Dark Guardian: Shadows Of The City Read online

  His words were followed by a ruthless uproar. The followers raised their weapons as they hooted and hollered. Every syllable drove a dagger of terror through the Dr. Paul’s heart, forcing him to shut his eyes tighter.

  “And the cleansing will continue with this devil! This fake prophet! This dog who wanted to make you mortal again! Who wished to strip you of the gifts I bestowed on you!”

  The thunderous chaos only grew with every word Pierce uttered. It filled the chamber, echoing through the catacombs and crypts. The chaos fed on itself, growing uncontrollably.

  Pierce’s blade drew nearer to the doctor’s throat. His voice barely outdid the chants and cries of his followers. “Will anybody stand for this man?”

  From above them all, a cold voice showered down—a voice every criminal in Crown City feared. “Me.”

  ***

  The Guardian suddenly landed at the center of the pack. A few feet away from Pierce, he remained crouched down. Every gaze was on him as silence fell over the gang. As their voices died away, The Guardian slowly rose to his feet. Without his cloak or hood, the belts around his waist, forearms, and thighs that housed all his throwing knives were fully visible. As was his fitted, red and black tactical suit.

  “You want to cleanse the city?” The vigilante’s cold voice contained no mercy. “Start with me.”

  There was a moment of peace. Then it began.

  With blinding speed, The Guardian sprang forward and grabbed Pierce by his hair. He powerfully yanked him away from the doctor like rag doll and slung him into the crowd. The gang leader’s feet left the floor before he roughly collided with two of his men, tackling them both to the ground.

  Swiftly twirling around, The Guardian unsheathed a long dagger as one of Pierce’s mutants charged him. The clang of blades rang loud as The Guardian’s dagger met the mutant’s machete. The blade’s trembled with the impact of the blow. Ducking to avoid the second swipe of a machete, The Guardian stepped up into his foe and drove his dagger through the mutant’s throat.

  The mutant’s eyes rolled back as blood spewed out of the wound. Ignoring it, The Guardian wasted no time in wrenching out the blade and turning around. As a second foe came upon him, The Guardian sidestepped three quick swings before forcefully kicking the mutant square in the chest. The mutant stumbled backwards as The Guardian dodged a third foe’s blow. Without even looking his way, The Guardian knocked his foe back as a fourth mutant leapt at him from behind.

  Turning around while jumping back, the vigilante’s dagger blocked several swings of his opponent’s machete. Finding an opening, The Guardian sliced open the mutant’s thick arm before slashing his opponent across the chest. The mutant roared in pain as blood seeped out of his bare chest’s long gash.

  Two more foes charged from behind The Guardian. He ignored them as he masterfully battled three others in front of him. But before those two arrived within five steps of him, two bullets whizzed out of nowhere and split open either of their skulls. Their heads jerked violently to the side before they collapsed.

  From high above, William remained perched at the entrance of a tunnel as he stared down through his rifle’s scope. He quickly spoke into his earpiece as his finger pulled the trigger again. “Get out of there, Ethan.”

  Down below, The Guardian crouched down to barely dodge a wild haymaker from another mutant. His foe’s momentum carried him right passed The Guardian. Without looking back, The Guardian stabbed the mutant right in his guts before forcefully yanking out his blade, leaving the mutant to die in unbearable agony.

  Knocking away another mutant with a blow from his forearm, The Guardian reached out and grabbed the shackled doctor. “Hold on!”

  A mutant suddenly grabbed The Guardian from behind, attempting to wrestle him down. The mutant’s mammoth arms wrapped around the vigilante’s chest as he tried to crush the life out of him. But The Guardian violently threw his head back, smashing his skull into the mutant’s face. With his opponent momentarily stunned and forced to let go, The Guardian aimed his wrist cable at the bottom of a raised platform nearly thirty feet above them.

  He fired off his cable. The hook cut through the air before perfectly latching onto the platform. As more mutants converged onto The Guardian, he swiftly kicked two more away before again grabbing the doctor and being whisked into the air.

  High above the gang, The Guardian held the doctor against his side with one arm as they swung towards the other side of the pit. The rush of hot air surrounding them beat against his masked face. A few bullets fired out of the crowd towards them. The projectiles whizzed right by them, some only inches away. But none touched them.

  As they fired away at The Guardian, the mob tried to keep up with him in vain. A mutant near the pack’s rear was suddenly shot in the skull by the sniper above. He collapsed straight down. Another one was blasted in the leg. By the time he hit the ground, a second punctured his chest and then a third went straight through his skull. But the mob did not notice or slow down, too focused on The Guardian.

  Roughly landing on the dirty floor, The Guardian instinctively pushed the doctor onto the ground behind him as he gained his balance and turned to face the oncoming gang. The pack of mad dogs rushed him, closing in fast. The Guardian stood firm as he reached at either belt around his forearms.

  “W—what are you doing?” the doctor’s voice rang with fear. “We n—need to ge—t out of here!”

  The Guardian unsheathed four throwing knives as he answered without looking back. “Not while this scum are still alive.”

  Without any hesitation, The Guardian launched the four projectiles. They tore through the air faster than any bullet. In the next instant, they all cut into their targets. But before the four wounded mutants even received a chance to scream, the explosives on the end of each knife set off simultaneously.

  The entire atrium was momentarily lit up as if it was in broad daylight. The blasts nearly consumed the entire gang. Above the violent explosions echoed the cries of the men set ablaze or consumed by the detonations. Many were killed off by the explosions themselves, but a few were left to burn in its aftermath. Those men collapsed onto the ground, their bodies set ablaze.

  When the blasts settled, the five mutants left continued their charge, too lost in their blinding rage to slow down. The Guardian did not flinch, unsheathing both his long daggers. As the first mutant came within a few steps of him, he didn’t hesitate. He didn’t move. Not when the mutant was ten meters away. Not when he was five. Not even when he was a step away and brought down his machete.

  The mutant’s head suddenly jolted to the side as a sniper’s bullet ripped through it. Blood splattered onto The Guardian, but he remained undeterred as the mutant collapsed dead.

  Ignoring the corpse, The Guardian weaved to the side to dodge the second mutant’s blow. In a fluid move, he squatted down and sliced open the man’s leg. With his opponent off balance, one of The Guardian’s daggers drove straight through the mutant’s torso. The mutant howled in pain. But then The Guardian’s second blade split into the back of his foe’s neck.

  The Guardian yanked out the daggers as the final three mutants arrived upon him. But before the first one had a chance to strike, two bullets from above punctured his chest in quick succession. He howled in pain as he hit the ground on his back. And no sooner did he fall that a third bullet ended him.

  The Guardian loudly blocked one of his foe’s machetes with his dagger as he kicked his other foe in the guts. As the second foe keeled over, The Guardian turned back to the first one. The mutant attacked with amazing speed. Before The Guardian could react, the mutant powerfully picked him up and tackled The Guardian to the hard ground. As he did, the mutant’s blade cut into The Guardian’s side.

  The mutant landed right on top of The Guardian, his primal face only inches away. His roar rang in The Guardian’s ear. His rough hand clenched around Ethan’s throat, crushing down on his trachea with no mercy. For a moment, Ethan could not break the hold—he
couldn’t free himself as the mutant mercilessly strangled him.

  A voice suddenly rang in Ethan’s head, momentarily drowning out the mutant’s snarl. It wasn’t William. It was Katrina.“Get up, Ethan!”

  Ignoring the pain, The Guardian found his strength, grabbed the hand on his throat, and shoved it away with all his might. The vigilante powerfully head bunted the mutant square in the forehead. Grabbing the mutant by his face, The Guardian slung him off as the vigilante let loose a vicious growl.

  Flipping back onto his feet with his daggers in hand, The Guardian sensed his second foe aiming a rifle. Weaving side-to-side with his inhuman agility, The Guardian dodged the first few. But then a bullet caught his already wounded shoulder. And a second ran through the edge of his thigh.

  The mutant’s gun ran dry and the two converged on The Guardian once more. They were too close for William to risk the shot, leaving The Guardian with only his strength to defeat them. Dodging a blow and then another, The Guardian backed up and kept both his enemies right in front of him. Both mutants armed with a machete, they attacked relentlessly. But he batted away or avoided every blow. Nothing could be heard as they fought under the dim lights save for the earsplitting clangs of their blades.

  Seeing an opening, The Guardian stepped up. Viciously cross-facing one mutant with his elbow, The Guardian leapt up and slammed his boot against the other’s skull. The Guardian didn’t hesitate in seizing the opportunity. Turning back to the first mutant, he mercilessly drove his dagger straight up the mutant’s skull. The dagger split in from the base of the skull and its bloodied tip ripped out of top.

  Wrenching out the blade, The Guardian avoided a blow from the last remaining mutant. He followed through by ducking down to avoid the machete’s swipe. Stepping into his foe, The Guardian lowered his shoulder and slammed it into the mutant’s guts. The mutant stumbled backwards, giving The Guardian just the chance he needed. One dagger plunged right into the mutant’s stomach while the second stabbed through the side of his skull and violently bursted out of the other end.

  The Guardian held it there for a moment, watching life leave his foe’s eyes. With a final roar, he yanked out the blades and let the corpse join the rest of its comrades.

  Ignoring the doctor’s wide eyes, The Guardian turned to the last person in the room: Pierce. The mad dog’s leg was limp as he crawled right by his men and towards an exit. His movements were frantic, desperate.

  But there was no escape for him.

  Aiming his wrist cable, The Guardian fired it off. In the next instant, the hook cut right into Pierce’s leg. It latched onto his bone. Pierce howled in unbearable pain, but his cries fell on deaf ears. The Guardian began reeling the cable back, dragging Pierce towards him like a helpless fish on a hook.

  And as he did, The Guardian’s voice echoed through the chamber. “It’s time. Time to pay for your sins.”

  ***

  The police’s helicopter hovered outside of the raised sewage outlet. Its propellers nearly deafening, the chopper’s open side faced the darkened drainage only a few feet away from the running water as it flowed out of the tunnel and sixty meters below.

  Wearing a monkey harness, Mason leaned out of the open door and stared into the tunnel. They’d arrived only moments ago. Within a minute, it’d be the appointed time The Guardian ordered him to be here. Rain continued to pour down in waterfalls from the heavens. It splattered against the helicopter, rattling it. Keeping his eyes trained on the sewer, Mason was completely soaked within a matter of seconds. He tried to stay focused as he raised one hand in a vain attempt to shield himself from the rain.

  It didn’t take long.

  Mason finally saw The Guardian break out of the abyss. Walking atop of the raised path next to the water flow, the victorious vigilante slowly made his way towards the helicopter. Alongside him, the doctor leaned on The Guardian for support, his exhausted head remaining bowed.

  The police officer hardly believed his eyes for a moment. The Guardian had truly found the doctor. The pilot brought the chopper a tad bit closer as The Guardian arrived at the edge of the tunnel. Reaching forward, Mason and another officer grabbed ahold of the doctor and brought him onboard with one hefty pull.

  The other officer immediately set upon strapping the doctor in while Mason kept his gaze on The Guardian. “What about Pierce?”

  “He shared the same fate as his gang.”

  Mason knew what that meant as he watched the vigilante take a step back into the dark sewer tunnel. There was a moment of silence. “…thank you.”

  The Guardian turned around.

  Holding out his hand, Mason’s words stopped the vigilante. “Wait. Can I offer you a lift?”

  Without looking back, The Guardian replied. “Maybe next time.”

  ***

  William entered the warehouse’s main chamber. As normal, most of it remained shrouded in darkness, save for the master computer’s large screens as it worked on locating some known criminals in the city. But two more stations were also illuminated. The first were the display cases that showcased several variations of The Guardian’s red and black tactical suit. There was some fresh blood visible on one of the glass case’s handles. Next to the displays, under the same lights, rested the armory. It consisted of countless firearms, from high-powered rifles to simple handguns. Along with them were an assortment of daggers, throwing knives, smoke pellets, explosives, and several other weaponry of The Guardian.

  The other illuminated station was the medical area. Under that spotlight, Ethan sat on the medical bed as he stitched away at his shoulder wound. Shirtless, his nearly perfect physique was covered in countless bruises and healing wounds. Ethan mended the wound as if it was second nature, hardly even seeming to think about it. His face was a bit unkempt after not having shaven in the past couple of days, making him appear slightly older than his mid-20s self. And his eyes seemed tired.

  Arriving at a halt near his friend, William finally broke the silence. “You look better than usual.”

  Slightly smiling, Ethan glanced up from his work.

  “Crazy night, wasn’t it?” William crossed his arm. “Crazier than usual I mean. Usually it’s just gangbangers and thugs. Tonight it was… mutated freaks. Quite the escalation.”

  Ethan remained silent for a moment. “Those people, Pierce’s gang, are a side of this city that dwells in the shadows. They’re the worst kind of devils, the kind that do evil just for the pleasure of it. Corrupt politicians can be jailed. Even punks like Raul can be reasoned with. But… scum like Pierce. That’s where the true battle lies.”

  William watched Ethan glance away for a moment.

  “I fear that the longer this war goes on, the more people like Pierce will emerge from the shadows of Crown City.” Ethan took a deep breath. “And the innocent will always pay the price.”

  “But at least tonight was a success. Pierce is—”

  “Success?” Ethan shook his head. “Three men already paid the price before we finally caught Pierce. I hardly call that a success.”

  “You can’t put every murder on your conscious.”

  “It’s my duty. My responsibility. That means the failures are too.”

  Silence followed Ethan’s words as William thought on them. There was no getting to Ethan when he was this moody. Reaching into his pocket, William produced a small photograph. “I think this is the photo you were searching for the other day.”

  “When was I—”

  William held his hand up. “I know you well enough. Maybe this’ll brighten your day at least.”

  Ethan gently took the picture into his slightly bloodied fingers. He stared down at the woman in it. Her black locks hung freely. Her slender figure was covered in a blue dress and her fair-skinned face was strikingly beautiful as she smiled at the camera. Ethan remembered this photo—he remembered capturing it himself when he and Katrina sat at the lake’s shores. The waters were so peaceful that day… everything was peaceful that day. But it all
felt like a dream now. Seeing Katrina smile through the photo, he momentarily forgot all his pain, a part of him again captured in that dream.

  “Thanks, Will.” Ethan tore his gaze away as he gently set the photo beside him. “I don’t think I could do this without you.”

  “I’m sure you’d find a way.”

  Reaching out, Ethan placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. His gaze held a flash of gratitude. “I mean it, Will. Truly. You keep me safe from falling victim to this darkness, keep reminding me that I’m not alone.” Ethan glanced down at Katrina again. “That there is a light waiting for me at the end of this tunnel.”

  “Now you’re making me blush,” William joked. “Hope you’re not going on another patrol.”

  Ethan shook his head. “I’ve got a meeting with Jonathan. One of the officials the law firm was prosecuting—Erik Kane—got away.”

  “So now you’re going to deal with him?”

  “The law had its chance. Now, Kane will have to deal with The Guardian.”

  “If you’re not going to rest, at least sit down for a few more minutes.”

  Rising to his feet, Ethan ignored the statement. “But we did learn something important today.”

  “Other than the fact that sewers really stink?”

  “Mason. We can trust him. He destroyed the tracker as soon as I delivered the doctor to him.”

  “It was a test?”

  Ethan nodded.

  “I guess that’s worth something.”

  “In a city like this, every ally counts.”

  William wordlessly followed his friend towards the display cases.

  “We’ll need every single one we can find if we’re going to win this war. The mission is only beginning. Before it ends, every devil hiding in the shadows will try and stop us.” Stopping in front of one of the displays, Ethan stared at the uniform looking back at him. “And we’re the only ones that can put them down.”