Shadow

  Chapter Seven

  It’s a nice spring day. Betty sits on a stone bench in front of the school library. The remaining yellow busses are for after school activities, the usual clamor of high school has been replaced by a few handful of students roaming and killing time. Betty sets in her colorful dress with her hands in her lap. A tall athletic boy walks up and sits down next to her. He gives her a kiss and asks, “Hey Betty Jean, what was so important? I know how hard it is for you to stay after school, so I’m missing practice today.” This is Jack, her boyfriend, the only person she allows to call her Betty Jean.

  Nervous about revealing what she wants to, she tries to get out of it, “Never mind, you don’t need to be missing practice for me, go ahead, it was nothing.”

  “BJ baby, I would quit football if you asked me to. Nothing is more important to me than you.” He grabs her hand. “And I know you too well, this has got to be important, so go ahead.”

  What she wants to tell him is something she has never told anyone, not even the child shrinks she was forced to see or the police who investigated how her mother was shot. Betty tried to live as if it was just a horrible nightmare but it had pushed its way to the surface when she allowed herself to love someone, that someone was Jack.

  “Well... remember how I’ve always told you that my mom left when I was young?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well... Mark killed her when I was eight.”

  Jack almost falls off his seat, “What? You’re joking right?”

  Betty starts to cry, “I wish I were.” Jack holds her close. He decides not to say anything until she gathers herself. When she has, he asks, “I know he’s a major jerk and all, but he killed your mom? His wife? Why didn’t he go to jail for life?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Did he go to jail?”

  “I can’t remember.”

  “But you’re certain he did kill her?”

  “Yes, I was hiding on the stairs one day when he came and they started arguing and he shot her.” She started crying again.

  “So did you tell the cops?”

  “No, I mean I don’t believe so. I can’t remember, I was so scared of Mark and I was so confused, that I even bottled up and refused to talk to anyone for a while. I hardly remember anything besides all the shrinks asking me questions every day.”

  Jack snaps, “That damn Mark. I’m gonna kick his ass!”

  Betty pleads, “No please! This is my last year of school and I’ll be eighteen, so I can move out and away. I don’t want any problems please.”

  “But he killed your mom!”

  “Jack please!”

  Jack turns away for a minute, then turns back, “If that’s what you want.”

  “I think I’m gonna have to buy you some toilet paper with all the squatting you do.”

  Sunny spring day turns back into dark cold night, as Shadow turns to find herself facing the same man she thought she killed.

  “Did you miss me, dear?” asks Century.

  Shadow snarls, raises and pulls out her short sword.

  “Yeah right, she’s not capable of emotions.” thinks Century as he squeezes his fist and lets out his full arsenal of arm and fist spikes. She charges him. He uses his arms as shields to block the sword swipes. The blade hits his arm in between the spikes doing no damage. The lack of expected injury stuns Shadow long enough to give Century a chance to land a spinning thrust kick to her midsection. Shadow hits the rooftop with a thud.

  “Isn't it ironic that you’re on your back again? I guess you just like that position.”

  Shadow uses her hands to flip back up to her feet. She grabs four capsules from her waist, two in each hand and throws them to the ground by her feet. These little spheres explode on impact and cause the immediate area to fill with thick smoke, making both combatants unable to see each other.

  “You’re gonna have to do better than that,” says Century.

  He blinks his eyes, and when he opens them they are completely red. He thinks, “I’ll find you soon enough, your body heat won’t lie.” As he looks around for heat traces. Shadow walks up to within two feet of him. He doesn’t see her.

  “Damn it, you could not have left this huge rooftop that fast.” Shadow takes a few steps back and runs at the unexpecting Century.

  “Where did you go? Man, this is making me look bad.” He then hears her approaching, but it’s too late, “I bet that...” she nails him in the chest with a jumping front kick, Century starts his descent off another building, this time the one hundred story Katsuya Corporation building.

  “Or shall I say this is making me look Real bad.” This drop is long enough for him to think about what just happened. “How did my infrared not pick up her body heat? Must be something to do with that damn suit. This makes Kats look real bad too, but not as bad as I’m gonna make him look when I get my hands on him.”

  Right before he lands, he ponders, “Why couldn’t I’ve been given some cool ability like flying? Oh right, I’m not a superhero.”

  This time there was no car to cushion the fall, not like it mattered. Fortunately there was no one outside or under him. He climbs out of the crater his impact made, “I’m not paying to fix that either.” He walks into the building, “No need to run, he’s already dead and so are a handful of guards.” The front desk is unoccupied.

  “I guess he went upstairs to help. Poor guy.” Century waits for the elevator to open, it does and he heads toward the 68th floor. As he steps out of the elevator, he notices the hall is in total shambles, blood, bullet shells, and bodies cover the floor while blood, bullet holes, and body chunks cover the walls.

  “Well, at least they put up a fight.” He steps over the bodies of the Katsuya’s security team and into the office housing the board member. As expected, the executive's body lays on the floor minus its head.

  Katsuya and three armed men enter the office. Katsuya bows his head as he looks at the new headless executive, “Poor Mr....” before he can finish his grieving, Century grabs him by the collar of his overcoat and flings him feet over head into the far wall. Katsuya hits the wall so hard that the plaster cracks. One of the men who came with Katsuya tries to grab Century from behind. Century takes him by the arm and flings him into the same wall that Katsuya hit, making a bigger crack and landing in front of Katsuya.

  Century executes perfectly a spinning crescent kick to one of the remaining men who was reaching for his gun, sending him back into the hallway. The last man has his gun drawn and shoots Century in the chest at point blank range. All the impact does is cause Century to take one step back, then Century replies, “I hate guns,” then hits the man with an open palm thrust that sends the guard crashing into the wall behind him. Katsuya, who is on all fours trying to gather himself, is shocked when he sees Century walking toward him unharmed from the gunshot.

  “What are you?” asks Katsuya.

  “A person you don’t want pissed at you!” He then lifts Katsuya off the ground with one hand, “Tell your goon to leave and that we don’t want to be disturbed. We got to talk.”

  The three henchmen, who are all still shaking out cobwebs, are told to leave by Katsuya. Then Katsuya trying to show that he’s still the BMOC yells, “Now!”

  “Yes Mr. Katsuya,” can be heard in almost unison by the fallen warriors. Once the men have left the room, Century who still has Katsuya in his grasp, feet dangling, demands, “This time you’re gonna tell me everything.”

  “I assure you that...” again Katsuya is interrupted by crashing into a wall. Katsuya now has a slight gash on his forehead, which is dripping blood, “What was that for?”

  “I’m tired of you saying, ‘I assure you’, your little third year’s businessman tactics don’t work on me. ‘I assure you’ translates into “I’m full of shit!”

  Katsuya says, “But I... um have told you everything. What is the reason behind this assault?”

  “Her damn suit, it covers her body heat. She’s undetecta
ble.”

  “Century, I assure... I’m telling you the truth, I didn’t know. After our last meeting I called and confirmed her file, and was told that everything was in there. I have no need to lie. Why would I hire you if I didn’t want her caught? Someone else might be behind this and I will get to the bottom of this.”

  “This better be the last secret, for your sake.”

  “Why would I want a man who can’t be killed as an enemy?”

  “What‘d you say?”

  “Well at least that’s the myth about you, and the gun shot kinda makes that myth seem more plausible.”

  “Whatever, well, the time frame between the killings has shortened, so I’m gonna be with the next member until she shows up. You have until then to let forth any more information.”

  “Yes, I understand Century.”

  “You better.”