by Jan Stryvant
“What’s her address?” Shadow asked.
“I don’t think that this is something you want to get involved with, Sean,” his Mother said, “These are bad people.”
“I have friends in high places. Don’t worry about me, Mom.”
Shadow’s father gave him the address. “Sure you don’t want to stay around, Son?”
Shadow looked at Shirley who shrugged. “I guess we can stay the night. Why not invite Rob and Heather and their spouses over and we can catch up. But come the morning we’re going to have to go. We have to get back to work tomorrow.”
“That went well, didn’t it dear?” Shirley said snuggling up to Shadow as they curled up on the bed in the guest bedroom, which oddly enough was Robby’s old bedroom, Shadow’s had been left largely undisturbed, though having met his wife his parents had promised to finally clean it out and do something else with it. Shadow guessed they figured he was finally okay. He didn’t feel patronized by it, he was more impressed that even after so long an absence they still cared very much about him.
“Yes it did.” He yawned and stretched. “And I’m going to sneak out as soon as I’m sure they’re asleep.”
“Gonna go check on your sister then?”
“Yeah. I need to see what she’s gotten herself into.”
“Well don’t blow your cover. Around here they’ll be quick to put two and two together.”
Shadow nodded. “I got some more info out of Robby on her.”
“Your brother and sister were sure happy to see you. I was surprised they didn’t ask more questions about what you’d been doing than they did.”
“Eh, old behaviors and that. I used to have one hell of a temper, though I never turned it on them.” Shadow gave her a kiss, “Well give me a few hours; I’ll be back before sunrise.”
“Call me if you need me.”
“I will.”
Shadow slipped out of the room and down the hallway. He had tricked the window in his old room so he could open and close it silently. It still worked rather well, and he used that to slip out into the night. He got a few things from the car and then called a cab and headed downtown. She was hanging out in the bad part of Newark. Shadow wasn’t sure how he wanted to play this just yet.
It took him an hour to find her, he cruised several of the clubs his brother had said he’d heard she went to and when he finally found her he almost didn’t recognize her. To say his sister was hot was to put it rather mildly. She was just the type of ‘bad’ girl he used to drag home and fuck the brains out of in his more carefree days.
“Buy you a drink Jill?” he asked her stopping at the bar next to her. She was involved with a guy sitting to her other side, to put it mildly.
“Do I know you?” she said turning to look at him. Shadow could see she had a slight buzz going, but nothing serious. That was good at least.
“Hey bud, beat it!” the other guy said.
“Sean, your brother. Remember me?” He said with a smile and ignoring the other guy.
“Sean?” Her eyes got wide, “SEAN!” and she jumped him wrapping herself around him and hugging him tight. “What are you doing here! I thought I’d never see you again! Have you seen Mom and Dad?”
The guy got to his feet looking angry, but a little puzzled.
“This is my brother Sean!” She said to the guy, who Sean noticed still wasn’t happy.
“So your brother is in town, big deal. Let’s go baby, you can catch up with him tomorrow.”
“I haven’t seen him in over ten years!”
Sean intercepted the guy’s reach for his Sister’s arm. He was a little annoyed that he moved a bit slower as a human, but he practiced enough that he could compensate, and he was still faster than the average person. He still got some benefits even in his original form. He twisted the guy’s arm into a judo hold and applied a little pressure. “I need to talk to my sister. Surely you wouldn’t begrudge an older brother who is obsessively protective and uncontrollably violent at times the opportunity to talk, would you?”
“Sean, I think you should let him go ... Dean, please, it’s my brother. He’s ... he’s.... Hell I don’t know how he is, he’s been hiding the last decade apparently, what’d you do, Sean? Finally kill somebody?”
Sean looked at his sister, “So why are you down here hanging out with the low life’s, Jill? You’re not one of those gals into all that freaky sex now, are you?”
“What?!” She shook her head, “What business of yours is it what I’m doing; it’s been a fucking decade, Sean. Things change you know!”
The guy was starting to squirm and trying to hit Sean with his free hand, so Sean heaved and broke his arm with a loud crack! Then grabbed a beer mug and clipped the guy knocking him out.
Jill stared at him in shock.
“Yo! Barkeep!” Sean flagged over the bartender who was eyeing him carefully. “Here,” Sean peeled off ten one hundred dollar bills, “You saw nothing, right?”
The bartender looked at the money, and nodded slowly.
“Good, call an ambulance or something. Later.” And he grabbed Jill and dragged her out the door.
“That was Dean Matters! He’s got powers! He’s on the Tron crew up in Hoboken!”
“He’s a nobody. Anyone of any importance doesn’t leave his home ground to peruse a two-bit place like Newark. Now Mom and Dad tell me you’ve been getting into trouble, so give, tell me what’s going on.”
“Just like that?” she stared at him as he dragged her down the street. He had been by her apartment earlier, so he knew where she lived, it wasn’t terribly far. “You haven’t been around for what, twelve years? I was in high school when I saw you last! And you think you can just come here and tell me what to do?”
Sean stopped, turned, and faced her and let a little of the cat show through. “Yes,” he growled. “And if you’ve got an ounce of self preservation you might just listen to what I have to say. Do you think I want to be here giving you a lecture?”
He turned back and started walking to her apartment again. This time she kept up with him.
“How do you know where I live?”
“Robby told me.”
“How’d they take seeing you?”
“Pretty well all things considered.”
“Why’d you stop by?”
“I was in the area for a couple of days and my wife wanted to meet the family.”
“Wife?! Wow! How’d they take that?”
“Happy, I have kids, all that stuff. Saw Mom, Dad, Rob, and Heather. Missed seeing you. So I came and found you. Now, here we are.”
Jill got out the key and they went into the lobby then caught the elevator up to the third floor. He followed her into her apartment, and locked the door behind him.
“So what do you do?” Jill asked him. “I saw the way you tangled with Dean; that was experience. So don’t tell me you’re an accountant now or something.”
Shadow shrugged, “I sort of freelance for the feds these days.”
“What does ‘sort of’ mean?”
“It means I don’t get paid or have a badge, this way they can’t complain if they don’t like my methods.”
“What do you do for money then?”
“I’m independently wealthy, and no I’m not giving you some.”
“So what do you do for the feds?”
“I solve problems. I support efforts. The kinds of things you don’t talk about in polite company. So why not tell me what got you involved in this business and why you’re working on your back and not with your brains.”
“I’m not a whore you know!”
“Yeah I know, if you were and had a decent house to work with I wouldn’t be giving you any crap at all. But you were working that guy like any number of girls and he’s only small potatoes! So what gives, Jill. Tell me what you’re doing, why you're doing it and what your big plan is.”
“Why should I do that?”
“Because I’ll give you the kind of advice that M
om and Dad ain’t going to give you and you aren’t expecting to hear. You want to live a life of crime, fine. But at least let someone tell you how to do it right.”
“What do you know about the underground?”
“I’ve spent way too many years there. Now talk to me, Sis.”
Jill looked at him kind of funny, “There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?”
“Yes.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“Because I’m your brother.”
“These are pretty dangerous people, Sean. They play for keeps.”
“So do I. Now why are you messed up with them then?”
“They promised me I’d be powerful, that they’d make me a super.”
Shadow nodded. “Who?”
“These guys down south in Trenton.”
“Describe them.”
“Why?”
“Just humor me.”
Jill shrugged and described three different guys, two of them Shadow had observed as part of the guys down there they were after. The third was probably one of the others they hadn’t gotten a good bead on yet.
“Did they say how they were going to give you super powers?”
“Yeah, they have this machine that they’ll put me in. It stimulates the hypothalamus, they shoot you up with some solution first. They said I’ll be able to fly like they can, and have super strength and speed!”
Shadow nodded slowly thinking about that.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” She said angrily.
“Oh no, I believe that they said that to you. I don’t know if something like that could work. I’d have to call a few people to see. But what I want to know is, what is my sister doing for a bunch of people who go around leveling towns and killing dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people?”
“All the people they’ve killed have been players in the underground!” she retorted hotly, “They took their chances, they knew it could happen.”
Shadow nodded, “True, most of their victims have been players, most like you, though they’ve killed quite a few innocents. They’re actively evil, and if they’re not lying to you, then when you join them, you’ll be evil too.”
“They are not!”
“Yes, they are. You however are not, yet. Now tell me, what are you doing for them that they are involved with you?”
“They needed an in.” Jill said and looked embarrassed.
“An ‘in’ to what?”
“The Tron crew. They’re going to move on to Hoboken next. They want me to get them into their headquarters so they can take it over.”
“Why Hoboken? The place is a pit.”
“Because its near New York City and they think they can tap off of the city for years.”
“And just when is this supposed to take place?”
“As soon as I call them and let them know I’ve got an invite there. Which probably isn’t going to happen now that you beat up on Dean!” She said rather hotly. “How do you know so much about them anyway?”
Shadow paused for a moment; he thought he heard something outside.
“I said ...” his sister started, but stopped when he put a finger over her lips.
“Do these guys know where you live?”
“Horse does. He’s been here a few times.”
Shadow swore softly and drew his sword from the hidden sheath centered on his back under the overcoat he was still wearing.
“What are you doing?” she asked panicked and started to move away from him.
“Go hide in the tub, you’re about to have company,” he whispered and pushed her towards the bathroom.
Jill ran for the bathroom and at that moment the door flew off the hinges. Shadow debated reaching for his cell phone, fortunately there appeared to be only one of them. So far.
“So you are her brother hmmmm?” the newcomer stated standing in the doorway. Shadow gave him a good looking over. He’d seen this one before, but only briefly that time he had staked out their base. He was about five six, heavily built and wearing a skintight body suit with a horse’s head design worked over it. It drew attention to the rather large codpiece he was wearing. The guy looked like a tank, and Shadow had observed him flying. Beyond that he knew little of his abilities.
“Been listening in long?” Shadow asked kicking off his sneakers. He wanted to be ready for when he shifted.
“Long enough to hear you tell her you’re working for the feds. Can’t say as I have seen you around before though, hmmmm?”
“So what’s this bullshit about putting my sister through some machine to give her super powers?”
“Hmmmm, yes. That. It works.”
“Oh? One in a hundred? One in a million? Is that how you got your powers pony boy?” Shadow moved the sword into a point forward position and checked his stance.
“It’s Horse. And you shouldn’t have come around here, brother dear. What did she call you, Sean? Jill is my gal now. Ahhhhh yes.”
“But she didn’t get you into Dean’s hideout. So she’s no longer any use to you. Leave my sister be and go.” He warned.
“When she shows up later with Dean’s unconscious body and a story about a crazed fed and a huge fight that Dean won but then succumbed to his injuries, I’m just positive they’ll let her in. Hmmmm? Don’t you think?”
“Might work, but you’ll need a crazed fed.”
“I’m looking at one, aren’t I?”
“What you’re looking at is a brother who has no issues with killing you to protect his sister. I would suggest that you leave now. While you still can.”
Horse laughed, “That little pig sticker of yours can’t hurt me! Normals shouldn’t play with their betters. Surrender now and I’ll make it quick and painless. Hmmmmm?”
“So is your plan to bore me to death? Cause I gotta say, I can already feel it start to work ...” Shadow said and centered himself as he saw the other’s muscles start to bunch.
He attacked then, and he was incredibly fast. Shadow was on the defensive immediately, Horse was definitely a tank and a fast one as well. Apparently the suit he wore was made from something special, as the sword wasn’t cutting through it, and Shadow knew just how sharp his sword was.
“Hah! You may be fast for a human, Sean, but you’re no match for a super. Prepare to ...” and Horse suddenly stopped in surprise as Shadow assumed his fighter form.
“Cat got your tongue?” He growled and unwound a hard two-inch punch right into Horse’s chest, staggering him backwards several feet.
“What? Who? Who are you?” Horse said surprised while regaining his balance.
“The angel of death, now come here and let me kill you ...” Shadow growled and attacked.
It was brutal, though it was fairly fast. Horse came at him hard, not giving him enough room to swing the sword, so it was knees and elbows, with some claws to the face. The suit wasn’t padded; Shadow guessed that Horse was too in love with his physique to allow that. So he was taking the brunt of the hard shots Shadow was dealing him. He was giving almost as good as he got, Shadow however was still wearing his duster and the duster did have body armor in it, Shadow was never one to forgo any advantage he could get in a fight, so that took a lot off the blows more often than not. But it was still a lot of toe to toe slugging it out.
Shadow finally used a trick with his tail to trip Horse up and he went down on his back, Shadow then used his Katanna to pin Horse to the floor by ramming it through his body and a good six inches into the wooden floor below. With that much force he was able to drive it through the body suit, Horse glared up at him in obvious pain.
“I’ll get you one of these days, I don’t care how long it takes, but I’ll get you!” Horse said, cursing him and coughing up some blood.
Shadow knelt down carefully, pinning the arm on that side with his knee while keeping a close watch to make sure Horse didn’t have a last trick up his sleeve.
“Get me?” Shadow looked at him puzzled, “How?�
�
“When I get out of prison, if I don’t bust out first!”
“What makes you think you’re going to prison?” Shadow asked as he slid his hand down and inside the high neck of the body suit.
“You can’t kill me!” Horse laughed, “You’re too weak, all of you good guys are too weak! You’re cowards!”
Shadow dug his claws in, crushing Horse’s windpipe. “I’m not exactly what you would call a ‘good guy’,” he growled and ripping hard pulled his hand back with Horse’s windpipe still in his grasp. He noticed the shocked expression on the other’s face as he gurgled and died.
“What ... What are you?”
Shadow turned and saw his sister standing in the bathroom door, clutching at herself in shock.
“You should have stayed in the tub.” Shadow sighed trying not to growl, his heart was still racing and his body was feeling the high of the adrenaline running through his veins. “Well no use crying over that. Either you or your placed is bugged. Any ideas?”
She shook her head. “Well grab anything special you want, let me go through your stuff, and we’ll see what turns up. Then we need to go. One of those assholes I can take, all of them at once, probably not.”
“What are you?” she repeated.
Shadow snapped his fingers in front of her face making her jump. “Jill, first things first. Move.”
She got moving, going into the bedroom and grabbing things. Shadow searched her pocket book, then the few things she had, then her person.
“Where did you get this watch?”
Jill pointed at the dead body, which had a large pool of blood surrounding it on the floor now. Shadow had already retrieved his sword.
“Ah,” He tossed it in the toilet and flushed. “Hopefully that was it. Let’s get out of here.” And he dragged her out of the apartment, let her lock the door and then headed up to the roof.
“Do these guys know your name, your real name?” He asked as they started up the stairs to the roof.
“Of course not! You don’t think I’m that stupid, do you?” Jill said starting to gather her wits once more. She’d seen Horse beat up guys before, even kill one of the local gang bangers at a club. Whatever her brother now was, he’d made Horse’s death look easy.
