Chapter 2: The Shadow Will Always Be Free!

If you wonder how exactly was the difference between before and after…

*1 Year Earlier*

Summer was on full swing, the heat reaching some people's heads. The folks went on with their everyday lives. The lively sounds of people chatting rang through the place. Some groups of old people were have hearty conversations.

A teenager ran through the street, disturbing the peace. 3 boys chased after him, the one leading them looked especially angry. Out of the two, one was fat and chubby while the other was skinny.

"Ali Haider! Stop right there, you bastard!"

Ali seemed a little baffled as he kept running while dodging other people.

"Gosh! What's your problem? All I did was tell those girls about your manly problems. What's so bad about it that you have to try to beat me up? It was your girlfriend who leaked the news in the first place!"

After taking several turns, Ali entered a small alley. There was a rusty sign hanging there, it said.

Tim's Property

Ali knew this place like the back of his hand. As for the other 3, well, not so much. Running with confidence, he taunted,

"What's the matter, eh? Josh. Weren't you supposed to teach me a lesson?"

Ali was brimming with happiness, finally getting back at this jerk. He dashed at full speed while planning,

'After crossing the backdoor, I'll use the trash can to get on top of the stairs and then into old Tim's garage. The doo- ???'

*A sudden halt*

'The hell? Why's the backdoor closed! Old Tim! Old Tim! Why'd you do this? Damn you!'

Reaching a dead end, Ali stood there cursing the old man. 'This guy never closed the backdoor, what the heck is up with him?'

Josh and the other two realized the situation and approached him with sinister grins.

Their attitude being of the cats that cornered the mouse

Josh cracked his knuckles, "What's wrong? Can't run anymore eh?"

The other two followed,

"Yeah! Let's beat him up."

"How dare he slander big brother Josh?!"

Ali was surrounded, "No way out, seems like I have to fight."

Clenching his fists, Ali prepared himself for a big battle.

*Battle Mode*

Josh throws a punch, Ali dodges but a kick from the skinny guy hits the stomach.

Stepping back, another punch is dodged.

Blocking a kick, a punch hits the chubby guy's guts.

Agilely dodging another punch, an uppercut lands on the skinny guy.

Josh hits with a kick, throwing him to the ground.

Cleverly picking up some dirt, Ali throws it up.

The enemy's vision is interrupted.

A punch to the gut leaves the skinny guy growling in pain with a right hook knocking him out.

Using the opportunity to its maximum, a roundhouse kick to the face KOed the chubby guy.

The last contestant, Josh recovered his vision just in time to send a punch to the gut.

Ali, being pushed back, lost the opportunity to strike.

After dodging several attacks, he saw a stick.

Ali used the overwhelming technique "Poke the Eye" to stun Josh.

He picked up the stick and then the ultimate stick warrior's spirit possessed him.

Striking multiple times with accurate attacks; stick to the leg, elbow to the back, knee to the gut, punch to the face and a finishing uppercut.

Ring...Ring...Ring.

Our champion! Ali.

***

Multiple successful attacks left Josh in a messed up shape.

The three lay on the ground, moaning in pain. Ali rubbed his stomach while cursing them. Still, he didn't want to miss this chance to taunt them.

"Yeah, small dick Josh. What were you saying? Eh? Come on. Hit me."

Josh said feebly with bloodshot eyes, "Screw you!"

Ali mocked, "Ok, come on, get up and screw me."

After throwing multiple taunts, Ali turned around and walked away while laughing.

Going through an alternative route, he reached a colony. Rows of houses were on either side of the road. He walked to his home, passed the main entrance and knocked on the door.

"Coming"

A gentle voice sounded and the door opened. Standing there was a beautiful lady. She had green eyes along with long blonde hair. She seemed a little angry,

"You're late again, Ali."

Ali smiled harmlessly while scratching the back of his head, "Sorry sis, I got wrapped up somewhere."

Walking into the house, Ali jumped on the couch and checked the TV.

"What's on the news?"

Eve stood beside the couch and replied while looking at the screen,

"Something about a storm"

Ali," Oh! Is it gonna be bad?"

Eve chuckled, "Does it matter? It's not like you can fly out of the city."

Ali, "Can YOU fly out of the city eh?"

Eve laughed and fondled Ali's head, "No, I can't. But what I can do is cook you some dinner."

Saying this, Eve left for the kitchen.

After banging his head at the TV for a few hours, Ali went back to his room. He was feeling drowsy as his body slammed on the bed.

He was about to meet Princess Tia from the Fairy Land when he heard a rattling noise. Ali was pissed now; no one interrupts his meetings with the Princess!

He was about to shout but ate back his words at what he saw. An old man stood just outside his window, his face was dirty and his clothes in rags. He knocked on the window slowly.

Ali had the living spirit beaten inside of him as he trembled in fear.

'A ghost!'

He was about to shout for help when a familiar voice entered his ears.

'Ali, open up. It's me, Tim."

Hearing that, Ali breathed a sigh of relief.

'Damn this old man! First I get beaten up because of him and now he climbs to my window'

He headed for the window and was about to curse him when Tim grabbed his hand and shoved something inside it, then hurriedly closed his palm.

He was pretty shaken as he stated, "My time is up. Take this, it will help you. Never lose it, Ali, never."

And then the most shocking incident of his life up until now took place.

Old man Tim suddenly started to disintegrate and fade away like dust. A few moments and he was gone.

Ali stumbled a few steps back in shock, and called out in a low voice, "Tim? Hey, old man…what just happened?"

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Extremely loud bangs of lightning laced the sky in an instant. Drowning rain poured down from the heavens like a flood.

Ali's face was pale at this sight. He hurriedly rushed out of the room to find his sister. He literally jumped down the stairs when…

"SIS!"

He saw Eve also disintegrate and fade away before his very eyes. He dashed and tried to catch her but slammed himself on the wall and knocked his being out of consciousness.

Ali groaned in pain as he clutched his aching head. He opened his eyes and jumped in shock, he was at an unknown location. He looked around for help,

RRRR!

A few growls were heard as shadows swept pass him. Blood drained out of his face as he clutched on to a nearby rod and steadied himself.

A few minutes later,

He walked out of the alley, bloodied and clawed up. His eyes were still wide with shock as he ran for his life.

*Present Time*

Ali and Rach made another turn and arrived at a bustling place. Sounds of joy and shouts of ecstasy rang everywhere.

Ali pulled out something from his pocket and stared at his palm.

It was a marble. A gray marble, it seemed a little metallic. Right now, it shifted between shades of red and grey.

Ali looked at Rach, "We have a situation"

***

Scavenger Inn,

A place of joy and happiness; a place where even the loneliest person in the world will dance like a monkey. This was the place where scavengers gathered and exchanged their loots. This was a Scavenger Inn.

The place bustled with activity as everyone chatted heartily.

Suddenly, the doors slammed open.

A figure walked inside, it wore a long robe and had a hood covering its head. It walked in and dragged along an aura of superiority.

It went for the nearest table. There was a man sitting there, he had mud all over his face as his facial hair was stinking off. He appeared to be really drunk.

He saw the figure approaching him and gulped. Staring at it with caution, he was about to pull out his sword. But when the figure came close enough, he got a look at its face and was stunned.

It was a woman, no, a really beautiful woman. Her eyes seemed to shine in the dark atmosphere of the inn. Her poker face hid those delicate features and showed a look that meant business.

Realizing that it was a woman, the drunk relaxed and gave her a dirty look, "Hey lady, looking for a man?"

"Yes"

The drunk was overjoyed, "Come with me, I'll give you a good time."

The woman suddenly smiled,

WAM!

In an instant, a dagger was just an inch away from the drunk. He trembled in fear as his legs went weak, he apologized in frenzy,

"I'm sorry, really sorry. Honorable lady, this one was foolish. I swear I'll never flirt with a woman again, not even with my wife! Please don't kill me!!!"

A sharp but soothing voice sounded, "I am looking for the one known as Shadow."

"Shadow?!" the man had a shocked expression as his drowsiness faded away. He stated in a low whisper,

"I haven't seen him for the last 4 months. They say he was lurking somewhere on the outskirts but I know that isn't true."

The woman asked calmly, "How are you sure?"

"Because he's here." he suddenly stood up and walked beside the lady, he pointed at three people sitting on different tables; one on left, one on right and one in front.

"Legend says that no one can track him down, he is as swift as the wind and as fast as thunder, but he was given out by his foolish toad, he told me the way to talk to him. Of those three people, one of them is Shadow. He always brings them with him; they dress up exactly the same to avoid detection. If you can determine which one is Shadow, you're a lucky horse…I mean lucky Fairy."

The woman looked at the three people pointed out and smiled, "Childish tricks Shadow, truly childish."

She moved for the one on the left.

BAM!

The woman dropped on the ground as the drunk wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"The things you gotta do to survive."

Rach suddenly appeared and brought a bucket of water.

Ali was exhilarated at this toad's thoughtfulness. He bent down to wash his face,

Splash!

"You!"

This toad just threw the whole bucket at his face. He wanted to shout his mind at him but sighed and shook his head.

He took out two onions from his armpits and threw them to Rach. Rach was speechless as he caught them. Noticing his questionable gaze,

"To hide one's scent, you idiot! Now get me another pair of onions."

Peeling off the dirty beard, he looked at the woman on the ground.

Crouching down, he pulled up her sleeve. There was a tattoo there, a weird snake-like creature that was on fire had its maw opened up while eating a bird.

Seeing the tattoo confirmed Ali's suspicions.

Ali pulled out a small packet of white powder from his bag and gave it to Rach, "Jumper Jack 58"

Rach's eyes glinted and he nodded.

He picked her up and headed for a room he just rented,

"Damn she's heavy!"

Rach sheepishly licked his boots, "That was an amazing trick, Boss, only someone as great as you can come up with that."

Ali turned on his Saint face as he struggled to carry this woman, "Remember my…Whoa! *Stumbles* dear boy, the best way to trick someone else is to first trick yourself."

Rach heard these words of absolute wisdom and was enlightened, "Boss, you're so brilliant!"

Ali shouted, "Shut up and open the door you toad!"

***

Emily opened her eyes slowly; the first feeling that struck her was cold. She felt cold over her body. Her hands were cuffed to a chair.

She felt a blanket over her, her eyes widened…

Her clothes!

"This is the first time a female Reaper like you came after me."Ali sat on a chair opposite to her, he stared at her keenly.

"You perverted piece of garbage!" Emily blushed cherry red and shouted in fury.

"Hey, calm down. I needed to make sure you weren't hiding anything. And I am a man of morals, I didn't complete the job."

Emily couldn't believe this, she trembled with rage. At this moment, she wanted nothing more than to break out and rip this filthy bastard into pieces with her bare hands. She was a woman of dignity, no man had ever touched her but this…this guy just stripped her down to her undergarments. She couldn't wait to kill him.

Ali's actions were somewhat justified. He had a lot of accidents before and didn't want any more of 'em.

From the moment someone turned the crazy mod on, there were people hunting him down. They never explained why, attacked first and asked questions later. Each one of them was deadly as hell, he scrapped past death so many times that he lost count of it.

All of them had that mark on their arms; they were of some kind of Faction. A year was enough for Ali to develop hundreds of ways to tackle these attackers. So far, he had intercepted 51 attacks. The female assaulters were all old hags that had one step in the grave but this was the first time he was assaulted by a young lady.

"You're gonna pay for this, mark my words." Emily said in a raspy voice.

Ali nodded; he opened his bag and pulled out a notebook and a pen. Getting into a writing posture, he looked at Emily,

"Could you repeat them so that I can mark 'em"

Emily's eyes twitched, this guy was mocking her! She took a deep breath, "So you have me, now what? Torture me?"

"Gosh! What are you, a sadist? Why would I torture a woman?" Ali said with a weird look. Was this woman crazy?

"You're not gonna torture me?" Emily said with disbelief. She was already preparing to bite her tongue off so that this man can't get a word out of her mouth.

Ali looked at this girl and his heart clenched. His eyes turned watery and a sad expression came over his face. He crouched and reached out his hand to fondle her cheek. His voice broke down,

"Gloria my love, it has been so long since I saw you."

Emily was greatly disturbed by that emotionally overflowing gesture of Ali, "Gloria? I'm not Gloria."

Ali's eyes moistened, "You are. You're Gloria's incarnation. We have loved each other for centuries, even death hasn't separated us. Now that I have you back with me, I am content."

Emily stared at Ali's eyes and felt a ripple pass her heart, "i-I'm not Gloria!"

Ali grabbed her face with both hands and pulled her closer, "Tell me Gloria, why are these people after me?"

Emily felt her mind in a mess and the words came out unintentionally, "The Reapers have the obligation to kill all Keepers of Magnia. You are a Keeper, which is why they are after you."

Ali went forward and whispered in her ear softly, "And what is a Magnia?"

Emily couldn't control herself anymore, she just wanted that feeling to go away, "It is a mystical artifact embedded with all the secrets known and unknown to life."

Ali pulled back and took out the marble again, "This is Magnia?"

Emily nodded. After a moment, she realized what she said and was struck with disbelief. She just exposed herself! But why did she say that?!

Ali smirked, "Don't beat yourself darling. Hypnosis is kind of awesome!"

Emily's jaw dropped, "You can perform Hypnosis?!"

Hypnosis was an ability only the Psychics possessed. How could this boy possibly be capable of it?

Ali opened his bag and out came a gun; it was your average pistol, well that's what you see it as. It was loaded with bullets specifically designed to kill these Reapers. He designed them himself; just a pinch of their blood mixed with gunpowder can kill them.

Over multiple experiments, he had concluded the following results.

Every Reaper had a unique blood type. It will be fatal if a Reaper is exposed to another Reaper's blood. The blood will enter the subject's body and will cause the whole being to malfunction but won't be enough to kill them. Add a little gunpowder for explosiveness and bam, you have a dead Reaper.

These bullets were laced with Reaper blood; a single shot will kill Emily.

Emily wasn't aware of this, she scoffed as she saw the gun, "What an amateur, you think that toy can kill me?"

Ali smiled innocently, "The Shadow will always be free."

BAM!

Emily suddenly had a hole in her forehead as her eyes widened and her body twitched. After a few moments, she went cold.

Ali put away the gun and pulled out a bottle of grey liquid. He sprinkled it on Emily's corpse and lighted a match to end the show.

He watched as the body burned to ashes along with the skeleton and started hoarding the ash.

This ash was some good shit!

It was a valuable material to forge weapons. He couldn't let it slide like that.

Grabbing his bag, he swung it over his shoulders and headed for the door.

Reaching it, he stopped.