Source JSON

inkbunny.net · 3686933:5681885 · selected

Downloader metadata · database Download

{
"_format": "download_manifest_v2",
"api_blob_sha512": "1f04ec4dce14bf484f757f05fa0406bbcf4975bc2564d644e7ccd4d472fb4211f1c74429c12b17712fce7c734dc5b8bc9c7c2b2cc009f0ad72e7b34180bff10b",
"artifacts": [
{
"blob_sha512": "502466d16e2c947e10ddf40aa9f9fd0e5ed63064cb270868faad0a751d4034be2098a3c473d18d8fa4bb2d814be1c114b6e7d184810b653e4839663077f02f8b",
"path": "/mnt/data/img-downloader/export/inkbunny.net/Artists/snorgatch/3686933_5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc"
},
{
"blob_sha512": "1f04ec4dce14bf484f757f05fa0406bbcf4975bc2564d644e7ccd4d472fb4211f1c74429c12b17712fce7c734dc5b8bc9c7c2b2cc009f0ad72e7b34180bff10b",
"path": "/mnt/data/img-downloader/export/inkbunny.net/Artists/snorgatch/3686933_5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.api.json"
},
{
"blob_sha512": "511fe7b961b4ff3f11260891ccb145e0dc69f0791eb973194893a356d05b6456fc0273e14a99a3da855d72a203ec3ac1c41ac9d62a51c5a1ab228f112d08930f",
"path": "/mnt/data/img-downloader/export/inkbunny.net/Artists/snorgatch/3686933_5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.description.json"
},
{
"blob_sha512": "7c6490a2acf850c6ea3b965e29093e9b47104d58ee9ab4bf2e21a239f84440b2550f404360942d07c3d987c9d831e165236c85497a6171c2985cf18b71894fad",
"path": "/mnt/data/img-downloader/export/inkbunny.net/Artists/snorgatch/3686933_5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.writing.json"
},
{
"blob_sha512": "f31f745022d6326fd29aef3e6620eb08c73910b040972fb8ff0c56f9f2d8968c458c1726b0aaf32fcb4e930077dc3ab91f2155202013e0ae07262bf8d00d0ad4",
"path": "/mnt/data/img-downloader/export/inkbunny.net/Artists/snorgatch/profile.api.json"
}
],
"sidecar_fallbacks": {
".api.json": {
"comments_count": "0",
"create_datetime": "2025-08-17 02:03:39.81232+00",
"create_datetime_usertime": "17 Aug 2025 04:03 CEST",
"deleted": "f",
"description": "Nightmunk teams up with Rick, a raccoon manimal and kung fu master, to save his human girlfriend Julie from being taken over by the spirit of a dead ninja!",
"favorite": "f",
"favorites_count": "0",
"file_name": "5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"files": [
{
"create_datetime": "2025-08-17 00:53:10.393522+00",
"create_datetime_usertime": "17 Aug 2025 02:53 CEST",
"deleted": "f",
"file_id": "5681885",
"file_name": "5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"full_file_md5": "3c7e24fbe9eee340a3ddb3056a478029",
"full_size_x": null,
"full_size_y": null,
"initial_file_md5": "3c7e24fbe9eee340a3ddb3056a478029",
"large_file_md5": "",
"mimetype": "application/msword",
"preview_size_x": null,
"preview_size_y": null,
"screen_size_x": null,
"screen_size_y": null,
"small_file_md5": "",
"submission_file_order": "0",
"submission_id": "3686933",
"thumb_huge_x": "225",
"thumb_huge_y": "300",
"thumb_large_x": "150",
"thumb_large_y": "200",
"thumb_medium_x": "90",
"thumb_medium_y": "120",
"thumbnail_md5": "742e867fd681a7999d9bd72a20b0735c",
"thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"user_id": "1500125"
}
],
"friends_only": "f",
"guest_block": "f",
"hidden": "f",
"keywords": [
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3343",
"keyword_name": "action",
"submissions_count": "4312"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3691",
"keyword_name": "alvin",
"submissions_count": "906"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1913",
"keyword_name": "armor",
"submissions_count": "9937"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3783",
"keyword_name": "asian",
"submissions_count": "833"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "5465",
"keyword_name": "biker",
"submissions_count": "534"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "2291",
"keyword_name": "chinese",
"submissions_count": "1085"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "11418",
"keyword_name": "chipmunk",
"submissions_count": "14049"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "5214",
"keyword_name": "combat",
"submissions_count": "1334"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "123",
"keyword_name": "female",
"submissions_count": "1156695"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "9765",
"keyword_name": "gritty",
"submissions_count": "52"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1440",
"keyword_name": "human",
"submissions_count": "113136"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "15723",
"keyword_name": "interspecies",
"submissions_count": "11741"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "214591",
"keyword_name": "interspecies relationship",
"submissions_count": "212"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3323",
"keyword_name": "japanese",
"submissions_count": "2329"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3391",
"keyword_name": "kung fu",
"submissions_count": "179"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "191",
"keyword_name": "magic",
"submissions_count": "27223"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "165",
"keyword_name": "male",
"submissions_count": "1270407"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1321",
"keyword_name": "ninja",
"submissions_count": "3926"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1235",
"keyword_name": "police",
"submissions_count": "3108"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "4158",
"keyword_name": "possession",
"submissions_count": "2033"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "5075",
"keyword_name": "priest",
"submissions_count": "541"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "152",
"keyword_name": "raccoon",
"submissions_count": "38641"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3394",
"keyword_name": "rodent",
"submissions_count": "37424"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "909",
"keyword_name": "romance",
"submissions_count": "9507"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "16005",
"keyword_name": "shinto",
"submissions_count": "67"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "35075",
"keyword_name": "shrine",
"submissions_count": "225"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "2686",
"keyword_name": "superhero",
"submissions_count": "4531"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1084",
"keyword_name": "urban",
"submissions_count": "687"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1146",
"keyword_name": "vampire",
"submissions_count": "7526"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "969",
"keyword_name": "violence",
"submissions_count": "4735"
}
],
"last_file_update_datetime": "2025-08-17 00:53:10.393522+00",
"last_file_update_datetime_usertime": "17 Aug 2025 02:53 CEST",
"mimetype": "application/msword",
"pagecount": "1",
"pools": [],
"pools_count": 0,
"public": "t",
"rating_id": "2",
"rating_name": "Adult",
"ratings": [
{
"content_tag_id": "5",
"description": "Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death",
"name": "Strong Violence",
"rating_id": "2"
}
],
"scraps": "f",
"submission_id": "3686933",
"submission_type_id": "12",
"thumb_huge_x": "225",
"thumb_huge_y": "300",
"thumb_large_x": "150",
"thumb_large_y": "200",
"thumb_medium_x": "90",
"thumb_medium_y": "120",
"thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"title": "The Manimal Chronicles #11: The Butterfly",
"type_name": "Writing - Document",
"user_icon_file_name": "446488_snorgatch_snarf.png",
"user_icon_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/446/446488_snorgatch_snarf.png",
"user_icon_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/446/446488_snorgatch_snarf.png",
"user_icon_url_small": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/446/446488_snorgatch_snarf.png",
"user_id": "1500125",
"username": "snorgatch",
"views": "23",
"writing": "[center]The Butterfly[/center]\n\n[center]a story set in the universe of Champions Online[/center]\n\n\t\"Oh, that's my favorite show!\"\n\t\"Mayor Biselle is an idiot!\"\n\t\"Yes, I'll have another, please.\"\n\t\"Well, as David Hume once said . . .\"\n\tI threaded my way through a forest of legs, seeking a quiet corner where I could be by myself for a while. There's a reason I don't normally go to parties, and it's not because I'm the only three-foot talking chipmunk in Millenium City. I long ago accepted that I'm always going to be an oddity and that I'm going to be stared at wherever I go. It's because I'm trained to be observant, and being around so many people causes sensory overload. Plus, in my line of work you tend to accumulate enemies, and there's always a chance one of them will crash the party and put innocent lives at risk.\n\tI found a sofa nobody was using and sat myself down on it, sipping my gin and tonic and trying to tune out all the conversations going on around me. Almost immediately, someone came and sat down next to me. I looked up at her. She was about twenty-five, with long black hair, wearing a black collared shirt, black jeans, black leather boots, black eyeliner, and black lipstick. There was an ornate silver ring on every one of her fingers. She crossed her legs, holding her drink with an air of practiced nonchalance, looked at me, and smiled. \"Hello there!\" she said.\n\t\"Hi,\" I replied, smiling back politely.\n\tShe held out her hand to me. \"I've been wanting to talk to you, Alvin. I'm Lilith.\"\n\tOf course she was. I shook her hand with my stubby, fuzzy, four-fingered one. \"Oh, really? What about?\"\n\t\"Why do you do it?\"\n\t\"Do what?\" I asked, feigning ignorance. It wasn't the first time I'd been asked that question.\n\t\"You know, dress up in a costume and swing around town punching out bad guys.\"\n\tI shrugged. \"It's fun?\"\n\tShe smirked. \"That was a flip answer.\"\n\t\"Yes, it was.\"\n\t\"Are you afraid of admitting the real reason?\"\n\tI raised an eyebrow. \"Which is?\"\n\t\"That you have something to prove.\"\n\t\"Oh, is that my real reason?\"\n\t\"Well, you're a manimal, and you're short. Socially, that's two strikes against you. It only makes sense that you'd want to show everyone you're just as capable as a full-sized human.\"\n\tI chuckled and shook my head. \"It's funny when an amateur psychologist tries to analyze someone they know nothing about. Next you'll tell me I teamed up with Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk because I have unresolved parent issues.\"\n\tShe paused and sipped her drink, probably to cover up that that was in fact what she'd been thinking. \"I'm just trying to understand why someone would risk their life doing something pointless.\"\n\tI stared at her. \"You think what I do is pointless?\"\n\t\"Well, crime never stops, does it?\"\n\tI frowned. \"That's specious. You might as well say doctors should stop practicing medicine because people keep getting sick.\"\n\tShe smiled—a smug, condescending smile. \"Oh, don't take it personally. Everything is pointless. Morality is arbitrary; good and evil are just points of view. The law is just the will of the herd. In the end, nothing really matters.\"\n\tI emptied the last of my drink and looked up at her intently. \"It's easy for someone like you who's never wanted for anything to say that nothing matters,\" I said, \"But when it's [i]your[/i] precious ass on the line, [i]your[/i] back against the wall, then you'll be singing a different tune. Suddenly, things are going to start mattering a whole lot. But don't worry, I'll still be there to help. It's what I do. Now, if you'll excuse me.\"\n\tI hopped down off the sofa, made my way across the crowded room to where my girlfriend Julie Martins was standing talking to another girl, and looked up at her. \"I think I've had enough,\" I said to her.\n\t\"Is something wrong?\" she asked. She knew me well enough to see that I was upset.\n\t\"I'm just tired,\" I lied. \"I'm going to head home. You can stay if you want to.\"\n\t\"No, I'll go with you,\" she said. She said goodbye to her friend, and we left the party together, exiting the apartment and descending the stairs to the street. It was late and the street was empty.\n\t\"So, what happened?\" Julie asked me as we walked along.\n\t\"Someone said something stupid that pissed me off.\"\n\tJulie frowned. \"Did they insult you?\"\n\t\"No, nothing like that. It was just something that someone who grew up as a slave and had to fight for survival doesn't appreciate hearing.\"\n\tShe sighed. \"I'm sorry I dragged you here, then. I just thought it would be nice for the two of us to hang out with normal people for a change.\"\n\tI stuck my hands in the pockets of my leather jacket. \"I'm sorry I can't be normal for you, Julie. I wish I could.\"\n\tShe stopped, knelt down, and put her arms around me. \"I like you just fine the way you are, Alvin.\" And she pressed her lips to my muzzle and kissed me, which made me feel warm and happy inside. I put my arms around her and kissed her back, and we gazed into each other's eyes.\n\tOur private moment was interrupted by the sound of footsteps running toward us. I turned my head to see what the source was. From out of a nearby alley ran a man wearing a black tunic, breeches, and a hood that covered his entire face except his eyes. He staggered and collapsed before us, his chest glistening, reflecting the light from the streetlamp. Then three more men emerged from the alley. I recognized them immediately as members of the Cult of the Red Banner, a gang that operated out of Chinatown, which meant they were very far from their home turf. They moved to surround me, Julie, and the wounded man.\n\tThe Red Banner cultists were lean, muscular men wearing scarlet trousers and foot wraps and green sash belts, their bare chests emblazoned with ornate tattoos of a dragon. Their faces were concealed by white dragon masks with long snouts and horns sticking out to either side, likenesses of the Death Dragon, which the cult worshipped. Each was holding a sword that glistened with blood, presumably that of the man they had been chasing.\n\tI was in my street clothes, which deprived me of most of the weaponry I normally employ when fighting criminals, but that didn't mean I was completely unarmed. I removed a throwing blade from my jacket pocket and readied it while taking up a defensive stance. I'd fought the Red Banner before and was reasonably sure I could handle these three. My main concern was for Julie. If anything happened to her . . .\n\tI didn't have time to complete that thought, as the three cultists lunged at me with their swords. I hurled my throwing blade at the one closest to me, embedding the point in his right wrist. He cried out in pain and dropped his sword, which I caught in midair and used to block a thrust from the second one, the blades clanging together. Then I had to spin fast and parry a thrust from the third one. I gave ground, trying to draw the two still armed with swords away from Julie and the wounded man, and they obliged, moving to keep me flanked, while the one I'd wounded backed off into the shadows, clutching his wrist.\n\tI did a couple of feints to keep them busy while Julie, bless her, called 911 on her cell phone. One of them turned his head to look at her, and I seized the opportunity to rush in and slash at him, cutting into his side. He fell, and I whirled to face the other one and saw him taking a deep breath. I dove aside as he breathed a gout of flame at me. How they do that, I have no idea. There's no apparatus in their masks to generate fire with, so it must be something mystical. The flames singed my fur and ignited the right sleeve of my jacket. I didn't have time to do anything about it, though, as he was on me a second later, hacking viciously with his sword. I parried as best I could, gritting my teeth as the heat on my right arm grew increasingly uncomfortable. I had to get my burning jacket off, but he wasn't giving me an opportunity.\n\tI took the offensive, as my only chance was to take this guy down before I burned to death. He was smart enough to realize that time was on his side, and good enough to block all my attacks and drag things out as long as possible. The pain in my right arm was getting really intense now, and the fire was spreading up the arm of my jacket. I reached into a pocket of my jacket and pulled out a smoke bomb, slamming it on the ground at my feet. Instantly, we were both enveloped in a cloud of thick black smoke, which gave me a moment to drop my sword and tear off my burning jacket.\n\tAs the smoke cleared, the guy came charging at me, his sword raised above his head. I socked him in the stomach, and he doubled over as the air left his lungs, and then collapsed and lay curled up on the ground. Then pain exploded in the side of my head as the foot of the first guy—the one I'd hit with a throwing blade—connected. I staggered to one side and turned to face him, my head ringing from the blow. He threw an open palm strike at my face, which I blocked by sheer luck, as I was so disoriented from that boot to the head I could barely see straight. I grabbed his arm and threw him over my shoulder, slamming him onto the ground on his back. Since it didn't look as if he'd be getting up anytime soon, I turned toward Julie and the wounded man to see how things were going over there.\n\tHow things were going was . . . odd. The man was holding Julie's face in his hands as she knelt beside him, their eyes locked together. She didn't seem afraid, though. I ran over to them, and just as I arrived he released her and his body went limp.\n\t\"Julie?\" I asked.\n\tShe blinked and turned her head to look at me. \"Yes?\"\n\t\"Are you okay?\"\n\tShe nodded. \"Yes, Alvin, I'm fine.\"\n\tI knelt beside the man and checked his pulse. \"He's dead.\" I looked at Julie. \"Did he say anything?\"\n\tShe shook her head. \"Not a word.\"\n\t\"Did you get though to the cops?\"\n\t\"Yes, they're on their way.\" Her eyes widened as she noticed my right arm. \"You're hurt!\"\n\t\"Just a little burned. Nothing serious.\" I glanced over at the flaming jacket on the ground. \"I'm more upset about that. I really liked that jacket.\"\n\tJulie gazed down at the dead man. \"I wonder who he was, and why those guys were chasing him.\"\n\t\"He looks like a ninja,\" I said, \"which means he's probably either an assassin or a spy sent by someone against the Red Banner.\"\n\t\"Who would do that?\"\n\t\"Practically anyone. The Red Banner has lots of enemies.\"\n\tA police siren came wailing through the night, growing steadily louder. We both stood up and waited for the cops to arrive. I sighed. This was going to be a long night.\n\n\tI sat at the sergeant's desk, drinking really bad police station coffee as she typed up my statement. My right arm was bandaged where it had been burned, and it still hurt quite a bit. I glanced across the room at Julie, who was sitting at another police officer's desk, giving him her statement. That was standard procedure, taking statements separately so they could compare them for any discrepancies. She looked at me and smiled, and I smiled back. We had been here close to three hours now, and she looked as tired as I felt. Then I perked up as the detective in charge of the case—a tall, well-dressed, black guy named Glass—entered the room alongside a lumbering bear of a man sporting a bushy unibrow, thick muttonchops, massive hairy arms, and huge apelike feet, which were unshod. He was John Cowens, a.k.a. Kodiak, a special agent for the FBI who handled all things paranormal. He was also a mutant with superhuman strength. \"Hey, Alvin, how's it going?\" Kodiak said, in a deep, rumbling voice.\n\t\"Fine, thanks. How's it going with you, John?\"\n\tHe shrugged a pair of shoulders broad enough to land a plane on. \"Eh, same old, same old.\"\n\t\"I take it you two know each other,\" commented Glass.\n\tI nodded. \"We've worked together before.\" I looked back at Kodiak. \"I'm guessing you're here because the Red Banner is involved.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" said Kodiak, \"they're known magic users, so that makes it my department.\"\n\t\"Any ID on the stiff?\" I asked, taking a sip of that awful coffee.\n\tGlass shook his head. \"Nothing on the body, and his fingerprints don't match anything in the FBI's database.\"\n\t\"What about Japanese law enforcement?\" I asked.\n\t\"We checked with them, too,\" said Kodiak. \"No dice. Bottom line, we have no idea who he is.\"\n\t\"Any idea why those three guys were chasing him?\"\n\t\"They might as well be mutes for all they're telling us,\" replied Glass. \"However, there have been several assassinations of prominent figures in Chinatown over the past couple of weeks, all of whom had links to the Red Banner. The murders were consistent with ninja techniques.\"\n\t\"Yeah, I heard about those. You think our dead ninja was responsible?\"\n\tKodiak nodded. \"And the Red Banner tracked him down and killed him in retaliation.\"\n\t\"Unfortunately,\" said Glass, \"since we don't know who he is or who hired him, that doesn't leave us with much to go on.\"\n\t\"What about his weaponry?\" I asked. \"Ninja weapons tend to be distinctive to each clan.\"\n\t\"We're checking that out next,\" said Glass. \"We've got an expert on ninjas flying in from out of town. Oddly enough, he's a manimal, like you.\"\n\tI blinked. \"Really?\"\n\t\"His name's Rick,\" said Kodiak. \"He's a raccoon. You know him?\"\n\tI shook my head. \"Nope. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing any raccoon manimals on Monster Island.\"\n\t\"Maybe you didn't run in the same circles,\" Glass suggested.\n\t\"I don't know,\" I said doubtfully. \"Dr. Moreau only made a few hundred of us, and a unique individual would tend to stand out.\"\n\t\"Well, maybe you can meet up with him and ask him,\" said Kodiak.\n\t\"Maybe I will, at that. How did you know to contact him?\"\n\t\"He's come to the attention of a number of law enforcement agencies due to incidents in Japan, China, the Philippines, Europe, Africa, and North America.\"\n\t\"Sounds like he gets around,\" I commented. \"What kind of incidents?\"\n\t\"Usually, they involve local criminals or terrorist groups,\" said Kodiak. \"The United Nations Tribunal on International Law has been keeping tabs on him ever since he saved one of their agents in Hong Kong. Presently, he's living in Los Angeles, working as a martial arts instructor.\"\n\t\"Interesting,\" I said. I looked at both of them. \"The sergeant has my statement. Am I done here?\"\n\tGlass nodded. \"Once your companion has finished giving her statement, you're both free to go. We'd appreciate it if you stayed close by, though, in case we need to talk to you again.\" He regarded me intently. \"I hardly need to remind you this is a police matter. We'll handle the investigation.\"\n\tI smiled at him. \"I'm sure you will, Detective. I have every confidence in the MCPD's abilities.\"\n\tAs I hopped down off my chair, Kodiak nudged me with his elbow and nodded at Julie. \"Nice going,\" he said, grinning.\n\t\"Thanks,\" I replied dryly. I walked over to her, and she smiled at me, and I smiled back. \"Almost done?\" I asked. \n\tShe looked at the sergeant, who nodded, and she rose from her chair, taking my hand. \"Let's go.\"\n\tWe left the police station and walked down the dark, empty street together, holding hands. \"Well, that was fun,\" I said. When she didn't reply, I looked up at her. \"Are you all right?\" I asked.\n\tShe looked down at me and smiled. \"You asked me that before, Alvin. Yes, I'm fine.\"\n\t\"Okay,\" I said. \"I just thought you might be a little shaken up. That kind of thing happens to me all the time, but you're not used to it.\"\n\t\"I appreciate the concern,\" said Julie, \"but I'm fine, really. Actually, it was kind of exciting, watching you in action. I only wish I could have helped.\"\n\t\"You called the cops,\" I pointed out.\n\t\"I meant help with the fighting.\"\n\tI nodded. \"I guess it's not easy being Lois Lane.\"\n\tShe grinned at me. \"Does that mean you're Superman?\"\n\tI shrugged. \"Well, I do have a cape.\"\n\t\"And it looks quite dashing on you.\"\n\t\"You think so?\" I grinned. \"Maybe when we get home I can put it on and we can have a little fun.\"\n\tShe sighed. \"Not tonight, Alvin. It's been a long night and I'm beat. I just want to crawl into bed and go to sleep.\"\n\t\"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm pretty tired too. How about tomorrow?\"\n\t\"It's already tomorrow.\"\n\t\"I meant during the day.\"\n\t\"We'll see.\"\n\tWe arrived at our apartment, went into the bedroom, undressed, and climbed into bed together. I snuggled up next to her, feeling her warm body against mine. God, it felt so good! I leaned over and kissed her cheek, and saw she was already asleep. I gazed at her beautiful face for a long moment. It never ceased to amaze me that out of all the men in this enormous city, she'd chosen me.\n\t\"I love you so much, Julie,\" I whispered.\n\tThen I settled down beside her and went to sleep.\n\n\tI was awakened by the sound of Julie's voice. She wasn't speaking in words, but in that moaning, incoherent way people sometimes do when they're having a dream. She was also writhing around in the bed quite a bit. I sat up and watched her for a moment, debating whether it was a good idea to wake her. It didn't sound as if she was having a very pleasant dream. Hesitantly, I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder. Her body jerked, her eyes snapped open, and she stared up at me with a shocked look on her face, as if she were completely surprised to find a chipmunk in bed with her. As quickly as it had come, the look faded, and she smiled. \"Hi.\"\n\t\"Hi, yourself,\" I said. \"You looked like you were having a nightmare.\"\n\tShe blinked. \"I did?\"\n\tI nodded. \"Do you remember what it was about?\"\n\tShe sat up and shook her head. \"No. Did I say anything?\"\n\t\"Nothing I could make out.\" \n\tI glanced at the clock by the bed. It was five hours since we'd gone to sleep. There was light around the edges of the curtains on the window. I threw aside the sheets, climbed out of bed, and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. \"Are you up?\" Julie asked.\n\t\"Yeah, I think so. How about you?\"\n\t\"I think I'm gonna try to get some more sleep.\"\n\tI nodded and came around to her side of the bed, and she leaned over and kissed me. \"Pleasant dreams,\" I said, smiling. She lay back down in the bed and closed her eyes, and I left the bedroom, went into the kitchen, and fixed myself a bowl of cereal. Then I went to my computer and switched it on. I mulled over what had just happened as I spooned the cereal into my mouth and waited for the machine to boot up. I'd never known Julie to have nightmares before. Then again, being exposed to violence often has unsettling effects on people who aren't accustomed to it. I pushed that thought aside as I started searching the web for information regarding the recent string of murders in Chinatown. While I'd promised Detective Glass I'd let MCPD handle the investigation, there was no harm in just looking, right?\n\tThere had been five killings in less than two weeks, all prominent businessmen. The details released to the press were few, as was typical for an ongoing murder investigation, but a few facts were consistent across all five cases. The victims had all been killed at night and at home, they had all been well guarded, and nobody had seen a thing. The police had no suspects and no motive—at least none they wanted to talk about. I began delving into the backgrounds of the victims, trying to see if there was anything linking them, apart from being Chinese.\n\tI'd been at it for two frustrating hours, going down one blind alley after another, when Julie came out of the bedroom. We said our good mornings, and she went into the kitchen and fixed herself a bowl of cereal. Then she came over to me. \"Whatcha up to?\" she asked, peering at my monitor.\n\t\"Just doing a little nosing around,\" I replied.\n\t\"I thought you weren't going to get involved in that.\"\n\t\"I'm not involved. I'm just looking for anything the police might have missed.\"\n\t\"That sounds suspiciously like being involved, Alvin.\"\n\t\"No, if I were involved, I'd be out on the streets squeezing punks for information. That's being involved. This is being interested.\"\n\t\"If you say so.\" She put down her bowl and moved up behind me, sliding her hands down my furry chest and nuzzling behind my ear. \n\tI growled with pleasure and turned my head to look up at her. \"Of course, I could get involved in something else,\" I said, grinning.\n\t\"You are one randy little chipmunk, you know that?\"\n\t\"Well, in my defense, you are being pretty provocative.\"\n\t\"Actually, I feel like a movie. What have we got in the queue?\"\n\tI checked. \"How about [i]Invasion of the Blood Farmers[/i]?\"\n\t\"Oh my God, that sounds hideous! Let's watch it!\"\n\tWe moved to the living room, settled down on the couch in front of the television, and started the movie. As Julie had predicted, it was horrendous—an early '70s horror flick, made on a budget of about $25, in which a cult of modern-day druids in upstate New York drained people of the fakest blood I'd ever seen in order to resurrect their queen. I sat with my head against Julie's shoulder and her arm around my waist, enjoying the hell out of it.\n\t\"This movie is terrible,\" said Julie, frowning. \"Why would anyone watch something so bad?\"\n\tI looked up at her, puzzled. Normally, she loved trash like this. \"I thought that was the point,\" I said.\n\tShe got up from the couch and went into the bedroom. I turned off the television and followed her. She was getting dressed. \"Julie, is something wrong?\" I asked.\n\t\"I'm going to the store,\" she replied. \"There's some things we need.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Do you want some company?\"\n\t\"No, that's all right. You go back to your movie.\" And with that, she left.\n\tI stood there, trying to make some sense out of this. Julie was acting weird. She didn't seem to be mad at me. It was more that she was just indifferent, as though I was hardly even there. Perhaps the events of last night had affected her more than she was letting on. Nightmares and emotional detachment were both symptoms of PTSD. Then again, earlier she'd been warm and affectionate, even playful. I sighed and shook my head. Hopefully, this would work itself out. There wasn't anything I could do about it at the moment. I went back to my computer and resumed my research.\n\tAfter another hour of getting nowhere, I happened onto something that might be significant. While reviewing file photos of the five victims at various public events, I noticed what appeared to be the same woman in two photographs of different victims. I couldn't be certain it was the same woman, because the quality of the pictures wasn't that great, but the resemblance was striking. She was Asian, and rather tall, with distinctive high cheekbones. Ten minutes later I came across her again, with a third victim. A few minutes after that, she popped up with a fourth victim.\n\tI pondered the implications of my discovery. It might not mean anything. After all, the Chinese community in Millennium City tended to be rather insular and cliquish. She might simply be someone who traveled in the same circles as the four victims and had happened to be present on each of those occasions. It would help if I knew who she was, but unfortunately, none of the pictures gave any indication of that.\n\tIt was pretty thin, but I decided to bring it to Kodiak's attention. I didn't want to deal with Glass, since I didn't know him and I'd promised him I'd stay out of it. I emailed the four pictures to Kodiak. Then I went into the kitchen to make myself a sandwich.\n\tMy cell phone buzzed right between adding the mustard and the mayonnaise. \"Well, you've been a busy little beaver, haven't you?\" Kodiak's gruff voice said.\n\t\"I'm a chipmunk, not a beaver,\" I replied.\n\t\"Just messing with you. I'll see if I can find out who your mystery woman is. And I won't tell Glass where the lead came from.\"\n\t\"Thanks. Has your ninja expert arrived yet?\"\n\t\"Yes, Rick is here now, looking over the evidence. Also, since I'm sure you'll hear about it soon enough, I might as well tell you there's been another murder.\"\n\tI blinked. \"With our ninja lying on a slab in the morgue?\"\n\t\"They've been known to work in teams, you know.\"\n\t\"Who's the victim?\"\n\t\"Lei Feng, another businessman. Killed about half an hour ago.\"\n\t\"In the daytime? That breaks the pattern. The others were all killed at night.\"\n\t\"Maybe it was the only time they could get at him. Anyway, thanks for the tip.\"\n\t\"You're welcome.\" I hung up and immediately started pulling up pictures of Lei Feng. It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for. There she was, standing next to him at a charity fundraiser.\n\t\"Who are you?\" I asked the face gazing back at me from my screen.\n\tThe door opened, and I turned my chair toward it. \"Hey, Julie, I—\" \n\tI stopped. \n\tIt wasn't Julie. It was her face, but it wasn't her. There was no sign of warmth or affection in her face. It was cold, hard, and deadly, like a snake's. She raised her hand, and there was a silver throwing star held between her fingers. Without a word, she hurled it straight at me.\n\tI dove aside as the throwing star struck the back of my chair beside my ear. I hit the floor and rolled to my feet, coming up in a fighting stance. From across her back, Julie had drawn a [i]wakazashi[/i]—a Japanese short sword—and was holding it out before her, advancing cautiously, her brow furrowed in concentration.\n\t\"Who are you?\" I asked, my hands raised defensively.\n\tShe didn't reply, just edged forward slowly, the blade of her sword gleaming. She gave a wordless shout and lunged, striking down at me, and I jumped back, evading. Her reach was much greater than mine. I had to find a way to compensate for that. I grabbed the stand of the lamp beside my computer desk and held it with both hands like a staff. Its heavy base made it an awkward improvised weapon, but it did give me more reach.\n\tJulie attacked again, a complex maneuver involving a feint and a lunge, and I parried with the lamp. Her blade struck the steel stand, cutting clean through it and the electric cord inside, causing a bright spark and a loud pop. I thrust the end of the stand at her, and she cried out as the contact shocked her. In addition, her sword had cut through the stand at an angle, effectively turning it into a makeshift spear that pierced her left side, drawing blood. She stepped back, holding her sword defensively and glaring at me.\n\tI swallowed, holding the red-tipped lamp before me. There was no winning this fight. Either she killed me, or I killed her. Either way, I lost. On the other hand, Julie was bleeding pretty badly from that wound in her side. Maybe if I could keep her busy long enough, she would pass out. \n\tShe shouted and lunged again, her blade seeking my heart. I blocked with the lamp and swung it like a mace so the heavy base slammed against the side of her head. She staggered back, stunned, and I dropped the lamp and leaped at her, trying for a grapple. If I could get her in a hold, maybe I could incapacitate her without hurting her.\n\tShe grabbed my arm and threw me sideways into a bookshelf, causing an explosion of pain in my back as my spine hit the edges of the wooden shelves. Then she thrust at me with her sword, which I narrowly dodged. I threw a punch, hitting her right on the wound in her side and making her cry out in pain. It was a dirty move, and I hated myself for it, but I had to end this fast.\n\tJulie stepped back, her eyes narrowed at me with hate, then whirled and dashed toward the window. As I yelled at her to stop, she crashed through it. We were seven stories up. I ran to the window and looked down. There was no sign of her.\n\tI stood there for a moment, my chest heaving, trying to decide what to do. I couldn't tell the cops what had happened. They might kill her. Or she'd kill them. On the other hand, there was no reason to think this latest murder was the last, which meant that if she wasn't stopped, more innocent people could die. But to stop her, I needed to have a better idea of what I was up against. \n\tI went into the bedroom and suited up in my black and gray Nightmunk costume. Then I went up to the roof, got on my grav bike, and flew toward police headquarters. Once there, I went straight to Kodiak's office. He looked at me in surprise as I entered wearing my costume. \"This an official visit?\" he asked.\n\t\"I need to talk to Rick,\" I said.\n\t\"I thought you were letting MCPD handle this case.\"\n\t\"Things have changed. I now have a personal interest.\"\n\tHe raised a bushy eyebrow. \"Would you care to elaborate on that?\"\n\t\"Not at the moment.\"\n\t\"I see. You know, Glass is gonna be real pissed at me if I bring you in on this.\"\n\t\"All I want to do is talk to Rick. Just two manimals reliving old times.\"\n\tKodiak nodded. \"Fine. He's down in the evidence locker. I'll buzz the officer on duty to let you through.\"\n\t\"Thanks, John,\" I said. \"I owe you one.\"\n\t\"Nah, you've helped us out plenty of times in the past. Think of this as payback.\"\n\tI left his office and went downstairs to the evidence locker, where the officer on duty admitted me. I found the raccoon standing before a large steel locker, surveying its contents. He was about my height, with the black mask and ringed black-and-white tail typical of his species. He was wearing an ordinary white collared shirt and tan slacks, his clawed feet bare. He looked up as I approached and his eyes widened. \"You're Nightmunk, aren't you?\" he asked, his voice a soft baritone.\n\tI nodded. \"Hi. You need to tell me about ninjas.\"\n\t\"Are you helping with the investigation?\"\n\t\"Unofficially. Kodiak knows I'm involved. Glass doesn't, and I'd prefer to keep it that way for now.\"\n\t\"Well, first of all, there's no such word as 'ninjas.' Japanese doesn't have any plural nouns.\"\n\t\"Thanks for the grammar lesson.\"\n\t\"You're welcome. Is there anything specific about ninja you want to know?\"\n\t\"Are they capable of possessing another person's body?\"\n\tRick looked at me, surprised. \"Why do you ask?\"\n\t\"Because I think that may have happened to someone I know.\"\n\tRick frowned and was silent for a moment. \"Are you familiar with the [i]kuji-kiri[/i]?\"\n\t\"No, what's that?\"\n\t\"They're a ninja's nine levels of power. They are [i]rin[/i], strength of mind and body; [i]pyo[/i], direction of energy;[i] toh[/i], harmony with the universe; [i]sha[/i], healing of self and others; [i]kai[/i], premonition of danger; [i]jin[/i], knowing the thoughts of others; [i]retsu[/i], mastery of time and space; [i]zai[/i], control of the elements of nature; and [i]zen[/i], enlightenment.\"\n\t\"So what does all that mean?\" I asked.\n\t\"It means nobody knows how much they're capable of, so spirit transfer isn't out of the question.\" Rick turned to the locker, which contained an assortment of weapons—swords, pronged daggers, nunchucks, throwing stars, a bow and arrows—as well as the blood-stained outfit the ninja Julie and I had encountered had been wearing. \"These came from a ninja who belonged to Nine Hands Cutting, one of the oldest and most feared ninja clans. They served as spies and assassins for the shogun for over a thousand years. Since the fall of the shogunate at the end of the Edo period in 1868, they've mostly disappeared. The few that remain work as mercenaries, selling their services to anyone who can afford them.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Is there any way to expel a ninja from a possessed body?\"\n\t\"To do that, you'd probably need a Shinto priest.\"\n\t\"There's a Shinto temple here in Millennium City.\"\n\t\"I know. But first we'd need to find the possessed person and bring them there. Do you have any idea where they are?\"\n\t\"No. But if we can figure out who the next victim is, maybe we can catch them when they try to make their hit.\"\n\t\"And do we have any leads on that?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"Possibly. I've identified a woman who appears in photographs of most of the victims. Kodiak is checking into who she is.\"\n\t\"Then let's see how he's faring.\" Rick closed up the locker, and we headed back to Kodiak's office.\n\t\"How is it you know so much about ninja?\" I asked Rick as we walked through the police station, drawing stares from the people we passed, as the sight of two manimals together was unusual enough to attract attention even in Millennium City.\n\t\"I've encountered them before,\" he replied. \"A friend of mine who owned a plantation in the Philippines was being harrassed by thugs hired by a local businessman who wanted him to sell his land, and he asked me for help. After I dealt with the thugs, the businessman hired a ninja to deal with me.\"\n\t\"And you were able to defeat the ninja?\"\n\t\"I do have some training in the martial arts.\"\n\t\"I gathered that, since you teach it. What style?\"\n\t\"A variety of what has come to be known in the West as kung fu.\"\n\t\"And how does a manimal come to know kung fu?\"\n\t\"That's rather a long story.\"\n\t\"I'd be interested in hearing it sometime,\" I said, as we arrived at Kodiak's office. We knocked and went inside. Kodiak was sitting at his desk, working on his computer, his big hairy hands awkwardly pecking at the keys.\n\t\"How goes the search for our mystery woman?\" I asked.\n\tKodiak shook his head. \"I've checked with every agency I can think of. It's all come up blank.\"\n\t\"May I see a picture of her?\" asked Rick. Kodiak turned his monitor toward us, and I saw Rick's eyes widen. \"I know this woman!\"\n\t\"You do?\" asked Kodiak.\n\tRick nodded. \"I've encountered her before, in Hong Kong. Her name is Fan Su. She's an operative for Chang Chun Shipping.\"\n\t\"Chang Chun?\" said Kodiak. \"I've heard of them.\"\n\t\"I'm not surprised,\" said Rick. \"They're reputed to be involved in quite a few illegal activities, among them drug running, arms smuggling, and human trafficking. However, people who look into their affairs have a tendency to disappear.\"\n\tKodiak did some more hunting and pecking. \"Well, how do you like that? Seems all the murder victims were major shareholders in Chang Chun Shipping. Collectively, they almost had a controlling interest in the company.\"\n\t\"Almost?\" I asked.\n\tKodiak nodded. \"There's one more. A guy named Bai Xue. He and the others started buying into Chang Chun in a big way a few years ago.\"\n\t\"Sounds like he's our next victim,\" I said.\n\t\"But how would killing these men gain anyone control of the company?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"That would depend on who inherits their shares,\" I replied. \"And apparently, Fan Su knew most of them personally. You said you've met her. Is she the kind of woman who could bend a man to her will?\"\n\t\"Human males do seem to find her attractive,\" said Rick.\n\t\"I need to call Bai Xue and offer him police protection,\" said Kodiak.\n\t\"I'd imagine he already knows his life is in danger,\" I said, \"considering six of his fellow shareholders have been killed in the span of two weeks.\"\n\tRick nodded. \"If he wanted the police to be involved, he would have contacted them by now.\"\n\t\"Even so, I have to at least make the offer,\" said Kodiak. \"It wouldn't look very good if he were killed and it came out that we knew and didn't try to warn him.\"\n\t\"You do that,\" I said. \"In the meantime, I'll go to his place of residence and wait for our ninja to make his move.\"\n\t\"Would you mind some company?\" Rick asked. \"We have no idea when that will happen, and you will have to sleep sometime.\"\n\t\"Sounds good to me,\" I replied.\n\tKodiak frowned. \"If Glass finds out you two are sticking your noses into police business . . .\"\n\t\"You wouldn't even know where to look if not for us,\" I pointed out.\n\t\"Besides,\" said Rick, \"there's no law against simply waiting for someone to show up, is there?\"\n\t\"Fine,\" growled Kodiak. \"But if this thing goes south, you're on your own. I'm not covering for you.\"\n\t\"We're not asking you to,\" I said. I turned to Rick. \"Come on, let's go.\"\n\tRick bowed to Kodiak, and we left his office together.\n\n\t\"Alvin?\" said Rick. \"Alvin? ALVINNNNN!\"\n\tI rolled over on the spot on the floor where I'd been sleeping and looked up at him. \"Don't [i]ever[/i] do that again.\"\n\tRick grinned. \"Sorry, I couldn't resist.\"\n\tI yawned, got to my feet, and looked around the empty apartment we had appropriated for our stakeout. My grav bike sat beneath the window, a bag of groceries beside it. I went over and started fixing myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while Rick, seated on a collapsible canvas chair, continued watching Bai Xue's apartment in the building across the street through a pair of electronic binoculars mounted on a tripod. It was dark in the apartment, as having the lights on would have created reflections on the window.\n\tWe had stopped off at the hotel where Rick was staying before we'd come here, and he had changed from his collared shirt and slacks into a sleeveless green tunic and trousers with white trim and a gold cloth belt. Apparently, these were his work clothes. I had taken the first shift through the day while Rick had slept, and he had relieved me at eight PM. It was now four in the morning.\n\t\"See anything interesting?\" I asked, biting into my sandwich.\n\t\"Not really,\" Rick replied. \"Bai Xue turned in at eleven thirty. The streets are still being patrolled by Red Banner cultists. Also, there was a female jogger wearing a halter top and shorts with the word 'Booty' written across her backside.\"\n\t\"Classy,\" I said. \"Wait, you were looking at her ass?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"I was curious about what it said.\" He continued watching until I finished eating and came over to relieve him of his vigil.\n\t\"There's something I've been meaning to ask you,\" I said as I settled down behind the binoculars. \"I don't remember ever seeing you on Monster Island, and I think I'd remember a raccoon manimal, since it's not one of Moreau's standard species.\"\n\tRick nodded. \"Like you, I was a, shall we say, limited edition?\"\n\t\"He did like to experiment.\"\n\t\"Indeed. We never met because I departed Monster Island while you were still entertaining Moreau in the big house with your brothers.\"\n\t\"Departed how?\" I asked.\n\t\"On a raft I built myself.\"\n\t\"That was gutsy of you.\"\n\t\"It was either that or Moreau's fight pits. Since I didn't wish to kill or be killed, I decided to take my chances with the sea.\"\n\t\"And how did that go?\"\n\t\"Not well, I'm afraid. A storm came up and my little raft was torn to pieces.\"\n\t\"And yet you survived.\"\n\t\"Your detective skills are truly astounding. Yes, my half-drowned body washed up on the shore of a small island, where it was found by the island's sole inhabitant, a man named Quan. He took me home and nursed me back to health.\"\n\t\"That was nice of him,\" I said.\n\tRick nodded. \"Particularly since he had no idea what I was. He knew nothing of manimals.\"\n\t\"So who was this Quan?\"\n\t\"He was a kung fu master who had retired to that island to find peace and solitude so he could attain enlightenment before he died.\"\n\t\"Ah, I'm starting to get the picture now.\"\n\t\"Needless to say, he didn't appreciate my being there, at least not at first. As it turned out, though, he was rather lonely and missed having students to teach. He had once been the head of a prestigious martial arts school, but he had incurred the wrath of a warlord named Lung Hung, and all his students had been killed in their feud. That was why he had retired to the island.\"\n\t\"Lung Hung?\" I asked. \"That means 'Red Dragon,' doesn't it?\"\n\tRick raised an eyebrow. \"You speak Chinese?\"\n\t\"Only enough so that I'm not completely lost when I'm in Chinatown.\"\n\t\"Yes, Lung Hung means 'Red Dragon.' He is a somewhat mythic figure. Some claim he is immortal and has manipulated events in China for centuries to create a state of perpetual chaos in which he could hold his domain safe from all others. Supposedly, he engineered the Boxer Rebellion, the downfall of the Manchus, and the Cultural Revolution.\"\n\t\"Hmm. Impressive accomplishments, if you like getting lots of people killed.\"\n\t\"Anyway, since I owed Master Quan my life, I agreed to become his student. I studied with him for seven years, until he passed away peacefully in his sleep.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Did he ever attain enlightenment?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"I don't know. I like to think so, and if he did, I would like to think I helped. He was a good teacher, and a good friend. Before he died, he adopted me as his son. I am now the last remaining member of his clan.\" Rick paused a moment, then continued. \"I buried him in his favorite spot, built myself another raft, and sailed across the Pacific until I was picked up by a Japanese fishing boat. Then I wandered the world, taking whatever work I could find. Eventually, I settled in Los Angeles, where I teach others what my master taught me.\"\n\tWhile I was curious to know more, I noticed something at the edge of binoculars' field of vision. It wasn't much, just a momentary eclipsing of some of the lighted windows on another building, but it caught my attention. I turned the binoculars toward it, reducing the light amplification so the glare from the windows wouldn't drown everything out and increasing the magnification. I could just make out a female figure who appeared to be walking on air. No, not air, I realized. A tightrope.\n\t\"It's on!\" I said, pushing open the window and jumping onto my grav bike. Rick hopped on behind me, looping his arms around my waist. I gunned the engine, and the bike rose into the air and zoomed out the window.\n\tI flew the bike across the chasm between the two skyscrapers and landed it on the balcony of Bai Xue's apartment. The tightrope stretched away from it, secured to a steel shaft embedded in the wall. Julie, in a full ninja outfit, was balancing on the tightrope about thirty feet away. Even though I couldn't see her face behind her mask, I could tell it was her.\n\t\"Give up,\" I said to her, dismounting from the bike and going to the railing of the balcony. \"There's nowhere for you to go.\" She hesitated for a moment, then began backing up.\n\t\"Allow me,\" said Rick. He jumped up onto the tightrope and ran along it toward Julie, as if running on an inch-wide cable twenty stories up were the easiest, most natural thing in the world to do. As he approached, she drew a throwing star and hurled it at him. The star whizzed by beneath him as he leaped into the air, sailed over her head, and landed on the tightrope on the far side of her, where he teetered for a moment before regaining his balance. I stared at him in amazement. I'm trained in acrobatics, and I wouldn't have tried a stunt like that.\n\tJulie looked back and forth between us, said something angrily in Japanese, drew her sword, and raised it above her head.\n\t\"Julie, no!\" I cried, realizing what she intended to do. \n\tThe sword came down in a bright flash, slicing the tightrope clean through.\n\tThe rope instantly went slack, and Julie and Rick began to fall away from me. Julie had crouched down and grabbed the rope with her free hand before delivering the stroke that severed it. Rick, realizing what was about to happen, had done the same. My hand flew to my grapple gun, and I fired it at Julie, snagging her tunic and halting her fall. The line went taut and I was jerked off my feet and slammed against the railing of the balcony by the combined weight of Julie, Rick, and the tightrope. Gripping the gun with both hands to keep it from being torn from my grasp, I hit the recoil button. The gun's tiny but powerful motor whined in protest, not having been designed to handle this much weight.\n\tWith another swipe of her sword, Julie cut the grapple line, and she and Rick began swinging back toward the building at the other end of the tightrope, the same building in which Rick and I had been conducting our stakeout. It was a long way, and they were building up quite a bit of speed. When they hit, they were going to hit hard. I ran back to my grav bike, gunned it, and shot off the balcony, angling toward them, but there was no way I was going to reach them in time.\n\tThey swung down toward the side of the building, and Julie crashed through a window while Rick smacked into the concrete just above her. Fortunately, the raccoon had managed to twist around so he hit the wall feet first, his legs absorbing most of the impact. Since he seemed to be okay for the moment, I flew my bike down through the broken window, landed it on the floor of the apartment inside, and jumped off. I was in the living room. The lights were off, and the door to the hallway was open.\n\tI took a step toward the open door, but then stopped, took out my flashlight, and played it around the darkened room. \"Come on, you didn't really expect me to fall for that, did you?\" I asked the air. \"That's the oldest trick in the book.\" No reply. She was waiting for the right moment to strike from the shadows. I held myself still, alert for any sound or movement. There as nothing.\n\t\"Who's there?\" came a nervous voice from my right. I swung my light that way. A balding, middle-aged man was sticking his head out of another room, blinking as my light hit his face. In the split second I was distracted, Julie leaped out from behind the kitchen counter with a loud \"[i]kiai![/i]\" and struck at me with her sword. I dove out of her reach, rolled to my feet facing her, and popped the blue questionite claws from my gauntlets. They're much stronger than steel.\n\tWe stood there eyeing each other for a moment, and then Julie lunged with her blade. I blocked with one arm and tried for a hold with the other, but she spun away and my fingers only brushed against her tunic. While I hoped I could take her down without harming her, considering how powerful she seemed to be I wasn't sure that was possible. Rick appeared in the broken window. Good. Maybe the two of us together could incapacitate her. Julie glanced at him, then back at me. \n\t\"Julie,\" I said, \"please, if you're in there, don't make me hurt you!\"\n\tTo my surprise, she straightened and sheathed her sword, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, lightning quick, she whipped out the pair of nunchucks at her belt and held them up with the ends pointed at Rick and me. There was a brilliant flash, and for a second everything was white. When the white faded, the room was empty except for Rick and me.\n\t\"God damn it!\" I swore, rubbing my eyes.\n\t\"Ninja do love their tricks,\" Rick commented.\n\t\"So I noticed,\" I muttered. As the raccoon hopped down from the window to join me, I remembered he was barefoot. \"Careful of the floor, Rick. It's covered with broken glass.\"\n\t\"Excuse me,\" said the balding man who had addressed me earlier. \"What's going on?\"\n\t\"We were pursuing a suspect in a murder case, sir,\" I replied.\n\tThe man's eyes widened. \"Murder?\"\n\t\"Yes. Don't worry, you weren't the target.\"\n\tHe swallowed, then looked at the broken window and frowned. \"Who's going to pay for that?\"\n\tI blinked. \"You live in Millennium City and you don't have superhero insurance?\"\n\t\"I never thought I'd need it!\" he protested.\n\t\"No one ever does.\" I turned to Rick. \"That was pretty impressive, how you managed to hit the side of the building without shattering both your tibia.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Simply a matter of relaxing the leg muscles in the proper way to absorb the force of the impact.\"\n\t\"And that acrobatic trick on the tightrope. Was that a simple matter too?\"\n\t\"Any competent circus aerialist could do as much.\"\n\t\"If you say so.\" At that moment Detective Glass, Agent Kodiak, and several of Millennium City's finest burst into the apartment. \"Oh boy,\" I said, sighing.\n\t\"Oh yeah!\" said Glass, glaring at me. \"What happened to 'I have every confidence in the MCPD's abilities?'\"\n\t\"I'm guessing you had Bai Xue under surveillance too,\" I said. \"You can thank me and Rick for that.\"\n\tHe turned his attention to Rick. \"And you, you were only brought in as a consultant on ninjas!\"\n\t\"Ninja,\" I corrected him. \"Japanese doesn't use plural nouns.\"\n\t\"Oh, you want nouns?\" Glass asked. \"How about these: interference with police business, obstruction of justice, criminal trespassing, and I'm sure I can come up with lots of others!\"\n\tI scowled up at him, folding my arms. \"You want to book me on those bullshit charges, go right ahead! Otherwise, get off my back!\"\n\t \"Thanks for giving me permission to do my job!\" Glass shot back. \"You think because you're friends with a disgraced ex-Champion, that puts you above the law?\"\n\tMy temper started to rise. \"Nighthawk is not disgraced!\"\n\t\"He got kicked off the team, didn't he?\"\n\t\"He left on his own!\"\n\tGlass smirked. \"Sure he did.\"\n\tI gritted my teeth. At that moment, I really wanted to punch Glass right in his well-groomed mustache, but assaulting a police officer is not a bullshit charge, and I couldn't help Julie if I was in jail. So I swallowed my anger and kept my cool. \"Am I under arrest?\" I asked as calmly as I could.\n\tGlass simmered for a moment. \"Get the hell out of here!\" He looked at Rick. \"You too! And if I catch either one of you screwing around with this case again, I [i]will[/i] put you behind bars! Got that?\"\n\tI turned my back on him and climbed onto my grav bike. Rick hopped on behind me, and we flew out the window. \n\t\"Well, now what?\" the raccoon asked me once we were outside.\n\t\"Now, we follow her to her hideout, using the tracking device I planted on her during the fight,\" I replied.\n\t\"You're not concerned about Detective Glass's threat?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"Right now, the only thing I care about is catching that ninja.\" I looked over my shoulder at him. \"You don't have to come if you don't want to.\"\n\t\"I feel that our paths are intertwined,\" said Rick. \"I will help you.\"\n\t\"Thanks,\" I said. I switched on the tracking system and headed after the signal's source.\n\t\"Who is Julie?\" Rick asked as we flew through the steel and glass canyons of downtown Millennium City.\n\t\"She's my girlfriend,\" I replied.\n\t\"I see,\" said Rick. There was neither approval nor disapproval in his voice, simply acknowledgement. \"Have you been together long?\"\n\t\"A few months.\"\n\t\"Do you love her?\"\n\t\"Why do you ask?\"\n\t\"It may become relevant.\"\n\t\"Yes, I love her.\" I checked the tracker. \"She's headed west. She must have secured some kind of transportation. Nobody could move that fast on foot.\" I pushed down on the accelerator as we chased after the fleeing signal.\n\tIn a few moments I could see a city bus lumbering down the street ahead of us, a dark figure crouched atop it. As we drew near, an arrow whizzed past us. I wasn't too concerned about that. My bike and I were both armored, and while Rick wasn't, he was shielded by my body. I guided the bike in closer. Julie fired another arrow, which struck the windscreen of the bike and bounced off harmlessly.\n\tSeeing that her arrows were having no effect, Julie slung her bow and whipped out her nunchucks. Moving to the edge of the bus's roof, she struck down with them, smashing one of the bus's windows, and then swung herself inside. I maneuvered the bike beside the broken window, set it to automatically follow me, and jumped through after her. Hopefully, at this early hour, there wouldn't be any passengers to complicate matters.\n\tJulie was ready for me when I landed in the center aisle of the bus. She swung her nunchucks at me, and pain exploded in the side of my head as they connected. I staggered backward, holding up my gauntlets to block her blows, and Julie advanced, hammering at me mercilessly. If not for my armored costume, my forearms would have been smashed to pulp.\n\tRick leaped in through the broken window, landing behind Julie, and launched a flurry of punches at her back. She grunted in pain and whirled, striking at him with her nunchucks, but he jumped back, evading them. She swung again, and bent one of the aluminum poles that bordered the aisle when Rick dodged her blow once more. I lunged at her from behind, trying for a grab, but even though her back was to me, she seized my arm and threw me over her shoulder and into a row of seats. I found myself on my back, looking up into the astonished face of an elderly cleaning woman, the bus's sole passenger.\n\tAs I got to my feet, Julie ran to the front of the bus, drew her sword, and held the tip to the back of the driver's neck. \"Go south!\" she ordered him, her eyes fixed on me and Rick.\n\t\"But . . . the only thing south of here is the river!\" he protested.\n\t\"Do as I say, or I take your head off!\" Julie snapped, speaking with a pronounced Japanese accent. The driver obeyed, turning the bus south at the next intersection.\n\t\"At least let her get off,\" I said, gesturing at the cleaning woman.\n\t\"No!\" said Julie. \"Nobody leaves! If you move, I kill him!\"\n\tI couldn't risk the driver's life, so I didn't move. I glanced over at Rick, who was similarly immobile. \"Drive faster!\" Julie ordered the driver, and he obliged, flooring it. The bus lurched and rumbled beneath us as it accelerated toward the concrete barrier at the edge of the Detroit River.\n\t\"Hold on!\" the driver shouted. I wrapped my arms around one of the aluminum poles, and Rick did the same. A second later, the bus slammed into the barrier and burst through it. We were all heaved forward by the force of the impact, and Rick and I found ourselves dangling from the poles as the bus tilted toward the vertical and plummeted thirty feet to the water. Then there was another wrenching impact as it plunged into the river, and the windshield exploded inward as water rushed in.\n\t\"Get her out of here!\" I shouted to Rick. The raccoon nodded and swung himself over to the cleaning woman, who was clutching the back of her seat and screaming bloody murder. Looping an arm around her waist, he clambered up over the rows of seats to the rear door. He kicked it repeatedly until it gave way, then jumped out, taking the cleaning woman with him.\n\tSeeing that Rick was safely away with his charge, I looked down. Beneath me, frothing water was rising up through the inside of the bus. I let go of the pole I'd been clinging to, dropped into the water, and swam down toward the front. Julie was gone, presumably having escaped through the destroyed windshield. The driver was still there, unconscious and surrounded by a cloud of blood from lacerations on his face made when the windshield had burst inward. I put my left arm around him and tried to swim downward to get out through the front, but the force of the water rushing in as the bus sank was terrific, and with the drag of the driver's body plus me being able to use only one arm to swim, I couldn't make any headway. I couldn't imagine how Julie had managed it. I popped the claws of my right gauntlet, smashed them through the driver's side window, shattering it, and swam out with the bus driver through that.\n\tMy head broke the surface of the inky black river, and I heaved in a big lungful of air, then looked around for Rick. He was about ten feet away, holding the cleaning woman's head above the water. My grav bike was hovering a few feet above me, waiting for instructions. Fortunately, the controls are on my left gauntlet. I reached around the bus driver's body and activated them, and it dropped down within reach.\n\t\"Rick!\" I shouted. \"Grab the bike and hold on to her!\" He nodded and swam over to me, pulling the cleaning woman with him, and took hold of the bike with his free hand. I grabbed the other side and ordered the bike to rise. It did so, lifting us and our charges up out of the water, and continued ascending until it was back at street level. Then I guided it through the gap in the concrete barrier the bus had made. \n\tOnce we were back on solid ground, I quickly examined the bus driver. He was clearly in bad shape. His face was covered in blood, and he wasn't breathing. I laid him down on his back and began to administer CPR, covering his mouth with mine and forcing my breath into his lungs. After a minute, he started to cough, then began breathing normally. I sighed and sat back, looking over at Rick and the cleaning woman. She was kneeling there, trembling, possibly in shock, with Rick holding her. I reflected that there was nothing sorrier looking than a wet raccoon. I took out my cell phone and called for an ambulance.\n\t\"Are we going to wait here for help to arrive?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"We can't leave them,\" I said. \"They both need medical attention.\"\n\tRick simply nodded.\n\tA few minutes later, the ambulance arrived, along with a police car. Glass and Kodiak emerged from the latter and walked toward us. Neither of them looked happy. I stood up to meet them as the paramedics took charge of the bus driver and the cleaning woman.\n\t\"Nightmunk,\" said Glass, taking out a pair of handcuffs and slapping them on my wrists, \"you are under arrest.\"\n\n\t\"Well, well. What have we here, a pair of escapees from the zoo?\"\n\tThe speaker was a big, bearded, hairy-chested biker, a member of the Cobra Lords street gang. I'd run into them numerous times, and busted more than a few of them. He was grinning down at Rick and me as we sat in the holding cell together, awaiting our arraignment. I looked up at the man and smirked. \"You're the one who belongs in a zoo. You're hairier than I am.\"\n\tThe biker scowled at me and leaned down close enough that I could smell his bad breath, which made me wrinkle my nose. \"Not so tough now without your toys, are you, you little freak?\"\n\tI'd had to surrender my gauntlets and utility belt when I was arrested, but even so, I wasn't the least bit afraid of this clown. I'd taken down Cobra Lords without my gear before. I growled at him. \"This is your last warning. Back off!\"\n\tThe biker turned his attention to Rick, who was sitting beside me with a blanket wrapped around him, as we were both still wet from our swim in the Detroit River. \"And who are you? Karate Coon?\"\n\tRick didn't even look at him. \"I don't do karate,\" he said quietly. \"I do kung fu.\"\n\t\"Whoa, kung fu?\" the biker said, laughing and turning to the other prisoners in the holding cell. \"Look here, we got us a furry little Bruce Lee!\" He dropped into a martial arts stance and began waving his arms around and whooping in a crude parody of Lee's fighting style. \"Wanna fight, Sensei Lee?\"\n\t\"That would be Sifu Lee,\" said Rick. \"Sensei is Japanese. And no, I do not.\"\n\tThe biker smirked. \"Looks like you got something else in common with Bruce Lee. You're both yellow!\" And with that, he threw a punch at Rick's face.\n\tRick reacted faster than my eyes could follow, his hands seizing the biker's big ham fist and twisting it around so he howled with pain. As the man went down on one knee before him, Rick spoke calmly. \"If you try to touch me again, I will shatter three bones in your arm: the humerus, radius, and ulna. I will shatter them so that shards stick into the nerves, causing you intense agony. I will shatter them in such a way that no Western doctor will be able to repair the damage. Do you understand?\" The biker nodded, whimpering. Rick pushed the man away from him. \"I trust we will have no further trouble.\"\n\tI looked over at Rick. \"You know, you're kind of pedantic.\"\n\tRick glanced back at me. \"I would think that you, of all people, would understand the importance of being precise.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Point taken. I'm sorry I got you mixed up in this.\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"Master Quan used to say, 'If you want happiness that lasts a lifetime, help someone else.' In any case, I've been in far worse prisons than this one.\"\n\t\"Yeah, compared to Monster Island, this is Club Med.\"\n\t\"Speaking of Monster Island, are your brothers still there?\"\n\tI sighed. \"Only their bodies.\"\n\t\"Oh. I'm sorry.\"\n\t\"Moreau got bored with us, eventually, and sent us to the fight pits. They didn't last long.\"\n\tRick shook his head. \"Such a cruel man. Though it diminishes me to say it, I'm glad he is dead.\"\n\t\"You and me both, brother.\"\n\tEventually, a bailiff came to conduct us to our arraignment, and we were led down a corridor to the courtroom. I was still soggy inside my costume and my feet squelched in my boots as I walked. In the courtroom, we stood before a judge as the list of Glass's bullshit charges was read to us. The judge asked us how we pled, and we both said \"not guilty.\" The judge nodded and said that in view of my past service to the city, plus the fact that we'd saved two people's lives tonight, we would be released on our own recognizance until our trials. We thanked the judge; I collected my gauntlets, utility belt, and grav bike; and we exited the courthouse.\n\t\"Is the tr—?\" Rick began, before I held my finger up to my lips, silencing him. I removed a small plastic slate and grease pencil from my belt and wrote, \"May be bugged.\" Rick nodded, and I said, \"I don't know about you, but I could use a shower and some breakfast. Come on, my treat.\" We both climbed on my grav bike and I flew it back to my apartment.\n\tOnce at my place, Rick took the first crack at the shower while I brought the grav bike into the living room. I stripped off my costume, because being all wet inside that thing was really uncomfortable, and began running an electronic bug detector over my bike, my belt, and my gauntlets. Sure enough, the bike was bugged. It took me a few minutes to find the dime-sized device hidden in the machinery. When I did, I smashed it with a hammer.\n\t\"Is our bug problem solved?\" asked Rick, emerging from the bathroom wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist and rubbing his fur dry with another.\n\tI nodded, standing up. I was naked, but growing up on Monster Island doesn't imbue you with much of a sense of modesty. I switched on the bike's tracking system and was rewarded with a steady beep telling me it was still detecting the tracker I'd planted on Julie. \"She's in Westside, a little over five miles away, bearing 230 degrees.\"\n\tRick had wandered over to the coffee table, where there stood a framed picture of Julie and me smiling at the camera, her arms around me. \"So that is what she looks like.\" He turned to me. \"You are a lucky manimal, Alvin.\"\n\t\"Tell me about it,\" I said. \"Do you have anyone back in L.A.?\"\n\tRick shook his head. \"No. There is a girl at the dojo, a fellow instructor, but we are just friends.\"\n\t\"Julie and I used to be just friends.\"\n\t\"I do not think it would be wise for me to get involved with anyone,\" said Rick. \"Peril has a way of finding me.\"\n\t\"I don't think I could live without Julie,\" I said. \"She helps keep me sane amid all this madness.\" I looked at Rick and swallowed. \"Are you sure we can get her back to normal?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"Nothing in life is certain, especially where the supernatural is concerned. But there is always hope.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" I said. \"Anyway, I'm gonna go take a shower.\"\n\t\"Is there some place where I can dry my clothes?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"There's a laundry room in the basement of the building,\" I replied, \"but you probably shouldn't go down there like that. You can borrow some of my clothes. We're about the same size, so they should fit.\"\n\t\"Xiexie,\" Rick said, bowing to me.\n\t\"You're welcome,\" I replied, heading into the bathroom.\n\tI took a long, hot shower, sighing as the water ran through my fur. I glanced up at the rack where Julie kept her own soaps, shampoos, and conditioners, and a lump formed in my throat. The thought of that [i]thing[/i] hijacking her body and using it to kill made me so angry I wanted to scream. I pounded my fists on the wall tiles in frustration, cracking a couple of them. This had to end, one way or another. I didn't even care if I died. All that mattered was freeing Julie.\n\tWhen I emerged from the bathroom, Rick was sitting on the couch in a lotus position, eyes closed, once again wearing his green and white tunic and trousers. My costume was laid out on the floor. He had thoughtfully dried the inside of it for me. His eyes opened as I came over and began suiting up.\n\t\"Are you ready?\" he asked.\n\tI nodded, opening the living room window. \"Let's go.\" We mounted the bike and sailed out into the cloudy mid-morning sky.\n\n\tIt only took a couple of minutes for us to reach the location the signal was coming from, one of the innumerable warehouses in the run-down district of Westside. I hovered high above it, looking it over with binoculars. \"I don't see any guards,\" I said.\n\t\"Guards would attract attention,\" said Rick. \"Ninja prefer to be invisible.\"\n\tI nodded and flew the bike down, landing it by one of the entrances. Rick and I dismounted and went to the door. The lock posed no difficulty for me. I eased the door open and we cautiously went inside.\n\tThe warehouse was mostly vacant, save for a few large empty wooden crates here and there. The skylights in the roof provided plenty of illumination. Apparently, the place hadn't been used in some time, as the floor was covered in a thin layer of dust, but there was a strange, cloying fragrance in the air. There was a second level, covering about half the area of the ground floor, and from it came two female voices, both speaking Japanese. One, I recognized as Julie's. I looked over at Rick. \"Can you make out what they're saying?\" I whispered.\n\t\"One is berating the other for not killing Bai Xue,\" Rick replied. \"She says her employer does not tolerate failure. The other is saying the failure was due to the interference of two freaks from Monster Island, by which I presume she means us. She says she will not fail again.\"\n\t\"We need to get up there,\" I said. I reached for my grapple gun, then remembered that Julie had cut the line earlier and I hadn't thought to replace it. Blame it on being distracted. Fortunately, there was a ladder nearby that led to the second level. I went over and began climbing it, Rick following me up.\n\tAs I reached the top of the ladder and poked my head up, the conversation suddenly ceased. Julie, who had been sitting on a rug before a plate containing burning incense, jumped to her feet, spinning and drawing her sword. She was unhooded, so I could see her face. She glared at me, those lips I'd kissed hundreds of times twisted into a sneer of hate. \"You! How did you find me?\"\n\t\"I'm a detective, remember?\" I replied, climbing up and onto the floor. Behind her stood Fan Su, dressed in a conservative grey business suit and regarding me impassively. Her eyes widened slightly, however, as Rick climbed up onto the floor and stood beside me.\n\t\"Hello, Fan Su,\" Rick said. \"I thought that was you I heard.\"\n\t\"Hello, Rick,\" said Fan Su, smiling. \"It has been quite some time since our last encounter. Hong Kong, was it not?\"\n\tRick nodded. \"When I helped stop you and your men from torching a ship full of refugees to cover up your company's involvement in human trafficking.\"\n\t\"Yes, that incident did cause Chang Chun Shipping quite a bit of trouble. In fact, it indirectly led to this reunion. The ensuing legal battle and bad publicity caused our stock to depreciate in value so much that Bai Xue and his partners were able to purchase a controlling interest in the company.\"\n\t\"A situation that you are now attempting to correct, I see,\" said Rick.\n\t\"Oh, it shall be corrected, have no fear of that.\" She addressed Julie. \"Yamazaki, dispose of these creatures. Now.\"\n\t\"[i]Hai[/i],\" Julie replied, moving slowly toward me and Rick.\n\tI hurled a handful of sleep gas pellets at Julie's feet. They burst on impact, creating a cloud around her. She leaped clear of it, sailing through the air toward me with a loud cry, blade raised above her head. Fortunately, Rick intercepted her in midair, his foot slamming into her stomach. She thudded to the floor while he somersaulted backward, landing on his feet. Julie kipped up into a combat crouch and scowled at both of us as we moved to flank her.\n\tShe lunged at Rick, slashing at him with her blade and forcing him to retreat. Then she spun and attacked me. I parried her blows with my gauntlets, then dropped and did a leg sweep, trying to knock her down. She was too fast for me, though, jumping over my sweep and striking downward with her sword. I blocked with my left arm, and she pressed down on me hard, forcing me to one knee. Her strength was phenomenal. Yamazaki had to be employing some kind of mind over body technique, because Julie wasn't that strong. I gritted my teeth as her face hovered just inches from mine, our eyes locked together. I saw nothing I recognized in her eyes, no trace of the woman I loved.\n\tWhile her attention was focused on me, Rick came at her from behind, trying for a hold, but her foot shot out as if of its own volition and caught him in the chin, knocking him flat on his back. I popped the claws on my right gauntlet and bracketed her blade with them, then twisted my wrist, snapping the sword in half. She cried out in anger and jumped back, whipping out her nunchucks and whirling them around in front of her. I moved toward her warily. Nunchucks are notoriously hard to parry, because in the hands of a skilled user they move faster than the eye can follow and can fly at you from almost any angle. She struck at me, and my attempts to block were futile, as she scored hits on my chest and right shoulder that hurt even through my armor.\n\tRick was back on his feet and coming up on her from behind again, arms raised defensively. She spun and lunged at him, swiping with her nunchucks. Rick, moving as fast as Julie was, managed to foul the chucks so they wrapped around his left forearm. Then he rammed his right fist into her chest three times in rapid succession, punctuating each punch with a shout. She let go of the chucks and staggered backward, and I seized the opportunity to jump her from behind, locking my arms around her neck in a choke hold. She reached behind her and clawed at my face, her nails scratching my left cheek and the right side of my muzzle and causing blood to ooze into my fur, but I didn't let go. Rick came at her from the front, and she swung a crescent kick at him even as she was struggling with me, but he blocked it and hammered her midsection with another flurry of punches. With a groan, Julie's body went limp and she slumped to the floor between us.\n\tRick and I stood there over her, both of us panting hard, and I licked my muzzle, tasting the salty tang of blood. I turned and looked over at where Fan Su had been standing, but she was gone, apparently having departed at some point during the fight. I didn't care. I had what I'd come for. I punched some buttons on my left gauntlet that controlled my grav bike, and a few seconds later it crashed down through a skylight and landed beside us. We picked up Julie and set her unconscious form on the bike, and I sat down in front of her while Rick sat behind her. So mounted, I gunned the engine and flew the bike up through the skylight, east toward downtown Millennium City.\n\n\tThe Shinto shrine—or [i]jinja[/i]—in Millennium City is a lovely place. Built by a wealthy Japanese businessman named Sakura who settled here, it consists of five towering two-post gateways—or [i]torii[/i]—painted red, with crossbeams atop them that curve upward at each end. These [i]torii[/i] are arranged in linear fashion, so that someone standing at either end of the shrine can see all of them framed one inside the other, symbolizing one's spiritual journey through life. Between the shrine and the street is an arching stone bridge over a pond stocked with koi that have grown fat on all the tidbits fed to them by those who come here. At the other end is a plaza surrounded by a grove of cherry trees. Tucked away in a courtyard between two large office buildings, Sakura Shrine is a haven of serenity amidst the noise and bustle of downtown.\n\tI landed my grav bike on the stone bridge before the first [i]torii[/i], and Rick and I dismounted and began carrying Julie's unconscious body toward the shrine. At Rick's instruction, we stopped just outside the first[i] torii[/i], and he called out to the priest. A Japanese man emerged from a small building at the center of the shrine and came toward us. He was about thirty, wearing a light blue silk robe, a tall rounded black hat, and black laquered wooden clogs. He looked rather surprised to see two manimals with an unconscious girl dressed as a ninja. I can't say as I blame him.\n\tRick bowed deeply to the priest, and I copied him. \"[i]Kannushi[/i],\" he said, \"we humbly request your aid. This girl requires [i]harae[/i].\"\n\tThe priest raised an eyebrow. \"What's the problem?\" he asked, sounding quite American. \n\t\"She is possessed.\"\n\tThe priest stared at us. \"Possessed?\"\n\tRick nodded. \"The soul of a ninja resides in her body.\"\n\tThe priest grinned. \"This is a joke, right? Someone's filming this.\" He started looking around.\n\t\"It's no joke,\" said Rick. \"He has already used her to kill once, and will do so again unless he's expelled.\"\n\tThe priest scratched the back of his head. \"Yeah, I think what you two need is a psychiatrist.\"\n\tI growled at him. \"Psychosis wouldn't allow a girl with no martial arts training to hold her own against both of us, let alone walk a tightrope between two skyscrapers and speak in a language she doesn't know!\"\n\tThe priest looked at me. \"You're really serious about this, aren't you?\"\n\tI waved my gloved hand at our surroundings. \"This is Millennium City! Weird things happen here! You're talking to a raccoon and a chipmunk, for God's sake!\"\n\tApparently, he couldn't argue with that. \"All right,\" he said. \"I'll see what I can do. But you can't enter the shrine with blood on you. You have to wash it off.\"\n\tRick bowed to him. \"Understood, [i]kannushi[/i].\"\n\tThe priest led us to a large rectangular wooden basin filled with crystal clear water. I watched as Rick began washing his hands and face, and then copied him, washing away the blood on my face and muzzle where Julie had scratched me. \"What is [i]harae[/i]?\" I asked Rick as we cleaned ourselves up.\n\t\"Purity,\" Rick replied. \"Unlike the Western concept that man is a fallen creature, the Japanese believe man is fundamentally pure. Touching blood causes one to become [i]kegare[/i], or impure. [i]Harae[/i] can be restored through rites of purification, such as washing. You can't enter a Shinto shrine if you're impure. That would anger the [i]kami[/i] who live there and cause the entire shrine to become [i]kegare[/i].\"\n\t\"And [i]kami[/i] are?\"\n\t\"[i]Kami[/i] can be thought of as gods or spirits, though neither word really describes them accurately. They are everywhere and inhabit all things. Shinto is all about worshipping and appeasing [i]kami[/i].\"\n\t\"You're familiar with the Shinto religion?\" the priest asked Rick.\n\t\"I spent some time in Japan,\" he replied.\n\tThe priest nodded. \"Well, I have to tell you, I've never done anything like this before, and I'm not really sure how it works. I was hired by the trust that maintains this place because I was trained as a Shinto priest at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo. I'm originally from Baltimore.\" He grinned sheepishly.\n\tI rolled my eyes. \"Terrific!\"\n\tRick merely shrugged. \"You'll just have to do the best you can.\"\n\tThe priest went into the small building and emerged a minute later. In one hand he held a small wooden wand with a white paper streamer attached. In the other he held an open book. \"This is a prayer for the dead to rest in peace,\" he said. \"I hope it does the trick.\"\n\t\"We shall see,\" Rick said.\n\tThe priest took a deep breath. \"Here goes nothing!\" And he started to chant sonorously in Japanese, waving the wand back and forth over Julie.\n\tFor several minutes, nothing was exactly what happened, and I began to think this was all a big waste of time. Then Julie's body began to twitch. At first, I thought she was just waking up, but her eyes remained closed and she began to writhe on her back as if in pain. Then she started moaning in Japanese, her head rolling from side to side. I looked over at Rick. He glanced back at me and nodded.\n\tSuddenly, Julie sat bolt upright and screamed, her eyes wide open. She looked wildly at me and Rick, then at the priest, and snarled with rage, jumping to her feet. The priest faltered, stepping back and dropping the book. \"Grab her!\" Rick shouted, pouncing on Julie. I followed his lead and we both took her down, pressing her to the ground and pinning her arms. Rick looked up at the terrified priest. \"Keep going! It's working!\" The priest swallowed and nodded, picking up the book and resuming chanting and waving his wand, while Rick and I struggled to keep Julie down. \n\t\"Release me, filthy monsters!\" she spat. Her strength was amazing. Even with both of us holding her, she was perilously close to breaking free. I told Rick to help me turn her over, and we managed to do so with some difficulty. Then I pulled out a ziptie from my belt and bound her wrists behind her. All the while, her screams raked my ears and my heart ached, because it was still Julie's voice, even if the words didn't come from her.\n\tThen, something weird happened. Okay, weirder. Julie's body went rigid beneath me and Rick, and something began to rise out of it, something misty and ephemeral that resolved itself into the shape of a man. I've seen ghosts before. Hell, in Nevada there's a literal ghost town called Burnside populated by the spirits of cowboys from the Old West, roused from their graves by Witchcraft's evil twin sister, Talisman, because of course she has one of those. And this looked just like a Burnside ghost, minus the ten-gallon hat and cowboy boots. The ghost snarled something in Japanese, then faded away and was gone.\n\tI turned Julie around and shook her by her shoulders. \"Julie?\" I asked her. \"Julie? Are you there? Can you hear me?\"\n\tShe groaned, and then slowly opened her eyes and looked into mine. \"Alvin? What . . . what's going on? Where am I?\" She looked up at Rick and the priest, then squirmed as she realized her arms were bound. \"Alvin, why am I tied up?\"\n\tA wave of relief swept over me, and I threw my arms around her and pressed my muzzle to her lips, kissing her, which surprised the priest, who hadn't known that Julie and I were a couple. \"Oh, baby, I'm so glad to have you back!\" I said, smiling.\n\t\"A heartwarming scene,\" came a voice from behind me I didn't recognize. \"It almost pains me to interrupt it.\"\n\tI snapped my head around. On the stone bridge stood an Asian man wearing a gold tunic and red tights, slippers, and a mask that left only his nose and mouth exposed, a long plume of black hair protruding from the top of his head. A sheathed sword hung from his red belt. On the front of his tunic was emblazoned the device of a red dragon.\n\t\"Lung Hung!\" Rick gasped.\n\tLung Hung glanced at Rick and smirked. \"So, you are Quan's last pupil. How sad.\"\n\t\"I'm also the last member of his house,\" said Rick.\n\t\"Then his family line ends with you.\"\n\t\"That remains to be seen.\"\n\tI popped my claws and cut the ziptie holding Julie's arms, then stood up and turned to face Lung Hung. \"What are you doing here?\" I asked. \"It can't be a coincidence, you showing up while all these murders are going on.\"\n\tLung Hung nodded. \"Very astute, little manimal. Those were indeed my doing.\"\n\t\"You want Chang Chun Shipping. Why?\"\n\t\"Because it belongs to me,\" replied Lung Hung. \"I founded it in 1842, and the profits from it have been a major source of funding for my other activities.\"\n\tRick growled. \"Profits obtained by bringing opium into your own country!\"\n\tLung Hung shrugged. \"I have never been one to defy the wisdom of the free market, and the social unrest caused by the opium trade made it easy for me to run my empire free of outside interference.\"\n\t\"Wait a minute,\" I said. \"You've been around since 1842?\"\n\tLung Hung smiled. \"I am much older than that, my little friend. I watched the building of the Great Wall. The peasants of the valley I ruled told tales of their 'lord who never dies.' But unlike many similar stories, these tales were true.\"\n\t\"Assuming you're not lying through your teeth,\" I said, \"how is it you've managed to live all these centuries?\"\n\tLung Hung chuckled. \"I see no reason not to share my humble origins with you, since you'll not have the opportunity to pass on the information. I was the Chinese slave of a Mongol khan who staked me out in the desert to die for an insignificant act of rebellion. For two days, he watched my death agonies, laughing. When I finally expired, he ordered his followers to leave my body where it lay, as an example to others.\n\t\"Two days later, I awoke, new strength flowing in my muscles. I tore myself free of my bindings, and watched in amazement as the wounds left by the ropes healed in seconds. Then, a thirst arose. I snuck up on an unsuspecting Mongol nomad and tore out his throat. His blood tasted sweet to my parched lips. The next morning, the khan's broken body was found in his yurt, drained of blood.\n\t\"I became an assassin and a thief, amassing enough wealth to educate myself. As time passed, I found that age held no perils for me. I learned much later that my body continually regenerates its cells, preserving me at the age at which I 'died.' Within one hundred years, I had become a powerful warlord, absolute master of a river valley whose waters fed the Yangtse. I was an adviser to many emperors, and then a trader with Europeans when white men first came to the shores of China. By playing the emperors and traders against each other, I kept my domain secure well into the twentieth century. When the communists took over, I manipulated their programs for my own ends. Mao Tse Tung found my immortal wisdom very useful.\"\n\tI interrupted his recounting of his life story, partly because he seemed to be enjoying it a little too much, and partly because something he had said stuck in my mind. \"You said the peasants of the valley you [i]ruled[/i]. Past tense. I presume that's no longer the case?\"\n\tLung Hung gave an exaggerated sigh and nodded. \"After Mao died, I found China was ruled by men who were not sympathetic to my aims. Worse, China had developed technology that could destroy me. Much as it pained me to do so, I decided the best plan was to leave before I was driven out, and carve myself a new empire in another land.\" He looked around at all of us and smiled. \"And now the time has unfortunately come for me to attend to the messy but necessary matter of your deaths.\" I swallowed as his canine teeth suddenly grew long and sharp. \"I have never tried manimal blood before. I am curious as to what it tastes like.\"\n\tRick dropped into a martial stance, hands raised. \"You won't find us easy prey, Lung Hung,\" he said, his voice steady and calm.\n\tI turned to Julie. \"When the fighting starts, make a run for it. We'll keep him busy as long as we can.\"\n\tShe shook her head. \"I'm not leaving you!\"\n\t\"There's nothing you can do here but die!\"\n\tShe looked at Lung Hung. \"Maybe.\"\n\tLung Hung moved. I've never seen anyone outside of the Champions' speedster Kinetik move so fast. In a blur of red and gold, he was suddenly beside Rick, and threw an open-handed strike that struck him in the chest and knocked him back ten feet. Rick landed flat on his back in a bed of flowers, stunned. I hurled a throwing blade at Lung Hung, which he swatted aside with contemptuous ease. He turned his head toward me and smiled, those long fangs gleaming. He hadn't even drawn his sword yet. I clenched my jaw. Two manimals with no superpowers against an ancient Chinese vampire. Yeah, this was not looking good.\n\tLung Hung came at me, and I barely even saw him move. A spinning kick connected with the side of my head and sent me face first into the pavement. He grabbed me and lifted me as if I were filled with styrofoam peanuts, and I felt his hot breath on my cheek. I rammed my elbow under his jaw. It didn't seem to cause him any pain, but it did keep his fangs from reaching my throat, at least for a moment. His arms squeezed around my chest, and I felt as if I were being crushed in a vise. My body armor absorbed some of the force, but even so, my ribs were crying out in protest, and the air was being forced from my lungs. I felt myself starting to black out.\n\tThen, through a haze of pain, I heard the [i]shing[/i] of a sword leaving its scabbard, followed by a cry of surprise and the wet sound of flesh being pierced. Lung Hung released me, and I fell to the ground. Looking up, I saw Julie standing over me, feet apart, his dripping sword in her hands, glaring at him as he staggered back with a shocked look on his face, blood gushing from a gaping hole in his side. On anyone else the wound would have been fatal, but Lung Hung looked more surprised than injured. He snarled and lunged at her, and Julie parried his blow expertly, then executed a leg sweep that he jumped over. They studied each other for a moment, Lung Hung's hands making circles in the air before him as Julie held her blade up defensively.\n\t\"How is this possible?\" Lung Hung asked, sounding intrigued rather than angry. \"Yamazaki's spirit has left you.\"\n\tJulie shrugged. \"Guess I'm a quick study.\"\n\tLung Hung smirked. \"It does not matter. The ninja has not been born who could defeat me!\"\n\tJulie grinned fiercely. \"We'll just have to put that to the test, won't we?\"\n\tLung Hung attacked, throwing a punch-kick-punch combination, which Julie blocked with the sword, though he forced her to give ground. I saw that Rick was back on his feet and moving up on Lung Hung from behind. I got up and advanced as well, my claws ready. The three of us had him surrounded. Suddenly, this fight wasn't looking quite so hopeless. Then I noticed that the wound Julie had inflicted in Lung Hung's side was rapidly closing up. Maybe we were screwed after all. I took a deep breath and lunged with my claws.\n\tFighting Lung Hung was like trying to grab smoke. He evaded my thrust seemingly without effort and threw a kick at Rick, which the raccoon parried. Then Lung Hung spun around to face Julie, whose blade was slicing the air toward his head. He ducked the potential decapitation, retaliated with a punch that sent Julie reeling, and then was attacking me before I'd even had time to recover from my missed strike. We were all highly trained martial artists capable of handling multiple foes, and yet compared to Lung Hung we were moving in slow motion.\n\tI raised my gauntlets just in time to block a barrage of blows that came at me as fast as bullets from a machine gun and made my teeth shake. I stumbled back several feet. There was no way we were going to defeat this guy unless we coordinated our efforts. If Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk had been here, that wouldn't have been a problem for me, since we'd practiced fighting as a team. But Rick, Julie, and I had no experience working together and no time to learn.\n\tSince my Nightmunk body armor made me the least vulnerable of the three of us, I decided to make an easy target of myself by attacking recklessly. Hopefully, one of the others could exploit any openings they saw while Lung Hung was beating the snot out of me. I leaped at him, my questionite claws raised to strike, and he actually looked surprised. People are always surprised by how far I can jump. I may be small, but my strength-to-weight ratio (the amount I can lift versus the amount I weigh) is borderline superhuman, so it's not hard for me to cover eight to ten feet from a standing start.\n\tAs I expected, Lung Hung plucked me out of the air as if I were a slowly drifting feather, grabbing me by the wrist and slamming me on the ground at his feet with a bone-crunching impact. He followed up by ramming his first into my chest with the force of a pile driver. I gasped in pain, unable to draw breath. Without my armor, his blow would have shattered my rib cage.\n\tRick and Julie reacted instantly, the raccoon trying for a hold around Lung Hung's waist while Julie drove the point of her sword at the vampire's heart. Lung Hung deflected Julie's thrust with his right forearm, then seized her sword arm with his left hand and swung her around, smashing her into Rick and sending them both tumbling across the grass. He sauntered over to them while they lay there dazed. I tried to get up to help them, but I was in so much pain I could barely move.\n\t\"Do not be upset,\" said Lung Hung. \"There is no shame in losing to me. For over seven hundred years, all who have opposed the Red Dragon have died. A woman and two manimals could hardly hope to succeed where so many others have failed. Still, you fought well and bravely, so I will be merciful. Your deaths shall be swift and relatively painless. Not all my victims are so fortunate.\"\n\t\"Did you bore them to death . . . with your endless monologuing?\" I asked, forcing the words out between clenched teeth. I had managed to draw a throwing blade from my belt, and with every bit of strength I had left, I threw it at him, gasping at a stab of pain from a cracked rib. \n\tLung Hung batted the throwing blade away as if it were an annoying insect, and smiled at me, his fangs gleaming. \"In your case, I may have to make an exception.\"\n\t\"You might find that . . . more difficult than you think,\" I wheezed. Lung Hung's head snapped up as he became aware of a sound overhead: the high-pitched whine of turbines.\n\tHigh above us floated a black hovercraft bearing the bird motif of Team Nighthawk. Beside it hovered another, larger craft, sleek and white, with a large gold letter C on the underside, an insignia known the world over as the mark of the Champions.\n\tLung Hung looked back down at me in surprise, and I smiled at him weakly. \"I switched on my communicator . . . while you were telling us your life story,\" I said. \"I thought the rest of Team Nighthawk . . . might be interested in hearing it. Seems they brought some friends.\"\n\tThere was a flash of light, and suddenly seven more people were standing in Sakura Shrine. There were Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk, wearing costumes similar to mine but with full face masks. Alongside them stood Defender, in his gleaming blue-and-white battle armor; Witchcraft, her green tunic and cape and red hair flowing as if in a breeze, even though the air was still; Kinetik, his scarlet-and-black costume emblazoned with white lightning bolts; Sapphire, wearing an aquamarine jacket, shorts, and thigh-high boots, her silky black hair hanging to her waist; and Ironclad, a metal-skinned giant wearing a vaguely Roman-style bronze helmet, bracers, kilt, and greaves, a massive gladius clutched in his right hand.\n\tI grinned over at my teammates. \"Hey, what kept you?\"\n\t\"You know the Champions,\" Nighthawk replied in his gravelly voice, \"always playing catch-up. Good thing your friend is a talker.\"\n\tDefender ignored Nighthawk's jibe. \"I'd advise you to surrender peacefully, Lung Hung,\" he said, in his strong, resonant voice, \"or this could get ugly.\"\n\tLung Hung looked around at the heroes assembled against him, then turned his eyes back to me. \"I underestimated you, little manimal,\" he said, sounding mildly annoyed.\n\tI nodded, still smiling. \"I get that a lot.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Well, no matter. For one who has lived centuries, setbacks such as this are merely temporary inconveniences. But rest assured, we will meet again.\" And with that, he vanished.\n\tSapphire blinked. \"He can teleport?\"\n\t\"First I've seen of it,\" I said.\n\tDefender turned to the other Champions. \"Witchcraft, scan for him psychically! Kinetik, search the area out to a one-mile radius!\" \n\tKinetik disappeared in a red blur, while Witchcraft closed her eyes and concentrated. After a moment, she opened her eyes again. \"I can detect no trace of him, Defender,\" she said. \"Either he is beyond my reach, or his mind is shielded against my powers.\"\n\tKinetik reappeared. \"No dice, Defender. Looks like we lost him.\"\n\tDefender nodded. \"For now. He'll be back, though. His kind always are. And when he is, we'll be ready for him.\"\n\tWitchcraft knelt beside me and placed her hand on my chest. A warm glow suffused me, and the pain in my chest faded. I got to my feet and looked up at her. \"Thank you,\" I said.\n\tShe smiled. \"My pleasure, Nightmunk.\"\n\tDefender turned to Rick, Julie, and me. \"Good work bringing that villain to our attention. A shame he got away, but these things happen. If there's anything the Champions can ever do for you, just let us know.\"\n\tI nodded to him. \"Sure thing, Defender.\" Rick bowed to him, and Julie just bit her lip and nodded, because it's not every day you earn a favor from the greatest hero team on the planet.\n\tThen Defender turned to Nighthawk. \"You trained him well, Nighthawk. He's a credit to your team.\"\n\tNighthawk glanced at me. \"I'm satisfied with him.\" Coming from him, that meant a lot.\n\t\"You know, Nighthawk,\" said Defender, \"if you ever want to come back, there's always a place for you at our table.\"\n\t\"Thanks,\" Nighthawk replied, \"but I prefer to stay in the shadows.\"\n\tDefender nodded. \"We each must follow our own path. Let's go, Champions. We're done here.\" Witchcraft uttered an incantation, and with a flash of light the Champions were gone. Above us, their gleaming white jet peeled off into the night sky.\n\tNighthawk turned to me. \"Need a lift home?\"\n\t\"I've got my grav bike,\" I said. \"But I think Rick might appreciate a ride back to his hotel.\"\n\t\"Not a problem,\" said Nighthawk, operating the controls on his gauntlet and calling his hovercraft down to us.\n\tI turned to the Shinto priest, who had just emerged from around the back of the small building he'd been hiding behind during the fight. \"Thanks for your help,\" I told him. \"I never did catch your name.\"\n\t\"It's Ken Shimada,\" he said, bowing. \"Glad to have been of service.\"\n\tI bowed back. \"Sorry about all the blood.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Blood can be washed away. I'm just glad everything turned out all right.\"\n\tI turned to Rick. \"It's been nice working with you, Rick.\"\n\tHe bowed. \"Likewise. If you're ever in L.A., look me up.\"\n\tRick, Nighthawk, and Lady Nighthawk boarded the hovercraft and took off, while Julie and I walked back to my grav bike. \"How are you feeling?\" I asked her.\n\t\"Confused,\" she said. \"I mean, am I a ninja now?\"\n\t\"Do you want to be?\"\n\t\"I don't know. I was still getting used to having a superhero for a boyfriend, and now it seems I'm one myself!\"\n\t\"Well, we should probably wait and see if these new abilities of yours are permanent. For all we know, they might be gone tomorrow.\"\n\t\"And if they aren't?\" she asked.\n\tI shrugged. \"Then it's up to you to decide. Like Defender said, we each must follow our own path.\"\n\tShe smiled. \"Well, right now I think my path leads to our bedroom, followed by a whole lot of kissing and snuggling.\"\n\tI grinned. \"I can hardly wait!\"\n\tWe both got on my grav bike and flew off together into the night sky."
},
".description.json": {
"description": "Nightmunk teams up with Rick, a raccoon manimal and kung fu master, to save his human girlfriend Julie from being taken over by the spirit of a dead ninja!"
},
".writing.json": {
"writing": "[center]The Butterfly[/center]\n\n[center]a story set in the universe of Champions Online[/center]\n\n\t\"Oh, that's my favorite show!\"\n\t\"Mayor Biselle is an idiot!\"\n\t\"Yes, I'll have another, please.\"\n\t\"Well, as David Hume once said . . .\"\n\tI threaded my way through a forest of legs, seeking a quiet corner where I could be by myself for a while. There's a reason I don't normally go to parties, and it's not because I'm the only three-foot talking chipmunk in Millenium City. I long ago accepted that I'm always going to be an oddity and that I'm going to be stared at wherever I go. It's because I'm trained to be observant, and being around so many people causes sensory overload. Plus, in my line of work you tend to accumulate enemies, and there's always a chance one of them will crash the party and put innocent lives at risk.\n\tI found a sofa nobody was using and sat myself down on it, sipping my gin and tonic and trying to tune out all the conversations going on around me. Almost immediately, someone came and sat down next to me. I looked up at her. She was about twenty-five, with long black hair, wearing a black collared shirt, black jeans, black leather boots, black eyeliner, and black lipstick. There was an ornate silver ring on every one of her fingers. She crossed her legs, holding her drink with an air of practiced nonchalance, looked at me, and smiled. \"Hello there!\" she said.\n\t\"Hi,\" I replied, smiling back politely.\n\tShe held out her hand to me. \"I've been wanting to talk to you, Alvin. I'm Lilith.\"\n\tOf course she was. I shook her hand with my stubby, fuzzy, four-fingered one. \"Oh, really? What about?\"\n\t\"Why do you do it?\"\n\t\"Do what?\" I asked, feigning ignorance. It wasn't the first time I'd been asked that question.\n\t\"You know, dress up in a costume and swing around town punching out bad guys.\"\n\tI shrugged. \"It's fun?\"\n\tShe smirked. \"That was a flip answer.\"\n\t\"Yes, it was.\"\n\t\"Are you afraid of admitting the real reason?\"\n\tI raised an eyebrow. \"Which is?\"\n\t\"That you have something to prove.\"\n\t\"Oh, is that my real reason?\"\n\t\"Well, you're a manimal, and you're short. Socially, that's two strikes against you. It only makes sense that you'd want to show everyone you're just as capable as a full-sized human.\"\n\tI chuckled and shook my head. \"It's funny when an amateur psychologist tries to analyze someone they know nothing about. Next you'll tell me I teamed up with Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk because I have unresolved parent issues.\"\n\tShe paused and sipped her drink, probably to cover up that that was in fact what she'd been thinking. \"I'm just trying to understand why someone would risk their life doing something pointless.\"\n\tI stared at her. \"You think what I do is pointless?\"\n\t\"Well, crime never stops, does it?\"\n\tI frowned. \"That's specious. You might as well say doctors should stop practicing medicine because people keep getting sick.\"\n\tShe smiled—a smug, condescending smile. \"Oh, don't take it personally. Everything is pointless. Morality is arbitrary; good and evil are just points of view. The law is just the will of the herd. In the end, nothing really matters.\"\n\tI emptied the last of my drink and looked up at her intently. \"It's easy for someone like you who's never wanted for anything to say that nothing matters,\" I said, \"But when it's [i]your[/i] precious ass on the line, [i]your[/i] back against the wall, then you'll be singing a different tune. Suddenly, things are going to start mattering a whole lot. But don't worry, I'll still be there to help. It's what I do. Now, if you'll excuse me.\"\n\tI hopped down off the sofa, made my way across the crowded room to where my girlfriend Julie Martins was standing talking to another girl, and looked up at her. \"I think I've had enough,\" I said to her.\n\t\"Is something wrong?\" she asked. She knew me well enough to see that I was upset.\n\t\"I'm just tired,\" I lied. \"I'm going to head home. You can stay if you want to.\"\n\t\"No, I'll go with you,\" she said. She said goodbye to her friend, and we left the party together, exiting the apartment and descending the stairs to the street. It was late and the street was empty.\n\t\"So, what happened?\" Julie asked me as we walked along.\n\t\"Someone said something stupid that pissed me off.\"\n\tJulie frowned. \"Did they insult you?\"\n\t\"No, nothing like that. It was just something that someone who grew up as a slave and had to fight for survival doesn't appreciate hearing.\"\n\tShe sighed. \"I'm sorry I dragged you here, then. I just thought it would be nice for the two of us to hang out with normal people for a change.\"\n\tI stuck my hands in the pockets of my leather jacket. \"I'm sorry I can't be normal for you, Julie. I wish I could.\"\n\tShe stopped, knelt down, and put her arms around me. \"I like you just fine the way you are, Alvin.\" And she pressed her lips to my muzzle and kissed me, which made me feel warm and happy inside. I put my arms around her and kissed her back, and we gazed into each other's eyes.\n\tOur private moment was interrupted by the sound of footsteps running toward us. I turned my head to see what the source was. From out of a nearby alley ran a man wearing a black tunic, breeches, and a hood that covered his entire face except his eyes. He staggered and collapsed before us, his chest glistening, reflecting the light from the streetlamp. Then three more men emerged from the alley. I recognized them immediately as members of the Cult of the Red Banner, a gang that operated out of Chinatown, which meant they were very far from their home turf. They moved to surround me, Julie, and the wounded man.\n\tThe Red Banner cultists were lean, muscular men wearing scarlet trousers and foot wraps and green sash belts, their bare chests emblazoned with ornate tattoos of a dragon. Their faces were concealed by white dragon masks with long snouts and horns sticking out to either side, likenesses of the Death Dragon, which the cult worshipped. Each was holding a sword that glistened with blood, presumably that of the man they had been chasing.\n\tI was in my street clothes, which deprived me of most of the weaponry I normally employ when fighting criminals, but that didn't mean I was completely unarmed. I removed a throwing blade from my jacket pocket and readied it while taking up a defensive stance. I'd fought the Red Banner before and was reasonably sure I could handle these three. My main concern was for Julie. If anything happened to her . . .\n\tI didn't have time to complete that thought, as the three cultists lunged at me with their swords. I hurled my throwing blade at the one closest to me, embedding the point in his right wrist. He cried out in pain and dropped his sword, which I caught in midair and used to block a thrust from the second one, the blades clanging together. Then I had to spin fast and parry a thrust from the third one. I gave ground, trying to draw the two still armed with swords away from Julie and the wounded man, and they obliged, moving to keep me flanked, while the one I'd wounded backed off into the shadows, clutching his wrist.\n\tI did a couple of feints to keep them busy while Julie, bless her, called 911 on her cell phone. One of them turned his head to look at her, and I seized the opportunity to rush in and slash at him, cutting into his side. He fell, and I whirled to face the other one and saw him taking a deep breath. I dove aside as he breathed a gout of flame at me. How they do that, I have no idea. There's no apparatus in their masks to generate fire with, so it must be something mystical. The flames singed my fur and ignited the right sleeve of my jacket. I didn't have time to do anything about it, though, as he was on me a second later, hacking viciously with his sword. I parried as best I could, gritting my teeth as the heat on my right arm grew increasingly uncomfortable. I had to get my burning jacket off, but he wasn't giving me an opportunity.\n\tI took the offensive, as my only chance was to take this guy down before I burned to death. He was smart enough to realize that time was on his side, and good enough to block all my attacks and drag things out as long as possible. The pain in my right arm was getting really intense now, and the fire was spreading up the arm of my jacket. I reached into a pocket of my jacket and pulled out a smoke bomb, slamming it on the ground at my feet. Instantly, we were both enveloped in a cloud of thick black smoke, which gave me a moment to drop my sword and tear off my burning jacket.\n\tAs the smoke cleared, the guy came charging at me, his sword raised above his head. I socked him in the stomach, and he doubled over as the air left his lungs, and then collapsed and lay curled up on the ground. Then pain exploded in the side of my head as the foot of the first guy—the one I'd hit with a throwing blade—connected. I staggered to one side and turned to face him, my head ringing from the blow. He threw an open palm strike at my face, which I blocked by sheer luck, as I was so disoriented from that boot to the head I could barely see straight. I grabbed his arm and threw him over my shoulder, slamming him onto the ground on his back. Since it didn't look as if he'd be getting up anytime soon, I turned toward Julie and the wounded man to see how things were going over there.\n\tHow things were going was . . . odd. The man was holding Julie's face in his hands as she knelt beside him, their eyes locked together. She didn't seem afraid, though. I ran over to them, and just as I arrived he released her and his body went limp.\n\t\"Julie?\" I asked.\n\tShe blinked and turned her head to look at me. \"Yes?\"\n\t\"Are you okay?\"\n\tShe nodded. \"Yes, Alvin, I'm fine.\"\n\tI knelt beside the man and checked his pulse. \"He's dead.\" I looked at Julie. \"Did he say anything?\"\n\tShe shook her head. \"Not a word.\"\n\t\"Did you get though to the cops?\"\n\t\"Yes, they're on their way.\" Her eyes widened as she noticed my right arm. \"You're hurt!\"\n\t\"Just a little burned. Nothing serious.\" I glanced over at the flaming jacket on the ground. \"I'm more upset about that. I really liked that jacket.\"\n\tJulie gazed down at the dead man. \"I wonder who he was, and why those guys were chasing him.\"\n\t\"He looks like a ninja,\" I said, \"which means he's probably either an assassin or a spy sent by someone against the Red Banner.\"\n\t\"Who would do that?\"\n\t\"Practically anyone. The Red Banner has lots of enemies.\"\n\tA police siren came wailing through the night, growing steadily louder. We both stood up and waited for the cops to arrive. I sighed. This was going to be a long night.\n\n\tI sat at the sergeant's desk, drinking really bad police station coffee as she typed up my statement. My right arm was bandaged where it had been burned, and it still hurt quite a bit. I glanced across the room at Julie, who was sitting at another police officer's desk, giving him her statement. That was standard procedure, taking statements separately so they could compare them for any discrepancies. She looked at me and smiled, and I smiled back. We had been here close to three hours now, and she looked as tired as I felt. Then I perked up as the detective in charge of the case—a tall, well-dressed, black guy named Glass—entered the room alongside a lumbering bear of a man sporting a bushy unibrow, thick muttonchops, massive hairy arms, and huge apelike feet, which were unshod. He was John Cowens, a.k.a. Kodiak, a special agent for the FBI who handled all things paranormal. He was also a mutant with superhuman strength. \"Hey, Alvin, how's it going?\" Kodiak said, in a deep, rumbling voice.\n\t\"Fine, thanks. How's it going with you, John?\"\n\tHe shrugged a pair of shoulders broad enough to land a plane on. \"Eh, same old, same old.\"\n\t\"I take it you two know each other,\" commented Glass.\n\tI nodded. \"We've worked together before.\" I looked back at Kodiak. \"I'm guessing you're here because the Red Banner is involved.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" said Kodiak, \"they're known magic users, so that makes it my department.\"\n\t\"Any ID on the stiff?\" I asked, taking a sip of that awful coffee.\n\tGlass shook his head. \"Nothing on the body, and his fingerprints don't match anything in the FBI's database.\"\n\t\"What about Japanese law enforcement?\" I asked.\n\t\"We checked with them, too,\" said Kodiak. \"No dice. Bottom line, we have no idea who he is.\"\n\t\"Any idea why those three guys were chasing him?\"\n\t\"They might as well be mutes for all they're telling us,\" replied Glass. \"However, there have been several assassinations of prominent figures in Chinatown over the past couple of weeks, all of whom had links to the Red Banner. The murders were consistent with ninja techniques.\"\n\t\"Yeah, I heard about those. You think our dead ninja was responsible?\"\n\tKodiak nodded. \"And the Red Banner tracked him down and killed him in retaliation.\"\n\t\"Unfortunately,\" said Glass, \"since we don't know who he is or who hired him, that doesn't leave us with much to go on.\"\n\t\"What about his weaponry?\" I asked. \"Ninja weapons tend to be distinctive to each clan.\"\n\t\"We're checking that out next,\" said Glass. \"We've got an expert on ninjas flying in from out of town. Oddly enough, he's a manimal, like you.\"\n\tI blinked. \"Really?\"\n\t\"His name's Rick,\" said Kodiak. \"He's a raccoon. You know him?\"\n\tI shook my head. \"Nope. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing any raccoon manimals on Monster Island.\"\n\t\"Maybe you didn't run in the same circles,\" Glass suggested.\n\t\"I don't know,\" I said doubtfully. \"Dr. Moreau only made a few hundred of us, and a unique individual would tend to stand out.\"\n\t\"Well, maybe you can meet up with him and ask him,\" said Kodiak.\n\t\"Maybe I will, at that. How did you know to contact him?\"\n\t\"He's come to the attention of a number of law enforcement agencies due to incidents in Japan, China, the Philippines, Europe, Africa, and North America.\"\n\t\"Sounds like he gets around,\" I commented. \"What kind of incidents?\"\n\t\"Usually, they involve local criminals or terrorist groups,\" said Kodiak. \"The United Nations Tribunal on International Law has been keeping tabs on him ever since he saved one of their agents in Hong Kong. Presently, he's living in Los Angeles, working as a martial arts instructor.\"\n\t\"Interesting,\" I said. I looked at both of them. \"The sergeant has my statement. Am I done here?\"\n\tGlass nodded. \"Once your companion has finished giving her statement, you're both free to go. We'd appreciate it if you stayed close by, though, in case we need to talk to you again.\" He regarded me intently. \"I hardly need to remind you this is a police matter. We'll handle the investigation.\"\n\tI smiled at him. \"I'm sure you will, Detective. I have every confidence in the MCPD's abilities.\"\n\tAs I hopped down off my chair, Kodiak nudged me with his elbow and nodded at Julie. \"Nice going,\" he said, grinning.\n\t\"Thanks,\" I replied dryly. I walked over to her, and she smiled at me, and I smiled back. \"Almost done?\" I asked. \n\tShe looked at the sergeant, who nodded, and she rose from her chair, taking my hand. \"Let's go.\"\n\tWe left the police station and walked down the dark, empty street together, holding hands. \"Well, that was fun,\" I said. When she didn't reply, I looked up at her. \"Are you all right?\" I asked.\n\tShe looked down at me and smiled. \"You asked me that before, Alvin. Yes, I'm fine.\"\n\t\"Okay,\" I said. \"I just thought you might be a little shaken up. That kind of thing happens to me all the time, but you're not used to it.\"\n\t\"I appreciate the concern,\" said Julie, \"but I'm fine, really. Actually, it was kind of exciting, watching you in action. I only wish I could have helped.\"\n\t\"You called the cops,\" I pointed out.\n\t\"I meant help with the fighting.\"\n\tI nodded. \"I guess it's not easy being Lois Lane.\"\n\tShe grinned at me. \"Does that mean you're Superman?\"\n\tI shrugged. \"Well, I do have a cape.\"\n\t\"And it looks quite dashing on you.\"\n\t\"You think so?\" I grinned. \"Maybe when we get home I can put it on and we can have a little fun.\"\n\tShe sighed. \"Not tonight, Alvin. It's been a long night and I'm beat. I just want to crawl into bed and go to sleep.\"\n\t\"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm pretty tired too. How about tomorrow?\"\n\t\"It's already tomorrow.\"\n\t\"I meant during the day.\"\n\t\"We'll see.\"\n\tWe arrived at our apartment, went into the bedroom, undressed, and climbed into bed together. I snuggled up next to her, feeling her warm body against mine. God, it felt so good! I leaned over and kissed her cheek, and saw she was already asleep. I gazed at her beautiful face for a long moment. It never ceased to amaze me that out of all the men in this enormous city, she'd chosen me.\n\t\"I love you so much, Julie,\" I whispered.\n\tThen I settled down beside her and went to sleep.\n\n\tI was awakened by the sound of Julie's voice. She wasn't speaking in words, but in that moaning, incoherent way people sometimes do when they're having a dream. She was also writhing around in the bed quite a bit. I sat up and watched her for a moment, debating whether it was a good idea to wake her. It didn't sound as if she was having a very pleasant dream. Hesitantly, I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder. Her body jerked, her eyes snapped open, and she stared up at me with a shocked look on her face, as if she were completely surprised to find a chipmunk in bed with her. As quickly as it had come, the look faded, and she smiled. \"Hi.\"\n\t\"Hi, yourself,\" I said. \"You looked like you were having a nightmare.\"\n\tShe blinked. \"I did?\"\n\tI nodded. \"Do you remember what it was about?\"\n\tShe sat up and shook her head. \"No. Did I say anything?\"\n\t\"Nothing I could make out.\" \n\tI glanced at the clock by the bed. It was five hours since we'd gone to sleep. There was light around the edges of the curtains on the window. I threw aside the sheets, climbed out of bed, and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. \"Are you up?\" Julie asked.\n\t\"Yeah, I think so. How about you?\"\n\t\"I think I'm gonna try to get some more sleep.\"\n\tI nodded and came around to her side of the bed, and she leaned over and kissed me. \"Pleasant dreams,\" I said, smiling. She lay back down in the bed and closed her eyes, and I left the bedroom, went into the kitchen, and fixed myself a bowl of cereal. Then I went to my computer and switched it on. I mulled over what had just happened as I spooned the cereal into my mouth and waited for the machine to boot up. I'd never known Julie to have nightmares before. Then again, being exposed to violence often has unsettling effects on people who aren't accustomed to it. I pushed that thought aside as I started searching the web for information regarding the recent string of murders in Chinatown. While I'd promised Detective Glass I'd let MCPD handle the investigation, there was no harm in just looking, right?\n\tThere had been five killings in less than two weeks, all prominent businessmen. The details released to the press were few, as was typical for an ongoing murder investigation, but a few facts were consistent across all five cases. The victims had all been killed at night and at home, they had all been well guarded, and nobody had seen a thing. The police had no suspects and no motive—at least none they wanted to talk about. I began delving into the backgrounds of the victims, trying to see if there was anything linking them, apart from being Chinese.\n\tI'd been at it for two frustrating hours, going down one blind alley after another, when Julie came out of the bedroom. We said our good mornings, and she went into the kitchen and fixed herself a bowl of cereal. Then she came over to me. \"Whatcha up to?\" she asked, peering at my monitor.\n\t\"Just doing a little nosing around,\" I replied.\n\t\"I thought you weren't going to get involved in that.\"\n\t\"I'm not involved. I'm just looking for anything the police might have missed.\"\n\t\"That sounds suspiciously like being involved, Alvin.\"\n\t\"No, if I were involved, I'd be out on the streets squeezing punks for information. That's being involved. This is being interested.\"\n\t\"If you say so.\" She put down her bowl and moved up behind me, sliding her hands down my furry chest and nuzzling behind my ear. \n\tI growled with pleasure and turned my head to look up at her. \"Of course, I could get involved in something else,\" I said, grinning.\n\t\"You are one randy little chipmunk, you know that?\"\n\t\"Well, in my defense, you are being pretty provocative.\"\n\t\"Actually, I feel like a movie. What have we got in the queue?\"\n\tI checked. \"How about [i]Invasion of the Blood Farmers[/i]?\"\n\t\"Oh my God, that sounds hideous! Let's watch it!\"\n\tWe moved to the living room, settled down on the couch in front of the television, and started the movie. As Julie had predicted, it was horrendous—an early '70s horror flick, made on a budget of about $25, in which a cult of modern-day druids in upstate New York drained people of the fakest blood I'd ever seen in order to resurrect their queen. I sat with my head against Julie's shoulder and her arm around my waist, enjoying the hell out of it.\n\t\"This movie is terrible,\" said Julie, frowning. \"Why would anyone watch something so bad?\"\n\tI looked up at her, puzzled. Normally, she loved trash like this. \"I thought that was the point,\" I said.\n\tShe got up from the couch and went into the bedroom. I turned off the television and followed her. She was getting dressed. \"Julie, is something wrong?\" I asked.\n\t\"I'm going to the store,\" she replied. \"There's some things we need.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Do you want some company?\"\n\t\"No, that's all right. You go back to your movie.\" And with that, she left.\n\tI stood there, trying to make some sense out of this. Julie was acting weird. She didn't seem to be mad at me. It was more that she was just indifferent, as though I was hardly even there. Perhaps the events of last night had affected her more than she was letting on. Nightmares and emotional detachment were both symptoms of PTSD. Then again, earlier she'd been warm and affectionate, even playful. I sighed and shook my head. Hopefully, this would work itself out. There wasn't anything I could do about it at the moment. I went back to my computer and resumed my research.\n\tAfter another hour of getting nowhere, I happened onto something that might be significant. While reviewing file photos of the five victims at various public events, I noticed what appeared to be the same woman in two photographs of different victims. I couldn't be certain it was the same woman, because the quality of the pictures wasn't that great, but the resemblance was striking. She was Asian, and rather tall, with distinctive high cheekbones. Ten minutes later I came across her again, with a third victim. A few minutes after that, she popped up with a fourth victim.\n\tI pondered the implications of my discovery. It might not mean anything. After all, the Chinese community in Millennium City tended to be rather insular and cliquish. She might simply be someone who traveled in the same circles as the four victims and had happened to be present on each of those occasions. It would help if I knew who she was, but unfortunately, none of the pictures gave any indication of that.\n\tIt was pretty thin, but I decided to bring it to Kodiak's attention. I didn't want to deal with Glass, since I didn't know him and I'd promised him I'd stay out of it. I emailed the four pictures to Kodiak. Then I went into the kitchen to make myself a sandwich.\n\tMy cell phone buzzed right between adding the mustard and the mayonnaise. \"Well, you've been a busy little beaver, haven't you?\" Kodiak's gruff voice said.\n\t\"I'm a chipmunk, not a beaver,\" I replied.\n\t\"Just messing with you. I'll see if I can find out who your mystery woman is. And I won't tell Glass where the lead came from.\"\n\t\"Thanks. Has your ninja expert arrived yet?\"\n\t\"Yes, Rick is here now, looking over the evidence. Also, since I'm sure you'll hear about it soon enough, I might as well tell you there's been another murder.\"\n\tI blinked. \"With our ninja lying on a slab in the morgue?\"\n\t\"They've been known to work in teams, you know.\"\n\t\"Who's the victim?\"\n\t\"Lei Feng, another businessman. Killed about half an hour ago.\"\n\t\"In the daytime? That breaks the pattern. The others were all killed at night.\"\n\t\"Maybe it was the only time they could get at him. Anyway, thanks for the tip.\"\n\t\"You're welcome.\" I hung up and immediately started pulling up pictures of Lei Feng. It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for. There she was, standing next to him at a charity fundraiser.\n\t\"Who are you?\" I asked the face gazing back at me from my screen.\n\tThe door opened, and I turned my chair toward it. \"Hey, Julie, I—\" \n\tI stopped. \n\tIt wasn't Julie. It was her face, but it wasn't her. There was no sign of warmth or affection in her face. It was cold, hard, and deadly, like a snake's. She raised her hand, and there was a silver throwing star held between her fingers. Without a word, she hurled it straight at me.\n\tI dove aside as the throwing star struck the back of my chair beside my ear. I hit the floor and rolled to my feet, coming up in a fighting stance. From across her back, Julie had drawn a [i]wakazashi[/i]—a Japanese short sword—and was holding it out before her, advancing cautiously, her brow furrowed in concentration.\n\t\"Who are you?\" I asked, my hands raised defensively.\n\tShe didn't reply, just edged forward slowly, the blade of her sword gleaming. She gave a wordless shout and lunged, striking down at me, and I jumped back, evading. Her reach was much greater than mine. I had to find a way to compensate for that. I grabbed the stand of the lamp beside my computer desk and held it with both hands like a staff. Its heavy base made it an awkward improvised weapon, but it did give me more reach.\n\tJulie attacked again, a complex maneuver involving a feint and a lunge, and I parried with the lamp. Her blade struck the steel stand, cutting clean through it and the electric cord inside, causing a bright spark and a loud pop. I thrust the end of the stand at her, and she cried out as the contact shocked her. In addition, her sword had cut through the stand at an angle, effectively turning it into a makeshift spear that pierced her left side, drawing blood. She stepped back, holding her sword defensively and glaring at me.\n\tI swallowed, holding the red-tipped lamp before me. There was no winning this fight. Either she killed me, or I killed her. Either way, I lost. On the other hand, Julie was bleeding pretty badly from that wound in her side. Maybe if I could keep her busy long enough, she would pass out. \n\tShe shouted and lunged again, her blade seeking my heart. I blocked with the lamp and swung it like a mace so the heavy base slammed against the side of her head. She staggered back, stunned, and I dropped the lamp and leaped at her, trying for a grapple. If I could get her in a hold, maybe I could incapacitate her without hurting her.\n\tShe grabbed my arm and threw me sideways into a bookshelf, causing an explosion of pain in my back as my spine hit the edges of the wooden shelves. Then she thrust at me with her sword, which I narrowly dodged. I threw a punch, hitting her right on the wound in her side and making her cry out in pain. It was a dirty move, and I hated myself for it, but I had to end this fast.\n\tJulie stepped back, her eyes narrowed at me with hate, then whirled and dashed toward the window. As I yelled at her to stop, she crashed through it. We were seven stories up. I ran to the window and looked down. There was no sign of her.\n\tI stood there for a moment, my chest heaving, trying to decide what to do. I couldn't tell the cops what had happened. They might kill her. Or she'd kill them. On the other hand, there was no reason to think this latest murder was the last, which meant that if she wasn't stopped, more innocent people could die. But to stop her, I needed to have a better idea of what I was up against. \n\tI went into the bedroom and suited up in my black and gray Nightmunk costume. Then I went up to the roof, got on my grav bike, and flew toward police headquarters. Once there, I went straight to Kodiak's office. He looked at me in surprise as I entered wearing my costume. \"This an official visit?\" he asked.\n\t\"I need to talk to Rick,\" I said.\n\t\"I thought you were letting MCPD handle this case.\"\n\t\"Things have changed. I now have a personal interest.\"\n\tHe raised a bushy eyebrow. \"Would you care to elaborate on that?\"\n\t\"Not at the moment.\"\n\t\"I see. You know, Glass is gonna be real pissed at me if I bring you in on this.\"\n\t\"All I want to do is talk to Rick. Just two manimals reliving old times.\"\n\tKodiak nodded. \"Fine. He's down in the evidence locker. I'll buzz the officer on duty to let you through.\"\n\t\"Thanks, John,\" I said. \"I owe you one.\"\n\t\"Nah, you've helped us out plenty of times in the past. Think of this as payback.\"\n\tI left his office and went downstairs to the evidence locker, where the officer on duty admitted me. I found the raccoon standing before a large steel locker, surveying its contents. He was about my height, with the black mask and ringed black-and-white tail typical of his species. He was wearing an ordinary white collared shirt and tan slacks, his clawed feet bare. He looked up as I approached and his eyes widened. \"You're Nightmunk, aren't you?\" he asked, his voice a soft baritone.\n\tI nodded. \"Hi. You need to tell me about ninjas.\"\n\t\"Are you helping with the investigation?\"\n\t\"Unofficially. Kodiak knows I'm involved. Glass doesn't, and I'd prefer to keep it that way for now.\"\n\t\"Well, first of all, there's no such word as 'ninjas.' Japanese doesn't have any plural nouns.\"\n\t\"Thanks for the grammar lesson.\"\n\t\"You're welcome. Is there anything specific about ninja you want to know?\"\n\t\"Are they capable of possessing another person's body?\"\n\tRick looked at me, surprised. \"Why do you ask?\"\n\t\"Because I think that may have happened to someone I know.\"\n\tRick frowned and was silent for a moment. \"Are you familiar with the [i]kuji-kiri[/i]?\"\n\t\"No, what's that?\"\n\t\"They're a ninja's nine levels of power. They are [i]rin[/i], strength of mind and body; [i]pyo[/i], direction of energy;[i] toh[/i], harmony with the universe; [i]sha[/i], healing of self and others; [i]kai[/i], premonition of danger; [i]jin[/i], knowing the thoughts of others; [i]retsu[/i], mastery of time and space; [i]zai[/i], control of the elements of nature; and [i]zen[/i], enlightenment.\"\n\t\"So what does all that mean?\" I asked.\n\t\"It means nobody knows how much they're capable of, so spirit transfer isn't out of the question.\" Rick turned to the locker, which contained an assortment of weapons—swords, pronged daggers, nunchucks, throwing stars, a bow and arrows—as well as the blood-stained outfit the ninja Julie and I had encountered had been wearing. \"These came from a ninja who belonged to Nine Hands Cutting, one of the oldest and most feared ninja clans. They served as spies and assassins for the shogun for over a thousand years. Since the fall of the shogunate at the end of the Edo period in 1868, they've mostly disappeared. The few that remain work as mercenaries, selling their services to anyone who can afford them.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Is there any way to expel a ninja from a possessed body?\"\n\t\"To do that, you'd probably need a Shinto priest.\"\n\t\"There's a Shinto temple here in Millennium City.\"\n\t\"I know. But first we'd need to find the possessed person and bring them there. Do you have any idea where they are?\"\n\t\"No. But if we can figure out who the next victim is, maybe we can catch them when they try to make their hit.\"\n\t\"And do we have any leads on that?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"Possibly. I've identified a woman who appears in photographs of most of the victims. Kodiak is checking into who she is.\"\n\t\"Then let's see how he's faring.\" Rick closed up the locker, and we headed back to Kodiak's office.\n\t\"How is it you know so much about ninja?\" I asked Rick as we walked through the police station, drawing stares from the people we passed, as the sight of two manimals together was unusual enough to attract attention even in Millennium City.\n\t\"I've encountered them before,\" he replied. \"A friend of mine who owned a plantation in the Philippines was being harrassed by thugs hired by a local businessman who wanted him to sell his land, and he asked me for help. After I dealt with the thugs, the businessman hired a ninja to deal with me.\"\n\t\"And you were able to defeat the ninja?\"\n\t\"I do have some training in the martial arts.\"\n\t\"I gathered that, since you teach it. What style?\"\n\t\"A variety of what has come to be known in the West as kung fu.\"\n\t\"And how does a manimal come to know kung fu?\"\n\t\"That's rather a long story.\"\n\t\"I'd be interested in hearing it sometime,\" I said, as we arrived at Kodiak's office. We knocked and went inside. Kodiak was sitting at his desk, working on his computer, his big hairy hands awkwardly pecking at the keys.\n\t\"How goes the search for our mystery woman?\" I asked.\n\tKodiak shook his head. \"I've checked with every agency I can think of. It's all come up blank.\"\n\t\"May I see a picture of her?\" asked Rick. Kodiak turned his monitor toward us, and I saw Rick's eyes widen. \"I know this woman!\"\n\t\"You do?\" asked Kodiak.\n\tRick nodded. \"I've encountered her before, in Hong Kong. Her name is Fan Su. She's an operative for Chang Chun Shipping.\"\n\t\"Chang Chun?\" said Kodiak. \"I've heard of them.\"\n\t\"I'm not surprised,\" said Rick. \"They're reputed to be involved in quite a few illegal activities, among them drug running, arms smuggling, and human trafficking. However, people who look into their affairs have a tendency to disappear.\"\n\tKodiak did some more hunting and pecking. \"Well, how do you like that? Seems all the murder victims were major shareholders in Chang Chun Shipping. Collectively, they almost had a controlling interest in the company.\"\n\t\"Almost?\" I asked.\n\tKodiak nodded. \"There's one more. A guy named Bai Xue. He and the others started buying into Chang Chun in a big way a few years ago.\"\n\t\"Sounds like he's our next victim,\" I said.\n\t\"But how would killing these men gain anyone control of the company?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"That would depend on who inherits their shares,\" I replied. \"And apparently, Fan Su knew most of them personally. You said you've met her. Is she the kind of woman who could bend a man to her will?\"\n\t\"Human males do seem to find her attractive,\" said Rick.\n\t\"I need to call Bai Xue and offer him police protection,\" said Kodiak.\n\t\"I'd imagine he already knows his life is in danger,\" I said, \"considering six of his fellow shareholders have been killed in the span of two weeks.\"\n\tRick nodded. \"If he wanted the police to be involved, he would have contacted them by now.\"\n\t\"Even so, I have to at least make the offer,\" said Kodiak. \"It wouldn't look very good if he were killed and it came out that we knew and didn't try to warn him.\"\n\t\"You do that,\" I said. \"In the meantime, I'll go to his place of residence and wait for our ninja to make his move.\"\n\t\"Would you mind some company?\" Rick asked. \"We have no idea when that will happen, and you will have to sleep sometime.\"\n\t\"Sounds good to me,\" I replied.\n\tKodiak frowned. \"If Glass finds out you two are sticking your noses into police business . . .\"\n\t\"You wouldn't even know where to look if not for us,\" I pointed out.\n\t\"Besides,\" said Rick, \"there's no law against simply waiting for someone to show up, is there?\"\n\t\"Fine,\" growled Kodiak. \"But if this thing goes south, you're on your own. I'm not covering for you.\"\n\t\"We're not asking you to,\" I said. I turned to Rick. \"Come on, let's go.\"\n\tRick bowed to Kodiak, and we left his office together.\n\n\t\"Alvin?\" said Rick. \"Alvin? ALVINNNNN!\"\n\tI rolled over on the spot on the floor where I'd been sleeping and looked up at him. \"Don't [i]ever[/i] do that again.\"\n\tRick grinned. \"Sorry, I couldn't resist.\"\n\tI yawned, got to my feet, and looked around the empty apartment we had appropriated for our stakeout. My grav bike sat beneath the window, a bag of groceries beside it. I went over and started fixing myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while Rick, seated on a collapsible canvas chair, continued watching Bai Xue's apartment in the building across the street through a pair of electronic binoculars mounted on a tripod. It was dark in the apartment, as having the lights on would have created reflections on the window.\n\tWe had stopped off at the hotel where Rick was staying before we'd come here, and he had changed from his collared shirt and slacks into a sleeveless green tunic and trousers with white trim and a gold cloth belt. Apparently, these were his work clothes. I had taken the first shift through the day while Rick had slept, and he had relieved me at eight PM. It was now four in the morning.\n\t\"See anything interesting?\" I asked, biting into my sandwich.\n\t\"Not really,\" Rick replied. \"Bai Xue turned in at eleven thirty. The streets are still being patrolled by Red Banner cultists. Also, there was a female jogger wearing a halter top and shorts with the word 'Booty' written across her backside.\"\n\t\"Classy,\" I said. \"Wait, you were looking at her ass?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"I was curious about what it said.\" He continued watching until I finished eating and came over to relieve him of his vigil.\n\t\"There's something I've been meaning to ask you,\" I said as I settled down behind the binoculars. \"I don't remember ever seeing you on Monster Island, and I think I'd remember a raccoon manimal, since it's not one of Moreau's standard species.\"\n\tRick nodded. \"Like you, I was a, shall we say, limited edition?\"\n\t\"He did like to experiment.\"\n\t\"Indeed. We never met because I departed Monster Island while you were still entertaining Moreau in the big house with your brothers.\"\n\t\"Departed how?\" I asked.\n\t\"On a raft I built myself.\"\n\t\"That was gutsy of you.\"\n\t\"It was either that or Moreau's fight pits. Since I didn't wish to kill or be killed, I decided to take my chances with the sea.\"\n\t\"And how did that go?\"\n\t\"Not well, I'm afraid. A storm came up and my little raft was torn to pieces.\"\n\t\"And yet you survived.\"\n\t\"Your detective skills are truly astounding. Yes, my half-drowned body washed up on the shore of a small island, where it was found by the island's sole inhabitant, a man named Quan. He took me home and nursed me back to health.\"\n\t\"That was nice of him,\" I said.\n\tRick nodded. \"Particularly since he had no idea what I was. He knew nothing of manimals.\"\n\t\"So who was this Quan?\"\n\t\"He was a kung fu master who had retired to that island to find peace and solitude so he could attain enlightenment before he died.\"\n\t\"Ah, I'm starting to get the picture now.\"\n\t\"Needless to say, he didn't appreciate my being there, at least not at first. As it turned out, though, he was rather lonely and missed having students to teach. He had once been the head of a prestigious martial arts school, but he had incurred the wrath of a warlord named Lung Hung, and all his students had been killed in their feud. That was why he had retired to the island.\"\n\t\"Lung Hung?\" I asked. \"That means 'Red Dragon,' doesn't it?\"\n\tRick raised an eyebrow. \"You speak Chinese?\"\n\t\"Only enough so that I'm not completely lost when I'm in Chinatown.\"\n\t\"Yes, Lung Hung means 'Red Dragon.' He is a somewhat mythic figure. Some claim he is immortal and has manipulated events in China for centuries to create a state of perpetual chaos in which he could hold his domain safe from all others. Supposedly, he engineered the Boxer Rebellion, the downfall of the Manchus, and the Cultural Revolution.\"\n\t\"Hmm. Impressive accomplishments, if you like getting lots of people killed.\"\n\t\"Anyway, since I owed Master Quan my life, I agreed to become his student. I studied with him for seven years, until he passed away peacefully in his sleep.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Did he ever attain enlightenment?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"I don't know. I like to think so, and if he did, I would like to think I helped. He was a good teacher, and a good friend. Before he died, he adopted me as his son. I am now the last remaining member of his clan.\" Rick paused a moment, then continued. \"I buried him in his favorite spot, built myself another raft, and sailed across the Pacific until I was picked up by a Japanese fishing boat. Then I wandered the world, taking whatever work I could find. Eventually, I settled in Los Angeles, where I teach others what my master taught me.\"\n\tWhile I was curious to know more, I noticed something at the edge of binoculars' field of vision. It wasn't much, just a momentary eclipsing of some of the lighted windows on another building, but it caught my attention. I turned the binoculars toward it, reducing the light amplification so the glare from the windows wouldn't drown everything out and increasing the magnification. I could just make out a female figure who appeared to be walking on air. No, not air, I realized. A tightrope.\n\t\"It's on!\" I said, pushing open the window and jumping onto my grav bike. Rick hopped on behind me, looping his arms around my waist. I gunned the engine, and the bike rose into the air and zoomed out the window.\n\tI flew the bike across the chasm between the two skyscrapers and landed it on the balcony of Bai Xue's apartment. The tightrope stretched away from it, secured to a steel shaft embedded in the wall. Julie, in a full ninja outfit, was balancing on the tightrope about thirty feet away. Even though I couldn't see her face behind her mask, I could tell it was her.\n\t\"Give up,\" I said to her, dismounting from the bike and going to the railing of the balcony. \"There's nowhere for you to go.\" She hesitated for a moment, then began backing up.\n\t\"Allow me,\" said Rick. He jumped up onto the tightrope and ran along it toward Julie, as if running on an inch-wide cable twenty stories up were the easiest, most natural thing in the world to do. As he approached, she drew a throwing star and hurled it at him. The star whizzed by beneath him as he leaped into the air, sailed over her head, and landed on the tightrope on the far side of her, where he teetered for a moment before regaining his balance. I stared at him in amazement. I'm trained in acrobatics, and I wouldn't have tried a stunt like that.\n\tJulie looked back and forth between us, said something angrily in Japanese, drew her sword, and raised it above her head.\n\t\"Julie, no!\" I cried, realizing what she intended to do. \n\tThe sword came down in a bright flash, slicing the tightrope clean through.\n\tThe rope instantly went slack, and Julie and Rick began to fall away from me. Julie had crouched down and grabbed the rope with her free hand before delivering the stroke that severed it. Rick, realizing what was about to happen, had done the same. My hand flew to my grapple gun, and I fired it at Julie, snagging her tunic and halting her fall. The line went taut and I was jerked off my feet and slammed against the railing of the balcony by the combined weight of Julie, Rick, and the tightrope. Gripping the gun with both hands to keep it from being torn from my grasp, I hit the recoil button. The gun's tiny but powerful motor whined in protest, not having been designed to handle this much weight.\n\tWith another swipe of her sword, Julie cut the grapple line, and she and Rick began swinging back toward the building at the other end of the tightrope, the same building in which Rick and I had been conducting our stakeout. It was a long way, and they were building up quite a bit of speed. When they hit, they were going to hit hard. I ran back to my grav bike, gunned it, and shot off the balcony, angling toward them, but there was no way I was going to reach them in time.\n\tThey swung down toward the side of the building, and Julie crashed through a window while Rick smacked into the concrete just above her. Fortunately, the raccoon had managed to twist around so he hit the wall feet first, his legs absorbing most of the impact. Since he seemed to be okay for the moment, I flew my bike down through the broken window, landed it on the floor of the apartment inside, and jumped off. I was in the living room. The lights were off, and the door to the hallway was open.\n\tI took a step toward the open door, but then stopped, took out my flashlight, and played it around the darkened room. \"Come on, you didn't really expect me to fall for that, did you?\" I asked the air. \"That's the oldest trick in the book.\" No reply. She was waiting for the right moment to strike from the shadows. I held myself still, alert for any sound or movement. There as nothing.\n\t\"Who's there?\" came a nervous voice from my right. I swung my light that way. A balding, middle-aged man was sticking his head out of another room, blinking as my light hit his face. In the split second I was distracted, Julie leaped out from behind the kitchen counter with a loud \"[i]kiai![/i]\" and struck at me with her sword. I dove out of her reach, rolled to my feet facing her, and popped the blue questionite claws from my gauntlets. They're much stronger than steel.\n\tWe stood there eyeing each other for a moment, and then Julie lunged with her blade. I blocked with one arm and tried for a hold with the other, but she spun away and my fingers only brushed against her tunic. While I hoped I could take her down without harming her, considering how powerful she seemed to be I wasn't sure that was possible. Rick appeared in the broken window. Good. Maybe the two of us together could incapacitate her. Julie glanced at him, then back at me. \n\t\"Julie,\" I said, \"please, if you're in there, don't make me hurt you!\"\n\tTo my surprise, she straightened and sheathed her sword, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, lightning quick, she whipped out the pair of nunchucks at her belt and held them up with the ends pointed at Rick and me. There was a brilliant flash, and for a second everything was white. When the white faded, the room was empty except for Rick and me.\n\t\"God damn it!\" I swore, rubbing my eyes.\n\t\"Ninja do love their tricks,\" Rick commented.\n\t\"So I noticed,\" I muttered. As the raccoon hopped down from the window to join me, I remembered he was barefoot. \"Careful of the floor, Rick. It's covered with broken glass.\"\n\t\"Excuse me,\" said the balding man who had addressed me earlier. \"What's going on?\"\n\t\"We were pursuing a suspect in a murder case, sir,\" I replied.\n\tThe man's eyes widened. \"Murder?\"\n\t\"Yes. Don't worry, you weren't the target.\"\n\tHe swallowed, then looked at the broken window and frowned. \"Who's going to pay for that?\"\n\tI blinked. \"You live in Millennium City and you don't have superhero insurance?\"\n\t\"I never thought I'd need it!\" he protested.\n\t\"No one ever does.\" I turned to Rick. \"That was pretty impressive, how you managed to hit the side of the building without shattering both your tibia.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Simply a matter of relaxing the leg muscles in the proper way to absorb the force of the impact.\"\n\t\"And that acrobatic trick on the tightrope. Was that a simple matter too?\"\n\t\"Any competent circus aerialist could do as much.\"\n\t\"If you say so.\" At that moment Detective Glass, Agent Kodiak, and several of Millennium City's finest burst into the apartment. \"Oh boy,\" I said, sighing.\n\t\"Oh yeah!\" said Glass, glaring at me. \"What happened to 'I have every confidence in the MCPD's abilities?'\"\n\t\"I'm guessing you had Bai Xue under surveillance too,\" I said. \"You can thank me and Rick for that.\"\n\tHe turned his attention to Rick. \"And you, you were only brought in as a consultant on ninjas!\"\n\t\"Ninja,\" I corrected him. \"Japanese doesn't use plural nouns.\"\n\t\"Oh, you want nouns?\" Glass asked. \"How about these: interference with police business, obstruction of justice, criminal trespassing, and I'm sure I can come up with lots of others!\"\n\tI scowled up at him, folding my arms. \"You want to book me on those bullshit charges, go right ahead! Otherwise, get off my back!\"\n\t \"Thanks for giving me permission to do my job!\" Glass shot back. \"You think because you're friends with a disgraced ex-Champion, that puts you above the law?\"\n\tMy temper started to rise. \"Nighthawk is not disgraced!\"\n\t\"He got kicked off the team, didn't he?\"\n\t\"He left on his own!\"\n\tGlass smirked. \"Sure he did.\"\n\tI gritted my teeth. At that moment, I really wanted to punch Glass right in his well-groomed mustache, but assaulting a police officer is not a bullshit charge, and I couldn't help Julie if I was in jail. So I swallowed my anger and kept my cool. \"Am I under arrest?\" I asked as calmly as I could.\n\tGlass simmered for a moment. \"Get the hell out of here!\" He looked at Rick. \"You too! And if I catch either one of you screwing around with this case again, I [i]will[/i] put you behind bars! Got that?\"\n\tI turned my back on him and climbed onto my grav bike. Rick hopped on behind me, and we flew out the window. \n\t\"Well, now what?\" the raccoon asked me once we were outside.\n\t\"Now, we follow her to her hideout, using the tracking device I planted on her during the fight,\" I replied.\n\t\"You're not concerned about Detective Glass's threat?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"Right now, the only thing I care about is catching that ninja.\" I looked over my shoulder at him. \"You don't have to come if you don't want to.\"\n\t\"I feel that our paths are intertwined,\" said Rick. \"I will help you.\"\n\t\"Thanks,\" I said. I switched on the tracking system and headed after the signal's source.\n\t\"Who is Julie?\" Rick asked as we flew through the steel and glass canyons of downtown Millennium City.\n\t\"She's my girlfriend,\" I replied.\n\t\"I see,\" said Rick. There was neither approval nor disapproval in his voice, simply acknowledgement. \"Have you been together long?\"\n\t\"A few months.\"\n\t\"Do you love her?\"\n\t\"Why do you ask?\"\n\t\"It may become relevant.\"\n\t\"Yes, I love her.\" I checked the tracker. \"She's headed west. She must have secured some kind of transportation. Nobody could move that fast on foot.\" I pushed down on the accelerator as we chased after the fleeing signal.\n\tIn a few moments I could see a city bus lumbering down the street ahead of us, a dark figure crouched atop it. As we drew near, an arrow whizzed past us. I wasn't too concerned about that. My bike and I were both armored, and while Rick wasn't, he was shielded by my body. I guided the bike in closer. Julie fired another arrow, which struck the windscreen of the bike and bounced off harmlessly.\n\tSeeing that her arrows were having no effect, Julie slung her bow and whipped out her nunchucks. Moving to the edge of the bus's roof, she struck down with them, smashing one of the bus's windows, and then swung herself inside. I maneuvered the bike beside the broken window, set it to automatically follow me, and jumped through after her. Hopefully, at this early hour, there wouldn't be any passengers to complicate matters.\n\tJulie was ready for me when I landed in the center aisle of the bus. She swung her nunchucks at me, and pain exploded in the side of my head as they connected. I staggered backward, holding up my gauntlets to block her blows, and Julie advanced, hammering at me mercilessly. If not for my armored costume, my forearms would have been smashed to pulp.\n\tRick leaped in through the broken window, landing behind Julie, and launched a flurry of punches at her back. She grunted in pain and whirled, striking at him with her nunchucks, but he jumped back, evading them. She swung again, and bent one of the aluminum poles that bordered the aisle when Rick dodged her blow once more. I lunged at her from behind, trying for a grab, but even though her back was to me, she seized my arm and threw me over her shoulder and into a row of seats. I found myself on my back, looking up into the astonished face of an elderly cleaning woman, the bus's sole passenger.\n\tAs I got to my feet, Julie ran to the front of the bus, drew her sword, and held the tip to the back of the driver's neck. \"Go south!\" she ordered him, her eyes fixed on me and Rick.\n\t\"But . . . the only thing south of here is the river!\" he protested.\n\t\"Do as I say, or I take your head off!\" Julie snapped, speaking with a pronounced Japanese accent. The driver obeyed, turning the bus south at the next intersection.\n\t\"At least let her get off,\" I said, gesturing at the cleaning woman.\n\t\"No!\" said Julie. \"Nobody leaves! If you move, I kill him!\"\n\tI couldn't risk the driver's life, so I didn't move. I glanced over at Rick, who was similarly immobile. \"Drive faster!\" Julie ordered the driver, and he obliged, flooring it. The bus lurched and rumbled beneath us as it accelerated toward the concrete barrier at the edge of the Detroit River.\n\t\"Hold on!\" the driver shouted. I wrapped my arms around one of the aluminum poles, and Rick did the same. A second later, the bus slammed into the barrier and burst through it. We were all heaved forward by the force of the impact, and Rick and I found ourselves dangling from the poles as the bus tilted toward the vertical and plummeted thirty feet to the water. Then there was another wrenching impact as it plunged into the river, and the windshield exploded inward as water rushed in.\n\t\"Get her out of here!\" I shouted to Rick. The raccoon nodded and swung himself over to the cleaning woman, who was clutching the back of her seat and screaming bloody murder. Looping an arm around her waist, he clambered up over the rows of seats to the rear door. He kicked it repeatedly until it gave way, then jumped out, taking the cleaning woman with him.\n\tSeeing that Rick was safely away with his charge, I looked down. Beneath me, frothing water was rising up through the inside of the bus. I let go of the pole I'd been clinging to, dropped into the water, and swam down toward the front. Julie was gone, presumably having escaped through the destroyed windshield. The driver was still there, unconscious and surrounded by a cloud of blood from lacerations on his face made when the windshield had burst inward. I put my left arm around him and tried to swim downward to get out through the front, but the force of the water rushing in as the bus sank was terrific, and with the drag of the driver's body plus me being able to use only one arm to swim, I couldn't make any headway. I couldn't imagine how Julie had managed it. I popped the claws of my right gauntlet, smashed them through the driver's side window, shattering it, and swam out with the bus driver through that.\n\tMy head broke the surface of the inky black river, and I heaved in a big lungful of air, then looked around for Rick. He was about ten feet away, holding the cleaning woman's head above the water. My grav bike was hovering a few feet above me, waiting for instructions. Fortunately, the controls are on my left gauntlet. I reached around the bus driver's body and activated them, and it dropped down within reach.\n\t\"Rick!\" I shouted. \"Grab the bike and hold on to her!\" He nodded and swam over to me, pulling the cleaning woman with him, and took hold of the bike with his free hand. I grabbed the other side and ordered the bike to rise. It did so, lifting us and our charges up out of the water, and continued ascending until it was back at street level. Then I guided it through the gap in the concrete barrier the bus had made. \n\tOnce we were back on solid ground, I quickly examined the bus driver. He was clearly in bad shape. His face was covered in blood, and he wasn't breathing. I laid him down on his back and began to administer CPR, covering his mouth with mine and forcing my breath into his lungs. After a minute, he started to cough, then began breathing normally. I sighed and sat back, looking over at Rick and the cleaning woman. She was kneeling there, trembling, possibly in shock, with Rick holding her. I reflected that there was nothing sorrier looking than a wet raccoon. I took out my cell phone and called for an ambulance.\n\t\"Are we going to wait here for help to arrive?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"We can't leave them,\" I said. \"They both need medical attention.\"\n\tRick simply nodded.\n\tA few minutes later, the ambulance arrived, along with a police car. Glass and Kodiak emerged from the latter and walked toward us. Neither of them looked happy. I stood up to meet them as the paramedics took charge of the bus driver and the cleaning woman.\n\t\"Nightmunk,\" said Glass, taking out a pair of handcuffs and slapping them on my wrists, \"you are under arrest.\"\n\n\t\"Well, well. What have we here, a pair of escapees from the zoo?\"\n\tThe speaker was a big, bearded, hairy-chested biker, a member of the Cobra Lords street gang. I'd run into them numerous times, and busted more than a few of them. He was grinning down at Rick and me as we sat in the holding cell together, awaiting our arraignment. I looked up at the man and smirked. \"You're the one who belongs in a zoo. You're hairier than I am.\"\n\tThe biker scowled at me and leaned down close enough that I could smell his bad breath, which made me wrinkle my nose. \"Not so tough now without your toys, are you, you little freak?\"\n\tI'd had to surrender my gauntlets and utility belt when I was arrested, but even so, I wasn't the least bit afraid of this clown. I'd taken down Cobra Lords without my gear before. I growled at him. \"This is your last warning. Back off!\"\n\tThe biker turned his attention to Rick, who was sitting beside me with a blanket wrapped around him, as we were both still wet from our swim in the Detroit River. \"And who are you? Karate Coon?\"\n\tRick didn't even look at him. \"I don't do karate,\" he said quietly. \"I do kung fu.\"\n\t\"Whoa, kung fu?\" the biker said, laughing and turning to the other prisoners in the holding cell. \"Look here, we got us a furry little Bruce Lee!\" He dropped into a martial arts stance and began waving his arms around and whooping in a crude parody of Lee's fighting style. \"Wanna fight, Sensei Lee?\"\n\t\"That would be Sifu Lee,\" said Rick. \"Sensei is Japanese. And no, I do not.\"\n\tThe biker smirked. \"Looks like you got something else in common with Bruce Lee. You're both yellow!\" And with that, he threw a punch at Rick's face.\n\tRick reacted faster than my eyes could follow, his hands seizing the biker's big ham fist and twisting it around so he howled with pain. As the man went down on one knee before him, Rick spoke calmly. \"If you try to touch me again, I will shatter three bones in your arm: the humerus, radius, and ulna. I will shatter them so that shards stick into the nerves, causing you intense agony. I will shatter them in such a way that no Western doctor will be able to repair the damage. Do you understand?\" The biker nodded, whimpering. Rick pushed the man away from him. \"I trust we will have no further trouble.\"\n\tI looked over at Rick. \"You know, you're kind of pedantic.\"\n\tRick glanced back at me. \"I would think that you, of all people, would understand the importance of being precise.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Point taken. I'm sorry I got you mixed up in this.\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"Master Quan used to say, 'If you want happiness that lasts a lifetime, help someone else.' In any case, I've been in far worse prisons than this one.\"\n\t\"Yeah, compared to Monster Island, this is Club Med.\"\n\t\"Speaking of Monster Island, are your brothers still there?\"\n\tI sighed. \"Only their bodies.\"\n\t\"Oh. I'm sorry.\"\n\t\"Moreau got bored with us, eventually, and sent us to the fight pits. They didn't last long.\"\n\tRick shook his head. \"Such a cruel man. Though it diminishes me to say it, I'm glad he is dead.\"\n\t\"You and me both, brother.\"\n\tEventually, a bailiff came to conduct us to our arraignment, and we were led down a corridor to the courtroom. I was still soggy inside my costume and my feet squelched in my boots as I walked. In the courtroom, we stood before a judge as the list of Glass's bullshit charges was read to us. The judge asked us how we pled, and we both said \"not guilty.\" The judge nodded and said that in view of my past service to the city, plus the fact that we'd saved two people's lives tonight, we would be released on our own recognizance until our trials. We thanked the judge; I collected my gauntlets, utility belt, and grav bike; and we exited the courthouse.\n\t\"Is the tr—?\" Rick began, before I held my finger up to my lips, silencing him. I removed a small plastic slate and grease pencil from my belt and wrote, \"May be bugged.\" Rick nodded, and I said, \"I don't know about you, but I could use a shower and some breakfast. Come on, my treat.\" We both climbed on my grav bike and I flew it back to my apartment.\n\tOnce at my place, Rick took the first crack at the shower while I brought the grav bike into the living room. I stripped off my costume, because being all wet inside that thing was really uncomfortable, and began running an electronic bug detector over my bike, my belt, and my gauntlets. Sure enough, the bike was bugged. It took me a few minutes to find the dime-sized device hidden in the machinery. When I did, I smashed it with a hammer.\n\t\"Is our bug problem solved?\" asked Rick, emerging from the bathroom wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist and rubbing his fur dry with another.\n\tI nodded, standing up. I was naked, but growing up on Monster Island doesn't imbue you with much of a sense of modesty. I switched on the bike's tracking system and was rewarded with a steady beep telling me it was still detecting the tracker I'd planted on Julie. \"She's in Westside, a little over five miles away, bearing 230 degrees.\"\n\tRick had wandered over to the coffee table, where there stood a framed picture of Julie and me smiling at the camera, her arms around me. \"So that is what she looks like.\" He turned to me. \"You are a lucky manimal, Alvin.\"\n\t\"Tell me about it,\" I said. \"Do you have anyone back in L.A.?\"\n\tRick shook his head. \"No. There is a girl at the dojo, a fellow instructor, but we are just friends.\"\n\t\"Julie and I used to be just friends.\"\n\t\"I do not think it would be wise for me to get involved with anyone,\" said Rick. \"Peril has a way of finding me.\"\n\t\"I don't think I could live without Julie,\" I said. \"She helps keep me sane amid all this madness.\" I looked at Rick and swallowed. \"Are you sure we can get her back to normal?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"Nothing in life is certain, especially where the supernatural is concerned. But there is always hope.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" I said. \"Anyway, I'm gonna go take a shower.\"\n\t\"Is there some place where I can dry my clothes?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"There's a laundry room in the basement of the building,\" I replied, \"but you probably shouldn't go down there like that. You can borrow some of my clothes. We're about the same size, so they should fit.\"\n\t\"Xiexie,\" Rick said, bowing to me.\n\t\"You're welcome,\" I replied, heading into the bathroom.\n\tI took a long, hot shower, sighing as the water ran through my fur. I glanced up at the rack where Julie kept her own soaps, shampoos, and conditioners, and a lump formed in my throat. The thought of that [i]thing[/i] hijacking her body and using it to kill made me so angry I wanted to scream. I pounded my fists on the wall tiles in frustration, cracking a couple of them. This had to end, one way or another. I didn't even care if I died. All that mattered was freeing Julie.\n\tWhen I emerged from the bathroom, Rick was sitting on the couch in a lotus position, eyes closed, once again wearing his green and white tunic and trousers. My costume was laid out on the floor. He had thoughtfully dried the inside of it for me. His eyes opened as I came over and began suiting up.\n\t\"Are you ready?\" he asked.\n\tI nodded, opening the living room window. \"Let's go.\" We mounted the bike and sailed out into the cloudy mid-morning sky.\n\n\tIt only took a couple of minutes for us to reach the location the signal was coming from, one of the innumerable warehouses in the run-down district of Westside. I hovered high above it, looking it over with binoculars. \"I don't see any guards,\" I said.\n\t\"Guards would attract attention,\" said Rick. \"Ninja prefer to be invisible.\"\n\tI nodded and flew the bike down, landing it by one of the entrances. Rick and I dismounted and went to the door. The lock posed no difficulty for me. I eased the door open and we cautiously went inside.\n\tThe warehouse was mostly vacant, save for a few large empty wooden crates here and there. The skylights in the roof provided plenty of illumination. Apparently, the place hadn't been used in some time, as the floor was covered in a thin layer of dust, but there was a strange, cloying fragrance in the air. There was a second level, covering about half the area of the ground floor, and from it came two female voices, both speaking Japanese. One, I recognized as Julie's. I looked over at Rick. \"Can you make out what they're saying?\" I whispered.\n\t\"One is berating the other for not killing Bai Xue,\" Rick replied. \"She says her employer does not tolerate failure. The other is saying the failure was due to the interference of two freaks from Monster Island, by which I presume she means us. She says she will not fail again.\"\n\t\"We need to get up there,\" I said. I reached for my grapple gun, then remembered that Julie had cut the line earlier and I hadn't thought to replace it. Blame it on being distracted. Fortunately, there was a ladder nearby that led to the second level. I went over and began climbing it, Rick following me up.\n\tAs I reached the top of the ladder and poked my head up, the conversation suddenly ceased. Julie, who had been sitting on a rug before a plate containing burning incense, jumped to her feet, spinning and drawing her sword. She was unhooded, so I could see her face. She glared at me, those lips I'd kissed hundreds of times twisted into a sneer of hate. \"You! How did you find me?\"\n\t\"I'm a detective, remember?\" I replied, climbing up and onto the floor. Behind her stood Fan Su, dressed in a conservative grey business suit and regarding me impassively. Her eyes widened slightly, however, as Rick climbed up onto the floor and stood beside me.\n\t\"Hello, Fan Su,\" Rick said. \"I thought that was you I heard.\"\n\t\"Hello, Rick,\" said Fan Su, smiling. \"It has been quite some time since our last encounter. Hong Kong, was it not?\"\n\tRick nodded. \"When I helped stop you and your men from torching a ship full of refugees to cover up your company's involvement in human trafficking.\"\n\t\"Yes, that incident did cause Chang Chun Shipping quite a bit of trouble. In fact, it indirectly led to this reunion. The ensuing legal battle and bad publicity caused our stock to depreciate in value so much that Bai Xue and his partners were able to purchase a controlling interest in the company.\"\n\t\"A situation that you are now attempting to correct, I see,\" said Rick.\n\t\"Oh, it shall be corrected, have no fear of that.\" She addressed Julie. \"Yamazaki, dispose of these creatures. Now.\"\n\t\"[i]Hai[/i],\" Julie replied, moving slowly toward me and Rick.\n\tI hurled a handful of sleep gas pellets at Julie's feet. They burst on impact, creating a cloud around her. She leaped clear of it, sailing through the air toward me with a loud cry, blade raised above her head. Fortunately, Rick intercepted her in midair, his foot slamming into her stomach. She thudded to the floor while he somersaulted backward, landing on his feet. Julie kipped up into a combat crouch and scowled at both of us as we moved to flank her.\n\tShe lunged at Rick, slashing at him with her blade and forcing him to retreat. Then she spun and attacked me. I parried her blows with my gauntlets, then dropped and did a leg sweep, trying to knock her down. She was too fast for me, though, jumping over my sweep and striking downward with her sword. I blocked with my left arm, and she pressed down on me hard, forcing me to one knee. Her strength was phenomenal. Yamazaki had to be employing some kind of mind over body technique, because Julie wasn't that strong. I gritted my teeth as her face hovered just inches from mine, our eyes locked together. I saw nothing I recognized in her eyes, no trace of the woman I loved.\n\tWhile her attention was focused on me, Rick came at her from behind, trying for a hold, but her foot shot out as if of its own volition and caught him in the chin, knocking him flat on his back. I popped the claws on my right gauntlet and bracketed her blade with them, then twisted my wrist, snapping the sword in half. She cried out in anger and jumped back, whipping out her nunchucks and whirling them around in front of her. I moved toward her warily. Nunchucks are notoriously hard to parry, because in the hands of a skilled user they move faster than the eye can follow and can fly at you from almost any angle. She struck at me, and my attempts to block were futile, as she scored hits on my chest and right shoulder that hurt even through my armor.\n\tRick was back on his feet and coming up on her from behind again, arms raised defensively. She spun and lunged at him, swiping with her nunchucks. Rick, moving as fast as Julie was, managed to foul the chucks so they wrapped around his left forearm. Then he rammed his right fist into her chest three times in rapid succession, punctuating each punch with a shout. She let go of the chucks and staggered backward, and I seized the opportunity to jump her from behind, locking my arms around her neck in a choke hold. She reached behind her and clawed at my face, her nails scratching my left cheek and the right side of my muzzle and causing blood to ooze into my fur, but I didn't let go. Rick came at her from the front, and she swung a crescent kick at him even as she was struggling with me, but he blocked it and hammered her midsection with another flurry of punches. With a groan, Julie's body went limp and she slumped to the floor between us.\n\tRick and I stood there over her, both of us panting hard, and I licked my muzzle, tasting the salty tang of blood. I turned and looked over at where Fan Su had been standing, but she was gone, apparently having departed at some point during the fight. I didn't care. I had what I'd come for. I punched some buttons on my left gauntlet that controlled my grav bike, and a few seconds later it crashed down through a skylight and landed beside us. We picked up Julie and set her unconscious form on the bike, and I sat down in front of her while Rick sat behind her. So mounted, I gunned the engine and flew the bike up through the skylight, east toward downtown Millennium City.\n\n\tThe Shinto shrine—or [i]jinja[/i]—in Millennium City is a lovely place. Built by a wealthy Japanese businessman named Sakura who settled here, it consists of five towering two-post gateways—or [i]torii[/i]—painted red, with crossbeams atop them that curve upward at each end. These [i]torii[/i] are arranged in linear fashion, so that someone standing at either end of the shrine can see all of them framed one inside the other, symbolizing one's spiritual journey through life. Between the shrine and the street is an arching stone bridge over a pond stocked with koi that have grown fat on all the tidbits fed to them by those who come here. At the other end is a plaza surrounded by a grove of cherry trees. Tucked away in a courtyard between two large office buildings, Sakura Shrine is a haven of serenity amidst the noise and bustle of downtown.\n\tI landed my grav bike on the stone bridge before the first [i]torii[/i], and Rick and I dismounted and began carrying Julie's unconscious body toward the shrine. At Rick's instruction, we stopped just outside the first[i] torii[/i], and he called out to the priest. A Japanese man emerged from a small building at the center of the shrine and came toward us. He was about thirty, wearing a light blue silk robe, a tall rounded black hat, and black laquered wooden clogs. He looked rather surprised to see two manimals with an unconscious girl dressed as a ninja. I can't say as I blame him.\n\tRick bowed deeply to the priest, and I copied him. \"[i]Kannushi[/i],\" he said, \"we humbly request your aid. This girl requires [i]harae[/i].\"\n\tThe priest raised an eyebrow. \"What's the problem?\" he asked, sounding quite American. \n\t\"She is possessed.\"\n\tThe priest stared at us. \"Possessed?\"\n\tRick nodded. \"The soul of a ninja resides in her body.\"\n\tThe priest grinned. \"This is a joke, right? Someone's filming this.\" He started looking around.\n\t\"It's no joke,\" said Rick. \"He has already used her to kill once, and will do so again unless he's expelled.\"\n\tThe priest scratched the back of his head. \"Yeah, I think what you two need is a psychiatrist.\"\n\tI growled at him. \"Psychosis wouldn't allow a girl with no martial arts training to hold her own against both of us, let alone walk a tightrope between two skyscrapers and speak in a language she doesn't know!\"\n\tThe priest looked at me. \"You're really serious about this, aren't you?\"\n\tI waved my gloved hand at our surroundings. \"This is Millennium City! Weird things happen here! You're talking to a raccoon and a chipmunk, for God's sake!\"\n\tApparently, he couldn't argue with that. \"All right,\" he said. \"I'll see what I can do. But you can't enter the shrine with blood on you. You have to wash it off.\"\n\tRick bowed to him. \"Understood, [i]kannushi[/i].\"\n\tThe priest led us to a large rectangular wooden basin filled with crystal clear water. I watched as Rick began washing his hands and face, and then copied him, washing away the blood on my face and muzzle where Julie had scratched me. \"What is [i]harae[/i]?\" I asked Rick as we cleaned ourselves up.\n\t\"Purity,\" Rick replied. \"Unlike the Western concept that man is a fallen creature, the Japanese believe man is fundamentally pure. Touching blood causes one to become [i]kegare[/i], or impure. [i]Harae[/i] can be restored through rites of purification, such as washing. You can't enter a Shinto shrine if you're impure. That would anger the [i]kami[/i] who live there and cause the entire shrine to become [i]kegare[/i].\"\n\t\"And [i]kami[/i] are?\"\n\t\"[i]Kami[/i] can be thought of as gods or spirits, though neither word really describes them accurately. They are everywhere and inhabit all things. Shinto is all about worshipping and appeasing [i]kami[/i].\"\n\t\"You're familiar with the Shinto religion?\" the priest asked Rick.\n\t\"I spent some time in Japan,\" he replied.\n\tThe priest nodded. \"Well, I have to tell you, I've never done anything like this before, and I'm not really sure how it works. I was hired by the trust that maintains this place because I was trained as a Shinto priest at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo. I'm originally from Baltimore.\" He grinned sheepishly.\n\tI rolled my eyes. \"Terrific!\"\n\tRick merely shrugged. \"You'll just have to do the best you can.\"\n\tThe priest went into the small building and emerged a minute later. In one hand he held a small wooden wand with a white paper streamer attached. In the other he held an open book. \"This is a prayer for the dead to rest in peace,\" he said. \"I hope it does the trick.\"\n\t\"We shall see,\" Rick said.\n\tThe priest took a deep breath. \"Here goes nothing!\" And he started to chant sonorously in Japanese, waving the wand back and forth over Julie.\n\tFor several minutes, nothing was exactly what happened, and I began to think this was all a big waste of time. Then Julie's body began to twitch. At first, I thought she was just waking up, but her eyes remained closed and she began to writhe on her back as if in pain. Then she started moaning in Japanese, her head rolling from side to side. I looked over at Rick. He glanced back at me and nodded.\n\tSuddenly, Julie sat bolt upright and screamed, her eyes wide open. She looked wildly at me and Rick, then at the priest, and snarled with rage, jumping to her feet. The priest faltered, stepping back and dropping the book. \"Grab her!\" Rick shouted, pouncing on Julie. I followed his lead and we both took her down, pressing her to the ground and pinning her arms. Rick looked up at the terrified priest. \"Keep going! It's working!\" The priest swallowed and nodded, picking up the book and resuming chanting and waving his wand, while Rick and I struggled to keep Julie down. \n\t\"Release me, filthy monsters!\" she spat. Her strength was amazing. Even with both of us holding her, she was perilously close to breaking free. I told Rick to help me turn her over, and we managed to do so with some difficulty. Then I pulled out a ziptie from my belt and bound her wrists behind her. All the while, her screams raked my ears and my heart ached, because it was still Julie's voice, even if the words didn't come from her.\n\tThen, something weird happened. Okay, weirder. Julie's body went rigid beneath me and Rick, and something began to rise out of it, something misty and ephemeral that resolved itself into the shape of a man. I've seen ghosts before. Hell, in Nevada there's a literal ghost town called Burnside populated by the spirits of cowboys from the Old West, roused from their graves by Witchcraft's evil twin sister, Talisman, because of course she has one of those. And this looked just like a Burnside ghost, minus the ten-gallon hat and cowboy boots. The ghost snarled something in Japanese, then faded away and was gone.\n\tI turned Julie around and shook her by her shoulders. \"Julie?\" I asked her. \"Julie? Are you there? Can you hear me?\"\n\tShe groaned, and then slowly opened her eyes and looked into mine. \"Alvin? What . . . what's going on? Where am I?\" She looked up at Rick and the priest, then squirmed as she realized her arms were bound. \"Alvin, why am I tied up?\"\n\tA wave of relief swept over me, and I threw my arms around her and pressed my muzzle to her lips, kissing her, which surprised the priest, who hadn't known that Julie and I were a couple. \"Oh, baby, I'm so glad to have you back!\" I said, smiling.\n\t\"A heartwarming scene,\" came a voice from behind me I didn't recognize. \"It almost pains me to interrupt it.\"\n\tI snapped my head around. On the stone bridge stood an Asian man wearing a gold tunic and red tights, slippers, and a mask that left only his nose and mouth exposed, a long plume of black hair protruding from the top of his head. A sheathed sword hung from his red belt. On the front of his tunic was emblazoned the device of a red dragon.\n\t\"Lung Hung!\" Rick gasped.\n\tLung Hung glanced at Rick and smirked. \"So, you are Quan's last pupil. How sad.\"\n\t\"I'm also the last member of his house,\" said Rick.\n\t\"Then his family line ends with you.\"\n\t\"That remains to be seen.\"\n\tI popped my claws and cut the ziptie holding Julie's arms, then stood up and turned to face Lung Hung. \"What are you doing here?\" I asked. \"It can't be a coincidence, you showing up while all these murders are going on.\"\n\tLung Hung nodded. \"Very astute, little manimal. Those were indeed my doing.\"\n\t\"You want Chang Chun Shipping. Why?\"\n\t\"Because it belongs to me,\" replied Lung Hung. \"I founded it in 1842, and the profits from it have been a major source of funding for my other activities.\"\n\tRick growled. \"Profits obtained by bringing opium into your own country!\"\n\tLung Hung shrugged. \"I have never been one to defy the wisdom of the free market, and the social unrest caused by the opium trade made it easy for me to run my empire free of outside interference.\"\n\t\"Wait a minute,\" I said. \"You've been around since 1842?\"\n\tLung Hung smiled. \"I am much older than that, my little friend. I watched the building of the Great Wall. The peasants of the valley I ruled told tales of their 'lord who never dies.' But unlike many similar stories, these tales were true.\"\n\t\"Assuming you're not lying through your teeth,\" I said, \"how is it you've managed to live all these centuries?\"\n\tLung Hung chuckled. \"I see no reason not to share my humble origins with you, since you'll not have the opportunity to pass on the information. I was the Chinese slave of a Mongol khan who staked me out in the desert to die for an insignificant act of rebellion. For two days, he watched my death agonies, laughing. When I finally expired, he ordered his followers to leave my body where it lay, as an example to others.\n\t\"Two days later, I awoke, new strength flowing in my muscles. I tore myself free of my bindings, and watched in amazement as the wounds left by the ropes healed in seconds. Then, a thirst arose. I snuck up on an unsuspecting Mongol nomad and tore out his throat. His blood tasted sweet to my parched lips. The next morning, the khan's broken body was found in his yurt, drained of blood.\n\t\"I became an assassin and a thief, amassing enough wealth to educate myself. As time passed, I found that age held no perils for me. I learned much later that my body continually regenerates its cells, preserving me at the age at which I 'died.' Within one hundred years, I had become a powerful warlord, absolute master of a river valley whose waters fed the Yangtse. I was an adviser to many emperors, and then a trader with Europeans when white men first came to the shores of China. By playing the emperors and traders against each other, I kept my domain secure well into the twentieth century. When the communists took over, I manipulated their programs for my own ends. Mao Tse Tung found my immortal wisdom very useful.\"\n\tI interrupted his recounting of his life story, partly because he seemed to be enjoying it a little too much, and partly because something he had said stuck in my mind. \"You said the peasants of the valley you [i]ruled[/i]. Past tense. I presume that's no longer the case?\"\n\tLung Hung gave an exaggerated sigh and nodded. \"After Mao died, I found China was ruled by men who were not sympathetic to my aims. Worse, China had developed technology that could destroy me. Much as it pained me to do so, I decided the best plan was to leave before I was driven out, and carve myself a new empire in another land.\" He looked around at all of us and smiled. \"And now the time has unfortunately come for me to attend to the messy but necessary matter of your deaths.\" I swallowed as his canine teeth suddenly grew long and sharp. \"I have never tried manimal blood before. I am curious as to what it tastes like.\"\n\tRick dropped into a martial stance, hands raised. \"You won't find us easy prey, Lung Hung,\" he said, his voice steady and calm.\n\tI turned to Julie. \"When the fighting starts, make a run for it. We'll keep him busy as long as we can.\"\n\tShe shook her head. \"I'm not leaving you!\"\n\t\"There's nothing you can do here but die!\"\n\tShe looked at Lung Hung. \"Maybe.\"\n\tLung Hung moved. I've never seen anyone outside of the Champions' speedster Kinetik move so fast. In a blur of red and gold, he was suddenly beside Rick, and threw an open-handed strike that struck him in the chest and knocked him back ten feet. Rick landed flat on his back in a bed of flowers, stunned. I hurled a throwing blade at Lung Hung, which he swatted aside with contemptuous ease. He turned his head toward me and smiled, those long fangs gleaming. He hadn't even drawn his sword yet. I clenched my jaw. Two manimals with no superpowers against an ancient Chinese vampire. Yeah, this was not looking good.\n\tLung Hung came at me, and I barely even saw him move. A spinning kick connected with the side of my head and sent me face first into the pavement. He grabbed me and lifted me as if I were filled with styrofoam peanuts, and I felt his hot breath on my cheek. I rammed my elbow under his jaw. It didn't seem to cause him any pain, but it did keep his fangs from reaching my throat, at least for a moment. His arms squeezed around my chest, and I felt as if I were being crushed in a vise. My body armor absorbed some of the force, but even so, my ribs were crying out in protest, and the air was being forced from my lungs. I felt myself starting to black out.\n\tThen, through a haze of pain, I heard the [i]shing[/i] of a sword leaving its scabbard, followed by a cry of surprise and the wet sound of flesh being pierced. Lung Hung released me, and I fell to the ground. Looking up, I saw Julie standing over me, feet apart, his dripping sword in her hands, glaring at him as he staggered back with a shocked look on his face, blood gushing from a gaping hole in his side. On anyone else the wound would have been fatal, but Lung Hung looked more surprised than injured. He snarled and lunged at her, and Julie parried his blow expertly, then executed a leg sweep that he jumped over. They studied each other for a moment, Lung Hung's hands making circles in the air before him as Julie held her blade up defensively.\n\t\"How is this possible?\" Lung Hung asked, sounding intrigued rather than angry. \"Yamazaki's spirit has left you.\"\n\tJulie shrugged. \"Guess I'm a quick study.\"\n\tLung Hung smirked. \"It does not matter. The ninja has not been born who could defeat me!\"\n\tJulie grinned fiercely. \"We'll just have to put that to the test, won't we?\"\n\tLung Hung attacked, throwing a punch-kick-punch combination, which Julie blocked with the sword, though he forced her to give ground. I saw that Rick was back on his feet and moving up on Lung Hung from behind. I got up and advanced as well, my claws ready. The three of us had him surrounded. Suddenly, this fight wasn't looking quite so hopeless. Then I noticed that the wound Julie had inflicted in Lung Hung's side was rapidly closing up. Maybe we were screwed after all. I took a deep breath and lunged with my claws.\n\tFighting Lung Hung was like trying to grab smoke. He evaded my thrust seemingly without effort and threw a kick at Rick, which the raccoon parried. Then Lung Hung spun around to face Julie, whose blade was slicing the air toward his head. He ducked the potential decapitation, retaliated with a punch that sent Julie reeling, and then was attacking me before I'd even had time to recover from my missed strike. We were all highly trained martial artists capable of handling multiple foes, and yet compared to Lung Hung we were moving in slow motion.\n\tI raised my gauntlets just in time to block a barrage of blows that came at me as fast as bullets from a machine gun and made my teeth shake. I stumbled back several feet. There was no way we were going to defeat this guy unless we coordinated our efforts. If Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk had been here, that wouldn't have been a problem for me, since we'd practiced fighting as a team. But Rick, Julie, and I had no experience working together and no time to learn.\n\tSince my Nightmunk body armor made me the least vulnerable of the three of us, I decided to make an easy target of myself by attacking recklessly. Hopefully, one of the others could exploit any openings they saw while Lung Hung was beating the snot out of me. I leaped at him, my questionite claws raised to strike, and he actually looked surprised. People are always surprised by how far I can jump. I may be small, but my strength-to-weight ratio (the amount I can lift versus the amount I weigh) is borderline superhuman, so it's not hard for me to cover eight to ten feet from a standing start.\n\tAs I expected, Lung Hung plucked me out of the air as if I were a slowly drifting feather, grabbing me by the wrist and slamming me on the ground at his feet with a bone-crunching impact. He followed up by ramming his first into my chest with the force of a pile driver. I gasped in pain, unable to draw breath. Without my armor, his blow would have shattered my rib cage.\n\tRick and Julie reacted instantly, the raccoon trying for a hold around Lung Hung's waist while Julie drove the point of her sword at the vampire's heart. Lung Hung deflected Julie's thrust with his right forearm, then seized her sword arm with his left hand and swung her around, smashing her into Rick and sending them both tumbling across the grass. He sauntered over to them while they lay there dazed. I tried to get up to help them, but I was in so much pain I could barely move.\n\t\"Do not be upset,\" said Lung Hung. \"There is no shame in losing to me. For over seven hundred years, all who have opposed the Red Dragon have died. A woman and two manimals could hardly hope to succeed where so many others have failed. Still, you fought well and bravely, so I will be merciful. Your deaths shall be swift and relatively painless. Not all my victims are so fortunate.\"\n\t\"Did you bore them to death . . . with your endless monologuing?\" I asked, forcing the words out between clenched teeth. I had managed to draw a throwing blade from my belt, and with every bit of strength I had left, I threw it at him, gasping at a stab of pain from a cracked rib. \n\tLung Hung batted the throwing blade away as if it were an annoying insect, and smiled at me, his fangs gleaming. \"In your case, I may have to make an exception.\"\n\t\"You might find that . . . more difficult than you think,\" I wheezed. Lung Hung's head snapped up as he became aware of a sound overhead: the high-pitched whine of turbines.\n\tHigh above us floated a black hovercraft bearing the bird motif of Team Nighthawk. Beside it hovered another, larger craft, sleek and white, with a large gold letter C on the underside, an insignia known the world over as the mark of the Champions.\n\tLung Hung looked back down at me in surprise, and I smiled at him weakly. \"I switched on my communicator . . . while you were telling us your life story,\" I said. \"I thought the rest of Team Nighthawk . . . might be interested in hearing it. Seems they brought some friends.\"\n\tThere was a flash of light, and suddenly seven more people were standing in Sakura Shrine. There were Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk, wearing costumes similar to mine but with full face masks. Alongside them stood Defender, in his gleaming blue-and-white battle armor; Witchcraft, her green tunic and cape and red hair flowing as if in a breeze, even though the air was still; Kinetik, his scarlet-and-black costume emblazoned with white lightning bolts; Sapphire, wearing an aquamarine jacket, shorts, and thigh-high boots, her silky black hair hanging to her waist; and Ironclad, a metal-skinned giant wearing a vaguely Roman-style bronze helmet, bracers, kilt, and greaves, a massive gladius clutched in his right hand.\n\tI grinned over at my teammates. \"Hey, what kept you?\"\n\t\"You know the Champions,\" Nighthawk replied in his gravelly voice, \"always playing catch-up. Good thing your friend is a talker.\"\n\tDefender ignored Nighthawk's jibe. \"I'd advise you to surrender peacefully, Lung Hung,\" he said, in his strong, resonant voice, \"or this could get ugly.\"\n\tLung Hung looked around at the heroes assembled against him, then turned his eyes back to me. \"I underestimated you, little manimal,\" he said, sounding mildly annoyed.\n\tI nodded, still smiling. \"I get that a lot.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Well, no matter. For one who has lived centuries, setbacks such as this are merely temporary inconveniences. But rest assured, we will meet again.\" And with that, he vanished.\n\tSapphire blinked. \"He can teleport?\"\n\t\"First I've seen of it,\" I said.\n\tDefender turned to the other Champions. \"Witchcraft, scan for him psychically! Kinetik, search the area out to a one-mile radius!\" \n\tKinetik disappeared in a red blur, while Witchcraft closed her eyes and concentrated. After a moment, she opened her eyes again. \"I can detect no trace of him, Defender,\" she said. \"Either he is beyond my reach, or his mind is shielded against my powers.\"\n\tKinetik reappeared. \"No dice, Defender. Looks like we lost him.\"\n\tDefender nodded. \"For now. He'll be back, though. His kind always are. And when he is, we'll be ready for him.\"\n\tWitchcraft knelt beside me and placed her hand on my chest. A warm glow suffused me, and the pain in my chest faded. I got to my feet and looked up at her. \"Thank you,\" I said.\n\tShe smiled. \"My pleasure, Nightmunk.\"\n\tDefender turned to Rick, Julie, and me. \"Good work bringing that villain to our attention. A shame he got away, but these things happen. If there's anything the Champions can ever do for you, just let us know.\"\n\tI nodded to him. \"Sure thing, Defender.\" Rick bowed to him, and Julie just bit her lip and nodded, because it's not every day you earn a favor from the greatest hero team on the planet.\n\tThen Defender turned to Nighthawk. \"You trained him well, Nighthawk. He's a credit to your team.\"\n\tNighthawk glanced at me. \"I'm satisfied with him.\" Coming from him, that meant a lot.\n\t\"You know, Nighthawk,\" said Defender, \"if you ever want to come back, there's always a place for you at our table.\"\n\t\"Thanks,\" Nighthawk replied, \"but I prefer to stay in the shadows.\"\n\tDefender nodded. \"We each must follow our own path. Let's go, Champions. We're done here.\" Witchcraft uttered an incantation, and with a flash of light the Champions were gone. Above us, their gleaming white jet peeled off into the night sky.\n\tNighthawk turned to me. \"Need a lift home?\"\n\t\"I've got my grav bike,\" I said. \"But I think Rick might appreciate a ride back to his hotel.\"\n\t\"Not a problem,\" said Nighthawk, operating the controls on his gauntlet and calling his hovercraft down to us.\n\tI turned to the Shinto priest, who had just emerged from around the back of the small building he'd been hiding behind during the fight. \"Thanks for your help,\" I told him. \"I never did catch your name.\"\n\t\"It's Ken Shimada,\" he said, bowing. \"Glad to have been of service.\"\n\tI bowed back. \"Sorry about all the blood.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Blood can be washed away. I'm just glad everything turned out all right.\"\n\tI turned to Rick. \"It's been nice working with you, Rick.\"\n\tHe bowed. \"Likewise. If you're ever in L.A., look me up.\"\n\tRick, Nighthawk, and Lady Nighthawk boarded the hovercraft and took off, while Julie and I walked back to my grav bike. \"How are you feeling?\" I asked her.\n\t\"Confused,\" she said. \"I mean, am I a ninja now?\"\n\t\"Do you want to be?\"\n\t\"I don't know. I was still getting used to having a superhero for a boyfriend, and now it seems I'm one myself!\"\n\t\"Well, we should probably wait and see if these new abilities of yours are permanent. For all we know, they might be gone tomorrow.\"\n\t\"And if they aren't?\" she asked.\n\tI shrugged. \"Then it's up to you to decide. Like Defender said, we each must follow our own path.\"\n\tShe smiled. \"Well, right now I think my path leads to our bedroom, followed by a whole lot of kissing and snuggling.\"\n\tI grinned. \"I can hardly wait!\"\n\tWe both got on my grav bike and flew off together into the night sky."
}
}
}

.api.json · embedded sidecar fallback Download

{
"comments_count": "0",
"create_datetime": "2025-08-17 02:03:39.81232+00",
"create_datetime_usertime": "17 Aug 2025 04:03 CEST",
"deleted": "f",
"description": "Nightmunk teams up with Rick, a raccoon manimal and kung fu master, to save his human girlfriend Julie from being taken over by the spirit of a dead ninja!",
"favorite": "f",
"favorites_count": "0",
"file_name": "5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"files": [
{
"create_datetime": "2025-08-17 00:53:10.393522+00",
"create_datetime_usertime": "17 Aug 2025 02:53 CEST",
"deleted": "f",
"file_id": "5681885",
"file_name": "5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_full": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/full/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_preview": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"file_url_screen": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.doc",
"full_file_md5": "3c7e24fbe9eee340a3ddb3056a478029",
"full_size_x": null,
"full_size_y": null,
"initial_file_md5": "3c7e24fbe9eee340a3ddb3056a478029",
"large_file_md5": "",
"mimetype": "application/msword",
"preview_size_x": null,
"preview_size_y": null,
"screen_size_x": null,
"screen_size_y": null,
"small_file_md5": "",
"submission_file_order": "0",
"submission_id": "3686933",
"thumb_huge_x": "225",
"thumb_huge_y": "300",
"thumb_large_x": "150",
"thumb_large_y": "200",
"thumb_medium_x": "90",
"thumb_medium_y": "120",
"thumbnail_md5": "742e867fd681a7999d9bd72a20b0735c",
"thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"user_id": "1500125"
}
],
"friends_only": "f",
"guest_block": "f",
"hidden": "f",
"keywords": [
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3343",
"keyword_name": "action",
"submissions_count": "4312"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3691",
"keyword_name": "alvin",
"submissions_count": "906"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1913",
"keyword_name": "armor",
"submissions_count": "9937"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3783",
"keyword_name": "asian",
"submissions_count": "833"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "5465",
"keyword_name": "biker",
"submissions_count": "534"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "2291",
"keyword_name": "chinese",
"submissions_count": "1085"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "11418",
"keyword_name": "chipmunk",
"submissions_count": "14049"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "5214",
"keyword_name": "combat",
"submissions_count": "1334"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "123",
"keyword_name": "female",
"submissions_count": "1156695"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "9765",
"keyword_name": "gritty",
"submissions_count": "52"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1440",
"keyword_name": "human",
"submissions_count": "113136"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "15723",
"keyword_name": "interspecies",
"submissions_count": "11741"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "214591",
"keyword_name": "interspecies relationship",
"submissions_count": "212"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3323",
"keyword_name": "japanese",
"submissions_count": "2329"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3391",
"keyword_name": "kung fu",
"submissions_count": "179"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "191",
"keyword_name": "magic",
"submissions_count": "27223"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "165",
"keyword_name": "male",
"submissions_count": "1270407"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1321",
"keyword_name": "ninja",
"submissions_count": "3926"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1235",
"keyword_name": "police",
"submissions_count": "3108"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "4158",
"keyword_name": "possession",
"submissions_count": "2033"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "5075",
"keyword_name": "priest",
"submissions_count": "541"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "152",
"keyword_name": "raccoon",
"submissions_count": "38641"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "3394",
"keyword_name": "rodent",
"submissions_count": "37424"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "909",
"keyword_name": "romance",
"submissions_count": "9507"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "16005",
"keyword_name": "shinto",
"submissions_count": "67"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "35075",
"keyword_name": "shrine",
"submissions_count": "225"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "2686",
"keyword_name": "superhero",
"submissions_count": "4531"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1084",
"keyword_name": "urban",
"submissions_count": "687"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "1146",
"keyword_name": "vampire",
"submissions_count": "7526"
},
{
"contributed": "f",
"keyword_id": "969",
"keyword_name": "violence",
"submissions_count": "4735"
}
],
"last_file_update_datetime": "2025-08-17 00:53:10.393522+00",
"last_file_update_datetime_usertime": "17 Aug 2025 02:53 CEST",
"mimetype": "application/msword",
"pagecount": "1",
"pools": [],
"pools_count": 0,
"public": "t",
"rating_id": "2",
"rating_name": "Adult",
"ratings": [
{
"content_tag_id": "5",
"description": "Strong violence, blood, serious injury or death",
"name": "Strong Violence",
"rating_id": "2"
}
],
"scraps": "f",
"submission_id": "3686933",
"submission_type_id": "12",
"thumb_huge_x": "225",
"thumb_huge_y": "300",
"thumb_large_x": "150",
"thumb_large_y": "200",
"thumb_medium_x": "90",
"thumb_medium_y": "120",
"thumbnail_url_huge": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/huge/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/large/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"thumbnail_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/thumbnails/medium/5681/5681885_snorgatch_the_butterfly.jpg",
"title": "The Manimal Chronicles #11: The Butterfly",
"type_name": "Writing - Document",
"user_icon_file_name": "446488_snorgatch_snarf.png",
"user_icon_url_large": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/446/446488_snorgatch_snarf.png",
"user_icon_url_medium": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/446/446488_snorgatch_snarf.png",
"user_icon_url_small": "https://nl1.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/446/446488_snorgatch_snarf.png",
"user_id": "1500125",
"username": "snorgatch",
"views": "23",
"writing": "[center]The Butterfly[/center]\n\n[center]a story set in the universe of Champions Online[/center]\n\n\t\"Oh, that's my favorite show!\"\n\t\"Mayor Biselle is an idiot!\"\n\t\"Yes, I'll have another, please.\"\n\t\"Well, as David Hume once said . . .\"\n\tI threaded my way through a forest of legs, seeking a quiet corner where I could be by myself for a while. There's a reason I don't normally go to parties, and it's not because I'm the only three-foot talking chipmunk in Millenium City. I long ago accepted that I'm always going to be an oddity and that I'm going to be stared at wherever I go. It's because I'm trained to be observant, and being around so many people causes sensory overload. Plus, in my line of work you tend to accumulate enemies, and there's always a chance one of them will crash the party and put innocent lives at risk.\n\tI found a sofa nobody was using and sat myself down on it, sipping my gin and tonic and trying to tune out all the conversations going on around me. Almost immediately, someone came and sat down next to me. I looked up at her. She was about twenty-five, with long black hair, wearing a black collared shirt, black jeans, black leather boots, black eyeliner, and black lipstick. There was an ornate silver ring on every one of her fingers. She crossed her legs, holding her drink with an air of practiced nonchalance, looked at me, and smiled. \"Hello there!\" she said.\n\t\"Hi,\" I replied, smiling back politely.\n\tShe held out her hand to me. \"I've been wanting to talk to you, Alvin. I'm Lilith.\"\n\tOf course she was. I shook her hand with my stubby, fuzzy, four-fingered one. \"Oh, really? What about?\"\n\t\"Why do you do it?\"\n\t\"Do what?\" I asked, feigning ignorance. It wasn't the first time I'd been asked that question.\n\t\"You know, dress up in a costume and swing around town punching out bad guys.\"\n\tI shrugged. \"It's fun?\"\n\tShe smirked. \"That was a flip answer.\"\n\t\"Yes, it was.\"\n\t\"Are you afraid of admitting the real reason?\"\n\tI raised an eyebrow. \"Which is?\"\n\t\"That you have something to prove.\"\n\t\"Oh, is that my real reason?\"\n\t\"Well, you're a manimal, and you're short. Socially, that's two strikes against you. It only makes sense that you'd want to show everyone you're just as capable as a full-sized human.\"\n\tI chuckled and shook my head. \"It's funny when an amateur psychologist tries to analyze someone they know nothing about. Next you'll tell me I teamed up with Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk because I have unresolved parent issues.\"\n\tShe paused and sipped her drink, probably to cover up that that was in fact what she'd been thinking. \"I'm just trying to understand why someone would risk their life doing something pointless.\"\n\tI stared at her. \"You think what I do is pointless?\"\n\t\"Well, crime never stops, does it?\"\n\tI frowned. \"That's specious. You might as well say doctors should stop practicing medicine because people keep getting sick.\"\n\tShe smiled—a smug, condescending smile. \"Oh, don't take it personally. Everything is pointless. Morality is arbitrary; good and evil are just points of view. The law is just the will of the herd. In the end, nothing really matters.\"\n\tI emptied the last of my drink and looked up at her intently. \"It's easy for someone like you who's never wanted for anything to say that nothing matters,\" I said, \"But when it's [i]your[/i] precious ass on the line, [i]your[/i] back against the wall, then you'll be singing a different tune. Suddenly, things are going to start mattering a whole lot. But don't worry, I'll still be there to help. It's what I do. Now, if you'll excuse me.\"\n\tI hopped down off the sofa, made my way across the crowded room to where my girlfriend Julie Martins was standing talking to another girl, and looked up at her. \"I think I've had enough,\" I said to her.\n\t\"Is something wrong?\" she asked. She knew me well enough to see that I was upset.\n\t\"I'm just tired,\" I lied. \"I'm going to head home. You can stay if you want to.\"\n\t\"No, I'll go with you,\" she said. She said goodbye to her friend, and we left the party together, exiting the apartment and descending the stairs to the street. It was late and the street was empty.\n\t\"So, what happened?\" Julie asked me as we walked along.\n\t\"Someone said something stupid that pissed me off.\"\n\tJulie frowned. \"Did they insult you?\"\n\t\"No, nothing like that. It was just something that someone who grew up as a slave and had to fight for survival doesn't appreciate hearing.\"\n\tShe sighed. \"I'm sorry I dragged you here, then. I just thought it would be nice for the two of us to hang out with normal people for a change.\"\n\tI stuck my hands in the pockets of my leather jacket. \"I'm sorry I can't be normal for you, Julie. I wish I could.\"\n\tShe stopped, knelt down, and put her arms around me. \"I like you just fine the way you are, Alvin.\" And she pressed her lips to my muzzle and kissed me, which made me feel warm and happy inside. I put my arms around her and kissed her back, and we gazed into each other's eyes.\n\tOur private moment was interrupted by the sound of footsteps running toward us. I turned my head to see what the source was. From out of a nearby alley ran a man wearing a black tunic, breeches, and a hood that covered his entire face except his eyes. He staggered and collapsed before us, his chest glistening, reflecting the light from the streetlamp. Then three more men emerged from the alley. I recognized them immediately as members of the Cult of the Red Banner, a gang that operated out of Chinatown, which meant they were very far from their home turf. They moved to surround me, Julie, and the wounded man.\n\tThe Red Banner cultists were lean, muscular men wearing scarlet trousers and foot wraps and green sash belts, their bare chests emblazoned with ornate tattoos of a dragon. Their faces were concealed by white dragon masks with long snouts and horns sticking out to either side, likenesses of the Death Dragon, which the cult worshipped. Each was holding a sword that glistened with blood, presumably that of the man they had been chasing.\n\tI was in my street clothes, which deprived me of most of the weaponry I normally employ when fighting criminals, but that didn't mean I was completely unarmed. I removed a throwing blade from my jacket pocket and readied it while taking up a defensive stance. I'd fought the Red Banner before and was reasonably sure I could handle these three. My main concern was for Julie. If anything happened to her . . .\n\tI didn't have time to complete that thought, as the three cultists lunged at me with their swords. I hurled my throwing blade at the one closest to me, embedding the point in his right wrist. He cried out in pain and dropped his sword, which I caught in midair and used to block a thrust from the second one, the blades clanging together. Then I had to spin fast and parry a thrust from the third one. I gave ground, trying to draw the two still armed with swords away from Julie and the wounded man, and they obliged, moving to keep me flanked, while the one I'd wounded backed off into the shadows, clutching his wrist.\n\tI did a couple of feints to keep them busy while Julie, bless her, called 911 on her cell phone. One of them turned his head to look at her, and I seized the opportunity to rush in and slash at him, cutting into his side. He fell, and I whirled to face the other one and saw him taking a deep breath. I dove aside as he breathed a gout of flame at me. How they do that, I have no idea. There's no apparatus in their masks to generate fire with, so it must be something mystical. The flames singed my fur and ignited the right sleeve of my jacket. I didn't have time to do anything about it, though, as he was on me a second later, hacking viciously with his sword. I parried as best I could, gritting my teeth as the heat on my right arm grew increasingly uncomfortable. I had to get my burning jacket off, but he wasn't giving me an opportunity.\n\tI took the offensive, as my only chance was to take this guy down before I burned to death. He was smart enough to realize that time was on his side, and good enough to block all my attacks and drag things out as long as possible. The pain in my right arm was getting really intense now, and the fire was spreading up the arm of my jacket. I reached into a pocket of my jacket and pulled out a smoke bomb, slamming it on the ground at my feet. Instantly, we were both enveloped in a cloud of thick black smoke, which gave me a moment to drop my sword and tear off my burning jacket.\n\tAs the smoke cleared, the guy came charging at me, his sword raised above his head. I socked him in the stomach, and he doubled over as the air left his lungs, and then collapsed and lay curled up on the ground. Then pain exploded in the side of my head as the foot of the first guy—the one I'd hit with a throwing blade—connected. I staggered to one side and turned to face him, my head ringing from the blow. He threw an open palm strike at my face, which I blocked by sheer luck, as I was so disoriented from that boot to the head I could barely see straight. I grabbed his arm and threw him over my shoulder, slamming him onto the ground on his back. Since it didn't look as if he'd be getting up anytime soon, I turned toward Julie and the wounded man to see how things were going over there.\n\tHow things were going was . . . odd. The man was holding Julie's face in his hands as she knelt beside him, their eyes locked together. She didn't seem afraid, though. I ran over to them, and just as I arrived he released her and his body went limp.\n\t\"Julie?\" I asked.\n\tShe blinked and turned her head to look at me. \"Yes?\"\n\t\"Are you okay?\"\n\tShe nodded. \"Yes, Alvin, I'm fine.\"\n\tI knelt beside the man and checked his pulse. \"He's dead.\" I looked at Julie. \"Did he say anything?\"\n\tShe shook her head. \"Not a word.\"\n\t\"Did you get though to the cops?\"\n\t\"Yes, they're on their way.\" Her eyes widened as she noticed my right arm. \"You're hurt!\"\n\t\"Just a little burned. Nothing serious.\" I glanced over at the flaming jacket on the ground. \"I'm more upset about that. I really liked that jacket.\"\n\tJulie gazed down at the dead man. \"I wonder who he was, and why those guys were chasing him.\"\n\t\"He looks like a ninja,\" I said, \"which means he's probably either an assassin or a spy sent by someone against the Red Banner.\"\n\t\"Who would do that?\"\n\t\"Practically anyone. The Red Banner has lots of enemies.\"\n\tA police siren came wailing through the night, growing steadily louder. We both stood up and waited for the cops to arrive. I sighed. This was going to be a long night.\n\n\tI sat at the sergeant's desk, drinking really bad police station coffee as she typed up my statement. My right arm was bandaged where it had been burned, and it still hurt quite a bit. I glanced across the room at Julie, who was sitting at another police officer's desk, giving him her statement. That was standard procedure, taking statements separately so they could compare them for any discrepancies. She looked at me and smiled, and I smiled back. We had been here close to three hours now, and she looked as tired as I felt. Then I perked up as the detective in charge of the case—a tall, well-dressed, black guy named Glass—entered the room alongside a lumbering bear of a man sporting a bushy unibrow, thick muttonchops, massive hairy arms, and huge apelike feet, which were unshod. He was John Cowens, a.k.a. Kodiak, a special agent for the FBI who handled all things paranormal. He was also a mutant with superhuman strength. \"Hey, Alvin, how's it going?\" Kodiak said, in a deep, rumbling voice.\n\t\"Fine, thanks. How's it going with you, John?\"\n\tHe shrugged a pair of shoulders broad enough to land a plane on. \"Eh, same old, same old.\"\n\t\"I take it you two know each other,\" commented Glass.\n\tI nodded. \"We've worked together before.\" I looked back at Kodiak. \"I'm guessing you're here because the Red Banner is involved.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" said Kodiak, \"they're known magic users, so that makes it my department.\"\n\t\"Any ID on the stiff?\" I asked, taking a sip of that awful coffee.\n\tGlass shook his head. \"Nothing on the body, and his fingerprints don't match anything in the FBI's database.\"\n\t\"What about Japanese law enforcement?\" I asked.\n\t\"We checked with them, too,\" said Kodiak. \"No dice. Bottom line, we have no idea who he is.\"\n\t\"Any idea why those three guys were chasing him?\"\n\t\"They might as well be mutes for all they're telling us,\" replied Glass. \"However, there have been several assassinations of prominent figures in Chinatown over the past couple of weeks, all of whom had links to the Red Banner. The murders were consistent with ninja techniques.\"\n\t\"Yeah, I heard about those. You think our dead ninja was responsible?\"\n\tKodiak nodded. \"And the Red Banner tracked him down and killed him in retaliation.\"\n\t\"Unfortunately,\" said Glass, \"since we don't know who he is or who hired him, that doesn't leave us with much to go on.\"\n\t\"What about his weaponry?\" I asked. \"Ninja weapons tend to be distinctive to each clan.\"\n\t\"We're checking that out next,\" said Glass. \"We've got an expert on ninjas flying in from out of town. Oddly enough, he's a manimal, like you.\"\n\tI blinked. \"Really?\"\n\t\"His name's Rick,\" said Kodiak. \"He's a raccoon. You know him?\"\n\tI shook my head. \"Nope. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing any raccoon manimals on Monster Island.\"\n\t\"Maybe you didn't run in the same circles,\" Glass suggested.\n\t\"I don't know,\" I said doubtfully. \"Dr. Moreau only made a few hundred of us, and a unique individual would tend to stand out.\"\n\t\"Well, maybe you can meet up with him and ask him,\" said Kodiak.\n\t\"Maybe I will, at that. How did you know to contact him?\"\n\t\"He's come to the attention of a number of law enforcement agencies due to incidents in Japan, China, the Philippines, Europe, Africa, and North America.\"\n\t\"Sounds like he gets around,\" I commented. \"What kind of incidents?\"\n\t\"Usually, they involve local criminals or terrorist groups,\" said Kodiak. \"The United Nations Tribunal on International Law has been keeping tabs on him ever since he saved one of their agents in Hong Kong. Presently, he's living in Los Angeles, working as a martial arts instructor.\"\n\t\"Interesting,\" I said. I looked at both of them. \"The sergeant has my statement. Am I done here?\"\n\tGlass nodded. \"Once your companion has finished giving her statement, you're both free to go. We'd appreciate it if you stayed close by, though, in case we need to talk to you again.\" He regarded me intently. \"I hardly need to remind you this is a police matter. We'll handle the investigation.\"\n\tI smiled at him. \"I'm sure you will, Detective. I have every confidence in the MCPD's abilities.\"\n\tAs I hopped down off my chair, Kodiak nudged me with his elbow and nodded at Julie. \"Nice going,\" he said, grinning.\n\t\"Thanks,\" I replied dryly. I walked over to her, and she smiled at me, and I smiled back. \"Almost done?\" I asked. \n\tShe looked at the sergeant, who nodded, and she rose from her chair, taking my hand. \"Let's go.\"\n\tWe left the police station and walked down the dark, empty street together, holding hands. \"Well, that was fun,\" I said. When she didn't reply, I looked up at her. \"Are you all right?\" I asked.\n\tShe looked down at me and smiled. \"You asked me that before, Alvin. Yes, I'm fine.\"\n\t\"Okay,\" I said. \"I just thought you might be a little shaken up. That kind of thing happens to me all the time, but you're not used to it.\"\n\t\"I appreciate the concern,\" said Julie, \"but I'm fine, really. Actually, it was kind of exciting, watching you in action. I only wish I could have helped.\"\n\t\"You called the cops,\" I pointed out.\n\t\"I meant help with the fighting.\"\n\tI nodded. \"I guess it's not easy being Lois Lane.\"\n\tShe grinned at me. \"Does that mean you're Superman?\"\n\tI shrugged. \"Well, I do have a cape.\"\n\t\"And it looks quite dashing on you.\"\n\t\"You think so?\" I grinned. \"Maybe when we get home I can put it on and we can have a little fun.\"\n\tShe sighed. \"Not tonight, Alvin. It's been a long night and I'm beat. I just want to crawl into bed and go to sleep.\"\n\t\"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm pretty tired too. How about tomorrow?\"\n\t\"It's already tomorrow.\"\n\t\"I meant during the day.\"\n\t\"We'll see.\"\n\tWe arrived at our apartment, went into the bedroom, undressed, and climbed into bed together. I snuggled up next to her, feeling her warm body against mine. God, it felt so good! I leaned over and kissed her cheek, and saw she was already asleep. I gazed at her beautiful face for a long moment. It never ceased to amaze me that out of all the men in this enormous city, she'd chosen me.\n\t\"I love you so much, Julie,\" I whispered.\n\tThen I settled down beside her and went to sleep.\n\n\tI was awakened by the sound of Julie's voice. She wasn't speaking in words, but in that moaning, incoherent way people sometimes do when they're having a dream. She was also writhing around in the bed quite a bit. I sat up and watched her for a moment, debating whether it was a good idea to wake her. It didn't sound as if she was having a very pleasant dream. Hesitantly, I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder. Her body jerked, her eyes snapped open, and she stared up at me with a shocked look on her face, as if she were completely surprised to find a chipmunk in bed with her. As quickly as it had come, the look faded, and she smiled. \"Hi.\"\n\t\"Hi, yourself,\" I said. \"You looked like you were having a nightmare.\"\n\tShe blinked. \"I did?\"\n\tI nodded. \"Do you remember what it was about?\"\n\tShe sat up and shook her head. \"No. Did I say anything?\"\n\t\"Nothing I could make out.\" \n\tI glanced at the clock by the bed. It was five hours since we'd gone to sleep. There was light around the edges of the curtains on the window. I threw aside the sheets, climbed out of bed, and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. \"Are you up?\" Julie asked.\n\t\"Yeah, I think so. How about you?\"\n\t\"I think I'm gonna try to get some more sleep.\"\n\tI nodded and came around to her side of the bed, and she leaned over and kissed me. \"Pleasant dreams,\" I said, smiling. She lay back down in the bed and closed her eyes, and I left the bedroom, went into the kitchen, and fixed myself a bowl of cereal. Then I went to my computer and switched it on. I mulled over what had just happened as I spooned the cereal into my mouth and waited for the machine to boot up. I'd never known Julie to have nightmares before. Then again, being exposed to violence often has unsettling effects on people who aren't accustomed to it. I pushed that thought aside as I started searching the web for information regarding the recent string of murders in Chinatown. While I'd promised Detective Glass I'd let MCPD handle the investigation, there was no harm in just looking, right?\n\tThere had been five killings in less than two weeks, all prominent businessmen. The details released to the press were few, as was typical for an ongoing murder investigation, but a few facts were consistent across all five cases. The victims had all been killed at night and at home, they had all been well guarded, and nobody had seen a thing. The police had no suspects and no motive—at least none they wanted to talk about. I began delving into the backgrounds of the victims, trying to see if there was anything linking them, apart from being Chinese.\n\tI'd been at it for two frustrating hours, going down one blind alley after another, when Julie came out of the bedroom. We said our good mornings, and she went into the kitchen and fixed herself a bowl of cereal. Then she came over to me. \"Whatcha up to?\" she asked, peering at my monitor.\n\t\"Just doing a little nosing around,\" I replied.\n\t\"I thought you weren't going to get involved in that.\"\n\t\"I'm not involved. I'm just looking for anything the police might have missed.\"\n\t\"That sounds suspiciously like being involved, Alvin.\"\n\t\"No, if I were involved, I'd be out on the streets squeezing punks for information. That's being involved. This is being interested.\"\n\t\"If you say so.\" She put down her bowl and moved up behind me, sliding her hands down my furry chest and nuzzling behind my ear. \n\tI growled with pleasure and turned my head to look up at her. \"Of course, I could get involved in something else,\" I said, grinning.\n\t\"You are one randy little chipmunk, you know that?\"\n\t\"Well, in my defense, you are being pretty provocative.\"\n\t\"Actually, I feel like a movie. What have we got in the queue?\"\n\tI checked. \"How about [i]Invasion of the Blood Farmers[/i]?\"\n\t\"Oh my God, that sounds hideous! Let's watch it!\"\n\tWe moved to the living room, settled down on the couch in front of the television, and started the movie. As Julie had predicted, it was horrendous—an early '70s horror flick, made on a budget of about $25, in which a cult of modern-day druids in upstate New York drained people of the fakest blood I'd ever seen in order to resurrect their queen. I sat with my head against Julie's shoulder and her arm around my waist, enjoying the hell out of it.\n\t\"This movie is terrible,\" said Julie, frowning. \"Why would anyone watch something so bad?\"\n\tI looked up at her, puzzled. Normally, she loved trash like this. \"I thought that was the point,\" I said.\n\tShe got up from the couch and went into the bedroom. I turned off the television and followed her. She was getting dressed. \"Julie, is something wrong?\" I asked.\n\t\"I'm going to the store,\" she replied. \"There's some things we need.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Do you want some company?\"\n\t\"No, that's all right. You go back to your movie.\" And with that, she left.\n\tI stood there, trying to make some sense out of this. Julie was acting weird. She didn't seem to be mad at me. It was more that she was just indifferent, as though I was hardly even there. Perhaps the events of last night had affected her more than she was letting on. Nightmares and emotional detachment were both symptoms of PTSD. Then again, earlier she'd been warm and affectionate, even playful. I sighed and shook my head. Hopefully, this would work itself out. There wasn't anything I could do about it at the moment. I went back to my computer and resumed my research.\n\tAfter another hour of getting nowhere, I happened onto something that might be significant. While reviewing file photos of the five victims at various public events, I noticed what appeared to be the same woman in two photographs of different victims. I couldn't be certain it was the same woman, because the quality of the pictures wasn't that great, but the resemblance was striking. She was Asian, and rather tall, with distinctive high cheekbones. Ten minutes later I came across her again, with a third victim. A few minutes after that, she popped up with a fourth victim.\n\tI pondered the implications of my discovery. It might not mean anything. After all, the Chinese community in Millennium City tended to be rather insular and cliquish. She might simply be someone who traveled in the same circles as the four victims and had happened to be present on each of those occasions. It would help if I knew who she was, but unfortunately, none of the pictures gave any indication of that.\n\tIt was pretty thin, but I decided to bring it to Kodiak's attention. I didn't want to deal with Glass, since I didn't know him and I'd promised him I'd stay out of it. I emailed the four pictures to Kodiak. Then I went into the kitchen to make myself a sandwich.\n\tMy cell phone buzzed right between adding the mustard and the mayonnaise. \"Well, you've been a busy little beaver, haven't you?\" Kodiak's gruff voice said.\n\t\"I'm a chipmunk, not a beaver,\" I replied.\n\t\"Just messing with you. I'll see if I can find out who your mystery woman is. And I won't tell Glass where the lead came from.\"\n\t\"Thanks. Has your ninja expert arrived yet?\"\n\t\"Yes, Rick is here now, looking over the evidence. Also, since I'm sure you'll hear about it soon enough, I might as well tell you there's been another murder.\"\n\tI blinked. \"With our ninja lying on a slab in the morgue?\"\n\t\"They've been known to work in teams, you know.\"\n\t\"Who's the victim?\"\n\t\"Lei Feng, another businessman. Killed about half an hour ago.\"\n\t\"In the daytime? That breaks the pattern. The others were all killed at night.\"\n\t\"Maybe it was the only time they could get at him. Anyway, thanks for the tip.\"\n\t\"You're welcome.\" I hung up and immediately started pulling up pictures of Lei Feng. It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for. There she was, standing next to him at a charity fundraiser.\n\t\"Who are you?\" I asked the face gazing back at me from my screen.\n\tThe door opened, and I turned my chair toward it. \"Hey, Julie, I—\" \n\tI stopped. \n\tIt wasn't Julie. It was her face, but it wasn't her. There was no sign of warmth or affection in her face. It was cold, hard, and deadly, like a snake's. She raised her hand, and there was a silver throwing star held between her fingers. Without a word, she hurled it straight at me.\n\tI dove aside as the throwing star struck the back of my chair beside my ear. I hit the floor and rolled to my feet, coming up in a fighting stance. From across her back, Julie had drawn a [i]wakazashi[/i]—a Japanese short sword—and was holding it out before her, advancing cautiously, her brow furrowed in concentration.\n\t\"Who are you?\" I asked, my hands raised defensively.\n\tShe didn't reply, just edged forward slowly, the blade of her sword gleaming. She gave a wordless shout and lunged, striking down at me, and I jumped back, evading. Her reach was much greater than mine. I had to find a way to compensate for that. I grabbed the stand of the lamp beside my computer desk and held it with both hands like a staff. Its heavy base made it an awkward improvised weapon, but it did give me more reach.\n\tJulie attacked again, a complex maneuver involving a feint and a lunge, and I parried with the lamp. Her blade struck the steel stand, cutting clean through it and the electric cord inside, causing a bright spark and a loud pop. I thrust the end of the stand at her, and she cried out as the contact shocked her. In addition, her sword had cut through the stand at an angle, effectively turning it into a makeshift spear that pierced her left side, drawing blood. She stepped back, holding her sword defensively and glaring at me.\n\tI swallowed, holding the red-tipped lamp before me. There was no winning this fight. Either she killed me, or I killed her. Either way, I lost. On the other hand, Julie was bleeding pretty badly from that wound in her side. Maybe if I could keep her busy long enough, she would pass out. \n\tShe shouted and lunged again, her blade seeking my heart. I blocked with the lamp and swung it like a mace so the heavy base slammed against the side of her head. She staggered back, stunned, and I dropped the lamp and leaped at her, trying for a grapple. If I could get her in a hold, maybe I could incapacitate her without hurting her.\n\tShe grabbed my arm and threw me sideways into a bookshelf, causing an explosion of pain in my back as my spine hit the edges of the wooden shelves. Then she thrust at me with her sword, which I narrowly dodged. I threw a punch, hitting her right on the wound in her side and making her cry out in pain. It was a dirty move, and I hated myself for it, but I had to end this fast.\n\tJulie stepped back, her eyes narrowed at me with hate, then whirled and dashed toward the window. As I yelled at her to stop, she crashed through it. We were seven stories up. I ran to the window and looked down. There was no sign of her.\n\tI stood there for a moment, my chest heaving, trying to decide what to do. I couldn't tell the cops what had happened. They might kill her. Or she'd kill them. On the other hand, there was no reason to think this latest murder was the last, which meant that if she wasn't stopped, more innocent people could die. But to stop her, I needed to have a better idea of what I was up against. \n\tI went into the bedroom and suited up in my black and gray Nightmunk costume. Then I went up to the roof, got on my grav bike, and flew toward police headquarters. Once there, I went straight to Kodiak's office. He looked at me in surprise as I entered wearing my costume. \"This an official visit?\" he asked.\n\t\"I need to talk to Rick,\" I said.\n\t\"I thought you were letting MCPD handle this case.\"\n\t\"Things have changed. I now have a personal interest.\"\n\tHe raised a bushy eyebrow. \"Would you care to elaborate on that?\"\n\t\"Not at the moment.\"\n\t\"I see. You know, Glass is gonna be real pissed at me if I bring you in on this.\"\n\t\"All I want to do is talk to Rick. Just two manimals reliving old times.\"\n\tKodiak nodded. \"Fine. He's down in the evidence locker. I'll buzz the officer on duty to let you through.\"\n\t\"Thanks, John,\" I said. \"I owe you one.\"\n\t\"Nah, you've helped us out plenty of times in the past. Think of this as payback.\"\n\tI left his office and went downstairs to the evidence locker, where the officer on duty admitted me. I found the raccoon standing before a large steel locker, surveying its contents. He was about my height, with the black mask and ringed black-and-white tail typical of his species. He was wearing an ordinary white collared shirt and tan slacks, his clawed feet bare. He looked up as I approached and his eyes widened. \"You're Nightmunk, aren't you?\" he asked, his voice a soft baritone.\n\tI nodded. \"Hi. You need to tell me about ninjas.\"\n\t\"Are you helping with the investigation?\"\n\t\"Unofficially. Kodiak knows I'm involved. Glass doesn't, and I'd prefer to keep it that way for now.\"\n\t\"Well, first of all, there's no such word as 'ninjas.' Japanese doesn't have any plural nouns.\"\n\t\"Thanks for the grammar lesson.\"\n\t\"You're welcome. Is there anything specific about ninja you want to know?\"\n\t\"Are they capable of possessing another person's body?\"\n\tRick looked at me, surprised. \"Why do you ask?\"\n\t\"Because I think that may have happened to someone I know.\"\n\tRick frowned and was silent for a moment. \"Are you familiar with the [i]kuji-kiri[/i]?\"\n\t\"No, what's that?\"\n\t\"They're a ninja's nine levels of power. They are [i]rin[/i], strength of mind and body; [i]pyo[/i], direction of energy;[i] toh[/i], harmony with the universe; [i]sha[/i], healing of self and others; [i]kai[/i], premonition of danger; [i]jin[/i], knowing the thoughts of others; [i]retsu[/i], mastery of time and space; [i]zai[/i], control of the elements of nature; and [i]zen[/i], enlightenment.\"\n\t\"So what does all that mean?\" I asked.\n\t\"It means nobody knows how much they're capable of, so spirit transfer isn't out of the question.\" Rick turned to the locker, which contained an assortment of weapons—swords, pronged daggers, nunchucks, throwing stars, a bow and arrows—as well as the blood-stained outfit the ninja Julie and I had encountered had been wearing. \"These came from a ninja who belonged to Nine Hands Cutting, one of the oldest and most feared ninja clans. They served as spies and assassins for the shogun for over a thousand years. Since the fall of the shogunate at the end of the Edo period in 1868, they've mostly disappeared. The few that remain work as mercenaries, selling their services to anyone who can afford them.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Is there any way to expel a ninja from a possessed body?\"\n\t\"To do that, you'd probably need a Shinto priest.\"\n\t\"There's a Shinto temple here in Millennium City.\"\n\t\"I know. But first we'd need to find the possessed person and bring them there. Do you have any idea where they are?\"\n\t\"No. But if we can figure out who the next victim is, maybe we can catch them when they try to make their hit.\"\n\t\"And do we have any leads on that?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"Possibly. I've identified a woman who appears in photographs of most of the victims. Kodiak is checking into who she is.\"\n\t\"Then let's see how he's faring.\" Rick closed up the locker, and we headed back to Kodiak's office.\n\t\"How is it you know so much about ninja?\" I asked Rick as we walked through the police station, drawing stares from the people we passed, as the sight of two manimals together was unusual enough to attract attention even in Millennium City.\n\t\"I've encountered them before,\" he replied. \"A friend of mine who owned a plantation in the Philippines was being harrassed by thugs hired by a local businessman who wanted him to sell his land, and he asked me for help. After I dealt with the thugs, the businessman hired a ninja to deal with me.\"\n\t\"And you were able to defeat the ninja?\"\n\t\"I do have some training in the martial arts.\"\n\t\"I gathered that, since you teach it. What style?\"\n\t\"A variety of what has come to be known in the West as kung fu.\"\n\t\"And how does a manimal come to know kung fu?\"\n\t\"That's rather a long story.\"\n\t\"I'd be interested in hearing it sometime,\" I said, as we arrived at Kodiak's office. We knocked and went inside. Kodiak was sitting at his desk, working on his computer, his big hairy hands awkwardly pecking at the keys.\n\t\"How goes the search for our mystery woman?\" I asked.\n\tKodiak shook his head. \"I've checked with every agency I can think of. It's all come up blank.\"\n\t\"May I see a picture of her?\" asked Rick. Kodiak turned his monitor toward us, and I saw Rick's eyes widen. \"I know this woman!\"\n\t\"You do?\" asked Kodiak.\n\tRick nodded. \"I've encountered her before, in Hong Kong. Her name is Fan Su. She's an operative for Chang Chun Shipping.\"\n\t\"Chang Chun?\" said Kodiak. \"I've heard of them.\"\n\t\"I'm not surprised,\" said Rick. \"They're reputed to be involved in quite a few illegal activities, among them drug running, arms smuggling, and human trafficking. However, people who look into their affairs have a tendency to disappear.\"\n\tKodiak did some more hunting and pecking. \"Well, how do you like that? Seems all the murder victims were major shareholders in Chang Chun Shipping. Collectively, they almost had a controlling interest in the company.\"\n\t\"Almost?\" I asked.\n\tKodiak nodded. \"There's one more. A guy named Bai Xue. He and the others started buying into Chang Chun in a big way a few years ago.\"\n\t\"Sounds like he's our next victim,\" I said.\n\t\"But how would killing these men gain anyone control of the company?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"That would depend on who inherits their shares,\" I replied. \"And apparently, Fan Su knew most of them personally. You said you've met her. Is she the kind of woman who could bend a man to her will?\"\n\t\"Human males do seem to find her attractive,\" said Rick.\n\t\"I need to call Bai Xue and offer him police protection,\" said Kodiak.\n\t\"I'd imagine he already knows his life is in danger,\" I said, \"considering six of his fellow shareholders have been killed in the span of two weeks.\"\n\tRick nodded. \"If he wanted the police to be involved, he would have contacted them by now.\"\n\t\"Even so, I have to at least make the offer,\" said Kodiak. \"It wouldn't look very good if he were killed and it came out that we knew and didn't try to warn him.\"\n\t\"You do that,\" I said. \"In the meantime, I'll go to his place of residence and wait for our ninja to make his move.\"\n\t\"Would you mind some company?\" Rick asked. \"We have no idea when that will happen, and you will have to sleep sometime.\"\n\t\"Sounds good to me,\" I replied.\n\tKodiak frowned. \"If Glass finds out you two are sticking your noses into police business . . .\"\n\t\"You wouldn't even know where to look if not for us,\" I pointed out.\n\t\"Besides,\" said Rick, \"there's no law against simply waiting for someone to show up, is there?\"\n\t\"Fine,\" growled Kodiak. \"But if this thing goes south, you're on your own. I'm not covering for you.\"\n\t\"We're not asking you to,\" I said. I turned to Rick. \"Come on, let's go.\"\n\tRick bowed to Kodiak, and we left his office together.\n\n\t\"Alvin?\" said Rick. \"Alvin? ALVINNNNN!\"\n\tI rolled over on the spot on the floor where I'd been sleeping and looked up at him. \"Don't [i]ever[/i] do that again.\"\n\tRick grinned. \"Sorry, I couldn't resist.\"\n\tI yawned, got to my feet, and looked around the empty apartment we had appropriated for our stakeout. My grav bike sat beneath the window, a bag of groceries beside it. I went over and started fixing myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while Rick, seated on a collapsible canvas chair, continued watching Bai Xue's apartment in the building across the street through a pair of electronic binoculars mounted on a tripod. It was dark in the apartment, as having the lights on would have created reflections on the window.\n\tWe had stopped off at the hotel where Rick was staying before we'd come here, and he had changed from his collared shirt and slacks into a sleeveless green tunic and trousers with white trim and a gold cloth belt. Apparently, these were his work clothes. I had taken the first shift through the day while Rick had slept, and he had relieved me at eight PM. It was now four in the morning.\n\t\"See anything interesting?\" I asked, biting into my sandwich.\n\t\"Not really,\" Rick replied. \"Bai Xue turned in at eleven thirty. The streets are still being patrolled by Red Banner cultists. Also, there was a female jogger wearing a halter top and shorts with the word 'Booty' written across her backside.\"\n\t\"Classy,\" I said. \"Wait, you were looking at her ass?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"I was curious about what it said.\" He continued watching until I finished eating and came over to relieve him of his vigil.\n\t\"There's something I've been meaning to ask you,\" I said as I settled down behind the binoculars. \"I don't remember ever seeing you on Monster Island, and I think I'd remember a raccoon manimal, since it's not one of Moreau's standard species.\"\n\tRick nodded. \"Like you, I was a, shall we say, limited edition?\"\n\t\"He did like to experiment.\"\n\t\"Indeed. We never met because I departed Monster Island while you were still entertaining Moreau in the big house with your brothers.\"\n\t\"Departed how?\" I asked.\n\t\"On a raft I built myself.\"\n\t\"That was gutsy of you.\"\n\t\"It was either that or Moreau's fight pits. Since I didn't wish to kill or be killed, I decided to take my chances with the sea.\"\n\t\"And how did that go?\"\n\t\"Not well, I'm afraid. A storm came up and my little raft was torn to pieces.\"\n\t\"And yet you survived.\"\n\t\"Your detective skills are truly astounding. Yes, my half-drowned body washed up on the shore of a small island, where it was found by the island's sole inhabitant, a man named Quan. He took me home and nursed me back to health.\"\n\t\"That was nice of him,\" I said.\n\tRick nodded. \"Particularly since he had no idea what I was. He knew nothing of manimals.\"\n\t\"So who was this Quan?\"\n\t\"He was a kung fu master who had retired to that island to find peace and solitude so he could attain enlightenment before he died.\"\n\t\"Ah, I'm starting to get the picture now.\"\n\t\"Needless to say, he didn't appreciate my being there, at least not at first. As it turned out, though, he was rather lonely and missed having students to teach. He had once been the head of a prestigious martial arts school, but he had incurred the wrath of a warlord named Lung Hung, and all his students had been killed in their feud. That was why he had retired to the island.\"\n\t\"Lung Hung?\" I asked. \"That means 'Red Dragon,' doesn't it?\"\n\tRick raised an eyebrow. \"You speak Chinese?\"\n\t\"Only enough so that I'm not completely lost when I'm in Chinatown.\"\n\t\"Yes, Lung Hung means 'Red Dragon.' He is a somewhat mythic figure. Some claim he is immortal and has manipulated events in China for centuries to create a state of perpetual chaos in which he could hold his domain safe from all others. Supposedly, he engineered the Boxer Rebellion, the downfall of the Manchus, and the Cultural Revolution.\"\n\t\"Hmm. Impressive accomplishments, if you like getting lots of people killed.\"\n\t\"Anyway, since I owed Master Quan my life, I agreed to become his student. I studied with him for seven years, until he passed away peacefully in his sleep.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Did he ever attain enlightenment?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"I don't know. I like to think so, and if he did, I would like to think I helped. He was a good teacher, and a good friend. Before he died, he adopted me as his son. I am now the last remaining member of his clan.\" Rick paused a moment, then continued. \"I buried him in his favorite spot, built myself another raft, and sailed across the Pacific until I was picked up by a Japanese fishing boat. Then I wandered the world, taking whatever work I could find. Eventually, I settled in Los Angeles, where I teach others what my master taught me.\"\n\tWhile I was curious to know more, I noticed something at the edge of binoculars' field of vision. It wasn't much, just a momentary eclipsing of some of the lighted windows on another building, but it caught my attention. I turned the binoculars toward it, reducing the light amplification so the glare from the windows wouldn't drown everything out and increasing the magnification. I could just make out a female figure who appeared to be walking on air. No, not air, I realized. A tightrope.\n\t\"It's on!\" I said, pushing open the window and jumping onto my grav bike. Rick hopped on behind me, looping his arms around my waist. I gunned the engine, and the bike rose into the air and zoomed out the window.\n\tI flew the bike across the chasm between the two skyscrapers and landed it on the balcony of Bai Xue's apartment. The tightrope stretched away from it, secured to a steel shaft embedded in the wall. Julie, in a full ninja outfit, was balancing on the tightrope about thirty feet away. Even though I couldn't see her face behind her mask, I could tell it was her.\n\t\"Give up,\" I said to her, dismounting from the bike and going to the railing of the balcony. \"There's nowhere for you to go.\" She hesitated for a moment, then began backing up.\n\t\"Allow me,\" said Rick. He jumped up onto the tightrope and ran along it toward Julie, as if running on an inch-wide cable twenty stories up were the easiest, most natural thing in the world to do. As he approached, she drew a throwing star and hurled it at him. The star whizzed by beneath him as he leaped into the air, sailed over her head, and landed on the tightrope on the far side of her, where he teetered for a moment before regaining his balance. I stared at him in amazement. I'm trained in acrobatics, and I wouldn't have tried a stunt like that.\n\tJulie looked back and forth between us, said something angrily in Japanese, drew her sword, and raised it above her head.\n\t\"Julie, no!\" I cried, realizing what she intended to do. \n\tThe sword came down in a bright flash, slicing the tightrope clean through.\n\tThe rope instantly went slack, and Julie and Rick began to fall away from me. Julie had crouched down and grabbed the rope with her free hand before delivering the stroke that severed it. Rick, realizing what was about to happen, had done the same. My hand flew to my grapple gun, and I fired it at Julie, snagging her tunic and halting her fall. The line went taut and I was jerked off my feet and slammed against the railing of the balcony by the combined weight of Julie, Rick, and the tightrope. Gripping the gun with both hands to keep it from being torn from my grasp, I hit the recoil button. The gun's tiny but powerful motor whined in protest, not having been designed to handle this much weight.\n\tWith another swipe of her sword, Julie cut the grapple line, and she and Rick began swinging back toward the building at the other end of the tightrope, the same building in which Rick and I had been conducting our stakeout. It was a long way, and they were building up quite a bit of speed. When they hit, they were going to hit hard. I ran back to my grav bike, gunned it, and shot off the balcony, angling toward them, but there was no way I was going to reach them in time.\n\tThey swung down toward the side of the building, and Julie crashed through a window while Rick smacked into the concrete just above her. Fortunately, the raccoon had managed to twist around so he hit the wall feet first, his legs absorbing most of the impact. Since he seemed to be okay for the moment, I flew my bike down through the broken window, landed it on the floor of the apartment inside, and jumped off. I was in the living room. The lights were off, and the door to the hallway was open.\n\tI took a step toward the open door, but then stopped, took out my flashlight, and played it around the darkened room. \"Come on, you didn't really expect me to fall for that, did you?\" I asked the air. \"That's the oldest trick in the book.\" No reply. She was waiting for the right moment to strike from the shadows. I held myself still, alert for any sound or movement. There as nothing.\n\t\"Who's there?\" came a nervous voice from my right. I swung my light that way. A balding, middle-aged man was sticking his head out of another room, blinking as my light hit his face. In the split second I was distracted, Julie leaped out from behind the kitchen counter with a loud \"[i]kiai![/i]\" and struck at me with her sword. I dove out of her reach, rolled to my feet facing her, and popped the blue questionite claws from my gauntlets. They're much stronger than steel.\n\tWe stood there eyeing each other for a moment, and then Julie lunged with her blade. I blocked with one arm and tried for a hold with the other, but she spun away and my fingers only brushed against her tunic. While I hoped I could take her down without harming her, considering how powerful she seemed to be I wasn't sure that was possible. Rick appeared in the broken window. Good. Maybe the two of us together could incapacitate her. Julie glanced at him, then back at me. \n\t\"Julie,\" I said, \"please, if you're in there, don't make me hurt you!\"\n\tTo my surprise, she straightened and sheathed her sword, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, lightning quick, she whipped out the pair of nunchucks at her belt and held them up with the ends pointed at Rick and me. There was a brilliant flash, and for a second everything was white. When the white faded, the room was empty except for Rick and me.\n\t\"God damn it!\" I swore, rubbing my eyes.\n\t\"Ninja do love their tricks,\" Rick commented.\n\t\"So I noticed,\" I muttered. As the raccoon hopped down from the window to join me, I remembered he was barefoot. \"Careful of the floor, Rick. It's covered with broken glass.\"\n\t\"Excuse me,\" said the balding man who had addressed me earlier. \"What's going on?\"\n\t\"We were pursuing a suspect in a murder case, sir,\" I replied.\n\tThe man's eyes widened. \"Murder?\"\n\t\"Yes. Don't worry, you weren't the target.\"\n\tHe swallowed, then looked at the broken window and frowned. \"Who's going to pay for that?\"\n\tI blinked. \"You live in Millennium City and you don't have superhero insurance?\"\n\t\"I never thought I'd need it!\" he protested.\n\t\"No one ever does.\" I turned to Rick. \"That was pretty impressive, how you managed to hit the side of the building without shattering both your tibia.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Simply a matter of relaxing the leg muscles in the proper way to absorb the force of the impact.\"\n\t\"And that acrobatic trick on the tightrope. Was that a simple matter too?\"\n\t\"Any competent circus aerialist could do as much.\"\n\t\"If you say so.\" At that moment Detective Glass, Agent Kodiak, and several of Millennium City's finest burst into the apartment. \"Oh boy,\" I said, sighing.\n\t\"Oh yeah!\" said Glass, glaring at me. \"What happened to 'I have every confidence in the MCPD's abilities?'\"\n\t\"I'm guessing you had Bai Xue under surveillance too,\" I said. \"You can thank me and Rick for that.\"\n\tHe turned his attention to Rick. \"And you, you were only brought in as a consultant on ninjas!\"\n\t\"Ninja,\" I corrected him. \"Japanese doesn't use plural nouns.\"\n\t\"Oh, you want nouns?\" Glass asked. \"How about these: interference with police business, obstruction of justice, criminal trespassing, and I'm sure I can come up with lots of others!\"\n\tI scowled up at him, folding my arms. \"You want to book me on those bullshit charges, go right ahead! Otherwise, get off my back!\"\n\t \"Thanks for giving me permission to do my job!\" Glass shot back. \"You think because you're friends with a disgraced ex-Champion, that puts you above the law?\"\n\tMy temper started to rise. \"Nighthawk is not disgraced!\"\n\t\"He got kicked off the team, didn't he?\"\n\t\"He left on his own!\"\n\tGlass smirked. \"Sure he did.\"\n\tI gritted my teeth. At that moment, I really wanted to punch Glass right in his well-groomed mustache, but assaulting a police officer is not a bullshit charge, and I couldn't help Julie if I was in jail. So I swallowed my anger and kept my cool. \"Am I under arrest?\" I asked as calmly as I could.\n\tGlass simmered for a moment. \"Get the hell out of here!\" He looked at Rick. \"You too! And if I catch either one of you screwing around with this case again, I [i]will[/i] put you behind bars! Got that?\"\n\tI turned my back on him and climbed onto my grav bike. Rick hopped on behind me, and we flew out the window. \n\t\"Well, now what?\" the raccoon asked me once we were outside.\n\t\"Now, we follow her to her hideout, using the tracking device I planted on her during the fight,\" I replied.\n\t\"You're not concerned about Detective Glass's threat?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"Right now, the only thing I care about is catching that ninja.\" I looked over my shoulder at him. \"You don't have to come if you don't want to.\"\n\t\"I feel that our paths are intertwined,\" said Rick. \"I will help you.\"\n\t\"Thanks,\" I said. I switched on the tracking system and headed after the signal's source.\n\t\"Who is Julie?\" Rick asked as we flew through the steel and glass canyons of downtown Millennium City.\n\t\"She's my girlfriend,\" I replied.\n\t\"I see,\" said Rick. There was neither approval nor disapproval in his voice, simply acknowledgement. \"Have you been together long?\"\n\t\"A few months.\"\n\t\"Do you love her?\"\n\t\"Why do you ask?\"\n\t\"It may become relevant.\"\n\t\"Yes, I love her.\" I checked the tracker. \"She's headed west. She must have secured some kind of transportation. Nobody could move that fast on foot.\" I pushed down on the accelerator as we chased after the fleeing signal.\n\tIn a few moments I could see a city bus lumbering down the street ahead of us, a dark figure crouched atop it. As we drew near, an arrow whizzed past us. I wasn't too concerned about that. My bike and I were both armored, and while Rick wasn't, he was shielded by my body. I guided the bike in closer. Julie fired another arrow, which struck the windscreen of the bike and bounced off harmlessly.\n\tSeeing that her arrows were having no effect, Julie slung her bow and whipped out her nunchucks. Moving to the edge of the bus's roof, she struck down with them, smashing one of the bus's windows, and then swung herself inside. I maneuvered the bike beside the broken window, set it to automatically follow me, and jumped through after her. Hopefully, at this early hour, there wouldn't be any passengers to complicate matters.\n\tJulie was ready for me when I landed in the center aisle of the bus. She swung her nunchucks at me, and pain exploded in the side of my head as they connected. I staggered backward, holding up my gauntlets to block her blows, and Julie advanced, hammering at me mercilessly. If not for my armored costume, my forearms would have been smashed to pulp.\n\tRick leaped in through the broken window, landing behind Julie, and launched a flurry of punches at her back. She grunted in pain and whirled, striking at him with her nunchucks, but he jumped back, evading them. She swung again, and bent one of the aluminum poles that bordered the aisle when Rick dodged her blow once more. I lunged at her from behind, trying for a grab, but even though her back was to me, she seized my arm and threw me over her shoulder and into a row of seats. I found myself on my back, looking up into the astonished face of an elderly cleaning woman, the bus's sole passenger.\n\tAs I got to my feet, Julie ran to the front of the bus, drew her sword, and held the tip to the back of the driver's neck. \"Go south!\" she ordered him, her eyes fixed on me and Rick.\n\t\"But . . . the only thing south of here is the river!\" he protested.\n\t\"Do as I say, or I take your head off!\" Julie snapped, speaking with a pronounced Japanese accent. The driver obeyed, turning the bus south at the next intersection.\n\t\"At least let her get off,\" I said, gesturing at the cleaning woman.\n\t\"No!\" said Julie. \"Nobody leaves! If you move, I kill him!\"\n\tI couldn't risk the driver's life, so I didn't move. I glanced over at Rick, who was similarly immobile. \"Drive faster!\" Julie ordered the driver, and he obliged, flooring it. The bus lurched and rumbled beneath us as it accelerated toward the concrete barrier at the edge of the Detroit River.\n\t\"Hold on!\" the driver shouted. I wrapped my arms around one of the aluminum poles, and Rick did the same. A second later, the bus slammed into the barrier and burst through it. We were all heaved forward by the force of the impact, and Rick and I found ourselves dangling from the poles as the bus tilted toward the vertical and plummeted thirty feet to the water. Then there was another wrenching impact as it plunged into the river, and the windshield exploded inward as water rushed in.\n\t\"Get her out of here!\" I shouted to Rick. The raccoon nodded and swung himself over to the cleaning woman, who was clutching the back of her seat and screaming bloody murder. Looping an arm around her waist, he clambered up over the rows of seats to the rear door. He kicked it repeatedly until it gave way, then jumped out, taking the cleaning woman with him.\n\tSeeing that Rick was safely away with his charge, I looked down. Beneath me, frothing water was rising up through the inside of the bus. I let go of the pole I'd been clinging to, dropped into the water, and swam down toward the front. Julie was gone, presumably having escaped through the destroyed windshield. The driver was still there, unconscious and surrounded by a cloud of blood from lacerations on his face made when the windshield had burst inward. I put my left arm around him and tried to swim downward to get out through the front, but the force of the water rushing in as the bus sank was terrific, and with the drag of the driver's body plus me being able to use only one arm to swim, I couldn't make any headway. I couldn't imagine how Julie had managed it. I popped the claws of my right gauntlet, smashed them through the driver's side window, shattering it, and swam out with the bus driver through that.\n\tMy head broke the surface of the inky black river, and I heaved in a big lungful of air, then looked around for Rick. He was about ten feet away, holding the cleaning woman's head above the water. My grav bike was hovering a few feet above me, waiting for instructions. Fortunately, the controls are on my left gauntlet. I reached around the bus driver's body and activated them, and it dropped down within reach.\n\t\"Rick!\" I shouted. \"Grab the bike and hold on to her!\" He nodded and swam over to me, pulling the cleaning woman with him, and took hold of the bike with his free hand. I grabbed the other side and ordered the bike to rise. It did so, lifting us and our charges up out of the water, and continued ascending until it was back at street level. Then I guided it through the gap in the concrete barrier the bus had made. \n\tOnce we were back on solid ground, I quickly examined the bus driver. He was clearly in bad shape. His face was covered in blood, and he wasn't breathing. I laid him down on his back and began to administer CPR, covering his mouth with mine and forcing my breath into his lungs. After a minute, he started to cough, then began breathing normally. I sighed and sat back, looking over at Rick and the cleaning woman. She was kneeling there, trembling, possibly in shock, with Rick holding her. I reflected that there was nothing sorrier looking than a wet raccoon. I took out my cell phone and called for an ambulance.\n\t\"Are we going to wait here for help to arrive?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"We can't leave them,\" I said. \"They both need medical attention.\"\n\tRick simply nodded.\n\tA few minutes later, the ambulance arrived, along with a police car. Glass and Kodiak emerged from the latter and walked toward us. Neither of them looked happy. I stood up to meet them as the paramedics took charge of the bus driver and the cleaning woman.\n\t\"Nightmunk,\" said Glass, taking out a pair of handcuffs and slapping them on my wrists, \"you are under arrest.\"\n\n\t\"Well, well. What have we here, a pair of escapees from the zoo?\"\n\tThe speaker was a big, bearded, hairy-chested biker, a member of the Cobra Lords street gang. I'd run into them numerous times, and busted more than a few of them. He was grinning down at Rick and me as we sat in the holding cell together, awaiting our arraignment. I looked up at the man and smirked. \"You're the one who belongs in a zoo. You're hairier than I am.\"\n\tThe biker scowled at me and leaned down close enough that I could smell his bad breath, which made me wrinkle my nose. \"Not so tough now without your toys, are you, you little freak?\"\n\tI'd had to surrender my gauntlets and utility belt when I was arrested, but even so, I wasn't the least bit afraid of this clown. I'd taken down Cobra Lords without my gear before. I growled at him. \"This is your last warning. Back off!\"\n\tThe biker turned his attention to Rick, who was sitting beside me with a blanket wrapped around him, as we were both still wet from our swim in the Detroit River. \"And who are you? Karate Coon?\"\n\tRick didn't even look at him. \"I don't do karate,\" he said quietly. \"I do kung fu.\"\n\t\"Whoa, kung fu?\" the biker said, laughing and turning to the other prisoners in the holding cell. \"Look here, we got us a furry little Bruce Lee!\" He dropped into a martial arts stance and began waving his arms around and whooping in a crude parody of Lee's fighting style. \"Wanna fight, Sensei Lee?\"\n\t\"That would be Sifu Lee,\" said Rick. \"Sensei is Japanese. And no, I do not.\"\n\tThe biker smirked. \"Looks like you got something else in common with Bruce Lee. You're both yellow!\" And with that, he threw a punch at Rick's face.\n\tRick reacted faster than my eyes could follow, his hands seizing the biker's big ham fist and twisting it around so he howled with pain. As the man went down on one knee before him, Rick spoke calmly. \"If you try to touch me again, I will shatter three bones in your arm: the humerus, radius, and ulna. I will shatter them so that shards stick into the nerves, causing you intense agony. I will shatter them in such a way that no Western doctor will be able to repair the damage. Do you understand?\" The biker nodded, whimpering. Rick pushed the man away from him. \"I trust we will have no further trouble.\"\n\tI looked over at Rick. \"You know, you're kind of pedantic.\"\n\tRick glanced back at me. \"I would think that you, of all people, would understand the importance of being precise.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Point taken. I'm sorry I got you mixed up in this.\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"Master Quan used to say, 'If you want happiness that lasts a lifetime, help someone else.' In any case, I've been in far worse prisons than this one.\"\n\t\"Yeah, compared to Monster Island, this is Club Med.\"\n\t\"Speaking of Monster Island, are your brothers still there?\"\n\tI sighed. \"Only their bodies.\"\n\t\"Oh. I'm sorry.\"\n\t\"Moreau got bored with us, eventually, and sent us to the fight pits. They didn't last long.\"\n\tRick shook his head. \"Such a cruel man. Though it diminishes me to say it, I'm glad he is dead.\"\n\t\"You and me both, brother.\"\n\tEventually, a bailiff came to conduct us to our arraignment, and we were led down a corridor to the courtroom. I was still soggy inside my costume and my feet squelched in my boots as I walked. In the courtroom, we stood before a judge as the list of Glass's bullshit charges was read to us. The judge asked us how we pled, and we both said \"not guilty.\" The judge nodded and said that in view of my past service to the city, plus the fact that we'd saved two people's lives tonight, we would be released on our own recognizance until our trials. We thanked the judge; I collected my gauntlets, utility belt, and grav bike; and we exited the courthouse.\n\t\"Is the tr—?\" Rick began, before I held my finger up to my lips, silencing him. I removed a small plastic slate and grease pencil from my belt and wrote, \"May be bugged.\" Rick nodded, and I said, \"I don't know about you, but I could use a shower and some breakfast. Come on, my treat.\" We both climbed on my grav bike and I flew it back to my apartment.\n\tOnce at my place, Rick took the first crack at the shower while I brought the grav bike into the living room. I stripped off my costume, because being all wet inside that thing was really uncomfortable, and began running an electronic bug detector over my bike, my belt, and my gauntlets. Sure enough, the bike was bugged. It took me a few minutes to find the dime-sized device hidden in the machinery. When I did, I smashed it with a hammer.\n\t\"Is our bug problem solved?\" asked Rick, emerging from the bathroom wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist and rubbing his fur dry with another.\n\tI nodded, standing up. I was naked, but growing up on Monster Island doesn't imbue you with much of a sense of modesty. I switched on the bike's tracking system and was rewarded with a steady beep telling me it was still detecting the tracker I'd planted on Julie. \"She's in Westside, a little over five miles away, bearing 230 degrees.\"\n\tRick had wandered over to the coffee table, where there stood a framed picture of Julie and me smiling at the camera, her arms around me. \"So that is what she looks like.\" He turned to me. \"You are a lucky manimal, Alvin.\"\n\t\"Tell me about it,\" I said. \"Do you have anyone back in L.A.?\"\n\tRick shook his head. \"No. There is a girl at the dojo, a fellow instructor, but we are just friends.\"\n\t\"Julie and I used to be just friends.\"\n\t\"I do not think it would be wise for me to get involved with anyone,\" said Rick. \"Peril has a way of finding me.\"\n\t\"I don't think I could live without Julie,\" I said. \"She helps keep me sane amid all this madness.\" I looked at Rick and swallowed. \"Are you sure we can get her back to normal?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"Nothing in life is certain, especially where the supernatural is concerned. But there is always hope.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" I said. \"Anyway, I'm gonna go take a shower.\"\n\t\"Is there some place where I can dry my clothes?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"There's a laundry room in the basement of the building,\" I replied, \"but you probably shouldn't go down there like that. You can borrow some of my clothes. We're about the same size, so they should fit.\"\n\t\"Xiexie,\" Rick said, bowing to me.\n\t\"You're welcome,\" I replied, heading into the bathroom.\n\tI took a long, hot shower, sighing as the water ran through my fur. I glanced up at the rack where Julie kept her own soaps, shampoos, and conditioners, and a lump formed in my throat. The thought of that [i]thing[/i] hijacking her body and using it to kill made me so angry I wanted to scream. I pounded my fists on the wall tiles in frustration, cracking a couple of them. This had to end, one way or another. I didn't even care if I died. All that mattered was freeing Julie.\n\tWhen I emerged from the bathroom, Rick was sitting on the couch in a lotus position, eyes closed, once again wearing his green and white tunic and trousers. My costume was laid out on the floor. He had thoughtfully dried the inside of it for me. His eyes opened as I came over and began suiting up.\n\t\"Are you ready?\" he asked.\n\tI nodded, opening the living room window. \"Let's go.\" We mounted the bike and sailed out into the cloudy mid-morning sky.\n\n\tIt only took a couple of minutes for us to reach the location the signal was coming from, one of the innumerable warehouses in the run-down district of Westside. I hovered high above it, looking it over with binoculars. \"I don't see any guards,\" I said.\n\t\"Guards would attract attention,\" said Rick. \"Ninja prefer to be invisible.\"\n\tI nodded and flew the bike down, landing it by one of the entrances. Rick and I dismounted and went to the door. The lock posed no difficulty for me. I eased the door open and we cautiously went inside.\n\tThe warehouse was mostly vacant, save for a few large empty wooden crates here and there. The skylights in the roof provided plenty of illumination. Apparently, the place hadn't been used in some time, as the floor was covered in a thin layer of dust, but there was a strange, cloying fragrance in the air. There was a second level, covering about half the area of the ground floor, and from it came two female voices, both speaking Japanese. One, I recognized as Julie's. I looked over at Rick. \"Can you make out what they're saying?\" I whispered.\n\t\"One is berating the other for not killing Bai Xue,\" Rick replied. \"She says her employer does not tolerate failure. The other is saying the failure was due to the interference of two freaks from Monster Island, by which I presume she means us. She says she will not fail again.\"\n\t\"We need to get up there,\" I said. I reached for my grapple gun, then remembered that Julie had cut the line earlier and I hadn't thought to replace it. Blame it on being distracted. Fortunately, there was a ladder nearby that led to the second level. I went over and began climbing it, Rick following me up.\n\tAs I reached the top of the ladder and poked my head up, the conversation suddenly ceased. Julie, who had been sitting on a rug before a plate containing burning incense, jumped to her feet, spinning and drawing her sword. She was unhooded, so I could see her face. She glared at me, those lips I'd kissed hundreds of times twisted into a sneer of hate. \"You! How did you find me?\"\n\t\"I'm a detective, remember?\" I replied, climbing up and onto the floor. Behind her stood Fan Su, dressed in a conservative grey business suit and regarding me impassively. Her eyes widened slightly, however, as Rick climbed up onto the floor and stood beside me.\n\t\"Hello, Fan Su,\" Rick said. \"I thought that was you I heard.\"\n\t\"Hello, Rick,\" said Fan Su, smiling. \"It has been quite some time since our last encounter. Hong Kong, was it not?\"\n\tRick nodded. \"When I helped stop you and your men from torching a ship full of refugees to cover up your company's involvement in human trafficking.\"\n\t\"Yes, that incident did cause Chang Chun Shipping quite a bit of trouble. In fact, it indirectly led to this reunion. The ensuing legal battle and bad publicity caused our stock to depreciate in value so much that Bai Xue and his partners were able to purchase a controlling interest in the company.\"\n\t\"A situation that you are now attempting to correct, I see,\" said Rick.\n\t\"Oh, it shall be corrected, have no fear of that.\" She addressed Julie. \"Yamazaki, dispose of these creatures. Now.\"\n\t\"[i]Hai[/i],\" Julie replied, moving slowly toward me and Rick.\n\tI hurled a handful of sleep gas pellets at Julie's feet. They burst on impact, creating a cloud around her. She leaped clear of it, sailing through the air toward me with a loud cry, blade raised above her head. Fortunately, Rick intercepted her in midair, his foot slamming into her stomach. She thudded to the floor while he somersaulted backward, landing on his feet. Julie kipped up into a combat crouch and scowled at both of us as we moved to flank her.\n\tShe lunged at Rick, slashing at him with her blade and forcing him to retreat. Then she spun and attacked me. I parried her blows with my gauntlets, then dropped and did a leg sweep, trying to knock her down. She was too fast for me, though, jumping over my sweep and striking downward with her sword. I blocked with my left arm, and she pressed down on me hard, forcing me to one knee. Her strength was phenomenal. Yamazaki had to be employing some kind of mind over body technique, because Julie wasn't that strong. I gritted my teeth as her face hovered just inches from mine, our eyes locked together. I saw nothing I recognized in her eyes, no trace of the woman I loved.\n\tWhile her attention was focused on me, Rick came at her from behind, trying for a hold, but her foot shot out as if of its own volition and caught him in the chin, knocking him flat on his back. I popped the claws on my right gauntlet and bracketed her blade with them, then twisted my wrist, snapping the sword in half. She cried out in anger and jumped back, whipping out her nunchucks and whirling them around in front of her. I moved toward her warily. Nunchucks are notoriously hard to parry, because in the hands of a skilled user they move faster than the eye can follow and can fly at you from almost any angle. She struck at me, and my attempts to block were futile, as she scored hits on my chest and right shoulder that hurt even through my armor.\n\tRick was back on his feet and coming up on her from behind again, arms raised defensively. She spun and lunged at him, swiping with her nunchucks. Rick, moving as fast as Julie was, managed to foul the chucks so they wrapped around his left forearm. Then he rammed his right fist into her chest three times in rapid succession, punctuating each punch with a shout. She let go of the chucks and staggered backward, and I seized the opportunity to jump her from behind, locking my arms around her neck in a choke hold. She reached behind her and clawed at my face, her nails scratching my left cheek and the right side of my muzzle and causing blood to ooze into my fur, but I didn't let go. Rick came at her from the front, and she swung a crescent kick at him even as she was struggling with me, but he blocked it and hammered her midsection with another flurry of punches. With a groan, Julie's body went limp and she slumped to the floor between us.\n\tRick and I stood there over her, both of us panting hard, and I licked my muzzle, tasting the salty tang of blood. I turned and looked over at where Fan Su had been standing, but she was gone, apparently having departed at some point during the fight. I didn't care. I had what I'd come for. I punched some buttons on my left gauntlet that controlled my grav bike, and a few seconds later it crashed down through a skylight and landed beside us. We picked up Julie and set her unconscious form on the bike, and I sat down in front of her while Rick sat behind her. So mounted, I gunned the engine and flew the bike up through the skylight, east toward downtown Millennium City.\n\n\tThe Shinto shrine—or [i]jinja[/i]—in Millennium City is a lovely place. Built by a wealthy Japanese businessman named Sakura who settled here, it consists of five towering two-post gateways—or [i]torii[/i]—painted red, with crossbeams atop them that curve upward at each end. These [i]torii[/i] are arranged in linear fashion, so that someone standing at either end of the shrine can see all of them framed one inside the other, symbolizing one's spiritual journey through life. Between the shrine and the street is an arching stone bridge over a pond stocked with koi that have grown fat on all the tidbits fed to them by those who come here. At the other end is a plaza surrounded by a grove of cherry trees. Tucked away in a courtyard between two large office buildings, Sakura Shrine is a haven of serenity amidst the noise and bustle of downtown.\n\tI landed my grav bike on the stone bridge before the first [i]torii[/i], and Rick and I dismounted and began carrying Julie's unconscious body toward the shrine. At Rick's instruction, we stopped just outside the first[i] torii[/i], and he called out to the priest. A Japanese man emerged from a small building at the center of the shrine and came toward us. He was about thirty, wearing a light blue silk robe, a tall rounded black hat, and black laquered wooden clogs. He looked rather surprised to see two manimals with an unconscious girl dressed as a ninja. I can't say as I blame him.\n\tRick bowed deeply to the priest, and I copied him. \"[i]Kannushi[/i],\" he said, \"we humbly request your aid. This girl requires [i]harae[/i].\"\n\tThe priest raised an eyebrow. \"What's the problem?\" he asked, sounding quite American. \n\t\"She is possessed.\"\n\tThe priest stared at us. \"Possessed?\"\n\tRick nodded. \"The soul of a ninja resides in her body.\"\n\tThe priest grinned. \"This is a joke, right? Someone's filming this.\" He started looking around.\n\t\"It's no joke,\" said Rick. \"He has already used her to kill once, and will do so again unless he's expelled.\"\n\tThe priest scratched the back of his head. \"Yeah, I think what you two need is a psychiatrist.\"\n\tI growled at him. \"Psychosis wouldn't allow a girl with no martial arts training to hold her own against both of us, let alone walk a tightrope between two skyscrapers and speak in a language she doesn't know!\"\n\tThe priest looked at me. \"You're really serious about this, aren't you?\"\n\tI waved my gloved hand at our surroundings. \"This is Millennium City! Weird things happen here! You're talking to a raccoon and a chipmunk, for God's sake!\"\n\tApparently, he couldn't argue with that. \"All right,\" he said. \"I'll see what I can do. But you can't enter the shrine with blood on you. You have to wash it off.\"\n\tRick bowed to him. \"Understood, [i]kannushi[/i].\"\n\tThe priest led us to a large rectangular wooden basin filled with crystal clear water. I watched as Rick began washing his hands and face, and then copied him, washing away the blood on my face and muzzle where Julie had scratched me. \"What is [i]harae[/i]?\" I asked Rick as we cleaned ourselves up.\n\t\"Purity,\" Rick replied. \"Unlike the Western concept that man is a fallen creature, the Japanese believe man is fundamentally pure. Touching blood causes one to become [i]kegare[/i], or impure. [i]Harae[/i] can be restored through rites of purification, such as washing. You can't enter a Shinto shrine if you're impure. That would anger the [i]kami[/i] who live there and cause the entire shrine to become [i]kegare[/i].\"\n\t\"And [i]kami[/i] are?\"\n\t\"[i]Kami[/i] can be thought of as gods or spirits, though neither word really describes them accurately. They are everywhere and inhabit all things. Shinto is all about worshipping and appeasing [i]kami[/i].\"\n\t\"You're familiar with the Shinto religion?\" the priest asked Rick.\n\t\"I spent some time in Japan,\" he replied.\n\tThe priest nodded. \"Well, I have to tell you, I've never done anything like this before, and I'm not really sure how it works. I was hired by the trust that maintains this place because I was trained as a Shinto priest at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo. I'm originally from Baltimore.\" He grinned sheepishly.\n\tI rolled my eyes. \"Terrific!\"\n\tRick merely shrugged. \"You'll just have to do the best you can.\"\n\tThe priest went into the small building and emerged a minute later. In one hand he held a small wooden wand with a white paper streamer attached. In the other he held an open book. \"This is a prayer for the dead to rest in peace,\" he said. \"I hope it does the trick.\"\n\t\"We shall see,\" Rick said.\n\tThe priest took a deep breath. \"Here goes nothing!\" And he started to chant sonorously in Japanese, waving the wand back and forth over Julie.\n\tFor several minutes, nothing was exactly what happened, and I began to think this was all a big waste of time. Then Julie's body began to twitch. At first, I thought she was just waking up, but her eyes remained closed and she began to writhe on her back as if in pain. Then she started moaning in Japanese, her head rolling from side to side. I looked over at Rick. He glanced back at me and nodded.\n\tSuddenly, Julie sat bolt upright and screamed, her eyes wide open. She looked wildly at me and Rick, then at the priest, and snarled with rage, jumping to her feet. The priest faltered, stepping back and dropping the book. \"Grab her!\" Rick shouted, pouncing on Julie. I followed his lead and we both took her down, pressing her to the ground and pinning her arms. Rick looked up at the terrified priest. \"Keep going! It's working!\" The priest swallowed and nodded, picking up the book and resuming chanting and waving his wand, while Rick and I struggled to keep Julie down. \n\t\"Release me, filthy monsters!\" she spat. Her strength was amazing. Even with both of us holding her, she was perilously close to breaking free. I told Rick to help me turn her over, and we managed to do so with some difficulty. Then I pulled out a ziptie from my belt and bound her wrists behind her. All the while, her screams raked my ears and my heart ached, because it was still Julie's voice, even if the words didn't come from her.\n\tThen, something weird happened. Okay, weirder. Julie's body went rigid beneath me and Rick, and something began to rise out of it, something misty and ephemeral that resolved itself into the shape of a man. I've seen ghosts before. Hell, in Nevada there's a literal ghost town called Burnside populated by the spirits of cowboys from the Old West, roused from their graves by Witchcraft's evil twin sister, Talisman, because of course she has one of those. And this looked just like a Burnside ghost, minus the ten-gallon hat and cowboy boots. The ghost snarled something in Japanese, then faded away and was gone.\n\tI turned Julie around and shook her by her shoulders. \"Julie?\" I asked her. \"Julie? Are you there? Can you hear me?\"\n\tShe groaned, and then slowly opened her eyes and looked into mine. \"Alvin? What . . . what's going on? Where am I?\" She looked up at Rick and the priest, then squirmed as she realized her arms were bound. \"Alvin, why am I tied up?\"\n\tA wave of relief swept over me, and I threw my arms around her and pressed my muzzle to her lips, kissing her, which surprised the priest, who hadn't known that Julie and I were a couple. \"Oh, baby, I'm so glad to have you back!\" I said, smiling.\n\t\"A heartwarming scene,\" came a voice from behind me I didn't recognize. \"It almost pains me to interrupt it.\"\n\tI snapped my head around. On the stone bridge stood an Asian man wearing a gold tunic and red tights, slippers, and a mask that left only his nose and mouth exposed, a long plume of black hair protruding from the top of his head. A sheathed sword hung from his red belt. On the front of his tunic was emblazoned the device of a red dragon.\n\t\"Lung Hung!\" Rick gasped.\n\tLung Hung glanced at Rick and smirked. \"So, you are Quan's last pupil. How sad.\"\n\t\"I'm also the last member of his house,\" said Rick.\n\t\"Then his family line ends with you.\"\n\t\"That remains to be seen.\"\n\tI popped my claws and cut the ziptie holding Julie's arms, then stood up and turned to face Lung Hung. \"What are you doing here?\" I asked. \"It can't be a coincidence, you showing up while all these murders are going on.\"\n\tLung Hung nodded. \"Very astute, little manimal. Those were indeed my doing.\"\n\t\"You want Chang Chun Shipping. Why?\"\n\t\"Because it belongs to me,\" replied Lung Hung. \"I founded it in 1842, and the profits from it have been a major source of funding for my other activities.\"\n\tRick growled. \"Profits obtained by bringing opium into your own country!\"\n\tLung Hung shrugged. \"I have never been one to defy the wisdom of the free market, and the social unrest caused by the opium trade made it easy for me to run my empire free of outside interference.\"\n\t\"Wait a minute,\" I said. \"You've been around since 1842?\"\n\tLung Hung smiled. \"I am much older than that, my little friend. I watched the building of the Great Wall. The peasants of the valley I ruled told tales of their 'lord who never dies.' But unlike many similar stories, these tales were true.\"\n\t\"Assuming you're not lying through your teeth,\" I said, \"how is it you've managed to live all these centuries?\"\n\tLung Hung chuckled. \"I see no reason not to share my humble origins with you, since you'll not have the opportunity to pass on the information. I was the Chinese slave of a Mongol khan who staked me out in the desert to die for an insignificant act of rebellion. For two days, he watched my death agonies, laughing. When I finally expired, he ordered his followers to leave my body where it lay, as an example to others.\n\t\"Two days later, I awoke, new strength flowing in my muscles. I tore myself free of my bindings, and watched in amazement as the wounds left by the ropes healed in seconds. Then, a thirst arose. I snuck up on an unsuspecting Mongol nomad and tore out his throat. His blood tasted sweet to my parched lips. The next morning, the khan's broken body was found in his yurt, drained of blood.\n\t\"I became an assassin and a thief, amassing enough wealth to educate myself. As time passed, I found that age held no perils for me. I learned much later that my body continually regenerates its cells, preserving me at the age at which I 'died.' Within one hundred years, I had become a powerful warlord, absolute master of a river valley whose waters fed the Yangtse. I was an adviser to many emperors, and then a trader with Europeans when white men first came to the shores of China. By playing the emperors and traders against each other, I kept my domain secure well into the twentieth century. When the communists took over, I manipulated their programs for my own ends. Mao Tse Tung found my immortal wisdom very useful.\"\n\tI interrupted his recounting of his life story, partly because he seemed to be enjoying it a little too much, and partly because something he had said stuck in my mind. \"You said the peasants of the valley you [i]ruled[/i]. Past tense. I presume that's no longer the case?\"\n\tLung Hung gave an exaggerated sigh and nodded. \"After Mao died, I found China was ruled by men who were not sympathetic to my aims. Worse, China had developed technology that could destroy me. Much as it pained me to do so, I decided the best plan was to leave before I was driven out, and carve myself a new empire in another land.\" He looked around at all of us and smiled. \"And now the time has unfortunately come for me to attend to the messy but necessary matter of your deaths.\" I swallowed as his canine teeth suddenly grew long and sharp. \"I have never tried manimal blood before. I am curious as to what it tastes like.\"\n\tRick dropped into a martial stance, hands raised. \"You won't find us easy prey, Lung Hung,\" he said, his voice steady and calm.\n\tI turned to Julie. \"When the fighting starts, make a run for it. We'll keep him busy as long as we can.\"\n\tShe shook her head. \"I'm not leaving you!\"\n\t\"There's nothing you can do here but die!\"\n\tShe looked at Lung Hung. \"Maybe.\"\n\tLung Hung moved. I've never seen anyone outside of the Champions' speedster Kinetik move so fast. In a blur of red and gold, he was suddenly beside Rick, and threw an open-handed strike that struck him in the chest and knocked him back ten feet. Rick landed flat on his back in a bed of flowers, stunned. I hurled a throwing blade at Lung Hung, which he swatted aside with contemptuous ease. He turned his head toward me and smiled, those long fangs gleaming. He hadn't even drawn his sword yet. I clenched my jaw. Two manimals with no superpowers against an ancient Chinese vampire. Yeah, this was not looking good.\n\tLung Hung came at me, and I barely even saw him move. A spinning kick connected with the side of my head and sent me face first into the pavement. He grabbed me and lifted me as if I were filled with styrofoam peanuts, and I felt his hot breath on my cheek. I rammed my elbow under his jaw. It didn't seem to cause him any pain, but it did keep his fangs from reaching my throat, at least for a moment. His arms squeezed around my chest, and I felt as if I were being crushed in a vise. My body armor absorbed some of the force, but even so, my ribs were crying out in protest, and the air was being forced from my lungs. I felt myself starting to black out.\n\tThen, through a haze of pain, I heard the [i]shing[/i] of a sword leaving its scabbard, followed by a cry of surprise and the wet sound of flesh being pierced. Lung Hung released me, and I fell to the ground. Looking up, I saw Julie standing over me, feet apart, his dripping sword in her hands, glaring at him as he staggered back with a shocked look on his face, blood gushing from a gaping hole in his side. On anyone else the wound would have been fatal, but Lung Hung looked more surprised than injured. He snarled and lunged at her, and Julie parried his blow expertly, then executed a leg sweep that he jumped over. They studied each other for a moment, Lung Hung's hands making circles in the air before him as Julie held her blade up defensively.\n\t\"How is this possible?\" Lung Hung asked, sounding intrigued rather than angry. \"Yamazaki's spirit has left you.\"\n\tJulie shrugged. \"Guess I'm a quick study.\"\n\tLung Hung smirked. \"It does not matter. The ninja has not been born who could defeat me!\"\n\tJulie grinned fiercely. \"We'll just have to put that to the test, won't we?\"\n\tLung Hung attacked, throwing a punch-kick-punch combination, which Julie blocked with the sword, though he forced her to give ground. I saw that Rick was back on his feet and moving up on Lung Hung from behind. I got up and advanced as well, my claws ready. The three of us had him surrounded. Suddenly, this fight wasn't looking quite so hopeless. Then I noticed that the wound Julie had inflicted in Lung Hung's side was rapidly closing up. Maybe we were screwed after all. I took a deep breath and lunged with my claws.\n\tFighting Lung Hung was like trying to grab smoke. He evaded my thrust seemingly without effort and threw a kick at Rick, which the raccoon parried. Then Lung Hung spun around to face Julie, whose blade was slicing the air toward his head. He ducked the potential decapitation, retaliated with a punch that sent Julie reeling, and then was attacking me before I'd even had time to recover from my missed strike. We were all highly trained martial artists capable of handling multiple foes, and yet compared to Lung Hung we were moving in slow motion.\n\tI raised my gauntlets just in time to block a barrage of blows that came at me as fast as bullets from a machine gun and made my teeth shake. I stumbled back several feet. There was no way we were going to defeat this guy unless we coordinated our efforts. If Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk had been here, that wouldn't have been a problem for me, since we'd practiced fighting as a team. But Rick, Julie, and I had no experience working together and no time to learn.\n\tSince my Nightmunk body armor made me the least vulnerable of the three of us, I decided to make an easy target of myself by attacking recklessly. Hopefully, one of the others could exploit any openings they saw while Lung Hung was beating the snot out of me. I leaped at him, my questionite claws raised to strike, and he actually looked surprised. People are always surprised by how far I can jump. I may be small, but my strength-to-weight ratio (the amount I can lift versus the amount I weigh) is borderline superhuman, so it's not hard for me to cover eight to ten feet from a standing start.\n\tAs I expected, Lung Hung plucked me out of the air as if I were a slowly drifting feather, grabbing me by the wrist and slamming me on the ground at his feet with a bone-crunching impact. He followed up by ramming his first into my chest with the force of a pile driver. I gasped in pain, unable to draw breath. Without my armor, his blow would have shattered my rib cage.\n\tRick and Julie reacted instantly, the raccoon trying for a hold around Lung Hung's waist while Julie drove the point of her sword at the vampire's heart. Lung Hung deflected Julie's thrust with his right forearm, then seized her sword arm with his left hand and swung her around, smashing her into Rick and sending them both tumbling across the grass. He sauntered over to them while they lay there dazed. I tried to get up to help them, but I was in so much pain I could barely move.\n\t\"Do not be upset,\" said Lung Hung. \"There is no shame in losing to me. For over seven hundred years, all who have opposed the Red Dragon have died. A woman and two manimals could hardly hope to succeed where so many others have failed. Still, you fought well and bravely, so I will be merciful. Your deaths shall be swift and relatively painless. Not all my victims are so fortunate.\"\n\t\"Did you bore them to death . . . with your endless monologuing?\" I asked, forcing the words out between clenched teeth. I had managed to draw a throwing blade from my belt, and with every bit of strength I had left, I threw it at him, gasping at a stab of pain from a cracked rib. \n\tLung Hung batted the throwing blade away as if it were an annoying insect, and smiled at me, his fangs gleaming. \"In your case, I may have to make an exception.\"\n\t\"You might find that . . . more difficult than you think,\" I wheezed. Lung Hung's head snapped up as he became aware of a sound overhead: the high-pitched whine of turbines.\n\tHigh above us floated a black hovercraft bearing the bird motif of Team Nighthawk. Beside it hovered another, larger craft, sleek and white, with a large gold letter C on the underside, an insignia known the world over as the mark of the Champions.\n\tLung Hung looked back down at me in surprise, and I smiled at him weakly. \"I switched on my communicator . . . while you were telling us your life story,\" I said. \"I thought the rest of Team Nighthawk . . . might be interested in hearing it. Seems they brought some friends.\"\n\tThere was a flash of light, and suddenly seven more people were standing in Sakura Shrine. There were Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk, wearing costumes similar to mine but with full face masks. Alongside them stood Defender, in his gleaming blue-and-white battle armor; Witchcraft, her green tunic and cape and red hair flowing as if in a breeze, even though the air was still; Kinetik, his scarlet-and-black costume emblazoned with white lightning bolts; Sapphire, wearing an aquamarine jacket, shorts, and thigh-high boots, her silky black hair hanging to her waist; and Ironclad, a metal-skinned giant wearing a vaguely Roman-style bronze helmet, bracers, kilt, and greaves, a massive gladius clutched in his right hand.\n\tI grinned over at my teammates. \"Hey, what kept you?\"\n\t\"You know the Champions,\" Nighthawk replied in his gravelly voice, \"always playing catch-up. Good thing your friend is a talker.\"\n\tDefender ignored Nighthawk's jibe. \"I'd advise you to surrender peacefully, Lung Hung,\" he said, in his strong, resonant voice, \"or this could get ugly.\"\n\tLung Hung looked around at the heroes assembled against him, then turned his eyes back to me. \"I underestimated you, little manimal,\" he said, sounding mildly annoyed.\n\tI nodded, still smiling. \"I get that a lot.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Well, no matter. For one who has lived centuries, setbacks such as this are merely temporary inconveniences. But rest assured, we will meet again.\" And with that, he vanished.\n\tSapphire blinked. \"He can teleport?\"\n\t\"First I've seen of it,\" I said.\n\tDefender turned to the other Champions. \"Witchcraft, scan for him psychically! Kinetik, search the area out to a one-mile radius!\" \n\tKinetik disappeared in a red blur, while Witchcraft closed her eyes and concentrated. After a moment, she opened her eyes again. \"I can detect no trace of him, Defender,\" she said. \"Either he is beyond my reach, or his mind is shielded against my powers.\"\n\tKinetik reappeared. \"No dice, Defender. Looks like we lost him.\"\n\tDefender nodded. \"For now. He'll be back, though. His kind always are. And when he is, we'll be ready for him.\"\n\tWitchcraft knelt beside me and placed her hand on my chest. A warm glow suffused me, and the pain in my chest faded. I got to my feet and looked up at her. \"Thank you,\" I said.\n\tShe smiled. \"My pleasure, Nightmunk.\"\n\tDefender turned to Rick, Julie, and me. \"Good work bringing that villain to our attention. A shame he got away, but these things happen. If there's anything the Champions can ever do for you, just let us know.\"\n\tI nodded to him. \"Sure thing, Defender.\" Rick bowed to him, and Julie just bit her lip and nodded, because it's not every day you earn a favor from the greatest hero team on the planet.\n\tThen Defender turned to Nighthawk. \"You trained him well, Nighthawk. He's a credit to your team.\"\n\tNighthawk glanced at me. \"I'm satisfied with him.\" Coming from him, that meant a lot.\n\t\"You know, Nighthawk,\" said Defender, \"if you ever want to come back, there's always a place for you at our table.\"\n\t\"Thanks,\" Nighthawk replied, \"but I prefer to stay in the shadows.\"\n\tDefender nodded. \"We each must follow our own path. Let's go, Champions. We're done here.\" Witchcraft uttered an incantation, and with a flash of light the Champions were gone. Above us, their gleaming white jet peeled off into the night sky.\n\tNighthawk turned to me. \"Need a lift home?\"\n\t\"I've got my grav bike,\" I said. \"But I think Rick might appreciate a ride back to his hotel.\"\n\t\"Not a problem,\" said Nighthawk, operating the controls on his gauntlet and calling his hovercraft down to us.\n\tI turned to the Shinto priest, who had just emerged from around the back of the small building he'd been hiding behind during the fight. \"Thanks for your help,\" I told him. \"I never did catch your name.\"\n\t\"It's Ken Shimada,\" he said, bowing. \"Glad to have been of service.\"\n\tI bowed back. \"Sorry about all the blood.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Blood can be washed away. I'm just glad everything turned out all right.\"\n\tI turned to Rick. \"It's been nice working with you, Rick.\"\n\tHe bowed. \"Likewise. If you're ever in L.A., look me up.\"\n\tRick, Nighthawk, and Lady Nighthawk boarded the hovercraft and took off, while Julie and I walked back to my grav bike. \"How are you feeling?\" I asked her.\n\t\"Confused,\" she said. \"I mean, am I a ninja now?\"\n\t\"Do you want to be?\"\n\t\"I don't know. I was still getting used to having a superhero for a boyfriend, and now it seems I'm one myself!\"\n\t\"Well, we should probably wait and see if these new abilities of yours are permanent. For all we know, they might be gone tomorrow.\"\n\t\"And if they aren't?\" she asked.\n\tI shrugged. \"Then it's up to you to decide. Like Defender said, we each must follow our own path.\"\n\tShe smiled. \"Well, right now I think my path leads to our bedroom, followed by a whole lot of kissing and snuggling.\"\n\tI grinned. \"I can hardly wait!\"\n\tWe both got on my grav bike and flew off together into the night sky."
}

.description.json · embedded sidecar fallback Download

{
  "description": "Nightmunk teams up with Rick, a raccoon manimal and kung fu master, to save his human girlfriend Julie from being taken over by the spirit of a dead ninja!"
}

.writing.json · embedded sidecar fallback Download

{
"writing": "[center]The Butterfly[/center]\n\n[center]a story set in the universe of Champions Online[/center]\n\n\t\"Oh, that's my favorite show!\"\n\t\"Mayor Biselle is an idiot!\"\n\t\"Yes, I'll have another, please.\"\n\t\"Well, as David Hume once said . . .\"\n\tI threaded my way through a forest of legs, seeking a quiet corner where I could be by myself for a while. There's a reason I don't normally go to parties, and it's not because I'm the only three-foot talking chipmunk in Millenium City. I long ago accepted that I'm always going to be an oddity and that I'm going to be stared at wherever I go. It's because I'm trained to be observant, and being around so many people causes sensory overload. Plus, in my line of work you tend to accumulate enemies, and there's always a chance one of them will crash the party and put innocent lives at risk.\n\tI found a sofa nobody was using and sat myself down on it, sipping my gin and tonic and trying to tune out all the conversations going on around me. Almost immediately, someone came and sat down next to me. I looked up at her. She was about twenty-five, with long black hair, wearing a black collared shirt, black jeans, black leather boots, black eyeliner, and black lipstick. There was an ornate silver ring on every one of her fingers. She crossed her legs, holding her drink with an air of practiced nonchalance, looked at me, and smiled. \"Hello there!\" she said.\n\t\"Hi,\" I replied, smiling back politely.\n\tShe held out her hand to me. \"I've been wanting to talk to you, Alvin. I'm Lilith.\"\n\tOf course she was. I shook her hand with my stubby, fuzzy, four-fingered one. \"Oh, really? What about?\"\n\t\"Why do you do it?\"\n\t\"Do what?\" I asked, feigning ignorance. It wasn't the first time I'd been asked that question.\n\t\"You know, dress up in a costume and swing around town punching out bad guys.\"\n\tI shrugged. \"It's fun?\"\n\tShe smirked. \"That was a flip answer.\"\n\t\"Yes, it was.\"\n\t\"Are you afraid of admitting the real reason?\"\n\tI raised an eyebrow. \"Which is?\"\n\t\"That you have something to prove.\"\n\t\"Oh, is that my real reason?\"\n\t\"Well, you're a manimal, and you're short. Socially, that's two strikes against you. It only makes sense that you'd want to show everyone you're just as capable as a full-sized human.\"\n\tI chuckled and shook my head. \"It's funny when an amateur psychologist tries to analyze someone they know nothing about. Next you'll tell me I teamed up with Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk because I have unresolved parent issues.\"\n\tShe paused and sipped her drink, probably to cover up that that was in fact what she'd been thinking. \"I'm just trying to understand why someone would risk their life doing something pointless.\"\n\tI stared at her. \"You think what I do is pointless?\"\n\t\"Well, crime never stops, does it?\"\n\tI frowned. \"That's specious. You might as well say doctors should stop practicing medicine because people keep getting sick.\"\n\tShe smiled—a smug, condescending smile. \"Oh, don't take it personally. Everything is pointless. Morality is arbitrary; good and evil are just points of view. The law is just the will of the herd. In the end, nothing really matters.\"\n\tI emptied the last of my drink and looked up at her intently. \"It's easy for someone like you who's never wanted for anything to say that nothing matters,\" I said, \"But when it's [i]your[/i] precious ass on the line, [i]your[/i] back against the wall, then you'll be singing a different tune. Suddenly, things are going to start mattering a whole lot. But don't worry, I'll still be there to help. It's what I do. Now, if you'll excuse me.\"\n\tI hopped down off the sofa, made my way across the crowded room to where my girlfriend Julie Martins was standing talking to another girl, and looked up at her. \"I think I've had enough,\" I said to her.\n\t\"Is something wrong?\" she asked. She knew me well enough to see that I was upset.\n\t\"I'm just tired,\" I lied. \"I'm going to head home. You can stay if you want to.\"\n\t\"No, I'll go with you,\" she said. She said goodbye to her friend, and we left the party together, exiting the apartment and descending the stairs to the street. It was late and the street was empty.\n\t\"So, what happened?\" Julie asked me as we walked along.\n\t\"Someone said something stupid that pissed me off.\"\n\tJulie frowned. \"Did they insult you?\"\n\t\"No, nothing like that. It was just something that someone who grew up as a slave and had to fight for survival doesn't appreciate hearing.\"\n\tShe sighed. \"I'm sorry I dragged you here, then. I just thought it would be nice for the two of us to hang out with normal people for a change.\"\n\tI stuck my hands in the pockets of my leather jacket. \"I'm sorry I can't be normal for you, Julie. I wish I could.\"\n\tShe stopped, knelt down, and put her arms around me. \"I like you just fine the way you are, Alvin.\" And she pressed her lips to my muzzle and kissed me, which made me feel warm and happy inside. I put my arms around her and kissed her back, and we gazed into each other's eyes.\n\tOur private moment was interrupted by the sound of footsteps running toward us. I turned my head to see what the source was. From out of a nearby alley ran a man wearing a black tunic, breeches, and a hood that covered his entire face except his eyes. He staggered and collapsed before us, his chest glistening, reflecting the light from the streetlamp. Then three more men emerged from the alley. I recognized them immediately as members of the Cult of the Red Banner, a gang that operated out of Chinatown, which meant they were very far from their home turf. They moved to surround me, Julie, and the wounded man.\n\tThe Red Banner cultists were lean, muscular men wearing scarlet trousers and foot wraps and green sash belts, their bare chests emblazoned with ornate tattoos of a dragon. Their faces were concealed by white dragon masks with long snouts and horns sticking out to either side, likenesses of the Death Dragon, which the cult worshipped. Each was holding a sword that glistened with blood, presumably that of the man they had been chasing.\n\tI was in my street clothes, which deprived me of most of the weaponry I normally employ when fighting criminals, but that didn't mean I was completely unarmed. I removed a throwing blade from my jacket pocket and readied it while taking up a defensive stance. I'd fought the Red Banner before and was reasonably sure I could handle these three. My main concern was for Julie. If anything happened to her . . .\n\tI didn't have time to complete that thought, as the three cultists lunged at me with their swords. I hurled my throwing blade at the one closest to me, embedding the point in his right wrist. He cried out in pain and dropped his sword, which I caught in midair and used to block a thrust from the second one, the blades clanging together. Then I had to spin fast and parry a thrust from the third one. I gave ground, trying to draw the two still armed with swords away from Julie and the wounded man, and they obliged, moving to keep me flanked, while the one I'd wounded backed off into the shadows, clutching his wrist.\n\tI did a couple of feints to keep them busy while Julie, bless her, called 911 on her cell phone. One of them turned his head to look at her, and I seized the opportunity to rush in and slash at him, cutting into his side. He fell, and I whirled to face the other one and saw him taking a deep breath. I dove aside as he breathed a gout of flame at me. How they do that, I have no idea. There's no apparatus in their masks to generate fire with, so it must be something mystical. The flames singed my fur and ignited the right sleeve of my jacket. I didn't have time to do anything about it, though, as he was on me a second later, hacking viciously with his sword. I parried as best I could, gritting my teeth as the heat on my right arm grew increasingly uncomfortable. I had to get my burning jacket off, but he wasn't giving me an opportunity.\n\tI took the offensive, as my only chance was to take this guy down before I burned to death. He was smart enough to realize that time was on his side, and good enough to block all my attacks and drag things out as long as possible. The pain in my right arm was getting really intense now, and the fire was spreading up the arm of my jacket. I reached into a pocket of my jacket and pulled out a smoke bomb, slamming it on the ground at my feet. Instantly, we were both enveloped in a cloud of thick black smoke, which gave me a moment to drop my sword and tear off my burning jacket.\n\tAs the smoke cleared, the guy came charging at me, his sword raised above his head. I socked him in the stomach, and he doubled over as the air left his lungs, and then collapsed and lay curled up on the ground. Then pain exploded in the side of my head as the foot of the first guy—the one I'd hit with a throwing blade—connected. I staggered to one side and turned to face him, my head ringing from the blow. He threw an open palm strike at my face, which I blocked by sheer luck, as I was so disoriented from that boot to the head I could barely see straight. I grabbed his arm and threw him over my shoulder, slamming him onto the ground on his back. Since it didn't look as if he'd be getting up anytime soon, I turned toward Julie and the wounded man to see how things were going over there.\n\tHow things were going was . . . odd. The man was holding Julie's face in his hands as she knelt beside him, their eyes locked together. She didn't seem afraid, though. I ran over to them, and just as I arrived he released her and his body went limp.\n\t\"Julie?\" I asked.\n\tShe blinked and turned her head to look at me. \"Yes?\"\n\t\"Are you okay?\"\n\tShe nodded. \"Yes, Alvin, I'm fine.\"\n\tI knelt beside the man and checked his pulse. \"He's dead.\" I looked at Julie. \"Did he say anything?\"\n\tShe shook her head. \"Not a word.\"\n\t\"Did you get though to the cops?\"\n\t\"Yes, they're on their way.\" Her eyes widened as she noticed my right arm. \"You're hurt!\"\n\t\"Just a little burned. Nothing serious.\" I glanced over at the flaming jacket on the ground. \"I'm more upset about that. I really liked that jacket.\"\n\tJulie gazed down at the dead man. \"I wonder who he was, and why those guys were chasing him.\"\n\t\"He looks like a ninja,\" I said, \"which means he's probably either an assassin or a spy sent by someone against the Red Banner.\"\n\t\"Who would do that?\"\n\t\"Practically anyone. The Red Banner has lots of enemies.\"\n\tA police siren came wailing through the night, growing steadily louder. We both stood up and waited for the cops to arrive. I sighed. This was going to be a long night.\n\n\tI sat at the sergeant's desk, drinking really bad police station coffee as she typed up my statement. My right arm was bandaged where it had been burned, and it still hurt quite a bit. I glanced across the room at Julie, who was sitting at another police officer's desk, giving him her statement. That was standard procedure, taking statements separately so they could compare them for any discrepancies. She looked at me and smiled, and I smiled back. We had been here close to three hours now, and she looked as tired as I felt. Then I perked up as the detective in charge of the case—a tall, well-dressed, black guy named Glass—entered the room alongside a lumbering bear of a man sporting a bushy unibrow, thick muttonchops, massive hairy arms, and huge apelike feet, which were unshod. He was John Cowens, a.k.a. Kodiak, a special agent for the FBI who handled all things paranormal. He was also a mutant with superhuman strength. \"Hey, Alvin, how's it going?\" Kodiak said, in a deep, rumbling voice.\n\t\"Fine, thanks. How's it going with you, John?\"\n\tHe shrugged a pair of shoulders broad enough to land a plane on. \"Eh, same old, same old.\"\n\t\"I take it you two know each other,\" commented Glass.\n\tI nodded. \"We've worked together before.\" I looked back at Kodiak. \"I'm guessing you're here because the Red Banner is involved.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" said Kodiak, \"they're known magic users, so that makes it my department.\"\n\t\"Any ID on the stiff?\" I asked, taking a sip of that awful coffee.\n\tGlass shook his head. \"Nothing on the body, and his fingerprints don't match anything in the FBI's database.\"\n\t\"What about Japanese law enforcement?\" I asked.\n\t\"We checked with them, too,\" said Kodiak. \"No dice. Bottom line, we have no idea who he is.\"\n\t\"Any idea why those three guys were chasing him?\"\n\t\"They might as well be mutes for all they're telling us,\" replied Glass. \"However, there have been several assassinations of prominent figures in Chinatown over the past couple of weeks, all of whom had links to the Red Banner. The murders were consistent with ninja techniques.\"\n\t\"Yeah, I heard about those. You think our dead ninja was responsible?\"\n\tKodiak nodded. \"And the Red Banner tracked him down and killed him in retaliation.\"\n\t\"Unfortunately,\" said Glass, \"since we don't know who he is or who hired him, that doesn't leave us with much to go on.\"\n\t\"What about his weaponry?\" I asked. \"Ninja weapons tend to be distinctive to each clan.\"\n\t\"We're checking that out next,\" said Glass. \"We've got an expert on ninjas flying in from out of town. Oddly enough, he's a manimal, like you.\"\n\tI blinked. \"Really?\"\n\t\"His name's Rick,\" said Kodiak. \"He's a raccoon. You know him?\"\n\tI shook my head. \"Nope. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing any raccoon manimals on Monster Island.\"\n\t\"Maybe you didn't run in the same circles,\" Glass suggested.\n\t\"I don't know,\" I said doubtfully. \"Dr. Moreau only made a few hundred of us, and a unique individual would tend to stand out.\"\n\t\"Well, maybe you can meet up with him and ask him,\" said Kodiak.\n\t\"Maybe I will, at that. How did you know to contact him?\"\n\t\"He's come to the attention of a number of law enforcement agencies due to incidents in Japan, China, the Philippines, Europe, Africa, and North America.\"\n\t\"Sounds like he gets around,\" I commented. \"What kind of incidents?\"\n\t\"Usually, they involve local criminals or terrorist groups,\" said Kodiak. \"The United Nations Tribunal on International Law has been keeping tabs on him ever since he saved one of their agents in Hong Kong. Presently, he's living in Los Angeles, working as a martial arts instructor.\"\n\t\"Interesting,\" I said. I looked at both of them. \"The sergeant has my statement. Am I done here?\"\n\tGlass nodded. \"Once your companion has finished giving her statement, you're both free to go. We'd appreciate it if you stayed close by, though, in case we need to talk to you again.\" He regarded me intently. \"I hardly need to remind you this is a police matter. We'll handle the investigation.\"\n\tI smiled at him. \"I'm sure you will, Detective. I have every confidence in the MCPD's abilities.\"\n\tAs I hopped down off my chair, Kodiak nudged me with his elbow and nodded at Julie. \"Nice going,\" he said, grinning.\n\t\"Thanks,\" I replied dryly. I walked over to her, and she smiled at me, and I smiled back. \"Almost done?\" I asked. \n\tShe looked at the sergeant, who nodded, and she rose from her chair, taking my hand. \"Let's go.\"\n\tWe left the police station and walked down the dark, empty street together, holding hands. \"Well, that was fun,\" I said. When she didn't reply, I looked up at her. \"Are you all right?\" I asked.\n\tShe looked down at me and smiled. \"You asked me that before, Alvin. Yes, I'm fine.\"\n\t\"Okay,\" I said. \"I just thought you might be a little shaken up. That kind of thing happens to me all the time, but you're not used to it.\"\n\t\"I appreciate the concern,\" said Julie, \"but I'm fine, really. Actually, it was kind of exciting, watching you in action. I only wish I could have helped.\"\n\t\"You called the cops,\" I pointed out.\n\t\"I meant help with the fighting.\"\n\tI nodded. \"I guess it's not easy being Lois Lane.\"\n\tShe grinned at me. \"Does that mean you're Superman?\"\n\tI shrugged. \"Well, I do have a cape.\"\n\t\"And it looks quite dashing on you.\"\n\t\"You think so?\" I grinned. \"Maybe when we get home I can put it on and we can have a little fun.\"\n\tShe sighed. \"Not tonight, Alvin. It's been a long night and I'm beat. I just want to crawl into bed and go to sleep.\"\n\t\"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm pretty tired too. How about tomorrow?\"\n\t\"It's already tomorrow.\"\n\t\"I meant during the day.\"\n\t\"We'll see.\"\n\tWe arrived at our apartment, went into the bedroom, undressed, and climbed into bed together. I snuggled up next to her, feeling her warm body against mine. God, it felt so good! I leaned over and kissed her cheek, and saw she was already asleep. I gazed at her beautiful face for a long moment. It never ceased to amaze me that out of all the men in this enormous city, she'd chosen me.\n\t\"I love you so much, Julie,\" I whispered.\n\tThen I settled down beside her and went to sleep.\n\n\tI was awakened by the sound of Julie's voice. She wasn't speaking in words, but in that moaning, incoherent way people sometimes do when they're having a dream. She was also writhing around in the bed quite a bit. I sat up and watched her for a moment, debating whether it was a good idea to wake her. It didn't sound as if she was having a very pleasant dream. Hesitantly, I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder. Her body jerked, her eyes snapped open, and she stared up at me with a shocked look on her face, as if she were completely surprised to find a chipmunk in bed with her. As quickly as it had come, the look faded, and she smiled. \"Hi.\"\n\t\"Hi, yourself,\" I said. \"You looked like you were having a nightmare.\"\n\tShe blinked. \"I did?\"\n\tI nodded. \"Do you remember what it was about?\"\n\tShe sat up and shook her head. \"No. Did I say anything?\"\n\t\"Nothing I could make out.\" \n\tI glanced at the clock by the bed. It was five hours since we'd gone to sleep. There was light around the edges of the curtains on the window. I threw aside the sheets, climbed out of bed, and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. \"Are you up?\" Julie asked.\n\t\"Yeah, I think so. How about you?\"\n\t\"I think I'm gonna try to get some more sleep.\"\n\tI nodded and came around to her side of the bed, and she leaned over and kissed me. \"Pleasant dreams,\" I said, smiling. She lay back down in the bed and closed her eyes, and I left the bedroom, went into the kitchen, and fixed myself a bowl of cereal. Then I went to my computer and switched it on. I mulled over what had just happened as I spooned the cereal into my mouth and waited for the machine to boot up. I'd never known Julie to have nightmares before. Then again, being exposed to violence often has unsettling effects on people who aren't accustomed to it. I pushed that thought aside as I started searching the web for information regarding the recent string of murders in Chinatown. While I'd promised Detective Glass I'd let MCPD handle the investigation, there was no harm in just looking, right?\n\tThere had been five killings in less than two weeks, all prominent businessmen. The details released to the press were few, as was typical for an ongoing murder investigation, but a few facts were consistent across all five cases. The victims had all been killed at night and at home, they had all been well guarded, and nobody had seen a thing. The police had no suspects and no motive—at least none they wanted to talk about. I began delving into the backgrounds of the victims, trying to see if there was anything linking them, apart from being Chinese.\n\tI'd been at it for two frustrating hours, going down one blind alley after another, when Julie came out of the bedroom. We said our good mornings, and she went into the kitchen and fixed herself a bowl of cereal. Then she came over to me. \"Whatcha up to?\" she asked, peering at my monitor.\n\t\"Just doing a little nosing around,\" I replied.\n\t\"I thought you weren't going to get involved in that.\"\n\t\"I'm not involved. I'm just looking for anything the police might have missed.\"\n\t\"That sounds suspiciously like being involved, Alvin.\"\n\t\"No, if I were involved, I'd be out on the streets squeezing punks for information. That's being involved. This is being interested.\"\n\t\"If you say so.\" She put down her bowl and moved up behind me, sliding her hands down my furry chest and nuzzling behind my ear. \n\tI growled with pleasure and turned my head to look up at her. \"Of course, I could get involved in something else,\" I said, grinning.\n\t\"You are one randy little chipmunk, you know that?\"\n\t\"Well, in my defense, you are being pretty provocative.\"\n\t\"Actually, I feel like a movie. What have we got in the queue?\"\n\tI checked. \"How about [i]Invasion of the Blood Farmers[/i]?\"\n\t\"Oh my God, that sounds hideous! Let's watch it!\"\n\tWe moved to the living room, settled down on the couch in front of the television, and started the movie. As Julie had predicted, it was horrendous—an early '70s horror flick, made on a budget of about $25, in which a cult of modern-day druids in upstate New York drained people of the fakest blood I'd ever seen in order to resurrect their queen. I sat with my head against Julie's shoulder and her arm around my waist, enjoying the hell out of it.\n\t\"This movie is terrible,\" said Julie, frowning. \"Why would anyone watch something so bad?\"\n\tI looked up at her, puzzled. Normally, she loved trash like this. \"I thought that was the point,\" I said.\n\tShe got up from the couch and went into the bedroom. I turned off the television and followed her. She was getting dressed. \"Julie, is something wrong?\" I asked.\n\t\"I'm going to the store,\" she replied. \"There's some things we need.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Do you want some company?\"\n\t\"No, that's all right. You go back to your movie.\" And with that, she left.\n\tI stood there, trying to make some sense out of this. Julie was acting weird. She didn't seem to be mad at me. It was more that she was just indifferent, as though I was hardly even there. Perhaps the events of last night had affected her more than she was letting on. Nightmares and emotional detachment were both symptoms of PTSD. Then again, earlier she'd been warm and affectionate, even playful. I sighed and shook my head. Hopefully, this would work itself out. There wasn't anything I could do about it at the moment. I went back to my computer and resumed my research.\n\tAfter another hour of getting nowhere, I happened onto something that might be significant. While reviewing file photos of the five victims at various public events, I noticed what appeared to be the same woman in two photographs of different victims. I couldn't be certain it was the same woman, because the quality of the pictures wasn't that great, but the resemblance was striking. She was Asian, and rather tall, with distinctive high cheekbones. Ten minutes later I came across her again, with a third victim. A few minutes after that, she popped up with a fourth victim.\n\tI pondered the implications of my discovery. It might not mean anything. After all, the Chinese community in Millennium City tended to be rather insular and cliquish. She might simply be someone who traveled in the same circles as the four victims and had happened to be present on each of those occasions. It would help if I knew who she was, but unfortunately, none of the pictures gave any indication of that.\n\tIt was pretty thin, but I decided to bring it to Kodiak's attention. I didn't want to deal with Glass, since I didn't know him and I'd promised him I'd stay out of it. I emailed the four pictures to Kodiak. Then I went into the kitchen to make myself a sandwich.\n\tMy cell phone buzzed right between adding the mustard and the mayonnaise. \"Well, you've been a busy little beaver, haven't you?\" Kodiak's gruff voice said.\n\t\"I'm a chipmunk, not a beaver,\" I replied.\n\t\"Just messing with you. I'll see if I can find out who your mystery woman is. And I won't tell Glass where the lead came from.\"\n\t\"Thanks. Has your ninja expert arrived yet?\"\n\t\"Yes, Rick is here now, looking over the evidence. Also, since I'm sure you'll hear about it soon enough, I might as well tell you there's been another murder.\"\n\tI blinked. \"With our ninja lying on a slab in the morgue?\"\n\t\"They've been known to work in teams, you know.\"\n\t\"Who's the victim?\"\n\t\"Lei Feng, another businessman. Killed about half an hour ago.\"\n\t\"In the daytime? That breaks the pattern. The others were all killed at night.\"\n\t\"Maybe it was the only time they could get at him. Anyway, thanks for the tip.\"\n\t\"You're welcome.\" I hung up and immediately started pulling up pictures of Lei Feng. It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for. There she was, standing next to him at a charity fundraiser.\n\t\"Who are you?\" I asked the face gazing back at me from my screen.\n\tThe door opened, and I turned my chair toward it. \"Hey, Julie, I—\" \n\tI stopped. \n\tIt wasn't Julie. It was her face, but it wasn't her. There was no sign of warmth or affection in her face. It was cold, hard, and deadly, like a snake's. She raised her hand, and there was a silver throwing star held between her fingers. Without a word, she hurled it straight at me.\n\tI dove aside as the throwing star struck the back of my chair beside my ear. I hit the floor and rolled to my feet, coming up in a fighting stance. From across her back, Julie had drawn a [i]wakazashi[/i]—a Japanese short sword—and was holding it out before her, advancing cautiously, her brow furrowed in concentration.\n\t\"Who are you?\" I asked, my hands raised defensively.\n\tShe didn't reply, just edged forward slowly, the blade of her sword gleaming. She gave a wordless shout and lunged, striking down at me, and I jumped back, evading. Her reach was much greater than mine. I had to find a way to compensate for that. I grabbed the stand of the lamp beside my computer desk and held it with both hands like a staff. Its heavy base made it an awkward improvised weapon, but it did give me more reach.\n\tJulie attacked again, a complex maneuver involving a feint and a lunge, and I parried with the lamp. Her blade struck the steel stand, cutting clean through it and the electric cord inside, causing a bright spark and a loud pop. I thrust the end of the stand at her, and she cried out as the contact shocked her. In addition, her sword had cut through the stand at an angle, effectively turning it into a makeshift spear that pierced her left side, drawing blood. She stepped back, holding her sword defensively and glaring at me.\n\tI swallowed, holding the red-tipped lamp before me. There was no winning this fight. Either she killed me, or I killed her. Either way, I lost. On the other hand, Julie was bleeding pretty badly from that wound in her side. Maybe if I could keep her busy long enough, she would pass out. \n\tShe shouted and lunged again, her blade seeking my heart. I blocked with the lamp and swung it like a mace so the heavy base slammed against the side of her head. She staggered back, stunned, and I dropped the lamp and leaped at her, trying for a grapple. If I could get her in a hold, maybe I could incapacitate her without hurting her.\n\tShe grabbed my arm and threw me sideways into a bookshelf, causing an explosion of pain in my back as my spine hit the edges of the wooden shelves. Then she thrust at me with her sword, which I narrowly dodged. I threw a punch, hitting her right on the wound in her side and making her cry out in pain. It was a dirty move, and I hated myself for it, but I had to end this fast.\n\tJulie stepped back, her eyes narrowed at me with hate, then whirled and dashed toward the window. As I yelled at her to stop, she crashed through it. We were seven stories up. I ran to the window and looked down. There was no sign of her.\n\tI stood there for a moment, my chest heaving, trying to decide what to do. I couldn't tell the cops what had happened. They might kill her. Or she'd kill them. On the other hand, there was no reason to think this latest murder was the last, which meant that if she wasn't stopped, more innocent people could die. But to stop her, I needed to have a better idea of what I was up against. \n\tI went into the bedroom and suited up in my black and gray Nightmunk costume. Then I went up to the roof, got on my grav bike, and flew toward police headquarters. Once there, I went straight to Kodiak's office. He looked at me in surprise as I entered wearing my costume. \"This an official visit?\" he asked.\n\t\"I need to talk to Rick,\" I said.\n\t\"I thought you were letting MCPD handle this case.\"\n\t\"Things have changed. I now have a personal interest.\"\n\tHe raised a bushy eyebrow. \"Would you care to elaborate on that?\"\n\t\"Not at the moment.\"\n\t\"I see. You know, Glass is gonna be real pissed at me if I bring you in on this.\"\n\t\"All I want to do is talk to Rick. Just two manimals reliving old times.\"\n\tKodiak nodded. \"Fine. He's down in the evidence locker. I'll buzz the officer on duty to let you through.\"\n\t\"Thanks, John,\" I said. \"I owe you one.\"\n\t\"Nah, you've helped us out plenty of times in the past. Think of this as payback.\"\n\tI left his office and went downstairs to the evidence locker, where the officer on duty admitted me. I found the raccoon standing before a large steel locker, surveying its contents. He was about my height, with the black mask and ringed black-and-white tail typical of his species. He was wearing an ordinary white collared shirt and tan slacks, his clawed feet bare. He looked up as I approached and his eyes widened. \"You're Nightmunk, aren't you?\" he asked, his voice a soft baritone.\n\tI nodded. \"Hi. You need to tell me about ninjas.\"\n\t\"Are you helping with the investigation?\"\n\t\"Unofficially. Kodiak knows I'm involved. Glass doesn't, and I'd prefer to keep it that way for now.\"\n\t\"Well, first of all, there's no such word as 'ninjas.' Japanese doesn't have any plural nouns.\"\n\t\"Thanks for the grammar lesson.\"\n\t\"You're welcome. Is there anything specific about ninja you want to know?\"\n\t\"Are they capable of possessing another person's body?\"\n\tRick looked at me, surprised. \"Why do you ask?\"\n\t\"Because I think that may have happened to someone I know.\"\n\tRick frowned and was silent for a moment. \"Are you familiar with the [i]kuji-kiri[/i]?\"\n\t\"No, what's that?\"\n\t\"They're a ninja's nine levels of power. They are [i]rin[/i], strength of mind and body; [i]pyo[/i], direction of energy;[i] toh[/i], harmony with the universe; [i]sha[/i], healing of self and others; [i]kai[/i], premonition of danger; [i]jin[/i], knowing the thoughts of others; [i]retsu[/i], mastery of time and space; [i]zai[/i], control of the elements of nature; and [i]zen[/i], enlightenment.\"\n\t\"So what does all that mean?\" I asked.\n\t\"It means nobody knows how much they're capable of, so spirit transfer isn't out of the question.\" Rick turned to the locker, which contained an assortment of weapons—swords, pronged daggers, nunchucks, throwing stars, a bow and arrows—as well as the blood-stained outfit the ninja Julie and I had encountered had been wearing. \"These came from a ninja who belonged to Nine Hands Cutting, one of the oldest and most feared ninja clans. They served as spies and assassins for the shogun for over a thousand years. Since the fall of the shogunate at the end of the Edo period in 1868, they've mostly disappeared. The few that remain work as mercenaries, selling their services to anyone who can afford them.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Is there any way to expel a ninja from a possessed body?\"\n\t\"To do that, you'd probably need a Shinto priest.\"\n\t\"There's a Shinto temple here in Millennium City.\"\n\t\"I know. But first we'd need to find the possessed person and bring them there. Do you have any idea where they are?\"\n\t\"No. But if we can figure out who the next victim is, maybe we can catch them when they try to make their hit.\"\n\t\"And do we have any leads on that?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"Possibly. I've identified a woman who appears in photographs of most of the victims. Kodiak is checking into who she is.\"\n\t\"Then let's see how he's faring.\" Rick closed up the locker, and we headed back to Kodiak's office.\n\t\"How is it you know so much about ninja?\" I asked Rick as we walked through the police station, drawing stares from the people we passed, as the sight of two manimals together was unusual enough to attract attention even in Millennium City.\n\t\"I've encountered them before,\" he replied. \"A friend of mine who owned a plantation in the Philippines was being harrassed by thugs hired by a local businessman who wanted him to sell his land, and he asked me for help. After I dealt with the thugs, the businessman hired a ninja to deal with me.\"\n\t\"And you were able to defeat the ninja?\"\n\t\"I do have some training in the martial arts.\"\n\t\"I gathered that, since you teach it. What style?\"\n\t\"A variety of what has come to be known in the West as kung fu.\"\n\t\"And how does a manimal come to know kung fu?\"\n\t\"That's rather a long story.\"\n\t\"I'd be interested in hearing it sometime,\" I said, as we arrived at Kodiak's office. We knocked and went inside. Kodiak was sitting at his desk, working on his computer, his big hairy hands awkwardly pecking at the keys.\n\t\"How goes the search for our mystery woman?\" I asked.\n\tKodiak shook his head. \"I've checked with every agency I can think of. It's all come up blank.\"\n\t\"May I see a picture of her?\" asked Rick. Kodiak turned his monitor toward us, and I saw Rick's eyes widen. \"I know this woman!\"\n\t\"You do?\" asked Kodiak.\n\tRick nodded. \"I've encountered her before, in Hong Kong. Her name is Fan Su. She's an operative for Chang Chun Shipping.\"\n\t\"Chang Chun?\" said Kodiak. \"I've heard of them.\"\n\t\"I'm not surprised,\" said Rick. \"They're reputed to be involved in quite a few illegal activities, among them drug running, arms smuggling, and human trafficking. However, people who look into their affairs have a tendency to disappear.\"\n\tKodiak did some more hunting and pecking. \"Well, how do you like that? Seems all the murder victims were major shareholders in Chang Chun Shipping. Collectively, they almost had a controlling interest in the company.\"\n\t\"Almost?\" I asked.\n\tKodiak nodded. \"There's one more. A guy named Bai Xue. He and the others started buying into Chang Chun in a big way a few years ago.\"\n\t\"Sounds like he's our next victim,\" I said.\n\t\"But how would killing these men gain anyone control of the company?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"That would depend on who inherits their shares,\" I replied. \"And apparently, Fan Su knew most of them personally. You said you've met her. Is she the kind of woman who could bend a man to her will?\"\n\t\"Human males do seem to find her attractive,\" said Rick.\n\t\"I need to call Bai Xue and offer him police protection,\" said Kodiak.\n\t\"I'd imagine he already knows his life is in danger,\" I said, \"considering six of his fellow shareholders have been killed in the span of two weeks.\"\n\tRick nodded. \"If he wanted the police to be involved, he would have contacted them by now.\"\n\t\"Even so, I have to at least make the offer,\" said Kodiak. \"It wouldn't look very good if he were killed and it came out that we knew and didn't try to warn him.\"\n\t\"You do that,\" I said. \"In the meantime, I'll go to his place of residence and wait for our ninja to make his move.\"\n\t\"Would you mind some company?\" Rick asked. \"We have no idea when that will happen, and you will have to sleep sometime.\"\n\t\"Sounds good to me,\" I replied.\n\tKodiak frowned. \"If Glass finds out you two are sticking your noses into police business . . .\"\n\t\"You wouldn't even know where to look if not for us,\" I pointed out.\n\t\"Besides,\" said Rick, \"there's no law against simply waiting for someone to show up, is there?\"\n\t\"Fine,\" growled Kodiak. \"But if this thing goes south, you're on your own. I'm not covering for you.\"\n\t\"We're not asking you to,\" I said. I turned to Rick. \"Come on, let's go.\"\n\tRick bowed to Kodiak, and we left his office together.\n\n\t\"Alvin?\" said Rick. \"Alvin? ALVINNNNN!\"\n\tI rolled over on the spot on the floor where I'd been sleeping and looked up at him. \"Don't [i]ever[/i] do that again.\"\n\tRick grinned. \"Sorry, I couldn't resist.\"\n\tI yawned, got to my feet, and looked around the empty apartment we had appropriated for our stakeout. My grav bike sat beneath the window, a bag of groceries beside it. I went over and started fixing myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while Rick, seated on a collapsible canvas chair, continued watching Bai Xue's apartment in the building across the street through a pair of electronic binoculars mounted on a tripod. It was dark in the apartment, as having the lights on would have created reflections on the window.\n\tWe had stopped off at the hotel where Rick was staying before we'd come here, and he had changed from his collared shirt and slacks into a sleeveless green tunic and trousers with white trim and a gold cloth belt. Apparently, these were his work clothes. I had taken the first shift through the day while Rick had slept, and he had relieved me at eight PM. It was now four in the morning.\n\t\"See anything interesting?\" I asked, biting into my sandwich.\n\t\"Not really,\" Rick replied. \"Bai Xue turned in at eleven thirty. The streets are still being patrolled by Red Banner cultists. Also, there was a female jogger wearing a halter top and shorts with the word 'Booty' written across her backside.\"\n\t\"Classy,\" I said. \"Wait, you were looking at her ass?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"I was curious about what it said.\" He continued watching until I finished eating and came over to relieve him of his vigil.\n\t\"There's something I've been meaning to ask you,\" I said as I settled down behind the binoculars. \"I don't remember ever seeing you on Monster Island, and I think I'd remember a raccoon manimal, since it's not one of Moreau's standard species.\"\n\tRick nodded. \"Like you, I was a, shall we say, limited edition?\"\n\t\"He did like to experiment.\"\n\t\"Indeed. We never met because I departed Monster Island while you were still entertaining Moreau in the big house with your brothers.\"\n\t\"Departed how?\" I asked.\n\t\"On a raft I built myself.\"\n\t\"That was gutsy of you.\"\n\t\"It was either that or Moreau's fight pits. Since I didn't wish to kill or be killed, I decided to take my chances with the sea.\"\n\t\"And how did that go?\"\n\t\"Not well, I'm afraid. A storm came up and my little raft was torn to pieces.\"\n\t\"And yet you survived.\"\n\t\"Your detective skills are truly astounding. Yes, my half-drowned body washed up on the shore of a small island, where it was found by the island's sole inhabitant, a man named Quan. He took me home and nursed me back to health.\"\n\t\"That was nice of him,\" I said.\n\tRick nodded. \"Particularly since he had no idea what I was. He knew nothing of manimals.\"\n\t\"So who was this Quan?\"\n\t\"He was a kung fu master who had retired to that island to find peace and solitude so he could attain enlightenment before he died.\"\n\t\"Ah, I'm starting to get the picture now.\"\n\t\"Needless to say, he didn't appreciate my being there, at least not at first. As it turned out, though, he was rather lonely and missed having students to teach. He had once been the head of a prestigious martial arts school, but he had incurred the wrath of a warlord named Lung Hung, and all his students had been killed in their feud. That was why he had retired to the island.\"\n\t\"Lung Hung?\" I asked. \"That means 'Red Dragon,' doesn't it?\"\n\tRick raised an eyebrow. \"You speak Chinese?\"\n\t\"Only enough so that I'm not completely lost when I'm in Chinatown.\"\n\t\"Yes, Lung Hung means 'Red Dragon.' He is a somewhat mythic figure. Some claim he is immortal and has manipulated events in China for centuries to create a state of perpetual chaos in which he could hold his domain safe from all others. Supposedly, he engineered the Boxer Rebellion, the downfall of the Manchus, and the Cultural Revolution.\"\n\t\"Hmm. Impressive accomplishments, if you like getting lots of people killed.\"\n\t\"Anyway, since I owed Master Quan my life, I agreed to become his student. I studied with him for seven years, until he passed away peacefully in his sleep.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Did he ever attain enlightenment?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"I don't know. I like to think so, and if he did, I would like to think I helped. He was a good teacher, and a good friend. Before he died, he adopted me as his son. I am now the last remaining member of his clan.\" Rick paused a moment, then continued. \"I buried him in his favorite spot, built myself another raft, and sailed across the Pacific until I was picked up by a Japanese fishing boat. Then I wandered the world, taking whatever work I could find. Eventually, I settled in Los Angeles, where I teach others what my master taught me.\"\n\tWhile I was curious to know more, I noticed something at the edge of binoculars' field of vision. It wasn't much, just a momentary eclipsing of some of the lighted windows on another building, but it caught my attention. I turned the binoculars toward it, reducing the light amplification so the glare from the windows wouldn't drown everything out and increasing the magnification. I could just make out a female figure who appeared to be walking on air. No, not air, I realized. A tightrope.\n\t\"It's on!\" I said, pushing open the window and jumping onto my grav bike. Rick hopped on behind me, looping his arms around my waist. I gunned the engine, and the bike rose into the air and zoomed out the window.\n\tI flew the bike across the chasm between the two skyscrapers and landed it on the balcony of Bai Xue's apartment. The tightrope stretched away from it, secured to a steel shaft embedded in the wall. Julie, in a full ninja outfit, was balancing on the tightrope about thirty feet away. Even though I couldn't see her face behind her mask, I could tell it was her.\n\t\"Give up,\" I said to her, dismounting from the bike and going to the railing of the balcony. \"There's nowhere for you to go.\" She hesitated for a moment, then began backing up.\n\t\"Allow me,\" said Rick. He jumped up onto the tightrope and ran along it toward Julie, as if running on an inch-wide cable twenty stories up were the easiest, most natural thing in the world to do. As he approached, she drew a throwing star and hurled it at him. The star whizzed by beneath him as he leaped into the air, sailed over her head, and landed on the tightrope on the far side of her, where he teetered for a moment before regaining his balance. I stared at him in amazement. I'm trained in acrobatics, and I wouldn't have tried a stunt like that.\n\tJulie looked back and forth between us, said something angrily in Japanese, drew her sword, and raised it above her head.\n\t\"Julie, no!\" I cried, realizing what she intended to do. \n\tThe sword came down in a bright flash, slicing the tightrope clean through.\n\tThe rope instantly went slack, and Julie and Rick began to fall away from me. Julie had crouched down and grabbed the rope with her free hand before delivering the stroke that severed it. Rick, realizing what was about to happen, had done the same. My hand flew to my grapple gun, and I fired it at Julie, snagging her tunic and halting her fall. The line went taut and I was jerked off my feet and slammed against the railing of the balcony by the combined weight of Julie, Rick, and the tightrope. Gripping the gun with both hands to keep it from being torn from my grasp, I hit the recoil button. The gun's tiny but powerful motor whined in protest, not having been designed to handle this much weight.\n\tWith another swipe of her sword, Julie cut the grapple line, and she and Rick began swinging back toward the building at the other end of the tightrope, the same building in which Rick and I had been conducting our stakeout. It was a long way, and they were building up quite a bit of speed. When they hit, they were going to hit hard. I ran back to my grav bike, gunned it, and shot off the balcony, angling toward them, but there was no way I was going to reach them in time.\n\tThey swung down toward the side of the building, and Julie crashed through a window while Rick smacked into the concrete just above her. Fortunately, the raccoon had managed to twist around so he hit the wall feet first, his legs absorbing most of the impact. Since he seemed to be okay for the moment, I flew my bike down through the broken window, landed it on the floor of the apartment inside, and jumped off. I was in the living room. The lights were off, and the door to the hallway was open.\n\tI took a step toward the open door, but then stopped, took out my flashlight, and played it around the darkened room. \"Come on, you didn't really expect me to fall for that, did you?\" I asked the air. \"That's the oldest trick in the book.\" No reply. She was waiting for the right moment to strike from the shadows. I held myself still, alert for any sound or movement. There as nothing.\n\t\"Who's there?\" came a nervous voice from my right. I swung my light that way. A balding, middle-aged man was sticking his head out of another room, blinking as my light hit his face. In the split second I was distracted, Julie leaped out from behind the kitchen counter with a loud \"[i]kiai![/i]\" and struck at me with her sword. I dove out of her reach, rolled to my feet facing her, and popped the blue questionite claws from my gauntlets. They're much stronger than steel.\n\tWe stood there eyeing each other for a moment, and then Julie lunged with her blade. I blocked with one arm and tried for a hold with the other, but she spun away and my fingers only brushed against her tunic. While I hoped I could take her down without harming her, considering how powerful she seemed to be I wasn't sure that was possible. Rick appeared in the broken window. Good. Maybe the two of us together could incapacitate her. Julie glanced at him, then back at me. \n\t\"Julie,\" I said, \"please, if you're in there, don't make me hurt you!\"\n\tTo my surprise, she straightened and sheathed her sword, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, lightning quick, she whipped out the pair of nunchucks at her belt and held them up with the ends pointed at Rick and me. There was a brilliant flash, and for a second everything was white. When the white faded, the room was empty except for Rick and me.\n\t\"God damn it!\" I swore, rubbing my eyes.\n\t\"Ninja do love their tricks,\" Rick commented.\n\t\"So I noticed,\" I muttered. As the raccoon hopped down from the window to join me, I remembered he was barefoot. \"Careful of the floor, Rick. It's covered with broken glass.\"\n\t\"Excuse me,\" said the balding man who had addressed me earlier. \"What's going on?\"\n\t\"We were pursuing a suspect in a murder case, sir,\" I replied.\n\tThe man's eyes widened. \"Murder?\"\n\t\"Yes. Don't worry, you weren't the target.\"\n\tHe swallowed, then looked at the broken window and frowned. \"Who's going to pay for that?\"\n\tI blinked. \"You live in Millennium City and you don't have superhero insurance?\"\n\t\"I never thought I'd need it!\" he protested.\n\t\"No one ever does.\" I turned to Rick. \"That was pretty impressive, how you managed to hit the side of the building without shattering both your tibia.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Simply a matter of relaxing the leg muscles in the proper way to absorb the force of the impact.\"\n\t\"And that acrobatic trick on the tightrope. Was that a simple matter too?\"\n\t\"Any competent circus aerialist could do as much.\"\n\t\"If you say so.\" At that moment Detective Glass, Agent Kodiak, and several of Millennium City's finest burst into the apartment. \"Oh boy,\" I said, sighing.\n\t\"Oh yeah!\" said Glass, glaring at me. \"What happened to 'I have every confidence in the MCPD's abilities?'\"\n\t\"I'm guessing you had Bai Xue under surveillance too,\" I said. \"You can thank me and Rick for that.\"\n\tHe turned his attention to Rick. \"And you, you were only brought in as a consultant on ninjas!\"\n\t\"Ninja,\" I corrected him. \"Japanese doesn't use plural nouns.\"\n\t\"Oh, you want nouns?\" Glass asked. \"How about these: interference with police business, obstruction of justice, criminal trespassing, and I'm sure I can come up with lots of others!\"\n\tI scowled up at him, folding my arms. \"You want to book me on those bullshit charges, go right ahead! Otherwise, get off my back!\"\n\t \"Thanks for giving me permission to do my job!\" Glass shot back. \"You think because you're friends with a disgraced ex-Champion, that puts you above the law?\"\n\tMy temper started to rise. \"Nighthawk is not disgraced!\"\n\t\"He got kicked off the team, didn't he?\"\n\t\"He left on his own!\"\n\tGlass smirked. \"Sure he did.\"\n\tI gritted my teeth. At that moment, I really wanted to punch Glass right in his well-groomed mustache, but assaulting a police officer is not a bullshit charge, and I couldn't help Julie if I was in jail. So I swallowed my anger and kept my cool. \"Am I under arrest?\" I asked as calmly as I could.\n\tGlass simmered for a moment. \"Get the hell out of here!\" He looked at Rick. \"You too! And if I catch either one of you screwing around with this case again, I [i]will[/i] put you behind bars! Got that?\"\n\tI turned my back on him and climbed onto my grav bike. Rick hopped on behind me, and we flew out the window. \n\t\"Well, now what?\" the raccoon asked me once we were outside.\n\t\"Now, we follow her to her hideout, using the tracking device I planted on her during the fight,\" I replied.\n\t\"You're not concerned about Detective Glass's threat?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"Right now, the only thing I care about is catching that ninja.\" I looked over my shoulder at him. \"You don't have to come if you don't want to.\"\n\t\"I feel that our paths are intertwined,\" said Rick. \"I will help you.\"\n\t\"Thanks,\" I said. I switched on the tracking system and headed after the signal's source.\n\t\"Who is Julie?\" Rick asked as we flew through the steel and glass canyons of downtown Millennium City.\n\t\"She's my girlfriend,\" I replied.\n\t\"I see,\" said Rick. There was neither approval nor disapproval in his voice, simply acknowledgement. \"Have you been together long?\"\n\t\"A few months.\"\n\t\"Do you love her?\"\n\t\"Why do you ask?\"\n\t\"It may become relevant.\"\n\t\"Yes, I love her.\" I checked the tracker. \"She's headed west. She must have secured some kind of transportation. Nobody could move that fast on foot.\" I pushed down on the accelerator as we chased after the fleeing signal.\n\tIn a few moments I could see a city bus lumbering down the street ahead of us, a dark figure crouched atop it. As we drew near, an arrow whizzed past us. I wasn't too concerned about that. My bike and I were both armored, and while Rick wasn't, he was shielded by my body. I guided the bike in closer. Julie fired another arrow, which struck the windscreen of the bike and bounced off harmlessly.\n\tSeeing that her arrows were having no effect, Julie slung her bow and whipped out her nunchucks. Moving to the edge of the bus's roof, she struck down with them, smashing one of the bus's windows, and then swung herself inside. I maneuvered the bike beside the broken window, set it to automatically follow me, and jumped through after her. Hopefully, at this early hour, there wouldn't be any passengers to complicate matters.\n\tJulie was ready for me when I landed in the center aisle of the bus. She swung her nunchucks at me, and pain exploded in the side of my head as they connected. I staggered backward, holding up my gauntlets to block her blows, and Julie advanced, hammering at me mercilessly. If not for my armored costume, my forearms would have been smashed to pulp.\n\tRick leaped in through the broken window, landing behind Julie, and launched a flurry of punches at her back. She grunted in pain and whirled, striking at him with her nunchucks, but he jumped back, evading them. She swung again, and bent one of the aluminum poles that bordered the aisle when Rick dodged her blow once more. I lunged at her from behind, trying for a grab, but even though her back was to me, she seized my arm and threw me over her shoulder and into a row of seats. I found myself on my back, looking up into the astonished face of an elderly cleaning woman, the bus's sole passenger.\n\tAs I got to my feet, Julie ran to the front of the bus, drew her sword, and held the tip to the back of the driver's neck. \"Go south!\" she ordered him, her eyes fixed on me and Rick.\n\t\"But . . . the only thing south of here is the river!\" he protested.\n\t\"Do as I say, or I take your head off!\" Julie snapped, speaking with a pronounced Japanese accent. The driver obeyed, turning the bus south at the next intersection.\n\t\"At least let her get off,\" I said, gesturing at the cleaning woman.\n\t\"No!\" said Julie. \"Nobody leaves! If you move, I kill him!\"\n\tI couldn't risk the driver's life, so I didn't move. I glanced over at Rick, who was similarly immobile. \"Drive faster!\" Julie ordered the driver, and he obliged, flooring it. The bus lurched and rumbled beneath us as it accelerated toward the concrete barrier at the edge of the Detroit River.\n\t\"Hold on!\" the driver shouted. I wrapped my arms around one of the aluminum poles, and Rick did the same. A second later, the bus slammed into the barrier and burst through it. We were all heaved forward by the force of the impact, and Rick and I found ourselves dangling from the poles as the bus tilted toward the vertical and plummeted thirty feet to the water. Then there was another wrenching impact as it plunged into the river, and the windshield exploded inward as water rushed in.\n\t\"Get her out of here!\" I shouted to Rick. The raccoon nodded and swung himself over to the cleaning woman, who was clutching the back of her seat and screaming bloody murder. Looping an arm around her waist, he clambered up over the rows of seats to the rear door. He kicked it repeatedly until it gave way, then jumped out, taking the cleaning woman with him.\n\tSeeing that Rick was safely away with his charge, I looked down. Beneath me, frothing water was rising up through the inside of the bus. I let go of the pole I'd been clinging to, dropped into the water, and swam down toward the front. Julie was gone, presumably having escaped through the destroyed windshield. The driver was still there, unconscious and surrounded by a cloud of blood from lacerations on his face made when the windshield had burst inward. I put my left arm around him and tried to swim downward to get out through the front, but the force of the water rushing in as the bus sank was terrific, and with the drag of the driver's body plus me being able to use only one arm to swim, I couldn't make any headway. I couldn't imagine how Julie had managed it. I popped the claws of my right gauntlet, smashed them through the driver's side window, shattering it, and swam out with the bus driver through that.\n\tMy head broke the surface of the inky black river, and I heaved in a big lungful of air, then looked around for Rick. He was about ten feet away, holding the cleaning woman's head above the water. My grav bike was hovering a few feet above me, waiting for instructions. Fortunately, the controls are on my left gauntlet. I reached around the bus driver's body and activated them, and it dropped down within reach.\n\t\"Rick!\" I shouted. \"Grab the bike and hold on to her!\" He nodded and swam over to me, pulling the cleaning woman with him, and took hold of the bike with his free hand. I grabbed the other side and ordered the bike to rise. It did so, lifting us and our charges up out of the water, and continued ascending until it was back at street level. Then I guided it through the gap in the concrete barrier the bus had made. \n\tOnce we were back on solid ground, I quickly examined the bus driver. He was clearly in bad shape. His face was covered in blood, and he wasn't breathing. I laid him down on his back and began to administer CPR, covering his mouth with mine and forcing my breath into his lungs. After a minute, he started to cough, then began breathing normally. I sighed and sat back, looking over at Rick and the cleaning woman. She was kneeling there, trembling, possibly in shock, with Rick holding her. I reflected that there was nothing sorrier looking than a wet raccoon. I took out my cell phone and called for an ambulance.\n\t\"Are we going to wait here for help to arrive?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"We can't leave them,\" I said. \"They both need medical attention.\"\n\tRick simply nodded.\n\tA few minutes later, the ambulance arrived, along with a police car. Glass and Kodiak emerged from the latter and walked toward us. Neither of them looked happy. I stood up to meet them as the paramedics took charge of the bus driver and the cleaning woman.\n\t\"Nightmunk,\" said Glass, taking out a pair of handcuffs and slapping them on my wrists, \"you are under arrest.\"\n\n\t\"Well, well. What have we here, a pair of escapees from the zoo?\"\n\tThe speaker was a big, bearded, hairy-chested biker, a member of the Cobra Lords street gang. I'd run into them numerous times, and busted more than a few of them. He was grinning down at Rick and me as we sat in the holding cell together, awaiting our arraignment. I looked up at the man and smirked. \"You're the one who belongs in a zoo. You're hairier than I am.\"\n\tThe biker scowled at me and leaned down close enough that I could smell his bad breath, which made me wrinkle my nose. \"Not so tough now without your toys, are you, you little freak?\"\n\tI'd had to surrender my gauntlets and utility belt when I was arrested, but even so, I wasn't the least bit afraid of this clown. I'd taken down Cobra Lords without my gear before. I growled at him. \"This is your last warning. Back off!\"\n\tThe biker turned his attention to Rick, who was sitting beside me with a blanket wrapped around him, as we were both still wet from our swim in the Detroit River. \"And who are you? Karate Coon?\"\n\tRick didn't even look at him. \"I don't do karate,\" he said quietly. \"I do kung fu.\"\n\t\"Whoa, kung fu?\" the biker said, laughing and turning to the other prisoners in the holding cell. \"Look here, we got us a furry little Bruce Lee!\" He dropped into a martial arts stance and began waving his arms around and whooping in a crude parody of Lee's fighting style. \"Wanna fight, Sensei Lee?\"\n\t\"That would be Sifu Lee,\" said Rick. \"Sensei is Japanese. And no, I do not.\"\n\tThe biker smirked. \"Looks like you got something else in common with Bruce Lee. You're both yellow!\" And with that, he threw a punch at Rick's face.\n\tRick reacted faster than my eyes could follow, his hands seizing the biker's big ham fist and twisting it around so he howled with pain. As the man went down on one knee before him, Rick spoke calmly. \"If you try to touch me again, I will shatter three bones in your arm: the humerus, radius, and ulna. I will shatter them so that shards stick into the nerves, causing you intense agony. I will shatter them in such a way that no Western doctor will be able to repair the damage. Do you understand?\" The biker nodded, whimpering. Rick pushed the man away from him. \"I trust we will have no further trouble.\"\n\tI looked over at Rick. \"You know, you're kind of pedantic.\"\n\tRick glanced back at me. \"I would think that you, of all people, would understand the importance of being precise.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Point taken. I'm sorry I got you mixed up in this.\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"Master Quan used to say, 'If you want happiness that lasts a lifetime, help someone else.' In any case, I've been in far worse prisons than this one.\"\n\t\"Yeah, compared to Monster Island, this is Club Med.\"\n\t\"Speaking of Monster Island, are your brothers still there?\"\n\tI sighed. \"Only their bodies.\"\n\t\"Oh. I'm sorry.\"\n\t\"Moreau got bored with us, eventually, and sent us to the fight pits. They didn't last long.\"\n\tRick shook his head. \"Such a cruel man. Though it diminishes me to say it, I'm glad he is dead.\"\n\t\"You and me both, brother.\"\n\tEventually, a bailiff came to conduct us to our arraignment, and we were led down a corridor to the courtroom. I was still soggy inside my costume and my feet squelched in my boots as I walked. In the courtroom, we stood before a judge as the list of Glass's bullshit charges was read to us. The judge asked us how we pled, and we both said \"not guilty.\" The judge nodded and said that in view of my past service to the city, plus the fact that we'd saved two people's lives tonight, we would be released on our own recognizance until our trials. We thanked the judge; I collected my gauntlets, utility belt, and grav bike; and we exited the courthouse.\n\t\"Is the tr—?\" Rick began, before I held my finger up to my lips, silencing him. I removed a small plastic slate and grease pencil from my belt and wrote, \"May be bugged.\" Rick nodded, and I said, \"I don't know about you, but I could use a shower and some breakfast. Come on, my treat.\" We both climbed on my grav bike and I flew it back to my apartment.\n\tOnce at my place, Rick took the first crack at the shower while I brought the grav bike into the living room. I stripped off my costume, because being all wet inside that thing was really uncomfortable, and began running an electronic bug detector over my bike, my belt, and my gauntlets. Sure enough, the bike was bugged. It took me a few minutes to find the dime-sized device hidden in the machinery. When I did, I smashed it with a hammer.\n\t\"Is our bug problem solved?\" asked Rick, emerging from the bathroom wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist and rubbing his fur dry with another.\n\tI nodded, standing up. I was naked, but growing up on Monster Island doesn't imbue you with much of a sense of modesty. I switched on the bike's tracking system and was rewarded with a steady beep telling me it was still detecting the tracker I'd planted on Julie. \"She's in Westside, a little over five miles away, bearing 230 degrees.\"\n\tRick had wandered over to the coffee table, where there stood a framed picture of Julie and me smiling at the camera, her arms around me. \"So that is what she looks like.\" He turned to me. \"You are a lucky manimal, Alvin.\"\n\t\"Tell me about it,\" I said. \"Do you have anyone back in L.A.?\"\n\tRick shook his head. \"No. There is a girl at the dojo, a fellow instructor, but we are just friends.\"\n\t\"Julie and I used to be just friends.\"\n\t\"I do not think it would be wise for me to get involved with anyone,\" said Rick. \"Peril has a way of finding me.\"\n\t\"I don't think I could live without Julie,\" I said. \"She helps keep me sane amid all this madness.\" I looked at Rick and swallowed. \"Are you sure we can get her back to normal?\"\n\tRick shrugged. \"Nothing in life is certain, especially where the supernatural is concerned. But there is always hope.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" I said. \"Anyway, I'm gonna go take a shower.\"\n\t\"Is there some place where I can dry my clothes?\" asked Rick.\n\t\"There's a laundry room in the basement of the building,\" I replied, \"but you probably shouldn't go down there like that. You can borrow some of my clothes. We're about the same size, so they should fit.\"\n\t\"Xiexie,\" Rick said, bowing to me.\n\t\"You're welcome,\" I replied, heading into the bathroom.\n\tI took a long, hot shower, sighing as the water ran through my fur. I glanced up at the rack where Julie kept her own soaps, shampoos, and conditioners, and a lump formed in my throat. The thought of that [i]thing[/i] hijacking her body and using it to kill made me so angry I wanted to scream. I pounded my fists on the wall tiles in frustration, cracking a couple of them. This had to end, one way or another. I didn't even care if I died. All that mattered was freeing Julie.\n\tWhen I emerged from the bathroom, Rick was sitting on the couch in a lotus position, eyes closed, once again wearing his green and white tunic and trousers. My costume was laid out on the floor. He had thoughtfully dried the inside of it for me. His eyes opened as I came over and began suiting up.\n\t\"Are you ready?\" he asked.\n\tI nodded, opening the living room window. \"Let's go.\" We mounted the bike and sailed out into the cloudy mid-morning sky.\n\n\tIt only took a couple of minutes for us to reach the location the signal was coming from, one of the innumerable warehouses in the run-down district of Westside. I hovered high above it, looking it over with binoculars. \"I don't see any guards,\" I said.\n\t\"Guards would attract attention,\" said Rick. \"Ninja prefer to be invisible.\"\n\tI nodded and flew the bike down, landing it by one of the entrances. Rick and I dismounted and went to the door. The lock posed no difficulty for me. I eased the door open and we cautiously went inside.\n\tThe warehouse was mostly vacant, save for a few large empty wooden crates here and there. The skylights in the roof provided plenty of illumination. Apparently, the place hadn't been used in some time, as the floor was covered in a thin layer of dust, but there was a strange, cloying fragrance in the air. There was a second level, covering about half the area of the ground floor, and from it came two female voices, both speaking Japanese. One, I recognized as Julie's. I looked over at Rick. \"Can you make out what they're saying?\" I whispered.\n\t\"One is berating the other for not killing Bai Xue,\" Rick replied. \"She says her employer does not tolerate failure. The other is saying the failure was due to the interference of two freaks from Monster Island, by which I presume she means us. She says she will not fail again.\"\n\t\"We need to get up there,\" I said. I reached for my grapple gun, then remembered that Julie had cut the line earlier and I hadn't thought to replace it. Blame it on being distracted. Fortunately, there was a ladder nearby that led to the second level. I went over and began climbing it, Rick following me up.\n\tAs I reached the top of the ladder and poked my head up, the conversation suddenly ceased. Julie, who had been sitting on a rug before a plate containing burning incense, jumped to her feet, spinning and drawing her sword. She was unhooded, so I could see her face. She glared at me, those lips I'd kissed hundreds of times twisted into a sneer of hate. \"You! How did you find me?\"\n\t\"I'm a detective, remember?\" I replied, climbing up and onto the floor. Behind her stood Fan Su, dressed in a conservative grey business suit and regarding me impassively. Her eyes widened slightly, however, as Rick climbed up onto the floor and stood beside me.\n\t\"Hello, Fan Su,\" Rick said. \"I thought that was you I heard.\"\n\t\"Hello, Rick,\" said Fan Su, smiling. \"It has been quite some time since our last encounter. Hong Kong, was it not?\"\n\tRick nodded. \"When I helped stop you and your men from torching a ship full of refugees to cover up your company's involvement in human trafficking.\"\n\t\"Yes, that incident did cause Chang Chun Shipping quite a bit of trouble. In fact, it indirectly led to this reunion. The ensuing legal battle and bad publicity caused our stock to depreciate in value so much that Bai Xue and his partners were able to purchase a controlling interest in the company.\"\n\t\"A situation that you are now attempting to correct, I see,\" said Rick.\n\t\"Oh, it shall be corrected, have no fear of that.\" She addressed Julie. \"Yamazaki, dispose of these creatures. Now.\"\n\t\"[i]Hai[/i],\" Julie replied, moving slowly toward me and Rick.\n\tI hurled a handful of sleep gas pellets at Julie's feet. They burst on impact, creating a cloud around her. She leaped clear of it, sailing through the air toward me with a loud cry, blade raised above her head. Fortunately, Rick intercepted her in midair, his foot slamming into her stomach. She thudded to the floor while he somersaulted backward, landing on his feet. Julie kipped up into a combat crouch and scowled at both of us as we moved to flank her.\n\tShe lunged at Rick, slashing at him with her blade and forcing him to retreat. Then she spun and attacked me. I parried her blows with my gauntlets, then dropped and did a leg sweep, trying to knock her down. She was too fast for me, though, jumping over my sweep and striking downward with her sword. I blocked with my left arm, and she pressed down on me hard, forcing me to one knee. Her strength was phenomenal. Yamazaki had to be employing some kind of mind over body technique, because Julie wasn't that strong. I gritted my teeth as her face hovered just inches from mine, our eyes locked together. I saw nothing I recognized in her eyes, no trace of the woman I loved.\n\tWhile her attention was focused on me, Rick came at her from behind, trying for a hold, but her foot shot out as if of its own volition and caught him in the chin, knocking him flat on his back. I popped the claws on my right gauntlet and bracketed her blade with them, then twisted my wrist, snapping the sword in half. She cried out in anger and jumped back, whipping out her nunchucks and whirling them around in front of her. I moved toward her warily. Nunchucks are notoriously hard to parry, because in the hands of a skilled user they move faster than the eye can follow and can fly at you from almost any angle. She struck at me, and my attempts to block were futile, as she scored hits on my chest and right shoulder that hurt even through my armor.\n\tRick was back on his feet and coming up on her from behind again, arms raised defensively. She spun and lunged at him, swiping with her nunchucks. Rick, moving as fast as Julie was, managed to foul the chucks so they wrapped around his left forearm. Then he rammed his right fist into her chest three times in rapid succession, punctuating each punch with a shout. She let go of the chucks and staggered backward, and I seized the opportunity to jump her from behind, locking my arms around her neck in a choke hold. She reached behind her and clawed at my face, her nails scratching my left cheek and the right side of my muzzle and causing blood to ooze into my fur, but I didn't let go. Rick came at her from the front, and she swung a crescent kick at him even as she was struggling with me, but he blocked it and hammered her midsection with another flurry of punches. With a groan, Julie's body went limp and she slumped to the floor between us.\n\tRick and I stood there over her, both of us panting hard, and I licked my muzzle, tasting the salty tang of blood. I turned and looked over at where Fan Su had been standing, but she was gone, apparently having departed at some point during the fight. I didn't care. I had what I'd come for. I punched some buttons on my left gauntlet that controlled my grav bike, and a few seconds later it crashed down through a skylight and landed beside us. We picked up Julie and set her unconscious form on the bike, and I sat down in front of her while Rick sat behind her. So mounted, I gunned the engine and flew the bike up through the skylight, east toward downtown Millennium City.\n\n\tThe Shinto shrine—or [i]jinja[/i]—in Millennium City is a lovely place. Built by a wealthy Japanese businessman named Sakura who settled here, it consists of five towering two-post gateways—or [i]torii[/i]—painted red, with crossbeams atop them that curve upward at each end. These [i]torii[/i] are arranged in linear fashion, so that someone standing at either end of the shrine can see all of them framed one inside the other, symbolizing one's spiritual journey through life. Between the shrine and the street is an arching stone bridge over a pond stocked with koi that have grown fat on all the tidbits fed to them by those who come here. At the other end is a plaza surrounded by a grove of cherry trees. Tucked away in a courtyard between two large office buildings, Sakura Shrine is a haven of serenity amidst the noise and bustle of downtown.\n\tI landed my grav bike on the stone bridge before the first [i]torii[/i], and Rick and I dismounted and began carrying Julie's unconscious body toward the shrine. At Rick's instruction, we stopped just outside the first[i] torii[/i], and he called out to the priest. A Japanese man emerged from a small building at the center of the shrine and came toward us. He was about thirty, wearing a light blue silk robe, a tall rounded black hat, and black laquered wooden clogs. He looked rather surprised to see two manimals with an unconscious girl dressed as a ninja. I can't say as I blame him.\n\tRick bowed deeply to the priest, and I copied him. \"[i]Kannushi[/i],\" he said, \"we humbly request your aid. This girl requires [i]harae[/i].\"\n\tThe priest raised an eyebrow. \"What's the problem?\" he asked, sounding quite American. \n\t\"She is possessed.\"\n\tThe priest stared at us. \"Possessed?\"\n\tRick nodded. \"The soul of a ninja resides in her body.\"\n\tThe priest grinned. \"This is a joke, right? Someone's filming this.\" He started looking around.\n\t\"It's no joke,\" said Rick. \"He has already used her to kill once, and will do so again unless he's expelled.\"\n\tThe priest scratched the back of his head. \"Yeah, I think what you two need is a psychiatrist.\"\n\tI growled at him. \"Psychosis wouldn't allow a girl with no martial arts training to hold her own against both of us, let alone walk a tightrope between two skyscrapers and speak in a language she doesn't know!\"\n\tThe priest looked at me. \"You're really serious about this, aren't you?\"\n\tI waved my gloved hand at our surroundings. \"This is Millennium City! Weird things happen here! You're talking to a raccoon and a chipmunk, for God's sake!\"\n\tApparently, he couldn't argue with that. \"All right,\" he said. \"I'll see what I can do. But you can't enter the shrine with blood on you. You have to wash it off.\"\n\tRick bowed to him. \"Understood, [i]kannushi[/i].\"\n\tThe priest led us to a large rectangular wooden basin filled with crystal clear water. I watched as Rick began washing his hands and face, and then copied him, washing away the blood on my face and muzzle where Julie had scratched me. \"What is [i]harae[/i]?\" I asked Rick as we cleaned ourselves up.\n\t\"Purity,\" Rick replied. \"Unlike the Western concept that man is a fallen creature, the Japanese believe man is fundamentally pure. Touching blood causes one to become [i]kegare[/i], or impure. [i]Harae[/i] can be restored through rites of purification, such as washing. You can't enter a Shinto shrine if you're impure. That would anger the [i]kami[/i] who live there and cause the entire shrine to become [i]kegare[/i].\"\n\t\"And [i]kami[/i] are?\"\n\t\"[i]Kami[/i] can be thought of as gods or spirits, though neither word really describes them accurately. They are everywhere and inhabit all things. Shinto is all about worshipping and appeasing [i]kami[/i].\"\n\t\"You're familiar with the Shinto religion?\" the priest asked Rick.\n\t\"I spent some time in Japan,\" he replied.\n\tThe priest nodded. \"Well, I have to tell you, I've never done anything like this before, and I'm not really sure how it works. I was hired by the trust that maintains this place because I was trained as a Shinto priest at Kokugakuin University in Tokyo. I'm originally from Baltimore.\" He grinned sheepishly.\n\tI rolled my eyes. \"Terrific!\"\n\tRick merely shrugged. \"You'll just have to do the best you can.\"\n\tThe priest went into the small building and emerged a minute later. In one hand he held a small wooden wand with a white paper streamer attached. In the other he held an open book. \"This is a prayer for the dead to rest in peace,\" he said. \"I hope it does the trick.\"\n\t\"We shall see,\" Rick said.\n\tThe priest took a deep breath. \"Here goes nothing!\" And he started to chant sonorously in Japanese, waving the wand back and forth over Julie.\n\tFor several minutes, nothing was exactly what happened, and I began to think this was all a big waste of time. Then Julie's body began to twitch. At first, I thought she was just waking up, but her eyes remained closed and she began to writhe on her back as if in pain. Then she started moaning in Japanese, her head rolling from side to side. I looked over at Rick. He glanced back at me and nodded.\n\tSuddenly, Julie sat bolt upright and screamed, her eyes wide open. She looked wildly at me and Rick, then at the priest, and snarled with rage, jumping to her feet. The priest faltered, stepping back and dropping the book. \"Grab her!\" Rick shouted, pouncing on Julie. I followed his lead and we both took her down, pressing her to the ground and pinning her arms. Rick looked up at the terrified priest. \"Keep going! It's working!\" The priest swallowed and nodded, picking up the book and resuming chanting and waving his wand, while Rick and I struggled to keep Julie down. \n\t\"Release me, filthy monsters!\" she spat. Her strength was amazing. Even with both of us holding her, she was perilously close to breaking free. I told Rick to help me turn her over, and we managed to do so with some difficulty. Then I pulled out a ziptie from my belt and bound her wrists behind her. All the while, her screams raked my ears and my heart ached, because it was still Julie's voice, even if the words didn't come from her.\n\tThen, something weird happened. Okay, weirder. Julie's body went rigid beneath me and Rick, and something began to rise out of it, something misty and ephemeral that resolved itself into the shape of a man. I've seen ghosts before. Hell, in Nevada there's a literal ghost town called Burnside populated by the spirits of cowboys from the Old West, roused from their graves by Witchcraft's evil twin sister, Talisman, because of course she has one of those. And this looked just like a Burnside ghost, minus the ten-gallon hat and cowboy boots. The ghost snarled something in Japanese, then faded away and was gone.\n\tI turned Julie around and shook her by her shoulders. \"Julie?\" I asked her. \"Julie? Are you there? Can you hear me?\"\n\tShe groaned, and then slowly opened her eyes and looked into mine. \"Alvin? What . . . what's going on? Where am I?\" She looked up at Rick and the priest, then squirmed as she realized her arms were bound. \"Alvin, why am I tied up?\"\n\tA wave of relief swept over me, and I threw my arms around her and pressed my muzzle to her lips, kissing her, which surprised the priest, who hadn't known that Julie and I were a couple. \"Oh, baby, I'm so glad to have you back!\" I said, smiling.\n\t\"A heartwarming scene,\" came a voice from behind me I didn't recognize. \"It almost pains me to interrupt it.\"\n\tI snapped my head around. On the stone bridge stood an Asian man wearing a gold tunic and red tights, slippers, and a mask that left only his nose and mouth exposed, a long plume of black hair protruding from the top of his head. A sheathed sword hung from his red belt. On the front of his tunic was emblazoned the device of a red dragon.\n\t\"Lung Hung!\" Rick gasped.\n\tLung Hung glanced at Rick and smirked. \"So, you are Quan's last pupil. How sad.\"\n\t\"I'm also the last member of his house,\" said Rick.\n\t\"Then his family line ends with you.\"\n\t\"That remains to be seen.\"\n\tI popped my claws and cut the ziptie holding Julie's arms, then stood up and turned to face Lung Hung. \"What are you doing here?\" I asked. \"It can't be a coincidence, you showing up while all these murders are going on.\"\n\tLung Hung nodded. \"Very astute, little manimal. Those were indeed my doing.\"\n\t\"You want Chang Chun Shipping. Why?\"\n\t\"Because it belongs to me,\" replied Lung Hung. \"I founded it in 1842, and the profits from it have been a major source of funding for my other activities.\"\n\tRick growled. \"Profits obtained by bringing opium into your own country!\"\n\tLung Hung shrugged. \"I have never been one to defy the wisdom of the free market, and the social unrest caused by the opium trade made it easy for me to run my empire free of outside interference.\"\n\t\"Wait a minute,\" I said. \"You've been around since 1842?\"\n\tLung Hung smiled. \"I am much older than that, my little friend. I watched the building of the Great Wall. The peasants of the valley I ruled told tales of their 'lord who never dies.' But unlike many similar stories, these tales were true.\"\n\t\"Assuming you're not lying through your teeth,\" I said, \"how is it you've managed to live all these centuries?\"\n\tLung Hung chuckled. \"I see no reason not to share my humble origins with you, since you'll not have the opportunity to pass on the information. I was the Chinese slave of a Mongol khan who staked me out in the desert to die for an insignificant act of rebellion. For two days, he watched my death agonies, laughing. When I finally expired, he ordered his followers to leave my body where it lay, as an example to others.\n\t\"Two days later, I awoke, new strength flowing in my muscles. I tore myself free of my bindings, and watched in amazement as the wounds left by the ropes healed in seconds. Then, a thirst arose. I snuck up on an unsuspecting Mongol nomad and tore out his throat. His blood tasted sweet to my parched lips. The next morning, the khan's broken body was found in his yurt, drained of blood.\n\t\"I became an assassin and a thief, amassing enough wealth to educate myself. As time passed, I found that age held no perils for me. I learned much later that my body continually regenerates its cells, preserving me at the age at which I 'died.' Within one hundred years, I had become a powerful warlord, absolute master of a river valley whose waters fed the Yangtse. I was an adviser to many emperors, and then a trader with Europeans when white men first came to the shores of China. By playing the emperors and traders against each other, I kept my domain secure well into the twentieth century. When the communists took over, I manipulated their programs for my own ends. Mao Tse Tung found my immortal wisdom very useful.\"\n\tI interrupted his recounting of his life story, partly because he seemed to be enjoying it a little too much, and partly because something he had said stuck in my mind. \"You said the peasants of the valley you [i]ruled[/i]. Past tense. I presume that's no longer the case?\"\n\tLung Hung gave an exaggerated sigh and nodded. \"After Mao died, I found China was ruled by men who were not sympathetic to my aims. Worse, China had developed technology that could destroy me. Much as it pained me to do so, I decided the best plan was to leave before I was driven out, and carve myself a new empire in another land.\" He looked around at all of us and smiled. \"And now the time has unfortunately come for me to attend to the messy but necessary matter of your deaths.\" I swallowed as his canine teeth suddenly grew long and sharp. \"I have never tried manimal blood before. I am curious as to what it tastes like.\"\n\tRick dropped into a martial stance, hands raised. \"You won't find us easy prey, Lung Hung,\" he said, his voice steady and calm.\n\tI turned to Julie. \"When the fighting starts, make a run for it. We'll keep him busy as long as we can.\"\n\tShe shook her head. \"I'm not leaving you!\"\n\t\"There's nothing you can do here but die!\"\n\tShe looked at Lung Hung. \"Maybe.\"\n\tLung Hung moved. I've never seen anyone outside of the Champions' speedster Kinetik move so fast. In a blur of red and gold, he was suddenly beside Rick, and threw an open-handed strike that struck him in the chest and knocked him back ten feet. Rick landed flat on his back in a bed of flowers, stunned. I hurled a throwing blade at Lung Hung, which he swatted aside with contemptuous ease. He turned his head toward me and smiled, those long fangs gleaming. He hadn't even drawn his sword yet. I clenched my jaw. Two manimals with no superpowers against an ancient Chinese vampire. Yeah, this was not looking good.\n\tLung Hung came at me, and I barely even saw him move. A spinning kick connected with the side of my head and sent me face first into the pavement. He grabbed me and lifted me as if I were filled with styrofoam peanuts, and I felt his hot breath on my cheek. I rammed my elbow under his jaw. It didn't seem to cause him any pain, but it did keep his fangs from reaching my throat, at least for a moment. His arms squeezed around my chest, and I felt as if I were being crushed in a vise. My body armor absorbed some of the force, but even so, my ribs were crying out in protest, and the air was being forced from my lungs. I felt myself starting to black out.\n\tThen, through a haze of pain, I heard the [i]shing[/i] of a sword leaving its scabbard, followed by a cry of surprise and the wet sound of flesh being pierced. Lung Hung released me, and I fell to the ground. Looking up, I saw Julie standing over me, feet apart, his dripping sword in her hands, glaring at him as he staggered back with a shocked look on his face, blood gushing from a gaping hole in his side. On anyone else the wound would have been fatal, but Lung Hung looked more surprised than injured. He snarled and lunged at her, and Julie parried his blow expertly, then executed a leg sweep that he jumped over. They studied each other for a moment, Lung Hung's hands making circles in the air before him as Julie held her blade up defensively.\n\t\"How is this possible?\" Lung Hung asked, sounding intrigued rather than angry. \"Yamazaki's spirit has left you.\"\n\tJulie shrugged. \"Guess I'm a quick study.\"\n\tLung Hung smirked. \"It does not matter. The ninja has not been born who could defeat me!\"\n\tJulie grinned fiercely. \"We'll just have to put that to the test, won't we?\"\n\tLung Hung attacked, throwing a punch-kick-punch combination, which Julie blocked with the sword, though he forced her to give ground. I saw that Rick was back on his feet and moving up on Lung Hung from behind. I got up and advanced as well, my claws ready. The three of us had him surrounded. Suddenly, this fight wasn't looking quite so hopeless. Then I noticed that the wound Julie had inflicted in Lung Hung's side was rapidly closing up. Maybe we were screwed after all. I took a deep breath and lunged with my claws.\n\tFighting Lung Hung was like trying to grab smoke. He evaded my thrust seemingly without effort and threw a kick at Rick, which the raccoon parried. Then Lung Hung spun around to face Julie, whose blade was slicing the air toward his head. He ducked the potential decapitation, retaliated with a punch that sent Julie reeling, and then was attacking me before I'd even had time to recover from my missed strike. We were all highly trained martial artists capable of handling multiple foes, and yet compared to Lung Hung we were moving in slow motion.\n\tI raised my gauntlets just in time to block a barrage of blows that came at me as fast as bullets from a machine gun and made my teeth shake. I stumbled back several feet. There was no way we were going to defeat this guy unless we coordinated our efforts. If Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk had been here, that wouldn't have been a problem for me, since we'd practiced fighting as a team. But Rick, Julie, and I had no experience working together and no time to learn.\n\tSince my Nightmunk body armor made me the least vulnerable of the three of us, I decided to make an easy target of myself by attacking recklessly. Hopefully, one of the others could exploit any openings they saw while Lung Hung was beating the snot out of me. I leaped at him, my questionite claws raised to strike, and he actually looked surprised. People are always surprised by how far I can jump. I may be small, but my strength-to-weight ratio (the amount I can lift versus the amount I weigh) is borderline superhuman, so it's not hard for me to cover eight to ten feet from a standing start.\n\tAs I expected, Lung Hung plucked me out of the air as if I were a slowly drifting feather, grabbing me by the wrist and slamming me on the ground at his feet with a bone-crunching impact. He followed up by ramming his first into my chest with the force of a pile driver. I gasped in pain, unable to draw breath. Without my armor, his blow would have shattered my rib cage.\n\tRick and Julie reacted instantly, the raccoon trying for a hold around Lung Hung's waist while Julie drove the point of her sword at the vampire's heart. Lung Hung deflected Julie's thrust with his right forearm, then seized her sword arm with his left hand and swung her around, smashing her into Rick and sending them both tumbling across the grass. He sauntered over to them while they lay there dazed. I tried to get up to help them, but I was in so much pain I could barely move.\n\t\"Do not be upset,\" said Lung Hung. \"There is no shame in losing to me. For over seven hundred years, all who have opposed the Red Dragon have died. A woman and two manimals could hardly hope to succeed where so many others have failed. Still, you fought well and bravely, so I will be merciful. Your deaths shall be swift and relatively painless. Not all my victims are so fortunate.\"\n\t\"Did you bore them to death . . . with your endless monologuing?\" I asked, forcing the words out between clenched teeth. I had managed to draw a throwing blade from my belt, and with every bit of strength I had left, I threw it at him, gasping at a stab of pain from a cracked rib. \n\tLung Hung batted the throwing blade away as if it were an annoying insect, and smiled at me, his fangs gleaming. \"In your case, I may have to make an exception.\"\n\t\"You might find that . . . more difficult than you think,\" I wheezed. Lung Hung's head snapped up as he became aware of a sound overhead: the high-pitched whine of turbines.\n\tHigh above us floated a black hovercraft bearing the bird motif of Team Nighthawk. Beside it hovered another, larger craft, sleek and white, with a large gold letter C on the underside, an insignia known the world over as the mark of the Champions.\n\tLung Hung looked back down at me in surprise, and I smiled at him weakly. \"I switched on my communicator . . . while you were telling us your life story,\" I said. \"I thought the rest of Team Nighthawk . . . might be interested in hearing it. Seems they brought some friends.\"\n\tThere was a flash of light, and suddenly seven more people were standing in Sakura Shrine. There were Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk, wearing costumes similar to mine but with full face masks. Alongside them stood Defender, in his gleaming blue-and-white battle armor; Witchcraft, her green tunic and cape and red hair flowing as if in a breeze, even though the air was still; Kinetik, his scarlet-and-black costume emblazoned with white lightning bolts; Sapphire, wearing an aquamarine jacket, shorts, and thigh-high boots, her silky black hair hanging to her waist; and Ironclad, a metal-skinned giant wearing a vaguely Roman-style bronze helmet, bracers, kilt, and greaves, a massive gladius clutched in his right hand.\n\tI grinned over at my teammates. \"Hey, what kept you?\"\n\t\"You know the Champions,\" Nighthawk replied in his gravelly voice, \"always playing catch-up. Good thing your friend is a talker.\"\n\tDefender ignored Nighthawk's jibe. \"I'd advise you to surrender peacefully, Lung Hung,\" he said, in his strong, resonant voice, \"or this could get ugly.\"\n\tLung Hung looked around at the heroes assembled against him, then turned his eyes back to me. \"I underestimated you, little manimal,\" he said, sounding mildly annoyed.\n\tI nodded, still smiling. \"I get that a lot.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Well, no matter. For one who has lived centuries, setbacks such as this are merely temporary inconveniences. But rest assured, we will meet again.\" And with that, he vanished.\n\tSapphire blinked. \"He can teleport?\"\n\t\"First I've seen of it,\" I said.\n\tDefender turned to the other Champions. \"Witchcraft, scan for him psychically! Kinetik, search the area out to a one-mile radius!\" \n\tKinetik disappeared in a red blur, while Witchcraft closed her eyes and concentrated. After a moment, she opened her eyes again. \"I can detect no trace of him, Defender,\" she said. \"Either he is beyond my reach, or his mind is shielded against my powers.\"\n\tKinetik reappeared. \"No dice, Defender. Looks like we lost him.\"\n\tDefender nodded. \"For now. He'll be back, though. His kind always are. And when he is, we'll be ready for him.\"\n\tWitchcraft knelt beside me and placed her hand on my chest. A warm glow suffused me, and the pain in my chest faded. I got to my feet and looked up at her. \"Thank you,\" I said.\n\tShe smiled. \"My pleasure, Nightmunk.\"\n\tDefender turned to Rick, Julie, and me. \"Good work bringing that villain to our attention. A shame he got away, but these things happen. If there's anything the Champions can ever do for you, just let us know.\"\n\tI nodded to him. \"Sure thing, Defender.\" Rick bowed to him, and Julie just bit her lip and nodded, because it's not every day you earn a favor from the greatest hero team on the planet.\n\tThen Defender turned to Nighthawk. \"You trained him well, Nighthawk. He's a credit to your team.\"\n\tNighthawk glanced at me. \"I'm satisfied with him.\" Coming from him, that meant a lot.\n\t\"You know, Nighthawk,\" said Defender, \"if you ever want to come back, there's always a place for you at our table.\"\n\t\"Thanks,\" Nighthawk replied, \"but I prefer to stay in the shadows.\"\n\tDefender nodded. \"We each must follow our own path. Let's go, Champions. We're done here.\" Witchcraft uttered an incantation, and with a flash of light the Champions were gone. Above us, their gleaming white jet peeled off into the night sky.\n\tNighthawk turned to me. \"Need a lift home?\"\n\t\"I've got my grav bike,\" I said. \"But I think Rick might appreciate a ride back to his hotel.\"\n\t\"Not a problem,\" said Nighthawk, operating the controls on his gauntlet and calling his hovercraft down to us.\n\tI turned to the Shinto priest, who had just emerged from around the back of the small building he'd been hiding behind during the fight. \"Thanks for your help,\" I told him. \"I never did catch your name.\"\n\t\"It's Ken Shimada,\" he said, bowing. \"Glad to have been of service.\"\n\tI bowed back. \"Sorry about all the blood.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Blood can be washed away. I'm just glad everything turned out all right.\"\n\tI turned to Rick. \"It's been nice working with you, Rick.\"\n\tHe bowed. \"Likewise. If you're ever in L.A., look me up.\"\n\tRick, Nighthawk, and Lady Nighthawk boarded the hovercraft and took off, while Julie and I walked back to my grav bike. \"How are you feeling?\" I asked her.\n\t\"Confused,\" she said. \"I mean, am I a ninja now?\"\n\t\"Do you want to be?\"\n\t\"I don't know. I was still getting used to having a superhero for a boyfriend, and now it seems I'm one myself!\"\n\t\"Well, we should probably wait and see if these new abilities of yours are permanent. For all we know, they might be gone tomorrow.\"\n\t\"And if they aren't?\" she asked.\n\tI shrugged. \"Then it's up to you to decide. Like Defender said, we each must follow our own path.\"\n\tShe smiled. \"Well, right now I think my path leads to our bedroom, followed by a whole lot of kissing and snuggling.\"\n\tI grinned. \"I can hardly wait!\"\n\tWe both got on my grav bike and flew off together into the night sky."
}