Awesome / The Ultimate Evil

The Ultimate Evil

• In the first chapter, Valerie fights off the Enforcers to prevent them from capturing Jade before Jackie steps in.
• When Tohru's about to destroy the antidote against the petrifying venom, Valerie uses her knowledge that the Dark Hand's mysterious client wants her alive and stops Tohru by threatening to inject Jackie's afflicted blood into herself. And then, while trapped by the big man's bear hug, she manages to force him to free her and give her the antidote by threatening to inject Jackie's afflicted blood into his bloodstream instead.
• When the Enforcers are about to attack Jackie with swords in the sixth chapter, Valerie drives them away simply by throwing hot tea on them.
• When Hak Foo has the upper hand in his first fight with Jackie, Valerie suddenly attacks with two named moves of her own, briefly taking Black Tiger out of the fight. Also qualifies as a CMOF.
• When Shendu visits Valerie's dream again and witnesses her reliving the moment Valmont attacked her with the Dragon Talisman, the dragon incinerates the man as long-awaited retribution for damaging one of Shendu's "possessions".
• Even though Valerie's terrified of Shendu, she defies his attempt to seduce her with his promises.
• When Valerie is dangerously close to incoming missiles, Shendu covers her with his body and proves himself to be Nigh-Invulnerable. Qualifies also as a CMOH.
  • At the end of the fight, Valerie helps Jade save Jackie from Shendu by touching the dragon and distracting him with the onslaught of their combining chis for a brief moment.
• When Jade and Paco sneak after the Dark Hand to the temple storing the Pan'Ku Box, Valerie chases after and saves them before the Enforcers can blast them.
  • During the following fight, Valerie frees herself from Shendu's grasp by striking his (or actually Valmont's) crotch.
  • Before going after Shendu, Valerie does something Jackie and the others never think to do in canon: she makes Jade remain in a safe spot by wording her instructions so precisely that Jade cannot worm her way out with Loophole Abuse.
• When Valerie is caught by the strong wind that's dragging Po Kong back to the Netherworld, Shendu catches her while holding onto a lamppost. He realizes they both might be sucked in before the portal closes itself, so he throws her into Tohru's arms with enough strength to defy the wind.
• Valerie uses the Dragon Talisman against Xiao Fung who condescendingly called her insignificant earlier.
  Valerie: Who's useless now?
• When Hak Foo attacks Valerie in her apartment, she is able to hold her own against him a little. Both he and she are surprised when she actually manages to block one of his blows with a move Jackie taught her.
  • Though it's mainly Nightmare Fuel, the way Shendu punishes Hak Foo for nearly killing Valerie comes off as karmic.
• When Dai Gui is about to crush Valerie to dust, Shendu appears out of nowhere and deflects the Earth Demon's fist with a shield of fire.
• Nat's Establishing Character Moment has her fighting and killing demon that's about to eat its victim. Her reflexes and various weapons make it a Curb-Stomp Battle on her part.
• When Hsi Wu kidnaps Jade, Valerie correctly predicts that the Sky Demon won't simply free the girl even if the Uncle's spell is removed from his tail and takes matters into her own hands. She first sneaks into Section 13's vault (by taking an example from Jade) and steals some of the Talismans. Then she summons Shendu to a remote area and bargains from him Hsi Wu's hiding place. She calls the others to the water tower, reaches the tower's top unnoticed with the Snake and Rooster Talismans' help, and gives Jade the Rooster and the Rabbit. Then she uses the Ox Talisman to punch Hsi Wu all the way into another building.
  Valerie: No one messes with my girl.
  • Shendu demands from Valerie a kiss in exchange for the information she needs. Taking advantage of the fact that he hasn't specified what kind of a kiss he wants or how long it should be, she merely keeps her lips on his for one second and gets away with it by reminding him that demons are fond of Loophole Abuse.
  • Hsi Wu gets one when Valerie grabs him from the ankle and attempts to throw him to the ground with the help of the Ox Talisman. As soon as she releases the Sky Demon, he flips, grabs her in return, and lets her fall instead. Jackie has to rescue her by quickly sliding down the ladder and catch her.
• When Valmont mocks Valerie by claiming that Shendu would try to force himself on her if he saw her in her black dress, she slaps him and renders him silent with her anger.
• Nataline saves Valerie from being killed by Bai Tza at the last minute.
• Valerie saves Shendu from drowning by pulling an Underwater Kiss on him.
• When Hsi Wu captures Jade in the Netherworld and offers to help her escape if she agrees to bind herself to him, the girl surprises him by defiantly stating that she'll do that only after they're out of the Netherworld. She then convinces the crafty Sky Demon that since his own portal is sealed, he can't be sent back, so he agrees to her conditions.
  • When Hsi Wu nearly manages to escape through Shendu's portal, Nat forces him back through.
• When Shendu possesses Valerie, the Chans find their friend kneeling on the floor. He then reveals himself to them with a wicked laugh and shows the power of his and Valerie's combined chis by levitating and blasting. Not a bad way for a villain to scare their enemies.
  Jade shrieked as Valerie suddenly flung out her arm and threw Jade across the room. The girl was caught by Jackie, and they all looked up in horror as Valerie slowly stood, rolling her neck as a sickening crack split through the air like a gunshot.
  "Valerie cannot hear you…" Came a hissing voice as the woman slowly turned to face them, and they all recoiled when they saw the blazing red eyes and the wicked grin that did not belong to Valerie.
  "Demon!" Tohru yelped in fright.
  And then, the demon-possessed-Valerie began to laugh, a wicked and terrible sound filled with no mirth, a laugh that Jade recognized – Shendu. There was hum that filled their ears, the air seeming to be electrified all of a sudden as sparks danced down Valerie's arms as she continued to laugh. Jade's mouth opened in horror when the woman began to slowly levitate an inch or two off of the ground, her red eyes continuing to glow even brighter.
• The final fight over the Book of Ages includes several of there.
  • Shendu demonstrates the godlike powers he gained from his bonding to Valerie by overpowering the J-Team that has been empowered by Jade's alterations on the Book. When Bai Tza tries to attack Valerie, Shendu renders her unable to move.
  • When Jade is caught by Shendu and the Fire Demon is about to squeeze her to death, she still challenges him defiantly for what he has done to the reality and Valerie.
  • Valerie appears, having heard Shendu's confession, and confronts him in utter fury. Shendu himself is for a moment afraid by her reaction.
  • With everyone trying to survive the all-consuming vortex created by the damaging of the Book, Valerie is brought near it by the combined efforts of Jackie and Shendu. She then fixes the Book by sewing the torn pages back in their proper place.

The Stronger Evil

• While it doesn't work in the long run, Valerie's trick of using the Noble Tiger to split the van carrying all the Noble Animals in half and leading Shendu on a wild goose chase does give everyone the time they need to find and prepare the spell needed to seal him.
• It's also Nightmare Fuel, but you also have to respect Shendu killing Daolon Wong for trying to kill Valerie.
• Valerie first shoots lightning from her palm's scar to protect Jade from the Ice Crew.
• When Tarakudo approaches Jade, Valerie rushes between them and actually hurts the floating head with her lightning strike.
• The free-for-all in Chapter 11 between the allied forces of the Chan Clan, Shendu and Drago against Tarakudo and Queen Jade's Shadowkhan army.
  • Shendu proves himself to be able to counter the Oni King even as a statue and makes a Badass Boast about it.
    Shendu: Do you feel it – shadow-worm?! That is a smidgen of the force of true power! Savour this small glimpse of hope you have. For it is only this stone casing which restricts me from tearing you asunder. If I were free of this skin, you would be in trouble.
  • When Jade restrains Valerie with her new powers, the latter unleashes a shockwave to free herself before Uncle and Tohru arrive to drive the Shadowkhan side away with an improved spell against the Razor Khan and an onion for Tarakudo.
• Chapter 13 is the climax of the Oni arc, so it has plenty of action:
  • Val lures Queen Jade out and takes on her Shadowkhan with the Dragon and Rabbit Talismans. Then she taunts Jade into fighting her personally, leading to a Beam-O-War between their respective chis.
  • When the Oni invade the Vault, Shendu uses the masks collected by the heroes to summon his own armies of Shadowkhan, which Tarakudo can't take control of since their masks are not on any hosts.
  • Drago and Nat pull a Fastball Special that results in Nat stabbing Tarakudo through the top of the head and riding him like a horse as he tries to throw her off.
  • Val undergoes a ritual to cut off Tarakudo's control of Jade, turning her back to normal. Even with Hsi Wu's own outside interference.
  • Just when it seems that Tarakudo is going to gain the upper hand again, The Cavalry arrives in the form of Uncle, Tohru, and Jackie, who cast a spell to give Tarakudo a physical body again. Val then distracts Tarakudo with his mask (which the restored Jade provides), before throwing it like a frisbee to Jackie as he comes up behind the Oni King. He then puts it on Tarakudo's face, sealing him.
• When Shendu and Valerie are confronted by four burglars over the Babylonian artifact, Shendu effortlessly takes them out, and when the police arrive, he comes up with a half-true story that spares him and Valerie from being suspected of any wrongdoing.
• After spending the entire evening by being overlooked by every gala guest in favor of Shendu, Valerie is insulted by the mayor's snide mistress Candy. Shendu comes to Valerie's defense and reduces Candy to the verge of mortified tears by telling the mayor not-so-subtly that women like Candy are nothing compared to Valerie whose intelligence and bravery make her worthy of him.
• Shendu, disappointed at meeting a dead end in his quest to find Tiamat, gives Valerie an Anguished Declaration of Love in defiance of the Armor-Piercing Question she gave him in the eight chapter about how he could understand that love is selfless. He argues back that love actually makes him selfish in his desire for her affection, and he cannot let go of it even though it brings him misery to know that winning her heart is impossible. She feels more moved than ever by any declaration of love she has read in her favorite romance novels.
• After Jade is given advice on how to finally get rid of Hsi Wu who's on the verge of merging his chi with hers, she engages in a fight with his oily form in the center of her being as she has to choose a fundamental part of her personality to give up. She ends up choosing her pride which has taken the form of a hefty book. She then rips pages out of it, paining both her and Hsi Wu. As he makes one final attempt to attack her, she shields herself with the book, and he ends up tearing the rest of the pages out. Before his form burns away as he's driven out of Jade, she tells him "Tails… you lose." After all the times he has used his lines from the first story to mock her, her using one of her own is satisfying.
• While rejecting Valerie's suggestion to rehabilitate Shendu and Drago, Jackie coldly calls her a pawn who's controlled by every other piece on the board. After she has given him a half-true story on how Jade came to be rescued from Hsi Wu's attempt to possess her, he wants to know why she didn't call him and Uncle. She responds that she didn't want to waste time for the other pieces on the board to make their move. Though he doesn't apologize and remains mistrustful of her, he has the decency to feel ashamed.