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Pitch Black is the second arc of The Underground series

Chapter 8 of 22

Darkness Falls

There's more to you than you see; than anyone sees. Like a shooting star in the night it flashes through the darkness for one brilliant moment and, just as quickly as it arrives, is gone once more. I watch as the darkness of night settles in. But my eyes will always be turned up to the skies, hoping for another glimpse of a miracle at work.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw the papers the next morning. I had to go downtown to see for myself before I believed it. Of course by the time I got there, they already had scaffolding up and some fake construction crew taping off the area. I tried everything I could think of, tapped every channel I had to see if they had any news on you both, but no one knew anything. I mean nothing!"

Mick leaned back in his chair, taking a drink of his beer before returning it to the cast iron table. "I swore, I thought you both had been deep fried." He said, looking at Jenna across from him.

Smiling slightly, she nodded. "It's pretty much through God's good grace we weren't. My leg got a pretty nice burn from whatever Alias used to bomb the hell out of the Plaza, but other than that I was in good shape. We actually left the next morning, ran dark for about two weeks before he'd even venture out the hotel door. After that, we just slipped from city to city." Jenna paused for a moment. Looking at the mink, it was clear he was on the mend from how they had found him earlier, but he still looked weak. "How long was it before they..."

Mick sighed and shook his head. "Bastards took me right out of my own goddamn home. My own fucking home!" He emphasized, sounding pissed. "The last thing I remember is some asshole waiting for me when I got back, he tasers me, I saw stars and wake up in some shithole miles from Palamont. And that was a good month or two after your showdown, Alias."

The black fox, who had joined them at this little bar had been listening contently as Mick told his side of the past six months. Even though the sun was out, it was still rather chilly. Why Mick had chosen to sit outside, rather than indoors, Alias could only guess. However, he could understand Mick's hesitation about being in closed spaces. They had kept him in a three by four foot cell for months on end. Only letting him out for random beatings and interrogations. Alias, himself, could only imagine... and he didn't want to.

"Mick, I got to ask because I know they were doping you up, but are you sure the fox in the picture was me?" The black fox asked.

To his dismay, Mick nodded. "I'm telling you, even if I was high out of my mind they kept saying ‘Alias'. They knew who you were. Hell, even I thought it was The Alliance."

Alias, who was facing the street, moved as an uncomfortable flash of light pierced his eyes reflecting the sun. "Last night I went to an old Alliance cell, they're out of business. Even raided the files they had; nothing. Not one thing about me or you."

"Who could want to find you so badly they'd abduct someone just to find you?" Jenna asked, taking a sip of the Bloody Mary she ordered.

"Hell knows." He replied. "This whole thing is weird. It doesn't make sense."

"You ain't shitting." Mick replied, letting out a slight laugh. "Even if I could contact my sources, I don't know if I want to. For all I know it was one of them who sold me out."

Alias, again moved as his eyes were blinded by light. "I know some people in Arcadia, anyone tries anything they'll know about it."

"I can squeeze some of the regulars at Delirium." Jenna chimed in causing Mick to laugh good-natured. "What?" She asked with a suspended smile.

"You." He replied lighthearted. "Last time I saw you, you had no idea how this place works. Look at you now, all pulling your own sources and stuff." He turned to Alias. "She's taken well to The Underground."

Jenna turned and looked at Alias, smiling as the sun reflected off her crystal eyes. "Yeah, well I had a good teacher." Blinking as his world was once again whited out. Alias looked around, trying to figure out where this reflection was coming from, because it was starting to piss him off. It reminded him why he usually worked at night.

"You did learn from the best." Mick replied.

Alias scoffed. "Please..." He retorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"By the way," Mick continued, turning his focus to Jenna, "did you cut your hair?"

Jenna ran her paw through her light blue hair that stood in contrast to her deep blue fur, which came down to her neck.

"Yeah." She replied. "I think a change was kind of fitting. Besides, it's easier to waitress without your hair always in your face."

"Right." Mick replied nodding. "Speaking of long hair, who was that with you when I woke up?"

"Abby?" Jenna asked. "She works at Delirium with me..."

Jenna's conversation drifted off in silence as Alias's focus was elsewhere. His eyes scanned those around him, who moved seemingly without any care to him. Cars zoomed by on the busy street, causing a rush of chilly air to blow over them. Cell phones rang, people talked, but something was out of place.

It was a prickly feeling when his fur on the back of his neck stood on end. It started at the base of his neck, and like tiny little fingers, it worked its way over his spine. Like a sense of dread that something was about to happen, Alias looked around faster than before, trying to locate something, anything out of the ordinary, but so far everything seemed... normal.

"Hey... are you ok?"

Alias stopped, and looked over at Jenna who had asked him the question. He wasn't sure how to answer, because truthfully no, he wasn't. Something was wrong.

"I don't know." Alias replied, twisting around in his chair to look behind him into the bar's window. "You know that feeling you get when-" As he turned back around, his elbow caught Jenna's phone, which she had placed on the table. It tumbled off the edge and clattered to the concrete. "Damn it, sorry." Alias grunted, leaning over to pick it up.

As Alias reached for the small black flip phone, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was the slightest little bit of motion, and had he not been leaned over, he wouldn't have noticed it at all. It was from Mick's side of the table, crawling up his leg slowly. Even though it was small it stuck out. His first thought was that it was just a tiny red bug no larger than the end of a pencil, but as cold as it had been there shouldn't be bugs out this time of the year.

Without warning, the tingling exploded into an electric flash of shock as it registered with Alias what exactly he was looking at. The black fox bolted upright, stood up, and kicked Mick's chair with all his might. The mink let out a surprised cry as he flipped backwards.

A loud cracking boom reverberated throughout the air once, twice. Alias dropped to the ground, kicking Jenna's chair back as well. The window behind Alias shattered and people all around him screamed and began to flee. Paws went to his head, trying to shield himself from harm. Looking up at where the sound came from, Alias saw a small figure standing at the ledge of the roof looking down on them. He couldn't make out any details about this person, but through his mercenary eyes Alias could see the large sniper rifle he was holding. The figure then turned, the scope of the rifle catching the sun's rays and sending a flash of light towards Alias, then disappearing from view.

"Mick!" Alias cried out, pulling out one of his pistols.

"Jesus Christ! What the fuck was that?" He heard the mink reply, as he crawled on his belly to where Alias was, uninjured. How could he have been so fucking stupid? How could he not recognize a lens flair when he saw one and taking so long to realize a laser sight that was blatantly obvious? It had almost cost him lives.

"Jen?" Alias looked over at the blue vixen, and felt his heart squeeze. Perhaps his ignorance already had. Standing in direct contrast to her deep blue fur, she was stained in a red liquid that peppered the ground around her.

"No..." Alias murmured as he pushed off the ground, feeling his heartbeat pulse through his head and throat almost solidify in terror. Fear gripped the fox and he hurried over to her.

Looking to where most of the blood was, he quickly pressed his paws down on her abdomen, trying to compress the wound. Her eyes flickered open, looking up at him dazed.

"Alias?" She asked him

"Just stay calm, you'll be fine, alright? You're going to be ok!" Alias spoke frantically, unsure who he was reassuring more; Jenna or himself. He looked around him, people running in every direction. Mick, next to him, seemed to be stuck in a state of shock as looking down at Jenna. He moved his left paw to her face, covered in the red sticky liquid, gently caressing her muzzle.

"Alias-" she spoke once again

"Shhh..." He silenced her. "Don't talk, just relax. We're going to get you out of here."

Jenna's eyes narrowed. "No, Alias, I'm not hurt!" She replied, in her normal sharp tone.

Alias stopped. She wasn't hurt? Then what the hell was all over his paws if she wasn't hurt? Hesitantly, he moved his paw to his muzzle, and sampled the liquid.

Vodka?

Feeling his face starting to burn in humiliation, Alias saw a broken glass next to Jenna with the same red substance pooled stagnant in the bottom of it. It was the Bloody Mary, not a bloody Jenna.

He quickly retracted from her, wiping his paws on his black cargo pants.

"I...um... I mean I thought you... Mick!" He turned to the mink. "Get her out of here, black and white are probably on their way! Go to Delirium, its public and safer that way."

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Mick asked him.

Alias looked to the roof of the building across the street. "After him."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Mick rejected.

"A lead just falls in our lap, your bet you ass I'm going after him!"

Mick nodded. "Fine, then I'll go with you for backup."

"Forget it, Mick. We both know you're in no shape for a fight, not now at least." He looked over at Mick, looking disheartened at being turned down. "Help me by making sure you both get out of here safe." He replied, then sprung to his feet and ran in the direction of the sniper.

Alias dodged several cars as he sprinted at full speed across the street and toward the alley that was next to the building where the sniper had taken his shots. Had he been thinking clearly, he would have noticed a perfectly circular object. It was one of the basics of detecting a sniper, because in nature there were no perfectly circular objects, which caused scopes to stand out.

However, Alias pushed that from his mind and forced his muscles to press on, preparing for what was to come. With his lightning fast reflexes, Alias stepped up on a crate and pushed off, landing on a taller dumpster. Still running, he jumped again, catching the ladder to the fire escape.

The black fox quickly pulled himself up the ladder, and wasted no time scaling the fire escape. Peeking out at the rooftop where the would-be assassin had taken his shots, Alias's eyes scanned the horizon. His eyes quickly caught a smaller figure running the direction the city blocks lead, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He was a stoat judging by his physique. As Alias started running after the sniper, he let out a growl of annoyance.

He wasn't fond of heights.

His foot met the lip of the building and with one great jump, Alias launched himself over the side and into mid air. His legs instinctively kept moving in a running motion. As soon as he felt his feet meet something solid, the fox tucked and rolled, then popped back on his feet, ready to run once more.

He continued to run in the direction of the sniper, but his eyes couldn't find his target anymore-

The A/C unit behind Alias exploded in a shower of electrical sparks. Alias jumped taking cover behind another ventilation unit. His target knew he was being followed, which could make this a little more difficult. However Alias wasn't about to let him get away.

Alias had never, to the best of his recollection, been trained in parkour. It was all about getting your body to move in the most efficient way. He had never needed the skill of a rooftop runner, because he preferred his feet to stay on the ground. However, he knew a gazelle he had once worked with who had been trained in the use of parkour, and he told Alias that the hodgepodge of martial arts moves Alias knew was basically a makeshift parkour experience.

Popping up from his hiding place, Alias noticed a wire that ran from the building he was on, to the one where his sniper was taking up aim. Pulling the sleeve of his coat past his paw, Alias jumped and threw his coat over the wire, creating a crude zip-line; ironically also called a flying fox. Alias was pretty sure he wasn't that kind of fox, and wasn't willing to push the envelope on finding out.

Bringing his legs in close to his chest, Alias picked up speed on his zip-line. The sniper fired his weapon at the swift fox, coming close to striking his target. Alias felt the round rocket past him. His coat was caught by one and savagely jerked in the direction of the bullet.

Alias decided that was too close for comfort. He quickly released his grip on the wire, and let his body drop nearly ten feet in the air. Alias slammed down hard on the rooftop, which was covered in gravel to soften the effects of rain. There came a metallic plink as Alias watched his pistol pop our of the waist line of his pants and skid across the ground.

There came another shot, this time the gravel exploding around Alias brutally.

Forced to abandon his weapon, Alias shot to his feet running toward one of the many air conditioning units that were scattered over this new building's rooftop.

The sniper watched as Alias ran for shelter. He also picked up on the fact that the fox now seemed to be disarmed. He walked slowly past the black, glossy pistol, and moved carefully towards the A/C units, hugging his sniper rifle close to his body. Nearing the corner, he paused for a moment, making sure there was a bullet ready for the black fox.

Whipping around the corner, the sniper aimed his gun ready to put a round through Alias. However, he was met with an empty sight. He saw no Alias as he looked around the A/C units, fans spinning and blowing air. As he turned his back to one of the units, that's when Alias launched his attack.

The black fox slammed into the back of the stoat as he jumped from the top of an A/C unit. The stoat fell forward onto the gravel, which covered the roof, his gun falling away from him. Alias used this to his advantage. Still on his feet, the fox drove his boot into the stoat's stomach hearing him cry out. Doing a barrel roll on the ground the stoat rolled to his feet, nearing the edge of the building that only had a lip for a guardrail. Alias saw the stoat's paw go for a pistol secured at his side. The gun was quickly readied and pointed at Alias, who grabbed the stoat's writs and spun counterclockwise into him, back pressed to his chest. Using his free paw, Alias forced him to drop the gun, then quickly drove his elbow home into the hitman's muzzle. Feeling the cartilage crunch and snap, The Mercenary spun back around and landed a blow with his left paw across the dazed hitman.

Not thinking about his own strength, Alias watched in horror as the stoat stumbled backwards in a trance from the blow. His foot caught the lip of the building, throwing him off balance, and began falling backwards. Almost as if he were in slow motion, Alias jumped out after the stoat as his body teetered for a moment, before falling. Unconsciously, the stoat reached out, only to catch thin air. Realizing what was happening, his face twisted in shock as he felt himself fall into space.

A black paw latched onto his arm, gripping the brown jacket he wore as Alias slid forward and crushed into the lip of the building, suspending the stoat many stories above the ground. Alias, not meaning to put the hitman's life in danger but only subdue him, quickly used his free right paw to grab the collar of his jacket in an attempt to secure him. Alias held him tight as the stoat struggled and flailed about in panic before finally calming down.

"Listen!" Alias barked in a threatening tone. "You fucked up! We both know whoever hired you is going to be pissed when they find out you blew your contract!" The stoat looked up at him, feet still kicking to find solid ground. "You're done, you know it and I know it! And I know this business pretty damn well! Since you're not going to be getting paid, there's one of two ways this goes down, and only one of them includes you going down too!" Alias paused for a moment, letting the stoat mull over this for a moment. "Make you a deal; tell me who contracted you, and I let you go!" Alias snarled. He hated the idea, but sometimes you had to make hard compromises like this. The stoat gave a look down to the pavement below him, then looked back to Alias and nodded.

"Pull me up first!" The assassin replied in a raspy voice that sounded as if it would give out on the drop of a hat.

"Prove to me you've got something worthy of saving your life!" Alias shouted back. The stoat hesitated, looking down at the alleyway below him. "Better hurry," Alias warned, "my paws are getting slippery." He quickly loosened his grip ever so slightly, letting some of the jacket slip through his grip, then quickly held him tight once more.

"Shit! Alright, alright!" The stoat screamed, panting heavily. "I was hired to kill some mink. Apparently he got out of his cage, they wanted him dead!"

"Who's they?" Alias demanded.

"I ain't saying shit until you pull me up!"

Alias released his right paw, letting his coat collar go. "I think you should reconsider! I don't know how much longer I can hold on with my left paw!" He snarled in a menacing tone.

"Fuck!" The hitman cried out in shock. "Look, I never got a name, okay?" Alias felt his paw beginning to quake under the strain of holding the stoat in a death grip. "He's some scumbag pencil pusher. He's the bitch-boy for someone, I don't know who!" His raspy voice cried out. "They call him the Shadow Player! He's running the operation at some place called Waverly Hill, contracted StormRaven Security, that's who I work for!"

"Bullshit!" Alias retorted. "Private security firms don't do contract killing! They outsource to people like me!"

Alias heard the stoat groan in peril. "I'm moonlighting, ok? Times are tough and I needed the money!"

"How do I know anything you're telling me is the truth?"

"I've got it all right here on my Blackberry!" The stoat wailed. "Look at it!" The black fox watched as the hitman's paw moved to his jacket pocket, Alias readied a pistol with his free paw for precaution. However, he produced a rectangular PDA and offered it to Alias. "It's all right there! All the details!" He grunted. "That's everything I know! You said you'd let me go!"

Alias grabbed the PDA, setting down to the side and reached down taking a hold of his jacket collar once more. Pulling on his coat and arm, Alias felt his muscles burning as he heaved the heavy adult stoat back to the roof. His palms were slippery from the combat, and he could feel his brow dripping with beads of sweat, but he couldn't let his only lead die. The stoat was almost up to the lip, when Alias noticed something metallic in his free left paw. Alias watched as the blade swung towards him. Letting go of his jacket, Alias deflected the careless attack, and brought the knife down hard accidentally on the stoat's paw which gripped the ledge of the building.

With a howl of pain, the stoat's grip on the building diminished, and he fell. Still gripping him by the jacket with his right paw, the stoat fell, reaching out with both paws, one with a blade buried in the center of his fleshy palm. This time, however, his efforts were in vain. The stoat ripped free of his jacket and fell screaming to his death. Alias watched in disbelief as he fell nearly five stories onto his face in a silent heap in the alleyway. The black fox laid there holding his jacket over the abyss.

Breathing slowly, he looked down watching as a circle of dark red grew around his body. Alias slowly got to his feet, gathering the PDA from the rooftop. Still looking down at the would-be assassin before he tossed the brown coat over the side, floating through the air as it descended to its owner.

"I did say I'd let you go." The black fox whispered.

Alias looked out at the horizon. The sun was setting over Arcadia and the chilly air was only getting colder. Pulling his trenchcoat around him for warmth, the fox looked out at the sunset, looking like a perfectly blended Tequila Sunrise, one that Abby would make at Delirium. As he stood there in the twilight of the evening Alias couldn't help but to feel a sense of foreshadowing about him. Much like the sun that was setting on the world, he couldn't shake the foreboding sense that his own world was about to succumb to a growing darkness.