a white ribbon and the designs on the medallion glowed in green. The wizard walked over to Jackie, who eased backward in his caution. "Relax, I said I'm not going to hurt you," the woman gently reassured.
Jackie looked over the medallion with a baffled look, then looked to Esmira with concern. "What's that?"
"Call it a "seal" of approval," Esmira lightly chuckled. "You won't remember much of this dream after you wake up, but you will when I show you this."
Jackie slowly shook his head in confusion. "Huh? What a-"
"Wake up!"
Jackie's eyes abruptly flashed open. "Wha?!" he shrieked and half-sat up in his bed. He turned to his nightstand to see the time read 3:42 AM on his alarm clock. "Ah, just a nightmare," he said in relief. Jackie could feel his racing heart and the jitters in his body calm down now that he was safe in his bed.
The archaeologist then looked to the half-finished cup of tea sitting on a coaster near the edge of the stand. He picked up the cup and slightly shivered, feeling the cup was now cold. Jackie let out a tired moan and rubbed an eye as he set the cup back on his nightstand, then lay back on his bed to turn over. "I need to lie off valerian... " the archaeologist murmured as he fell back into a deep sleep.
The following afternoon...
"Talk about total lockdown," Jade said as she pressed her face to the widescreen glass to see Drago, Tohru, and Uncle in the cell on the other side. Drago was in a single cell bed next to the wall with the hanza still on his forehead. Tohru held his blowfish over the demon while Uncle carefully poured a black powder on the slip of paper, both were mumbling their incantations. These measures were part of Uncle's plan to make a truth spell so Drago could be properly and thoroughly interrogated.
Jackie, Captain Black, Kepler, and another agent were with Jade in the next room watching the wizards work their magic. The room was connected to the SCV through a tinted window that acted as a one-sided mirror from inside the Black's arms were folded behind his back looking between the wizards and Kepler, who was rapidly pressing many buttons and switches on the large control panel in front of him. "Are systems ready to go?" Black ordered.
"Almost," Kepler responded as he kept working
"Can Drago see us through the glass?" Jade asked and tapped it with her finger.
"The SCV functions like any police interrogation room where the glass is one-sided on Drago's side. We can see everything he does, but he'll only be able to see his reflection," Kepler said.
"So we don't have to go in to talk to Drago?" Jackie asked.
"We don't even have to go in the room," Kepler confidently remarked with a shake of his head. "We can communicate with him via intercom. Our voices will be altered so Drago can't recognize them."
"And Drago cannot break out?" Jackie asked.
"Not without getting fried by the magic your uncle and Tohru put around the cell," Kepler said. He then pulled out a small remote-looking device that had one button in the middle and showed it off to everyone in the room. "Yesterday, I installed a chip on Drago's back. If the guy starts getting rowdy, I just press this button here and he gets zapped with 50 volts."
"50 volts?" Black recounted in surprise. "Isn't that a bit much?"
"Well, 30 volts is the standard threshold for dangerous voltage. If Drago was human, any voltage above 30 would cause serious bodily harm. Since he's a demon, his level of pain tolerance is likely to be higher than a human's, so Drago should be able to withstand the current."
The agent, whose code name was Cardone, unhumorously snorted. "Scaly bastard deserves it anyway."
"Drago did get electrified by that lightning bolt in Seattle after he lost the Thunder demon chi and he was hardly scratched then," Jackie said with a slow nod.
"Tch, hardly? Hot-Head definitely fried some brain cells! You saw how he nearly dive-bombed off the Space Needle?" Jade said with a laugh.
"Testing, testing one two, testing," Kepler pressed a button and spoke into the gooseneck microphone in front of him. From inside, Uncle and Tohru appeared visibly started by the noise which caused them to stop and look up to the ceiling.
"What demon has possessed Section 13?!" Uncle shouted in confusion.
"Systems check is checked," Kepler signaled a thumbs up to his boss.
"Good," Black nodded. He pressed a button on the panel desk and leaned into the microphone. "Uncle, Tohru, we are ready to start when you are."
"Aiyah! How can Uncle finish when you give him heart attack with demon voice?!" the elder man shook his fist up in the air and yelled.
"The sooner we get this over with, the sooner the old man'll get Drago outta our hair," Cardone said.
"I agree," Jackie said.
"But don't you guys think Yuzhu releasing Drago was more than just a coinkydink?" Jade asked.
"I think so too," came Jackie's agreement. "According to Uncle, he and Yuzhu have a past."
"And what does Drago have to do with it?" Black asked.
"Hopefully Drago has the answer to that," Jackie said.
"Drago's chi will be subdued by truth spell for a short time, so we must use time wisely!" Uncle declared as he barged into the room with Tohru behind him.
"This'll all be recorded," Kepler announced and pressed a red button that lit up.
"Tohru, undo hanza!" Uncle ordered.
"Yiu Mo Gwai Gwaai Fai Di Zao," Tohru chanted as he held up the blowfish to chant. Inside the room, the parchment shimmered green and levitated from Drago's forehead. From the bottom, the paper steadily dissipated into ash until there was nothing left.
"Let's get this show on the road," Captain Black said.
Drago's eyes cracked open and he automatically breathed out a tired moan. He felt a heavy wave of bright light come down on him, causing him to wince and shut his eyes. His body felt stiff and his head lightly began to pound. "Urgh, my back… " Drago moaned and did his best to stretch his stone-like muscles. His scales and body felt five times heavier like he was sitting on the bottom floor of an ocean. The son of Shen Du looked down at his body and was startled by the sight of orange on him. "Wha th' hell?" Drago slurred. He attempted to sit up with his elbows and saw his attire was now a worn-down orange jumpsuit.
"What-" He grabbed his uniform to burn it but saw and felt nothing from his claws. The demon breathed in to summon a ball of fire only to feel his mouth was put a hand on his mouth to feel a clasp covering the lower half of his face. His scaly eyebrows raised in surprise as both hands tried to pry off his muzzle. Just then, a shocking jolt lit up his entire body, almost forcing him to lay back down on the bed. "Augh!" Drago screamed.
"Rise and shine, Drago," a booming voice announced. The voltage stopped, allowing Drago the freedom to snap his head up to where the voice came from.
"Who's there?!" Drago snapped. He closed his fists tightly, trying hard to ignite a fire in his hands, and let out a roar when he couldn't.
"We should ask Drago a question to make sure the spell works," Jade suggested. Uncle gave her a careful look and she put her hands up defensively. "Er, no offense."
"Do you know where you are? What's the last thing you remember?" Captain Black pressed the speaker button and said into the microphone.
"I reme-rgh," Drago started to say then cut himself off by clenching his jaw shut. He didn't trust the mysterious voice, but for some reason, he felt like wanting to speak. It was a strange feeling in his chest that he could slightly feel pushing up to his jaw. When Drago gnashed his teeth together, the sensations became increasingly stronger. "I sort of remember fighting the Chans in a junkyard," he finally spoke. The memories of the junkyard battle flooded into his mind, almost like his mind were forcing him to remember his failure. Drago couldn't even get mad at himself for talking when he didn't want to; he felt too dulled and hazed to do so.
"Told you," Uncle bragged in a singsong tone with a small grin. "Drago will spill truth as easy as breathing."
"Yeah, well why does he sound like a zombie?" Jade asked.
"Because the chi spell is suppressing Drago's chi to force out the truth, which weakens him," Tohru said. From where he stood, the Japanese wizard could see the hazed and tired look in Drago's eyes that strived to fight the spell's duress.
"Who was that woman you were with in Morocco?" Jackie asked.
"The woman is Yuzhu Jiang, she's a dark chi wizard."
"Was she the one who freed you?"
As he once again looked down at his jumpsuit, it hit him. The demon scoffed and narrowed his eyes to the ceiling. "Chan! I know it's you!" the demon gently growled. His body spiritually weighed him down, but part of his tenacious spirit still managed to rise as he faced the tinted window.
From the other side, everyone in the room became alert and backed away from the window. "I thought you said Drago could not see us?" Jackie asked Black.
"He can't!" Black called back.
"If I am here... " Drago trailed off and looked at his hands again. He clenched his claws and looked at his surroundings. "... then I must be in Section 13. This looks a lot like the other one," Drago muttered. "Some time must've passed if this base got completely rebuilt... "
"I think he's talking about the Section 13 he destroyed from his time," Jade said with a disturbed frown.
"So he's smarter than he looks. Big whoop," Cardone stated with a shrug.
Kepler nodded at Cardone's point and slightly turned in his chair to face the others. "So what Drago knows he's at Section 13? There's not much he can do about it when he's held down like that."
"My turn!" she demanded and made her way to the microphone. "The last time your scaly butt was on Earth, you got all the demon chi and used it to become a mega demon! Now you only have your Fire demon chi. What happened?"
"After my father and I were banished, my brethren took back their chis. As for my summoning, I don't really remember. All I do remember is waking up in a new room, speaking with Yuzhu, and her striking a deal with me."
"You lie!" Uncle declared with a clenched fist as he glared through the glass.
"I'm not!" Drago yelled back.
"What do you know about Yuzhu and a man named Jun? What were they doing in Morocco?" Black asked.
"Jun is Yuzhu's lackey apprentice and they were interested in getting a magic diamond," the demon dryly replied.
Black and the Chans exchanged unsure glances. "So looking for the gemstones wasn't your idea?" Black clarified.
"That was their idea. I just went along with it until I could find something better and ditch them. Now how long do I keep this shit up?"
"I think I took some pics of Yuzhu and Jun," Jade said as she pulled out her mini camera to show Captain Black. "Maybe we can find 'em through some kinda reverse image search?"
Black nodded. "We can try."
"Stop chatting! We are not done!" Uncle scolded and stepped up to the control panel to speak into the mic. "Did you discover power of Diamond?"
"It was just a shield, practically useless," Drago explained with a hint of a sneer. "I threw it off somewhere, who cares?"
"What are your plans now?" Jackie asked. "Will you try to take over the world again?"
"Don't you demons get tired of that?" Jade added.
"It's my destiny to rule!" Drago shot back. His piercing red eyes glared at the window as if he was looking at the owner of the voice. "We demons once had the world in our hands and you humans went and locked us away! Collecting the chi of my brethren was gonna be my big comeuppance, to make a world where demons would live and thrive without fear of being banished! Then you Chans came along and ruined everything."
"I thought you wanted the demon chi because you were some half-demon," Jade simply said.
"What?! What did you just say?!" Drago shot up from the bed and stepped forward.
"You have human-like eyes, five fingers, and you're short compared to the rest of your psychopath family! I'm pretty sure Hsi Wu's taller than you!"
"Height... and features... " Drago replied in a heavy strain. This was a question the demon didn't want to answer either and again tried to withhold his answers. Despite his efforts, his mouth continued to talk. "... don't determine if a demon is full-blooded." When he was done with his answer, he let out a tired exhale and grunted in annoyance. "Are we finished now or do you have any more stupid questions?"
"This is only the beginning," Black answered.
"The beginning?" the demon repeated in surprise. His stomach rumbled, his body was wearing down, and his face screamed with fatigue. "Want some answers outta me? Get me some food, I'm starving," Drago demanded.
"Section 13 is not your palace and we are not here to treat you like some prince," Jackie asserted.
"Hundreds of years ago when I was a prince, my meals were fit for royalty," Drago spat and crossed his arms over his chest. "Either someone brings in some food or I'm not sayin' shit."
All eyes in the room turned to Uncle and Tohru with annoyed expressions. "The spell won't last for the full four hours if he has little to no energy left," Tohru sorely answered with a hardened look.
"So we have to feed him?" an unenthusiastic Cardone asked.
"I hate the idea of giving Drago what he wants but we need more details, so we're going to have to go along with it," Black cautiously stated.
Jackie looked back at Drago, who didn't seem to be faring too well as he fought his fatigue. "If we bring some food, will you continue to talk?" he asked.
"Make something good and I'll see," Drago said.
5:23 AM, Tokyo
"Maison Hodge."
"Retired in '99. I doubt he'll want to come back."
"Ernest Moineau."
"Last I heard, she's doing fifteen in Fleury-Mérogis. Maybe Simon Andrade-Mendez?"
"Andrade-Mendez retired and returned to Argentina with his family. I hear he's living quite the nice life there and I don't think he'd want to throw that away. Scott Jacobs."
Yuzhu pursed his lips into an unimpressed frown. "Says here in his health records that Jacobs has a history of health conditions like heart attacks. What about Joji Sunada?"
Kamimura let out a humored scoff and quickly swiped Sunada's picture to the left. "Definitely not."
Yuzhu and Kamimura were in the latter's office looking through a list of available mercenaries in the world. It was a holographic database spread out over Kamimura's desk where they could see the countless names, pictures, details, and any other notes necessary for the businessman and wizard to make a selection. Kamimura and Yuzhu had been at it for the past hour clearing names to make the list up to date. The former had work in the morning, so there was only so much time he could work on this task before his company CORE Industries opened its door to employees at 7 AM.
Yuzhu quirked her brow at Kamimura, who continued searching through other names and pictures. "Sunada looks like he has the experience and skill."
"I don't think you want to deal with his ego," Kamimura explained with a slight roll of his eyes. The mere thought of Sunada was enough to give the man a headache.
"If you insist," Yuzhu nodded as she lightly massaged her eyelids with her fingers. Her eyes were beginning to strain from looking at nothing but holographs for hours. "We have gone through over 50 freelancers in this index of yours. When was the last time you updated this?"
"It's been a while. I had forgotten about it for some time and the need to sort through it escaped me," Kamimura admitted and held back a yawn. The fatigue from the endless searching and sorting was getting to him as well. "Let's refresh to see who's still active," he said and pressed some keys on his keyboard. It took some time for the catalog to self-sort by deleting names and faces until there were five rows of a dozen men and women in a column. The businessman zoomed in to get a good look at some of the new names and faces and quietly discarded them left. Yuzhu watched silently as Kamimura had more knowledge of these people than she did.
"Hold on," the Japanese man interjected with a hand in the air, stopping himself from passing on to the next file. He clicked the person's profile to get a detailed look and clicked the picture to zoom in on the man's face. This mercenary was short and had an oval-shaped build. He wore a single-breasted black suit with a blue bowtie in his full profile picture. The man was wearing a pair of thick-rimmed brown glasses that sat snugly on his nose. "I've seen this man before," Kamimura said and stroked his beard in thought.
"You ever hire him?" Yuzhu asked.
"I would've remembered his name and face if I did. There's something particular about this one," Kamimura insisted. In the notes category, there was a link that Kamimura clicked in his curiosity. It opened a new window on the browser to show a video. Once he saw its thumbnail, Kamimura widely grinned. "Ah, I remember now!" he said in his proud realization.
"What am I missing?" Yuzhu crossed her arms with a disinterested look.
Kamimura simply clicked the video to play it. The video opened up to show 25 people in white gis with black trims and matching black belts gathered in a circle around one man in a black gi with white trims and a red belt. Many of those in white were taller, bigger, and stronger than the man from the earlier image. Few of those wearing white held weapons like a bo staff, a sanjiegun, and a guandao, brandishing the weapons at their only opponent: the man in black. Nonetheless, the lone man remained unfazed by it all as he adjusted his glasses on his nose and simply readied himself in a fighting stance. The room remained still, filling the air with a sense of calm for what felt like a long beat. All the fighters in white locked their gaze on their sole opponent, while the latter had a determined look staring off into the distance.
The roar of the first person in white cut through the silence as he ran forward and threw a series of fast punches at his opponent. The man in black swiftly dodged and blocked all the punches without a hit landing on him. He then hooked his opponent by his arm and threw his opponent into two approaching fighters, and all the men tumbled to the ground.
A woman came from behind the man in black with a palm strike and jump kick in his back, making the man in black stumble forward and fall on one knee. Her left leg went up for a high kick over the man's head, creating an opportunity for him to go under for a sweep kick. The female fighter fell on her side but still jumped back to her feet. Just as she looked up, she was attacked with a barrage of bicycle kicks by the mercenary she couldn't block quick enough, sending her to the floor.
Yuzhu smiled to herself and slowly nodded her head. The video had just started and she was enjoying the show. It was more entertaining to see the strength the mercenary wielded. "He's not bad," the wizard said with a slight nod.
Kamimura softly chuckled. "'Not bad' is an understatement. Few people can drive through their opponents like that."
The dark wizard scoffed at the man's statement and shook her head. "That's not a special feat. Any skilled martial artist can do that."
Kamimura shook his head. "This is different," he insisted and pointed to the screen. Both adults watched as a larger man performed a flying sidekick to the mercenary's left side. The latter bent backward over to dodge and let the kick hit an opponent that was coming to his right. This move didn't take out either fighter as they rolled back to land on their feet and then lunged at their opponent at once. One man aimed for the lone man's head and abdomen while the other tried going for his knees and legs. The mercenary positioned his legs inwards and his arms out in a Wing Chun stance, leaving no room for either man to land a solid hit. When one fighter got close enough to lift his leg, the lone fighter grabbed him by his leg and clothes and threw him over his shoulder.
Two women ran towards the mercenary when his guard was open to kick and slash at his face, forcing the man to backtrack and block the flurries of punches and kicks. In this, he came across an abandoned guandao lying on the floor. One woman jumped over the man to grab the weapon while the other continued her frontal attack to keep their opponent preoccupied. The man did a split, grabbed the guandao, and jumped back on his feet to split-kick both women onto the ground. He then twirled the staff in his outstretched hands and spun around, then positioned himself on one foot with the guandao's handle steady in his grip and poised like a spear.
Yuzhu turned her head to see Kamimura's face and was a little puzzled seeing the proud smile on his lips. "Tell me Kami, what do you find so interesting about this?" the dark wizard asked and pointed at the screen. The businessman's eyes were still focused on the video. "This man certainly is a promising contender, don't get me wrong, but I fail to understand why you are so invested," Yuzhu continued to question.
A man darted to the mercenary's left side with a strong back kick and threw his leg up for an ax kick. Glasses blocked the first blow with the weapon handle, then brought it over his head to parry the second kick. The fighter in white used his planted foot as leverage to flip backward from his opponent. The man moved quickly to where the man landed to thrust and sweep his guandao at the man's head, arms, and legs.
On the side, Yuzhu carefully looked through the man's record sheet and frowned. "Hmph, says here he was imprisoned in Hollowlands Penitentiary about two years ago, and released over half a year ago."
"It's not what I'm seeing, Yuzhu, it's who," the man said, finally taking his eyes off the screen to answer his partner's previous question. "We're watching Tommy Chung, one of the most feared martial artists on China's Most Wanted list. Legend has it he's been on that list for over a decade now."
"Yes, before he was arrested," Yuzhu responded. Kamimura pulled forward Tommy's rap sheet alongside the video and skimmed the material. His eyebrows and facial expression began to furrow as he reread the charges on Tommy's record. "You know what the rule about them. The dirtier a mercenary's record gets, the less likely people want to hire them," the dark wizard coolly stated.
Kamimura slowly nodded and stroked his beard in thought, his eyes looking to the screen. Tommy struck his last opponent with a palm strike in the center of his face, causing the man's nose to bust his bottom lip and collapse to the floor. The camera then panned to face the man as he pushed his glasses on his nose and bowed forward with his fist in his palm, concluding the video. After a long moment of silence, Kamimura was finally able to find his words. "Chung may not be the cleanest man, but I believe he still stands a chance."
"A stronger chance than the others who are clean?" Yuzhu asked incredulously with a raised eyebrow.
"A stronger chance against the Chans. Maybe even Drago, if he comes back to bite," the businessman corrected. "Jun said he saw Jie's nephew fighting Drago in hand-to-hand combat before he escaped with the Diamond. If an adult human man can physically withstand a demon like him, so can Chung."
Yuzhu cocked her head to the side and gave a look of doubt to her partner. "Chung against Jie's nephew, maybe. Not sure how he'd fare against Drago."
"You give Drago too much credit."
"You give him too little credit. I learned from him that he wrecked an entire US city inside out over a year ago."
"Demons aren't these unstoppable beings of power, otherwise our world today would be vastly different. And before, you mentioned that Drago had a lot more power when he destroyed that city. Not to mention the Chans were the ones who defeated and banished him then. I wouldn't be surprised if they've done that already."
"So what are you getting at?" Yuzhu asked with a roll of her eyes.
Kamimura felt his patience slipping through as he let out a resigned sigh. It was enough that Drago had betrayed them just as soon as he was summoned, and it was worse finding the right replacement. The businessman had more stress on his plate than he originally imagined. Still, Kamimura did his best to hold onto as much composure as he could muster. "My point is I want someone who can and will help me retrieve these gemstones. This person doesn't have to be some supernatural being, just someone strong enough and willing to help us. If Jackie has the skills to beat Drago one-on-one, why can't Chung do the same," Kamimura reasoned. His aged brown eyes turned to the screen once more at Tommy's face, as if he were staring at him in real-time. "At first glance Chung doesn't look intimidating because quite frankly, he looks like he's the farthest from fit. But his speed, strength, and quick thinking he demonstrated here show he's the best candidate for this job, even with a criminal record."
The corners of Yuzhu's lips twitched as she looked up in thought to consider her partner's words. "Maybe," she softly hummed.
Kamimura let out a shrug and gestured with his head to the screen. "With skills like this, Chung could even be a better ally than Drago was. And if Chung can prove to be on par with Drago, then he definitely can take on Jackie. "
Yuzhu remained silent for a few moments as she steadily nodded. "I guess I can give Chung the benefit of the doubt, since you did with Drago," the dark wizard said.
"I will look up more details on Chung later today if I have time at work," Kamimura said and took out a piece of paper from his desk to write the reminder down.
"Speaking of information, were you able to find anything on Jie?" Yuzhu asked.
"No, I haven't started on him yet," Kamimura shook his head. He stopped in the middle of writing to meet Yuzhu's eyes as he could feel his partner's disappointment directed at him. "I'll work on him after I get some info on Chung, I assure you," he said with an apologetic bow of his head.
"Your reassurance is comforting, to say the least. I trust you will leave no file unturned," Yuzhu said and gave a final bow to her partner before turning to leave the room.
A/N: [Arabic]
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome... Tommy Chung!
Seriously, I'm glad I could add him in because he'd be a great addition. If I'm not mistaken, I've seen him in very few JCA fanfics. He was only in one episode, yet he's said to be 'one of China's most wanted martial artists' and was on par with Jackie for a few seconds. That's a formidable feat, I'll admit. Too bad there wasn't another episode with him :( As a fun note, the fight scene of the video with Tommy in it was expanded from the short clip of him from the J-Tots episode where Black briefed the J-Team on their counterparts.
For Every Chinese New Year, I'm working on getting the next chapter out by the end of the month because I'll be back in school. If not, then at least by the end of the summer.
Anyway, I thank you all for reading! I'll see you next time!