The Formidable Stranger (Trilogy)

Become Thy Enemy

Time was winding down and after spending the last thirty-six hours setting things right with the city it was time to take on his new mission. The company received Tammy with the high recommendation of the CEO and Zao was doing a good job being New York's vigilante. Katherine personally escorted her son to the hangar, the family jet had just been serviced and topped up with fuel and was ready for take-off.

"It seems like you're always leaving these days"

"Yeah mom, I know... But this is it... everything that's happened has led up to this moment, and it's gonna turn out great" He said giving comfort to Katherine.

"Something feels different this time... Call it a mother's intuition"

Casper hugged Katherine tightly and gave her a kiss on the cheek right before they told each other farewell with an "I love you". She watched as he boarded the white aircraft and zoomed off into the air. For the next few hours, he had champagne and watched the world from a distance known by the birds of the air, managing to stay awake for the entire journey the jet touched down in Japan around 8 pm. There was no one to pick him up this time around, instead, he was left to call for a cab. Being fluent in the Japanese language he was able to get around with ease, having his father to thank for that. He checked in at the Hotel Ryumeikan, a famous 3-star hotel with the finest traditional principles.

As Casper got settled into his room, he arranged for room service to be brought up after he would have had the most relaxing bath. Zao gave him the contact of an associate he had within the Shadow Hunters' camp, Arinobu, and after he pleased himself he went to the tea room where he sat down to make the call. The phone rang and went to voicemail the first few times.

"Anata wa kon'ya nan ocha o motsu koto ni narimasu?" Casper looked up at the old Japanese woman who served as a waitress of some sort; she asked him what kind of tea would he be having. "Zencha wa īdarou" he replied which meant zen tea would be nice, the zen tea was famous for meditation and Cas needed it, being sure he would face no easy opponent in pursuit of the Red Dragon. He sat still with his eyes closed as he took a sip from his cup, breathing in and out slowly he cleared his mind of all traffic until he felt the presence of another. Opening his eyes he saw a young man seated before him about the same age as himself. The man introduced himself as Arinobu, skills assessor and Manhunter of the Shadow Hunters. "I did not wish to disturb your meditation," he said to Cas. "I tried calling you, how did you find me?" "I find people for a living Mr. Lee, and it was not wise to tell you what I have to say over the phone" he replied. "Alright, well go on then..." "Dark times are ahead, I like your friend... She has always shown certain tenacity when it comes on to getting things done, however, there is a resistance rising. Its leaders are old testament, men who believe men should be in power and rule everything" "Where can I find these men?" Casper asked eagerly with brute confidence. "Tell me something Casper, do you know why we are called Shadow Hunters?""Enlighten me""It's simple, we hunt shadows... such as yourself. We were all shadow warriors Casper, but that's where rebellion started. Our founding fathers despised the ways of your founding fathers and a division was made, war went on for decades... and here we are again reforming to the root of ourselves, rebelling against our own. Our camp is located underground, in the hills on the west side of the Shadow Warriors. Look for a red flag at these coordinates." He handed him a piece of paper with numbers to follow as he took his leave. "Nothing good ever happens when I get an address on paper," Casper said to himself before finishing his tea. The morning after that he got up ready to go camping, the camps were located far outside of civilization deep within the mountains. Deciding it would be a good idea to be on the safe side and not be murdered for wandering around the environs of the camp unannounced, he visited his old camp first and spoke with the Grandmaster Yakaturi. They walked along the corridors at the peak of dawn as he told him everything, the grandmaster confirmed the stories were true what Arinobu spoke and gave Casper his blessing along with a promise. "If you need any help, anything at all when this all goes to shit.. your brothers are here to aid you" "Thank you, sir" "Now go on, I'm familiar with these coordinates. When you enter the forest on the west side of the mountain look for an area filled with sakura trees with pink leaves. I had no idea they were this close... shit... Anyway, send us a signal if you need us" Cas left the camp of the shadow warriors in pursuit of the hunters. Suspense and anxiety raised his heart beat more than all the hiking he was doing as he anticipated seeing her. For the next forty-five minutes he walked through valleys and bushes of all kind until he arrived at the location, it was indeed filled with about fifty Sakura trees which made it beautiful; pity there was so much corruption beneath the roots. There was an oak tree north of the area that overlooked everything, that's where he set up his tent. For hours he sat down with his hood over his head and sword in hand with a sharp granite stone that he used to sharpen the blade, waiting, for anything to happen that would reveal the entrance to the underground base. Hours passed and nothing happened, and then nightfall came. Deciding to retire for the night, Cas laid down to get some rest as thoughts plagued his mind about what the outcome of all this would be. He began to fall asleep, just seconds before hearing a soft rustle in the bushes outside of the tent, there were two enemies approaching. Somehow they knew there was an uninvited camper in their midst and were sent to investigate and if needed, exterminate. Both of the men dressed in red apparel close marked the tent hoping to get the drop on their visitor. They stood at the front flap of the tent; the first man looked to his accomplice and signaled to open the tent on the count of three. One, two.... Fluuup, the flap opened and there was no one inside which they found rather strange. Leading them to their next basic instinct, they drew their swords and began searching around the area slowly. Casper had evaded them, dressed in his black suit he was easily concealed in the shadows of the night as he hung from a tree above watching their every move and thought to himself "this is my chance".He waited for one of the hunters to stand directly beneath him before releasing himself, in less than two seconds he jumped down behind the enemy and snapped his neck disappearing into the darkness once more. "Waga Ka Miyo!" the other man shouted which translates to "My God!" as he saw his dead friend laying in the bushes, he armed himself more abrasively as he walked around slowly. As he walked past the next tree he came upon on his left he was startled to see a shadow flash before him delivering a power-packed double flying kick to his chest. He fell down and began rolling down the side of the mountain towards the sakuras. Casper dived down with him and grabbed a hold of him, as they rolled together he held onto a tree with one hand and the other to hold tightly onto his enemy. Regaining stability he dragged him back to the top of the secluded area where he had set up camp, the two went at it, Casper noticed he was proving to be an efficient opponent and so wasted no opportunity to put him down. The hunter took one last kick at Cas as he held his foot and slammed him into a tree, driving a knife between his rib cage, not to kill him but to keep him settled. "How do I get into the underground base?"He asked him in Japanese, his intimidating voice changer aiding him.The man answered and told him to screw himself, a bad choice on his behalf as Casper twisted the blade of the knife scraping away what was left of his ribs. "Ahhhhhgg! OK! OK! Between the seventh and eighth sakura, there is a rope buried beneath the dirt, pull it and the door will open" "Thank you, now rest in peace," Cas said with vengeance as he withdrew the knife and stabbed him again underneath his neck, the blade of the knife could be seen cutting through his tongue and continued up into his head. He buried the two bodies deep after stealing their clothes. "I'll need a disguise to get in," he said. By this time it was after midnight, and he made his move. Stashing away his own clothes and weapons in the soil as well, east of the tent, he followed the instructions of the dead hunter. When he pulled on the roped hidden in the dirt, a drop door opened about a yard away which revealed a staircase that went down into the earth. "Never thought this would be my way to hell" Going down into the secret base he pulled another rope on the inside and the door was shut again. Most of the Shadow Hunters were asleep by this, only the watchmen were roaming around. Cas wandered around with no clue where to go, until he was seen. "Hey you, what are you doing roaming around at this hour," a guard said as he approached him."Oh, sorry, I'm looking for Arinobu he said to meet him for a game of cards... I know he too doesn't sleep as early as the rest of the world" Cas said trying to bypass the guard, hoping he was speaking accurate lies. "Take off your mask" He looked at the guard and thought twice, but decided to play it cool anyway. He unmasked himself. "You don't look familiar, when were you transferred here?" "This week, my good friend Arinobu put in a good word for me" "I see... well, I don't think.." "Hey!" a familiar voice interrupted him as they turned to see Arinobu "There you are" he said. The guard released custody of him as he walked with Arinobu to his office not far from there. "Thanks for saving me back there, think he was catching on" "Yeah, much like the other guards he too is a key element in the resistance that's coming. Keep your mask off, this place is filled with too many people the guards won't know if you belong or not so just be yourself.. or try to be one of us I guess" Casper heeded his words. "I'll take you to her now, it's probably best to talk to her now before the sun rises" Cas followed Arinobu as he led him to the south wing, the drug preservatory. "This is it, she sleeps here alone, her men have rooms in other sections of the base but she rather to stay close to the red dragon""Thank you, Arinobu" "What you do beyond this point is on you, I have completed my duty" the Man Hunter said departing. As they parted ways Cas entered the Red Dragon's abode, there was a room with a wall that could be seen through as he looked and saw a beautiful young woman lying on the bed. He entered the room quietly but she was too skilled to not sense his presence. "Who goes there? This is my time of rest" the voice of Penelope Shanae, which sent chills down his spine. "What was that you said, if I find you, you'd know that it's fate?" She was surprised at what she heard! Looking up slowly from her pillow she said "Cas? How? ... " He walked around to her side of the bed and kneeled in front of her as she sat up straight with teary eyes and a face of further confusion. "I found you and I'm here to do good on my promise" "Baby, you shouldn't have come to this place, you'll die here" she said. "I had no choice, listen to me you're in danger.. There's a resistance rising up planning to kill you and Saski Ramatta, I don't know when they will strike but it will be soon." "What? Where did you hear that?" "An old friend came to visit me back home, from here, Arinobu told him" "If this is true then I can't rest here another night, we have to find Saski and warn him before they slit his throat in his sleep" "Whatever you wish, I know he's important to you but promise me after that you will run with me" Casper begged. She kissed him and pressed her forehead against his before answering "I can't, not yet, they'll never stop hunting me... I honor my words though, you did find me...something I thought impossible. I will kill every last one of them Casper.. and then, I will not run but walk freely with you wherever you go." "Home, we'll go home... and if that's what it takes we'll kill them all, together" he said, "Let's go find your guy." Saski was asleep in the main rooms, guarded by a few of his best men. Penny got herself together before walking with Casper to find Saski Ramatta. In just a few minutes they arrived, she left Casper on the outside while she passed the guards and entered his room for a while. A few minutes later and she walked out with her master, a tall man about 58 years old but strong as a bull. "This is the man who comes to us with such claims, why should I believe you?" he asked Casper as the three of them walked together through the hallways."I have a good friend from training back in the day who came all the way to New York to warn me to warn you, and if you're wondering how I got in here, Arinobu, your top hunter and skills assessor aided me, this is no joke Mr. Ramatta" "Very well, we must get somewhere safe" "If I may, there's a whole camp of good guys uphill" "Shadow Warriors? No way" he said knowing the fact that they were born enemies "Leaving one slaughterhouse for another." Cas touched him on the shoulder and reassured him "You're with me, it'll be okay, they already know everything" "We should go" Penelope added "It's not safe here either way" He eventually agreed and so they went, not packing any belongings they moved quickly toward the door that led to above ground. Before making their narrow escape, an obstacle appeared. The same guard that stopped Casper earlier stepped out in front of the three. "I know you didn't belong here, and you two... with him" "Stand down son," said Saski. The guard held up his hand as he spoke through a microphone "They know" but before he could continue, Saski Ramatta threw forth his right hand and a long metallic type of weaponry came out of his sleeve; it moved like a snake still attached to his hand and about ten feet long with a blade at the end. Latching the snake blades into the neck of the guard and locking them it crushed his windpipe as Saski threw him into the wall before retracting the weapon back into his sleeve and allowing the guard to bleed out. They ran as alarms were raised and there was uproar in the underground base, they made it above ground where they ran breathlessly to get to the Shadow Warriors' camp. "Go on! I have to get my gear, I'll hold them off" Casper yelled. Digging up his equipment he changed into the appropriate apparel and armed himself effectively, using a flare gun he sent up a single flare thirty feet into the air giving a signal to his brothers uphill. Hunters came roaring out of the earth and as they came they fell by throwing stars and knives out of the darkness. They couldn't see anything but blades taking them out one by one."Retreat, Retreat!" one voice shouted as they fell back into the abyss of their base and sealed the door. Casper made his way uphill where he rejoined Penelope and Saski Ramatta. Moments later they were met by Yakaturi and seven shadow warriors who took them to camp and provided safe refuge.