I do not own the Titans, except for Kid and Will. Savior belongs to Legend Maker
It was late when the rest of the Titans got back from the party. Kid was in
the Garden, so they only found Savior sitting at the table studying the
Polaroid's he
had taken of Mumbo. So engrossed in his pondering that he didn't even hear
the other Titans come in.
"Hey Noel what's up?" Beast Boy said to the vigilante, making him jump in
surprise.
"Oh. Hey." He said as he acknowledged that the voice belonged to one
of his companions. "I was just looking over these pictures. Be careful,
you're not pleasant. Oh by the way, Mumbo's dead." as he handed them to Raven
"He's DEAD?" Cyborg said.
"Indubitably." Raven replied, who had glanced at the pictures and then put
them back down. "Where is Kid?" she asked,
"He's in the Garden. I don't know what he's doing." Savior replied. Raven
nodded in response and headed toward it the Garden's door. She knocked, but
there was no response.
"Kid?" She said, repeating her knock. Still no response
"Kid you in there?" Raven tried to open the door but it was locked. With
a sigh Raven used some of her power and broke off the lock. The door swung
open. Raven peeked inside, but there was no one there. The quiet and
stillness in the room made the darkness seem over whelming. She flicked a
switch and the lights flickered and illuminated the
room. There was no one inside. In fact there was no evidence that anyone had even
entered it until she saw a window open and the curtains fluttering in the
breeze. Raven's brow furrowed as she assessed the situation.
"Why would Kid sneak out just to go on patrol?" she asked to no one in
particular, Raven looked around for a second. Then she quickly turned and
left.
Savior was doing some snooping of his own. Again, it involved Kid, but
this time it was in his room. No one entered Kid's room. Not even Kid went
in there very often. But Savior really didn't care too much for the inner
workings of Kid's mind, he wanted to know about Jin's state of mind. And
just why he did the
things he did. Every lunatic has his own fall and his own thrill at the plummet.
Kid had told him previously that he never kept any "keep sakes" from their
fights. Savior hadn't believed it. Hence, there had to be evidence in here
somewhere.
Kid's room was pretty typical. There were bookshelves; Kid didn't strike
Savior as a heavy reader, so any books were odd for Kid. He noted with
approval that Kid possessed a copy of Sun Yzu's "Art of War", (guess he had
some brains. Besides that, there were the"Yojimbo" series; a book on
pirates... Ah, there, as Savior saw the books that would make
sense for Kid. Stacks of comics, Mad Magazines, the Beatles Anthology, the
Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. A few of the Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy. Savior noted this, and then shook his head. Nothing.
He saw Kid's desk and headed toward it. There was nothing standing out on
the surface: doodles, a few more books some Doors CD's, Savior sighed and
opened a drawer. Nothing in it but some porno magazines and a whistle.
"Really Big Boobies? Kid you hentai." Savior mumbled, and tried to
open another drawer. This one, however,
was locked. Savior tugged at it, and then just used a Shimmer strand to pick the
lock and open the drawer. He looked inside to find...
Newspaper clippings. Also, a picture, some sort of locket, and other
boyfriend/girlfriend junk.
"I had a dog and his name was Bingo." Savior said.
The clippings caught his attention, one read, "Young Japanese girl killed in
accident" another was an obituary. Savior put the clippings down and picked up a
picture of the girl, she was about fifteen, medium length black hair, nice
features, smiling. But written all over the picture was "Not an Accident" over
and over again. Another picture showed Kid and the Girl hand in hand, at a fair.
"And so we have the classic standby for a feud." Savior put down the picture
and held up the locket to a light. There was an engraving that said "Kid and
Rei forever" Savior sighed and put down the locket.
"It never does last forever, does it?" He muttered. Suddenly he heard a noise.
Savior spun around and saw Will standing in the doorway, his arms crossed while he
leaned up against the doorframe.
"Oh hey...uh...Will," Savior said as he put the items back in the drawer and
locked it again via Shimmer strand. He wondered if by any chance he had
managed to hide was he was doing. Probably about the same chance that the
Earth would be struck by a chocolate ice cream filled meteor.
"Kid is going to rip your lungs out when he finds out you've been looking
through his stuff." Will said with a slight smirk on his face.
"IF he finds out Will. I had to find something on Jin and I knew Kid had
to have kept some sort of evidence. Despite what he said to the contrary."
Savior explained but even he knew he had gone
a tad too far with opening a locked drawer full of pictures of a dead
ex-girlfriend. And now he was about to have a confrontation with Kid's best and
probably only friend at the Tower.
"Don't worry Savior I won't tell on you." Savior looked relieved at that.
"Well then, I have a question. Who's Rei?"
"Ah now you'll have to take that up with Kid now, won't you?" Will
teased, smirking again
at the vigilante
"I'd rather hear this from you than from an angry Kid."
"Don't tell me you're afraid of Kid now?" Will grinned
"Well not so much with hurting his feelings just the fact that he
probably knows a hundred different ways to snap my neck. And no way of
knowing when that is not an appropriate response."
"A hundred and twenty, actually. Rei was Kid's girlfriend when he
trained in Japan. They...well its pretty much like a bad chick flick. Except for the part that when Gekido Jin gets out of rehab and he decides
to take his downfall at Kid's hands personally and pushes Rei off a
building at a construction sight and onto a piece of rebar." Will explained,
"What? Ah jeez. Poor Kid. Savior said as he pondered that situation.
"Well now I suppose your next question is why Jin is an insane
sociopath." Will said raising an eyebrow at Savior.
"Gee, and I thought for sure you thought I was going to ask what the
capital of South Dakota was." Savior chuckled. He kind of liked Will. The
young warrior was intelligent, calm, honest, and trustworthy. Pretty much
the opposite of Kid, who would have sold his own mother for a pound of
cocktail shrimp or at least that was the impression Savior got. Though if
Will started yelling "UNITY!" he was oughtta there.
Suddenly Raven came into view. To his credit, Savior noticed Will didn't
start at Raven suddenly appearing out of the shadows.
"Noel, we have a situation down town." Raven said. Savior nodded at
the Titan
and followed her out the door. He had a feeling what had happened.
Savior had thought he would be able to handle it, based on his assumptions.
And they had been correct, but the reality was far worse then he expected.
The home of what was left of the Hive members wasn't much of a home
anymore. Rather, it looked like an abattoir, or a battlefield, or so Savior
observed as he saw the blood soaked walls.
The police had taped off the living room where the bodies were. Savior and Raven
entered the room, and found HIVE, or what was left of them. Savior looked at
Mammoth while Raven examined Jinx. Mammoth was now literally a head shorter
then he had been before, as he had been decapitated. His head hadn't gone
far, it was hanging on a wall in a trophy type way, Savior ground his
teeth. He had no love lost for these three teenagers (they had, after all,
nearly killed him), but they hadn't deserved this. That, and he let Jin
slip through his fingers again.
"Savior, come and see this." Raven called, interrupting Noel's train of
thought. Savior walked over to Raven, who handed him an envelope. It was
addressed to the "new kid". Savior glanced at Raven, who shrugged. He returned
to the envelope. He used a Shimmer strand to open it, just in case he could
get some DNA from it to use as evidence later. Inside the letter read
Dear New Kid,
Like my interior design? I think it brightens up the room a bit, but
enough small talk. I'm sure Kid told you that following me around like a homeless
dog will most likely get you killed. But I'm sure you're too smart to listen to
the advice of Kid, so do what you want. But consider this your first and only warning!
Sincerely
Gekido Jin
Savior looked up at Raven. She had turned her attentions to the remains of
Gizmo, who had literally been dissected. Savior hoped the former midget
genius had been dead when it happened. If he hadn't...
Savior's body disliked that possibility even less then his mind, and it let
him know it, as Savior suddenly found himself needing a washroom, and not
for a usual reason.
Savior declined to go back to the tower and left to find any trail left by
Jin.
"That does it. This isn't Evil vs. Law, or even Rival vs. Rival anymore
Jin. You just turned this into YOU vs. ME." Savior seethed to himself as he
swung through Jump
City. So far, no good. Just like the other times, the search was turning up
empty. But
Savior was not giving up this time. He was going to find Jin no matter
what, even if he had to pull up Jump City block by block and then turn
around and do it again. And with that
resolution he landed in a parking lot. It was empty and the streetlights
were long broken by vandals.
"So glad you could make it." a voice said.
Savior spun around to see a spiky hared figure emerge from the darkness. He
was wearing a black body suit, his eyes were dark and intense, and his face
had a grin of smug confidence on it.
"Let me guess. You must be the current sociopath of the month, Jin?"
Savior hissed.
"Ah you are a bright boy aren't you? And before you pat yourself on
the back for finding me, I'd like to note you probably would have kept
swinging around like a wanna be Spider Man finding nothing until I got
bored and stabbed you in the back, had I not just done what I did." Jin
said, Savior looked surprised,
"Oh I was following you here. I just said 'glad you could make it' for
fun"
Jin said, smirking again,
"Do you really think you can get away with this Jin?" Savior asked
glaring at the warrior, Jin chuckled and looked Savior in the eye,
"Boy-o, I'm going to tell you something. There is going to be a war, Shadow
men and Humans. Keyser Soze is real and he's paying me a fine sum to make
all the Titans dead." Jin said, as his eyes hardened. "So it really doesn't
matter if you
beat me or not, because I know one thing. You won't kill me. Your moral code
will see to that. You might say you're above that sort of thing but this is
what I think: YOU DON'T HAVE
THE BALLS! Even if you beat me you're just going to make sure I go to
Arkham Asylum, and I can guarantee you that Mr. Soze will make sure I'm out of
there within the hour to complete what I've been paid to do. Now before I waste anymore precious time, I think its time for me to kill you."
"You say I won't kill you, Jin? No, I won't. I can do things to you that
would make you WISH you were dead, though." Savior said.
"Just words. I BELIEVE IN ACTIONS!" Jin yelled, and leapt at Savior.
Bad idea, for all of Jin's combat skills, it is difficult to dodge
things in mid-air unless you have the power of flight. Jin didn't, and hence
didn't dodge the Shimmer, as it leapt out of Savior's hands, lashed through
the air, grabbed up Jin, and then smashed him through a car window.
"Little man, picking on others to try and prove your worth. But it's all a
lie, Jin. Pick on the young, you're pathetic. Pick on the old, you're a
coward. Pick on the weak, you're even weaker. So why don't you come and pick
on me, and I'll tell you what you are..."
With a scream, Jin exploded from the inside of the car. Savior flexed his
hand and the Shimmer whipped out.
"YOU'RE HISTORY!"
Unfortunately, Jin saw the Shimmer lashing at him this time and
retaliated with a barrage of throwing knives. Savior just missed getting
stabbed in the throat by one, but that was all the luck he got as he
couldn't avoid another knife slashing through a Shimmer strand. Savior let
out a yell of pain and crumpled to his knees on the asphalt. Blades. It just
HAD to be blades.
"An interesting side effect," Jin noted as he approached Savior and
planted a kick into his kidneys, drawing another yell of pain. But Savior
didn't let it beat him, as he
rolled over and jumped up, throwing a punch at Jin. Bad move. Jin caught
the punch and
twisted Savior's arm, and then backhanded him across the face.
"New kid, what in your mind possessed you to think you could beat me?
I KILLED ROBIN! A disciple of the Bat! I'm not going to waste my time on some
two
bit punk who suddenly thinks he's big time!" and with that Jin punched
Savior
in the solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him.
"Don't think. Know." Savior coughed, and Shimmer strands erupted out
of the ground, having extended from Noel's feet. One whipped Jin across the
face, while another wrapped around his leg and flung him against another
car windshield. Jin pulled himself up from the shattered glass structure
and laughed. It wasn't the reaction Savior wanted and it aggravated him
greatly. Damn that grin...
"Smile at this!" Savior yelled, and lashed a Shimmer strand at Jin.
Jin laughed again and slashed out his Katana and cut down the Shimmer whip.
Savior hit the ground again, pain lancing through every fiber of his being,
as Jin leapt up to make the
killing blow...
Until a Shimmer whip planted itself into his gut, making his momentum work
against him instead of for him, causing him to hit the asphalt like a ton of
bricks.
"In your case it's literal: pride goether before a fall." Savior said
as he walked over at his
opponent. Jin coughed, and that grin appeared on his face again. Blast.
"Nope, haven't even broken a sweat yet,"
And then to Savior's surprise he swung his leg out, tripping him. With that
move, Jin rolled and planted his elbow into Savior's gut. As the white
hared teenager was reminded how much he needed air, Jin pulled himself up
and looked down at the vigilante from Edge City,
"I'd think happy thoughts, new guy." Jin said as he whipped out a
knife.
"Maybe some thoughts of your family? That always cheers up my other
victims."
Jin was about to say something else when a large amount of Shimmer strands
slammed into
him, sending him into the store that the parking lot was built for.
"One, I ain't your victim yet. Two, DON'T MENTION MY FAMILY!!" yelled
Savior, his temper starting to get the best of him. Jin moaned as he stood
up and pulled out a piece of glass from his leg.
"You made me bleed. No one but Kid makes me bleed."
"Then I guess my name is no one." Savior said. He was about to
lash out some more strands, hoping he could knock Jin unconscious, but just
when he had "locked onto" his target, he saw Jin become a blur.
when he felt a foot connect with the side of his head.
Savior hit the ground, stunned, and before he could recover he felt himself
and felt himself be yanked up. Jin began landing rapid blows, repeatingly
punching Savior in the face, before throwing him down again.
"What? You think Kid is the only one who has the power of sightless
speed?
We may not be as fast as the Flash, but it gets the job done." Jin grinned.
Savior was about to make a reply, but Jin vanished again. Before the teen
could even begin to brace himself the blow came, and a tremendous amount of
pain blossomed through his being as Jin planted his foot in Savior's groin.
His mind totally consumed by agony for a moment, Savior felt an odd though
spring across his mind...
Gonna add a cup...
Then the pain transmuted into rage. Savior roared and lashed out a myriad of
Shimmer strands, whipping Jin across the face and body and then picking him
up and slamming him to the ground. Strands anchored his body down as more
strands rained down blows, and Jin groaned as he was assaulted by hundreds
of blows.
"I may not kill you Jin, but I'll make sure you feel a lot of pain
before you see black!" Savior said.
Tactical error. Jin may have been down but he wasn't out
Jin roared and planted his knee into Savior's gut. Savior gasped from the
sudden pain and backed away. But his retreat didn't last, and Savoir was
about to attack again...
When Jin jammed the piece of glass that he had previously pulled out of his
leg into Savior's shoulder. Savior yelled in pain and fell to the asphalt
again, blood running down his arm.
"You little shit! You think you can match me? You think your rage
gives you skill? Wrong! Why so mad anyway? Oh wait I know, you probably had
one of those
abusive fathers kicking your ass every day, and a mother who was an
alcoholic speed junkie trying to escape from the emptiness of her life."
Jin spat as he stared at his bleeding opponent.
Savior's whole body went tense.
"That's IT."
Shimmer strands exploded from the ground, concrete flying as the strands
reached up and looped around Jin's neck, yanking him forward even as Savior
leapt up, nailing Jin with a Shimmer enhanced uppercut. Jin flew across the
parking lot again.
"Ok you little thrillkiller, let me show you the greatest high of all. Your
last breath!" Savior roared, as he snatched up a nearby car. Insulting his
mother had been the last straw. At the very least, Jin was leaving this
battle without control of his limbs.
At least he would have been, but by the time Savior threw the car Jin had
blurred away. Savior didn't get a chance to see where.
Because Jin reappeared beside and just behind him, and with a quick slash he
ripped up a gaping wound across Savior's back. Had Savior's jacket not been
designed to protect him, he probably would have been killed, but that was
little comfort to him as the pain ripped through his being. And, almost
non-chalant, Jin spun around to Savior's front and leapt up, slamming his
foot across Savior's face with a sickening crack. Savior flew back and hit
the ground, blood splashing up from his face from the impact.
"Well, well. For all your talk, just another victim." Jin said as he walked
over. He spun his katana and raised it. "But then again, we're all victims,
aren't we?"
The blade point dropped to Savior's neck...
Until a foot connected with Jin's head, throwing off his aim as he stumbled
to the side. The blade clanked into the ground beside Savior's head.
Jin recovered quickly and looked at his attacker. Wait, correction. BOTH of
them
Kid was glaring at him. Jin returned the glare, even as Nikoro, who was
helping the bleeding Savior to his feet.
"You're going down Jin." Kid said.
"Let's hope you can make those words reality. They don't seem to be my
destiny at the moment..." Savior muttered. This was the first time he had
seen Kid fight. Well, Jin had said Kid was fast. Maybe that would be
enough...
Jin did not grin this time. He face looked like it had been carved from
stone. Pulling his katana from the ground, he pointed his blade at Kid. Kid
returned the gesture and the two circled each other.
And if Kid lost, Savior didn't care how badly he was hurt, he would finish
the job.
Or die.
Quite possibly the latter.
Kid and Jin continued their staredown while Nikoro inspected Savior's
injuries.
"Well, you're not going to die there Savior, but I wouldn't recommend going
on a crusade for a while. Now let's go."
"Are you nuts? You want to leave Kid alone against that sociopath? Numbers
may be the only advantage he has!" Savior protested.
"Savior, this is not your fight. What good could you do? You can barely
stand up by yourself. As for me, I did what I could. If you get caught up in
the heat of this battle, you're going to get chopped in half."
Savior tried to protest more, but Nikoro gave him a stern look. Savior
sighed
"Fine. Let's go."
And with that Nikoro lifted him up in the air and flew off.
Jin watched the two heroes leave the battle area, and once they had he
quickly turned back to his opponent.
"Well now that they're gone, let's get started."
"Way ahead of you." Kid said and in a flash he became a blur. Jin quickly
threw himself backwards in a limbo style duck as Kid's sword whizzed past
him, and then Jin responded by back flipping while placing a kick into Kid's
jaw. Kid stumbled back, but quickly recovered and became a blur again, this
time tackling Jin into a car. The vehicle was nearly toppled over with the
force of the impact. Jin growled and kneed Kid in the stomach, but instead
of recoiling from the blow, Kid's response was decking Jin as hard as he
could. Jin dropped to his knees, only to feel his head connect with Kids
foot.
"Quit fucking around Jin. I know you're better than this!" Kid yelled as he
again became a blur and punched Jin in the solar plexus. Jin roared and
became a blur himself, and the clang of the two blades connecting was
deafening as the two warriors began to dodge and feint each other with their
blades. Kid wielded a straight bladed Katana, while Jin who carried a more
classic blade that happened to contain blood wells.
Jin pushed Kid into a street light and attempted to lop off his head. Kid
ducked, so the only effect was making the streetlight fall like a felled
tree. Kid took advantage of this, and while he was ducking he tripped Jin,
flipped over, and brought down an axe-kick that would've crushed Jin's
chest. But he missed in turn, and instead it only made chunks of asphalt fly
up on impact as Kid's leg crashed into the street.
Savior was on edge as he and Nikoro flew through downtown Jump City. He
hated running away, espcially consdering how badly he wanted to see Jin go
down, but he also knew that if Kid lost he would be in no condition to
fight. That realization didn't make him any less irritated though.
"Don't worry about Kid Savior, he can handle himself." Nikoro said, breaking
the silence,
"I still don't think it was right to leave him back there." Savior said. He
heard Nikoro chuckle,
"Kid and Jin have fought many times, in many places, with different
outcomes. After all that, no battle has a clear cut winner. They are very
evenly matched."
"I figured." Savior said, nodding.
As he pondered that, however, he suddenly felt Nikoro slow down.
"What's wrong." Savior said. It wasn't a question so much as a statement.
"We have company."
Savior looked up to see a figure floating in the air ahead of them. As they
got closer Savior could make him out better. He was a large figure, wrapped
in a red cloak, and with markings on his face that resembled the ones of the
Hell Spawn in New York that Noel had heard about.
"Who's that?"
"Shaddox." Nikoro replied "But something is different about him."
"Well. Well. Well." Shaddox said when the two heroes got within audible
range. "Nikoro. We meet again. How do you like my new look?"
"What do you want Shaddox?" Nikoro said, glaring at the figure in front of
him.
"Your death!" Shaddox yelled, as he flung aside his cloak. From his hands
erupted green energy, blasting Nikoro into a building. Savior had seen the
blast coming and leapt free, landing on a window washer's scaffold as
Nikoro exploded out of the building and rushed Shaddox. Shaddox laughed as
he caught Nikoro's punch and kneed him in the stomach, Nikoro keeled over
and teleported away before Shaddox could land more blows.
"Don't hide Nikoro!" Yelled Shaddox "We are not done here!"
Shaddox said no more, as if he heard something. Then he snapped his head to
the side as an energy blast just missed blowing his head off.
"I would suggest trying harder Spirit Warrior!" Shaddox taunted as he spun
around. As if his cape had a mind of its own, strands of it whipped out and
grabbed Nikoro by the ankles and wrists, drawing him closer to Shaddox, who
proceeded to punch him repeatedly in the gut.
Savior stared as his ally. He was getting pummeled, and injury or not
injury, he had to help.
"HEY SHADDOX!" he yelled, drawing the villain's attention. "Ftorget that
entree! Try a main course!"
Shimmer strands whipped out, heading toward Shaddox. But Shaddox only
chuckled as he caught the Shimmer in his free hand. A moment later Savior,
much to his surprise, crumpled in pain as beams of energy erupted from
Shaddox's eyes, burning the Shimmer.
"Argh! Fuck! Black magic! I hate black magic!" Savior hissed.
"Now that Mr. Savior is out of the way…" Shaddox's said as his attention
returned to the trapped Nikoro…a Nikoro that wasn't done fighting. An energy
burst from his own eyes made Shaddox loosen his grip. Nikoro took advantage
of Shaddox's wound and placed a hard punch there. The King of the Shadow men
let out a yell of pain and backhanded Nikoro.
"You fool! I may have been easy on you earlier, but now that I have been
possessed by Xiun Huang, I'll make you suffer!"
At that bit of information, Nikoro's eyes widened.
"Xiun Huang! The legendary shadow demon? But how?"
Shaddox laughed at Nikoro.
"After that thrashing you gave me, I was weak, the medallion that was the
source of my power shattered. So I fled, and when I got to my 'home', I met
Keyser Soze, who showed me a way to match your strength. And after an
elaborate ceremony, I now house the soul of Xiun Huang. So like it or not, I
AM NOW YOUR EQUAL!"
And with that Shaddox's cape whipped out again, but this time Nikoro was
ready for it and spun around, avoiding it as he placed a kick into the side
of Shaddox's head.
"FOOL!" Shaddox yelled, as energy blasts erupted from his hands, pummeling
Nikoro into the side of a building again. At this point Savior had gotten
up, and he saw Nikoro getting pummeled by the new Shaddox. Again.
"Hmmmm, to attack or not to attack? Surprise isn't on my side, and who knows
what kind of blasted dark powers he could use on me. But still…" Savior said
to himself as he pondered battle stategy.
Meanwhile, back at the parking lot, Kid and Jin were still battling, harder
than ever. Neither spoke a word, whatever they could say to each other had
long been said.
Jin launched a throwing knife at Kid, but Kid caught the knife and hurled it
back at his rival, who easily avoided it. Kid became a blur again and
elbowed the unsuspecting Jin in the face. Jin growled and countered with a
sidekick into Kid's gut, flinging him back seven feet. Jin then leapt
forward, spun around and kicked Kid in the face.Kid promptly ate asphalt.
Not enjoying that particular meal, Kid growled and jammed the handle of his
Katana into Jin's gut, making him stumble back, Jin shook it off and became
a blur, slamming Kid into the side of the building and punching him rapidly
in the rib cage. Kid howled in pain as he felt one rob crack and then break.
With a roar he brought up his foot and kicked Jin in the groin. Jin backed
off, growled and rushed Kid again, but Kid saw it coming. And he made Jin
pay for it.
Jin screamed as Kid jammed his blade through his shoulder. Kid didn't let
up, tripping Jin and kicking him in the ribs. Jin roared and swung out his
leg, but Kid jumped over it and brought his knee down into into…the asphalt,
Jin had rolled away. As Kid looked around for his rival, Jin kicked Kid as
hard as he could in the back. Kid yelled and hit the ground.
Jin was about to strike again when Kid became a blur, zipped around him, and
elbowed Jin in the back of the head. Jin yelped and spun around, bringing
his foot in contact with Kid's nose, a low wet crunch ringing out as he
succeeded in breaking it. Kid growled and kicked Jin in the groin again,
dropping him, and while Jin was on the ground pondering the wisdom of a cup
Kid began to kick him repeatedly, his rage was taking over.
Jin blurred away and released a barrage of throwing knives at Kid. Kid
avoided all but one as it nailed him in the leg. Kid roared and blurred
toward Jin, ripping the knife out of his leg and jamming it through Jin's
hand. Jin yelled in pain and punched Kid in the face. Kid didn't seem to
feel it, and he head butted Jin, making the sociopath stumble back. A
cracking side kick sent Jin flying back more..
Savior watched as Shaddox and Nikoro battled it out in the sky. He had
decided to wait and see. Villians who declared themselves "the equals" of
rivals who had bested them always tended to overlook some weakness. But
Nikoro wasn't doing as well as Savior thought he would, and finally Savior
realized he had to enter the fray.
"Shaddox, if you want a fight, come and get one!" Savior yelled as he jumped
to the edge of the scaffold. Shaddox scoffed at the teen.
"If I were you child, I would hold my tongue. Better yet, let me hold if for
you!" and with that the living cape of Shaddox's whipped out and wrapped
itself around Saviors head. Savior gave a muffled yelp of surprise. He
hadn't expected the cape to have that kind of range! Caught off guard, he
made a tactical error, as the sudden lack of oxygen and seeming impending
suffocation made him panic.
"Get off of him Shaddox!" Nikaro yelled, as he fired one of his most
powerful energy blasts at the King of the Shadow men, incinerating the cape
and causing Shaddox to plummet to the ground.
"Are you okay Noel?" Nikoro asked as he flew over to Savior, as the teenager
gasped for breath.
"My pride is on life support but that's about it."
"I'll gladly make that your reality." a voice said, and Nikoro and Savior
turned to see Shaddox back up at their level, energy crackling from his
hands. Nikoro had no time to counter, a energy smashed into him, blasting
him through another skyscraper.
"I hope these buildings are insured." Savior said as he wrapped the Shimmer
around the scaffold and snapped himself at Shaddox at high speed. Shaddox's
attention turned to Savior as he lanced at him, throwing a punch at the
villain…
Who laughed and caught it. And Savior didn't have time to follow up with
anything as Shaddox then delivered a punch of his own, so strong it
shattered Noel's jaw like glass. As pain exploded through Savior's head, The
King of the Shadow Men went in for the kill, ripping a piece of metal off
the scaffold…
And stabbing Noel in the jugular with it. There would be no last minute save
this time. In his head, Savior pondered the failure of that even as he
gurgle, life slowly leaving his body. His last vision was Shaddox laughing
at him.
"Bloody hell…" he thought as darkness consumed him.
Nikoro roared in anger as he reappeared, slamming Shaddox into another
building. Even as Shaddox reeled from the blow, the Spirit Warrior drew the
two short swords he kept at his waist, spun them around, and stabbed Shaddox
in the shoulders with them. Shaddox howled in pain as the demon slayer
blades cut him deep. He had never felt pain like this before in his life.
Nikoro promptly topped the pain as he sent a ball of white blue energy
through his stomach. It would have killed him if he was a normal human, but
the Shadow Demon kept him alive. Badly injured, Shaddox had already decided
to flee when he noticed the sun was beginning to rise. His only true
weakness. The odds stacked again him, Shaddox growled, and then slipped into
a shadow and disappeared.
"Noel." Nikoro said, turning his attention to his fallen comrade, flying
down. There was almost complete out of blood, his brain starved of precious
oxygen. Only a miracle could save him now.
But Nikoro might just have one, as he looked to his right and left hands.
Energy encased them, as he placed them on Savior's head.
"What are you doing in my head?"
"Just stopping in for a visit what's wrong with that."
"Get out of my head!"
"Hear that Noel? That the heart beat you didn't have a few seconds ago.
You're welcome."
"Thank you. GET OUT!"
"Jesus Noel, is that any way to treat someone who just brought you back from
the dead?"
"Reviving me does not give you the right to go poking around in my head! My
memories are just that: MINE. What do you want?"
"Me? Just to chat, and give you something"
"We can talk normally! Now what do you want to give me?"
"Hey is that your mom? Dude she's hot."
"GET OUT! NOW! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
"Oh right, the thing. Here, take this."
"Oh goody, a little white ball of energy. This was SO worth having my mind
violated."
"Hey, do you want this ability or not?"
"Depends. What is it?"
"You'll find out in due time."
"Great now you're speaking in riddles. Thanks a lot Gandalf! NOW GET OUT!"
Savior snapped up as he came to. He blinked and them saw Will. Just Will,
not Niroko. He had almost give him an inadvertent headbutt when he had sat
up.
"Thanks for bringing me back, but I'd like to say your ghost friend is a
real snoop."
"No prob, yes he is, now let's get back to the tower so Raven can heal you
up."
"Sounds good." Savior said, and had Will help him up.
"This has been a bad night. First I get trashed, then I get killed, and now
I have two mortal grudges to avenge. All in the space of an hour. Whoever
says being a hero is cool must be off his rocker." Savior said as the two
heroes walked back to the tower. And then, of course, there was Kid. Savior
wondered if he had fared better. He couldn't see how he could have fared
worse.
Wait, he was fighting Jin. Yes he could.
