As Tony Stark slowly regained consciousness on the sidewalk, shaking off the strange wave of drowsiness that had taken him down so abruptly, Selena sat in the backseat of a sleek black car, curiously examining the small artifact in her hands.
It was smooth, ancient, and pulsed with a subtle glow—the Rat Charm.
She tilted it back and forth, scrutinizing the etched glyph of a rat embedded in its surface. No matter how long she stared at it, though, she couldn't quite understand what made it worth all the trouble—or worth a hundred million dollars.
"Boss," she called out, still inspecting it, "what the hell is this thing supposed to be?"
Beside her, Shawn leaned back against the seat, one arm resting casually against the door. He glanced over and replied with a faint smile, "That's the Rat Charm. It possesses the ability to bring non-living objects to life. Static things—furniture, machines, even toys—can be animated like living creatures."
Selena raised a brow. "You're telling me this little rock turns statues into people?"
"It was once the power of an ancient demon," Shawn said. "The Holy Lord. If he were to gather all twelve charms again, he could regain his full body and be completely free from his current imprisonment."
Selena blinked at him in disbelief. "Right. Ancient demons, magical trinkets, world-ending powers. Sounds like a fairy tale."
She gave a scoff and handed the charm back to him. "You could've just said it was a collectible."
Shawn caught the charm easily and didn't respond. He simply smiled and turned it over in his palm.
If only she knew the truth. If she ever discovered that the man she called "boss" was in fact Curse Blue, the Demon of the Moon and once one of the most feared beings of the spirit realm… well, that would be an awkward conversation.
Suddenly, a familiar electronic voice rang in Shawn's mind.
Ding! The system has detected the Rat Charm. Would the host like to absorb its power?
Shawn's eyes gleamed with interest.
"Absorb it?" he murmured internally. "Wouldn't that prevent the Holy Lord from using it?"
Almost as if reading his thoughts, the system chimed again.
Ding! There are two methods of absorption:
Direct Absorption – drains the charm's power completely.
Copy Absorption – duplicates the power without altering the original artifact.
Shawn's smirk returned.
Copy Absorption. Now that was more like it.
"Copy it," he said silently. "Let's keep the charm intact."
The moment the words left his mind, a surge of mystical energy poured into his body. It was subtle at first—a spark in his chest, a light hum in his limbs—but quickly grew into something more tangible. The power of the Rat Charm coursed through him, embedding itself within his very soul.
He didn't just hold the Rat Charm anymore.
He had become it.
Now, just like the Holy Lord, he possessed the power to animate the inanimate. Except unlike the Holy Lord—whose charm could be taken away—Shawn's version was permanently his, safeguarded by the system.
Another piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.
After safely dropping Selena back in Gotham, Shawn didn't waste any time. He had a new destination.
It was time to visit an old acquaintance.
Deep beneath the Earth, in the shadows of a long-forgotten temple-turned-lair, the Holy Lord seethed with frustration.
"You incompetent fools!" the demon roared, his massive, serpentine form coiled in fury. "Weeks! Weeks of hunting and you haven't brought me even one charm! What good are you?"
His voice boomed through the cavern, echoing off the walls like rolling thunder.
Before him, four trembling men knelt—Valon, Chow, Finn, and Ratso. The Holy Lord's loyal foot soldiers. Or rather, what remained of their loyalty after another failed mission.
Valon stepped forward nervously. "Holy Lord, we did find a charm today! The Sheep Charm! But... we were ambushed. A man named Jackie Chan appeared and snatched it from us!"
"The guy came out of nowhere," Chow added. "He's good. Real good."
Valon nodded. "We tracked the charm to a moving train using the locator you gave us. We had it in our hands—but Jackie fought like a madman and took it. We couldn't stop him."
The Holy Lord's eyes flared with fire.
He didn't care.
Excuses were the language of the weak.
"Failure is failure," he growled. "You may as well be humans yourselves…"
Just as he was about to unleash a fresh storm of fire and wrath, the Holy Lord suddenly went still.
A strange sensation washed over him.
A presence.
A power he hadn't felt in centuries…
He raised his head sharply.
"No…" he whispered. "It can't be…"
But it was.
He could feel it clearly now—the essence of his own bloodline.
His brother.
The Demon of the Moon… Curse Blue… was approaching.
His voice shifted instantly from fury to excitement.
"My brother… you've returned! And… you've brought the charm, haven't you?"
Valon and the others exchanged confused glances.
"Wait, brother?" Ratso muttered.
"You've got a brother?" Finn asked, stunned.
The idea that the Holy Lord, an all-powerful demonic overlord, had a sibling was something none of them had ever considered.
Suddenly, a presence entered the chamber—silent, powerful, unmistakable.
Shawn stepped through the large, stone-carved archway at the far end of the sanctum, the faint red glow in his eyes illuminating the shadows around him.
Valon immediately jumped to his feet.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Chow snarled, "He's an intruder!"
"Take him down!" Ratso yelled.
In seconds, the four men lunged at him in unison, weapons drawn and shouts echoing through the chamber.
Shawn didn't even blink.
He lifted one hand and simply flicked his wrist.
BOOM.
An invisible wave of force slammed into them like a storm, and all four men were crushed to their knees, pinned to the cold stone floor as if gravity had tripled.
"W-what the hell?!" Valon gasped.
They couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't understand what had just happened.
"Stop!" the Holy Lord bellowed, his voice echoing with joy instead of rage. "He's not our enemy. He's my brother—Curse Blue!"
The chamber fell silent.
Shawn strode forward slowly, his presence dominating the room.
Valon and the others could only stare in awe—and terror.
The glow in his eyes, the pressure in the air, the aura of ancient power—it all confirmed what the Holy Lord had said.
He wasn't human.
He was something else entirely.
"You didn't tell us you had a brother…" Chow muttered.
"There is much I have not told you," the Holy Lord replied, slithering closer. "But know this: Curse Blue is not just my kin—he is my equal."
Shawn reached the center of the sanctum and nodded toward the Holy Lord.
"I've copied the power of the Rat Charm. It's no longer necessary to depend on the original."
The Holy Lord's eyes flickered with approval. "Excellent. You always were the clever one."
Their gazes met—two ancient demons, reborn in a modern world, connected by blood, ambition, and shared purpose.
Together again.
As one.
And this time, there would be no mistakes.
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