Jade tumbled into the alleyway, unmindful of the gross slime covering the ground, barely avoiding a bright green explosion. With her back up against brick, she allowed herself to pat out the embers from her hair.
Beside her, Paco looked up, snorted in amusement, and quickly went back to his tablet. She wouldn’t say he’s a better hacker than she is–not because she’s so prideful–but in this situation, when it’s a matter of stealth not speed, it’s better to let him do it than her. And anyway, Paco is her support team, she’s the one better suited to throwing themselves in between dragons and megalomaniacal humans. She was practically raised that way.
“I hate New York, hate it. I always end up needing a haircut.” Jade muttered, readjusting her gauntlets and checking to see if the talismans are secure. She’s only allowed two at a time, sometimes four during particularly dangerous missions–which a routine check up of New York shouldn’t be, but she’s always proven wrong–and while having Ox and Rabbit really was the best choice she kind of wished she also had Dragon or Pig. Just so she could fight fire with fire.
“Well, if you didn’t always egg Jake on, we would’ve been on a flight out of here yesterday, instead of battling twenty Huntsclan members!”
Jade glanced over at him, still working away at the tablet. While the Huntsclan tended to have state of the art technology, it was never anything beyond Paco’s abilities. Which meant, “Are you mad because I’m still friends with your ex? Because you said the breakup was–”
“It was fine! And that’s not it,” Paco hissed back, glaring at Jade now that his virus was beginning to upload. In about forty five seconds, all of the Huntsclan gear would mysteriously short out.
Speedily, she poked her head out of the alleyway and finds the giant red reptile that is Jake Long taunting the hunters left standing. He’d be fine.
“So? What’s up?” She asked, because Paco is her partner, but also her best friend; maintenance is important. She stared straight into his eyes, as if she could hypnotize him into feeling better.
He sighed heavily, turning away to watch the loading bar instead. “I’m just… I dunno. Tired? A little jealous, maybe.”
That’s unhelpful. “… Because?”
“I don’t really want to do this anymore,” He admitted in a mumble, rubbing his knuckles against his cheek.
“What?” Jade, the girl who literally lived in Section 13 headquarters during her formative years, squawked incomprehensibly, “But we do so much good! We stop crimes and get to do magic and– and– is it me? Because I could tone it down, you know, try not to antagonize twenty racist assholes during our weekend to New York.”
“That’s the thing!” Paco shouted back, gaze swinging back to her, ignoring his tablet chirping in completion.
“It’s me?” She’d never been one for showing her hurts, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel them.
“No, no,” He assured, tugging gently on her sleeve in apology, “It’s the other. It’s–today’s Monday, right?”
“Sure,” Because that was true, even if she didn’t see Paco’s point.
“We were supposed to be home this time yesterday,” he continued.
“Right.”
“I had a physics test fourth period today,” he finished. Which didn’t help explain anything at all.
“You’re worried about school? You know Section 13 has someone to call the school and give excuses, right? You’ll get to do a make up when we get back.”
“That’s my point!” If he weren’t holding his tablet, he’d probably be flapping his hands angrily, “Do you know how many times I’ve been absent from school? Seventeen. How many make up tests I’ve had to do? Six. It’s November, Jade. November!”
“I keep telling you we could just get GEDs and not have to bother with school,” she said dismissively, checking back with Jake to make sure he hadn’t been captured by de-powered hunters in the last minute, “Ugh,” she complained, “he called Thrall for back up. That creep.” The wizard, while a competent enough asset, somehow thought himself a charming ladies’ man. His flirting just made her want to punch him in the face.
“Ugh,” Paco commiserated, before getting back on track, “I want to bother with school, Jade. I want to hate Mondays because I have a physics test fourth period, not because I’m helping dismantle a splinter group of Huntsclan. Jake got to go to school today–”
“–I know, that’s why we had to do the recon ourselves–”
“–and I bet you Juniper got to go to school today. And Danny. And the Utonium sisters–”
“Okay,” She interrupted before he got lost in a spiral of listing their known allies… who happened to also be school age, “Okay, I think I understand now.”
Paco grumbled, but subsided.
“We’ll just tell CB that we need a break. We can’t go flying around the world at the drop of a hat anymore. School is important.” Jade declared, as if she were standing in front of Augustus Black right that second.
“That last part sounded very convincing,” Paco rejoined, but tugged at her sleeve again in thanks.
“We’ll work on it on our flight home. Now, come on, up,” Pushing her weight against the wall behind her, Jade stood up out of her crouch and held out a hand to her partner, “I need you to play human shield between me and Thrall.”
“I’m glad all my Section 13 training is going to good use,” Paco mocked, but clasped her hand firmly and let her pull him up.
~
A/N: Nostalgia for Jackie Chan Adventures mixed with the potential for all sorts of crossovers. My favorite. Jake Long, the Huntsclan, and Niall Thrall all come from American Dragon. Juniper is from The Life and Times of Juniper Lee. Danny is from Danny Phantom. The Utonium sisters are the PowerPuff Girls.
Not gonna lie, I’m maybe considering throwing them into a Teen Wolf crossover. Like a “here’s this mission where you can go to school, instead of skipping school” and then there’s freaking werewolves and kanima and crazy shit happening. Basically, instead of the FBI, Section 13 gets called in. Or maybe both?
Also, I will work on a better title.
JackSGreyson Says 