Shendu growled in Valmont's mind as he watched the man doing the seemingly pointless task of going over his employment records. "This is a foolish and fruitless endeavor!" Shendu snapped out.
"Only so far," Valmont countered softly as he continued to scan through the records, pausing every so often for no apparent reason before moving on.
"You won't find what I need in there!" Shendu snarled. "It's a waste of time!"
"You don't even know what I'm looking for," Valmont responded calmly, flicking to the next entry.
"I know where to find what I need!" Shendu screamed angrily. "We will simply go to the shop! The chi wizard will have a book containing the location-"
"Oh that's brilliant," Valmont interrupted, sarcasm heavy enough in his voice that Ratso noticed it. "March the demon possessed individual into the shop of a chi wizard who has four exceptionally powerful creatures of good chi living with him, whose very touch will cause you excruciating agony, thus neutralizing the one advantage we'd have going in. Not to mention giving away the one thing we know that the Chans don't yet, that you're still here in spirit and can infuse me with your magic. With planning skills like that, I'm amazed you were in stone for a whole 900 years, and not out after a week!"
Shendu growled unintelligibly for a time before subsiding somewhat. "Your sarcasm is noted. But how is whatever you're looking for supposed to aid us? ...what are you looking for, anyway?"
"Discrepancies," Valmont responded readily as he paused on one data file before going over to a large box of papers and sifting through the hard copy.
"Discrepancies?" Shendu inquired, confused. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"The reason I'm such a success in the criminal underworld despite being what some would call a 'soft touch' on the corporal level is that I earn the loyalty of those who work for me," Valmont explained. "I know their names, faces, likes, dislikes, hobbies, family histories, dreams... I have my employment records memorized."
"And you're looking for something that isn't how you remember it...why?" Shendu inquired carefully.
"Before the rainbow wave that covered the entire globe, magic was a closely guarded secret," Valmont explained. "No one in power knew it existed, and so no one in power had access to it. After that wave, however...magic is normal. Everyone knows, nobody cares. Only mages make use of it...but the government has access to battle mages to send in to deal with magical powered criminals, and no one blinks an eye. Meaning as far as the world is concerned, there were always government battle mages protecting them from magical threats." He smiled as he found the file he was looking for. "And I know my mind. If the world is as it would have been if magic had always been a part of it, then I would make sure I had access to the same resources the government did, but better. And where there is light, there is dark. Where there is good...there is evil."
He tossed the file onto his desk, letting it flip open to a sigil on a page as he looked at it. "Isn't that right...Daolong Wong?"
The sigil blazed violet, and the image of a wizened old man with white hair in black and blue robes clutching a gnarled stick with a crystal at the end appeared over it, seeming to hover in meditation. Two tattoos marked his face, one in the center of his forehead representing his third eye, the other a lightning bolt that traced down over his left eye. His eyes opened, revealing a yellow left eye and a blue right eye. "Valmont," he greeted softly, his voice reedy and strained. "You have need of my services again? I must say, better to deal with you than anyone else. Despite dealing with magic, your expectations have always been reasonable...and the use of your network to acquire hard to find magical ingredients and tomes has always been ample recompense." He shook his head. "Forgive me, I'm rambling. An...old memory has left me irritable, and your summons is a pleasant distraction." Setting his staff across his crossed legs, he brought his palms together in front of his chest. "So, how can I serve you today?"
Shendu had to admit to himself...he was impressed. He could see just how powerful a Dark Chi Wizard Daolong Wong was, and Valmont having one such as he being respectful on an unannounced summons for service spoke volumes of just how effective a leader he was. He may have no magic of his own, Shendu thought silently, but his skills in other areas are impressive...and valuable. Perhaps he would serve better as a General when we take this world back, rather than a jester...
"Forgive me if I skip any customary pleasantries, Daolong Wong," Valmont spoke up politely, "but I'm afraid my own situation has left me somewhat irritable as well. I've...suffered a bit of a setback due to things going sour with a recent client...mostly due to the interference of a particular Good Chi Wizard and his family." He sighed theatrically. "I'm afraid I underestimated his talent, and that of his family. I should have called you in."
Daolong Wong smiled, waving it off. "My battle services don't come cheaply, Valmont. Understandable you would not want to call on me for that unless you had to." His eyes narrowed. "But tell me, what Chi Wizard did you face? I know of few who could pose a threat to your operation...especially when dealing with demons."
Valmont smiled softly, unsurprised that Daolong Wong could see - or sense - Shendu. "A man seemingly known only as Uncle, of the-"
"CHAN?!" Daolong Wong suddenly snarled out, his eyes glowing red as he seized his staff. He fired a discharge of rage filled magic into the background off the image, and an explosion could be heard. A few moments later, Daolong Wong calmed down. "Forgive me, Valmont. The particularly upsetting memories I mentioned specifically relate to that particular Chi Wizard." He stroked his staff, his teeth bared. "An old grudge I would love to have the opportunity to repay..."
Valmont's smile widened to a bargaining grin. "Does that mean I can expect a discount on your combat services if it means fighting him?" he asked jovially.
Daolong Wong waved a finger chidingly, but he was grinning. "Now now, Valmont, you know why my services are expensive. Dark Magic doesn't come cheaply. And there are some resources that even your network can't come by-"
"Such as pegasus feathers, unicorn water, and dryadic sap?" Valmont inquired innocently.
Daolong Wong's eyes widened. "You...you have found a supply?"
Inside, Valmont grinned widely. He'd always been rather good at shooting in the dark. "It just so happens a few Qi Lin are in the custody of our mutual irritant...one of the traditional unicorn variety, one a pegasus, and one possessing a dryadic familiar. Of course, should Uncle meet an...unpleasant end, those three - and their potent magic - would be up for grabs for whoever made the first move..."
"We have a deal!" Daolong Wong stated firmly. "Now, what is the need that furthers this conflict?"
"Uncle has in his possession a tome detailing the location of a certain artifact," Valmont explained. "The..." His voice trailed off as he tried to remember.
"The Pan'ku Box," Shendu provided.
"Yes, that," Valmont explained. "Of course, the less Uncle knows about what we can bring against him, the better for us..."
Daolong Wong's answering grin was positively wicked. "No need to disturb the old fool yet, then," he explained. "I happen to know exactly where it is stored..."
Valmont grinned as he sat back in his chair. "You see, Shendu? You really should trust me more."
"I trust you as much as you trust me," Shendu responded coldly.
Valmont's eyes narrowed at his reflection. "Then it seems we are both wise..."
Remember kids! Only trust the evil spirit as much as they trust you! And in secret trust them much more less than you say you trust them!
'The sigil blazed violet, and the image of a wizened old man with white hair in balck and blue robes'
Black seems to be mixed up.
Having never seen the show is this guy an original character of yours? Otherwise Uncle seems to have quite an interesting background from the people he's managed to piss off
7934499
He first shows up late in season 2, and is the primary antagonist of season 3.
the only demons you should put your trust in are name Etrigan and Sparda.
Okay this does not bode well for the future.
7934501
Ah thank you, have been meaning to watch a bit of the show for reference but time constraints make it difficult.
I appreciate you filling me in if I get things mixed up like this, sorry if it bugs you.
7934499
7934501
The character in question --> http://jackiechanadventures.wikia.com/wiki/Daolon_Wong
Its nice to see the scales between light and darkness balancing out. Its important to do this sort of balancing in fanfic to avoid a stomp-fic where the heros face no challenge.
Valmont, Shendu, and Daolong Wong all in the same room?! *Mind Blown* Only thing that would make this more epic is if Tarakudo and Drago(I guess) were also here. So now this season is going off the rails, with Daolong Wong now joining in and knows the location of the Panku Box they'll be able to get it without revealing their plans to the Chans who will be left in the dark. Not only meaning they'll be able to summon the Demon Sorcerers without interference, but the J-Team won't be formed.
Nice way of bringing Daolong Wong in... and I honestly want to see Valmont, Daolong Wong, and Shendu forming a Big Bad Duumvirate and working together. I honestly like the idea of Valmont, if the demons win, being in charge of something big and not a jester, it would certainly make things more interesting if an alternate universe were the bad guys win was explored since he's got all those resources and I can see him reading the Evil Overlord List and implementing it.
Okay, this is getting good. I remember Daolong Wong, and he was a bloody bastard. Of course, of the few scenes with him in it, one is my favorite. Uncle's "blocking" of his scrying spell.
I've said it before, but I really like Valmont in this story. He's thoroughly competent, knows when to cut his losses, and it's rubbing off on Shendu. That... scares the crap out of me, I'll be honest. The only reason Shendu was defeated was because he was arrogant and didn't take anything properly seriously. If he ups his game and takes some pages from Valmont... I am really looking forward to how this goes.
This will not end, for which side I'm not sure of. Still this chapter far exceeded my expectations. Keep up good work.
...holy crap, Daolon Wong's in early. This is gonna be really interesting.
7934522
Huh looks different than I envisioned. Keeping that wiki tabbed for searches in the future. Thank you
Aiyaaa.... competent Valmont strikes again! Both early Valmont and Daolong Wong were fairly seriously threats to the heroes. Now both of them together? Yikes...
All you commenters, and you Tatsurou, have to keep in mind that just because it's a "Demon" does not mean it's evil. Take an example from Dragon Age: Origins. The introductory story of the Mage has you encounter a Sloth demon which explains how narrow-minded it is to think that all demons are evil. Not to mention you can be a Blood Mage and that involves conspiring with demons.
I'm liking the balance of forces in this fic. Not a lot of stories take the balances of light and dark, good and evil into consideration. Though, with the way things are going, we may have too much darkness.
The girls have changed so much in this universe, it's actually quite scary. Bringing the power of Harmony to a world where Harmony existed in little to no quantity. They're wanted for the things this universe's equivalent can give, but nobody yet realises the extent of their power.
In a world where a power is untapped, it either builds or it atrophies. Considering magic is used, it did not atrophy, so Harmony built.
They have a lot of power at their disposal and no idea that they can, or how to, use it.
I'm predicting that this situation is going to get much worse before it gets better. The scales are tipping in the other direction. They will tip back. They will continue to tip until they become stable.
New elements will be brought into play.
New allies will be made and met.
New enemies will be encountered and defeated.
All building up to a stalemate. In which both parties move, but do not encounter each other, or they fight but no one gains ground.
It's rather interesting, if I do say so myself. How fast power can change.
Oh snap. Shendu!Valmont and Daolong Wong teaming up... this will get intense.
Suddenly with all that talk, something crazy passed my head, Velmont using Bureacrucy, making uncle and Jackie "unfit parents" or something like that, and taking the crusaders legally.
I trust everything is gonna go smoothly for Valmont and his crew now.
Hopefully his future plans won't have any more unpleasant discrepancies.
Guess Valmont decided to Dialone Wong.
7934554 Actually in the canon Jackie Chan Adventures some people hypothesize that Jade's time travel shenanigans involving the rabbit talisman (and her encounter with Valmont in the past) retroactively took away the competence that he initially seemed to portray. (As to why it wasn't immediate it could probably be waved off as wibbly wobbly timey wimey things).
In this fic said time travel event never occurred so Valmont's competence remained intact, at least that's the theory I'm adopting.
7934539 Not necessarily...do you really think now that magic is common place no one is going to notice a powerful dark artifact going missing?
OOOH! Touché!
7934475 True that.
7934505 Etrigan is knowledgeable, a riot and combat skills round out the set
Loving this more and more now, so needing more now. Please?
I was afraid of this. Of how Daolong Wong would play into the story. His obsession with magic is second only to Tirek.
Well Audrey's going to have a nice three course meal of dark chinwizard soon. It sounds delicious.
Dealong Wong and Shendu? I'm already placing bets on who betrays who first...
I had a feeling Daolon Wong was gonna be involved. This is gonna be sick!!
Smart Valmont? This will cause no end of problems, I'm sure, but I like how he operates here significantly more than he did in the show. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the great work. Deus tecum.
Now I'm worried about what will awaken that those three will need to team the up with the Chan clan to stop. Darkness only attracts darkness after all. Could we see Tirek somehow going after the magic in this world????
7934749
That's assuming the people know of its existence. Just cause people now know magic exist doesn't mean they know where every magical is kept. Otherwise the government would already have the Arc of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, the Necronomicon, and so many other artifacts that I can't remember right now.
Oh shit. Daolong Wong a whole season early? This could get bad fast. One of the main advantages the Chan's had was all the villains squabbling amongst themselves.
now this is a plot twist. talk about having it all jest in case. good job Valmont.
7934505 Dude.
You can trust all demons.
You can trust them to destroy shit.
Chapter Eighty Seven
"Aiyah!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 43
"One More Thing!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 75
7935276
Who's to say they don't? Especially given Hitler's interest in the Occult during WWII? It wouldn't surprise me if the government (retroactively) went in to snatch up or "contain" as many powerful artifacts as they could find, if only to keep them out of the hands of the Axis powers.
Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a cameo of the good Dr. Jones or Miss Croft soon...
7934654
Oh, I know all demons aren't evil, and I've already characterized a few of the Demon Sorcerers as more 'motivated by self interest' rather than 'evil for evil's sake'.
don't suppose you'd make the monkey king more like the noble sun wukong and less like the mockery the show uses? sounds like the Chans could use a powerful ally.
7934553 I guess it is a good thing then that this actually happens in canon
7934539 however with the Chansl luck they could run into each other as a random encounter while the panku box is being retrieved
As I've said before, it's been 20 years, but I remember the struggle the Chans had to open the darn thing. Sort of brings to mind another box & the trouble a different group had trying to open that box.
What is it with Good Guys & locks?
Still, a couple of thoughts
1 The government no doubt has a magical equivalent of the NSA. It doubtless has some experts on cracking spells & some experts on containing things. I'd recommend Turtledove's book The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump
2) There's a reason for The Pentagon's shape. Even IRL, some people fell into the foundation as it was being poured & are entombed there. I also remember that, back in the 60's, some antiwar protesters tried to levitate it (IRL, just a joke)
3)There are probably licensed mages for hire. Like Cook's stories of Garrett, P. I.
I am loving this. The good guys may have quite few big guns on their side. But the villains are still as dangerous as ever, if not more so.
Clever Valmont is clever.
Never underestimate good management skills.
Dear mr. Wong,
Now, I realize that you are a ruthless, evil, villain, and I can respect that. And the fact that your on valmonts payroll of his own volition tells me that you are a man of standards. With that being said IF YOU SO MUCH AS THINK ABOUT THREATENING THE CMC I WILLCRAWL DOWN YOUR THROAT TO TEAR OUT WHAT'S LEFT OF YOURSOUL THEN TOSS YOU IN ISAAC'S CHEST AN FORCE YOU TO FIGHT AGENST DELERIUM FOR ALL ETERNITY!!! WITH NOTHING BUT THE SOY MILK.
Glad we could come to an understanding.
7942151 Annnnnnd fireball. Never threaten a powerful wizard.
7942151 Well crap. I was going to magically flip his spine and alchemically shove his staff up "the rabbit hole".
I'm really liking your Valmont, a good boss, a competent leader, knows when to cut his losses, willing to put aside grudges when its necessary and is creative with his tools. He's the sort of villain that when he's dangling off the edge of the roof and the hero offers to help him back up will take the help instead of trying some dumb "take you with me" thing.
Introducing Doalong Wong early, and giving him a connection to Valmont.
I like it.
Well well well, this is certainly going to be different.
So 1) Shendu's plan was to possess Valmont instead of Jackie from the get-go (though his reasoning is absolutely on point),
and 2) Valmont now has already known of Daolon Wong and has partnered up with him in the past because of the worldwide knowledge of magic's existence.
I like it. This is going to be innnnnnnnnteresting...
This was a really cleverly-played chapter, and I don't even know the source material!
7935276
*pulls tarp covering arc tighter while hiding grail in plain sight (cause noone knows what it looks like and will be dismissed as a fake) and telekinetically floating the necronomicon into a magic-proof vault while noone is looking* "Yeah, who knows where those are?"
to be fair, Shendu was pretty honest in their dealings all through season 1. though he could have told them what each talisman does before sending them after them.