Unstoppable part 3

Lane made it to the top of the building with only three minutes to spare until go-time. He quickly set up a series of ropes and pulleys that would allow him to move methodically floor-by-floor without the guards seeing him. He wasn't sure how well armed they were, and he didn't want to find out. And, with the sun hidden behind Silversmith Tower, nobody would notice a black tiger wearing black jeans, sneakers and a hoodie in the shade. At exactly 3:30, he began his descent.

Floor 48. He had his idea in mind, and had mapped it onto the wall in his mind. He located his deep purple and bright blue paint sticks and slid across the building, the tools spraying four inch wide streams of color. He marked out where the tops of the words would go.

Floor 41. He was almost halfway done with the second major section. Just as he was about to lower himself down to the next floor, a guard walked around the corner. Lane ducked quick enough to not be seen, but just barely. He could only hope the guard didn't see the ropes through the windows.

By the time Lane reached floor 35, he could just tell something wasn't right. He peered through the window, but saw nothing but his reflection. But there was something not quite right. The lighting was off a bit, as if someone was behind him. "Crap," he thought. "Please tell me I'm imagining this."

Lane kicked off the wall and spun up-side-down to check and, sure enough, there was a black, red and grey blur zooming towards him from a nearby building. Stunned, Lane slammed back-first into the building, still inverted. He scrambled, trying to get himself upright. As the blur moved closer, he could make out a few details. A black and grey lion wearing red and black. Sunglasses, vest, gloves...

"Karma," Lane whispered. "Why did it have to be Karma?"

A jet of flame rushed towards the trapped tagger. Lane slid sideways on the line, narrowly avoiding a hit, but the flame hit the line instead, severing it, sending the shapeshifter plummeting down thirty-five stories. The black tiger curled up, convulsing as he fell. A pair of black wings twenty feet across stretched out, catching his fall.

Lane looked back. The lion was chasing him, controlling the air around him to create a sort of wind-based levitation. The building wasn't done. The job wasn't completed. Sure, Michael's qualifications had been met, but the message wasn't complete. He could have backed out now, escaped Karma and gone home, but...

"No way," Lane said to himself. "I'm finishing this, wether you like it or not."

Lane pulled up his hood. His eyes glowed a bright, fiery reddish orange. He spun to face his attacker. "Now now, Karma," he taunted, his voice now deeper, raspier. "It isn't nice to interrupt an artist at work."

"Just leave now, punk," Karma answered. "I don't take kindly to your kind of art, and I doubt the people of that building are either."

"Oh, it's not hurting anyone. Besides, what do you care?"

"I've caught on to you're little game, shapeshifter. I know you're the one who's been tagging hotels and offices and all sorts of businesses. What I can't figure out is who you really are. I don't even know you're name."

Lane tilted his head forward and smiled. "You don't even know my game."

Lane twisted his body and wings forward with impossible speed, essentially divebombing Karma. The lion dodged sideways, pushing a gust of wind into Lane's right wing. Shocked and injured, the winged tiger went down, towards the building. He extended his claws a good three inches and dug into the wall. After stopping, he regenerated the broken wing and flew straight up.

Smearing paint as he went, Lane avoided Karma's attacks by mere fractions of an inch. Rocks and chunks of concrete the size of his chest went whirring past him fast enough to smash a car windshield. Lane retracted his wings and let his momentum carry him up the side of the building.

Karma flew up the wall after him, only to be divebombed by a rapidly growing tiger. Lane, now about two feet taller with a few hundred extra pounds of muscle, gripped the lion by the chest and heaved him down and away from the graffiti. The impact set off nearby car alarms and scared away spectators. "I'm warning you, Karma," Lane growled. "Back off. I'm not gonna hurt anyone."

The tiger shrank back to normal, regained his wings and flew upward. Karma stood back up, holding his head in one paw. He looked around, but saw nobody nearby to help. That's when he noticed a small convenience store not twenty feet away, candy and energy drinks lining the window. "Bingo."