No, you can't borrow them.  They don't belong to me.

                                                                The Lazarus Factor

                                                                                                    Chapter 7 - A Pale Horse

"My lands are where my dead lie buried." - Crazy Horse

            For a while, Kim, Yori, and the rest just stared at the dug up grave, not sure what to do next.  Kim felt like she should be trying to find the trail of whoever had done this and get revenge for Ron.  The rain, however, would have washed away any signs as to where the perpetrator would have gone.  No one moved for a long time, finally the sensei spoke softly.

            "Come, let us return to our sanctuary.  There is nothing for us to do here."  The group slowly turned and walked toward the van, more than one pair of eyes glancing back towards the hole in the ground.  As she walked away Kim also looked back, the hole looming large behind her, screaming at her.  None of them said anything on the ride back.  Kim stared out the window, lost in thought.  The old sensei sat quietly, his eyes closed, softly humming to himself.  Yori later explained that it was just his way of meditating.

            Once they were back at the herb shop, the sensei invited Yori and Kim into the tea room.  Kim sat numbly on the straw mat.  As the sensei sat down Kim opened her mouth to say something, but found she couldn't.  She tried again, starting to feel panicked, but still couldn't get anything out.  Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder.  She looked up to see the old sensei smiling warmly at her.

            "Calm yourself, there is nothing to be done at the moment," he patted her shoulder and Kim found herself calming slightly.  Accepting a pot from the store owner he handed Kim a cup.  "Come, have some tea and we shall discuss what is to be done."  She thanked the old man as he poured the warm, greenish liquid into the cup, and took a sip of it.  It was actually pretty good and it seemed to help her calm down, though she was far from relieved.

            "How do we find this 'bearer'?" she asked, anger rising in her, "I don't care what destiny he has, he can't just dig up my best friend like that."  Once again, the tears she had been holding at bay threatened to spill over.

            "Do not worry," the sensei sipped at his tea, "it will not be the bearer's plan to hide himself.  His coming brings with it troubles, and I am afraid that he or she will be too readily found."  Yori had been silent until now, sitting quietly with her cup, staring into the murky substance inside.

            "I still don't understand, sensei," she said at last, "the power of the bearer should have been readily available through the Lotus Blade.  Why would the new chosen have to take the....body," she choked slightly on the word.

            "You must realize, child," the old man set down his cup, resting his hands in his lap, "this situation is unique in the history of our order.  Never before has a bearer NOT been chosen through use of the Monkey totems.  Now, as you say, the power SHOULD have been transferred through the sword, that is the natural way of the Blade.  However, if perhaps the power has been altered or twisted in some way, it might not be able to transfer through the sword.  In that case, a direct ceremony with the former bearer would be the only way to gain the power."  The sensei paused, sighing and taking another sip of tea before continuing, "Still, as you have pointed out Yori, this is not the natural way of it.  And it is that fact that has me worried.  If the power of the Blade HAS been twisted by these events, we have no way of knowing how this new bearer will act.  As a protector or as a destroyer."

            "But I thought you said the Lotus Blade was all about 'justice and peace'," Kim was having trouble understanding all this mystical talk and she was becoming frustrated.

            "Yes," the old man answered, "but as I said before, any weapon longs for battle.  It is possible for the sword and its bearer to fall to this longing.  This can cause them to become more violent in the execution of their mission, or worse."

            "Worse?" Kim felt a sinking sensation.

            "If the bearer falls too far into the blood lust, the destiny of the Blade could be lost in their rage.  The bearer would become nothing more than a living weapon.  Searching for battle after battle.  And weapons do not show mercy."  Kim felt herself grow heavy at the old man's words.  She had thought that Ron's death was the worst thing that could possibly happen to her.  Now, however, it seemed that a psychotic killing machine could be born using some power in his remains, and all the indications so far seemed to point to that very occurrence.


Somewhere Else

            The figure sat silently in the dark.  It had only been a few short hours since it had found the sword, but already it seemed to belong to the person.  Upon taking it in their hands, they had felt like their eyes had opened for the first time.  And then they felt the others.  The figure smiled at the memory of the feeling, the rush of knowledge as they almost saw the trails that the people had followed as they headed toward Middleton.  And now they were all here, that was something else the figure had felt.  Every last one of them had arrived.  Standing with the sword in hand, the person knew they would have to prepare.  A local hunting and fishing store had provided some fine equipment, and then soon found this old apartment building, long abandoned.  And that is where the figure now sat.  No lights illuminated the large lobby of the condemned building, the figure didn't need any.  Sitting perfectly still, the sword resting across their crossed legs, the figure reached out with their senses, feeling the others and where they were.  The figure smiled again, lips pulling back slightly from teeth, in a mirthless grin.


The Herb Shop

            Kim couldn't keep her parents or the Stoppables from hearing of Ron's desecrated grave, but it did make it easier to explain her absence.  Wanting to stick around the shop in case of any news, Kim told her parents she was helping the police track down leads.  She had wanted to go out herself and look for this 'bearer', but the sensei had convinced her to stay, assuring her that they would have news the moment anything was found.  To pass the time she joined Yori in some exercise and sparring.  Kim couldn't stop marveling at the fighting style the group used.  Instead of straight forward attacking and defense like kung fu, karate, and the other martial art styles she was familiar with, this style seemed to employ an almost amusing array of diversionary tactics.  She watched some of the others training, their body language seeming to go in one direction, only to have them lash out unexpectedly the other way.  They rolled, flipped, and even fell down, with every move turning into an attack.  She watched as one fighter was struck across the face, rolling with it he used the momentum to spin around, cart wheeling his legs upward, catching his partner in the head.  Standing again, he rushed the other fighter, only to have him roll tightly between the attacker's legs.  Kicking off the floor he actually landed, back to back, on his partner.  Rolling backwards over the man's head, he swung his legs forward, hitting his opponent in the chest before he landed.  Watching them fight, she could see why their order was represented by a monkey.

            Kim soon joined in some sparring matches and witnessed the strange fighting style first hand.  It WAS very confusing.  Often times she couldn't tell whether she had actually hit her opponent or if they had simply dodged while moving with her strike.  She held her own, however, defeating most of the fighters in the room.  Soon, the nervous feeling that had been directed toward her from the beginning, melted away.  The group gathered around her, complimenting her skill and teaching her some of their more extreme moves that she had been curious about.  This lasted through most of the night, with Kim actually enjoying herself despite the situation.  It was about one in the morning, with most of the group asleep, when news finally came.  A man in a shirt and tie entered the room, bowing to the sensei and the others.

            "Greetings, sensei.  I bring news,"  he spoke quickly while opening a bag he had in his hand.

            "Ah, hello, lieutenant," the sensei bowed back, "Miss Possible, this is Lieutenant Brad Yun, another member of our order.  He joined the Middleton police department soon after Stoppable-san's visit to keep an eye on things."  Lt. Yun nodded to Kim.

            "The station received a call just an hour ago from a club downtown.  The caller was the barman.  He said that someone had entered the club and started attacking the some of the occupants."

            "Which club?" Kim asked.

            "It's called the Nocturne.  It's a raver place, lots of heavy metal and stuff," the lieutenant pulled a VHS tape from the bag, "I wouldn't have brought it to your attention, sensei, if not for this.  The club's cameras caught the whole thing."  A TV with a built in VCR was soon brought in and the lieutenant inserted the tape.  The picture that popped up looked pretty normal.  The club was full of the late night partiers, the dance floor was packed with people.  "Now watch the upper left corner of the screen..... There he is."  The lieutenant pointed at a point on the screen.  Looking carefully Kim saw a figure making his way through the crowd.  He was wearing a zipped hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled up, covering the face.  She watched as he made his way through the crowd to the edge of the dance floor.  Pausing for a second he turned left and right, looking around him.  "There," the lieutenant pointed again when the figure's back was to the camera.

            "The Lotus Blade," Yori gasped.  Indeed, on the figure's back, slid between the belt and pants, was the sword.  Before anyone could process this new piece of information, however, the figure suddenly turned back toward the dance floor.  He suddenly brought his arm up, pointing towards the dance floor.  Kim barely noticed some type of handgun in his grasp, before three shots rang out and three people fell to the ground.  The room suddenly erupted in chaos.  The people suddenly ran in every direction, screaming.  Kim watched, transfixed, as the figure walked calmly through the fleeing masses.  Lifting his weapon again, he brought down three more people, using only one shot for each.  Some of the people didn't attack, but moved in to attack the shooter and that was when the real horror began.

            In her many missions Kim had seen lots of brutality, but nothing compared to this.  It wasn't that the figure butchered the people, but the ease and grace with which the stranger moved seemed to make a mockery of the total carnage inflicted.  As the first man reached the figure, wielding a small bar stool, the stranger ducked underneath the attack, spinning around and unsheathing the sword in one fluid motion.  The swing was so quick that Kim didn't even realize that the club goer had been hit until blood geysered from his stomach, his torso almost dropping off his legs as he fell backward.  Another man rushed the stranger from behind.  Again, the figure spun with the sword, cutting through the man's legs just above his knees as easily as if cutting through air.  Two more fell after that, another attacked with a metal pole used to rope off areas, swinging it wildly at the figure.  The stranger easily ducked the swing, blocking two more and suddenly bringing the sword up, preparing to swipe downwards.  The man raised the bar overhead as the figure brought the sword down.  There was a sudden flash of sparks, and the bar fell from the man's hands in two pieces.  The man fell to his knees, the sword having split his head about halfway down.  The stranger pulled the sword from the man's face, letting him fall lifelessly to the ground.

            "You might not want to watch this part," the lieutenant warned.  Kim, however, couldn't take her eyes away.  The figure walked up to the nearest dead man and plunged the sword into the man's chest.  Twisting the sword, the man's chest was cracked open, blood and bone spraying in every direction.  The final straw was when the stranger shoved his hand into the open chest and seemed to yank something out.  Kim doubled over, falling to her knees.  Lt. Yun quickly handed her the empty paper bag.  Grabbing it, she vomited a couple times before she could stand again.  As she rose she noticed that a couple of the others had left toward the bathroom while Yori stood, a hand to her mouth the other bracing her against the wall, her face a pallid white.  Lt. Yun stopped the tape.

            "Whoever this is, he or she does the same thing to each body.  The total body count is eleven."

            "It looked like they pulled something out," Kim wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, "could you tell what it was?"

            "No," Yun replied, "we traced the bullets though.  Seems the attacker stole the gun from Barken's, a local gun store.  Desert Eagle with a custom laser sight fixed under the barrel, took it and quite a lot of ammo for it."

            "This is not right," Yori spoke softly, her back still turned to the group, "this isn't how the Blade should be used."

            "We've got to find this guy," Kim turned to the sensei, "isn't there anything we can do?"

            "Perhaps," the sensei turned and walked to the tea room.  "Yori, please fetch the three and ask them to join me."

            "What's going on?" Kim asked as Yori hurried toward the sleeping quarters.

            "Now that we have a physical sighting of the Blade, we may be able to discover its location," the old sensei explained.  "The three are gifted with sight that reaches beyond the world we see.  They can sometimes find hidden secrets or even predict future events.  The sighting is second hand, however.  I cannot be sure if they can use a recorded image to find the Blade."

            Kim watched as two men and a young woman emerged from the other room and followed the sensei into the tea room, taking the television with them.  Kim waited, fidgeting impatiently until Yori placed a hand on her arm.

            "They may be some time," she gestured toward the other room, "you should try to get some sleep."  Kim was about to protest, but stopped herself.  She was in a horrible state and she knew it.  Sleep WOULD refresh her and from the footage on the tape she would have to be as alert as possible.

            "All right," she thanked Yori, smiling as she noticed the dark circles under the Japanese girl's eyes, "but only if you agree to do the same."

            "Very well, Possible-san," Yori smiled back, bowing slightly, "it is a deal."

            "Great.  And please, just call me Kim."


            Kim slept through the rest of the night and most of the next day.  When she went to bed she was terrified of the nightmares she might have, but as it turned out she was way too tired to have nightmares.  For all she knew, she could have had lots, but her brain was too exhausted to register them.  When she awoke, the first thing she did was to check for any news from the sensei.  After learning that there was none, she settled for a shower and some early dinner.  She spent the next few hours training with Yori, she had grown quite attached to the Japanese girl in the short time since they met, and felt that she probably needed the training to distract her from the situation as much as Kim did.

            It wasn't until around 9:15pm that the three and the sensei emerged from the tea room.  Kim and Yori immediately went to ask if anything had been discovered.

            "The video was not enough for them to discover the bearer's hiding place," the sensei informed them, "but they did receive images of a building where he may strike next.  It is a place called The Raven?"

            "It's another club downtown," Lt. Yun stepped forward, "It's only about a mile from the Nocturne."

            "Then we must make haste," the sensei motioned to the others, "he may be at this club even now.  Miss Possible, will you....."  he looked around, but Kim was not in sight.

            "She must have ducked out on her own," Yori looked worried, "we've got to stop her."

            "No, child," the sensei spoke softly to her, "she will be heading toward the same destination as us.  We must prepare ourselves if we are to face this new threat.  We must hope Miss Possible survives until then."

            "But sensei," Yori looked up at her old master, tears starting to form in her eyes.  She didn't know how to explain her fear for Kim, especially given the short time they had known each other.  It was as if Kim were the last part of Ron she could hold onto.  If Kim were to die then Ron would be totally lost to her and she just couldn't handle that.  The old sensei looked down at the young student, smiling in understanding.

            "Very well, Yori," he said quietly, "go after her.  But take care.  This bearer could be the most dangerous threat we have ever faced."  Yori nodded happily, and after getting directions to the club from Lt. Yun, ran out the door.


            Kim had snuck away as soon as she heard the name of the club, making her way up some stairs and out onto the roof.  It wasn't that she thought the others would hinder her, it just seemed to be more her responsibility.  This stranger had taken Ron's body and in some way his very destiny and twisted them into something violent and evil.  She swore he would pay for that.  Pulling out her communicator she signaled Wade who appeared on the little screen looking both relieved and worried.

            "Kim!" he exclaimed excitedly, "Where have you been?  I heard about Ron's grave, but you weren't answering, and your parents said you were with the police, but they.."

            "Wade," Kim cut him off, "look I can't explain right now.  I need directions to a club downtown called the Raven."  Wade tapped quickly on his keyboard.

            "Okay, I'm transmitting the map," a street map flashed onto the screen.  "I wish you'd tell me what's going on."

            "Later Wade.  I promise."

            "All right, but if you need help, PLEASE call me," Wade pleaded.

            "Okay Wade," Kim said, smiling, "I promise."  Kim checked the map and then jumped onto the roof of a passing bus that was going in the right direction.  She had to switch vehicles a couple times to keep going the right way, but it wasn't long before The Raven came into view.  It was a typical heavy metal, semi-gothic nightclub, with deafening music and black lights.  As Kim got closer, however, she noticed that something wasn't right.  People were pouring from the club's entrance, terror clearly written on their faces.  "I'm too late," Kim breathed.  Leaping off of the car she was riding she pushed her way through the panicked crowd into the club.  Inside the club was a chilling repeat of what she had seen on the security tape.  Six or seven bodies lay around the room in varying degrees of mutilation.  Hacked off hands and a couple heads lay on the dance floor and Kim fought to keep her food down.

            Suddenly, however, the gore was forgotten when she saw a solitary figure standing amidst the carnage.  It was the same hooded sweatshirt, zipped shut with the hood pulled up.  Kim looked at the figure just standing there and felt a surge of rage grow in her gut.  Without thinking she rushed the stranger, aiming a possibly lethal kick at the back of his head.  The figure moved at the last second, sidestepping the kick and placing one of its own into Kim's stomach.  Not letting that stop her, she lunged at the figure again, managing to knock the sword away she laid into the stranger with a brutality she'd never used before.  The figure, however, stood its ground, blocking and attacking.  Ducking under a swing, Kim landed a blow to the stranger's face.  The stranger fell back, but rolled tightly into a ball and came up standing on its hands.  Lashing out with its foot, it caught Kim across the face sending her reeling.  Recovering quickly, Kim ran towards the figure again, but the figure pushed off the ground with its hands, cart wheeling its legs as it did so.  Kim was again caught across the face and was knocked to the floor.

            Leaning against the wall for support, Kim pulled herself up.  That last move had come right from the moves she had seen the sensei's students using.  In fact, now that she thought about it, the stranger was using the exact same style.  The figure began to approach her and Kim reached over, grabbing a microphone stand from the nearby stage.  The figure suddenly stopped as Kim held the stand in front of her in a defensive stance.  She was about to rush the stranger again when his arm suddenly flew forward and she felt a sharp pain in her leg.  Looking down she saw a knife lodged in her calf.  She tried to move but another knife suddenly hit her other leg causing her to fall to the floor in pain.

            "Sorry," the figure said, "but I don't have time for this fight right now."  Kim's eyes grew wide at the words.  She knew that voice.  A noise suddenly made the figure turn.  Behind him one of the people he had attacked wasn't quite dead and had hobbled over to the bar during the fight with Kim.  Reaching behind the bar, he had pulled out the shotgun that was there and aimed it at the back of the figure.  The cocking of the weapon had alerted the stranger, however, and he dove to the side, avoiding the shot.  The wounded man fired again and again, missing every time as the figure ran and jumped toward him.  Finally, with a huge leap off of a table, the figure threw out his hand.  The Lotus Blade suddenly flew from its place on the floor, and shot straight to his hand as he flew down towards the man, his hood flying off as he went.  The wounded man didn't get off another shot, as the figure landed on top of him, driving the sword through his heart.

            Kim watched all this in a daze.  She had recognized the figure's voice, but couldn't bring herself to believe it.  Now, however, as the figure glanced over his shoulder at her with a mirthless grin on his face, the truth hit her like a bullet between the eyes.

            "Hey, KP," said Ron, "did ya miss me?"

Next: Things start getting weird.