A Light in the Darkness

A Light in the Darkness1

The vague smell of recently peculated coffee hovered in the stale air. The coffee was what kept them, the guards, awake you know. Though it was cheap and tasted like the plastic chairs they sat on, it did its job.2

A black guard got up heavily. The weight from his body kept him from being able to get up too quickly. Now, mind you, this was not because he was obese, but more due to the fact that he was in prime physical condition. It was a necessity for his job, you see. “Must be in prime physical condition, must complete the Physical Standards List.”  That’s exactly what the job offer said seven years ago when it came in the mail. And here he was, meeting “the physical standards”, in “prime condition”, and on his lunch break. His lunch break that was way too short, that is. Not the long one, the one with no limits what-so-ever, that the Silver, higher-rank guards had.3

Their employer strode purposefully into the coffee room. “C’mon, lads. Get your asses up and outta here. Now. You’re not getting paid to sit around and eat. Go.”4

That would be the Striker as she was known around here, their drop-dead-gorgeous female boss. Now, when a man gets recruited usually his first move is to hit on her. I mean, who wouldn’t. She’s a “figure-8”, big chest, and long red hair that cascades down her back. Not to mention her outfit. Darn thing was incredibly…. tight. But, like I was saying, their first move would be to hit on her. And of course, like any girl I know, her first move would be to establish her place. Establishing her place to the Striker, usually involved something along the lines of bruises, broken bones, blood and of course, “sick days”. But after all that was done, everyone settled back to there place on the food chain: men = bottom, Striker = top. But enough with the description, back to the story.5

“You’d think that with all the trouble we go through that we’d at least get a longer lunch break,” the black guard muttered his breath.6

One of the younger, more immature guards overheard his muttering. “Yah, why can’t our break be longer?” 7

A couple of laughs from the other guards filled the room.8

“Quit playing and get work,” Striker snapped at the guards, her face filled with a familiar look of disgust. “If you don’t listen I’ll get the Master to come and make you himself.” A kind of silence settled down upon the Black guards, this threat of the Master ringing in their ears. The Striker waited a minute letting it all sink in. 9

“Get back to work”, she said again. The men slowly got up and went back to their posts. Not a guard had the courage to utter a word. Satisfied, she turned and left, and business continued. 10

Not a guard had laid eyes on this Master, nor been in his presence. But he was feared. Striker was his second in command, but even she had not seen him. 11

It was rumored, no told, that the Master was a horrid man, twisted and bent in evil ways. It was said he was cruel, not a piece of his heart not hardened, not a thought wasted on anyone else, but himself and his…plans. It was also said that he had power, power beyond what any human could begin to comprehend. Perhaps that is why he was feared. But then, perhaps not. The ‘why’ of fear is not reason at all, but more of a sense, a sense of something…more. 12

You will hear the guards talk of him, of these tales of horror that surround him. They fear. But even then, in that moment of fear, they do not admit it, this greater fear. They do not admit to their friends, fellow guards, or even to themselves. This greater fear stalks them. They feel it in there very bones, their core, and they cannot shake it. That is what scares them. It lurks in the dark, waiting to strike. They feel its presence. You feel it too, don’t you? You feel this presence…of Evil.13

Water fell from the sky. Lightning streaked, thunder screamed. A few innocence bystanders of the storm tried to keep themselves from being completely soaked, though their efforts were in vain. Some went into the nearest shelter they could find. Others continued to their original destination. Soon the street was completely cleared of these strangers, only a small number of cars dared to be out. A silence seemed to sweep over this place. The only sound was made by the rain and the thunder; the only movement, lightning. The city seemed to almost cease its activity, to hold its breath waiting for the storm to call off its raid. But the storm did not stop. It went on…14

A raging wind tore through the air, seeming to have somewhere it needed to be. But you never know, maybe it did. 15

Soft padded feet made its way down the street. A lone figure walked. To anyone passing by, she might have looked as a normal person would, nothing out of the ordinary. But if one were to take a closer look they would have seen a face unlike any other they had seen before. They would have seen a light in her eyes, not like the light of achievement or excitement, nor like the light of happiness, but the light of a sort of freedom found only in a wandering soul. You see, this woman is the Wanderer, that is how she has asked me to address her. Her name is Kimi, but to you, and to Evil itself, she is known as Unigon.16

Funny how stories always seem to come back to the beginning. But c’mon, you have to admit the guards are…interesting, if not amusing. So we shall come back them, the guards I mean, and see what is happening on their side of town.17

“Woo! That was sweet!” One of the Black guards hit his knee, bursting out in a bawl of laughter. He nearly knocked his chair over laughing so hard. Though the other guards were laughing, Junior over here didn’t seem to notice they were laughing at him, not with him.18

“Did you see those legs?? Musta taken years to develop those babies!! Ha!” He kept on and on... and on. One of the men, bored as he was, pulled up his chair next to the new guy. Soon more men crowded around him, somehow completely amused. After a while only a couple dared hang back. 19

One man sat, laid back, a look of pure disgust marked his face. This was Tony, the man on the block. He leveled a hard stare at the jokester. “We’d better watch this guy. He’s too full of himself.” He directed this comment at his buddy. The man next to him shrugged. This was his pal, the guy he had got drunk with while watching Monday night football. He was the guy who kept Tony’s temper in check. “We should take our new friend out for a little walk tonight,” he said.20

“No. This guy’s goin’ down right now.” Tony got up and forcefully made his way over to Junior. He pushed the guy’s ‘followers’ out of his way, turning chairs over. It was only when Tony grabbed Junior by his jacket and slammed him into that nearest wall, that he had everyone’s attention. Tony pulled his arm back to punch him.21

“ER. ER. ER!” All the guards froze. It took them a second to realize what was happening. The alarm had gone off. Someone had broken in.22

Suddenly, as if on auto-pilot, the guards filed out of the room, guns in hand. In just seconds the room was empty, well…almost. A figure clothed in black stood in the corner. She lifted one eyebrow and tilted her head. On her face, a look of complete and utter amusement…23

The alarm pounded on his head. 24

“Uhh..” One of the guard moaned. They had had to separate and search the whole base. And believe me, it was tedious work. That was what all of the guards were thinking. Though for this one particular guard, that was about to change.25

“I’m here to see Nyotoa.”26

The Black guard turned around at the sound of the voice behind him. He raised his gun, leveling it at the black clothed stranger crouched.27

The stranger sighed and smacked herself in the forehead. “Why do the idiots always get the guns?” She muttered to herself. Her eyes, thought the guard could not see them, churned, turning color until they were a deep, blood red. The stranger opened her hand--28

Without warning, the gun burst into flames. 29

--then closed it.30

The guard horror-stricken, pulled out his radio to call for help. But before he could even press the “transmit” button, the stranger struck out her leg, knocking the radio out of his hand. Spinning around in a full-360 kick, she knocked him to the floor. She pulled out a gun and pointed it at him.31

She sighed again. “Where is the one you call ‘Master’?”32

A look of fear clouded the guard’s face.33

“What floor?” She repeated this with a hardened gaze.34

The guard had started to shake, looking at the gun suspiciously. “Seventh. The seventh floor,” he said slowly.35

The stranger (that we all know is Unigon, so let’s call her that) cocked the gun.36

“Seven! I swear, the seventh floor!” He screamed at her, covering his head for in fear of the bullets he knew were coming.37

With an emotionless face, Unigon fired exactly seven times at the guard. She then pulled the gun down and turned to leave. Smoke cleared revealing a very frighten guard, around the outline of his body, seven holes in the wall. Amazement and relief shone on his face, but vanished when Unigon turned back to look at him.38

She gave him a look of disgust. Unigon dropped the gun on the floor and kicked it towards him. 39

“Keep the gun as souvenir.”40

She turned and went to find the one she sought...this one called “Master”.41

A huge metal door opened slowly. The disturbance of this haunted place caused layers of dust to rise off the floor, causing anyone who was not used to the dust to cough. 42

A cold breeze settled in the air. The chill swept through. The feel of evil was stronger here than anywhere else. But as always...everything has a reason. This one not so different from the rest, but oh-so-far.43

“Nyotoa.” Unigon said the former Hunter’s name with a coldness, known only to one left behind. Her voice echoed off the stone ceiling, floor, and walls.44

A throne stood in far back of the room clothed in darkness. A man sat in that chair. He was known to some as the Master, to others the Abudisha, but his real name remained unspoken, unheard, to even his ear. Though, it did not surprise him when Unigon called his, this...real name. And for some strange reason it did not frighten him, though...it should have.45

The stench of evil filled this place, it filled...him. You could not see his face, for it was clothed in the very evil the guards had felt. His eyes...empty holes of nothingness, not even the strongest man could gaze into. His soul was darkened with hate and pain. His heart...as far as I’m concerned, none was visible, but perhaps something was buried under everything else. And then again...perhaps not.46

“Revenge? Is that why you’ve come here? To avenge your parent’s and brother’s death? It won’t make them come back. Even you know that.” He, Nyotoa, said this with the coyest smile known to mankind. Even though Unigon could not see it, she knew it was there. She felt it. 47

His words cause her to stiffen just the slightest bit. She inhaled softly and relaxed. Despite everything, she was not afraid of this creature...this man. She lifted one foot and put it in front of the other. She moved closer to him.48

It took her a second to reach his “throne”. But once she was there, she could not turn back. Though, of course, she did want to. 49

As she stood in front of him, he moved. Just his eyes though, his empty eyes, bringing them to rest on her. Some part of him amazed that such a young thing would dare move against him. He could flick her away with a mere thought, and that would be that. But he did not. Something about her amused him. But he had forgotten two things: she was not young, and she was certainly not going anywhere, at least not yet....50

“You have guts, I will give you that much,” he said, letting the amusement come seep through his voice. 51

“Do I?” She replied softly, raising an eyebrow.52

This caused him to laugh.53

She stepped closer to him. “Or are you really just another fool who thinks he can tame and control Evil itself?”54

His voice has lost all amusement. “Do you really want to test my power?” His cold tone reflected that he had to look up to her now that she was at his level. His fists clenched, then released. 55

She gazed straight into his empty eyes. “Do you want to test mine?”56

He focused, driving his mind’s eye into hers, trying to break her walls. His eyes rolled back into his head, his hands curled into fists. Evil grew around him. His power was focused on the mind, as you can see. He was one of many of telepaths. His power born of the darkness, of Evil itself.                                                                  He focused harder. His breathing quickened. Little beads of sweat dotted his forehead and got bigger. They now trickled down his face. Coming out of his trance, he gasped, shaken. He did not, could not, break her.57

And all this while Unigon stood there, head slightly titled. She said nothing, did nothing. She waited until she was sure he was done.58

Then she slowing bent down and whispered something into the old man’s ear. A kind of revelation, some would say. Others might call it a denouncing of all things Evil. But whatever it was it worked. The great Master, Nyotoa himself, his eyes opened wide in shock, or perhaps it was fear. 59

Then Unigon turned and she left. She left her past behind...along with a man who killed her family, the man who never was.60

The detectives will come tomorrow, along with the corner. They will come to a place once full of malevolence, and they will be bewildered. They will not see a place where evil has been stripped of its power. They will no longer feel the fear that the guards once did, nor feel the presence of evil breathing down their backs. 61

No, they will see a place abandoned by all that is living, only to find one body. And the corner will take this body back to the morgue, and he will examine it, with its slashed to throat, and wounds beyond reason. He will see that this once living, breathing being did not die of the wounds inflicted upon him. His heart stopped beating because of one reason: shock. The corner will write this finding down in his little note book and in the report. But no one will ever quite know the real reason this man died. No one will ever quite know the authority of the words “You have no power here.” first said by the Greatest of All, only repeated by many. One which this story has been about. A someone came to be known as Unigon...bringer of a light in the darkness.62