Shadow

by Jan Stryvant

  “What about Dean?”

  “No. And are you going to answer my question?”

  “Which one? Why do you want super powers anyway?”

  “What?” she laughed, “That’s a stupid question! I want to have power, and money! I want to be somebody!”

  Shadow sighed and pulled out his cell phone and dialed Tomas as they made it to the roof. He looked around, everything looked clear, he couldn’t see, hear, or smell anything that seemed out of place.

  “What do you want? It’s three a.m.!” He heard Tomas grumble at him.

  “Is there a machine that can stimulate the hypothalamus, which you can use to give super powers to someone who doesn’t have them?”

  “Shadow, it's three a.m.!”

  “I need an answer. It’s important.”

  Shadow heard Tomas sigh, “It can trigger latent powers in someone who has the ability. Like the triggering event you went through, only not as strong. It has a pretty high failure rate though, probably about ninety percent and if you don’t have the latent ability, the failure rate is one hundred percent.”

  “What’s the effects of failure?”

  “Death about ninety nine percent of the time, a very slow nasty painful one. Sometimes takes days. Seen it, it’s not pretty. Otherwise mental retardation, forms of paralyzation, a large number of nasty things. Using it is pretty much suicide. It’s more of a torture device than a real procedure.”

  “I think our boys have one of those machines.”

  “That would make them even sicker fucks than I already thought,” Tomas said angrily. “There are safer ways to trigger someone’s power if they really have one.”

  Shadow looked up at Jill, “Did you hear that?”

  Jill looked at him and nodded slowly.

  “I take it you came across something interesting?” Tomas said.

  “Yeah, they’re moving to Hoboken next. You might want to let the guys in Manhattan know they’re next on the hit parade.”

  “We still don’t know why.”

  “Yeah well, I got someone who is going to need protective custody you can ask about that. Call in some favors. Oh, I had a run in with one of them.”

  “Shit. Do they know about us?”

  “Maybe, probably not though. He thought I was just some normal checking on his sister until I killed him.”

  “Where’s the body?”

  Shadow gave him the address, “Might want to leave it there a while. Hate to have a cleaning crew run into the rest of these guys. Assuming they come for the body.”

  “I’ll tell them to be careful.”

  “Okay, see you at lunch.”

  “Damn, now I got to get up again and I just got into bed ... Bye.”

  Shadow hung up and looked at Jill. “So, still want to stay here? Or come with me?”

  “I can take care of myself, Sean!” Jill said, still a little shaken.

  “Uh-huh. You’re about to sign up with a bunch of sociopaths who will probably sit around and laugh as you die a long and painful death for their enjoyment. Sounds brilliant. Stop and think, Jill, these are bad people, do you really want to be like them?”

  “But they said ...” she trailed off looking a bit lost.

  Shadow sighed, “It’s not all that it is cracked up to be, trust me on that. Come here.”

  “Huh? Why?” she asked looking back up.

  “Because I want to know if you even have any latent abilities.”

  “You can do that?” She looked at him in disbelief.

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  “Do you want me to check or not?” He was getting antsy out on the roof, they needed to be going.

  “Okay, okay.”

  Taking her head between his hands, Shadow switched to his med form and extended his senses. He kept an eye on his surroundings, and with the rest of his attention he looked for that spark.

  “Hey your hands, they feel different!”

  He switched to his mentalist defense next, then his stalker.

  “Okay, done.”

  “That was weird ...” She said looking at him. “So what did you find out?”

  “I have to think about this a bit. It’s time to go.”

  “How? We’re on top of an eight story building.”

  Shadow shucked his overcoat and shirt. He balled them up with the sneakers he had been carrying so he could hold them in one hand as he changed into his flying form, almost laughing as she gasped and took a step back. “What are you? A demon?”

  He grinned showing plenty of fang, “Like it? Now hop on my back and hold on, we need to go.”

  Jill was pretty light, so it didn’t cause him much of a problem flying while carrying her. He tracked off towards New York City at first, then after a half hour tacked to the west. He didn’t think he was being followed, but he still spent another half hour checking for tails before he went back to his parent’s home with his sister and joined Shirley. He used the excuse of not being able to hear her clearly over the noise of the wind as they flew as an excuse to avoid any more questions. He had a lot to think about now, but he didn’t have the time to think about it. Not until things were safer.

  “Is this who I think it is?” Shirley smiled and looked at him as they both entered the bedroom.

  “Shirley, this is my sister, Jill. Jill, this is my wife, Shirley.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jill.”

  Jill looked over Shirley a moment, “Okay, how did my monster of a brother end up with someone as hot as you?”

  Shirley looked at Shadow who nodded, “Yeah, she saw the real me.”

  Shirley looked back as Jill and shrugged, “He’s caring, devoted, great in bed, a wonderful father, incredibly sexy, and will kill anyone who so much as musses my hair or hurts the kids without a moment’s hesitation. He is the biggest bad ass in town.” She smiled, “What’s not to love?”

  “Just what is he?” Jill asked.

  “My mate. So what’s the story dear? I got a call earlier, but it was short on details.”

  “Well my darling sister is apparently involved with the very people we’re here to take down.”

  Shirley sighed, “You’re kidding me, right?”

  “Sadly no,” and he recounted his evening.

  “Do you think she has any latent abilities?”

  “You tell me. I wouldn’t want to prejudice you either way.”

  “Well, being as she is your sister, that does increase the odds. Let me try a few things, I’ve never tried to find talent in someone, you’re the only one I’ve ever met who even seems to be able to.”

  Shadow nodded, “So tell me, Jill, just what are you planning to do if you do get some sort of power? Hell, just what are you planning to do next, period. I must say I’m rather disappointed in your choices so far.”

  “Why should you care? It’s not like I expect to see you again anytime soon, if ever.”

  “I care because I need to decide what to do with you. Can I trust you? Should I trust you? You were about to sign up with some very evil people, you still might.”

  “So?”

  “So then I’d have to kill you.” Shadow said with a sigh.

  “You’d kill me!!” Jill screeched and Shirley put a hand over her mouth and shushed her. “Your parents are asleep, let’s not wake them.”

  “Excuse me not for caring,” Jill said after Shirley removed her hand, but in a lower voice, “but you’d kill me? Your own sister?”

  Shadow sighed again and looked at her, “How would you feel if someone used Mom and Dad against you? Or Robby? Or Heather? Or their kids? I’ve brought a lot of grief to this family, I will not bring anymore.”

  “But I thought you were a good guy! Or at least not a bad one ....”

  “Good or bad doesn’t enter in to it. I’m your brother, do what I tell you to and don’t ever sell me out and I’ll do what I can to protect and take care of you. Sell me out and you’ll be dead the moment I get my hands on you. And
I will get my hands on you, never doubt that.”

  Jill looked at Shirley, wide-eyed. “Is he serious?”

  “As a heart attack. People don’t mess with your brother, he ran in the underground for a very long time. Still does on occasion. He could run the place if he wanted to, and everyone there knows it.”

  “And what do you do? Do you kill people too?”

  Shirley laughed, “Oh heavens no!”

  “So?”

  “So you’re better off not knowing. Like he said.” She turned to Shadow, “I’m not sure I can sense anything. I’d like someone from my group to take a look at her.”

  Shadow yawned, “Well I need to catch a few winks here. You two can talk about whatever.” With that he flopped onto the bed and fell asleep.

  “Just how did you two meet anyways?” Jill asked.

  “That’s a story for another time. Tell me about yourself.”

  “Why does everyone want to talk about me?”

  “Because right now, we’ve got a big problem and you are the one who knows the most about it. Now, tell me how you met these guys ....”

  “How long will she be out?” Shirley asked Shadow.

  “An hour, maybe two. Should be long enough for us to get to Trenton.”

  “You sure you want to turn her over to Tomas’s friends to be interrogated?”

  “Better them than me. I’m afraid I’ll lose my temper with her. She should have known better.”

  “She just never realized exactly what she was dealing with is all.”

  “That may be true. However unlike you I can’t tell when she’s being honest or when she’s not. If you want to be part of it, I’m fine with that. Actually I think it might be best if you were. Maybe you can even put a spell on her to keep her from telling anyone my real identity. But right now I’m afraid to be the one questioning her until I figure out just what to do with her.”

  Shirley nodded. “Well I’d say she’s a borderline character. She just wants the power too much.”

  “Wonder what got her wanting it.”

  “I suspect your sister has a bit of a wild streak in her, probably always has.”

  Shadow shrugged, “Yeah a bit as I recall. Of course I was often too wrapped up in my own problems to notice those of my siblings much. Would have been nice to let my folks know we’re trying to help her. Though it’s probably better they don’t know.”

  Shirley nodded, “I really like your parents by the way. They’re sweet.”

  Shadow smiled, “Yeah, they’re okay, even after all they went through, some of which was definitely my fault.”

  They talked some more about the visit as Shadow drove, until eventually Shirley went over everything she’d learned from his sister while he’d napped. It wasn’t a lot, but it was definitely something. Tomas was calling all the troops in, tonight was probably the night they’d move. With one of their team down, the bad guys would hopefully be in a state of confusion tonight. So it was better to hit them now, before they got reorganized.

  “So that’s it, all five are inside,” Shadow heard over his radio. He looked around. He was with Shirley, Centurion, and Fiona. The rest of the team was with Tomas a hundred yards to their right. To his left a couple of hundred yards were the locals, split up into two teams as well. This put them effectively to either side of the building, with all the exits except the roof covered. And Jimmy had come up with a rather nice surprise for them on that score.

  “Go Jimmy,” Tomas said on the radio, and a moment later a bright flash followed by a loud explosion came from above the building as some sort of liquid metal bomb Jimmy had cooked up went off and dropped a thick sheet of molten metal on the roof, which quickly cooled, sealing all the exits. Jimmy said it shouldn’t melt through; it would be solid in seconds. And if any did, and it hit any of the guys inside, Shadow didn’t care.

  The command came over the radio then: “All teams go!”

  And they went.

  Getting inside wasn’t as big of an issue as they had feared, with their fore knowledge of the base they were able to deflect or avoid most of the defenses. The few that were left were quickly countered, and all four groups slipped inside. But then the fight was on, and it turned nasty quickly.

  The odds were fourteen to five, not counting the normals who were outside with some decidedly heavily artillery in a supporting role. All of the enemies were male; there were no women on their team, which wasn’t all that unusual.

  What was unusual, Shadow noticed, was that they fought with a lot of teamwork and didn’t break up to cut and run, even in the face of superior numbers. “This isn’t going to be an easy nut to crack,” he told Shirley, who just nodded – being busy with a spell. Fiona’s shield wall was holding well, and Centurion was positioning to attack. The enemy had chosen to make their stand in the center of a large fairly open area in the warehouse.

  It soon settled down to a power slug-fest; Tomas’ team and the Phili team formed up pretty much to either side of the bad guys, and each used their powers against the other. It took awhile, but eventually people started to get hurt. Theirs were the first to get blooded, several taking wounds which caused them to ratchet up the fight to the extreme.

  “They’re not going to surrender,” Shadow said to whoever was listening, “this is going to be bad ...” and as he watched they turned desperate and stopped playing it safe and started to go for broke.

  Mr. Nagasaki was the first to go down; Chen took a bad shot next and was barely able to withdraw. Mist went down next, and Liberty Bell, Fiona, and Shirley all got wounded then.

  Up to that point Shadow had been using his weapon’s form, he had a high-powered slug-thrower, one Jimmy had helped him cook up a while ago. It wasn’t a killing weapon, more of a stunning weapon. It did good shock damage and was good for wearing an enemy down. This let him be close to Shirley and deflect anything that came her way. But when she got hit all of that changed.

  In short, Shadow lost it. He switched to his agility form and pulled out a grenade, armed it for contact and whipped it at the one who had hit her, and drawing a pair of daggers threw himself at him. They were hurt, all of the enemy were hurt, but they were burning like the light that was about to go dark forever, and Shadow knew if he didn’t blow that flame out now, more would be hurt, and some might even die.

  Switching to his Martial form he held nothing back and waded into the midst of them, going for the kill, all predator. He was surprised to find that Centurion had followed him, as well as Thadeius. The other Shadow as well as Mr. America and a wounded but very pissed off looking Liberty Bell also charged them and if it had been nasty before, it got even nastier then. Shadow’s foe quickly went down with a dagger buried to the hilt in each eye and Shadow switched to claws which he used hot and heavy every chance he got, not hesitating to get a bite or two in there as well.

  When it was over, they were all covered in blood, a fair amount of it their own. But every last one of the enemy was dead. Shadow made sure each one was, and noticed that the other Shadow doing the same. Apparently they shared a bit more than just a name. He ran back to Shirley then, switching to his medical form, but at that point medics were pouring into the building, taking care of the wounded.

  “You okay hon?” he asked taking her hand.

  “I’m fine,” she said a little shaken. “It’s just a broken arm, how are the others?”

  “I don’t know, I’ll check.”

  “Check yourself first, Shadow. That looked pretty nasty and I can see you’re bleeding.”

  “No, that’s ...” Shadow looked at himself and suddenly staggered a bit, “Shit, you’re right. I think I better sit down.” And he almost collapsed as another pair of medic’s came over and started to attend to him. Apparently he had a knife sticking out of his shoulder, and more than a few rather nasty slices and wounds of his own.

  They all got hauled off to the fed’s local hospital, Fiona was the only one without a scratch, even Jimmy had gotten injured when Mi
st had gone down, running in to cover her and help her withdraw. Shadow was impressed; the kid was a complete gentleman, told her not to think anything of it, that he was only doing his job. Shadow would be surprised if she didn’t fly out and pay the kid a rather personal visit, she had that look in her eye and his behavior was only making her want to ‘reward him’ all the more.

  Of course this still left him at odds what to do about his sister. Tomas was keeping her under wraps, no one knew her real identity, and they had her down as a Jane Doe. Shadow had told her not to tell anyone about him or the incident with Horse. Just to tell what she knew of the gang, what they had promised her, and her involvement. She wasn’t going to be charged with anything, she was down as an informant who had come forward willingly and whose identity needed to be safeguarded in case of reprisals.

  Shadow went and saw her the next day; he wanted to be well rested before he talked with her again. He checked the room before he said anything; he wanted to be sure they were indeed in private.

  “So, what happened?” She asked him again when he finally sat down. She noticed he was a bit stiff and was wearing a duster. He was also furry, she had the impression he never showed anyone his real form.

  “We had it out with them. They lost.”

  “They in jail now?”

  “Morgue.”

  Jill felt all the blood drain from her face. “You killed them?”

  “Actually it was a team effort. But yes, they’re all dead now. They wouldn’t surrender and they didn’t give us much of a choice.” Shadow made eye contact with his sister, holding her attention, “Not that I care.” He said softly without a trace of sympathy.

  “That’s cold Se.. Shadow.” She said, afraid to use his real name suddenly.

  “They were evil, they got what they deserved.”

  “But I thought good guys didn’t kill.”

  Shadow shrugged, “Those that don’t care much for it weren’t in a position to do much about it, the rest, well some of them don’t have much of an issue with killing bad guys if they deserve it.”