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This message 'The Return of Evil' Part Three.... Complete with a new Messenger-centric color scheme and a surprise revelation.... was posted by Messenger-- Hopes this works. on Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 16:12.
‘The Return of Evil’
Part Three: Secrets, Lies and the Human Spirit
‘You’re out there.....’
‘.... You’re out there somewhere....’
A man in a black trench-coat looks at the small coffee bar ‘StarLights’ from across the street.
He clenches his fist.
‘This madness was supposed to be over. I finally killed you. How can you be back? How...?’
He strides towards the cafe, ignoring honking cars that screech to a halt at his feet.
‘.... It doesn’t make sense. None of it. There has to be a logical explanation. You are dead.’
The man in the trench-coat pauses and looks down at himself.
‘... But then again, so was I. So was I.’
He enters the cafe.
There are no patrons there.
Lucky for them.
There is just one man behind the counter.
He is a skinny man with badly dyed blonde hair and a half grown goatee. He is dressed in a waiter’s shirt and bow tie.
“Uh.... H-How can I help you, sir...?” He yelps nervously.
“You work here....?” The man asks in a gritty voice.
“Y-Y-Yes....”
“My name is Messenger. A man who seeks to kill me, has coffee regularly here. His name is Mailman. He has a bulky build, short black hair, a hideously scarred face and is fond of the color blue. Do you know anyone of that description?”
Silence.
“Uhhh....?”
“That sounds like hesitation to me, nose pick.”
“.... I- I really don’t know anyone who has a scarred--”
“Last chance, punk. Don’t make me fuck you up.”
The waiter backs away towards the wall.
“No, I’m serious! Please, I don’t know anyone who looks like that!!”
“I warned you.” The Messenger says in a gritty, yet calm voice.
He leaps over the counter, grabs the man’s head and puts him in a headlock. He drags the man over to the other side of the counter.
“Why do all of you bastards always make this hard, huh? You all tell me in the end....”
Messenger turns on the cappuccino steamer. Hot streams of steam starts spilling out of the small metal instrument. He pushes the man’s face towards the scalding steam.
“Listen up, and listen good! I am only going to say this once!!! You are ten seconds away from having the skin blister off your face. That is, if you don’t tell me all you know about Mailman....”
“NNNggahhhh....” The man screams as his face turns red. “Puh-PLEASE!! I duh- I duh- I don’t KNOW ANYTHING!!! I SWEAR!!!”
“I AM ABOUT TO MELT YOUR FACE OFF!!!” Messenger screams back as he pushes the man’s face even closer to the burning waves of steam.
“I DON’T KNOW!!!”
........
Messenger lets the man go.
He falls to the floor trembling and gasping for breath.
“You’re telling the truth. You honestly have no idea. No sane man would withhold information if his life were at stake. What are your hours? How long have you been working here?”
“.... I-I work full-time, five days a w- week.... I’ve been working here...f-for years....”
“Hmmn....” Messenger rubs his chin. “Shit. Back to square one.”
The postman storms out of the cafe.
.................
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Miles away.....
The Dark Knight stirs from his position.
The room is hazy and blurred.
He stumbles up.
The last thing he remembers is Shane Jackson stabbing him with a sedative. He doesn’t know how long he’s been out, but he knows the drug can last for hours.
He looks around and staggers to the door. He needs to find the boy.
He tries to call out, but his throat is so dry.
“.... shane....” He whispers in a hoarse voice. “.... where are you...?”
There is no answer.
He slowly makes his way to the next room.
He sees his front door busted in.
Shane Jackson is gone.
..........
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A frenzied teen leaps from roof-top to roof-top.....
“Mailman....” The boy mutters. “..... I’m coming for you....”
Images of his dead mother flash in his mind. His mother, so gentle, so caring..... The last person he could turn to after he lost so much... And now she too is... Gone.
Why does he lose so much?
Is it destiny?
Can any Messenger have a happy life....?
His name is Shane Jackson, and his life is one heartbreak after another. His father, killed when he was a baby. His best friend... Dead. His girlfriend.... Killed in a car accident. During all of this, the one person who stood by him was his mom. Who will stand by him now?
He hunts for his mother’s killer....
He doesn’t know what this man looks like.
All he has is a name.
‘Mailman’.
Shane flips on to a stairwell. He scours the endless streets, with their hundreds of cars... Thousands of citizens. How is he supposed to find one man?!
“DAMN YOU!!!” He screams. “WHERE ARE YOU, YOU BASTAAAARD?!?!” His fists clenched in rage. Tears trickling down his cheeks. “.....where are you....?”
..... He crouches and trembles.
His body shivers as he hears a soft laugh behind him.
Foot steps.
“..... You foolishly believe you’re hunting me, Shane Jackson....” A raspy voice softly tells him. “.... And yet all this time.... I’ve been hunting you.”
Shane Jackson whirls around and gasps.
“You wanted me, boy?! Well then, allow me to formally introduce myself.....” A man in a blue uniform steps in to view. “... The name is Mailman.”
Shane’s reaction is a mixture of fear, rage and madness.
“YOU! Y- YOU’RE THE ONE!!.... The one....” He trembles as he points his finger at the awesome Mailman. It is easy to say you are going to kill someone. It’s an entirely different matter to actually do it.
“The one who blew up your residence? Yes, I do take that honor. The purpose was to kill you and create more distress for the real Messenger.... But instead I only managed to incinerate your poor old mother. That makes you a loose end.....” The sun gleams off his teeth as he gives Shane a wicked grin.
“.... You- You killed my mom....” Shane repeats as he backs away. His eyes widen as he faces the man who has brought him so much grief. Last summer, Shane faced the devil himself. Yet, this figure scares him so much more.
“Yes, we have established that.” Mailman slides a silver hand gun out of his blue sleeve. “... Hopefully I can help reunite the two of you.”
The gun barrel falls in to Shane’s path.
*((BLAM))*
“NO!!” Shane screams as he flips out of the way. A bullet ricochets off of the ledge of the roof.
*((BLAM))*
“You’re going to die, boy...”
*((BLAM))*
“CAN’T YOU SEE THAT?!?”
*((BLAM))*
Shane frantically leaps out of the way of bullets that whip past him.
His heart is beating fast. Images of his mom flash past his mind’s eye.
He can’t fail her.
Mailman shrieks hysterically as he forces Shane to continually leap for his life.
What kind of a madman laughs as he kills people?!
*((BLAM))*
Shane desperately attempts to evade the projectiles that fly by him, but there are so many bullets... So many.....
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHHH!!!!”
.... that he can’t evade them all.
The last bullet rips off a part of Shane’s shoulder as he is in mid leap.
He falls to the cement, his right arm twitching. Bits of pulp are splattered against the ledge behind him.
“nngh.... nngh..... nngh.......” He moans.
He convulses and rolls on the pavement. Blood spurts out of a severed artery protruding from his shoulder.
Mailman smiles, blows the smoke away from his gun, twirls it on his finger and stocks it away.
“Magnum bullets. Hurts like a bitch, huh, kid?!
“..... This.... won’t..... stop..... Me.......” He whispers as sweat drips down his forehead.
Mailman kneels by Shane’s side. “No, I bet it won’t.” He patronizes him. “You’re a strong one....”
“..... I .... will..... kill.... You.....”
“Lucky you, boy.” Mailman grins. “I’m going to give you that chance. You say you can kill me? I’ll let you prove yourself.”
He grabs Shane’s collar and yanks him to his feet by his shirt.
“Ahh...” Shane winces as his injured arm flails at his side.
Blood streaks down the sweatshirt he currently wears.
“.... Still going to kill you.”
Mailman tosses his gun to his side. It skitters to the other side of the roof.
“.... C’mon then, boy..... Show me your worth!” He beckons the teenager over with his fingers.
“DIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!” Shane lunges at Mailman with blood lust in his eyes.
Mailman calmly flips over Shane as he stumbles by him. As he lands, he slaps the boy away.
Shane staggers to the other side of the roof as he grabs his face with his good hand.
“Routine.” Mailman waves away a yawn. “I thought you were going to prove you’re a man.”
Shane looks behind him as blood trickles down his lip. His eyes display a touch of insanity.
“.... I will destroy you....” The teen Messenger shouts in a cracking voice.
Mailman chuckles. “So far you’re doing a pitiful job.”
He walks over. Shane swings his fist around and Mailman grabs it. As he holds the wrist, he kicks the boy in the stomach and then back hands him away.
Shane Jackson falls head first to the cement. His chin skids against the gravel.
“... never give up....” He mutters as he struggles to rise.
“.... Us Messengers, we fight until the last drop, eh?” Mailman kicks Shane in the stomach as he lays on the ground. He collapses back to the pavement and wheezes.
“.... That is what makes these battles so epic.”
....
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A decrepit warehouse in ‘Seedy Town’....
“Bathtub Tommy wants those ‘G’s by six......” A fat mobster tells his friend as he puffs on a cigar and stacks up piles of cash on a long table.
His friend, a skinny man with a ponytail sighs. “Bathtub Tommy can kiss my ass. I’ll get him his dough when I feel like it...”
“Hey, goombahs!” Another gangster yells out as he places another suitcase of money on the table. “Shut the hell up and help me---.....YAAAACK!!*”
He is brutally cut off as a rectangular object suddenly flies out of nowhere and embeds itself in his neck.
He is already dead when he hits the ground. A growing pool of blood spills out from underneath his mangled neck.
“Oh.... Oh my God.....” The mobsters back away as they look at their dead friend in horror.
And then it turns to shock as they realize what is embedded in his neck.
It is a Razor Letter.
....... Out of the shadows steps a man in a trench-coat.
“Hello, boys.” He tells them in a raspy voice.
“Nuh-nuh-no......” One of the gangsters stutters in fear as he backs away and nervously points his gun at the Messenger.
“Y-Y-You’re dead.... I heard you wuz dead!!!”
“If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard that in the last few weeks..... Anyway, I don’t have to kill you bastards. I’m willing to strike a deal so you don’t end up like your friend.”
“Wha-What-What is it...?” The more nervous gangster with the ponytail whispers as he lowers his gun.
“What are ya crazy?!” The fat mobster with the cigar screams. “I’ll do him myself!!” He points his gun at the Messenger.
It is too late however, as another Razor Letter has already been thrown in the fat man’s direction. It sinks in to his layers of bulge with a sickening sound. The fat gangster gurgles and then slumps to the ground dead.
“Stupid. That was very stupid of him. He could of lived if he had cooperated.”
The man with the ponytail gulps and puts his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. “Wha- What do you want....?”
“I want Mailman!” The Postman tells him as he walks over. “I want any information that has been passing through the underworld about him. Anything at all! Rumors, passing comments... ANYTHING!!!”
“M-M-Mailman?!? I heard he wuz dead....”
Messenger grabs the gangster and stares him in the face.
“You heard I ‘wuz’ dead as well. Besides, I think you’re lying. I think you know something....”
“I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!!!” The ponytailed man screams in a frightened voice.
.........
------------------------------------------------------------
At that moment....
“.... Me- Messenger will come get you... He’ll rescue me and kill you....” Shane wipes blood off of his face as he staggers up.
Mailman smirks.
“Messenger?!? You must be joking.... Messenger is the reason you’re in this mess, Shane m’boy... Your mother is dead because I went after him.”
“My mother is dead.....” The teen spits out blood and catches his breath as he stands there. “.... Because you killed her.”
“Open your eyes, Shane. The postman is indirectly responsible for her death. Without him, you never would have been dragged in to our blood feud. Your mom was a casualty of our war.”
“..... Shut up ......” Shane grits his teeth.
He leaps in to the air.
Mailman kicks out his foot.
The boy flips over it and knees Mailman in the face as he does so.
Mailman stumbles back.
He wipes his lip. “Nice. Getting a second wind, eh? You’ll need it.”
Shane leaps back towards Mailman for a second attack.
He tries to kick his opponent in the face, but his leg is blocked by Mailman’s arm and he is left open for a brutal chop to his neck.
Shane rolls backwards over the roof as he deals with the pain.
“.... You got too cocky. Fact is, I actually wanted you to get that first hit in.... I wanted you to regain your confidence.... It makes it even more fun when I crush it again.”
Shane Jackson pulls himself to his feet.
“..... You can’t stop me...” He tells Mailman even as he clutches his constantly bleeding shoulder.
“It’s quite the opposite. You think you’re fighting a difficult foe. And yet, all this time I’ve been playing with you, like a cat does with a mouse. I wanted to see your limits and study who I was facing. Now that I know.....” Mailman grins maniacally. “.... It’s really time to cut loose.”
Mailman jumps on Shane and tackles him to the floor. Shane doesn’t even have time to respond.
Vicious punches start to rain down on his boyish face.
*FwACK*
*WHAM*
*WHACK*
Shane coughs up blood and wheezes as Mailman lets him breathe for a few seconds.
Mailman gets off of his pinned body and pulls him to his feet.
Shane can only go along as he fights off unconsciousness.
Mailman grabs the boy’s head and shoves it face first in to a chimney on the roof.
The teen Messenger falls to the concrete ground, blood gushing out of his nose and lips.
“.... no....” He mutters in a weak voice. His body is a bruised and battered wreck.
“No what?!” Mailman asks in a mocking voice.
“.... no more......” He yelps. “.... puh- please....”
“... But-.... But I thought you said you were going to kill me, Shane. Isn’t that what you said?! That you would ‘never give up’?! You didn’t lie to me, Shane, did you?! Perhaps you’re not as tough as you think you are.”
Shane vomits blood as he lays there. “.... Puh- please.....”
“Oh, we’re not done yet, boy!”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At the warehouse....
*Fwack*
Messenger slaps the gangster repeatedly as he holds him up.
“TELL ME!! I WANT INFORMATION, DAMN YOU!!!”
*CRACK*
“... I- I-... *koff*.... told you, man.... I don’t know shit....”
Messenger is about to punch the man again, but instead just lets him go.
He falls to the ground.
“Stupid bastard.....” He mumbles as he leaves the warehouse.
......................
..... Outside the sun still shines. And yet, it’s so damn cold.
As he stands in the frigid cold air, he lights a cigarette. He rubs his hands together for warmth.
Flashes of Crimson Courier getting impaled on a sword make him wince.
“Damn you, Mailman....”
Images of Prize Fighter having his neck snapped by Mailman all those years ago in California.
“.... Damn you to Hell....”
And finally.... ‘Lonnie’s Tavern’ blowing to bits with Stanley McDonald still inside.
“DAMN YOU!!!!”
He sighs and flicks the half smoked cigarette away.
“.... Where are you, you bastard.....”
His eyes widen as a man in a black coat and tie suddenly steps in to view. The man wears a ‘SPUD’ badge....
“...... Messenger?” The black haired man says in a monotone voice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Never Give Up.....
*SWACK*
Shane rolls against the ledge of the roof as he’s hit again.
Mailman walks over and kicks his face.
*KRAK*
Shane rolls again, right off of the roof......
Luckily, the stairwell was beneath him.
His body bounces against the metal rails that compose the stairwell and clanging sounds echo as he rolls down a flight of the stairs.
He tries to crawl away.... His body trembling....
Mailman laughs and drops down to the stairwell and walks down after Shane.
“.... don’t... don’t kill me... don’t wanna die......”
Mailman does not say anything this time. His searing eyes betray his insanity.
He merely lifts Shane’s head by the hair and slams his face back in to the metal rails.
*FWACK*
Shane moans.
“This is only the beginning....”
*FWACK*
“puh-please.....”
*FWACK*
Mailman lifts the bloodied heap that is Shane Jackson up by his shirt.
His feet drag against the rails.
“You can’t even stand on your own now, you’re so messed up....” Mailman grins. “I really did a number on you, didn’t I, boy?”
Shane spits in his face.
“.... never give up......”
“Oh, that old song and dance...” Mailman shakes his head. “... Look at you. You’re a mess. What can you--....”
*CRACK!*
Mailman is cut off as Shane swings a lead pipe in to his head. He had been holding it behind his back. As soon as Mailman lets go off of him, he collapses.
“Arrrgh!” Mailman recoils from the pain. “You little shit!!” He lifts Shane over his shoulders and is about to hurl him in to the crowded street below when he stops himself.
“No....” He looks up at the boy gasping for breathe. His swollen face is smeared in blood. His limp arm hangs by his side. “... That’s what you want me to do. You want me to end this for you. Well, I want you to suffer as long as possible.... Who knows? Maybe we’ll even become friends.”
Mailman shoves Shane back on to the metal stairwell floor.
The boy twitches in pain as he lays there.
“Fact is.... You’re more valuable to me alive.”
Mailman takes a long silver needle out of his belt.
‘Sorry, mom....’ Shane thinks to himself as he’s stabbed by the needle and falls in to a deep slumber.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dockland....
“Who are you?!” Messenger shouts as he holds a gun at the man in the suit.
“The name is Agent Travis. I am with a special branch of SPUD that is so secret, the Director himself doesn’t even know of our existence.”
Messenger holds the gun steady. “Go on....”
“Our agency is called M.E.S.S.I.A.H. Our entire goal is to bring down another organization known as ‘BlackSun’. This organization wishes to recreate the world in it’s image. The end result is so ghastly that it is beyond belief.”
“Tell me.”
“I’m afraid I cannot. National security reasons.”
“What does this have to do with me....?”
“You’re interested in finding ‘Mailman’....? Am I correct?” The black haired man asks calmly as he slides out a menthol cigarette.
“How do you know this...?!?”
“We know everything. I have been following you for a long time, Messenger. And we share a common interest.”
“I don’t know anything about a ‘BlackSun’.....”
“But I think you do. At least, your friend Mailman does. The reason behind his return has everything to do with BlackSun. He is now their pawn. See, it’s not just that Mailman wants you.... ‘BlackSun’ wants you as well.”
Messenger continues to point his gun at Agent Travis.
“Why would ‘BlackSun’ want me.....?”
Agent Travis remains poker faced. “Just like Mailman.... The reason behind your return has everything to do with BlackSun.”
Messenger doesn’t know what to say. He just pauses for a few moments to take everything in, and then...
“.... You better start making some sense soon, boy scout. What the HELL is going on?!?”
“Everything you think you know about yourself since you returned, may be wrong.”
“If you know, tell me.....”
“Like I said--- National security.”
“Fuck you. My life isn’t owned by the government. I have a right to know--...”
“Funny you should say that..... Your life may indeed be owned by the government. The fact is “Messenger”...... The ‘Mailman’ who is running around may not be Mailman. And you.....
.... There is a good chance you’re not Messenger.”
Silence.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
NEXT: What the hell is going on?!? Who are M.E.S.S.I.A.H and ‘BlackSun’?!? If Messenger and Mailman aren’t the real thing, just what the hell are they? Real or not, Mailman is going to do some serious damage to Shane, so Messenger will have to stop him as soon as he can. And he may even uncover some secrets along the way.....
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