Anagha Baheti

The air sizzled as Midnight cut open a portal into the shadow realm. Black, humanoid shadows spilled out from the translucent white hole and piled themselves onto Sjena, hiding every inch of her skin within a shroud of black.

She jumped off the ledge. The shadows spread out like two large, black wings and carried her on the warm summer breeze. She flew over the city she loved, gliding over the gardens and under the skybridges, until the warehouse came into view. She circled the air over the warehouse, slowly lowering herself until her feet caught hold of the thin metal pipe overlooking the warehouse. The black wings wrapped around her and melted into her shroud.

Her toes curled around the pipe. She lowered into a squat and committed the layout to memory. Her eyes closed as a plan began to form in her mind. As her inner voice sank into silence, a calm spread over her. Her mind cleared. Her thoughts focused on the plan, and nothing else. 

Her eyes snapped open. A crisp, warm breath filled her lungs. Then, the action began.

She leapt off the pipe and landed atop a heap of wooden boxes. The goon in front of her dropped the box from his hands and pulled out his gun. A shadow spread out from her form and wrapped the man in darkness. At her command, the shadows lifted the man and brought him closer.

“Where is Litch?”

The man stayed calm, and when she pulled the shadows off his mouth, he screamed “Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” at the top of his lungs. Within seconds, hundreds of men in black suits surrounded them, their machine guns pointed directly at her.

A barrage of gunfire followed, but Sjena lifted Midnight into the air and cut a portal to the shadow realm. She slipped in and reappeared outside the circle of goons. From her hip, she drew a bomb, engaged it, and let it fly into the mob. A red light blinked thrice, and the bomb exploded, throwing a dusty green cloud. The goons that inhaled the gas fell to the floor, paralysed by the mouldy smell.

“Let me claim their shadows and their lives, Sjena. Oh, these helpless men on the floor just look so juicy. Let me dip my tail in them.” Midnight whispered into her mind.

“No.”

“Pretty please! Let me punish the bad people who do bad things.”

“Do not distract me, Midnight, or I will throw you back into the hole you came from.”

“Sure, because that will go well for you. In the middle of the bad guy’s lair, surrounded by his goons, how long do you think you will last without my protection?”

She told him to shut up and began fighting through the raining bullets. In and out of the shadow realm, she moved all around the battlefield and took down the goons one by one, while the shadows covering her body absorbed most of the impact from the incoming bullets. Instead of puncturing her flesh, the bullets left bruises at the site of impact.

“Don’t use guns, you idiots.” The loudspeaker bellowed in Licht’s voice. “If I am going to torture the secrets to the shadow realm out of discount Daredevil here, I need him alive. Jeez, it’s like you people are a mindless, disposable army of bots. Oh, how about this? If you kill him, I will kill everyone who shares DNA with you and then I will kill you. Drop your weapons, now.”

The goons dropped their guns at once. Knives in hand, they began to search for her. She slipped into the shadow realm.

The moment she slipped in, shadows grabbed her and tried to drag her into the abyss. She punched and kicked them away, but they were a never-ending army.

Midnight cut open a portal to the physical realm and she slipped out. She pulled a handful of paralytic darts from a pouch on her thigh and began throwing them at the goons one by one.

“Hey! Imitation Dark Knight!” Litch called out from his hiding place as Sjena fought through the goons. “Stop throwing darts at my men. Come out and fight them with your fists. Throw a punch sometimes. God! This fight is so boring. I feel like I wasted my money hiring these elite fighters… hold on. What?”

Sjena continued slipping in and out of the shadow realm, fighting men and shadows alike.

“Sorry for the interruption, pirated Silver Surfer. I had to keep you entertained while I set up my next act. Do you know where the Ichijuu broadcast station is? Yeah, it is about to blow up in… ninety seconds.”

Sjena spread her shadows like wings.

“Hold on, I am not done yet. I also have a random family hostage over the seventh ridge of the Sun Bridge. Wow, that rhymed! Focus, Litch. Sorry. This family… they have a bomb strapped to their chests and that will also blow up in the next eighty-two seconds. You only have enough time to save one, so shoo off. Also, my drone will follow you. I hope you don’t mind. I’m live right now with all the big and small crime families throughout the world. We have a six-million-dollar wager going on. Go on now, make me rich.”

“You want to save the broadcast station, don’t you?” Midnight shook his head in her mind. She sent back a soft yes.