Red Shadow
#3 of Supers, Heroes and Villains
Random bit of a thing I was toying around with. It's mostly a one-shot, not meant to be a setup for another story, just a thing to show there's other stuff going on in the world.
Maybe I should start some sort of date system. Half my stories are set in an entirely separate time period from the others. XD
Testing out this new fangled folder things. We'll see how it goes.
This is set about ten years before Fenris Chains - Leyding. It doesn't have anything to do with that story, just set in the same general era, you know? Just to give you some idea of when it's set. ANYWAY. As always, comments and criticisms welcome. Here we go.
My prey flees before me as I chase them across the neighborhood. They take the twists and turns, but I follow them across the rooftops, my trademark crimson cape billowing out behind me.
They were nothing more than a pair of thieves, barely above purse snatchers; they hadn't hurt anyone, but they were still criminals. And I don't tolerate that it my neighborhood.
A pair of gunshots ring out in the alley ahead. My ears perked up and my eyes alert, I jump down off the roof, catching the edge of my cape and using it to slow my fall.
The two criminals I'd been pursuing were dead. Their killer, still holding the proverbial smoking gun, turns as I land. It's a wolf, maybe in his mid-twenties. Taller than me, grey fur on the darker side. Blue eyes. He's wearing tactical gear, similar to SWAT armor, strapped heavy with all manner of guns and other devices. My eye is drawn to the large WW on his chest, dark blue on his black suit.
"Red Shadow." The wolf says with a grin. "It's an honor to meet you. Is it true that you're a vampire?" He approaches me with a paw out, as if offering to shake. I take a step back, a bit further into the shadows and say nothing. Silence is just as effective a tool as anything else.
His big goofy grin doesn't disappear for a second. "Not one for talking, eh? Well, it's ok. My name is Wolf Wight, and I'm hear to inform you that I'm going to kill you." The wolf says, and I don't waste time questioning him. I spring into action, tossing down a smoke pellet and throwing a couple of throwing stars at him as I sweep around him, my movements obscured by the smoke. I move to tackle him from behind, but he's not there anymore. I turn my tackle into a roll and am back on my feet. I jump up on the wall for a split-second, just long enough spring off, confirming his location and readying a hay maker as I do so. I might have expected him to try to dodge, but he makes no move to avoid my punch.
I manage to hide my shock as my fist goes right through him, and I jump back quickly, my guard raised.
"Well, I don't normally make a point of announcing myself," Wolf Wight said amiably. "But my employer was quite keen on you knowing what was coming for you."
"Lady Danger." I reason, speaking aloud for the first time. I've got many enemies, but she was the only one with the resources to hire an assassin, whose ego could stand not being the one to defeat me. But not so absent that she could resist my knowing it was her.
Wolf Wight grins. "You're as smart as she said you were. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, you foxes do have a reputation for intelligence. Anyway, this wasn't a social call, just a friendly heads-up. I'll be seeing you around, Red Shadow." He makes a sudden jerking motion with his arm and I instinctively sweep my cape forward to catch any thrown weapons. My vision isn't obscured for more than a moment, but that's all it takes to complete his disappearing act.
I stare hard at the empty space he had been for a while, maybe trying to will him back, and trying to process what had just happened. I don't know how long, but eventually a curse quietly and let out a huge sigh.
Wolf Wight. I know the name, of course. Who doesn't? The world's premiere assassin, so good he can get away with actually being known as such. As far as anyone knew, he'd never failed to take down a mark.
I take off my mask and stare down at his two victims. They were just kids. Maybe 17, 18 at the most. I probably won't be accused of killing them; the police know my M.O. and know that I don't use guns, but their captain is a known critic of mine.
I'm going to die. I don't know when or where. I think about tracking down Lady Danger, but she's very good at hiding out until the opportune moment to resurface and anyway, I doubt I could get her to lift the price on my head.
A distant scream brings me out of my thoughts. As I slip my mask back on and grapple up to the roof, I know what I have to do. I'll find a way to stop Wolf Wight, but until then someone in my city is in need, and assassin or no assassin, the Red Shadow will always answer when his people cry out for justice.
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"I don't want you to think this is personal." A familiar voice says the next afternoon as I sit outside my favorite coffee shop reading the sports section in the newspaper.
I make a valiant attempt to ignore my new companion but he continues. "It's just business. Personally, I'm rather a fan of your work."
I sigh and fold the paper. I set it down on the table and ask, "How did you find me?"
Wolf Wight, no longer in the tactical gear he'd been wearing last night, but instead a rather sharp business suit, grins and says, "I followed you home last night."
A brief flicker of involuntary fear passes through me but I quickly dismiss it. If he'd meant to kill me I'd be long dead.
"I'll stop you." I say, putting as much conviction into my tone as I can.
He tilts his head slightly to the side and stares at me for a few seconds. "You know, I think you just might find a way if you had the time, but unfortunately you've only got..." He reaches into his pocket and produces a large gold pocket watch, which he flips open with a bit of flare. "Oh, about ten hours." He says. "Sorry, but I'm on a bit of a schedule."
"I can stop you in ten hours." I say.
He grins that goofy grin of his again. "You're really irrepressible aren't you? You know, I might be willing to skip your contract if you came and worked for me. I'm starting a little mercenary company and I'm looking for the best of the best. Going to call it the Lamfhada Arm."
"Long-hand Army?" I translate.
"What can I say?" He says somewhat bashfully. "It reminds me of home."
I marvel at the openness of this wolf. All the other criminals I've ever met were a superstitious and cowardly lot, carefully hoarding their secrets and lives, as showing the slightest hint of vulnerability was a death sentence. But this Wolf Wight bares his soul to me with every word. Openness or not, though, I would need to learn his name, and that would take some doing.
"Last night, when I attacked you, my fist went right through you."
"I'm surprised you don't know." Wolf Wight responds sincerely. "It's not exactly the best kept secret in the world. The government classifies us as 'Post-Normal' which is as good a name as any. Most of us prefer the word 'Super'. It's punchier, gets the point across quicker, you know? And it establishes us as being above the rank and file."
I know about supers, of course. Though I don't tend to focus on much besides crime, I'm not totally out of touch. I've heard rumors all my life of people with extraordinary abilities, but I've never actually seen one. My city is fair sized but nothing special. Certainly I can't imagine why one of these Supers would ever come here. Lady Danger is just a mob boss with a bit of a dramatic side.
"So you can phase through solid matter." I observe.
"And turn invisible." He says with not a small bit of ego. I regard him with a bit more respect. An intangible, invisible assassin. No wonder he was so successful.
"And you can interact with objects while intangible?"
"Normally no, but my guns are custom made by the Evil Robot." I raise an eyebrow at this and my ears perk forward. The last I heard, The Evil Robot was dead. Killed years ago by a pair of heroes like me. Or like Wolf Wight, I realize.
I change the subject quickly. I've got little time and much information to gather. "You said that you're a fan of my work?" I ask.
"Oh yes. You know, I was there three years ago when you fought Quotient Modifier to a stand-still." Quotient Modifier was my first real challenge in my career as a hero and the fight that brought my activities to the public's attention. Another assassin, this one sent by the Dread Hipster, Quotient Modifier is a master martial artist and a giant of a man. It wasn't quite the even fight Wolf Wight paints it as; He nearly killed me and I only survived through sheer luck. "It was inspiring. I saw that fight and just knew that you were a great hero."
Awestruck, nostalgic. If I'm going to learn his name it's now or never. "They say you should never kill a worthy foe without first telling him your name. What's yours?"
This seems to strike a nerve, as he draws himself up haughtily. "I have a name. It's Wolf Wight. The name I was born with was a lie, a mask crafted to hide from me my true self." He stands up and leans in. "Midnight." He says before disappearing into thin air, again leaving me to consider how I would stop a killer who can walk through any barrier without anyone ever knowing he's there.