The Legend (16 page)

I
started sauntering towards him.  Each footstep made a noticeable creak against the floor.  Tiago suddenly stopped rocking after catching an earful of the decrepit, aged, hardwood screeching.  He turned back in his seat.

"...And from ashes a Phoenix shall rise..." 
Tiago uttered after perceiving the aphotic figure with flaming demonic eyes sauntering towards him. 
"I heard you managed to survive the fall.  I’ll make sure you won’t survive this time." 
He added.

The colossal fighter lunged out of the seat.  The hefty armchair toppled onto
its side.  He then stampeded towards me.  The room clattered at every step.  Once in proximity, Tiago pitched a right hook.  I eluded his punch and redirected him into a wall behind me.  The fighter collided into the unpainted drywall and pulverized it.  Debris fell onto him.  He momentarily lost his composure.  It was the crowning juncture I needed.  I darted towards him and jabbed him in the side of his neck with a syringe.  Tiago felt the sharp pinch.  He smacked my arm away from him and shoved me back. 

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU INJECT ME WITH?" 
He hollered while stroking his neck.

"It's a sedative." 
I growled. 
"It'll help you sleep."

Tiago's disgusted.  He peered at me with
maddened eyes, clenched teeth and readied fists.  He took in deep breaths through his nose.  Suddenly, the herculean fighter bolted towards me again.  The room clattered.  Once in earshot, he leaped up and pitched a roundhouse kick towards my face.  I managed to elude the ferocious strike but before I could counter, Tiago used his momentum to follow with a wicked spinning elbow to my jaw.  He connected and everything momentarily went dark.  The strike hammered me across the room and onto the decrepit hardwood floor.  I felt a sharp pain inside of my mouth.  I caressed the area with my tongue and realized several molars were knocked out.  I struggled onto my feet but before I could collect myself, I was pelted by a vigorous leaping knee strike into my ribs. 

The newspaper padding was ineffective and didn't help at all.  The pain shocked me.  I faltered back
into a wall and struggled to catch my breath.  The room went silent and the only thing I could hear was a continuous ringing noise.  The agony paralyzed me and I then buckled over to one knee and clinched my side.

I glanced up and noticed a blurred Tiago sauntering towards me.  I was uncertain of my next move.  The knee strike has stunned me and Tiago was nearing.  I started to except defeat and brace myself for death.  Just then, I could feel my heart rat
e increasing.  It began to hammer against chest.  Soon the pain I was feeling past.  I was no longer in agony but becoming angry.  I was becoming enraged.  It was a nostalgic sensation.  It was a feeling comparable to when I found out Lolani was killed.  

When Tiago was within range, I pitched a violent uppercut into his chin.  Tiago staggered back.  I followed with a left cross and a wicked right hook.  He plummeted to the floor baffled and unsure of where the vigor came from.  I poised in the center of the room with the dark cape cascading down my shoulders, veiling my body and resting on the wooden floor in a perfect crescent.  My flaming red eyes peered at him.  He suddenly pressed his hands into the floor and lunged at me.  Before I could react he snatched my ensemble, spun me around and pitched me into a wall. 
I was hurled through the sheetrock and it crumbled on top of me but I was unfazed.  I sprang towards him and launched a wicked right hook into his left cheek.  Tiago faltered back a few steps then balanced himself.  He appeared baffled.  He's never met an opponent who could go toe to toe with him.  Not since he's been injecting the steroid.  I didn't let up and charged Tiago.  He immediately threw his hands up in defense.  I battered him with vigorous combinations.  I backed him into a wall and persisted to pound on him.  I continued the onslaught until he saw a crowning juncture.  Tiago weaved a right cross and my fist penetrated through the sheetrock behind him.  My hand got snagged in the wall.  The skilled fighter seized the opportunity and followed with an uppercut of his own.  It connected into my chin and sent me back a couple steps.  However, I was too enraged to even feel it. 

We both continued to exchange blows.  However, his strikes were weakening.  The sedative was taking effect.  Seconds later his guard lowered.  He could barely hold his fists up.  It gave me confidence and I persisted to whale on him with wicked hooks, crosses and uppercuts. 

Tiago is slumped against the wall.  His face is battered, bruised and bleeding.  His left eye is swollen shut.  He's now completely defenseless. 
“What... Kind of…  Demon… Are you?” 
Tiago muttered.  I clenched his neck and rammed his head through the unpainted drywall.  Tiago buckled over then plummeted onto the floor.  I grabbed his right ankle and dragged him to the center of the room.  He's no longer putting up a fight.  The blows stunned him and the sedative has weakened him. 

I kneeled over Tiago and clenched his neck with my hands. 
"DIE!" 
I growled while strangling him.  He squirmed and made attempts to roll me off but I wouldn't budge.  The sedative has him moments away from being comatose.  He's too weary to use a Brazilian Jujitsu move to separate himself from me.  His stout neck delayed his demise but I was determined to squeeze the life out of him.  His tongue began flailing out of his mouth as he tried to catch a breath.  Veins in his forehead emerged as his complexion faded.  His eyes were becoming glassy and bloodshot.

"
CAPITOL CITY POLICE!  OPEN UP!" 
An officer barked as he pommeled the apartment door with heavy knocks.  The violent commotion must’ve caused neighboring tenants to dial 911. 
“OPEN THE DOOR OR IT’S COMING DOWN!” 
Another voice threated.  I was suddenly snapped from my fury.  I unclenched Tiago’s neck and he immediately inhaled deeply.  He took in as much air his lungs were capable of.  I was disoriented but managed scamper out of the room.  I fled to the kitchen just as the front door was kicked in. I leaped out of the window, scaled up the fire escape and absconded into the night.

"Banned Brazilian Fighter Charged With Murders,”
topped the front page of the morning paper.  Quinnclay was also apprehended and charged with soliciting a contract killer.  He, however, has one of the country’s finest criminal attorneys under his payroll and has beaten all previous conspiracy charges.  I wouldn't be surprised if he beats this rap too. 

On the ensuing night,
Detective Wu sent me a text wanting to meet.  Her Crown Victoria was idling in the alley when I arrived.  She suddenly caught sight of the aphotic figure emerging from the darkness through her rearview mirror.  She stepped out of the cruiser, unfurled her umbrella and met me at the rear of her car.

"
Geezus Legend, you look terrible!" 
Detective Wu blurted as I staggered towards her.

"I'll be fine." 
I responded.

“Patrol officers found Tiago lying on his apartment floor beaten up.  He has a fractured eye socket, skull and bruising around his neck consistent with strangulation.  You know anything about that?”

“I might.”

“Gezz, I wonder how you pulled that off.  Tiago’s enormous! 
I saw the damage in the apartment.  You guys were really going at it?  Maybe you need to get yourself checked out."

"I have been."

"By who?  Some back alley doctor?  Maybe you should see someone legit?" 
She advised while assisting me to the rear of her car.  I rested against the trunk.

"All right detective."
 
I responded brushing her off.
 

"You still miss her don't you?" 
Detective Wu suddenly inquired.
 

"I don't know."

"You do.  I can tell.  Your temper hasn't gone away.  If the officers were a minute late, you probably would've killed Tiago."

"I'm fine."

"I know a psychologist..."

"I'm fine detective!" 
I growled rudely interrupting her.

"No you're not!  You need help!
  Legend... Duane, how long do you think you can live like this?  You’re suffering.   I’m starting to regret asking you to help me.  I took advantage of you. I’ve gotten you shot and stabbed and I continued using you like a puppet so that I could continue getting recognition from the department. I'm feeling bad about it."

"Someone has to do something about the homicides."

"You're right.  But it's not you... Duane there is something you should know. I... I... I have been promoted to sergeant.  I was trying to hold out from telling you but I can’t continue doing this to you.  In two months will be sent back to patrol.  I'm going to be reassigned uptown.  I decided to give up on being a detective.  The long hours, nights without sleep... It's taking a toll on me.  And this part of town can ruin your life if you don't get out.  Just look around.  Nothing good comes out of here.  It's depressing.  Last year four officers swallowed their gun and they all worked downtown.  I'm leaving Duane." 
She uttered.

"So what happens now?"

"Now I'm going to take you to the hospital.  And when you get released you're going to go back to New York and let your parents know you're all right.  When was the last time you even spoke to them?  Then you need to talk to someone and get help." 
She replied. 

“I don’t need to speak to anyone.”

“Yeah you do Duane.  You have some demons you need to get rid of.  You did some things I know you’re not too proud of.  I know you were in your apartment that night the girl died at your door.  I know you witnessed the entire assault.  I know you didn’t tell Lolani about the muggings and the burglary and everything else that followed you.  I know it’s eating you up.  Sometimes we make mistakes that are uncorrectable
. 
No matter how hard you try to fix your errors, they will remain.  You have to learn sometimes there is no resolution and you have to take it for what it is.  A lesson.  You’re going to go home Duane.  And if you ever decide to visit Capitol City again, call me.”

Detective Wu assisted me to the front passenger seat
of her cruiser.  She collapsed her umbrella and tossed it onto the rear floorboard.  She then bustled around the Crown Victoria and once inside the driver’s seat, she raced to the nearest hospital.  During the ride, I gazed at the streets of downtown Capitol City; the dark alleys, the ladies of the evening, the dealers and junkies, the perpetual rain, the run-down apartment buildings, the trashy sidewalks and streets, the graffiti and sleazy red neon vertical signs.  This city can swallow you up if you allow it to.  It nearly consumed me.  I didn't know what my next move was but the detective's advice seemed sound.  Maybe it's time I got help and put this behind me.  I'm sure it's what Lolani would want me to do.