RISING SUN

Part II: Assassination Game

By Dino Pollard

Night falls over the Yashida compound. The moon is full, and the air is cool. The stars shine brightly in the night sky. This is exactly the type of setting that the kunoichi known as Kwannon loved. She is lithe and precise in her movements, she has been watching the Yashida compound for the past week. She has observed the position of each guard, and knows when each of them is relieved of duty. It’s those moments of weakness in Yashida’s security that Kwannon exploits, and it allows her to get past the guards. Sensors are another matter, harder to fake, but Kwannon does the best she can. She’s not worried about them too much, if the sensors do detect her, they’ll only catch a fleeting glimpse. And by the time any reinforcements arrive, Kwannon’s mission would be accomplished.

She stands over the bed of Mariko Yashida and looks down at the sleeping beauty. She lifts her katana blade up and prepares to bring it down on the neck of Shingen Yashida’s daughter. Then, the scene of butane strikes her nostrils and she looks to the side to see a flame flickering in the darkness. The flame vanishes, and it’s replaced with the dim glow of a lit cigar. The lights turn on, and Kwannon sees the man smoking the cigar. He’s dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt, and his jet-black hair is shaped in an odd style, almost resembling that of wolf ears. In one hand, he holds the cigar. His free hand is clenched in a fist, and three razor-sharp claws protrude from between his knuckles.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, darlin’,” he says. “Might not be healthy if ya know what I mean.”

Kwannon’s legs send her catapulting into the air. She soars over Mariko’s bed, and brings her katana blade down towards Logan’s face. He brings up his arm to block it, and Kwannon expects the blade to go through the bone. Instead, the sword is blocked somehow.

“Adamantium skeleton, babe,” he says. He grabs her wrist and slams her against the wall. Then, he puts out the cigar on her shoulder. Kwannon stops herself from crying out in pain and instead, reaches down for the dagger strapped to her leg. She unsheathes it and attempts to jam it into Wolverine’s side, but his free hand grabs her wrist. He tugs on her arm hard, and dislocates it from her shoulder. This time, Kwannon lets out a small moan of pain. Logan flips her over and her back hits the floor, hard. The sound wakes up Mariko with a start, who lets out a gasp when she sees Wolverine and Kwannon fighting. Logan lifts up his clawed hand and jams it down on Kwannon’s neck, but the center claw retracts before it can pierce her skin. The outer two claws are pinned to the ground, barely touching her neck. The center claw slowly comes forward and rests right before it touches her neck.

“Now listen an’ listen good,” he says. “You tell your boss that Mariko’s off-limits, ya hear?”

“He’ll kill me…” she mutters.

“Worry about what I’m gonna do to you.”

Kwannon offers no response to Logan’s comment.

“Do we understand each other?” he asks.

“Yes,” she replies.

“Good,” says Logan. He retracts his claws and gets off of Kwannon. She stands slowly and Logan moves aside to give her access to the window. Kwannon takes the opportunity and runs for it, leaping out. Logan turns towards Mariko once Kwannon makes her exit.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Are you insane?!”

“I’m sorry?”

“You let her get away,” says Mariko. “She tried to kill me. What’s my father paying you for?”

“I let her get away because I know who sent her,” replies Logan.

“And who would that be?”

“Your cousin, Shiro,” replies Logan.

“How do you know?” asks Mariko.

“Because I could detect a faint trace of his scent on her,” replies Logan. “This sends a message to Shiro that he didn’t kill me like he probably thinks he did. He’ll be watching his back now, running scared.”

The door opens and Shingen is standing there in a robe with the Silver Samurai behind him.

“What’s going on in here?!” demands Shingen.

“Your daughter just got a visit from one of Shiro’s,” replies Logan. “I took care of it.”

“An assassin?” asks Shingen.

“A kunoichi,” replies Logan. “Tough bitch, but I took care of her.”

“Where’s the body?”

“I let her go t’ send a message t’ yer nephew.”

“What?!” exclaims Kenuichio. “That’s…”

“A very wise strategy,” says Shingen, finishing Kenuichio’s sentence. The Silver Samurai looks at his master with shock in his eyes.

“You can’t be serious, my lord,” says Harada. “He let an assassin slip through his grasp when he should have killed her!”

“Think, Kenuichio,” says Shingen. “She’ll return to Shiro and tell him what happened here. Then, Shiro will think twice before he sends another assassin.”

Shingen approaches Logan and solemnly bows his head. Kenuichio and Mariko watch in surprise—they have never seen Shingen Yashida bow his head to any man. He always thought of it as a sign of weakness to show respect for another, thus, he never would.

“You’ve saved my daughter’s life, my friend,” says Shingen. “I am in your debt.”

“Not necessary,” says Logan. “Just doin’ my job.”

“I want you to keep a close eye on Mariko,” says Shingen. “You will now serve as her personal bodyguard, is that understood?”

“Yup,” replies Logan.

“I also want you to continue the search for my nephew,” says Shingen. “He must be dealt with.”

“He will be,” says Logan.

Shiro Yoshida sits behind his desk smoking a cigarette, with Leyu straddling his lap and kissing his neck. Sitting in front of the desk is Kwannon, who tries to ignore the display before her—as well as the fact that these two are brother and sister. Instead, she keeps her eyes focused on the desk.

“Say that again,” says Shiro.

“Mariko is still alive,” replies Kwannon.

Leyu glares at Kwannon out of the corner of her eye, and then stands from Shiro’s lap. She disappears under the desk and Kwannon flinches in disgust.

“You failed, then,” says Shiro.

“It wasn’t my fault, she had a bodyguard,” says Kwannon.

“Your skill should be above Harada’s.”

“Not the Silver Samurai, another man,” says Kwannon. “He was an American.”

“…describe him,” says Shiro.

“He had claws,” says Kwannon. “And he said something about an adamantium skeleton. I think he was a mutant.”

“Impossible,” says Shiro. “I killed him myself.”

“He got better,” replies Kwannon.

Shiro focuses his eyes on Kwannon and the flames within his eyes seem to grow brighter. Beads of sweat begin to form on the female ninja’s forehead, and she wipes it away. Still, more forms. She adjusts her collar, feeling the heat beginning to intensify. Without warning, she suddenly bursts into flames. Shiro sits back as a wave of pleasure overcomes him. Leyu stands from the ground and looks at the flaming Kwannon. She smiles.

“I never liked her, anyway.”

“This new assassin Uncle Shingen has hired is going to be tough to beat,” says Shiro. “We need to fight fire with fire.”

“Ooooh, does that mean I get to go after him?” she asks, trying to restrain her jubilation.

“No,” says Shiro with a grin. He reaches for a rolodex on his desk and flips to a name written on one of the cards. Leyu views it and smiles.

“Perfect,” she says.

“Jean…?”

The door to the infirmary at the Xavier University opens, and the form of Alison Blaire stands in the doorway. She flips on the lightswitch to see Jean Grey lying motionless on the ground beside Professor Xavier’s bed. Ali cries out and runs to her teammate’s side, desperately feeling around for a pulse or some form of life.

“She did it…”

Ali looks up at the source of the voice and sees Professor Xavier with his eyes open, slowly trying to sit up in his bed.

“Professor…?” she asks.

“I’m fine, Alison,” he replies.

“But… how?”

“It was Jean,” says Xavier. “She went into my mind and brought me back. Unfortunately, due to her low level of experience with her abilities, she seems to have simply contracted the same condition.”

“Can you bring her back?” asks Ali.

“Unfortunately no,” replies Xavier. “At least not yet. I’m still too weak from my own ordeal. Is Colonel Fury or Logan around?”

“Fury’s beneath with the rest of the team,” says Ali. “You missed a lot.”

“A simple scan of your memories shows me that much,” says Xavier. “Can you please have Colonel Fury come up here? I’d like to have a word with him.”

“Sure thing,” says Ali as she stands.

“Oh, and Alison? Could you bring me my chair, please?”

“Yeah, I’ll bring it right up,” says Ali as she turns to leave the room. Once the door closes, Xavier looks down at the comatose form of the mutant known as Psyche.

“Foolish girl,” he says with glowing red eyes. “You should have known better than to try and take on the Shadow King. Not even Xavier was powerful enough to contain me, what makes you think you were?”

Her slender hand examines the small flower. She traces her fingers along the red petals, and brings the rose to her face so she can inhale its scent. Without even looking at her companion, she addresses him with a question.

“Why do you do it?”

“Do what?” asks Logan.

“The work you do for my dad,” replies Mariko. “I just can’t seem to understand why someone would willingly kill for a living.”

“Well, when you’re good at something, you might as well put it to use,” says Logan.

“Aren’t you good at anything else?” she asks, turning to face him.

“Not really sure,” he replies.

“Why don’t you find out, then?”

“It’s… complicated,” replies Logan. “I live in a world of grays, it’s not all black and white.”

“Even so…” says Mariko. “I just never understood how you could enjoy killing.”

“I don’t,” he replies.

“Then why do it?”

Logan thinks of this for a moment, then, with a smile, offers his reply.

“Because I’m the best there is at what I do. And what I do isn’t very nice.”

Mariko smiles at this, and then tries to supress a small giggle. It slips out, regardless. The sound of her laughter is enough to make Logan’s smile grow a little wider.

“You’re different,” she says.

“No I’m not.”

“Yes, you are,” she insists. “My father has assigned other men to guard me in the past. And although I felt safe with them, I wasn’t comfortable. I couldn’t talk to any of them. They were all too afraid of my father to say anything but one-word responses. But you… you’re different. You actually talk to me.”

“You got friends, don’t you?” asks Logan.

“No,” she replies. “I was never given the chance. I never attended school, I was always taught by private tutors.”

“Don’t you have anyone you can talk to?” he asks.

She looks up at him and gently smiles.

“I do now.”

The two exit the flower shop and walk along the sidewalk. The rush of the lunch hour is upon them, and various people on their breaks brush past in a hurried attempt to grab a bite to eat before they have to head back to the daily grind. Logan looks up at the afternoon sun, and then turns to Mariko.

“How about we grab some food?”

“Yeah… I’d like that,” replies Mariko.

“What do you feel like having?” he asks.

“Anything but Japanese food,” she replies with a grin.

“I know a great kebab joint down the street,” he says.

“Kebab?”

“You’ve never had it?” asks Logan. Mariko slowly shakes her head, as if the terminology confuses her. He simply smiles. “It’s Middle Eastern, you’ll love it.”

The pair walk past a man in a trench coat and fedora hat reading a newspaper. He spies them out of the corner of his eye. Once he spots them, he drops the paper and begins to follow them.

Logan and Mariko wait at the red light for the walk signal. Before the light changes, the man in the trench coat throws his shoulder into Logan’s back. The impact sends the undercover agent flying into the busy street.

“LOGAN!” shouts Mariko.

Logan gets to his feet just as a car hits him. He gets back up, however, and simply brushes off the impact. He turns to face the man in the coat and with a SNIKT his claws extend.

“Bub, you just made your last mistake,” he says.

“Let us see,” replies the man in a Russian accent.

Logan leaps at the man, who spins around, and a tentacle of some sort extends from the sleeve of his coat and wraps itself around Logan’s leg. Using the coil, the man whips Logan around, and throws him against the side of the building. The man removes his fedora to reveal his albino skin, blonde hair, and red eyes. He looks at Mariko and smiles as his coils begin to wrap around her body.

“Your cousin sends his regards, Miss Yashida.”