Desecration When I spoke to her, she told me that she had been wanting to get rid of Employer for years. So, I'm not the only one that louse has affected with her scummy fingers. She's reached this far as well, and as I hoped, somebody else has been meaning to put her away. Good thing I came here. Yohko Kamaguchi—what an unlikely ally. She didn't even look very surprised when I told her how much I wanted Employer gone, and how casual I was about it all. To her, the life of another human was worth about as much as a little scrap of paper—and just as easy to tear apart. I think I like this person. "You can go now." The receptionist left. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Miss Kamaguchi kept things dark in her room on purpose. There were no lights to speak of, except for a small lamp hanging over her desk, and maybe the computer and a few guidance bulbs. But most of the room was covered in the inky murk which so revitalized me, and I was glad of that. If things went south, I could just kill her and take over whatever enterprise she's running. It didn't occur to me that she had expected me, but only because it was improbable. "I'm Yohko Kamaguchi," said the woman, or rather the voice of the woman. The darkness can lie about shapes: she could've been hiding anywhere. Just because I can see in the dark doesn't mean I can see what it sees; she hid herself from me. "Call me Stalker or Kagemusha." "Do you have a human name?" "I would if I were a human." "Oh. Very well, I'll address you as Stalker then. Kindly take a seat. I hope you don't mind it being very dark in here." "No, I thrive in the dark." "Do you." Well, there was a challenge. Did I now believe she had expected me, or was it for another reason—photography, perhaps. Whatever, not my problem. I didn't sit down. "Do you know why I came, or who I am?" "Of course not, how could I?" came her voice, but closer now. "The receptionist, a daft character, just said that someone wished to see me urgently, and she, or it, had important business. That's all I've heard about you, except your name. Mind me now, I can't see very well." I could, and I could finally see the woman, coming out from behind a large cabinet that was in the far back of her room. She was clear to me, average-looking in terms of feminine build, and had a white lab gown on, the pockets full of cards, keys, and other small things. Her hair was darker than my own soul; her eyes, darker still. She fumbled for a seat and touched the lamp, hissing once before increasing the voltage. I squinted and took a step back. "Stalker," she said, examining me from her seat. "At last I get to see you. You're nothing but a kid, I see, and a wisp of one at that. Oh, I tend to say things at times; will you excuse me?" I merely snorted. "Please, sit. Tell me why you came here. I run this place, you know, so I have to know." "I'll stand if it's the same. I came because I heard of how your organization likes to keep things...let's say, nice and neat. Orderly. Civil." "A-huh, our reputation." "I have some dirt that needs cleansing." She made a tsk sound and folded her hands. "Oh, that is a problem. Tell me more." "An Employer of mine insulted me. I came here seeking revenge. If you won't help me, I'll sever off three of your fingers and feed them to random dogs I find. If you tell anyone I was here, you'll be lucky to have a toe left over." "Threats are not necessary, lady Stalker, no matter how creative. We're not the police; what do you think our name stands for, anyway?" Ah, yes, the double-edged sword called MERCS, a unit that hires anybody looking for quick cash and a couple of fights: the Militaristic Enterprise for the Reformation of Civilization and Society. And naturally, "Reformation" could mean anything. "So I take it you've dealt with revenge before?" "Many times. It's one of our hottest items." Ha, ha. Note to self: pull out her tongue after Employer is processed into cat food. "Then you certainly don't mind doing this for me?" "Well, ours is not a non-profit organization, lady Stalker." "Oh, right. You need my money." "Ah, not quite. It's favors for favors here, like all good businesses. In this life, as even you might know, you cannot have something for free. We expect you to help us if we're to help you." "Right, right." Of course it didn't sound as interesting to me anymore, but depending on what exactly I was expected to do, I might not have minded. "So what do you have in mind?" Kamaguchi rubbed her hands together, probably just to appear busy, and excused herself as she turned around and wheeled to the filing cabinet, where she pulled out a small folder and returned to the desk. As she moved, she talked out loud. "MERCS is as you expect, a business that hires people to do various jobs for us. This can include anything from making simple deliveries or construction, up to things such as revenge, assassination, prevention of unnecessary growth—or the promotion of it—things like that. Almost everything, actually. We don't pay our freelancers with cash; we do favors for them. One client is hired to do another client's job—and I think we have one available who owes us a sizeable debt." "So let me get this straight," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose, as I'm sometimes inclined to do when irritated. "You kill this woman for me, but then I have to work for you." "Yes, until your debt's cleared. Don't worry, it usually takes one job. Ah, here." Kamaguchi pulled out two papers from the file she had, presenting a statistics sheet for an older woman I've never seen before. It was a dark-skinned redhead, taller and more muscular than Kamaguchi or myself, and was dressed in an exotic suit. "She calls herself the Siren," explained Yohko, "and we helped her out with something. We're going to have her help kill your nuisance, and in turn you'll help somebody else, who...I believe...is in here somewhere as well—ah!" She flipped to the second page and presented it to me. "Person named...Nort, I guess. It could be a typo. This individual—I don't know if it's male or female—has been very generous to the MERCS for years, and has only asked that I loan him, or her, anyone who feels like they are quote, ‘out of place in society'." She looked up from the page, pencil in hand, and gave me a sorry look. "I have no idea what that means, or what Nort does with that sort of people, but payment is payment. I've only sent one other person to them, really." "I don't care," I grumbled, having tuned her out long ago. "Look, this is all...very pleasant," (bitterness is the sweetest when devoured by the ear) "but generally a waste of time. Just...tell me you can get this done, and when." "I can," she said, "and as for when, it could be in two hours, depending on when I can expect Siren to show up. She's off somewhere else right now; lord knows where." "Then call her," I spat. I growled and looked around the place, disgusted at her entire self, from the ratty matted hair on her head to the festering, fungus-infested toenails on her feet. Her perfume did no good to mask the stink all humans have; I think I grimaced once or twice. "What do you got around here in terms of a meal, anyway? Or do I have to do favors for that?" "Oh, right, sorry. Forgive me for being rude." She picked up a cell phone and dialed a number. She got the other line in a few seconds: "Yui, it's me. I have a special client here, and she's wanting to know if she can have a meal. I'm a bit tied up right now, so could you please show her to the kitchen for me? I'd greatly appreciate it, thanks." She smiled and hung up, and somehow felt obliged to explain who she had spoken to: "Yui Miyamoto, my would-be sister-in-law and best friend." "I didn't ask," I snorted, and left the room as all shadows do, quietly and invisibly. I frankly did not want to see Yohko Kamaguchi again, which meant that I probably didn't like her after all. Oh well. Yui Miyamoto was a worthless excuse of a human trying to plaster a dopey grin on her face, and the food tasted slightly better than pubic hair dipped in garbage water. I found a room and slept for a few hours as the light outside turned dusky, and woke up only because I was called down again. My so-called partner had arrived at last, lazy monster, and was here to "help" me. God, I despise asking other people's assistance, but when your former Employer keeps a damned sunroof in her office, it's hard to kill her alone. Siren was even uglier in person. Red hair against dark skin made me sick, and dressing up in that suit (while clearly proud of her moniker) would made me want to shove something long and dull into her eye sockets, like a pole or the branch of a tree. I could tell I would hate her anyway; she was the outgoing kind, the type that would smile, walk up, and make friends with anything, even inanimate objects. I swear, if she so much as touched me, I would burn her feet off and force her to eat the ashes. "Stalker, that's such a cool name! You can call me Siren; I know the men do!" She held out her hand, as if to say, "Go on, cut it off. You know you want to." Damn, if only I could waste Employer by myself... "Don't touch me," I warned her flatly. "Before you get any ideas, I have to tell you: I'm prone to random and unexplainable bursts of psychotic episodes. I mutilate without warning, and I have no concept of right or wrong. I also think that all humans should be ground up into hamburgers, and you frankly disgust me more than any of them. If you kill this person, I promise I won't cause you any undue pain, at least nothing you can't walk away from. That is all." I snorted and turned around sharply, making my cloak billow. Siren stood paralyzed, as if there was enough of a mind in there to be offended. "Yikes," I could hear her whisper, "looks like somebody woke up cheerful." ......... "Yohko, I'm confused. You knew that girl had powers, but you helped her anyway. And you said to me that you hated people like that, but aren't you turning into a person with unnatural power yourself? Forgive me if I'm out of place; I just feel like we can be frank with each other." "No, I appreciate your thoughts, and I love you for it, Yui." Kamaguchi kissed her cheek lightly and smiled, then resumed combing her hair. "I know that on the surface, I'm just contradicting myself. And you're right, about all of it. But I've discovered two things in life ever since Yosuke died: one, in order to fight power, you must first have power yourself; and two, I must keep my enemies close at hand if I am to know about them better. Besides, they oftentimes spell their own doom on those missions I send them on." "I still don't understand," sighed Yui. "And then there's this Nort character, whoever that is. You recommend your, let's say, freaks to Nort, and you don't see them again. Do you think Nort will be using them for some other scheme—like to attack you?" "Unlikely, seeing as how he or she has helped us in the past." "But you don't know who to trust these days." Yohko smiled broadly and had to admit, in spite of her own genius, the wisdom of Yui was a powerful thing. "That's right," she admitted, "I don't. But it'd be a waste of time and resources for them to attack me right after donating all that. Regardless, it's one less freak to worry about. There, all done." She smiled dreamily, knelt down, and traced her finger down Yui's cheek, admiring her handiwork in the mirror. Miyamoto always did look cute after she had her hair combed. "Now, don't you look pretty?" ......... Odd, how we always remember the disgusting parts of our life with such foreboding clarity. Humans tend to inflate the goodness of their few positive memories, in hopes that their exaggerated size will counter the overwhelming misery that haunts their every breath here in this life; I am unfortunately no different, even though my good memories are fewer, and the darkness greater, and my disgust at it all more powerful. I remembered exactly where Employer was, and shuddered with each step. Oh yeah, and I had a thorn in my foot that just would not shut up. "So you have superpowers too, huh? I think that's so awesome! What can you do? I can use spirit power to enhance my performance, mostly in my sword. See, I do this shockwave thing—ka-shing!—and bam! Sends the bad guys running!" "I wonder if you have super silence," I muttered. "Oh, and I have super-strength and can run really fast, like a cheetah! So what can you do?" "I'd rather not talk at all." "Hey, that's cool! Ooh, guess what? I just forgot, I never told you what I like! I'm really into books—I read a lot—and I go to all these places as a tourist and check them out! I really love going places; I guess that's why I like being a superhero. I also get to help other people, and—" "Be quiet!!" I flew around and snapped the Shadow Sword at her, growling like a baboon. "If you say one more word," I snarled, "I'll make it so that the only way anybody will be able to understand you is if you write to them in your own blood!" With that I snorted, hid the sword, and turned on my way. My partner held her tongue. I almost hoped she would talk so I'd have an excuse to kill her. Without her voice distracting me, we made it to Employer's office quickly. I gave the small building a scowl, and felt tempted to tear the whole place apart, light or no light, but first I needed to pluck the worm from the apple. Siren caught up with me after having lagged behind (dark moves quick now), and whistled. "Nice place," she whispered. Okay, I wasn't in the mood to kill her, so I let it slide. She looked at me seriously, thankfully remembering to keep quiet. "So how are we going about this? I mean, if she thinks you're all right, she may just let you in without a hassle. If that's the case, you could pass me off as a friend, and that would account for me." I drew back in surprise and looked her way. What did she just say? Was that a spark of intellect from this thing, or merely dumb luck? In all my years, such stupidity was inconceivable—and plausible at the same time. Of course. Employer would never see it coming. "I take it back," I said, throwing her a rare half-smile. "You're only half a dirt-eating, filth-throwing, rotting carcass of a mud-creature." "Oh, thanks." I snorted and hid my smile, even though it was a little amusing to watch her reaction. As casually as I knew how, I led her in and, trying not to wear the mask of vengeance, walked past security and the receptionist, into Employer's office. It was brighter than I remembered, but then again, any light that shines without the sun's guidance must shine brightly. She noticed me, stood, and grinned. Ah, the laughter of the damned... "Stalker! I didn't expect you to come back so soon! In need of money already, are we?" "No. I want something else." "Oh, dear. Honey, no offense, but you just don't do it for me in the sack. I'm afraid I can't please you anymore like that." "No, wrong again. I want you hanging by your own intestines on the rafters. I want to turn your skull into a trashcan. I want revenge, I want you dead, and I want it now." "I see," she said casually. "And...how do you hope to accomplish this? After all..." Suddenly, the lights flared to an unbearable level, blinding me and sending me to my knees. I collapsed and hissed in pain; such light was unbearable!! No shadow could exist in it at all; I was a naked babe just carved from her mother's womb, cold and diseased and screaming in pain. She smiled and kicked me a little. "You are a creature of the dark, my dear: easily destroyed, and with so little effort. Ah, and your friend." Employer curled her finger around her mouth and stood looking at Siren. That useless redhead had her sword out and was squinting, but thankfully was unaffected by the bright room. "Madame, I do not kill without good cause," she stated. "I hold no grudge towards you, and if you release Stalker, I'll forget about this whole thing. Just...let her go." "No," I managed weakly, "kill her." "Ah, was that the plan?" sang my enemy. She laughed merrily, wheeled around, and kicked me again—harder, closer to the ribs. I coughed and spat, writhing helplessly. It burned! It burned! The light burned me!! "You are so silly," I heard someone say, but even my hearing was beginning to die. "Stop it! Let her go! I don't want to hurt you!" "May I have your name?" "Siren, if it's any help! Now let her go!" "Oh, but...this is not the customer service department. You'll have to go a few doors down for that." "Let her go!" I could smell how close the sword was to Employer's neck. Damn, Siren was a pain, but even I had to admit that she was coming in handy. Just...kill her, stupid! "Siren, please...do it, kill her." "I won't if she lets you go!" "Oh, what a bleeding heart you are," sighed Employer. I heard gunshots going off, and the sound of metal striking metal, and finally a whoosh, as if air were moving very rapidly. I heard a scream, eerie and vast, and felt the whole building shudder as something struck the wall hard. Another whoosh shook the air, and the light was extinguished with a mighty crash. Glass rained down on the floor, but with the disappearance of the light, I was able to roll away and avoided the danger. I tumbled into a dark corner of the room and cowered there, recovering my strength and sanity as I tried to grasp what had happened. Siren put her sword away. The glass collected on the floor, and darkness embraced us all. Employer's body had been flung into the wall, breaking her every bone on impact. Her chest had been cut with a tool I could not identify—no blood came from the wound, mysteriously—so she was dead, stone dead and gone for good, and I could only guess Siren's so-called spiritual manipulation powers had done the job. She turned around, knelt, and gave me her hand. "You okay?" "Don't touch me," I grumbled, swatting her away. I tried standing, but tumbled again. She picked me up and I allowed her. O vicious fate, dost thou smile at me, she that scoffed thee and sent thee away, and now leans upon one that she hates, dependent, ruined, needing guidance? O fate, art thou cruel or kind, or dost thou mix in both absolutes, as humans do, and dispense them as thou seest fit? "Thanks," I managed. She lifted me to my feet. "You're welcome. I'm sorry, I had to defend both of us. She managed to fire a few rounds. I hope you weren't hit." "No, you?" "No, I deflected the bullets. Spirit power and all. It's what I used on her, and the light." "Oh. Nice power. Remind me never to make fun of it. She is dead, right?" "If she's not, she's in abysmal pain." "Ah, good." "No, it's not." "Well, good for me, anyway. I got what I wanted, and you're free from debt." "I wish it didn't have to be this way," she murmured, sounding despondent. I snorted and tried to stand up on my own, but that damned light had really hit me hard. I'd need a whole day of shadowy sleep to recover from that. She continued, "I don't like killing, even if I have to. I mean, I do it, but only if I don't have an alternative. And it was her life or ours." "You mean yours, right?" "No, ours." She smiled at me. "I'm your partner, right?" I sneered. "Only temporarily. Still...that was nice work." "Mmm, thanks, but your shadow power is much cooler; I mean, from what I've seen of it. And I've been on the wrong end." "Yeah..." I laughed a little, then caught myself. "Oh, god, I can't believe it—I'm socializing." I jerked away and in spite of my weakness, managed to limp off without her. Siren just laughed, and tried to catch up. I don't really recall falling and becoming unconscious, but she told me I did. ---------- The day is saved...but for how long? In the next chapter, Siren returns to her usual life as a crime-fighter, but runs into a villain she can't fight alone. But don't worry—she has some very familiar help. Tune in to read the next chapter, "Purgatory!" It's unbelievable!
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