Bullets and Smoke
> “Me? I met Frein when I came to Earth, and I fell in love with him. Surely, that’s enough.” ~Katherine Militia
“How would I know?” Katherine asked, facing a distorted entity that was her master.
“Know what exactly?” It replied. Its attention mostly focused on a crack in reality.
“If I found the Visitor…”
Its face flickered from one form to another, rippling emotions too instantaneous to comprehend. “It’s simple, dear Katherine.” He turned towards the young Seeker while she kept peering through the crack in reality. Somehow, the motion was obvious. “The Visitor will ask to visit.”
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Katherine’s world turned dark at the sight of Frein’s lifeless body. The sheer hostility of his murderous intent rendered her immobile for just a split second. A moment so crucial that a mere speck of her concentration could have prevented the tragedy.
She would curse herself if not for the simplicity of his wound. Then again, she had learned how vulnerable humans of Earth were from a speeding piece of lead given her current profession.
Panic, despair, and confusion roiled into fury, eroding years of trained discipline. Until today, the mission had prevented her from going all out. Secrecy was of utmost priority.
But no more. Not when her whole world was at stake. She would have no face to show to anyone back home if Frein died, nor did she think she’d be able to if he did.
Her shaking hand held his wrist, feeling for any sign of pulse.
A sliver of hope remained; it was enough for Katherine. She removed both their helmets in a hurry, then placed a hand over Frein’s wound and began to Draw.
“Samesia.”
Light pulsed for a brief moment, then it was done. Frein gasped for air, but his consciousness had taken a toll. With his life secured, all he needed now was time to sleep peacefully, a luxury Katherine intended to divest from Frein’s assailant.
Sleep, maybe. Peacefully? No. She promised to ensure nightmares for the rest of his pathetic life.
“Move,” said the armed man. He was young and drunk with a vile smile reaching both ears. “I want to shoot more bullets in him.”
Katherine wiped a tear as she stood, eyes recovering from the blur. A floating object materialized on the right side of her temple, glowing like a fancy hair ornament. From it burst ribbons of light hovering around her hair like a sort of imitation.
“I said move! Or I’ll shoot you, too.”
“Go ahead and try, you talking piece of garbage.” Katherine growled, taking a step. Her ornament’s light intensified with prismatic colors, painting the evening with vivid hues. The black from her pupils reverted to red, full of controlled fury and confidence.
The man’s irritation quickly turned to a grin, giving away his intent. Shot was fired. Sparks grated up from the asphalt, and a street lamp shattered as both halves of the bullet crashed on their unsuspecting existences. At the same instant, the armed man fell to the ground with a wound gushing out of his shin.
The detective relaxed her posture, lowering a materialized knife to her side.
A piece of sharpened power no larger than a breadknife. Katherine stifled a laugh. This world was so depraved of meiyal it couldn’t even Draw a proper blade.
The man’s intoxicated confusion and mysterious injury mixed with his agonized screams. It was irritating to say the least. But it, as well as Katherine’s glowing hair ornament, caused the mob behind them to fall to his aid, surrounding the entire driveway while flailing their brutish weapons.
Katherine recalled, only briefly, that some of these people worked for rich folks who had influence over the rule and law of the land, and they spewed nonsense like those could be a threat to her. Not that it mattered to her at any point during her time here. It wouldn’t start now.
She raised her knife in response to the gathering thugs and poured her own power into it. The blade shined, changing its shape similar to a katana. The coincidence, as Katherine had put it, was surreal.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Shinera.”
She swung the sword with a brief flourish to her side, and a small circle of light formed around her and Frein.
“Back off and you will live.” The murderous intent oozing from her words hushed the flailing and noise into an abrupt stop, turning them into nervous stares. “Cross this line and you will meet your end.”
What the hell is this?
A sword? What the—
She’s just one girl. We can take her!
The thoughts echoing from each thug were as clear as spoken words.
A brave one crossed the line. He dropped lifeless in that instant. Two more followed before the others realized what had happened, confusion creeping over their faces.
Katherine relaxed her arms as if she didn’t move at all, hair falling with grace. She breathed slowly to maintain control. Earth’s resources were scarce, and she refused to consume her reserves.
In any case, the threat was established. She erased Shinera from reality, giving way for her to take a fighting stance.
“I don’t have all night,” she said, taunting as another set of thugs gathered around her. “You don’t have to take turns.”
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It took Jeff a little over a minute to digitally cash-in his winnings and send David’s share while making sure the Goliath champion knew it came from Frein. He did so while escorting another contender on a lower-class ring with half a mind to whatever they were talking about.
Of course, he wasn’t about to spend his winnings off on another bet, not while he had won so much from the previous one and cared so little about this one. In fact, the fight was so boring he left the seats without even finishing the entire round, deciding he could leave his shift early since this establishment never worked under the law anyway.
He was on his way to the staff room when he heard gunfire. The hallways always muffled everything; from the roaring audiences to the screaming agonies of the injured. But he was sure of it, as sure as spotting Detective Katherine’s coat from a convention’s crowd.
His mind raced at the thought and his steps snapped towards a completely different direction. He may have imagined it, but he was convinced the noise came from where Frein and Katherine were headed. His brisk walk developed to a jog as he vaguely recalled the Detective’s off-day schedule meant there was a chance she wasn’t armed, and he was practically sprinting when he clearly remembered how exhausted Frein was from the previous match.
Jeff came to a stop a few steps from the exit, studying its ramshackle features. Closed double doors; the consistent patterns from the muddy footprints to and from the doors didn’t indicate any hasty pursuit, so he concluded it was safe to approach. He pushed one door ajar, crouching low and keeping his sidearm close to his chest in case of any ambush as well as to monitor his breathing.
Nothing.
Except, through the narrow slit, Jeff noted a missing street lamp that should be just beyond the gates.
He had taken this exit once or twice, not only to practice his escape routes in case he got busted, but also to keep track of any changes no matter how minute. This route had a steel gate and the only choice to escape would be climbing over it. Not exactly the best route.
The good thing about working under Detective Katherine’s wing was that she never took any detail for granted and always wanted every piece of information no matter how insignificant they seemed at first. Pushing the door confirmed the missing street lamp, and the faint scent of tobacco hinted that a bunch of hoodlums had been here just a few minutes ago.
Just as he was getting his worries confirmed, a flash of bright light erupted for an instant. Jeff snapped towards it, crouched and pistol at the ready.
Camera?
Maybe. The flash was too bright for a smartphone, but a camera could still be a possibility. He inched cautiously, keeping himself low between vehicles. He began to pick up noises. First were the ruffling of shoes, then the agonized grunts, and by the time he had heard pained screams, he tightened his resolve and rushed into the scene.
The first that came to his mind was, how am I going to report this?
In an open space, barely lit by the bloodied light of the guardhouse were about two dozen men lying on the ground. In the middle of them was Detective Katherine, breathing heavily but standing, and she was…smoking? Though Jeff had indeed appreciated Katherine’s figure—the few times she didn’t wear that blasted coat—in this figurative sense in the past, he did so with respect, keeping it to himself. He was married after all.
The figurative meaning of the term meant little in this case, however, since he could clearly see white lines of smoke rising from the detective’s back as if she had just put herself out of flames.
“Jeff, I need your help,” she called out, taking Jeff out of his stupor. She weakly gestured towards a fallen bike where Frein lay on the ground pooled by his own blood.
Jeff quickly took action. At first, he wanted to give first aid, but Katherine waved him over to prop the bike instead, Frein wasn’t bleeding anymore anyway.
But that amount of blood…
Detective Katherine had that look. Don’t ask.
Jeff was at least a decade older than her, but he couldn’t even leverage that whenever she wore that face, not to mention she was higher ranked. Not even the Chief could breach it, and as far as everyone knew, only Frein could do it.
He had so many questions to ask: the unconscious men, the smoke on her back, Frein’s condition, all of which were potentially dangerous enough that it might cost him his life. At least, reading from Katherine’s face, he would be as sure as dead if he even tried to bring up the topic.
“You’re a good man, Jeff,” Katherine began as soon as Frein was secured on the bike. “I bet Frein will miss you.”
Panic immediately clouded all of Jeff’s senses. He considered pulling out his gun…for self-defense! But he knew it was futile, he had to use words.
“Please, I have a family,” he begged. “I won’t tell anyone!”
“Good man, but a bit of an idiot,” Katherine sighed. “Calm down, I won’t hurt you. Get the gate open.” She hopped on the bike and turned the ignition; the loud boom didn’t help Jeff’s heart at all.
“We’re leaving,” she continued and gestured over to Frein. “Depending on him, we’ll probably never see you again. Everything you need to start tearing this place apart, you can find from those people. Call it in, I assure you they won’t wake up until morning. I’ll let the Chief know you’ll be taking my place from here on out, you better have your wings ready.
“And don’t go looking for us, understand? You’ll just waste your time. Have a great life, Jeff. Send my regards to your family.”
And just like that, not even letting a word in, not even letting him to reciprocate a goodbye, Katherine left, driving off into the darkness of the night.
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