Read Or Die Fan Fiction / X-Men Fan Fiction ❯ Read or Die: Shadowcat! ❯ Chapter 7

Shadowcat: Read or Die!

Part Seven

"Sadly," Joker noted as he picked up some papers from his desk, "we've only been able to assemble a minimal file on this 'Ogun." The blonde haired man looked irritated at this, but in an elegant, sort of British way.

Kitty blinked, and then the brown haired woman smiled, "I'm surprised you have a file on him at all, honestly."

They had returned to the Library along with Nancy's sketches, passing them on to the Great British Library's intelligence analysts to go over. Now they all sat in Joker's office within the sprawling complex, waiting for Wendy to arrive with the tea.

"That fight you had with Nancy sounds remarkable," Wendy noted as she came inside with the fully loaded tea tray. Kitty jumped up to help, the two quickly getting everybody served. "Thank you," the blonde smiled.

"No problem," Kitty said before she sat back down, taking a drink of her tea. 'You know, I could get used to this,' she noted.

"Kitty was incredible," Yomiko beamed at Wendy. "She subdued Nancy so easily, it was remarkable," the black haired teacher gushed, little circles of red on her cheeks.

Kitty blushed, "I doubt that Nancy was going all out, so don't praise me too far." She looked over at Joker, "I don't know much about 'Ogun either, but here goes." She took a drink, "According to Logan, 'Ogun is an old-fashioned ninja, possessed of incredible skills. Logan trained under him more than twenty years ago, and when we met again he hadn't aged."

"In your report," Joker said as he looked over at her thoughtfully from his seat behind the cluttered desk, "you mentioned something about him raping your mind?"

Kitty nodded to him grimly, "He took me captive, then 'Ogun was able to... reshape my mind and personality, by the time he was done 'Ogun had taken a girl with a bit of self-defense training and turned her to a deadly ninja."

"I'm so sorry," Yomiko said gently as she reached out to put her hand on Kitty's arm, "those weeks must have been terrible."

"It didn't take weeks," Kitty sighed, "only a few days. The only way my friends were able to stop me was taking me by surprise, and it took months before I fully recovered."

"This 'Ogun is a formidable foe," Joker quietly agreed. He sorted through the file on 'Ogun and read, "From the data we gathered he has been active as an assassin for decades, taking on jobs purely for the challenge." He paused, taking a drink of his own tea before adding, "But we were under the impression he was dead."

"He is," Kitty said gravely, "it just hasn't slowed him down much. He first manifested as a spirit in New York, battling Logan there, and he's tried to go after me as well."

"A ghost?" Yomiko squeaked.

"One looking for a body, one assumes," Joker mused. "Probably why he allied himself with this Mr. Sinister, to create one."

"So we've got two suspects," Kitty mused, "and a possible motive. What we need to do know is to find out the opportunity."

"Thinking like a detective indeed," Joker agreed. "We need to find where, now that we know who and probably why."

"We're trying to trace back the movements of the original Nancy," Wendy spoke up, "but it's still pretty slow going. When she created her false history she was very thorough, and it's taking time to determine where she really was and where she merely claimed she visited."

"Joker-san," Yomiko said tentatively, "is there anything else that Kitty and I can do today? I really need to get back to my apartment and change."

"It should be fine," Joker smiled. He looked over at Kitty, "Miss Pryde would you like to go with Yomiko or stick around here?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to go out and stretch my legs," Kitty admitted. "I haven't visited Tokyo in a while, and it's a lovely city."

"Of course," Joker nodded, "Wendy will lead you up and out."

"Thanks," Kitty got up, and then paused to look at Yomiko. "Go see Nenene," she offered, "she'd probably like to see you."

Yomiko looked just a bit perplexed as Kitty left the room following Wendy, but she still cheerfully said, "Sure."

Wendy led Kitty to an elevator, and they swiftly rose through the Library complex. The hidden access put them in the ordinary library on street level, where Kitty and Wendy parted ways. "How long do you think you'll be gone?" Wendy asked.

"A few hours, probably," Kitty mused. "I want to check out a few old haunts, that sort of thing," she explained.

"See you then," Wendy beamed before heading back inside the building.

Kitty headed off down the crowded Tokyo street, taking a deep breath of fresh air. The library was nice, but the scent of all those books could get a little bit oppressive at times. She walked on, the sun shining down, and knew she was being followed. She walked on casually, not indicating any awareness of her tail, and then ducked around a blind corner.

It only took a few minutes for the tall, blonde haired man to come around the corner. Kitty smiled to herself, he rather reminded her of Logan. It wasn't his appearance, of course, but something in his attitude. It was like he was saying nonverbally, 'I've seen just about everything, and I've made it through all of it alive.'

"Hello, Mr. Anderson," Kitty said dryly, "you tailing me?"

Drake Anderson actually smiled, taking his cap off and running a hand through his rough blonde hair. "Not exactly," he smiled, "I'm you're bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?" Kitty repeated in surprise.

"You're good," Drake hurried to say, "in fact you're better than I though, spotting me that quickly. But we want to make sure nothing unexpected happens."

Kitty looked over at him thoughtfully. "I guess if I try to ditch you, you'll get in trouble with Joker?" she asked him pleasantly.

"Something like that," Drake agreed. He tilted his head to the side, "And since we don't know the scope of the enemy's plan, wouldn't you rather have back-up?"

Kitty made a face, "A good point. All right, you can tag along if you want."

"Thank you," Drake gave her a smile as they fell into step together. They probably made an interesting looking pair, the burly blonde haired man and the slim American woman walking along the crowded street together.

"So how long have you and Yomiko known each other?" Kitty asked.

"Years, literally," Drake shrugged. "Yomiko started doing book authentications, and then became the Paper after the death of the last one. She's a hell of an agent and a good friend." He tossed her a sudden smile, "Just don't tell her I said that."

"Let me guess," Kitty smiled slightly, "you're usually working with her, and have to be the one to get her going forward, by force if necessary?"

"Pretty much," Drake agreed.

Kitty chuckled softly, "One of these days I'm going to have to introduce you to Logan, you'll either become best friends or try to kill each other."

"You think we're that alike?" Drake asked.

"You have no idea," Kitty said. They walked on silently for a few minutes before she asked, "Do you think Yomiko was in love with Nancy?"

"I saw them together, working and playing," Drake said after a moment of silence, "yeah, I think Yomiko loved Nancy."

"And Nancy?" Kitty asked curiously.

"That's harder to say," Drake admitted. "I think Nancy cared for Yomiko, so much so that she plead for Yomiko's life, but I don't know about love."

"I think she did," Kitty said softly, the oddest look on her face. She tilted her head back, "I trusted Yomiko as soon as I met her, and I bet Nancy did, too."

Drake laughed suddenly, "That's true. Did Yomiko ever tell you about the giant paper airplane incident?"

"Giant paper airplane?" Kitty echoed.

Drake grinned, "It sort of happened like this..."

To be continued...