Millennium Man #6:
"Discussion II"
by Jacob Milnestein

"Do you want fries with that?"

Emotion and colour contorted before him as he lashed out, his fist shattering several of Finnegan's ribs and knocking him down against the cold, marble floor of the building.

"Okay, so that's two Big Mac meals with large fries and two Cokes, three Happy Meals with fish-fingers and Pokemon toys and one plain veggie burger meal?"

Finnegan's mouth exploded in tooth shaped shrapnel and thick blood.

"Yes, sir, vegetarians are difficult. I sympathise with the difficulty you must suffer what with your daughter being so devoted to 'the cause' and all."

Holding the crippled man up with one hand, he lashed out again and again, shattering bone and causing major damage to his internal organs.

"Thank you very much, sir. Have a pleasant day and enjoy your meal."

A final blow shattered Finnegan's face.

Michael Manly leant against the counter and watched as the last few customers disappeared into the cold night air, each one bidden farewell by the large comic book style cardboard cut outs of Ronald McDonald and the Ham-Burglar on the way to the door.

Absently he ran a wind-up Pokemon toy back and forth across the counter, the flickering lights of the shops outside both elusive and repulsive at the same time.

It had been a month since Jim Finnegan's death, a month in which, after the initial chaos and confusion, he had been forced finally to deal with his problems as Michael Manly rather than retreating from them and taking on the role of Millennium Man.

After Finnegan's death, Millennium Man had become the subject of much debate and concern. It was rumoured that Police Commissioner Jordan was in talks with the mayor about the situation and the Pacific City Protector's apparent fall from grace.

The only person that had publicly stuck up for had been Regina Darling.

Sighing, he removed the red baseball cap and ran his hands through his hair. It was longer now, not long enough to be comfortable but long enough not to make him look like an escapee from a maximum-security prison.

He flinched away from the idea.

Over the past month he had managed to at least begin towards settling his debts and had acquired an apartment in downtown Pacific City, the kind of place he would have laid scorn upon during his days at KGPC. Now he was just thankful he had somewhere to go home to after work was over - and that was the other change...work.

It's a long drop from KGPC to McDonald's, longer than anyone would imagine, especially for someone accustomed to being the premier celebrity in Pacific City high society.

But Regina Darling had changed all that and now it looked as if she were about to change his life again.

The sudden waft of cigarette smoke burnt his eyes and caused him to look up from the back and forth motions of the small toy on the counter.

Charlie and Shirley Winters smiled back at him.

"I was wondering what I had to do to get some sodding service round here." Charlie smirked, cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Shirley reached out and touched his arm.

"Hi, Michael," She beamed warmly. "How are things?"

Manly tried not to think about the Bad Thing and decided that lying was probably the best option.

"Oh, they're fine, thanks for asking. New place is working out well, its nothing special but you know how it is."

"And how's your brother?" She continued her line of questioning.

"He's fine, he should be out of hospital soon. His girlfriend's suddenly become Florence Nightingale."

Shirley smiled again.

"Listen," Charlie said leaning forwards. "We haven't seen you 'out' lately. Is everything okay?"

Manly could feel the eyes of his 16-year-old manager burning into the back of his head.

Quickly he straightened and, with an apologetic glance at the Winters, began tapping at the till register.

"So that's two veggie burger meals with Fanta to go?"

Charlie looked confused; Shirley merely nodded sadly and reached for her purse.

Michael Manly smiled apologetically once more and then turned to place the order.

The night air bit into his exposed lower face, sending a chill down his spine.

For the last month, Jian Li Fong had rounded off every night with a visit to the Pacific City tower in desperate hope of finding Millennium Man but all to no avail.

The routine had become a ritual of sorts, a silent vigil for the man that had once protected the city against all darkness that dared eclipse the gleaming light of the great metropolis.

For the last few months Millennium Man's presence above the city had been all but constant, as if he had stepped up the routine that must have been established since his first public appearances during the last summer. He had been ever-present up until now.

The wind gathered at the folds of Li Fong's costume, twisting the material and causing the flesh beneath to ripple with patches of smooth gooseflesh. It was unlike Millennium Man to be absent from his routine. Granted, whilst Li Fong had little idea of who the man behind the domino mask really was, he was a good enough judge of character to know that the costumed hero wasn't the kind of person that could simply give up his routine - he didn't need to know the ins and outs of Millennium Man's
personality to understand that, for it was present in his own nature.

From those early days on the thankless and crowded streets of Hong Kong where he had first mastered the art of drunken fist boxing and many besides, Jian Li Fong knew that he would be unable to break from his obligations against the shadows and if that was true for him then how much more so would it be for one who had been granted powers beyond those of even his own rigorously learnt skills?

The bitter winds assaulted him once more but he refused to acknowledge them.

Something was terribly wrong; he could feel it within the burning pit of his stomach.

The television reports of last month's grandiosely exaggerated incident came swimming back to the forefront of his mind.

What if Millennium Man really had lost it? What if he was as out of control as the media now claimed? Would he be strong enough to take down his fellow hero if push came to shove?

He shivered, though this time not from the cold.

The possibility wasn't worth thinking about.

Silently he turned his attention out across the blanket of lights that made up the city.

Somewhere out there, Millennium Man waited.

Michael Manly glared resentfully at his abandoned uniform.

Flecks of dried blood adorned the costume, splattered in black smears across the red front and the pale yellow circle at its centre.

Holding the crippled man up with one hand, he lashed out again and again, shattering bone and causing major damage to his internal organs.

He shuddered and closed his eyes but the image, and the truth remained.

He had killed Jim Finnegan.

"Michael! You scared me half to death! Are you okay?"

The words echoed clearly in his mind.

"Millennium Man showed up! We've got some great footage for tomorrow's show let me tell you. He was just as good as usual."

The shrill ring of the telephone broke through the silence.

Silent he turned his back on the cupboard, allowing the wooden doors to swing over and close in over the costume.

With a weary heart he plucked the telephone receiver from its cradle and held it between his right ear and shoulder as he reached over to the kettle and began to fill it with water.

"Hello." He announced, trying to force a little optimism into his voice.

"Michael? Is that you?" The voice on the other end questioned anxiously.

He cursed himself silently.

"Hi, Tracy." He said, all attempts at optimism falling away.

"Jesus, Michael, I've been trying to get hold of you for months." She snapped, something akin to frustration and worry now translated into anger. "I didn't see you at Jim's funeral. What's happened to you, Michael?"

A final blow shattered Finnegan's face.

He winced as the memory surfaced once more.

"I...I just couldn't face it, Tracy.God, I'm sorry." He stammered, his voice very near breaking point.

At the back of his mind a voice screamed out, fearful that he was on the verge of breaking down and confessing everything.

"Oh God, Michael." She whispered, discarding the anger in her voice. "Oh God, I wish you'd been there."

The voice broke off into silent heaves for air and the steady fall of tears against the plastic receiver.

Manly stood there, listening to the sound of his friend crying. He wanted to say something, to feel something but instead he remained cold, untouched by her emotion and feeling the weight of his own burden alone.

The sniffles faded to awkward silence.

"Michael?" The voice called out. "Are you still there?"

He nodded and upon the realisation that she wouldn't have been able to see his non-verbal affirmation added:

"Yeah, I'm here."

"God, Mike, what happened, hey? Where did we all go wrong?"

A sudden image blossomed at the forefront of his memory.

In one sudden motion she flung her arms around his neck and met his lips.

"Regina." He whispered out loud without realising.

Tracy Newman smiled softly to herself on the other end of the phone.

"You can't blame her for everything, even if she is a spiteful cow." She tried laughing but it sounded dry and forced.

"I don't blame her." Manly's voice trailed off into the distance.

"T-They say that Jim blamed all of us for what happened." Tracy said anxiously on the phone, desperate for someone to lie to her.

"Not all of us." Manly obliged without realising the small mercy he had offered her. "He blamed Regina and Victoria Burke and he blamed me.he didn't talk about you."

Tracy sighed heavily and Manly scowled angrily. He knew that sigh, it was her 'Oh thank Christ, I'm not to blame after all' sigh.

A sudden sharp blossom of hatred welled up within him and he imagined her face as he dealt that fatal blow.

A final blow shattered Newman's face.

He shook his head violently.

"I can't stay here." He announced suddenly.

Tracy seemed taken aback.

"Is everything okay, Michael? Have I called at a bad time?"

"I can't stay here." He repeated and dropped the phone into its cradle.

Without bothering to change out of his McDonald's uniform, he pulled his coat back on and headed out of the door, ignoring the solemn cries of that other uniform at the back of the wardrobe.

He had to get outside; he couldn't be by himself anymore. When he was at work, when he was with other people then it wasn't so bad, he could just pretend that Millennium Man didn't exist but when he was alone he knew better.

Grabbing his keys from the surface he left his apartment, slamming the door behind him.

The uniform cried out to him even as he headed down the hallway to the stairs but he chose not to hear it.

Jian Li Fong watched silently from the rooftops, eyes tracking the handful of midnight walkers as they made their progress across the cracked pavement.

Behind him a large Coca-Cola sign flashed on and off, momentarily bathing him in bright red light and casting his shadow out from the rooftop to the streets below. It didn't matter, tonight was not anight for silent vigilance, tonight he wanted to remind certain people in the downtown area that he was still watching them.

The situation in Pacific City was less than ideal at present. With the amount of new heroes that emerged seemingly within moments of one another he had initially expected crime levels to fall...and they did to begin with. Children stopped shoplifting chocolate bars, parents began filling out tax forms in a proper fashion whilst the congregation of Catholic churches in the city doubled over night. Then the supervillains had turned up, all the usual psychos with a grudge against society came out of the
woodwork in response to the increased superhero activity.

'Oh, my dad smacked as a kid for eating the last cookie, I'm traumatised.'

'Oh, whilst I still want to rule the world, I do wish people would see there's so much more to me than a two-dimensional fascist dictator. I have feelings too.'

They were the worst, the Ricki Lake generation.

But then again, he couldn't really say much himself. Standing on rooftops in the middle of the night with a yin-yang symbol and a mask probably wasn't the best indication of a healthy mindset either.

He smiled briefly at the ridiculousness of his own situation.

A lone figure passed beneath him and suddenly he was focused once more on the task at hand.

Quickly he noted the slump of the shoulders and the bad posture before coming to the conclusion that he wasn't the man he was looking for after all.

But he was familiar.

Silently, Jian Li rose from where he crouched and skipped lightly across the rooftops, overtaking the figure and pausing in order to look down at him.

The head was bowed but the slow growing, cropped blonde hair gave him away instantly.

It was Michael Manly.

For a moment he thought about intercepting him before suddenly remembering that Manly wouldn't recognise him. Manly knew him only as Jian Li Fong and they had only met once.

He turned the memory over in his head.

Manly had seemed a pleasant person, a little self-absorbed and a little too desperate to cling onto Victoria Burke's skirt but he couldn't fault him for that. Looking at him now it was hard to believe he was the same person.

A sudden memory flashed through his mind.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You don't know what I've been through. You don't know what I've lost."

"Besides your hair?"

"Jesus." He murmured quietly to himself.

The hair was definitely similar and, surprisingly Manly's posture matched that similar defeated look Millennium Man had worn when last they met.

But there was no way they could be the same person. Manly was a pretty boy, someone who had got through life based on his looks alone and Millennium Man was.well, Millennium Man was off the rails.

Another mental image flashed across his memory.

Millennium Man; though not the Millennium Man he knew but rather the Millennium Man he had first seen on TV when he arrived in Pacific City, the one with the perfect blonde curtains and the winning smile - Manly's winning smile!

But the idea was absurd. Surely no one with that amount of public coverage would believe that a thin strip of material across their eyes could disguise their identity? That was insane.

He watched as Michael Manly passed by.

No, there was no way Manly could be Millennium Man it was just too far-fetched.

But still the doubt lingered on.

Regina watched his cold, dispassionate expression, took in the slow shrug he offered and waited for the torrent of verbal abuse to kick off.

It never came.

"It was never supposed to be serious was it?" Trevor said, turning his attention away from her and back to the television screen. "Besides its not as if you were the only person I slept with of the past few months. Like we said at the beginning, its not as if we were getting married or anything."

Her chest tightened, slightly taken aback by his callous comments.

"Back track a minute, Trev," She said, trying to prevent the anger from seeping into her voice. "What did you just say?"

He shrugged again, never once taking his eyes of the screen.

"It wasn't serious. Besides what the hell do you care, you're the one that suggested we should stop seeing each other."

"Damn right I am!" She shouted, unable to keep the anger away any longer. "When were you going to tell me this?"

He turned slowly to face her, that irritating expression back on his face that indicated that he really didn't think he'd done anything wrong.

"It wasn't supposed to be serious." He said again, stressing each and every word. "Jesus Christ,

'Gina, why are you getting so worked up about it? You want to break up, remember?"

"Don't call me 'Gina." She snapped. God, she hated it when he did that, it made her feel like a character in a soap opera. "So who were the lucky girls then, Trev, how many were there? Or can't you tell me because you didn't count at the time as it wasn't 'serious'."

"Why the hell are you getting so worked up about this?" He shouted back.

"Tell me their names, Trevor!" She screamed, her face slowly turning red with anger without he really understanding why.

Somewhere at the back of her mind a little voice advised her not to get so worked up about it. It was only Trevor after all and God knew how little he mattered. But the fact remained that he had hurt her in the most painful way she could imagine. Though she wouldn't admit it, Regina Darling needed to feel like she was special, like she was unique.

"Denise Delgado..." He began.

Regina turned away, hands clenching into fists.

"Oh, that's great. Denise Delgado. Thanks a lot, Trevor. Just make me life a living hell why don't you? And who else was there? Victoria Burke herself? No don't tell me I don't want to know." Her voice trailed off.

In her mind she imagined them, squirming together and instantly began to feel sick.

If it didn't hurt so much she'd be laughing by now, the whole situation was ludicrous.

Silence hung heavy the room.

"Get out, Trevor." She said, her voice low and quiet. "You can pick your stuff tomorrow whilst I'm at work."

He stood there for a moment, angrily staring at the back of her head before finally shoving past her and marching for the door.

Turning round he fixed her with one of his famous sulking child expressions.

"Just remember Regina, it was you that wanted to end this!" He pulled the door wide open. "And it wasn't supposed to be serious anyway!"

Without thinking she picked up an empty mug from the side and threw it at the door.

Trevor's head vanished round the corner and the door slammed shut, the mug fracturing into tiny pieces and denting the wood.

She turned and slumped down onto the sofa. It was still warm from where Trevor had been sitting only moments ago.

"Nice one, Regina," She murmured to herself. "You handled that one really well. Give yourself a pat on the back."

The television paused, smiled and then continued to ignore her.

"Oh.my.God! You're Michael Manly aren't you? What are you doing here? Are there, like, hidden cameras here or something?"

Michael Manly looked at the face of the slightly rotund girl and cringed.

He remembered her, she had been one of the girls holding up a 'Manly is Manly Enough for Me!' sign outside of Mega-Hits Records during the ill-fated appearance by N'Sync early in the year. He shifted his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"No, there's no cameras, this is my job." He mumbled. "Now can I take your order please, miss?"

Her eyes widened as she realised he hadn't denied who she had suspected him to be.

"But you're Michael Manly!" She cried. "You're a star! Oh my God, what are you doing here?"

"Paying the rent." Manly responded in a deadpan voice.

She leant in closer and whispered conspiratorially:

"You sure this isn't one of those new hidden camera shows?"

He nodded sadly.

"I'm sure. I don't work for KGPC anymore. Now may I take your order please, miss?"

The look in the girl's eyes suddenly changed from admiration to disappointment.

"So you really work here then?"

He nodded.

"Yes. May I take your order please, miss?"

She looked at him, enthusiasm dead and cooling.

"I'll have a bacon double cheeseburger meal please with a large Coke."

He nodded and tapped the combination into the till register.

For a moment he held her glare and then turned away.

Slowly she began fishing through her coat pocket for her wallet.

"Loser." She muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Manly said nothing in reply.

Several of Commissioner Jordan's finest lay sprawled out dead in the corridor.

Charlie and Shirley Winters continued to march forwards, clothes caked in blood and shoes leaving muddy stains upon the cold metal floor as they came to a division in the corridor.

Shirley paused and looked both ways.

"Which way?" She inquired.

"Right should lead to the outside lot, I think." Charlie answered, his voice full of worry and concern.

Solemnly they ventured on, running the stolen security card through the scanner and forcing the large door open.

The sun was red on the horizon, light playing between the tall buildings of the Pacific City background and striking the ruined helicar in a curious light.

Charlie Winters smiled triumphantly.

"See, I told you they'd have it here. What kind of a police pound would they be if they didn't repossess supervillain property as well?"

Still smiling he walked up to the shattered husk of the helicar and patted his hand lovingly against its side.

"There you are, old girl." He whispered quietly. "Sorry we left you for so long."

"You're not seriously thinking of trying to drag this back to the hotel parking lot are you?" Shirley asked, anxiously looking around.

The building behind them was now a graveyard of police officers and she found it odd that reinforcements had yet to arrive.

"No," He shook his head a little sadly. "But there's got to be something inside that'll help us, right? If she's as powerful as she looked during that whole Imperial Magistrate business I don't want to be taking any chances."

Sorrowfully, Charlie Winters pulled aside the crumpled metal and clambered within.

Shirley lit a cigarette and looked nervously around.

Something wasn't right, she could feel it in her stomach.

A sudden blow against her shoulders sent her stumbling forwards onto her hands and knees, the cigarette falling from her mouth. It wasn't enough to knock her out but it was enough to stun her.

"I knew you two couldn't be trusted." An angry voice snapped, its English pronounced with a curiously soft accent.

Picking up her cigarette, Shirley Winters turned slowly.

Standing before her was a man dressed in a grey costume. He had adopted a fighting stance, which she recognised as being significant of one or another of the Chinese martial arts though she wasn't sure which. Upon his chest was a large yin-yang symbol.

She inhaled deeply.

"You're Silver Shadow." She mused thoughtfully.

The hero looked over her blood stained clothing.

"And you're Shirley Winters, currently wanted for butchering the entire staff of a police facility."

Shirley Winters dropped into a fighting stance of her own.

"They had something of ours. We wanted it back." She snarled.

"So you killed them all." Silver Shadow laughed mirthlessly. "I don't what it is you've told Millennium Man or how you got him so easily under your thumb but I can see right through you. You're still the same cold-blooded killers as you were when you first arrived."

"And what would you know about that? You weren't even there, you pussy." She smirked and darted forwards.

The air blurred as Silver Shadow parried her blows with ease.

"Your fighting skill is lazy." He remarked jumping a few feet back.

Shirley smiled and shrugged.

"It wasn't my fighting skill I was trying to impress you with."

A sudden burst of pain filled the Shadow's mind as he felt blades of thought drive into his brain. He gasped and staggered, blood welling up in his nose and eyes bulging.

Charlie Winters emerged from the sanctuary of the wrecked helicar, his arms cradling an array of arcane pieces and obscure technology.

He looked from his wife to the staggered form of the Silver Shadow.

"That's Silver Shadow, I take it?" He asked.

Shirley nodded.

"He's an arrogant sod, this one." She said darkly.

Together they began walking back towards the open door of the police facility.

"Well, we'll have to put a stop to that." Charlie beamed and lashed out with his foot.

His large boot connected with the Shadow's ankle and as he applied pressure he heard the satisfying crunch of breaking bone.

Silver Shadow cried and fell backwards against the concrete.

Charlie Winters smiled and began to hum Kung-Fu Fighting loudly as both he and his wife made good their escape.

The door clicked softly open.

Michael Manly didn't bother looking up. It was near closing time but one of the rules of working in a fast-food restaurant seemed to be that there would always be one more customer just before you were about to lock up.

Thankful that he wasn't in the kitchen or on the tills, Manly continued to mop the floor, his back to the door.

"Hello, Michael." A soft voice whispered.

His back straightened instantly, the mop nearly sliding from his hands. He turned and looked at her,

Regina Darling, sans make-up, her eyes red and puffy.

"Regina." He whispered.

A sudden rush of shame hit him, more painful than when the alleged fan had recognised him and more acute than the swallowing of his pride that had been required for him to even apply for the job.

"I heard you were working here, and I.I thought I'd come and see how things were going."

He nodded, shame apparent on his face.

"They're going good." He lied.

"Listen, Michael." She stammered.

He could feel the eyes of his 16-year-old manager at the back of his head, along with the other four members of staff that worked the shift with him.

God, he wanted to die.

"Michael." Regina began again.

Please go away, he thought. Please leave me alone; I can't deal with this.I can't deal with you seeing me like this.

"I know who you are, Michael," She suddenly blurted out. "I know you're Millennium Man!"

Something inside Michael Manly curled up and died.

Well, that's it, a voice at the back of his head announced. Now you won't have to worry about putting the costume on again.

Regina Darling looked at his wounded face and then at the astounded expression upon his five fellow workers.

"I'm sorry." She whispered and fell into his arms, sobbing.

"Its alright." He said, running a hand through her hair. "Its alright."

She looked up again and then, before he could gage what was going on, reached up and kissed him.

For a moment the stunned silence surrounded them and then suddenly the five McDonald's workers, 16-year-old manager included, burst into a round of spontaneous applause and cheering and slowly, Michael Manly lost himself in her kiss.

Jian Li Fong sat against the peeling wall of the old downtown dojo, nursing his broken ankle.

It was well past midnight. It had taken hours and much pain to escape from the police compound and back to relative safety, hours in which his body had been bruised and battered. The dried blood still marked his face, something that he would remedy once he built up enough strength to climb down into the deserted dojo itself and tend to his own wounds.

The sudden, but not entirely unexpected, sound of footsteps echoed up from the streets below.

Muscles tensed and a fresh blossom of pain erupted in his broken ankle, foot hanging uselessly at an angle.

He tried to focus himself, to force the pain from his mind but all he could think of was the sound of footsteps growing louder and louder.

A large man appeared in the entrance of the alleyway, head down and shoulders slumped. A name badge barely concealed beneath his jacket glinted in the fluctuating moonlight revealing him to be an employee of McDonald's.

Jian sunk back into the shadows.

The large man came into view, cropped hair hidden by a baseball cap.

Shock set in as Jian suddenly recognised the passing stranger.

"Manly?" He called out.

The figure stopped, hands clenched into fists.

"Who's there?"

Slowly the Shadow limped forwards, dried blood discolouring the pale robes of his uniform.

A flutter of recognition crossed Manly's face and in that moment Jian knew that everything he had suspected was true.

"You're the Silver Shadow aren't you?" Manly said slowly, trying to disguise that first fatal hint of recognition.

The Shadow smiled despite his pain.

"And you're Millennium Man." He whispered.

Anger crossed the other's face.

"What makes you say a thing like that?" He demanded.

Jian's smile widened and he found the pain easier to ignore as he dropped easily back into step with his alter ego.

"Your body language gives it away." He answered. "And you both have such similar haircuts."

Manly's fists tightened.

"I don't need this right now, Shadow." He snapped, sounding more and more like the man Jian had met atop the Pacific City tower.

Jian Li nodded slowly to himself.

"Yes, you're him, alright." He commented, more to himself than Manly.

"So what if I am?" Manly demanded, his voice rising. "Its not like it's a big secret anymore!"

He turned away, barely suppressing his rage.

"Michael," Jian called softly. "What happened to you?"

Manly was silent for a moment.

"Jim Finnegan worked it out and Regina Darling overheard him. Now everyone at my work knows.

By tomorrow it'll be all over the city papers."

"Is that why you killed Finnegan?" Jian questioned, his voice cold and unyielding.

"No!" Manly shouted, his voice breaking once more. "I...I didn't mean to kill Jim.I didn't mean to hit him that hard."

"Look at me, Michael." Jian commanded solemnly.

Manly shook his head.

"I don't want to."

"Look at me." The other reiterated.

Slowly the former Millennium Man turned and faced him.

"Shirley Winters did this to me." He answered, indicated the blood upon his face and the damaged ankle. "Your 'friends' butchered an entire building full of police officers."

"That's not true." Manly countered. "They're not supervillains anymore."

"Its true. I don't think your 'friends' care much for being either heroes or villains and I'm holding you responsible for their continued presence in my city."

"Screw you." Manly spat. "You don't know anything, Shadow. Throughout all the shit with ShadowWraith and all the stuff after the Magistrate, Charlie and Shirley were the only two people who stood by me. If you're so pissed off about them then where were you when the Magistrate landed, where were you when ShadowWraith broke free? You and Mysteria...you're both full of shit."

Anger flashed across Jian's face as he recalled his encounter with Emma Randolph.

"I had...previous engagements." He said slowly.

Manly laughed coldly.

"And you have the nerve to tell me what my responsibilities are?" He turned away and began walking again.

"Michael," Jian called after him. "Let me help you."

"Its too late for that." Manly called back. "I'm not Millennium Man anymore. There's no point."

The footsteps echoed on the pavement.

"Then help me!" Jian called out.

Manly stopped and turned.

"Help me." Jian said quietly.

For a moment they stood there and then Manly glanced hesitantly down at the Shadow's busted foot.

"I own this dojo." Jian continued. "Its empty during the night. Help me inside and we'll talk."

Silence drifted between them.

"Five minutes." Manly said with resignation. "I'm on the early shift tomorrow."

Slowly he advanced forwards.

A small smile crossed Jian's face as, with Manly as support, he twisted and unlocked the backdoor with his keys.

Slowly the lights of the dojo flickered on and the two men silently retreated within...