Editor's Note: This is the ninth installment of an 11-part short story written by Shawn Smith, a junior English major from Keene, N.H. A new installment will be presented in each issue of The Norwich Guidon during the 2001-02 school year.

Reality's End

by Shawn Smith

Part 9

"Get out of here! Go on! Get out, stupid fool!" A large man, probably American by the sound of his accent, hollered at me after I appeared in the middle of his living room.

I really needed to work on my control over space and distance. I quickly bowed and made my way to the nearest door.

"Not that way, damn you! This way!" He pointed his stubby finger at a door across from me. The bottle of beer in his hand jiggled as he gestured.

"Excuse me." I bowed once again as I tried to contain my already aggravated temper.

"Get your old body out of here, you freak!"

I refrained from any use of my ability on this obviously ignorant and quite obese man and walked toward the door that he pointed to. At least my disguise worked on him; he didn't even realize that I was only twenty-four.

"If I were you, I'd move a lot faster, pal. A lot faster," he sneered as I passed him.

I couldn't take it. It's one thing to become angry when someone disturbs your home, but when that person apologizes that should be the end of it. My face got red and I placed my right hand on the hilt of the katana at my left side.

"What the-"

Before he even formed the next word, I drew my sword and placed the blade's edge at his throat.

"Perhaps you should calm down, sir, before you give yourself a heart attack." My tone was sharp and cold as I stared him down.

He tried to nod, but remembered that the blade was dangerously close to his jugular vein. A few blinks of his eyes and the stream of urine that puddled around his leg were all the answers I needed.

"Good." I sheathed the sword and reached over to open the door. "One more thing, though," I said in a calm voice. I rushed forward and grabbed his head between my hands. His mind was extremely weak compared to the ones I had entered back at the monastery. Erasing his memories of me would be no trouble at all. The images in his mind faded and drifted away, but my influence was too much of a strain on him. I let go and he plopped down on the floor. He was still alive, just unconscious. There was no way I'd wake him up again, so I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

Everything was dingy and smelt of odors that I couldn't immediately identify. The rugs were torn up and paint from long ago peeled from ceiling to floor. Wires hung like vines from light fixtures, ready to ensnare any unsuspecting victim that happened by. Who would live in such a place? I know it had only been a year since I had seen the outside world, but I never expected this kind of squalor.

I pressed ahead and found a staircase. I didn't feel comfortable opening another portal, so I had no choice but to search for my parents on foot for a while. Once I reached the streets, I would try to locate them through their individual life forces. That might prove difficult, but my options were limited.

Ten minutes later, I had reached the ground floor of this poor excuse for a housing complex. Even the lobby area was an abomination, and I left as quickly as I had entered. I couldn't stand being in that place for that much time or else I'd become ill. Not from the smell, but the fact that people were forced to live like animals in there. If I had the power, I said to myself, I would change all that.

It was early in the evening, 6:42 PM to be exact, as I walked down the sidewalk in downtown Tokyo. It had been so long since I'd seen any part of the city that I didn't remember any street names or locations. All I knew that I had never been to this part of town before and had no intentions of returning. I began to focus my ability on my parents' individual essences, but the effort almost made me pass out. My stomach tossed and turned, but all I got from my scans was only a sense of direction that might hopefully lead me to them. I knew that they were in an apartment building somewhere downtown, but I couldn't place it in my head. There were just too many people in the city for me to block out.

While I walked along the street, Looks of curiosity followed me wherever I went. I didn't think my clothes were that out of the ordinary, but then I remembered the rather large sack on my shoulder. I had to put it somewhere for safekeeping. I ducked down an alley and deposited the sack in the far corner as I removed the knives, throwing stars, and fighting sticks from it. My ability allowed me to completely mask the sack in the shadows while a bubble of energized air protected it from any intrusion by outsiders. I pocketed and secured the various weapons in my trench coat and continued forward. I still had most of the day to go, but I preferred to find my mother and father while there was some daylight left. I'd move them out during the night, but only under the right conditions.

That got me to thinking. The right conditions? Yes, a lack of Aurelian presence in the area would definitely be the right conditions I needed. Another thing bothered me: if Master Orin-Tsung had been under their control, what kept the Aurelians away from the monastery? I doubted that it had anything to do with respect for the Brotherhood, so what was it? More to the point, who would protect the Brothers once an invasion had begun? The monastery was no longer a safe haven, and if that was true, then there were no more safe havens anywhere on Earth. Damn, what was I going to do? A slight bump on my arm woke me from my thoughts.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" a pedestrian that I must have bumped into yelled.

"Beg your pardon," I said as I bowed.

She said nothing as I noticed she was Caucasian, like me. She kept on walking to wherever she was going without another word.

"Where am I?" I said aloud. This whole city seemed totally foreign to me now.

I walked past a movie theater where they displayed a movie entitled Natural Born Killers as a recent release. With the most recent battle with Orin-Tsung still on my mind, I had to resist the urge to spit on the movie's poster. The strange and casual look on the actor's face made me wonder what kind of movie this was. 'The media made them superstars,' the poster read. I shook my head and continued on.

There was a group of young men assaulting someone on the ground just past an alleyway down the street. They easily outnumbered the person and the loud laughs and shouts didn't phase anyone that walked by. I ran over and threw several of them off their victim, which caused the rest to turn their attention toward me. All eight of them were Oriental men in their late teens and early twenties, and by their general appearance, looked to be in some kind of street gang. I circled them and protected the victim, a very old man most likely in his seventies, while he crawled away slowly.

"Leave this man alone," I said to them.

One of them moved in closer as his companions laughed at my comment. "Leave him alone, huh? You think you're Superman?" he mocked. "Tell you what, old man, why don't you just hand over all your cash and we'll leave you alone. If not, we're gonna mess . . . you . . . up." With those last words, the rest of the gang egged on their apparent leader and produced various weapons-nunchakus, switchblades, pipes, the garden-variety gang weapons.

I sensed the tension not only in the air, but in the men as well. I could feel their more than abundant egos being drenched with overcharged hormones. "I'd be happy to give you any money that I might have," I began, "but I don't have any right now. Maybe some other time."

"Maybe you didn't hear me, old man! I said-"

"I know exactly what you said," I answered in my normal voice, no longer disguised by magick, "but I told you that I didn't have any. Why don't you hit the road, my friend, before you end up hurt."

"What? Are you crazy, man? Yo, Hiro! Screw this sucker up!"

The one named Hiro came forward and whipped a pair of nunchakus all around him. I was really not impressed and sent a small amount of my ability at the weapons, enough so they would just happen to smack the side of his head and groin as he attempted to intimidate me.

"Wha-what's this?" the leader gasped as Hiro rolled into a fetal position as he clutched his testicles. "Get that sucker!"

I drew the katana and entered an accelerated time stream as six of them charged. Their leader stayed back, probably to wait until I was too weak to strike. Three of them were taken down with simple kicks and a hit to the face with the hilt of my sword. One tried to hit me across the chest with a lead pipe, but I cut it in half and sent him into a wall with a side kick. I knocked the last two unconscious with strikes to their temples; I'm sure all they saw was a streak of clothing, followed by quick pain and a loss of vision before they even hit the ground. The leader, now alone, was holding a knife in his trembling hand as I was coming up to him.

"H-h-h-hey, man, look! No harm, no f-f-f-foul, right? Hey, come on, man!" He was scared out of his mind. He dropped the knife and held his hands in the air. "Look, no weapons! I got nothin, man!"

I rushed forward with my katana held horizontally near my throat. My motion blew a good amount of wind in his face as the blade rested gently on his neck. My body grew heavy as I returned to normal time. "Take your friends and get off this street. If I see you again, I'll cut your head off. Clear?"

"Yeah, no problem, man!" He backed away from the edge of the blade and ran down the street as fast as he could.

I sheathed the sword and left the other six to deal with their injuries. None of them were badly hurt, just bloody and disoriented. I, on the other hand, felt extremely disillusioned and out of touch with the outside world for much longer than a year. "What kind of world is this?" I asked myself, my voice now altered again. I massaged my forehead and resumed my pace.

A phone booth was on a street corner a few paces from me. A grin formed on my face. I had an idea. The phonebook inside was somewhat intact and would, with a little luck, help me locate my parents that much quicker. I closed the door shut and thumbed through the heavy book. "I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. Could've saved a lot of time," I said aloud as I ran my finger down the listings for S. There it was. Thomas and Jennifer Sands, it read. My parents were still here in Tokyo. I carefully tore the page out and exited the booth.

A taxicab zoomed by and splashed through a deep puddle in front of me. By pure instinct, I caused the water to hang suspended in the air while I got out the way. The effect passed and the water to resume its original course.

"Dammit!" I cursed loudly. I had to keep a low profile and to do so meant not to use so much magick. Master Akagi's teachings about keeping our ability a secret from the Unaware had to be upheld, even in this dire situation. The rest of the world must be kept from the truth about our powers or else everyone would start to panic. As the Unaware, they can never know the truth. I slapped my hand against my forehead and stood on the edge of the sidewalk.

Another taxi rounded the corner down a ways from where I was. It was heading toward me and I knew this was the fastest way to reach my parents.

"Hey, taxi!" I hailed. At least I remembered how to do that.

It didn't slow down and I shouted again. Nothing.

"The hell with it. I'm running out of time." I focused my ability and the taxi's brakes slowly came on as I had full control of the vehicle. The front wheels turned and the cab came to a stop right at my feet. I opened the door and took a seat.

"What happened? Wha-what?" the cabbie stuttered.

"Must be my lucky day, and yours, too. Take me to this address, please." I handed him the page.

"No, no. This is not my route. Find another cab."

He wasn't making it easy for me. I closed the door and he turned around to look at me. "Listen, old man-"

"Be quiet," I said sternly as I manipulated his mind. There were no barriers like the ones the Brothers had. His mind was an open book, and I could read everything there was inside.

"Yessir." He was very civil now and blinked his eyes rapidly as I continued to control him.

"Now, you will take me to this address and you won't question me again, right?"

"Of course, sir. Whatever you want."

What I wanted he couldn't give me, but he could get me closer. "Go ahead and drive. Drive normally and carefully, though. I don't want to have an accident."

"Yessir," he said as he steered the taxi back onto the street. He accelerated and we were on our way.

Then, I felt it. A strange sensation that only accompanied those with my ability. I sensed the presence of magick being used to find . . . me? Yes, there it was. Another scan. It was blocked easily, and I assumed that whoever it was that tried to find me was much weaker than I. Still, for some reason, the scans were persistent and right on target.

Forty-five minutes passed until the cab reached the apartment complex that my parents currently lived in. I thanked the driver and scanned his mind one last time.

"Here you go, my friend. Enjoy yourself." A quick surge of energy created the American twenty dollar bills I handed him, ten in all. Luckily, the cabbie retained the memory of what both sides of a twenty dollar bill looked like as I was able to duplicate it exactly each time. It was a lot easier than dealing with yen, that was for sure.

"Oh! Oh! Thank you, sir! Thank you very much!" His face was lit up and his smile was rather broad.

"No, thank you. Sayonara," I said as I closed the door. The taxi drove off with a short squeal of tires and tiny cloud of exhaust. My hold over his mind would end in about five minutes or so, but all the cabbie would remember was an old man in the back of his taxi who was a big tipper.

I looked up at the monolithic building and stood in awe. Tinted windows climbed just as high as the black-colored building did as the exterior sported huge black marble statues of lions and dragons with an enormous water fountain in the front. Expensive cars were rushing in and out of the adjacent parking garage quicker than I could keep up with. I realized that I still was on the sidewalk and created an obstruction to others around me, so I wandered over to the main entrance as the curious scans got stronger by the second. I thought the scans might be from the Aurelians, trying to locate both me and my parents to use as leverage against the Brotherhood, so I decided to backtrack a little until it was safer. As I headed down the street, the scans didn't decrease in intensity, but actually felt much more intense. Was I being tracked?

Quickly darting through the crowd of people, I was finding it harder to block out the scans. They were getting closer and closer as time went on, and I had a hard time concentrating on what I was doing. A faint whisper entered my ears, not from a person near me, but from the scans themselves. I clamped down on my teeth and took off down an alley where I hugged the wall with my back. My powers enveloped me in a cloak of darkness as I drew in shadows from all corners of the alley. The scans flowed right over me as I blocked them out, but still focused on their origin. It was close now, very close.

A female figure walked by the alley, then backed up. She proceeded down toward me, but she apparently couldn't see or sense where I was. Just as good that she didn't; I had my hand ready to draw the katana at a moment's notice. She came within arms length of me when I realized who it was. I dropped my hands slowly before I grabbed her arm and spun her around to face me.

The shadows melted and fell from my body as I stepped away from the wall, my grip still on her arm. "Kumiko, what are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Is that any way to greet someone, David?" she giggled as she tried to put her free arm around me.

I pushed her away with a cross look on my face. She was puzzled by my sudden change of demeanor toward her by the way she crinkled her thin eyebrows together. I wasn't in the mood for romance right now, only to make sure my parents were safe and sound. "You think this is some kind of game? I defied the High Master's orders by coming here because I knew it was the right thing to do. Why did you come, huh? Did you come here for a few kisses and a big hug?" My voice got louder and more cross the longer I spoke. "You thought wrong! Besides, I told you to stay with Kenji-san! Why are you here?"

"I wanted to help you, to be with you. I can't explain it, but you're a part of me and I don't want it to slip away. Please say that you're a part of me, too. Please!" Her eyes were big and glistening with infatuation, but I knew that's all it was. She was, after all, only nineteen and had been living in the monastery for several years without any real physical contact. I could understand how those factors could evolve into the present situation, but I wasn't in the mood for any woman that simply worshiped the ground I walked on. I needed something more, or did I? I was badly confused by all these emotions that ran through my mind.

"Kumiko, I would like very much to be with you. But right now I need to help my parents. I need to know if they're okay. Do you understand?"

"Of course I do!" she said with that same glint in her eyes. Was that just infatuation or something more?
I placed my hands on the sides of her face and rested my forehead on the top of hers. As soon as she sighed, I probed her mind. Through every nook and cranny, I searched. Finally, I found what I was looking for, or what I knew was missing. The hypnotic suggestion that I placed in her mind was replaced by another, that being a command to search me out and return with me back to the monastery. It was given by none other than High Master Jensen herself.

"David, what are you doing? No! Stop, you're not supposed to . . ." She let out a bloodcurdling scream that I promptly silenced with a mental push.

"Sshh. It's okay. It'll be all right, Kumiko." I disassembled the new suggestion as best I could, but some of it still remained. The High Master's mind was very strong and I couldn't fully counteract her powers yet.

"Oh, David. Just hold me and don't let go."

I squeezed her and put my finger under her chin. As I raised her head, I lost myself in her eyes. The bond between us was so strong I wasn't sure that even death could separate us. I kissed her with a passion that I never allowed myself to experience before. Our bodies became as one as we wrapped our arms around each other and caressed for who knows how long. It didn't matter. I needed someone and Kumiko was exactly what I wanted and longed for at that moment.

Finally, we managed to pull ourselves away and focus on what the next step should be. Since she was the source of the scans, I felt more at ease about any sort of Aurelian interference. I didn't anticipate any violent confrontations, so I decided that we should enter the apartment complex without delay. Kumiko agreed, but I wasn't convinced that she was ready for any trouble we might run into.

"What weapons did you bring?" I asked her bluntly.

"I didn't bring any. I didn't think I would need any."

I reached into my coat, produced two tantos - miniature versions of the katana- and handed them to her. "Hold these." She did so and I used an effect to duplicate the belt that I wore around me to hold the sheath. When the belt was complete, I wrapped it around her waist and cinched it closed. "Give me the tantos, please." I placed the sheaths on the belt on either side of her and tied them as I had done mine.

"Are you sure about this?" She looked very unsure.

"Yes. I want you to be able to defend yourself if we do run into anything. Just be ready and use them only if you're sure you can wield them properly. Okay?"

She nodded enthusiastically and I gave her nose a little peck with my lips. Thankfully, she wore a trench coat over her other clothing so the small swords could be hidden until she needed them.

"Let's go," I said as I put my hand on her back to usher her forward.

We walked side-by-side back up to the building's main entrance. I spotted a doorman and anticipated any resistance he might give us when we got close enough. A small effect sent enough of my powers to force his mind to believe that we were tenants here. The glass doors slid open when we stepped on the grey carpet in front. The doorman tipped his hat at us with a smile. Kumiko returned it while I remained stoic.

"Come on, Kumiko. Let's move quickly. I don't want to waste a lot of time." My voice was low so she'd be the only one who would hear it.

She giggled again. "Always in a rush, aren't you?"

I glared at her as I seized her left hand with my right. "Just keep moving, okay?"

Her smile diminished. A simple nod was the only reply she'd give me. I kept a close eye on the tantos as one of the hilts popped out from beneath the edge of the coat as we walked through the lobby. There were people everywhere and chances were good that someone would eventually spot the weapons even if just one was visible.

The lobby area was decked out with large, plush red couches and chairs. The marble floor reflected the overhead lights so well that the entire floor looked like a continuous, smooth glare. Several grey columns rose to the top of the white cathedral ceiling, where a huge crystal chandelier hung brilliantly. The reception desk was a sculpted black marble desk, and four sets of eyes followed us as we walked to the elevators. I applied the same effect I had used on the doorman on them, and they paid no further notice to us.

"Kumiko, make sure the tantos are well hidden. Don't let anyone see them until you need to," I projected to her mind.

She looked at me and winked. Her hands came across the opening in the trench coat and I knew she understood. As we reached the elevators and I pushed an up button, she winked again. I forced a smile on my lips and she stuck her tongue out at me.

The up arrow above the elevator lit up as the ding signaled that the black doors were about to open. We stood to either side of them as they opened wide to let the people inside spill out into the lobby area.

"Ready?" I asked her.

"Uh-huh. Always," she replied in a cocky voice.

I smirked as I shuffled her inside the metallic elevator. We looked at each other and I jumped when she pinched one of my butt cheeks.

"Don't be so uptight, dear," Kumiko said with a mischievous grin as the doors closed.

At 8:20 PM, we arrived on the thirty-third floor. My parents' apartment was number 3382 and we were only in the mid-teens. I looked left, then right as I tried to figure out the sequence the rooms went by. My concentration was interrupted by a tug on my sleeve as Kumiko pointed down the hall to my left.

"It's this way, David. Down here."

I nodded and motioned for her to lead the way. She did and I followed close behind as my mind constantly absorbed the information from my scans of the area. I wanted to make sure that we had a plausible escape route if things got out of hand. Unfortunately, the only ways out were that elevator and the nearby staircase. Not knowing what to expect, I didn't reshape my face to its normal structure quite yet. There was still the possibility that someone would recognize me and alert either the Aurelians or anybody else that was on the lookout.

Once we found the right door, I knocked twice. No response. I knocked again, this time louder. Still nothing.

"No answer. Are we too late?" Kumiko asked quietly.

I held my index finger up in the air to silence her while I concentrated. The combination of life and mind magick usually allowed me to sense not only organic forms, but also the thoughts of intelligent life. This time, I didn't feel any such presence.

"David?"

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 10

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