As Jackie and Chan stepped off the elevator, the hallway in front of them filled with the shadow ninjas. Chan smirked as he gripped the sword he'd brought tighter. "Told you," he stated simply as he reactivated it.
Nodding, Jackie reactivated his own. "No need to rub it in." The pair took twin offensive stances, swords at the ready.
The ninjas lunged for them, and the pair struck back.
Shendu watched as the Shadow Khan were ruthlessly and methodically slaughtered with sword slashes, devastating punches and kicks, and at one point a snapped neck. He watched longer than he'd actually intended, as he'd only meant to observe to see if either Chan had the remaining Talisman half, but the studied brutality of the assault had seized his attention. He was a demon, after all, and such things were quite intriguing to him. However, his connection to the artifact that let him summon the Shadow Khan was starting to become costly in terms of magic expenditure, so he withdrew to his normal sense. "Both Chans are in the building," he informed the assembled group. "Neither has the missing Talisman half."
Before anyone else could speak, Hak Foo grinned. "I have located it!" he cried triumphantly. "The nervous movements gave it away!" Taking hold of Jade's right shoe, he looked her straight in the eye. "You can cooperate with removing the shoe, or I can remove the foot-"
"Enough!" Tohru roared angrily as Jade whimpered and the fillies screamed in fear, stomping forward to seize Hak Foo by the head. "Leave them alone!"
"Get me my Talisman!" Shendu snarled angrily.
"Will someone please try to stay calm?" Valmont pleaded desperately. "We don't want the Chans angry with us, remember?"
A ripping sound in the air was followed by the doors falling apart in pieces. "Too late," Chan snarled angrily.
"Let her go!" Jackie insisted angrily as they both lunged forward.
Tohru, deciding he'd finally had enough of the Black Tiger, hurled him towards the Chans as Valmont ducked behind his desk. Unfortunately, Hak maintained his grip on Jade's shoe, causing it to pop off and send the Talisman half bouncing towards Valmont's desk. Seeing his chance, Valmont lunged out, seized the Talisman half, and slammed it into its slot. As the Talisman fused, Jackie and Chan were fused back into a single entity, holding a single sword.
Shendu let out a roar as the Talismans were absorbed into his stone body, letting him move for the first time in 900 years. As he uncurled from the uncomfortable twist and extended his arms and legs, he lifted his head to the sky. With a powerful flex of muscle and magic he cried, "I...LIVE!"
At full size, he stood fifty feet tall and a dozen feet wide at the shoulder, easily dwarfing even Tohru's massive bulk. His form rippled with muscle and magic as he glowered down at all around him. "At long last...my powers fully restored...Speed...Invisibility...Astral Projection..." He turned towards the Qi Lin foals who so troubled him. "And my personal favorite...Combustion!" With that, he hurled a massive fireball at the group of four. He heard them scream, heard and saw the explosion of impact...and stared in stupefaction at the slightly scorched sumo that stood between him and his targets, arms crossed over his face. "What?" he demanded in shock. "How do you still live?"
Tohru snarled in fury as he glowered up at the demon before him, burn marks on his limbs and half his shirt burned away the only marks from the impact of a fireball larger than his entire body. "Master!" he called to Valmont. "Consider this my two weeks' notice!"
"Understood, Tohru," Valmont responded in understanding. "The apartment's paid up through the end of the month, and your severance check will be in the mail before the week is out."
Shendu found himself torn between rage at the seeming betrayal and being impressed that Valmont - despite his seeming humanity - could be both so cold-blooded and so magnanimous. Humans were so unpredictable. He found his distraction over that negated when Tohru lunged forward, attempting to grapple him. It was rather amusing, since the sumo couldn't even wrap his arms completely around him. "It seems pure nerve and determination to protect grants you some resistance to my magic," he commented dryly. "In that case, main strength will do the trick!" Reaching forward, he seized Tohru with one hand, yanked him off his feet, and delivered a powerful punch to his gut that tore him from the demon's grip and sent him flying through the wall and out of the building.
Valmont watched that with some nervousness before turning back to Shendu. "Well, the office is in shambles, but I'm certain the lost treasure will more than cover the expenses..."
Shendu narrowed his eyes. On one hand, he more than wanted to stab Valmont in the back by denying him the treasure, especially since the man knew now he had no leverage at all. On the other, neither dryadic familiar nor kinto un were in sight. The forces of good had powerful allies, so it would be best to keep those he had, however useless, to counter the human element until he could summon his minions. Besides, nothing said he had to let Valmont keep the treasure once he'd taken over the world. "The treasure is in my temple," he growled out. "You know where it will be. Meet me there to receive your payment. Until then, begone from my sight!"
"As you wish," Valmont agreed as a chopper came down from the roof at the hole Tohru had been knocked through, giving Valmont, Ratso, Finn, Chao, and Hak Foo an exit.
Once that headache was gone, Shendu turned back to the girls. "And now, nothing is left to protect you from my wra-" He stopped as he heard an oddly familiar sound.
Jackie walked calmly towards the group, his eyes narrowed in determination and his mouth a grim line. The sound was the tip of his sword dragging along the floor. As he stepped between Shendu and the girls, he drew a line in the carpet with his blade as though daring Shendu to cross it. He then took an ancient battle stance, leveling his blade at Shendu's heart.
Shendu's eyes widened. He remembered that stance...
The Demon Sorcerers had just claimed the full mantle of their power, released upon the human world. Shendu marched through Ancient China, taking whatever caught his fancy and destroying anything that got in his way. As he journeyed, he caught sight of a fair maiden, and decided he would have her. As he approached, however, a voice momentarily stayed him.
"Touch not my niece, fell beast!"
A somewhat old man with crimson hair dressed in blue stepped out of a nearby homestead, marching calmly until he stood between Shendu and his intended prey. Pulling a sword from its sheath, he drew a line in the ground between himself and the demon, taking a combat stance with the point of the blade aimed at the demon's heart. "Cross that line, and face my wrath."
Shendu laughed at the mortal's audacity. "You amuse me, human!" he gloated. "Tell me your name, that I might remember it as the first fool to fall to me!"
The human stared him right in the eyes. "Lü Dongbin."
"Im...impossible..." Shendu murmured in shock as he took a step back.
At that moment, the sound of many pounding feet echoed as Captain Black and the troops of Section 13 charged in. "Freeze!" Captain Black shouted out, only to gape in shock. "What...is that?"
Snarling, Shendu activated his magic. He would have to deal with the Qi Lin and Chan another time...when he had adequate backup. Lifting into the air, he sped through the hole he had made with the power of the Rooster and the Rabbit, making his way towards China.
Aiyeah!
Awesome writing as always Tats, curious about the history your building though.
..bad day...
what is Uncle doing right now? Why creating potion that will allow Jackie to LAY HANDS on Shendu! Taking them out one by one.
I'm going to shut up about the "1 views" thing. Considering the fact that I keep refreshing my Favorites list, sorted by update, it has just lost àll meaning at this point. Oh, and Tohru quit slightly earlier than in canon.
Unrelated, does causing two separate swords to magically fuse together result in the new blade to have a power boost of some kind?
When this is all over, Shendu's gonna be Shendudu.
Valmont agreed as a chopped came down from the roof
1. Chopper.
Dang, Jade was almost a shoe in for managing to hide the talisman.
Tohru is grappling with the fact he took a fireball to the everything quite well.
If there's a limit to Captain Black's disbelief then Chan drew the line at it.
7844493
Well he's certainly been Dragon his feet about it. Though if the show is any indication, this is what finally tips the Scale.
7844445
Well, magical properties of equipment have been known to sometimes carry over into a polymorphed state; Shendu could still access him remaining Talismans after being turned into a rabbit, and a Belt of Strength will still work if you've been turned into a newt, so long as the transformation incorporated the belt instead of having you shrink out of it (perhaps some relation to the "Vorpal Bunny" of Monty Python fame? A relatively high-level D&D rogue under the effect of a Baleful Polymorph [Rabbit] could pull off a remarkably good impression of the beast).
Unfortunately, because these were not magical swords, and their special properties came solely from the physical, I would say no. At best, it would probably be roughly average compared to the two separate swords, and at worst their inner workings could have meshed improperly, rendering the entire thing inert, if still usable as a mundane blade. Either way, it's an unfortunate waste of a perfectly good weapon. Now, what Jackie does with it could be magical in its own right, but that's another topic entirely.
Was that flashback canon or just you? Even though it happened in the show, I'm still wondering how Tohru survived the fall? And I got to say I like what you're doing with Valmont.
7844553
Just me. In show, Jackie never held a sword except when banishing Shendu's spirit at the end of Season 2.
Wow... the emplyee's benefit of this company is out of this world.
I'm impressed too.
7844638 No kidding. I actually like this version of Valmont.
Aiyah! Shendu is loose! Very bad day!
Tohru, however, demonstrates much awesome. As is his standard.
Is Jackie using a High-Frequency Blade?
Link to info.
This one: vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/skyfall-saga/images/f/f8/High_Frequency_Blade_(Model_SO15).png/revision/latest?cb=20131023222026
Wow, the immortal who originally defeated Shendu. That would the ticket to make him hesitate.
BAD DAD! BAD DAY!
Tohru's Heel-Face turn is even better here than in the original.
7844439 Seriously? Ye of little fate.
He's building using ancient magic a giant mech the likes of ESCAFLOWNE!
SHEER BADASSERY!
Another enjoyable chapter. Great job.
Chapter Seventy Seven
"Aiyah!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 39
"One More Thing!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 70
still feel hak foo needs a good case of sword in the throat.
7844726 yes, he just pulled what I can only guess is the same stance that Sam uses against Raiden. And then Raiden against Armstrong after he gets the Masamune.
7845513 Hell yeah!
7844655
American English explains the second one.
7845961 Okay, i had to look up three different dictionaries before i found that definition, but it's there, close to the bottom.
Edited.
Cue Battle Music.
Best two weeks' notice ever!
A very nice way of handling the situation, this version of Valmont should get a decent life after everything he goes through.
7845411 How about Blunt Spoon to Groin????
I was hoping Jackie would have two of that one sword...
7846057 Don't forget the rust!!!
7846701 yes that is what she made
7846723 Given how tough Hak Foo is, we need a fresh spoon, no rust. We can poor lemon juice onto the wounds though!
What happened to the second sword? Did the one he is holding change?
I can imagine Bentruckung playing here.
7846977
I believe the swords combined when they were fused together.
I'm curious. Did the combined sword take on the power of both, resulting in double the strength of the weapon? Because it started out as two.
This is a hell of an understatement. Tohru is pretty badass for then going on to grapple his leg. However, considering his width, was this meant to be fifteen feet tall?
7854319
The width might be wrong, but official show material states Shendu's demon form at 50 feet tall. I guesstimated width from that.
...and 'guesstimated' is an actual word recognized by google chrome's spell check. Amazing.
Very bad day.
That's a pretty great way to quit your job. This Valmont was a pretty understanding boss.
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/L%C3%BC_Dongbin
7937102 I as a student of myths world wide must say I did not see that coming
7848767
and no goofy looking dance either.
7848767
Soooo do we have some kind of WoW King of Stormwind scenario here or something?
This stretches credulity for a scene taking place indoors. Also, the Jackie Chan fanwiki says he's 20 feet tall (not that 20ft is much better for indoors).
9986518
The grand hall he was stored in was massive.