Read Or Die Fan Fiction / X-Men Fan Fiction ❯ Read or Die: Shadowcat! ❯ Chapter 8

Shadowcat: Read or Die!

Part eight

"You're saying," Kitty looked up at Drake Anderson disbelievingly as the brown haired girl said, "that Yomiko assembled a giant paper airplane, got Nancy to climb on with her, and then you threw them off of the top of a building?!"

"Yep," Drake smiled slightly. The blonde haired man tilted his head to the side, "But she forgot to add the tail, so they dropped like a brick."

Kitty shook her head with a smile, "Remind me not to underestimate Yomiko."

"I stopped doing that a while back," Drake agreed.

They walked on together quietly for a few moments before Kitty quietly said, "You noticed the tail we picked up?"

Drake nodded slightly, looking forward as they moved. "Yeah, I did," he confirmed. "You want to lose him, or...?" he asked.

"He's maintaining his distance for now," Kitty mused, "losing him would just tip him off we spotted him." She caught another look at the odd figure shadowing them, "You recognize him as an member of the Ijin?"

"Not one we ran into before," Drake said as they approached a crowded marketplace. Gentlemanly he used his body to shield Kitty from the press of the crowd, taking advantage of the position to look behind them.

"Want to try and grab him?" Kitty suggested, maneuvering them through the crowd.

"We should be calling up Joker," Drake said while keeping his voice low, "let him get a tactical squad here to contain him properly."

"By which time he might be gone," Kitty countered. Intensely she said, "If we want to do this, we have to seize the opportunity."

Drake gave her a look, "You're pretty good at convincing people, too." He smiled slightly, "All right, let's do this. How do you want to do it?"

"Same sort of strategy I pulled on you," Kitty smiled. They timed it carefully, using the mob to cover their movement before ducking around the corner. "Ready?" Kitty asked.

"Oh yes," Drake grinned.

There was a disturbance out in the crowd, and they heard the sound of someone forcing themselves forward. He came around the corner, the brown clad figure's eyes widening as he gazed at the two of them in honest surprise. He turned to run away but Drake reached out to grab him by the collar, Kitty swiftly moving to block his path.

"I really don't like being followed," Kitty smiled dangerously, "especially by strangers. Who are you, and what do you want?"

"It's been along time, Pryde," he smiled slightly, his face looking oddly gaunt. He looked over at Drake, "You have a new protector, it seems. Is he as capable as Logan was?"

Kitty recognized the sound of his voice, even if the body was different. "It has been awhile, 'Ogun," Kitty agreed seriously, her body deceptively relaxed.

He moved like a snake, striking out with speed and agility towards Kitty's head. Her forearm blocked the strike and she kicked up, nearly clipping him across the brow. Back and forth they sparred, getting the measure of each other. Drake watched in awe, hands twitching as he looked for a moment to jump in, but there was none.

'Ogun stepped back, a little smile teasing his lips. "You are as good as you once were, maybe better," he admitted. He met Kitty's eyes and asked, "Would you reconsider? Give yourself to me and you will know immortality."

"Not interested," Kitty kept her guard up, watching him warily. "I'm quite happy with what I have, thank you."

"Fair enough," he executed a little half bow in respect. 'Ogun frowned as he said, "This shell isn't enough for me to defeat you, but soon the perfect body will be ready for me."

"Not if we can help it," Drake vowed, his pistol in hand.

'Ogun looked over at Drake coldly, "Then I look forward to testing your mettle, giant, but for now.. I bid you farewell."

"What.." Kitty started to say, then stepped back in surprise.

The thin figure's clothes began to emit black smoke, then in a second simply exploded into flames. The heat soared upwards, 'Ogun still smiling at them calmly as his flesh and blood was quickly consumed. The flames died down in only a few moments, ash and dust swirling where he had stood, no other trace remaining.

"Damn," Kitty muttered softly, the sweat pouring down her face.

Drake had his cellphone in his hands, dialing up quickly. "Wendy? Put me through to Joker, we've got a situation here."

Kitty walked forward carefully, the heat dying down as she knelt by the ashes. She was careful not to touch anything, sniffing the air thoughtfully. "No chemical accelerant, I think, " Kitty said to herself thoughtfully.

"Joker, we've had a run in with an Ijin, I think," Drake reported behind her. "He fought like a martial artist, Kitty identified him as 'Ogun." He paused before reluctantly adding, "We attempted a capture, but he destroyed himself."

As Kitty rose to her feet she said, "Have him get a recovery team out here fast, we need the ashes examined."

"You got that?" Drake asked with a wry smile, "Good. Anderson, signing off." As he put the phone away he looked at Kitty, "No chemical accelerant? Then how did he burn up so fast?"

"We won't know for certain until we get the remains examined," Kitty said as she looked down at the ashes thoughtfully, "but I think it was done biologically."

Drake made a face, "We did run into an Ijin with electrical powers, there's no reason to think they couldn't do fire."

Unmarked vehicles began to arrive, releasing Library staff as Kitty cautioned him, "Remember, it's just a theory. We need to test the remains to be sure."

"I'd bet you're right," Drake said seriously.

"Kitty-san!" Before either of them could say anything else she was nearly knocked right over by a flying hug. "Are you all right?" Yomiko demanded. She began to hurriedly look Kitty over, "That thing didn't hurt you, did it?"

"I'm fine," Kitty smiled, grabbing Yomiko before she fell down. "How did you..."

"Joker called me when he heard you were in trouble," Yomiko said as techs quickly collected the ashes, scanning the area with their equipment.

"I'm fine, too," Drake said dryly.

Yomiko looked at him in surprise, the black haired woman blinking up at him owlishly through her glasses. "Oh, Drake-san! What are you doing here?" she asked.

Kitty did her best not to laugh, turning to look at the leaving techs. "Make sure you do a chemical analysis along with genetic tests," she reminded them.

"Right, right," the techs called as they disappeared into their vehicles.

"Do you think it was something 'Ogun triggered," Drake asked Kitty seriously, "or was it somehow set like a timer?"

"If it was on a timer," Kitty mused, "it makes me wonder about the relationship between 'Ogun and Sinister. They wouldn't be equals, probably, but employee and employer."

"Is that good or bad?" Yomiko blinked.

"I'm not quite sure yet," Kitty admitted. She shook her head, "Lets hope that analysis of the remains gives us some clues..."

"Whatever," Drake frowned, "I don't think I like this 'Ogun very much. You need help taking him down, I'm there."

"I might just take you up on that," Kitty said seriously.

To be continued...