The Evolutionite Chronicles book 2: Dagger and Shadow Ninja in: Welcome to Las Vegas
The Evolutionite Chronicles book 2: Dagger and Shadow Ninja in: Welcome to Las Vegas
by
Timothy P. Callahan
Kindle Edition
* * * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Timothy P. Callahan on Kindle
The Evolutionite Chronicles book 2: Dagger and Shadow Ninja in: Welcome to Las Vegas
Copyright © 2018 by Timothy P. Callahan
Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
For more information on Timothy P. Callahan go to www.timothypcallahan.com
Cover by Don Walker who can be found at: WWW.DORKEMPIREINK.BIGCARTEL.COM and don_walker_artist on Instagram
Edited by Juliet Bresler of Casa Cielo Editing. http://casacieloediting.weebly.com
Dedicated to my wife, Debbie.
CHAPTER ONE
Tanaka landed a roundhouse kick in the face of the gang leader, who crumpled to the ground just as Tanaka’s cell phone rang. With a broad smile, he addressed his partner, Daniel. “Hey, Daniel. You’ll never guess who’s calling me.”
Daniel punched a different gang member square in the chest, pushing him backwards into a wall. He then brought his knee up into the thug’s stomach. The man made a woofing sound as the blow knocked the wind out of him. He fell to the ground holding his stomach, struggling to get air into his lungs.
Three more gang members, each carrying a different weapon, charged Daniel. “Not really the time for a phone call,” he said.
Tanaka looked around; no one was attacking him. “I disagree.” He pressed the answer button on his phone. “Well, if it isn’t Sparkle. How are you doing, babe?”
“Ugh, don’t ever call me Sparkle again,” Nancy said with playful disgust. “You busy? Can you talk?”
Tanaka looked over at Daniel, who was surrounded. His razor-sharp, bright red, buckler shield easily deflected the attacks. “Yeah, I’m good,” Tanaka replied. “What’s up?”
“What’s that sound I’m hearing? Sounds like Daniel’s shield hitting something.”
“It is. He’s fighting a gang.”
“Do you need to help him?”
“Nah, there’s only three of them. What’s up?”
Her voice wavered for a moment. Was she nervous? “Well, okay, this is going to sound odd since I haven’t talked to you in, what? Ten years?”
“Something like that, yeah.”
“Would you like to come to Las Vegas and visit?”
A surge of excitement shot through Tanaka’s heart. Was Nancy asking him to hang out with her again? It’d been such a long time. After so long, and even though they ended on good terms, Tanaka did not feel ready to see her again. “You in trouble?”
She paused before answering. “Yeah, sort of. I just think that if I’m in trouble, I’d want you there.”
“Ah, playing the damsel in distress card. Thought that was beyond you,” Tanaka said with a laugh he didn’t feel. Sparkle could easily take care of herself and had for years after she left the Protectors. If she needed help and had reached out to him, it had to be something big.
“I know how you like to play the hero so I figured I’d give you that chance.”
Tanaka chuckled. “That’s true, that’s so true.” He didn’t know what else to say. For a few awkward moments, the only sound were the grunts and groans from Daniel and the gang members as they fought. Tanaka couldn’t stand the near silence. “Hey, did you see I saved the world a few months ago?”
“What? No, how?”
“Long story, I’ll have to tell you when I get to Vegas.”
“So, you’re coming then?” She didn’t even bother trying to hide her excitement.
“Yeah, of course.” Tanaka looked over at Daniel, who now had only two thugs to deal with. “Is Daniel invited?”
“If he wants to come.”
Tanaka swore under his breath. Of course his brother would want to come, can’t take a vacation without his brother tagging along. “All right then, I’ll ask him.”
“I mean, unless you don’t want him to come...”
“Well, he is my brother, and if I leave without him he’d probably get himself in trouble so yeah, he can come.”
“Tell you what, we’ll ditch him for one night and make it our own.”
“Deal!” Tanaka replied, watching Daniel throw the final punch at the final thug, knocking him out. “Well, I gotta go. Text me the information and we’ll make the arrangements. Looking forward to seeing you again.”
“Same here. Tell Danny I said hi!”
Daniel walked over wiping blood from under his nose. “Who was it?”
Tanaka placed the phone in his pocket. “Damn, what happened to your nose?”
“One of the thugs hit me.”
“What? How?”
“It happens.”
“Not to us. I hate working with amateurs,” Tanaka joked.
“Maybe if my brother had helped me—”
“Come on, man! It was three humans.”
Daniel pulled a tissue out of a pouch on his belt and asked, “Who was it on the phone?”
“Oh, it was Sparkle!”
“Nancy?” Daniel asked, ripping the tissue into small strips. He stuck one of the strips up his nose to stop the bleeding. “We haven’t heard from her in, what? Ten years?”
“Right after she left, yeah.”
“You seem pretty excited to be talking to an old ex.”
“I am pretty excited to meet the adult version of Sparkle.”
Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Probably hates to be called that now. What did she want?”
“She wants us to visit her in Las Vegas.”
Letting out a low sigh, Daniel replied, “Not a great idea for me. With my enhanced senses, Vegas might be too intense.”
“The strip, maybe, but not all of Vegas is the strip. But hey, if you don’t want to go—”
“Why now?” Daniel interrupted.
“What?”
“Why does she want to see us now? I can understand if she found you on Facebook, started talking, then decided to invite you out, but no one calls an ex-boyfriend out of the blue to say hi and ask them to come visit.”
Tanaka opened his mouth to answer just as the sound of the police sirens split the air. “Let’s go back to the apartment, we can finish this discussion there.” Tanaka touched his brother on the shoulder and the two of them teleported away.
They appeared in the living room of their tiny apartment. Tanaka jumped over the back of the couch, landing in a sitting position with the remote within easy reach.
Daniel walked into to the kitchen, took out the tissue from his nose, and sniffed. “Think my nose stopped bleeding.”
“Can’t believe you got tagged,” Tanaka replied, turning the television on.
Daniel looked at his brother. “Well? Let’s continue this conversation.”
“What else is there to say? I’m going out there whether you like it or not. You can come, she did invite you, but that�
�s really up to you.”
“But why now?”
“She’s in trouble,” Tanaka replied. “And she came to me for help.”
“Ah, then that’s it then. She’s playing the damsel card with you.”
“No, she’s not,” Tanaka said, his voice unsure if he believed it. “Okay, fine, I said the same thing when she told me she was in trouble. Doesn’t make it less real.”
“It does with you,” Daniel walked behind Tanaka and toward his bedroom. “It’s your weakness, Tanaka. All woman who know you know that.”
“And that’s why I’ve had more girlfriends than you!” Tanaka yelled over his shoulder. Daniel was right; he felt compelled to help people, but when it came to the women in his life that compulsion spilled over into obsession. “If she’s in trouble, if she gets hurt, and I don’t help her after she asked me—”
“I know,” Daniel replied from the bedroom. “I think we need more information, that’s all. What kind of trouble is she in? What should we expect?”
“You talk as if we’re going.”
“There was never any doubt we’d go. I just feel we need more information from her. Give her a call back, talk to her, find out what you can.”
Tanaka grabbed his phone and redialed the number she called from. After several rings, he got her voicemail. He hung up without leaving a message. “She didn’t answer.”
“Keep trying. Get us tickets to Vegas for tomorrow.”
“You don’t want me to teleport us there?”
“No, it’ll take too much out of both of us to teleport that far. A plane ride won’t kill us.”
“Unless the plane crashes,” Tanaka replied with a smart-ass smile.
“Right, unless that happens. Teleport me to the office. I have some real work to do. You keep trying to get in touch with Nancy. I really hate going into this blind.”
“Are you sensing something?” Tanaka asked as he stood from the couch.
“My danger sense doesn’t work that way. But, yeah, something really feels off.”
“I’ll keep calling. She’ll answer eventually.” Tanaka reached over, touched Daniel, and teleported him away.
Tanaka called Nancy again and, once again, got her voicemail, and decided to leave a message for her this time. “Hey, it’s me. Look, give me call. Wasn’t really able to talk to you the last time and I think we really need to talk. So, give me call, okay?”
Tanaka hung up and sat back down on the couch, absentmindedly watching whatever show was on. He hated deeply contemplative moments. He wanted to be out on the streets busting some heads. Instead he thought of Nancy, whom he loved in the way fifteen-year-olds love someone: totally and without question. His feelings for her then were so strong he still felt them today. On more than one night, when things were slow, he’d pull out his cell phone and think about calling her or sending her a quick ‘hey’ text. But, he never did, fearful of the old wound it would open if they got back in touch.
His cell phone rang and he answered it. “Hey, Nancy.”
“Whoa, you called me Nancy, not Sparkle. Guess this is a business call.”
“Well, now that I’ve had time to think—”
“You mean, now that you’ve had time to talk to Daniel.”
“Yeah, that. Now that we’ve discussed it, we decided we’re going to come out to help you. But we need to know what kind of trouble you’re in.”
There was a long pause. “I can’t tell you.”
“Is someone there?”
“No, nothing like that. I just... I can’t tell you okay. Please, don’t make me.”
Tanaka thought about saying yes, that he wouldn’t push. The imaginary voice of Daniel filled his thoughts, berating him for being blinded by his old love for this woman. “I can’t take no for answer.”
“You mean Daniel can’t take no for an answer. He’s gotten into your head again, hasn’t he? He’s always getting into your head. Always telling you what to think, what to feel. Tanaka, do you really want me to tell you, or does Daniel?”
“We both do,” Tanaka replied bitterly.
“Sure. Sure, you do,” she replied angrily. “Look. Come or don’t come, I don’t care. You have to believe me when I tell you that I might be in trouble, but I just really don’t know yet. So I’m not telling you because I don’t know. Okay? Is that a good enough answer for you?”
Tanaka weighed his options. If she was in trouble and he didn’t do anything to help, he’d regret it. But if she wasn’t in trouble, at least he’d be in the Sin Capital of the world. “Good enough for me, and it’ll have to be good enough for Daniel.”
Nancy’s voice perked up. “Great! When are you coming out?”
“Tomorrow. I’m going to get the tickets now.”
“Awesome, looking forward to seeing you two again.”
“Yeah, same here. See you tomorrow.” Tanaka ended the call then walked over to the computer to order two tickets, one first class, one coach. “Let’s see how you like flying coach, Daniel.”
CHAPTER TWO
Fifteen Years Ago
Tanaka perched on a wooden beam high above the floor of the warehouse. Somewhere in the shadows, Daniel blended in perfectly with the darkness. Only a few short months away from becoming full-fledged Protector interns, the highly-ranked pair were charged with testing the newest crop of recruits.
Unfortunately, the idiot recruits came into the building chatting. ‘I’m going to have to teach these kids a lesson in how to approach a dangerous situation’, Tanaka thought.
He saw the group of four, two boys and two girls, each in their mid to late teens. They walked in as a tight group, making them easy targets had he and Daniel been armed.
One of the girls was very plain looking. Dark hair, pale skin, kind of pudgy. Tanaka found her nice, but not attractive. And the other girl, wow! Even from the roof he could see she was a hottie. Blond hair pulled tight into a bun. She walked with poise, looking around with wide eyes. She had a strong build with a pair of boobs that Tanaka simply couldn’t take his eyes off of.
“Hey, Tanaka, what’s up?” whispered Daniel’s voice in his earpiece. “Whatever happened to attacking them when they first walked in?”
“Oh, uh, sorry. Thought you were going to attack first,” he lied.
Tanaka teleported, appearing behind the four. With one quick, smooth motion born from hours of daily practice, Tanaka knocked the plain looking girl over with a lighting fast sweep of his leg.
The others turned and Tanaka teleported away before they had a chance to see him. Daniel attacked. He jumped out from a corner, covered the short length of the floor in three steps, and punched another guy in the stomach. The boy fell to the ground.
From the cute girl’s hands came a blinding light. Daniel covered his eyes and let out a short grunt. Tanaka teleported behind the girl and wrapped his arms around her. He knew he could have done a dozen other things but this seemed right to his teenage mind.
The other boy looked at Daniel and snapped his fingers. A loud boom exploded next to him, effectively making him deaf and blind. Tanaka threw the girl aside and with one quick motion punched the boy square in the face. He stumbled back holding his nose. “Hey, no fair!”
Tanaka opened his mouth to say something when a blur tackled him to the ground. He turned to fight and looked right into deep green eyes so stunning he hesitated. She didn’t and punched Tanaka in the nose three times before he finally threw her off.
“All right, training is over,” came Peter Afture’s voice from a loud speaker. “Tanaka, Nancy, I’d like to see you both in my office.”
“Yes, sir,” they both said at the same time, then laughed.
“Hey,” the boy who Tanaka punched yelled. “What the hell? You punched me.”
“Yeah, I did,” Tanaka said, holding his own nose. “Do you think a bad guy on the street won’t do that?”
Daniel shook his head as if trying to get some senses back. He said, “There are rules, Tanaka, and punching
in the face is always a no-no.”
“Yeah,” Nancy said as she punched Tanaka hard in the shoulder. “You got us both in trouble.”
“What? You didn’t have to hit me.”
“Pop’s my teammate, I was defending him.”
A broad smile appeared on Tanaka’s face.
Daniel shook his head. “Tanaka, don’t you dare.”
Tanaka turned to face the boy, “You named yourself Pop?”
“Yeah,” Pop said. “It’s my powers, to make the air go pop.”
“Where’s Snap and Crackle?” Tanaka said with a barked laugh.
“Tanaka,” Daniel said, doing his best not to smile. “Don’t.”
“What’s your first name? Jiffy?”
Nancy laughed which caused Tanaka to laugh even harder. Even Daniel smiled and shook his head again.
“Shut up,” Pop replied with a threatening step forward.
The voice on the loudspeaker yelled, “Nancy, Tanaka! My office, now!”
Tanaka looked at Nancy. “You want me to teleport us there?”
“Nah,” Nancy replied, walking toward the exit. “We walk. Brain can wait.”
“I don’t think he likes to be called that anymore. Not since the cartoon with the mouse who wants to take over the world with the same name.”
“Oh, right. We should just call him Mister Afture.” Nancy said as she continued walking.
Tanaka looked at Daniel and said, “I think I’m in love. He raced up to catch up with her as they left the training area. “Hey, hey, wait up.”
“Not used to running with all the teleporting?” she teased.
“No, I’m in excellent shape.”
“Prove it!” she said, then started running down the hallway.
Tanaka followed, running as fast as he could to catch up, then slowed down when he got next to her. The two jogged down the hallway, passing the adult Protectors who smiled at the two teens. “Slow down, I want to talk to you,” Tanaka said.
“You sound out of breath.”
“I could do this all day but it’s hard to talk when we’re jogging. Besides, what’s the rush? We’ll only get yelled at.”
The Evolutionite Chronicles Book Two: Dagger and Shadow Ninja in: Welcome to Las Vegas Page 1