"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.
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