Do I really have to say it AGAIN ?!!?

The Lazarus Factor

Chapter 9 - A Single Death

"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic." - Joseph Stalin

            Kim didn't want to wake up, but people kept shaking her.  'Don't wake me up,' she wanted to say, 'I can't face it'.  As she slowly opened her eyes the first face she saw was Lt. Yun.  He was talking to her, asking if she was hurt, asking her to talk to him.  She wanted to ask why he'd woke her up.  When she had slipped away all the horror had disappeared, but now she would have to face it again.

            "Miss Possible, " Yun was saying, "please, answer me."

            "Yeah," Kim replied groggily, "I'm fine, I'm fine."  Yun sighed in relief.

            "Good, wait here, we're going to try to catch him in the alley."  Yun turned and ran with the rest of the group out the back door.  Kim sat up slowly, she felt like she should cry, but she couldn't.  Crying just didn't seem to be enough.  She glanced lazily around at the bodies until her gaze came to rest on Lt. Yun's gun.  He had put it down while trying to wake her and had left it in his haste to catch up to Ron.  Kim stared at it for a minute before slowly reaching over to pick it up. 

            She had never used a gun, but she knew that criminals did, so when training she had made sure to learn as much as she could about as many guns as possible.  Looking at the lieutenant's gun her mind dimly registered it as a standard 9 mm. Beretta.  Ejecting the clip she found it over half full and snapped it back into place.  She looked at it in her hands.  It seemed so heavy, as if its size hid the true importance of it.  Still staring numbly at the floor, she slowly raised the gun, bringing the barrel to the side of her head.  Her finger pulled lightly on the trigger, as if testing its resistance.  She slowly pushed harder, something an instructor told her flashed through her mind, 'do not pull, but squeeze the trigger for better accuracy'.  She almost laughed, 'better not mess it up,' she thought, 'be a shame to screw up your last act of life'.

            She felt the trigger give slightly under her pressing finger.  Not long now, just a little more pressure.  Her head rose slightly as she breathed in, preparing for it, when her eyes suddenly fell on Yori.  Yori had slid down the wall she had been leaning against, and was now sitting on the floor watching Kim.  Kim stared back at her for a minute or two before speaking softly.

            "I just don't think I can handle it," she felt a need to explain herself to the Japanese girl, "you've got to understand... I'm... I already feel dead."  Tears were finally starting to spill from her eyes as she looked at Yori, the gun still to her head, wanting her to understand.

            "I do understand," said Yori quietly, "and if you do this, I'm afraid I will follow you."  Kim and Yori stared at each other in silence until Kim finally lowered the gun.  She still didn't want to go on, but if she was the only thing keeping Yori alive, then she would have to.  Kim sighed, leaning back against the wall she looked over to Yori and the two simply watched each other in silence until the others returned.

            Neither Kim nor Yori said anything on the ride back to the herb shop, even though the others asked them repeatedly what had happened.  They had bee unable to find Ron, but it seemed that they had gotten there before he had retrieved whatever it was he was taking from the bodies.  Only one had been torn open while the other bodies were still intact, minus a couple hands or heads here and there.  One of the group had quickly dissected one body, and found something.  Sure that they had found what Ron had been after they quickly retrieved a similar object from every body.  Lt. Yun was able to delay the police, allowing them to finish.

            Back at the herb shop, the sensei quickly shooed away the group while leading Kim and Yori back to the tea room.  He didn't ask them any questions, he simply sat them down, wrapping them in blankets and giving them both a cup of tea.  After a few sips they began relating what had happened at the club.

            "...I couldn't get free and pretty soon I just blacked out," Kim was saying.  The sensei nodded, turning to Yori.

            "Well," she said, a hint of uncertainty in her voice, "I came in just after that and tried to stop him.  He knocked my dagger away and that was when the others arrived."  The sensei looked at his young student carefully, as though he thought he heard something in her voice.  If he had any doubts, however, he did not voice them.  Picking up a small bag he opened it, dumping its contents on the table.

            "And these are what you found in the other victims," the sensei looked gravely at the objects on the table.  They were small wooden beads, about half an inch in diameter, each with a different Japanese symbol carefully carved in it.  The look on the sensei's face made it clear that he recognized them, but Kim asked anyway.

            "Do you know what they are?" she asked, looking at the beads.  The sensei nodded slowly.

            "Yes," he said, carefully, "they are beads belonging to the rosary of Hachiman."

            "Rosary?" Kim picked up one of the beads, examining it, "You mean, like prayer beads?"

            "Yes," the sensei answered, "rosaries have been used in worship for centuries by many generations.  This rosary was crafted long ago.  It is said that Hachiman, the Shinto god of war, assembled it as an ultimate protection for monks traveling through dangerous lands.  Hachiman requested many powerful Buddha to carve a wooden bead, engraving upon it a power they felt was needed.  He then strung all the beads together, using his power to connect them to each other, so that one would always be drawn to the others."

            "So how did they end up in these people's chests," Kim said, on the verge of shouting, "and why is a living Ron after them?"

            "Calm yourself, Possible-san," sensei soothed her, "the rosary vanished about a century ago.  There were rumors that a clan of ninja stole them, hoping to harness the rosary's power for themselves.  The members of this clan were tracked down, but the rosary could not be found.  As for where the beads were found, perhaps this clan survived through the years and the followers implanted the beads in themselves."

            "Why?" Yori finally spoke up.

            "Perhaps partly to hide them," the old man shrugged, "and maybe partly to try and absorb their power.  To a normal person the beads are powerless alone.  Some people might be able to utilize a beads solitary power, but for most people all the beads are needed."

            "So," Kim looked at her tea, "what do we do now?  How can we find Ron?"

            "I do not believe we need to," the sensei answered, "It is clear that Stoppable-san is collecting the beads.  We now have what he wants and by the selectiveness of his victims it is obvious he can sense the beads' locations.  I believe he will soon come to us."  Neither Kim nor the old man noticed Yori shiver at the last statement.  "Our best course would be to prepare for his arrival.  Choose our place of battle and place the beads there."

            "No." Kim suddenly threw off her blanket and stood, "I'll take the beads and I'll face him when he comes."

            "Possible-san," the sensei pleaded, "I am afraid it is too dangerous.  We do not know how far the Lotus Blade and the bearer have fallen into the blood lust."

            "He's my best friend," Kim replied stubbornly, "he's my family.  I must face him alone."  The old man looked pleadingly into her eyes, but Kim's expression made her resolve clear.

            "Very well," the sensei sighed, "but, please, take one of Lt. Yun's radios.  Call us the moment he arrives, so we will be there to aid you just in case."  Kim nodded, scooping up the beads and returning them to the pouch, she hurried from the room.  Yori looked over at her sensei as he hung his head.  She couldn't remember ever seeing him look older.

            "You look exhausted, child," the old man smiled, looking up at her, "you should go get some rest.  I must meditate."  Yori nodded silently, and left the room.  She felt like she should go with Kim, but the thought of facing Ron was too much.  She wasn't afraid that he'd kill her, but of her own actions.  At the club, if the others had not entered when they did, she would have accepted his offer.  She would have fallen into the same blood lust as Ron, and what frightened her even more was that the thought actually excited her.

            Kim kept her promise and borrowed a walkie-talkie from Lt. Yun.  She knew she would have to be ready this time.  She ran with the beads, stopping off at a convenience store to grab a bottle of painkillers, and headed for the old steel mills at the edge of town.  The old mills were a maze of warehouses and factories.  Entering one she made sure the door at the far end was locked tight and then walked over to the other door, sitting down admits a pile of old sheet metal.  Opening the bottle of pills she downed a few, chewing them and swallowing.  Her legs still hurt from the knives and her shoulder wasn't 100 percent yet either.  Being careful to be perfectly silent she sat back and waited.

The Herb Shop

            Yori only slept for about an hour before she woke up and started walking around.  The others had gone to sleep and the back of the shop was empty.  However, when she glance out the window leading to the shop's small garden, she saw the sensei sitting on the small stone bench under a tree.  Walking over to the door, she opened it, standing in the doorway, still wrapped in her blanket.

            "Is something wrong sensei?" she asked the old man hesitantly.  The old man didn't turn to her, but smiled and gestured to the bench beside him.  Yori walked over and sat down.

            "I had a vision," the sensei said finally, "while I was meditating."

            "What was it?" The sensei paused at Yori's question.

            "I saw a flame," he said finally, "A single, bright flame.  It burned and shimmered with a strength that seemed to belie its size.  There was a glow of warmth all around it.  Then I saw a hand.  It looked to be frozen, almost as if made of ice.  The flame reached out to it, offering its warmth, and the hand closed around the flame.  But the flame's warmth was not enough to thaw the hand and the flame smothered and died."  The old man looked at the ground, sighing heavily.

            "What does it mean sensei?" Yori asked softly.

            "I do not know, Yori.  But I am afraid that I have made a grave error in allowing Possible-san to face the bearer alone.  I would go after her, but I know not where she went."

            "Perhaps Lt. Yun knows," Yori said, "Kim borrowed one of his radios.  Maybe he can tell us."

            "Ah, " the sensei smiled, "the student teaches the master.  Very good child, let us go to him."  As they went to find Yun, Yori couldn't help but scold herself.  Of course it was too dangerous, she thought, why didn't she go with Kim.  Being afraid was no excuse to abandon a friend.

            "Well, as long as she keeps the radio on I COULD track the signal," Yun answered once they had found him.

            "Excellent," the sensei turned to the door, "let us hurry then."  Yori followed Yun and the sensei out the door.  She was terrified of seeing Ron again, but Kim had kept going for her back at the club and she couldn't turn her back on her new friend now.

The Warehouse

            Kim wasn't sure how long she waited, but suddenly she heard footsteps entering the warehouse.  She carefully peeked out of her hiding place and watched as the figure walked to the middle of the warehouse and stopped.  She slowly made her way to the door, suddenly leaping up and slamming it shut, locking both of them in.  Turning around she found Ron already facing her.

            "I wondered when you'd make your move," he smiled.  Kim didn't return the smile. She glared darkly at her old friend.  Ron just smiled and held out his hand.  "You obviously aren't real happy to see me, so I'll just take the beads and go."  Now Kim did smile.

            "The beads huh," she said walking forward, "sure, you can have them."  She tossed the pouch over her shoulder.  "You just have to go through me."  Ron narrowed his eyes, frowning.

            "KP...." he started, but Kim cut him off.

            "Don't you dare call me that," she shouted, "Only my best friend ever called me that and he's dead.  You are NOT him.  I don't know WHAT you are, but you are NOT Ron."

            "Kim," Ron said warningly, "don't make me do this."

            "What's the matter," Kim taunted, "you killed all those people in those clubs, you shouldn't have any problem with me."

            "KP..."

            "I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!!!"  Kim lunged at Ron, her fist connecting with his head, spinning him around.  Blocking her next two attacks he whipped around, hitting her across the face.  Kim, however, was not going to be stopped so easily.  She didn't seem to be fazed by any of the hits she took as she continued to tear away at Ron, both dishing out as much punishment as they took.  Kim was determined to end this whole mess here.  Both doors were locked, no way out for either of them.  Ron's death had been hard enough and now this killer with Ron's face was driving her insane.  He would pay for it.  Even if she had to kill him, he would pay.

            The fighting continued, both Ron and Kim now bloodied and bruised.  Ducking under Ron's swing, Kim's eyes suddenly fell on the Lotus Blade on his back.  As she passed under him, she reached out and grabbed the handle of the sword.  Spinning away, she pulled the sword from its scabbard.

            "Well," she said smugly, looking at the sword, "let's see if you're as tough without your little pig sticker here."  She turned back to Ron and suddenly there was an explosion.  Kim looked around dazed.  She expected to see fire and debris, she was sure she had heard a loud boom.  She began to feel light headed and her fingers seemed to lose all their strength as the sword fell from her hands.  What was wrong with her?  She dimly noticed a small red dot dancing about on her chest and she suddenly realized that her shirt felt wet.  Looking down she noticed that her shirt and stomach were covered in blood.  Confused she looked up to see Ron standing in front of her, a smoking gun in his outstretched hand.

            'He shot me,' she thought to herself, looking at her front and then back to the gun.  She smiled slightly as darkness rushed in around and a final thought ran through her head.  'Desert Eagle with modified laser sight under barrel.'  The training wasn't wasted.  She would have hated to die not knowing what had killed her.

Next: Things have gone far enough.