Shadow Boxing

Chapter 7: Dark Light

"Well, this proves to be the start of the most interesting day I'm going to experience." Vanessa chuckles as she sits in the passenger seat of Jack's car. He had insisted that he drive her to class for the day, just as an extra favor. What the two hadn't taken account for were the roads- coated with ice, it proved to be a slippery experience with drivers left and right coming inches away from smashing right into them. Luckily the two made it without a scratch, and they had all the parking space they needed. After finding a good spot the two headed into the main building where a very empty set of hallways awaited them. "I guess this isn't your first time being here so early." Vanessa says to Jack as they look into the desolate halls.

"Yep. Definitely not my first time. Glad that you could accompany me." Jack replies. "I'll never get bored when you're around." And as he says that he slings his arm around his girlfriend, causing her to blush yet again. "You know you're cute when you blush?" And that only makes Vanessa turn even more red than before.

"Oh my gosh stop!" Vanessa says teasingly as she inches away from Jack. A second later she entwines her fingers with his and the two continue walking around the halls until suddenly, Vanessa tightens her grip on Jack's hand. It wasn't like she was crushing his hand, but it felt like an eagle's talon clasped around it's prey- something was nearby, and it couldn't be good and sure enough, Shadow Jack teleported right in front of them.

"Ah look at that, the lovely couple..." Shadow Jack coos evilly.

"Get lost." Vanessa snarls. That's when Jack notices something different.

"Wait a second... Is that my uniform?" Jack asks.

"Sure as hell is." The shadow replies. "Where else did I learn all my fighting skills?" He chuckles before charging at Jack! Vanessa quickly lets go of Jack and dodges out of the way as the two go at each other, trading blow after blow and not letting up. "Do you really think you can beat me? I am YOU but better, and you can never beat yourself!"

"Ah shut up and die!" Jack shouts as he manages to claw his shadow across the face. It leaves behind three bloody marks and it's strong enough to force Shadow Jack back a meter.

"A mere slip. You won't get as lucky next time!" Shadow Jack cackles as he nails his counterpart in the solaplexus, knocking the wind out of him. This only dazes Jack for a few seconds though, and he bum rushes the shadow, knocking him to the ground. Seeing the advantage, Jack mounts his shadow counterpart and begins wailing away until finally Shadow Jack vanishes.

"I think that was more than a mere slip. Good riddance!" Jack says as he walks over to Vanessa and kisses her. "I think that's shadow 0, Jack 1."

"I sure think so too." Vanessa replies. "Good thing he's gone for now, and I hope he doesn't reappear anytime soon." And with that the two reach their classroom. It's empty, given the rest of the class is still making their way there, and there are clear signs that a struggle was fought here- a couple overturned chairs, a table flipped on it's side and a fresh new chalkboard to replace a formerly smashed one was all the evidence left behind that told the story of how Shadow Jack almost killed the entire class.

"Well, all we have to do now is wait and see if anyone actually comes." Jack chuckles as he and Vanessa take their spots. "We would have received an email if there was no class but we haven't received anything yet."

"Right. Anyways, what were you saying earlier about your shadow counterpart?" Vanessa asks, remembering her boyfriend being surprised at his counterpart's appearance.

"My parents scrapped the uniform when I was crippled. They didn't want any memories of that painful event." Jack replies, cringing at the memories. "I mean does anyone really want to remember when they got crippled?"

"Well those memories are never going to go away. I think I know where Shadow Jack came from." Vanessa says, having a lightbulb moment.

"Where do you think?" Jack asks.

"I think that this shadow of yourself originated from your karate school. It makes sense." Vanessa explains. "Think about it, all that repressed anger at being forced to quit, that probably provided more than enough for your shadow to manifest. It was only after some of the events you told me about before that the shadow managed to burst through into the real world. Maybe if you go to your school, the shadow will be vulnerable. Perhaps defeating it there will do away with it once and for all." Once Vanessa finishes, Jack kisses her and she returns it.

"I'm so glad to be dating a genius, but there's a bit of a problem." Jack says. "Ever since that day, the school lost so much rep that it was forced to close. Nobody wanted to go do karate where the kids were violent rebels. That also meant the end for Tori as she had nowhere else to train really. I'm pretty sure the school is no more than a ghost building- wait... That does make sense in that context!"

"Now you get what I'm saying?" Vanessa asks, and Jack nods in agreement. "We'll have to stop by at some point and see if this will finally do away with Shadow Jack." But before they can say anything more, the rest of the class arrives, along with the professor, apparently having all been waiting.

"I'm sorry are we interrupting something?" Jack asks.

"No, nothing at all." The professor replies. "Anyways let's get started on our class shall we?"

"Let's get to work then." Jack says as everyone takes their seats, uprighting any toppled chairs and desks if need be.

"Today we will be learning about..." the professor begins to lecture, but remembering what he did last time, nobody even dared to get the least bit of shuteye, lest they get blasted awake by that dreaded air horn again.