"Alright," Virgil muttered, squaring his shoulders. "Lady Ninja, you asked for it."
He fired a quick bolt, testing her reflexes. The lightning ripped through the air with a crack like snapping glass. She tilted her head a fraction, letting the bolt sear past her cheek, and didn't flinch. The street behind her smoked where it struck.
Virgil blinked. "You didn't even blink? Come on!"
Her smirk deepened beneath the mask. "Slow."
That one word stung more than the missed shot. Virgil clenched his fists, sparks sparking brighter. "Okay. You asked for fast."
He zipped forward on his saucer, darting low before popping up to send an electromagnetic pulse at her midsection. The surge exploded outward in a dazzling flare, rattling the chain-link fence around the lot.
She leapt effortlessly, her body cutting a perfect arc over the blast and flipping once before landing silently behind him.
Virgil spun, eyes wide. "What—"
A palm strike drove into his ribs before he could finish. The blow knocked the air from his lungs and sent him staggering sideways on his saucer. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself steady.
"Damn… you hit like a truck."
She circled, hands loose, breathing calmly. "You're loud. Predictable. Power without control."
"Oh, I've got control," Virgil shot back. He lifted both hands, crackling arcs jumping between his palms. "Check this."
He clapped his hands together, releasing a thunderclap of raw energy. The shockwave slammed outward, tearing cracks in the pavement.
This time, she didn't dodge completely. She let it catch her shoulder as she twisted aside. Her body skidded lightly over the ground, sandals scraping, before she reset into stance. The faintest scorch marked her sleeve.
Virgil grinned. "Gotcha."
But she just chuckled as she brushed her clothes. "Cute."
Then she vanished.
Virgil blinked. One moment she was in front of him, the next... behind. Her heel snapped into his back before he could turn, sending him lurching forward. He spun, trying to track her, but she was already moving again, slipping in and out of shadow like smoke.
Every strike was precise. A jab to the shoulder. A sweep at his knee. A flick of her wrist against his temple. None were crippling, but each one stung and pushed him further off balance.
"Yo, you playing tag or actually fighting me?" Virgil snapped, frustration bleeding into his tone. Sparks popped around his fists as he blocked a kick against his forearm.
She leaned close, her voice a whisper against his ear. "I don't waste effort on children."
Virgil's temper flared. He blasted a shockwave outward point-blank, but she'd already ghosted back, letting the electricity ripple past harmlessly.
"Gah!" He dragged his hand down his face. "Man, Richie is never gonna let me live this down if I get clowned by a ninja in pajama pants."
She tilted her head, amused. "You think jokes hide your fear."
Virgil narrowed his eyes. "Nah. They hide the fact I'm about to wreck you."
He shot upward, riding his saucer higher into the night sky. From the vantage point, he raised both hands and called every volt he could gather. The air grew hot and dry, streetlights buzzing as his field expanded. Sparks danced wildly, until a miniature thundercloud seemed to form around him.
"Let's see you dodge THIS!" he shouted.
A storm of bolts rained down, sizzling across the asphalt, the fence, the rooftops nearby. The air cracked and glowed with the ferocity of a dozen lightning strikes.
Poof! She dropped a smoke bomb, obstructing his view.
When the smoke cleared, the street was scarred with blackened streaks, chunks of asphalt blown apart.
But the ninja wasn't in the crater.
"Where the hell—"
A shadow dropped from above. She'd used the chaos and smoke to grapple herself to the light post. Her feet touched the top of the post as she shot straight at Virgil at an inhumane speed. Her kick smashed into his chest, knocking him clean off his saucer.
"Ungh!" Virgil hit the pavement hard, rolling until sparks caught under his palms and he slowed himself down. His ribs burned, his head rang.
She landed lightly a few feet away, straightening as if she hadn't even exerted herself. Her voice was calm, taunting. "Raw power. No discipline. Easy to manipulate. It would seem you didn't have a master to teach you how to control your power."
Virgil pushed himself up, wiping blood from his lip. He glared at her. "Lady, I don't care who trained you. You're in Dakota now, and this is MY turf. You don't get to walk in and clown me."
He slammed his palms together, pulling every scrap of magnetic energy he could muster. Metal screamed as manhole covers ripped free from the street, pipes groaned in the ground, and even the chain-link fence wrenched forward.
The air became a storm of debris orbiting him, blades of jagged scrap metal floating like a spiked halo.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. For the first time, she shifted her stance. "Better."
"Yeah," Virgil growled. "Now dodge this."
He thrust his arms forward and unleashed a torrent of spinning debris laced with electricity. Steel shards and magnetized bolts flew like shrapnel, wrapped in crackling arcs.
She moved. Fast, but not careless. Every dodge was precise. A backflip carried her over a rusted pipe. A twist of her arm redirected a manhole cover just wide of her ribs. She wove through the storm like water flowing downhill, never fighting harder than she had to.
But even so, a bolt kissed her hip, burning through fabric. She hissed faintly, staggering for the first time.
Virgil grinned through his exhaustion. "Oh yeah, now we're cooking."
Her smirk returned, sharper now. "Don't get cocky."
In the blink of an eye, she closed the distance. Virgil raised his electro field as her fist slammed into his gut. But for some reason, he couldn't maintain his power. The shield disappeared and he felt the pain. The wind whooshed from his lungs. She grabbed his jacket, spun, and hurled him across the street like he weighed nothing.
He crashed into a parked car, the alarm blaring as sparks burst across the hood.
Virgil groaned as his body twitched uselessly against the hood of the car. Sparks tried to leap off his palms, but they fizzled instantly, like damp matches. His muscles wouldn't respond. It was like his nerves had been unplugged. He couldn't move a damn thing except his mouth and his eyes.
"What… did you do to me?" he forced out in a hoarse voice.
The ninja walked slowly and stopped just short of him and crouched, tilting her head. Then her hand rose, tugging at the edge of her mask.
When it slid down, Virgil's breath caught for a whole different reason.
Black hair spilled loose, framing a face too sharp and striking to belong to someone who had just knocked him senseless. Her eyes gleamed green, cold but alive with amusement. For a second, he forgot his ribs, his useless limbs, everything except how unfair it was that someone trying to kill him looked like she'd just stepped out of a magazine cover.
"It was fun, kiddo," she said softly, a mocking sweetness in her tone.
Virgil swallowed, forcing words past his dry throat. "Fun? Lady, you just turned me into a crash-test dummy."
Her lips quirked into the faintest smile. "A little paralyzing poison. Nothing deadly. You'll be up in a few minutes." She leaned in, so close he could see the flecks of gold in her irises. "Consider it… a lesson."
Virgil tried to laugh, but it came out more like a pained cough. "Yeah? Lesson one: don't piss off a ninja in pajama pants."
Her smile widened, though her eyes stayed icy. "Clever mouth. You remind me of someone I used to know." She straightened, resting her hands lightly on her hips. "Too bad you lack the discipline."
Virgil grit his teeth. "Don't tell me you wanna teach me instead of body-slamming me into Toyotas. Who the hell are you?"
The remark earned him a chuckle, a low, dangerous sound. She reached over her shoulder, drawing the short blade strapped across her back. Its steel caught the streetlight, gleaming cold. She lowered the tip until it pressed lightly against his throat.
Her smirk was gone now. Her expression was that of a cold and emotionless killer. "Name's Karai. Remember it. Next time, don't get in our way. Or else…" She pushed the blade just enough to make him feel the cold bite of metal. "You'll die a meaningless death."
Virgil held her gaze, sweat pricking his forehead. "Thanks for not stabbing me now. That looks dangerous."
She sheathed the sword in one fluid motion, faster than a blink.
Behind her, shadows rippled as the rest of the masked ninjas returned, dropping silently from the rooftops. They landed in formation, their bodies low and ready, but Karai raised one hand without looking back. Instantly, they stilled.
Virgil struggled, groaning as he tried to push himself off the car. His arms jerked weakly, but they betrayed him, collapsing uselessly. "Damn it…"
Karai crouched again, close enough that her hair brushed against his cheek. "Relax. Like I said, the paralysis will fade. You'll be fine." Her whisper turned sly. "But next time, you might not be."
He clenched his jaw, fighting to keep her from seeing the fear he felt in his chest. "Next time, I'll be ready."
"See that you are." She rose, her back to the moonlight now, casting her in silhouette. Then she tossed something small at his chest. It clinked against his jacket and rolled into his lap. A throwing star.
Virgil blinked down at it. "A souvenir?"
Karai's eyes glinted. "A warning."
She flicked her wrist, dropping a smoke bomb at her feet. Thick gray mist exploded outward, swallowing the street in an instant. When it cleared, she and the ninjas were gone.
Virgil coughed against the acrid haze, his throat dry. He tried again to push himself up, but his body still wouldn't answer. Only his jaw worked. "Real smooth, Hawkins. Outclassed, outmatched, and all you got was a name and a ninja business card."
The car alarm finally died, leaving the street eerily silent. He lay there, chest heaving, staring up at the flickering streetlamp. His fingers twitched faintly—life creeping back into them. The paralysis was loosening its grip.
Groaning, he rolled weakly to his side, clutching the shuriken Karai had left. Its edge glinted like her smirk had. Dangerous and cold.
"Karai…" he muttered. "Lady, you better believe… I'm not letting you get away with this."
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