The Shiny Raindrop fell from the sky , through the darkness , towards the shivering lights of the city below.
Cold gusting winds drove the raindrop over tall edifices of glass and thronging avenues all the way into the Red Bamboo District.
Herein the lights dimmed and the numbing embrace of the twilight took over only to be punctured by the occasional flashes of fulmination that acted as messengers between the heavy clouds far above.
The Raindrop went from shiny to grey as it penetrated the layers of soot and poison that lay like a constant lid of mist over the city despite of the fact that their source , the gigantic factories that had once sprawled along this region had long since been refurbished to establishments that gave far more pleasure to the folk especially in the night than their former forms had ever did .
The capricious stormy wind ably supported by the incessant rain did their best but the final vestiges of the ancient past exemplified by the misty dome high above never could be broken down like an impenetrable wall it remained in the skies where no man would be ever bothered about it.
The wind carried the raindrop towards the parts of the district that particularly seemed to welcome the arrival of the Night .
In the World Below , a solitary woman could be seen walking via a gnarled lane that in the gloom appeared to bear a remarkable resemblance to the paths that led to the mythical Dungeons and lairs of Dragons as told of in the legends of old.
The Woman no doubt tipsy and who was assuredly way past her bedtime , certainly had no scope to think such thoughts . To be more accurate she was surely incapable of articulating any reasonable opinion.
The wind suddenly died causing the Raindrop to , for a brief moment hover in the sky .
Even as the woman went on in her merry way hands reached over from the shadows of her blind spot . The ghastly hands did their best to make proud their sources of inspiration , the tales of horror that had terrified the city for years and years ; for in a swift moment they had already clasped themselves around the Woman's pale neck which was shining like a beacon in the dark night.
The ending it appeared would be no different this time.
The Raindrop seemed to reached its end as well for it rapidly plummeted towards the Earth, fortunately though the Heavens Above which opposed determinism of any kind overruled their own judgement and sent a gust of wind that dragged the raindrop away from certain dissolution .
By a strange twist of fate the firm hands that had never made a mistake before mystically lost the prey they had been holding on to and in the very next moment a thundering fist raced towards the face of He who owned those creeping hands .
His form deformed under the pressure like a putty after being struck against by a hammer .
The clearly awaken Woman gave a squawk of horror for what she was observing wasn't a literary exaggeration but a terror that had no place in the world of Sweet Dreams and Rationality.
The Raindrop fell into a cone of light that radiated from a spluttering lamp on the roof of a two storey building that had long since given up to the rot and decay that assailed it .
The stupefied woman who had narrowly managed to resist her fate found herself being bound tightly by illusory coils that flowed smoothly from the torso of the creature that had assailed her .
Yes flowed , was the right word .
The reason being that the iridescent coils that shone eerily were not vaporous as would be expected from spectres but clearly held substance , they resembled a liquid and a very familiar liquid that the Woman had taken for granted all these years .
The Woman found herself being strangled to the point of asphyxiation by watery ropes that conveyed the fury of the caster who had been thwarted by his prey.
The Raindrop continued down the wall and a rustling hulk and landed on top of a bull's horn that had perhaps served as an ornamental decoration at one point of time.
The Woman whose face was turning bluer by the instant reached out trembling hands until they grasped a metallic object.
With a gasp of pain she pulled the trigger .
The Shadowy Silhouette made no move to evade the bullets whose trajectory would involve his chest as well .
Barely an instant had passed when ripples emerged over the surface of the Man and the bullets clattered to the ground unceremoniously.
The fingers that were grasping the gun loosened as well letting the gun fall to the ground with a thump that mimicked the resounding beat of the Woman's heart.
The foul wind shrieked as it swept off the helpless Raindrop into the air , turbulence causing it to be dashed around as its life flickered like a fading flare .
The Raindrop hit against a solid wall and slowly dripped on to a grail where it gained a much needed refuge.
The Shadow turned a gaze of incredulity towards his chest which had given birth to a point of a purple sword that crackled and flashed lighting up the night exactly like the lightning far above.
He tried to turn towards his behind in order to view the untimely aggressor who had dealt such a lethal blow but he never could for the paralysis had slowly crept into the very depths of his being and without any indication his phantasmagorical form which had been by Willpower alone shattered as countless water drops rained creating a muddy puddle on the dust laden lane.
The Woman who was free from her shackles abruptly collapsed.
The Raindrop which was hurled out from its refuge finally met the inevitable as it ceased to be a drop and became a part of the polluted water of the city , and of everything.
The vigil of the Man dressed in the Soignee Suit ended as with a swift moment like a spectre he vanished from his vantage point alerting none save the Man who had already sheathed his purple sword ; the latter wrinkled his nose as he detected a rancid odour that gave him an air of familiarity but he didn't put much thought to it instead reaching towards the button that was inconspicuously twirling on the cobbles that lined the lane .
Ye Lan got up choking .
Her hands reached to her neck where even now she could feel those watery coils that were pressed against her throat squeezing out her breath forcefully.
Her hazy eyes whose vision was tinged with red managed to focus towards the Man who reached out his hand towards the drowning her .
She accepted the help meted out and got to her feet reluctantly .
"You didn't seem awfully surprised , "Jun You noted.
Ye Lan spluttered for a bit removing the last traces of water from her lungs before she began to speak .
"I have had my share of experiences , " was all that she said.
"I see , " Jun You accepted her explanation without any prying .
"Did you get him ? " she asked softly doing her best to change the subject.
"Not exactly ."
'"What do you mean ? " She asked , the ominous foreboding she felt causing her heart to thump rapidly.
"Uh , what I got was only a decoy , it seems that the cunning bastard had a doppelganger ready which he used to evade my final strike."
Ye Lan desperately held back the urge to scream.
"You're telling me that I nearly died out there for NOTHING ? " the last words were a shrill wail that pierced through the blanket of silence that enclosed the space holding the two.
Jun You winced in response.
"Well not exactly , " he muttered .
"What do you mean ? " she asked expectantly . If some useful clue had been salvaged then her sacrifice could still be said to be worthwhile even if they had failed to nab the perp.
"This ," he held aloft the button that could only be dimly seen in the darkness.
Ye Lan fought to keep her raging emotions in check.
She enunciated each word without any emotion even then for some strange reason Jun You felt an overbearing pressure that he didn't feel after hearing her hysterical screams earlier.
"You're , telling , me , that , in , exchange , for , my , near , death , all , that , you , managed , to get , was , a , button ."
Jun You shrugged .
"From what I believe this button seems to be of a rare kind and fell of the suit that the killer had been wearing originally which probably meant that he had switched with his decoy just about when I struck him , since he didn't have much time it stands to reason that a part of my attack had hit him as well dislodging that button and leaving him in a temporarily weakened state . So not only do we have a valuable clue on our hands , for better or for worse the Wraith is off the streets for a while ."
Ye Lan said nothing and merely reached out her hand .
Jun You , never one to stand for ceremony , dropped the button and headed out .
Realising that he was leaving so soon Ye Lan couldn't help but ask , "Where are you going ? "
Jun You turned his face towards her and gave her a wide smile .
"I just felt that I saw an old friend . I am heading off to meet him . You head on without me , I will meet you back at the precinct later. "
Then with a sudden leap he was into the air agilely jumping from roof to roof as his shape vanished rapidly from the sight of Ye Lan .
Ye Lan stared at the button in her palm and murmured to herself , "So he was one of them , after all ."
She deftly placed the button inside her overcoat and gingerly stood up taking the support of the wall before she slowly made her way out ; the complicated emotions she felt having already made a mess of her mind .
Meanwhile Jun You who was gliding among the rooftops came to a sudden halt since the illusory trail that he had been following disappeared abruptly .
A wry smile was plastered for a moment but soon it was replaced by a cheerful one , "Well , If a Member of the Bulletin Board couldn't do this much that would be strange indeed .Next time I hope that you fight me with your full strength , " after saying these words his form vanished heading back in the way that it had come from .
Right beneath the building on whose roof Jun You had stood earlier , an elegantly dressed man removed the pods from his ear and began walking along the dark path that was illuminated sporadically by the light of the stars.
Although the prospect of a Rematch was interesting now wasn't the right time for one .
Still he had managed to get some benefits in his sojourn , in particular he had discovered a curio that the Boss would no doubt love to lay his lands on .
With a swift wave he shook off the raindrop that had struck against his suit causing it to fall into the asphalt from whence it was swept by the currents causing it to eventually fall into the maw of the sewer which had been waiting for its arrival.