punchedangel14

Punched by an Angel
by Henry Wyckoff

A crossover between Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, Millennium, and Touched by an Angel

Chapter 14

Latro was waiting as the trench-coated man entered the lockup, slowly making his way to where Latro sat. Latro'd got some warning when the lights had shut off. That wasn't supposed to happen, even at night.

The other prisoners were whistling, some screaming crude comments. By the time Latro faced his unexpected visitor, he was leaning lazily against the wall. "You've taken long enough. I wondered when you boys would strike again."

"Now you know."

"I'm curious. How did you manage to clear the guards?" He didn't seem concerned by this development a bit.

"What guards?" The smile was slow and toothy. The stranger pulled out an ancient gladius, its blade a dull gray wherever it wasn't covered with blood. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"Doesn't matter to me. You'll still be dead. I don't care which side of the floor you come from."

"Fine with me." The sword cut through the metal bars as it would have cut string cheese. The sparks from the cut sprayed everywhere. A similar strike near the floor opened a convenient door.

By this time, the prisoners down the hall were either cheering or screaming for the guards. Some were praying, afraid that in a few moments, they'd get the same kind of release.

"What are you going to do?" taunted the assassin, lazily swinging his sword. "No enchanted axe. No lead ball cannon. Just yourself in prison clothes."

The assassin suddenly gasped. An index finger had punched through his sunglasses lens and into his left eye. Perhaps the frames were the only thing that had saved his life, even if his eye was gone. The hand was prevented from puncturing that further millimeter.

The assassin screamed as he was casually tossed into the corner.

Monica had watched the whole thing in the shadows and had noticed with interest that Latro hadn't finished the job, and hadn't grabbed for the sword.

She followed him out as he navigated the hallways, going off of memory. It would have been customary to gather his possessions, but he ignored them. All he did was knock out a passing-by office worker and steal the civilian clothes he wore. Latro left all the valuables on the man's body and left a note saying, 'Sorry. I needed your clothes.'

The next thing he did was leave for the outside.

A realization struck her then. This whole time, she was supposed to be watching over Kermit. She had strayed and allowed her fascination with Latro to make her forget her original assignment. It only took a moment to make a decision. Kermit was mysterious, but he could take care of himself. It was Latro who needed help more than anything else.

* * *

Frank and Peter arrived in the lockup room at the same time, and their jaws dropped as they viewed the scene. Prisoners were going crazy in their cells. Latro's cell looked like a Mac truck had rammed through it.

Seeing the body, they first thought Latro had been killed, until they noticed it was a trench-coated man moaning in pain and holding his hands over his eye.

Frank remembered the man's face from the vision.

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"This man came here to kill him." Frank was certain. "Latro was fully capable of killing him, but chose not to."

Peter nodded, "Let's get someone else to mop up here. He's got to be in the building."

* * *

Latro felt his head spinning as he walked the streets. Anyone looking at him would probably think he was drunk or high on some drug. He wasn't. He was just full of a hundred emotions.

"Where is your axe, Latro?" It was Odin, his wolves loping along. The ravens were gone this time.

"Back at the precinct. Retrieving it would have been a strategic mistake."

Odin nodded, "I can understand that. But why didn't you kill Arioch?"

"The Angel who tried to off me?" He thought about it. "I don't know. It just didn't seem right at the time."

"Didn't seem right? The Demon was trying to tear off your head!"

"He was avenging the death of a friend. Fritz."

"You killed him because you're at war with Heaven!"

"NO!" Latro faced Odin head on. "I'm killing Angels to make God hear me, but there comes a time when I have to stop the killing and just LISTEN!" He took a deep breath, lowering his voice. "I can't blame you. I would have killed Auric with my own hands even if you hadn't shown up, but you're always around. ALWAYS! You're there, whispering in my ear, telling me who to kill next. The only thing you don't do is bring me back to life . . ." He looked at his hands.

Odin whispered in return, "God's curse. Doomed to live forever. Unable to die. Unable to live with happiness!"

Latro walked with purpose.

"Where are you going, Latro?" Odin stood still.

"I'm looking up on the Angel of Death. The news says he's in the hospital."

"That's my boy!"

Monica felt a stirring in her guts. This wasn't good. She waited for Odin to vanish before following Latro.

* * *

Kermit woke up in the chair he was sleeping in. He wasn't quite keeping a vigil. It was more of a need to stay with Andrew. "You're still awake," he muttered. "You're the guy who's been hit. You should be sleeping."

Andrew shrugged, "I couldn't sleep. I've been watching the news. They've dug up everything in the public domain on the people Latro has killed." He looked sadly at Kermit, "I knew every single one of them. Angels, all. Do you know what it feels like to have friends you've known all your life, ripped away from you so completely that you can't even find their gravestones?"

Kermit knew that feeling all too well. "You've been with me when I killed them, remember? I killed a lot of people in my life. Friends, enemies, strangers . . . I even killed a pregnant woman once, if you can believe it. But you were there, I keep on forgetting."

"You don't need to justify yourself, Kermit. I koew why you killed them. Murder is murder, but I'm beginning to identify more and more with your reasoning." He closed his eyes as he stared at the ceiling, "The strange thing is that I can't remember so much anymore. It's like I don't know who I am anymore."

Kermit spun around suddenly. Who else would it be but Latro? "I thought they locked you up!" His gun was out.

Latro shrugged, "I was, but a fallen Angel named Arioch decided to avenge the death of a fellow Angel. I left him there. Can you believe he's the first Angel I didn't try to kill?"

"Oh? What did you do?" Kermit wanted to kill the man then and there, but it would be murder. Latro was unarmed and standing nonchalantly in the doorway. He wasn't a threat, yet. Plus, there was this curiosity that was hanging in his thoughts.

"He was going to kill me, so I plunged a finger through his eye and left him there for the others to grab. I figured it was all on camera, so for once, I wouldn't have the cops chasing after me."

"You're forgetting what brought you there in the first place."

"That's for another time." He walked over to Andrew, ignoring the gun waving in his face from a few feet away. "I came here to see you."

"Come to finish the job?" Andrew smiled.

"Not this time," he shook his head. "I've killed so many people, it finally dawned on me. Maybe it was being locked up with only myself. Who knows . . . but I had to see you and get my bearings again."

"I don't think so!" barked Kermit. "You're going back to jail, where you're going to rot for a long time."

Latro shrugged.

Monica had watched from behind the door, and listened. Now, she believed she understood her true mission. Latro didn't need her help, because if he was being helped, it was from some unseen source. It was Kermit who did need her help after all.

"Kermit." Monica emerged from the doorway. "Put the gun down. You don't need a gun in the presence of Angels."

* * * *

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