by Jan Stryvant
Shadow was warring with his feelings again. His protective side was up, and he didn’t want to let the girl out of his sight, but the guy had a point. Plus Shadow didn’t really have a place to safely keep her or take care of her. And the cops were here and were involved. It would probably be better to let them clean up this mess.
Besides, this was an official super team, backed by the city. He’d read a few of the articles just out of curiosity about his potential enemies, wanting to get their measure. No, enemies wasn’t the right word, but they weren’t going to be allies and weren’t exactly competitors either. More like adversaries. But in any case they were the good guys and he should be able to trust them to help the girl.
Tomas watched as the cat-man paused to reconsider and then whispered to the girl, asking her if she would go to the hospital with a policewoman? He took his time talking to her and letting her make up her own mind. By the time she agreed Jin had been wheeled out and the female officer that Chen had summoned walked over.
“What’s her name?” The officer asked the cat-man who shrugged.
“Beth,” the girl said weakly. “I’m Beth.”
“Would you like to go with me to the hospital Beth? The doctor can look at you and treat you there.”
“Will Jin be there?” She said looking frightened.
“No, we’ll go to a different one. After that we can take you to a shelter if you like.”
“I want to go home,” Beth said softly, “I want my Mommy and Daddy ....”
“How old are you Beth?” the officer asked.
“Sixteen. I ran away. I want to go home.”
“Beth,” Shadow purred, “Go with the officer to the doctor, they can call your folks then, and I’m sure you can go home after that. If you need anything, call me. Here’s my number,” he said and handed her a card.
“Will I be safe?” She asked him looking scared and small, her bruised face streaked with tears.
“If anyone gives you any trouble, just call.”
“I don’t even know your name,” she said softly.
“Shadow Cat, or just Shadow.”
“Thanks Shadow!” She said and hugged him tightly.
Shadow helped her to her feet then and let the officer lead her out the door.
Tomas noted that the place had pretty much cleared out at this point; the officers were nearly finished taking statements. This left Tomas and the rest of his group standing there trading uneasy looks with the cat-man, a.k.a. Shadow Cat. Tomas did keep them to one side, he didn’t want to surround Shadow, he was an unknown quality, and so far, he might even be innocent.
“Well his story checks out, according to the witnesses,” the Lieutenant said walking up to Tomas, but staying well away from the cat. “Jin was laying into the gal pretty well, apparently she wouldn’t do something he wanted her to, and ‘Shadow’ here came to her defense. It got nasty after that.”
“Jin-Tao is one of Laughing Boy’s men,” Tomas said turning to Shadow whom he noticed was idly licking half-dried blood from his claws in a rather cat-like manner. “Maybe you should come with us.”
“Nope.”
“You sure about that? Laughing Boy is pretty vicious.”
“Laughing Boy won’t do squat.” Shadow growled, “He doesn’t coddle his people. Jin-Tao will have to deal with this himself, or he’ll look like a weakling.”
“That sounds almost as bad, you got lucky tonight, next time you might not.”
“No,” Shadow growled softly. “He got lucky.”
“Howso?” Chen asked quietly and drawing Shadow’s attention for the first time.
“You all arrived before I could finish him. Good night.”
And with that Shadow turned and walked away from them, going out the exit.
“That was cold. Should we go after him, Boss?” Centurion asked Tomas.
“No, we don’t have anything we could arrest him for, and besides, Jin-Tao had it coming. That girl looked seriously beat up.”
“Shadow Cat, huh,” The Lieutenant said making a note on his pad. “We’ve heard that name a few times too. Guess I’ll send this over to the intel unit that tracks the baddies and they can start a file on him.”
“So he’s new in town?” Centurion asked.
“I think he blew in sometime about five or six months ago. All I’ve heard are comments about the ‘big black cat’ that’s been seen at some of the local hang-outs, raves, and a couple of rumors.”
“What kinds of rumors?” Tomas asked.
“Well I told you the one.”
“Any others?”
“Yeah, well, that he’s a stone cold killer. But he didn’t kill anybody here, so I don’t know.”
“Well I guess we can talk with your intel folks in the morning. I’m going home. Later everyone.”
Shadow hadn’t taken two steps out the door when a rather attractive woman who he’d noticed in the club earlier detached herself from the group watching outside and walked over to him.
“Hiya sexy,” She said smiling.
“Isn’t that my line?” He laughed smiling right back at her. She was pretty hot, and the way she was swaying as she walked up to him made it very clear what she was interested in.
“Yeah well, I thought I’d beat the rush. How about we go someplace more private and get acquainted?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Shadow said purring. Fighting always made him horny. “So to what do I owe the honor?”
“Maybe I just like big sexy kitty cats?”
Shadow laughed again, “But?”
“But that was my ex you trashed the hell out of in there, and that alone deserves a reward.”
“Ah, I see. How long ago did you break up with him?”
“Just now. Seeing him get his made me realize that maybe I should start seeing guys who don’t think gals are punching bags.”
Shadow smiled evilly, “So this is a revenge fuck then?”
She blushed a little but nodded.
“Well come here and give me a nice long kiss so his friends can all see and tell him!”
She did, and he did. And he had to admit she was rather delicious. She herself had to admit that as things went, this might be a lot more fun than she thought. His body was hard as she rubbed up against him, and his package seemed to be rather large as well.
“You know, I still have the key to his apartment,” she whispered in his ear.
“Oh, I like that idea even more!”
Shadow yawned as he staggered back into his apartment, the sun was just rising, he’d spent all night fucking Stephanie’s brains out. He’d had her in Jin’s bed several times, leaving it nicely stained and covered with shed fur. He’d also banged her on the kitchen table and the dining room table, leaving nice claw marks in each, in Jin’s favorite lounge chair, and a few other spots in there as well. She’d been rather shocked at just how well endowed Shadow was, apparently Jin didn’t have much in the cock department, and he enjoyed the ego boost of yet another woman wondering if he’d ‘fit’ and then of course showing her he fit quite well. Once again he was glad he’d made his lover form, she couldn’t get enough of him and gave him her real address and number, pleasantly surprised that what had started out as revenge had turned out to be something enjoyable.
Yes Jin-Tao would definitely by hunting for him soon enough, he’d slapped him in the face not only publicly, but where he lived as well. He smiled to himself and purred, he might regret this night when he finally faced down Jin-Tao, but he had surely enjoyed it while it lasted! Shadow yawned and crawled into bed and soon sunk into a nice deep slumber.
# # # # #
“So, what have you learned?” Tomas asked the detective from the Super Villains unit.
“Not much to be honest, he’s new to the area, and has been maintaining an incredibly low profile. No robberies, holdups, assaults, kidnapping, nothing, we're not even sure exactly when he showed up. Most of the supers who come here make a point of showing off their powers, be they
good guys or crooks. And usually pretty publicly at that ‘cause they all got something to prove. But this Shadow Cat guy, if he’s been doing anything criminal, he’s doing it privately and out of sight.”
“Okay, so he doesn’t seem to be doing any crime. Well what has he been doing?”
“He’s pretty big on the party circuit, has an eye for the women, and supposedly a lot of girlfriends.”
“Sounds harmless enough,” Tomas chuckled.
“If that was all, yes. But it’s not.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“What do you know about the challenge system?”
“Challenge system?” Tomas shook his head. “Never heard of it.”
The detective nodded, “Not surprised, most haven’t. It’s not really official, nothing in the underground is. But it’s regular enough that most law enforcement agencies have a name for it, from what I’ve heard it goes on pretty much everywhere.”
“Well that still doesn’t tell me what it is,” Tomas said.
“It’s like this, when the newbies come to the city, they fight amongst each other, or maybe with some of the low end local talent. One way or the other they’ll start a fight. That’s how they climb the ladder, and show off for the big guns, build a rep. Maybe draw enough attention to get asked to join one of the big villain’s groups.”
“And the loser goes home to lick his wounds and come back another day?”
“No, the loser goes to the morgue most of the time.”
Tomas grimaced, “That doesn’t sound good.”
“Well at least it keeps their numbers down, but it does explain why the surviving ones are often as nasty and callous as they are.”
“So our Shadow Cat’s been doing this? Well doesn’t that count as murder?”
“It would if we had proof, but we only have the usual rumors and secondhand accounts mostly.”
“Mostly?” Tomas gave the detective a curious look.
“We have some sources, like I’ve mentioned before. Word is Shadow Cat has been through a lot of these fights, a lot of them. Most guys do two or three, and by then they’ve raised up the ladder high enough to move on if they’ve survived.”
“But he hasn’t moved up?”
“No. He hasn’t.”
“Do you know why?”
“Yes actually. It’s because he has not issued a single challenge in all the time he’s been here. They say he shows respect to the established bosses, but doesn’t brown nose or kiss ass. They also say he doesn’t take any shit from anybody.”
“So he gets challenged a lot by the new comers and the other low end criminals who view him as weak because he doesn’t try to move up the chain.” Tomas said thinking out loud.
“Exactly. And it makes it self-defense, so it’s not illegal.”
“I see,” Tomas said, and he did see. “So how many people has he killed in these fights?”
“According to the bookies, twenty. They got a line on how many before someone gets him instead.”
“And just what are the odds?”
“Not good, you see even though he’s won ten times the usual fights, he’s not moving up at all. Not challenging anyone higher up. So some people are starting to think if they can just kill him, they’ll score major bragging rights.”
“Do you think maybe that’s why he took on Jin-Tao last night?”
The detective shook his head. “Not really, this guy is doing everything differently, his own way. On the one hand he shows respect to those that have earned it, but on the other he takes no crap from anybody and expects to be treated with respect right back.”
“So does he have any allies at all?”
“Nope, none.”
“What about friends?”
“As far as we can tell, other than the gals he’s screwing, not a one.”
“You serious? Then how’s he getting invites to the parties?”
The detective shrugged. “No idea, my sources say he has connections, but they’re a little spooked by him and don’t want to get too close. He doesn’t like people asking questions about him apparently.”
Tomas nodded and thought about things for a minute.
“So what do you guys think his superpower is?”
“We’re not so sure,” the detective said, “a few folks aren’t even sure he has one.”
“But you’re not one of them?”
“No, he’s gotten pretty seriously trashed in a few of those fights, knifed, stabbed, shot; I think he even lost a few fingers once. But he always shows up a few days later looking exactly the same. I’m waiting for the ‘nine lives’ rumors to start myself.
“But I’ll tell you one thing though,”
“What’s that?”
“If I was a betting man, I’d bet on that cat.”
“Really? Why?”
“I’ve been tracking these guys for a decade now, and this one, this one doesn’t fit the mold. I’d watch your ass around him if I was you, he’s playing by some sort of rules I bet, but only he knows what they are.”
Tomas nodded and thanked the Detective for his time, even if it did raise more questions than he’d had answered. At least it didn’t sound like this new guy was any kind of a threat he’d have to worry about anytime soon. Maybe ever if Jin-Tao took him out.
# # # # #
Shadow spun left and slipped back an inch and ducked as the blade whistled overhead. The fight had been going on for some time now, longer than any serious fight he could ever remember being in. Jin-Tao had waited almost a week to come after him, and he’d come prepared. As fights went this was one of the toughest ones Shadow had ever fought, and he showed it. He’d been cut and wounded a number of times, but Jin-Tao looked no better at least. Jin was a master of the sword and Shadow was hard pressed to fend him off with his own. He was thankful he’d started to carry it again, but then he had been pretty sure this would be the chosen weapon for Jin.
They moved back and forth, each working for the advantage over the other, the crowd was quiet, few had ever seen things go this long, many had been sure that Shadow would not last this long, including Jin-Tao who was furious that the damn cat had not died already! He had not said a word when Jin had approached him, just stood there looking at him until Jin had attacked. Jin’s inability to score a telling strike angered him even more than the cuts and wounds he now sported. But sooner or later that cat would make a mistake and Jin would have him!
Shadow himself was not concerned, the pain he could block, and fear had stopped having any hold over him way too many years ago. Yes the dance was harder, but that was to be expected. He found it funny that so many thought he’d run away, or not last a minute. Fighting was fighting, and killing was just plain old killing. You did not rush into it, you did it when the moment came and the time was right. He’d killed so many in his life, in his rather short life, that this he felt would be no different in the long run. True most were easy prey once cornered, but some had been rich enough to afford the best protection, they had bodyguards and other tricks. A few, a very small few thankfully, had even had powers. But in the end they all had paid for their atrocities.
So it was really all just a game about waiting and patience.
And Shadow knew patience.
Shadow flowed and danced and dodged and cut and stabbed, fighting for many more minutes until suddenly the time was there for Jin-Tao, a mistake that could not be covered, a move too slow to be guarded, and Shadow killed him, taking his head clean off at the neck with his blade. Panting he took the time to clean his sword before re-sheathing it, then gathering up the tatters of his overcoat he slowly stumbled out into the street, the shocked silence of the crowd lasting far longer than usual. Guys like Jin-Tao did not lose. Guys like they had thought Shadow was did not win.
Tomorrow there would be a lot more respect for him than there had been the night before, that was rather obvious. But first he had to find a spot to lay low and heal up. He wasn’t sure he’d even make it to his
apartment before he passed out, he was still bleeding pretty heavily, and his healing form needed a while to work before he’d be in any kind of a shape to do much of anything. Jin-Tao had hurt him pretty bad, and he wasn’t used to taking that much damage.
“Here, kitty kitty,” came softly from around the corner as Shadow stumbled his way down the street. He stopped and cautiously peered around the corner, there was a woman there, and she was down on one knee, like you’d do to call a cat. Only she was looking up at him and she was smiling.
“Here, kitty kitty,” she said again in that soft and oddly pleasing voice. Shadow felt rather foolish hiding there and he stepped out into the open.
“Oh, Kitty! You’re hurt!” She said looking up at him obviously concerned. Her hand reached out in invitation, again like you would to a cat you were calling. “Come here, Kitty and let me have a look at you,” she wheedled him.
Shadow couldn’t really help himself, he felt drawn to her, and while part of him felt it was a trap, the cat in him could not resist. He purred and walked carefully over to her and she stood up slowly and stroked the side of his face.
“Come home with me, Kitty, and I’ll take good care of those cuts.”
Shadow half closed his eyes and leaned into the hand on his face, rubbing his fur into the palm. He couldn’t help himself; he changed into his full panther form and heard a soft intake of breath from the woman.
“Oh yes, Kitty, that’s what I want,” She said rather breathlessly. “Come with me and let’s get you all healed up.”
Shadow followed her, he really didn’t have much choice, she was too enticing, she smelled too good, he wanted her. It didn’t matter that he was dead on his paws; he wasn’t going to lie down and rest now. But she didn’t lead him far, there was a van around the corner and she climbed up into the back and he followed. She sat down on the well-padded floor and he laid down and put his head on her lap.
“That’s a good kitty, you just rest there, and I’ll take you home.”
Shadow heard the van start up, someone else must have been driving, but he didn’t care, he was safe, he knew it. She was petting him and he wrapped one blood covered paw around her and held her close and passed out.