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Chapter 1
Raphael Kain's adversary cartwheeled forward and attacked with a barrage of flying fists and slashing elbows. Unable to sidestep the attack, Raphael was forced to block each blow as it came, retreating a few steps down the narrow brick alleyway. The moment he saw an opening, he lashed out, counterattacking with a front kick and a host of blazing-fast punches. He landed a few glancing strikes before his opponent managed to backflip away from him, dodging in an acrobatic fury what would have been a devastating crescent kick.
"Good thing you got out of the way of that one," Raph taunted. He wasn't even out of breath. "You'd have had a headache for a week."
As his opponent stepped backward down the alley, regrouped and came forward again, Raphael watched him closely--paying careful attention to his elbows, since he knew they would tell him what sort of strike was coming next. Raphael read his movements flawlessly and launched a perfectly timed kickÑbut his enemy was too fast. He cartwheeled beneath Raphael's leg, sprang to his feet, and caught Raphael's cheek with a glancing elbow as he shot past. By the time Raph spun around and struck out with a backfist, his opponent was already safely out of range.
As Raphael prepared for his next onslaught, he felt the mysterious, soul-tingling magical force his kung fu master called Shen filling him. It rose through his feet, traveling upward like a shiver, and it shone down on him from above, too, filling him with its unseen light. Lately, Raphael was feeling the presence of Shen more frequently, but there was still no telling when it would appear and when it wouldn't. But he felt the energy's presence now, and he used his qigong training to focus it.
"You're slippery," Raph conceded. "Try to slip past this!" Squinting with concentration, he willed the energy to build within him. Instantly, his chest tightened and his forehead buzzed as that familiar, electric vibration coursed through him. Then, just as his opponent was charging him again, he reached a hand out and released the power.
Instantly, his attacker was knocked backward. Stumbling, he slipped on a crushed soda can and fell hard on the dirty concrete. Raph hurried toward him and extended his hand.
"You all right, Nass?"
With Raphael's help, Ignacio got to his feet and dusted off his clothes. "Yeah. I'm good. That was crazy with the Shen, though. You're gettin' scary good with that stuff."
"You're getting a lot better too," Raphael said. "I can't believe you dodged my kick like that. How did you see it coming? Did I telegraph it somehow?"
Ignacio shook his head. "Nah," he said, "I used the knowing."
The knowing was something Ignacio was still getting used to. As he explained it to Raphael, ever since he was a kid he sometimes saw things before they happened. Sometimes he saw them only in his mind, but sometimes it felt like they were really happening and he was in the middle of the action. But no matter how it came to him, he had always been afraid of his ability. Now he was learning to embrace it.
Raphael nodded. "I think the knowing comes from Shen too," he said. "It's all connected somehow."
As they stepped out of the alley onto the sidewalk of downtown Middleburg, Raphael shivered. Winter was coming. He could feel it in the sharp bite of the wind, see it in the frosty, pale blue of the sky. He wore his dad's old goose-down parka now, over his customary hoodie, and his best friend, Ignacio Torrez, striding down the sidewalk next to him, was huddled in a frayed old peacoat he'd picked up at the Goodwill. But despite the chill that numbed his fingers and reddened his nose on that cold Thursday afternoon, nothing could dispel the warmth Raphael felt when he thought of the awesome changes that had recently taken place in his life.
First, everyone in town knew he had rescued Aimee Banfield from Oberon. Thoughts of that day, and of Oberon, sent a chill down Raphael's spine that was worse than anything the weather could cause. In a brief mind-flash, he saw Oberon as he had looked during their battle: sheathed in black reptilian skin with sleek, black, feathery wings jutting from his back. He'd looked like some kind of dark, demented angelÑnothing like the angels in any of Raphael's Sunday school books. Maybe it was crazy, but sometimes it was like he could still feel Oberon staring at him with his one good eye, while the other oneÑthe glass eyeÑglowed a terrifying shade of crimson. The image was sobering, to say the least.
But Raphael had defeated Oberon. He had rescued Aimee. And now, people in town (even some from the ranks of his archenemies, the Toppers) were starting to show him a grudging respectÑalthough they still had no idea about Oberon's real, horrific identity.
The whole thing had been beyond weirdÑand he hadn't quite recovered from it. He wondered how Zhai--the leader of the Toppers (and his long-ago best friend)--was doing with it.
Part of the overall weirdness, Raphael thought, was that he hadn't told anyone--not even Nass--about everything he'd seen, how hard he'd had to fight, and the unbelievable otherworldly creatures he'd battled just to get to Aimee. And none of the Flatliners had discussed what had happened to them--and to Middleburg--during that fateful Halloween battle.
As odd as all of it had been, it wasn't a dream--as much as he'd like to think it was. The horses in Master Chin's barnyard and the samurai helmet that sat in a place of honor on the mantel over the sifu's fireplace were proof of that.
After the Halloween battle, it seemed to Raphael that Middleburg would forever retain the peculiar, disjointed feeling that lingered for a day or so after Aimee's rescue, but in less than two weeks, it had settled into an uneasy calm as the community adjusted to her safe return--and things went back to normal.
For a Flatliner like Raphael, "back to normal" meant broke and struggling. Between their nonexistent finances and his mom's pregnancy, things were as complicated as ever in the Kain household. The only thing that got Raphael through the day was knowing he would see Aimee--even if it was just from a distance. Maybe all they had for now were anonymous notes and discreet little waves or smiles across the crowded lunchroom, and a few rare, stolen moments when they could hold on to each other and hope for better times. But it was more than either of them had ever had before. They were in love, and with that thought to keep him warm, winter had might as well give up now.
They reached Lotus Pharmacy, and Ignacio pulled the door open.
"Ladies first," he said, ushering Raphael inside.
Raph slugged him in the shoulder as he passed. It was a friendly jab, but it made Ignacio wince all the same.
"Ow!" said Nass, laughing. "How many times I gotta tell you, man--normal people can hit their friends, joking around. Kung fu masters, not so much."
"Sorry."
By that time they were at the cash register.
"You sure you want to spend this money on a cell phone right now?" Nass asked. "You don't know when your mom is going to be working again."
True, Raph thought. Since Oberon went all Lucifer-on-steroids, kidnapped Aimee, fought Raph, then plunged over the edge of that crazy temple's rooftop (hopefully to his death), his business interests in Middleburg had been in a holding pattern. Little Geno's was still open, but Hot House strip club where Raph's mom had worked was closed indefinitely. Money was tighter than ever. But, Raph considered, when you've been running around battling time-traveling samurai, a gigantic, blood-thirsty lizard and a conniving, evil man who suddenly sprouts wings--not to mention trying to keep the Toppers at bay--you kind of have to have a cell phone. You can't always count on finding a payphone so you can call for reinforcements.
Instead, he said, "No, man. I need a phone. It'll have to be one of these pay-as-you-go things for now, but at least I'll have it for emergencies or something."
"It's about time," Nass agreed. "Imagine actually being able to call each other from anywhere. What a concept."
"Yeah," Raphael agreed. "We'll be almost like regular people now."
"All right!" Nass said. "Let's see what kind of top-of-the-line, pay-as-you-go, loser phone my pizza delivery millions can get me!"
Lydia, the pharmacy clerk who waited on them, had green hair and an eyebrow ring. She was Beet's older stepsister, and with her narrow hips and thin, almost bony frame, there was definitely no family resemblance.
"Wow, cell phones," she teased. "You're finally leaving the age of the dinosaurs. Welcome to the twenty-first century." She smiled at Raphael and Nass as she rang them up and told them how to activate their phones. A moment later, they were walking out the door again, onto the sidewalk of downtown Middleburg.
"Uh-oh," Ignacio said. "Here comes trouble."
Instantly Raphael was on guard, ready for a Topper attack. But when he followed his friend's gaze, he broke into a wide grin.
Across the street, Dalton was just coming out of Middleburg's only upscale, designer dress shop--and best of all, Aimee was with her.
Raph headed toward them, not even looking as he rushed into the street, not caring about the oncoming cars he had to dodge. He didn't care about anything except being close to Aimee.
