The Fall and Rise of Black Assassin Read online

  “If anyone else wants to leave,” I said. “Now’s the time. We’ve all lost a lot.”

  I walked over to Gary’s body, and reached for his blank face plate. No one else moved. But they didn’t meet my gaze. They all looked away, trapped in their private grief. Finally, Eli spoke up.

  “What do we do now?” he asked.

  “We bring them down. Everyone,” I said.

  “But we don’t where they are,” Boo said.

  “No, but Gary did,” I said. “The point of our attack was never to wipe out the assassins. It was to scatter them back to their home bases – which we could strike later. He put a tracking beacon on every assassin he tagged tonight.”

  I put the face plate on. In an instant, I was greeted with a map of every assassin hide-out regardless of color. They expected us to run home and nurse our wounds. A massive, coordinated strike would be the last thing they’d expect.

  So that’s what we did.

  We attacked location after location, base after base. Outside, there was chaos in the streets of the city. Blaze’s death had sent the super community into panic. Some were protesting. Some were rioting. Villains became heroes and vice versa. Fortunately, the assassins were masters of avoiding detection, so our battles were usually far from the peering eyes of the heroes.

  I don’t know how many assassins I killed that night. I only know that, when I thought of Regina and Gary, I hit harder and slashed faster, until none of the battlefield could make my ferocity. The rest of my team did the same. We were like berserkers on some distant Viking battlefield. Any assassin who stood against us was instantly torn asunder.

  Finally, we came to a house. It wasn’t a safe house or a secret underground lair. It was just a regular base in the middle of the suburbs, and I knew we had reached Izuki’s home. It was simply ordinary. We stormed the front door and searched for signs of the Black Assassin, but we found none.

  I knew it would have been too easy to break into this house and find Izuki with his armor off, drinking a beer while he watched the game. That wasn’t going to happen. By now, we had met no resistance. Most of the assassins were dead, and the ones left alive would spread the word that their day of profiting off the supers was over. Today would be a paradigm shift in more ways than one.

  I heard stirring in the house and I knew we were not alone. A creaking sound came from the nearby closest. I motioned for Eli to check out. He slowly opened the door, blade drawn. Whatever was on the other side the door caused Eli to freeze, his eyes wide in terror. I leapt to his side, my sword drawn, only to see two children. They had to be much older than middle school. I kept my sword draw, but Eli immediately drew his.

  “I didn’t sign up to kill kids,” he said. I kept his gaze for a minute and then nodded as I drew my sword. Eli walked the kids to the door and ushered them out of the house. I had to remember why I was doing this. I wanted justice for Gary. For Regina. For my parents. And for the Collective.

  But I couldn’t become a monster, not like Izuki and the rest of the assassins. Their days had come to an end.

  That’s when a throwing knife flew through the window, cutting into the wood of the mantle. There was a note attached. I thought about sending a team out to search the perimeter, but I knew Izuki was already gone. The note read “Midnight Old Towne”.

  Buffy Calico rounded the corner. “We’ve completed the sweep. There’s nothing here but poor choices in interior design and way too old sushi in the fridge. What do you want us to do?”

  “Burn it to the ground,” I said.

  She threw back her blonde hair as she gave me a questioning look.

  “I’m not killing his family,” I said. “But I’m also not leaving him a house to return to.”

  She nodded and grabbed some cleaning supplies from the kitchen – the flammable kind – and spread it all over the house. We gathered in the yard as we tried to warm ourselves from the resulting fire, but after Regina and Gary’s death followed by Kofi’s departure, it all felt so cold to us.

  “This long game ends tonight,” I said as I looked at the note.

  The Fall of the Black Assassin

  The storm outside pounded down on everything in sight. There was so much fury behind it I wondered if the weather was the product of a super. It wouldn’t have surprised me if it was.

  We waited in the midst of Old Towne, with the rain clattering all around us. We had lost contact with Frank. All we knew is he went to investigate the attack on the Enlightened Base. He could be dead. So could Knockout. Or Orion. Or any number of our ever-decreasing allies.

  The game was changed.

  We waited, huddled together in the run-down buildings of Old Towne, gathered beneath a parking garage for heat. We looked petty miserable and pathetic, but I knew we were quite the opposite. This was our night.

  This was the night it ended.

  In a span of an hour, we had lost Regina and Gary. Both gone in a blink of an eye. Kofi’s departure left a hole in all of our hearts. Knockout called me weak, but what do she know? She didn’t really know me. Not really. I was ready for the Black Assassin. This time, I knew his weakness. This time, I would beat him.

  I wouldn’t let him take another person from me.

  The age of assassins was over.

  Something stirred out of the corner of my eye. At first, I thought it was just some garbage or something caught by the wind, but I leapt back as I realized it was growing larger and more defined until it stood before me, a tall imposing figure.

  The Black Assassin had arrived, and now he stood in our midst, completely unstoppable. The rest of us assumed our battle stances. We were tired and haggard from fighting. I knew my friends wouldn’t last long against this Assassin. I was a different story. Rage was the only fuel I needed, and I had plenty.

  “You have no idea what you have done,” the Black Assassin said. I was shocked it was actually him doing the talking. Normally, he used a voice modulator to hide his voice, but now I knew, I was hearing the man instead of the legend.

  Izuki.

  “You have destroyed everything I spent a lifetime building,” Black Assassin said. “If I had the time, I would return the favor. But I’ll have to settle for just taking your lives tonight.”

  “No,” I said, standing defiantly towards them. “You’ll have to settle for me. Everyone else, fall back.”

  “Dude,” Eli started, but I cut him off.

  “I’m not losing any more family. This is between him,” I stared into his dark visor. “And me.”

  “No matter what happens, do not engage,” I told the others. I saw the others take a hesitant step back. Eli was the last to do so.

  In this instance, I wasn’t afraid of the Black Assassin. The Red Assassin had taken everything from me, and I have long come to terms with that boogieman. To me, the Black Assassin was just another clown in a mask. He was no better or worse than the supers that rioted across the city. But he had killed Gary, so he had to pay.

  Lightning crackled in the distance and we began our duel. I drew the Red Assassin’s sword and parried the first blow. Instead of striking, however, I immediately withdrew and let Black Assassin make the first move. In other fights, I was foolish and driven by fear, leading me to make costly mistakes.

  Not this time.

  This time I would keep the advantage.

  I dodged the next blow and drove my sword towards his chest, but the Black Assassin batted it away. I laid a blow across his visor. He staggered back in a daze, but it wasn’t long enough for me to deal a blow. He moved in for a counter attack, delivering slash after slash. I dodged most of them and blocked any of them which threatened me. I then returned the favor with a power glove straight to his chest, sending him gliding backwards.

  Undaunted, the Black Assassin continued to press on. He feigned a slash towards the left and then pivoted into a round-house kick. I had seen that trick before though. I ducked the round house kick and then delivered a slash across his armor. The Black As
sassin staggered back again, but I could hear the whirling sound within his armor.

  He continued with a whirlwind of slashes. I wasn’t able to dodge any this time, but I blocked most of them, leaving only a few superficial wounds along my skin. I saw his strategy however. The Black Assassin hoped to wear me down. After all, time was on his side. I was not so lucky. I used my power gloves to send him flying once more, but I could only keep him away so far or for so long.

  I rushed towards him and cut a wide slash of my sword. The Black Assassin couldn’t move that fast, so he had little choice but to stand there to take the slash. Rather than let his blow be deflected by his armor, however, I pounded into him with my power gloves with all the determination of a prize fighter.

  Black Assassin wheezed and coughed from the blows as I pummeled into his armor. I knew he couldn’t sustain too many more blows like this one. All around me, I heard gasps and cheers from Eli, Boo, Boulder, Buffy and the rest. I was too distracted, too confident to notice Black Assassin’s haymaker until it was right next to me. His next blow dropped me onto the ground. By the time the stars left my eyes, I could feel the Black Assassin bearing down on me. I dodged his incoming stomp as it nearly crushed the payment beside me. I managed to roll out of the way while the Black Assassin’s foot was now submerged several inches into the concrete. I stood up and regained my posture while it took a minute or two for Black Assassin to free his foot.

  He immediately charged at me, returning to the hurricane of sword slashes I had seen just a minute ago. Several more slashes cut into my arm and chest. None of them were life-threatening, but I knew soon I would lose blood.

  And Black Assassin would win once more.

  I had to think. Not thinking – reacting – that’s what got me into the mess in the first place. The problem was, no matter how hard or fast we struck the Black Assassin, we always came up short. He would heal any wound, no matter what.

  The Black Assassin began yet another cascade of swords. I knew I didn’t have enough strength to block all of them. I cast a wary glance at my friends. This might be it. This might be where he skewers me.

  The Black Assassin rushed forward. In the second before where my life was supposed to start flashing before my eyes, I didn’t see any opening, but I had something better instead.

  I had an idea.

  Gary’s last words were about the suit. Maybe we’d been going about this all wrong. We were trying to overpower the suit, but maybe that wasn’t possible, at least with a master combatant Izuki at the wheel. So maybe it wasn’t a case of beating the suit but separating the suit from the man.

  When Black Assassin drew in close, I reached up and grabbed the breastplate of his armor as best as I could. His sword cut deep into my chest, but I didn’t care. With a growl, I jerked the breastplate off completely. I tossed the plate aside and returned with a slash of my sword. The Black Assassin was able to dodge it, but not completely – not before my sword cut deep in his flesh. And with his armor partially gone, this was one wound that wouldn’t heal instantly.

  “Clever,” he said. “But let’s see how you do …”

  He advanced again. Seeing the opening, I struck again, but realized my mistake too late. He braced my sword between both points of his arms and with one solid motion broke the Red Assassin’s sword in two.

  “Without this!” he exclaimed.

  My sword was gone. Though I struck a major blow against the Black Assassin, I had one struck him only once. He had struck me once and grazed me ten times at least. And I was mostly unarmed.

  The Black Assassin swiped his sword at me, but this time I ducked, rolled, and then grabbed his arm before he could return to position. I produced my combat knife and then ran the knife down into his armor. Circuitry began to spark as I ripped another section of armor from Black Assassin, and for good measure, I broke his armor. Izuki howled in pain. I had not only injured him, but I had also deprived him of wielding his swords with both hands.

  “I don’t need two hands to beat a street filth such as you!” he growled.

  “We’ll see about that,” I challenged.

  He charged forward but I dodged the sword and waited for my opening. Now Black Assassin was on my level. And I had all the time in the world. When the moment came, I laid a blow from power glove straight into Black Assassin’s other hand. The injury would heal since he still was armored there, but he dropped the sword and I kicked it away.

  He tried to claw at me like a vicious animal, but my next punch went straight into his visor. I removed his helmet to see Izuki’s worn face grimacing at me. My last blow had knocked out his left eye socket, which was now a bloody and swollen mess.

  The Black Assassin was injured and not healing, but he remained a calculating and ruthless enemy. He charged at me with his palm outright, and I knew such a blow could cause crippling nerve damage if it hit. I didn’t give him the opportunity, so I responded by piecing his collarbone with my knife and lodging it in there. The battered Assassin finally crumbled at my feet.

  I ripped off the remaining pieces of armor and cast them aside. I saw my team picking them up the moment they hit the ground. Then I clasped both hands together, and with both power gloves charged, pounded into Black Assassin’s back at full force. I heard several bones crack as Izuki, no longer the Black Assassin, lay broken and bloodied at my feet.

  “Frank was right about you,” I said. “But I’m not going to kill you. That’s his call.”

  “F-F-Frank?” Izuki gasped as if trying to understand the word.

  “Do not mistake this action for mercy. You deserve none,” I said. “In your condition, I’d be surprised if a crackhead or some punk doesn’t kill you down the street, but who knows? Maybe you’ll surprise me.”

  With that, I turned and walked away. Izuki said nothing. He had to save his strength, so he hobbled up to something resembling both feet and limped away.

  “Come on,” I told the others. “We’re done here.”

  Becoming the Black Assassin

  From the rooftops, we watched the city as it burned. The day Frank had been warning us about had finally come to pass. He had declared war on the supers.

  “It’s a war zone down there,” Boo said. “It’s not safe for us here.”

  “I got news for you,” Boulder replied. “I don’t think it safe for us anywhere.”

  “Safety was a luxury we haven’t known in a long time,” I spoke out. Silence fell over the group as we continued our lonely vigil amid the fiery glow of the city.

  Beneath us, we watched as what looked like an ambulance screeched into oncoming traffic, pursed by a colorful trail of super speedsters. The day Frank had always told us about had finally arrive. And we were just standing there, watching it happen. We all observed the chase unfold, but no one moved a muscle.

  Never one for awkward silence, Buffy gave a sigh, tying her blonde hair into a ponytail to prevent it from blowing against the cold night wind.

  “So, what the hell do we do now?” she asked.

  “What we were trained for,” I replied, steeling myself against the cold. The bag containing the Black Assassin’s armor weighed down upon my shoulder.

  “I don’t think so,” I heard an accented voice cut through the dark. We all looked to see a skinny silhouette standing in the shadows.

  “You didn’t get very far, Kofi,” Eli smirked. “Rush hour traffic a bit hectic out there?”

  “You could say that,” Kofi replied.

  “Now that we’re back together, we can make an impact out there,” I said.

  “I agree, but not like this,” Kofi said. “We’ve been Frank’s brave little soldiers through all of this, and where the hell is he?”

  I could see his words cutting through the group as we all looked away from one another. He had a point. Yeah, Frank had declared war on the supers, and yeah, he was fighting for his life…but we hadn’t heard heads or tails from him since this mess began. The city – the world – was falling apart, and he
was too busy to pick up a phone?

  “I’m not anyone’s sidekick. Not after what happened to Regina,” Kofi said. “I’m carving my own path in the sand.”

  I had already lost enough family tonight. I didn’t want to lose more. But it was already happening.

  “Kofi, please, because of what happened to Regina, don’t do this. Not alone,” I said. Kofi was silent, looking away. The awkward silence fell upon us, and once again, Buffy broke it.

  “He’s not alone,” she said. “I’ll go with him.”

  She laid her hand on my shoulder, smiled at me and then headed to Kofi. Boulder and Boo nodded at me and then silently followed.

  “We need to go to,” Victoria said. I sighed, but by now, I had accepted the truth.

  “I know,” I said.

  “The Red Assassin is still out there,” Trevor replied. “We need to find him and make him pay for all the things our father did to our family.”

  “But,” Victoria smiled at me. “We’re down for the good fight. When you need us, we’ll be there.”

  “I know,” I said again. Despite going in separate directions, the family would remain. The same could be said about Kofi and Buffy as well as Boo and Boulder.

  I saw Eli starting to slink away out of the corner of my eye.

  “You leaving without saying good-bye, cuz?” I smirked.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Elijah said. “I ain’t going far.”

  I gave him a confused look. “Eli, I might not agree with Kofi, but he’s right – the city isn’t safe.”

  “Yeah, but the basement safe house is,” he replied. “I’ll be just across town if you need me.”

  “I’m surprised you even remembered,” I said.

  “It’s a super world now. Someone has to watch out for the little guy. That’s where the Militant comes in,” he said.

  “Militant, huh? You’ve got this all figured out,” I said.