Dark Angel, Chapter 5(cont.) & Chapter 6

Kiran rechecked his clothing for a moment, making sure there was nothing on it that he could potentially leave behind as an identifying mark. The clothing he had was all custom made, but made from common materials that were virtually untraceable. Cotton, silk, and some polyester, the only thing Kiran had that was made of a unique material was his sash, and he had no fear of that item ever tearing or leaving fibers.

Kiran walked over to his balcony and checked outside. The sun was just barely starting to set and he could see some pedestrians within eye shot, but no one looking in his direction and all of the adjacent building windows had either the shutters or their curtains shut. Kiran walked onto the balcony and his telekinesis to shut the door behind him, locking it from the inside. A single man from the streets below gave Kiran a passing glance, and the second time he looked Kiran was gone. 7:10 P.M., the sun was just showing its last gleam on the edge of the horizon, then everything began to go dark.

Perfect.

Most, if not all, of the assignments Kiran was given were all in the Manhattan area. That only made sense, since it was the epicenter for the incident two years ago. Kiran had not been a part of the incident, but the man he was working for had been, at least according the rumors. If that was true then Kiran did not blame the man for the steps he was taking. Anything able to produce a psychic of that power was extremely dangerous, especially if that psychic used his powers for harm. Kiran was in place to cull those individuals before they became too dangerous, and before they were front page news. That was the last thing this world needed for the time being.

Kiran mentally ran over his files. He had left the information Kari had given at his apartment in a hidden location, from which he intended to incinerate them as soon as his target was neutralized. Kiran had a good memory, a very good memory, but he never eliminated anything until its usefulness had either run its course or was vastly outweighed by the risks. As such he kept the files around in the unlikely event that he was not unable to off his mark on the first attempt.

Kiran’s target was on the north east side of the island, a step above the rest in the economic circle. He was a wealthy man, though the means at which he had acquired his wealth were most likely illegal and covered in blood. These things did not concern Kiran, only the amount of attention he would be attracting to his case when he killed the man. It was more heat than Kiran wanted, but he would complete the assignment diligently. Having his cover blown would not be the end of the world, but it would cut off his information sources inside of the police department and restrict his movements greatly. Kiran had spent the last six months building up his contacts prior to beginning his assignments. All of that time would be for nothing if he were found out.

Even in New York, rooftops could only take Kiran so far. He spent a good deal of the time running through back alleys before he was able to use tall buildings again. Rooftops were the easiest way to remain unnoticed, but not always the most efficient. Even at a decent running pace, which would be a record breaking Olympic athlete’s pace for any normal person, it took Kiran nearly 45 minutes to reach within a block of his destination. Once he was close Kiran surveyed the scene to find the best adjacent building. It was just his luck that was unable to find anything suitable. Kiran would have to observe from street level in dangerous proximity to full view of the public. Not the worst kind of circumstance, but that also meant he would have to enter the building from ground level as well. That meant wading through hired thugs and security personnel more than usual. Kiran hopped down from his perch and took up a post in a small back alley not five meters from the building. This was close enough. Kiran closed his eyes and concentrated.

Five on the ground floor, six above that, then five again…

Kiran moved his sweep upwards in a less thorough pattern, scanning for unique or abnormal psychic waves.

At least 45 normal patterns in the lower half the structure alone. This going to be tricky.

He moved further upwards. By using his telepathy, which for a class nine gave him a scanning range of almost 30 meters, Kiran could scan the surface thoughts and thought patterns of everyone in the building. He could also use to it gauge the number of people in the building as well as their relative locations.

No… no… no… wait… There.

Kiran locked onto a single individual whose telepathic signature was slippery, but unique. Psychics always had a greater amount of natural telepathic resistance than untrained individuals. It was a result of higher brain activity and energy concentrations, but it also made them easier to distinguish from “normal” people.

Kiran took another moment to sweep the building briefly. Finding no other possible psychics he was satisfied that he located his target. Kiran entered the building through the easiest access: the front door. It was an office building, surprise surprise, located on the north east side not a quarter of a mile from sea board. Office buildings meant cameras, security personnel, and witnesses, but those were things Kiran could work around. This would be his most challenging target yet based on circumstances alone and he still had no idea how well developed this psychic was. Kari had curiously left that detail out. The desk clerk seemed to pay Kiran little mind as he headed for the elevators, in fact he never saw Kiran at all. The man heard the door open and the foot steps, but by the time he looked up from his ledger no one was there. This man was prestigious, but not that prestigious. Security was present, but not air tight. Kiran would be able to walk in like the wind for the most part. Getting out, on the other hand, would be more like a hurricane.

Kiran exited the elevator on the twelfth floor, just as his scan had indicated. Most of the offices down the hall had their lights out, but several still showed signs of activity. That made things a little more complicated, but Kiran had anticipated this. Unlike his previous assignments, killing everyone in his path was far from prudent in this case. Most were only innocent bystanders while others were legitimately hired security personnel. Telling the sharks from the guppies, as they say, would be a feat in and of itself.

Good thing I’m a psychic.

Kiran did another brief sweep to pin down the exact office in which his target was located and also to identify any potential witnesses in the area. There were at least five security guards on this level all within range of Kiran’s destination so he would have to take care of them first. The first was just down the hall at the water fountain. Kiran had the man head bang his way into unconsciousness against the fountain without ever having been in sight range. The next two were in the lounge and already on the move having heard the commotion. Kiran approached from behind as they made their way down the hall and put the first on into the wall. Before his buddy could turn Kiran was upon him and struck him in the stomach with his right fist, then a left palm to the chin and darkness took the man’s eyes. The first, still pinned to the wall by Kiran’s telekinesis, was easy enough to silence with a knife hand strike to the back of the neck. Kiran let his unconscious body slide to floor, then he dragged both men into one of the unoccupied offices on that level using his power and hid them under a desk. He hid the man at the water fountain with them, then proceeded to the office where his target was waiting.

There were two guards outside of the office, but it was far enough away from the rest of the building personnel that Kiran no longer had to worry about noise. He put both men through the glass on either side of the door head first using his telekinesis. The man barely had time to utter “the hell?!” before the two guards came crashing at his feet.

“Who are you?” The man demanded as Kiran walked into his office through one of the broken glass panes.

Kiran checked the man’s face against the mental image of the picture Kari had given him.

Found you.

Kiran owed the man, Samuel Tailor, no answer. He immediately thrust his right palm out and hit him with a telekinetic wave that threw him into the glass. Normally that wave of energy would have put the man through the window and falling twelve stories to the pavement below, but psychics also possessed a greater amount of natural telekinetic resistance as well. The wind was driven from Tailor’s lungs, but he managed to remain on his feet after impact, looking up to glare at Kiran.

“I figured I wasn’t the only one.” Tailor growled as he held out both hands in Kiran’s direction.

Kiran did not have to be a psychic to know what was coming. His inane danger senses screamed as he dove and rolled to his left, narrowly avoiding being incinerated. Kiran thrust out his left palm at the man again, aiming to smash him against the same spot in the damaged window and this time send him to his bloody demise, but Tailor held up both his arms defensively and managed to deflect the blow. He still slid back against the window from the inertia, but the bulk of the impact had been absorbed by his own energy barrier. Kiran could not afford to drag this out.

He drew his sword in his reversed, right hand grip and charge at the man directly. Tailor lashed his hands outwards again and blue flames sprang forth from his finger tips, but Kiran held out his free left hand and diverted the flames using a telekinetic shield. Kiran raised his right arm and struck at the man aiming for his neck, but Tailor raised his left and stopped the blade. Kiran was almost stunned. He had seen a sword blocked before, but rarely from an untrained psychic with his bare hands. Kiran jumped away in a back flip, narrowly avoiding incineration again as Tailor counter attacked.

Damn you Kari. Kiran cursed inwardly.

There no way this man was untrained, unless he had been a psychic for a lot longer than two years or had frequent battles with other psychics since becoming one. Whoever he was, he was much stronger than anyone Kiran had faced before. Kiran retreated again as Tailor threw at him another wave of flame that was even more powerful than the first. Tailor had mentioned something about not being the only one. In all likelihood he had come into contact with another psychic before. From the looks of his power, Tailor had most likely killed him.

The next wave of flame consumed the entire office. Alarms rang and the sprinklers above triggered as Kiran jumped back out the way he had come and landed in a graceful one, handed back hand spring. Tailor pressed his attack and chased Kiran into the hall, but that was a mistake. As soon as he poked his head out of the office a wooden desk that must have weighed at least 100 lbs. struck him in the chest, driving the wind from his lungs again and sending him sprawling across the floor. Tailor may have had a lot of telekinetic resistance, but all of the inanimate objects in the building did not. The entire structure was Kiran’s weapon. Tailor must have realized this, because after he got up he sent another wave of blue flame in Kiran’s direction halt his advance, then took off down the hall and headed for the stairs. Kiran thrust both palms outwards and sent a sizeable wave of energy in Tailor’s direction, clipping him on his way out into the stair well. Tailor slammed against the door frame and tumbled, but ultimately got out into the stair well and began making his way upwards.

Thank the heavens for small favors.

Tailor running was inconvenient, but him running upwards and away from any other security guards or fire fighters that would soon be on their way was no nearly so. Tailor must have had the same idea Kiran did. If their battle attracted onlookers then they would both be ousted, which would put both of them in difficult situations rendering their previous lives useless.

Kiran sheathed his blade and ran to the stair well door. He could hear Tailor’s footsteps as he made his way upwards. Kiran suspected that Tailor was heading the same place Kiran would have, the roof. Kiran took the stairs and chased him, using his psychic energy to boost his running speed. It was nearly six floors before Kiran caught up with Tailor. The man was good, but he did not understand spirit energy the way Kiran did. It was good for more than just throwing fire around. Kiran tackled Tailor and the two tumbled out of the stairwell and into the nearby hallway. Tailor immediately flipped around and threw more flames Kiran’s way, but the psychic assassin was already up and on his feet, deflecting the flames with ease. Kiran drew his weapon again and attacked Tailor as he made his way to his feet. This time when Tailor blocked his arm ran red with blood. Tailor recoiled and cradled his wound, doubling over slightly as he growled in agony.

Kiran also understood the concept of sword energy and its application. By imbuing spiritual energy into his sword Kiran could up its cutting power and its ability to pierce energy barriers. Tailor’s little trick would not work on him any longer. Tailor made to run again, but a wave of telekinetic energy sent from both of Kiran’s palm struck him from behind and sent him clear down the hallway all of the way into the far wall at the corner. Before Tailor could get back to his feet and recover Kiran was upon him again. He narrowly avoided being run through and kicked out at Kiran with his left foot, which Kiran blocked with ease. It afforded Tailor just enough time to get to his feet and sent another wave of flame in Kiran’s direction, this time at point blank range. The fire suppressors burst to life, spouting water from above as Kiran dodged to his right and used his left hand divert the flames around his body and into the hallway behind him. A portion of blaze squeezed through Kira’s psychic shield and burned his hand. Kiran was still able to block Tailor’s punch with his left hand as the man attacked again, but surprisingly a second blow from the man’s right hand bypassed Kiran’s defenses and landed on his jaw. Kiran’s head snapped to the side, mainly to absorb the impact, but his footing did not budge. He glanced at Tailor’s right arm briefly and noted that it was no longer bleeding freely, then jabbed his left palm into Tailor’s face before sending him down the other hallway with a burst of psychic energy using both hands. Tailor sailed across the building and through the glass of another office and Kiran wiped a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth.

Impressive…

Chapter 6

Tailor stood up and cradled his wounds again. He was soaked from the fire suppressors from this floor and the floor below and the water stung his wounds. Tailor had managed to get the bleeding on his right arm to stop temporarily by mending it with some of his spirit energy, but the rest of the cuts on his body from the glass flowed freely. Who was this man? Whoever he was, he was much better trained the Tailor. Tailor knew a little bit about martial arts and had learned enough about psychic energy from his last psychic run in to fend off other untrained psychics, but this new man was in a class completely above Tailor. His only hope now was to flee and get out of this alive.

Tailor glanced around furiously expecting Kiran to attack at any time. He looked to his left, then to his right, then behind him, and then back to his left again. He could find no trace of the psychic. Tailor walked out of the broken office and back into the hallway, searching for the stairwell. Once he found it he made a sprint for the door, but a whistling sound behind him followed by a sharp pain streaming across his back send him tumbling back to the floor again. Kiran’s sword spun through the air and coated the walls with Tailor’s blood before flying its way back to Kiran’s right hand like a boomerang. Tailor flipped onto his back to summon more flames, but the tip of Kiran’s blade pierced Tailor’s left shoulder while Kiran’s left foot pinned his right hand to the ground. Tailor tried to summon a burst of flame again, but his hands only glowed with blue flame for a moment before sizzling out. Tailor panted and tried again, but after the glow no more flames would come.

“You’ve exhausted your spirit energy.” Kiran said coldly as he pushed his blade further into Tailor’s shoulder. “What did you think would happen, throwing your power around like that?”

Tailor gasped from the pain. Aside from the stabbing pain in his shoulder his whole body ached. The last impact with the glass must have fractured a few ribs, and his right arm was surely broken from blocking Kiran’s sword.

“Why…” Tailor gasped again. “Why… are you…?”

“Because you’re a villain.” Kiran replied coldy, just before he withdrew his blade from Tailor’s shoulder and pointed the tip at the man’s throat.

“But…”

Without another word Kiran thrust his sword back down and pierced Tailor’s wind pipe. Tailor’s throat make a bubbling sort of gagging noise before Kiran twisted his sword to the left and pushed outwards, then Tailor was quiet. Kiran withdrew his blade and stepped off of Samuel Tailor’s corpse. In one, crisp motion Kiran whipped his sword vertically and flung the blood from the blade. The blood splattered across the nearby wall in the perfect shape of a single angel wing.

Dark Angel strikes again. Kiran smiled inwardly.

He left Tailor’s body in the middle of the hallway and with a wave of his left hand he killed the water supply to all of this level’s fire suppressors so that the image would not be damaged or erased by the water. Kiran would normally backtrack and clear up evidence after a fight like this one, but the fire suppressors had been a blessing in disguise. Tailor had not drawn enough blood to leave any of Kiran’s DNA lying around and any hair or fiber samples would have been washed away or contaminated by the water. All Kiran had to do now was break into the security room and destroy the surveillance cassettes. After a fight like this one, that task seemed meager and too easy.