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07-22-2012, 05:03 AM | #11 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 486
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<Episode 11>
Jack slowly started to wake up. He noticed one thing right away, he wasn't in his own bed. Propping himself up on his elbows he looked at his surroundings. An off white room hospital room, a way too familiar looking room. Looking at himself he saw he was wearing a grey T-shirt. Now he knew were he was, the World Inc. medical section. Moaning he lay back down and put his hands on his face. "Didn't I do this once already?", he grumbled. He then removed his hands and stared at his right arm. Suddenly he remembered what happened. Allen was a Drakan and he fought him. Allen had latched on to his forearm trying to crush it before spinning in place. Jack's fist clenched at the memory of the pain that became his right arm. Sitting up he raised a sleeve to get a better look. All of the old scars were there, but there were some new ones. This time they even covered the back of his right hand. "What did they do to me now?" "Jack?", a male voice said. He looked up to see Rachel and Freidman standing in the doorway. "You’re ahead of schedule," the doctor looked pleased as he told him that. "Never was any good at staying on a schedule." Slowly he got off the bed. Things weren't as bad as the first time he woke up in the building. Looking at Rachel he asked, “How long was I under this time?" "Month and a half," she informed him. "That long for an arm? No wonder it took you guys six month the first time." "Actually you arm would have only took a couple of weeks." "Why so long then?" he said while trying to get the light Freidman was holding out of his eyes. "Do you mind?" "Just doing my job." Freidman put the light away and put a blood pressure cuff around his arm. "It was decided it was time to upgrade your systems slightly," Rachel told him. "Did my blood pressure just go up?" Freidman looked mildly surprised, "I think it did." Rachel just rolled her eyes. "So what kind of upgrade did they do?" "Let's worry about that later”, Rachel told him. “Is he ready to leave Dr. Freidman?" "I have to check a couple of thing first but he should be good to go." "Fine, I'll back in a few minutes." When they were alone Jack held up his arm and asked, "What did I overload this time?" "Actually this time wasn't your fault,” he answered. “It was a flaw in your particular design." "Remember, if you’re gonna explain it no cooking analogies. I haven't looked at a steak the same way after the last time." Freidman smiled, "I'll try. You have to remember your left arm and legs had to be totally reconstructed. The rest of you, basically, had to be augmented to keep up. If Allen tried that with your left arm it would have still been damaged but it wouldn't have been as bad. But since your right arm was closer to your original state of being the stress shattered the bone. I didn't think anybody considered you ever be in a situation like this." "So my right had to be reconstructed too." "Not to the same extent, but yeah." Great he was more of a freak now than he was before. *** Rachel waited a half hour before going back. Jack had already changed into the black T-shirt and blue jeans she brought from his apartment. He was staring at his right hand, not really paying attention to anything else. She cleared her throat to get his attention. "Hi there." "Hey," he answered back. He gave her a small smile, "Let me guess, they got a job for me already." "You can still joke, I'm guessing that's a good thing. Here," she handed him the jean jacket with a sweatshirt hood built in she was carrying. "They had to cut the old one off of you so I got you one just like it." “Thanks. How much do I...?" She waved it off. After he put it on she handed him a small bag. "What's in this one?" "Motorcycle gloves. I figured if you using the jacket to hide the scars on your arm you want to do the same with your hand." "It might be time for me to move on. You're getting to know me too well." "You're not that deep or complex Jack." Jack actually made a hurt sound and put a hand of his chest. "I am hurt, I am shocked, I've been pegged." "Come on, I'll treat you to some breakfast. Then Mr. Anderson said he wants to see you as soon as possible. He wants to thank you personally for saving his life." "Huh," he muttered while looking deep in thought. "The head of a major corporation is in my debt. If I was my Uncle I could use this." "Jack," She said in a tone to cut that thought off right then. "I said if I was my Uncle." "Your Uncle influenced you a little too much for my taste." With that she walked out of the room. Before he followed she heard him say. "My Mom told me the same thing, what are the odds?" *** Anderson was talking to Armstrong and one of his assistants when Haily and Davidson entered R&D. Several of the scientist looked in there direction and went back to what they were doing. A few, he noticed, were giving him a disdainful look. Word of Davidson apparent killing of the Drakan teenager traveled fast. He knew better of course, if they weren't going to tell what really happened than why should he? It would be interesting to see how soon before the situation reached the boiling point. At least it would be a diversion if nothing else. Excusing himself from Armstrong for the moment he went over to them. "Mr. Davidson, it’s good to see you up and about. I'm assuming everything is in working order." "Nothing important fallen off." He smiled, "Excellent. Mrs. Haily has been keeping me up to date on your condition ever since you were readmitted to the medical ward. She’s been at your side every day." Davidson turned and opened his mouth but didn't say anything right away, "Nah, way too easy." "What?", Haily looked at him. "You actually decided not to say anything smart." "I'm saving it for next time." "I knew it was too good to last." Anderson sighed then he remembered he wasn't alone. "Excuse me I'm forgetting my manners. Mr. Davidson I like to introduce you to my new vice president. Walter Taylor," a red haired man stepped foreword, "This is Jack Davidson." "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Davidson. I heard a lot about you." He held out a hand that Davidson stared at with his arms crossed. "Is there something wrong?" "Just wondering what you'll turn into." "Yes," Anderson said, "that was an unfortunate incident. Took us all by surprise." Davidson gave him an all too familiar look, "You knew the janitor was a Drakan but not your own V.P.?” "Like I told you before we have identified very few Drakan in the city. This species have been disguising themselves as human for a very long time. I sure Allen did everything possible to hide his true nature. Although it does explain his hostility toward you." "I told you animals don't like me," he said to Haily. He noticed Taylor stiffen slightly. Davidson then held out a hand to Taylor who quickly took it. "I don't know what you heard but I'm telling you right now... ," he gave him a sly grin, "it's all true." Taylor returned the grin, "Then it should be interesting working with you then." "So what this I hear about an upgrade?", Davidson said turning his attention to him. "Part of my debt to you for saving my life. Seeing a Drakan up close and personal and seeing what happened to you made me think that we under powered you for your assignments. I thought it was best to rectify that." He gestured toward Armstrong, "Since we're already here, Dr. Armstrong would you care to update Mr. Davidson about what he can expect?" "Of course." Armstrong came forward, "Jack, all I can say is sorry we didn't foresee what happened. "Even my Uncle couldn't think of everything." "And what did your Uncle do?", "Anderson asked. Any information that could help keep Davidson under his thumb was very much appreciated. "Lock smith," he answered quickly. "Help with his night job." "You don't want to know," Haily answered before the question was asked. "Well then, let's get started," Armstrong lead then to the table he was at. "Well the most obvious thing you’re going to notice is you're going to be stronger and slightly faster when you power up the Fusion system. We also made a slight cosmetic change to your armor." He motioned to a jar filled with a blueish liquid on the table. The armor's belt was floating on the inside. Davidson started rubbing his waist. "We replaced it with an updated model. We have a spare here to show you the difference" He picked it up. It looked the same to him, the grey metal belt and the red face gleamed in the light, but then again he didn't have to worry about wearing it. "We’ve gotten rid of the button that activates the charge kick. You have to twist this part of the pod on your right side down, like this. This also gave us the option to add another weapon." "Uh-oh" Davidson muttered. "We felt it would give you a little more diversity in the field. When you twist the pod up you can do...," Davidson lowered his head. With his hearing Anderson heard him whispered, "Don't say punch." "Well I guess you could call it the charge punch." Davidson smacked his hand against his forehead. "Is something the matter Jack?" "Quick question Barry, was this Tim's idea?" "Who else would it have been?", Tim answered. "Tim, seriously, you need a life." The people around him got a good chuckle. Tim got red-faced and went to do something else. "I think that pretty much cover it. Do you think you feel up to testing your new weapon?" Davidson looked at his fist. "Might as well." "Good, Miss Haily can show you where we test our weapon systems." *** They sat in Mr. Anderson office watching the footage of the testing session. Jack armored form was punching and kicking various targets around him. She still didn't see how they got dragonfly out of his look. But the readout showed he was stronger, maybe four or five times stronger than a normal human. His image stopped and looked at something off screen, "Meter's flashing." "Ok," she heard herself say, "send in the target." A side of beef dropped from the ceiling. "What the...?" Jack looked up and back off screen. "Can I get an order of ribs out of there after this is over?" "Just hit the slab of meat." "Guess this is tonight's dinner special." He reached down and twisted the pod up. He waited a moment, reared back his right hand and pounded it into the slab. It bent almost in half from the impact. After a few moments the slab exploded out covering everything in the immediate area. Jack picked a piece of meat off his chest armor. "Where do I go for a hose down?" Anderson stopped the tape there, "Interesting." "You weren't the one covered in meat," Jack told him. "Think I found something worse than smelling like Drakan blood." Anderson chuckled at that then looked at her. "The upgrades performed better than expected," Rachel said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to test how fast he could run. Even before the upgrades Jack had a tendency to burn out the treadmills before he reached top speed." "I know, we're still waiting for the new one. So Mr. Davidson how does it feel to have the new option they gave you?" "Well I've been kicking these things so long it's gonna take awhile to wrap my head around this." "I'm sure you'll get used to it." Anderson leaned on the desk and steeple his fingers. "When do you think you'll be up for another mission?" "Not right away," she answered for him. "I mean he just woke up and he has to absorb a few things." "Why does this sound familiar," Jack said to nobody in particular. "I guess you’re right. We can do without you for a few days. I talk to the two of you later then." They left the office and walked toward the elevator. "Want some lunch?", Jack asked. "You're buying," she told him. "Ok we're going cheap then. Any idea what they're serving today?" "Charge punch beef," she said after a beat. *** That few days turned into exactly two as he got a call from Heather about a sighting. That afternoon he and Rachel were on a college campus. Jack wondered how Anderson got World Inc.'s camera in there. Not that he figured he would ever find out. "So did this one get in on the Drakan college fund?", he asked as they walked through the campus. "Every one has the right to learn. Wait let me guess your Uncle was down on college right?" "No he was all for it." "Surprising." "You’re telling me." "Haven't seen the two of you before," said an old man they passed sitting at a chess table. "Never would have thought I'd be unfortunate enough to smell the scent of Drakan blood again either." "Crap," Jack said as he surveyed the area. A whole lot of people were hanging around. Should he change right now? "Please relax," the old man got up and stood before them, "I have no intention of fighting you, here or ever. According to rumor you took out Molly. If that is true than I know I have no chance." "Molly? Red head, turns into a rabbit? Really hot human form?" Rachel elbowed him in the side, "What?" "Stick to business Jack." He sighed heavily, "That was her, really a lovely person when you got to know her." The old man looked at him, "So you’re the Drakan Killer. The stories made you seem taller." "Sorry to disappoint." "No, actually I was expecting you to be a little shorter. I've been around long enough to know how these things work." "So Mr...?", Jack looked for a name. "Call me Max." "Max, so what are you doing here?" "Right now I'm waiting for a chess opponent, but I teach philosophy here. Not much I could do after I left World Inc." "Did you know that?", he asked Rachel. "It wasn't in the report I read,” she told him. “But after what happened with Allen can you blame them." "Bradley Allen?", Max asked, a little surprised "Yeah, turns out he was a Drakan too and attacked Anderson. I had to take him out." Max looked thoughtful. "I’m surprised it took so long." "So you’re with the rebels now?", Rachel asked. "Oh no,” he laughed. “I was too high up in the World Inc. command chain to be fully trusted. Although both sides keep track of me every so often. I'm kind of surprised they sent you to check on me." "I guess everything ok then, so see ya." Max nodded as he walked off, relived something didn't go to hell for once. They reached the vehicles and he grabbed the helmet off the handle bars. He didn't want to tell Max he wasn't that surprised he was sent to "check" on him. "Wasn't expecting things to go like that," Rachel told him. "I'm cool with it." "What do you think Mr. Anderson and Mitchell are going to think about all of this?" "Not really caring right now. Every mission you guys send me on, no matter how you word it, in fact my life lately boils down to three things. Find 'em, fight 'em and blow 'em up. If Max back there wants to skip the last two I'm not going to argue." "I'm not forcing you to. You're supposed to go after the violent ones and he's definitely not violent." "So let's leave the old guy alone." For now he told himself. Jack had a feeling Max had answers he wanted. *** Anderson and Taylor listened to Haily's report. To him this wasn't even close to acceptable. Maxwell was a loose end he wanted eliminated. Obviously he underestimated the man ability to withstand the scent of Drakan blood. Well he had other options at his disposal. "You two made the right decision. I hope you understand why I didn't say that he used to work with me." "Of course, you didn't want us going in thinking it was going to be Allen all over again." "Quite right. I expect to see a written report on my desk in the morning." She nodded and left the room. "Where's Davidson?" "He left about a half hour ago," Taylor told him. "He's on his way back to the Campus from the look of things. Mitchell already has a man on the way." "Good, maybe the job will get done this time." *** The campus looked a lot quieter as he pulled up. Jack walked between the buildings until he found Max again. Surprisingly he was still sitting at the same chess table as earlier. He sat across from him. "I knew you be back before you even left," he said out of the blue. Max looked up and smiled, "Don't be so surprised, I'm pretty good at reading people. So what do you want to know?" Jack picked up a pawn and just looked at it. "Oh, do you play... Jack was it?" "Never learned it," he put the piece down. Max looked disappointed, "Pity. It's a good way to take your mind off things. But you don't want that do you?" "Why did you leave World Inc.?" "I disagreed with some of their policies on certain things." "Did that include the rebels?" "Rebels in some circles, patriots in others," he said, "but that was on top of the list. What about you son? You think you have reason for leaving too?" "Let's say I've noticed some things not exactly adding up since I’ve been there." "You tell these things to that lady you were with?" "Look I'll admit she's the closest thing I have to a friend in this mess right now. But I don't know if I can tell her this stuff yet." "That's not the impression I got from seeing the two of you together, but it's your choice. Although she looked a lot more trustworthy than some of the people I knew when I worked there. But if you think I can be of some help, what's the most recent thing that didn't add up? I'm assuming the incident with Allen?" "You mean outside of him being a Drakan and nobody knowing it? But there was one thing I noticed, when I was going to Anderson's office there was nobody in the hallways. There is always somebody in those hallways. Even when I was staying there you could hear people in that building. Guards walking the hall, cleaning crews doing their jobs, people in the next room getting some after work nookie." "Really?", Max laughed. "The walls in the medical section are paper thin." "Was there any other time you noticed that?" "Kinda. When I first woke up in World Inc. and Rachel took me to the cafeteria every hallway had a guard but one. And in that one a janitor turned into a red bull and went nuts. It seemed strange at the time but Anderson explained it away so I didn't think twice about it. Probably should have." "Is there anything else?" "Yeah I overheard some of the assault team talking once." The other man suddenly gave out a small cry of pain. "Max?" He pulled something out of his neck as his eyes went bloodshot. Jack got out of the way as he pushed the table over and changed into a green bear. He roared at the sky and looked at him. Jack put up his hands, "Max calm down." He jumped back as a set of claws came at him. Jack raised his left arm across his chest and the belt materialized round his waist. He swung his left arm to the side and brought his right arm to his face. He paused monetarily before saying, "Henshin!", and slammed his right hand on top of the belt. As he lowered his arms the belt scanned his body and in moments he was wearing the black body suit and blue insect like armor of the Fusion system. "Max don't make me do this," he pleaded. Max swung at him and Jack caught it trying to force him to the ground. Max growled and in a burst of strength knocked him away. He picked up and threw a table that Jack had to roll away to roll away from to avoid. He didn't want to hurt Max but he wasn't getting much of a choice at the moment. Max Growled again and swung at his head as he came in. Jack ducked and punched him in the gut. He bent over from the impact. Jack tried to beat him down. Maybe if he knocked him out whatever happened to him would wear off. Too bad Max wasn't cooperating. Another fit of rage had Jack backing up. His backed into one of the chess tables. He reached back to grab the sides, picked up both of his legs and forced both of them into Max's chest. He stumbled back but didn't fall. Jack ran in and tackled him to the ground. It was taking all of his strength to keep the Max down. "Max listen to me! It's Jack! You got to fight it!" His eyes seem to clear momentarily. "Jack?" Rage quickly returned to his eyes and he pushed him off. Max started pounding on him harder then ever before. Jack fought back doing all he could to survive. An uppercut snapped Max's head back. A side kick to the stomach bent him over again. Max recovered faster than he thought he would. He grabbed Jack by the neck and forced him to his knees. "Max!", he choked out. The Drakan roared and tossed him over another row of chess tables. As he got to his feet and faced Max again the meter started flashing. Out of instinct he went for the button under the belt. The fact it wasn't there brought him back to reality. Max stayed were he was at breathing heavily. He couldn't do it. They both looked at each other. Max eyes cleared again and in that moment those same eyes pleaded with him. Jack slowly nodded , put his hand on the pod and twisted it down. The twin mini turbines behind the belt's face plate started spinning and a charge quickly built up and ran down his right leg. Jack knelt down and jumped over the tables. He extended his right leg at Max who left himself exposed to what was happening. His right foot came into contact with the Drakan's chest. Max flew back and hit the ground before exploding. Jack fell to his knees watching his remains burn. *** "So it's done?", Anderson asked. "Yes sir," Mitchell said. "My man saw the kill himself. But there is one small problem." He felt the rage start to build, "What small problem?" "Neither the clean up team or my man can find the dart. They're searching the area looking for it. Don't worry we'll find it in no time." "They better find it. The last thing I need is for somebody else to find it." He looked out the window behind his desk. "Or find a way to attached it to us." *** Jack sat on his couch looking at the dart setting on his coffee table. He found it lying on the ground close to where Max was sitting. He didn't see Max get hit with it but he pulled something out of his neck before he went crazy. And this was the only thing around that could do it. "Max," he said out loud, "I don't know why but somebody wanted this to happen to you. I promise you that if it's the last thing I do I will find out why and make them pay." |
07-28-2012, 04:14 AM | #12 |
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 486
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<Episode 12>
"I don't like this," Jason said. The old man just ignored him and sat there. The whole situation stank to high heaven as far as he was concerned. First they were in the middle of an open cafe. Anderson's men could be any where at the moment, they needed more cover to meet their contact. Then there was the matter of the contact. "I still say you should have let me make sure he was still with the cause first." "I have no reason to doubt him," the old man said between sips of his coffee. "It's the first time we heard from him in months," he pointed out. "Why now all of the sudden?" "Ask him yourself." The person they were waiting for walked up and sat in an empty chair at the table. He nodded at both of them and tried to not look suspicious as he looked around the area. "It was good to hear from you again," the old man started. "I was starting to wonder if you were still alive." "I had to be careful. Anderson put the entire operation into overdrive ever since Jack's system went active." "So that's the insect's name," Jason said. Their contact nodded. "Do you still have the information you were supposed to give Kendall about that thing?" "The information is locked up and they keep me under 'need to know' when it comes to his systems. I was going to tell him what little I knew before Anderson locked up the building." "And that's when Kendall meet up with this Jack?", the old man wondered out loud. "From what I understand they spotted him a few blocks from the building. And after it got locked down I couldn't get out without being questioned." "So why now?" "It was the first chance I thought I had and still be safe. They have cameras all over this city. It's a safe bet more than one saw me enter this place." "This is a trap," Jason started to get up. The old man put a hand on his shoulder to keep him down. "Believe me, if I thought they knew what the two of you looked like as humans I wouldn't be here." "I'm assuming you know more about his systems by now", the old man inquired. "I written down what I know on this." he pulled a notebook out of his briefcase and handed it to them. "I went into as much detail as I could, but you know more about this technology than I do." "True," the old man put a hand into a pocket and pulled out a bottle filled with a neon green liquid. "Our people think this should disrupt the systems based on that technology. You're the only one who can get close enough to give it to him." "If we're lucky" Jason added, "it'll be fatal." Their contact looked a little distraught. Jason raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "You don't approve?" "I know he's the enemy, but I gotten to know Jack. I don't think he deserves this." "Tell that to Max." "Jason," the old man warned. "No, I heard about this. Jack left him alone." "He went back and took care of him." He nodded his head toward the old man, "He saw it all." "Is this true?" "From what I saw, yes." Then he quickly added, "But Max didn't seem himself. He was more animal than man. I’ve never seen him like that." Their contact was quiet for a few moments, just staring at the bottle. "I'm going to have to think about this." "Don't take too long. But I'm telling you this has to be done." Their contact just nodded and silently left the table. Jason stared at the old man in disbelief. "He needed all the facts." "Facts get in the way of the job." *** He stood in the center of a quiet part of the park. It looked about the same as the last time he saw it. Of course that was before the Drakan he and Rachel were watching turned into an ox and started trashing the place. It was the reason why he was back here. That Drakans personality change was as sudden as Max's was. Although he had no clue what possessed to think him that he would find another dart. It's been a couple of months since that happened. If there was a dart it was gone long before now. But he had to do something to try to but the pieces together. "Think it out Davidson," he told himself. He sat on the bench where the Drakan was and looked around. Where did that shot come from? He was in a pretty open area so it could have come from anywhere. But could somebody sneak a gun into the park and fire it without being seen. No, the best option was those buildings across the street, right behind the parking lot where they were. That thing could have gone right over their heads and they didn't even hear it. But he still didn't know who or why. Well actually he had an idea why, it's just the who part that he wasn't seeing. He sighed, there were way too many pieces to this puzzle that didn't fit. Man, he really needed help putting this thing together. "Richie where's that nerd brain of your when I really need it?" "Jack." He looked up for a moment before he recognized the voice as Rachel's, "I've been looking for you." "How did you know I'd be here?" "I... uh...," she looked back at the parking lot, "saw the motorcycle. Thought I’d take a chance to see if it was you." "Hmm," he tried to look thoughtful. "So you’re driving around town looking for me and you only stopped because you thought the bike might be mine." He made a couple of tsk sounds. "Sounds like you have me on the brain. I'm sorry but that's incurable." "Get over yourself." He looked insulted, "No." Then he broke out in a grin, "So what's up?" "Nothing important," she sat on the bench next to him. "I just want to make sure everything is alright. You’ve been kind of scarce ever since your upgrade." "Just trying to readjust," he replied while flexing the fingers on his right hand. "But I think my imagination is playing tricks on me though." "What do you mean?" "Just some stupid stuff I'm blaming Richie for putting in my head. In those old school riders tapes he used to show me the hero was part machine too. They were super strong in and out of the suit." "Do you think you’re stronger when the system's powered down?" "Like I said, it's probably in my head." "I could have them run some test to find out for sure." He was afraid she was going to say that. "Only problem is there's nothing to show how strong you were before the upgrades." "Look don't worry about it,” he told her.” I'm sorry brought it up." "Ok, but I'm still going to talk to R&D to see if this is even possible." Jack just shrugged his shoulders. Right now he had other things on his mind. "So why are you out here? Outside of the garage I never thought you be hanging around you old battle sites unless you had too." "I'm just... trying to wrap my head around something." "Need some help? I'm pretty good at figuring stuff out." "Maybe next time." "If you want to strain something go right ahead," she said as she got up. "Don't be a stranger though alright, you know were I am if you need to talk about anything." "I know." He watched her walk off. Jack wanted to tell everything he knew. But that "uh" she uttered put his shields up. He'd been feed too many lines after hearing that sound to know better. Still, she was his closest friend at the moment, “Rachel." She stopped, "Yeah?" "Did it ever bother you that Drakan we were watching just went nuts?" "A little bit," she admitted. "Maybe he had some kind of mental problem or something. It's not like somebody made it go crazy right?" Jack thought about that dart back at his place, "Right." *** "That's an interesting possibility,” Barry said. Rachel had just told him what Jack told her about his strength earlier. "To be honest with you I never really thought about it." There were a lot of things nobody thought about on this project, herself included. "So do you think he's imaging things?" "I don't want to say anything without anything concrete backing it up. Let me run some simulations on the computer first to see how likely this is. If you can get Jack to come in..." "Sure give me the hard job." He smiled as he turned to the computer. "Let me know if you find anything." He nodded without turning away from the screen. As she left the room Rachel hoped Jack's mind was playing tricks on him. His mood hasn't been that great ever since they sent him after that group of children. And he was never happy about what he was turned into to begin with. There was no clue on how this was going to affect him. She better make herself more available to talk things over if he wanted to. Of course with Jack that would probably be happening right after hell froze over. "Yo Rachel!", Mitchell came around the corner. She slowed down so he could catch up. "Did you ever find Jack?" "Yeah he was in the park getting some air." "Going over his past ‘victories’?", he made quotation marks in the air as he said that. That was something she never saw him do before. Then again she never saw him in the same light after his big picture comment from a while back either. "No, I think he needed some 'me' time." At the moment she didn't think it was wise to let him in on Jack's current situation. "Well his me time is getting into his training time. It's been awhile since his he had one." "He was a little indisposed for a couple of months," she reminded him. "All the more reason to catch up. A weapon that's getting dull is of no use to anybody." She stopped and grabbed his arm to make him face her. "You did not just say that. First of all Jack is not a weapon." Mitchell freed himself from her grasp. "You may not want to see it that way but it's his place in the universe now. The both of you better get used to it." He walked off. "I'm really starting to hope Jack did get stronger," she said mainly to herself, "because I can't wait to see the look on your face." *** "Sorry I'm late," Williams said as she entered the command center. "I wanted to double check the information we gotten a hold of. I'm sure nobody wants a repeat of what happened in the forest." She looked at Haily and Davidson as she passed by them. "Rachel, Jack," she said evenly. "Did it get a little cold in here?", Davidson muttered to Haily who hushed him. "The extra caution is appreciated," Anderson told her. "Hopefully with Allen out of the picture it won't happen again." "Unless there's another Allen in here somewhere," Davidson said. "Let's hope not." He turned to Williams, "So was the information accurate?" "It seems that way." Davidson raised a hand, "For those of us who don't know what the information is." "Forgive me. Some of our informants have told us of an envoy, possibly carrying something important to the rebels." "Do we know what it is?", Haily asked. "It could be a plan," Williams answered, "could be a memo, they could be escorting a person. But there is one little problem. There are apparently three different couriers. They could each have a piece of what ever it is or two of the three could be decoys." "Good thing my bike gets good gas mileage." Anderson had to smile to that one. "While that's true it will not necessary for this one. We're sending out three teams. Mitchell will send out two teams to intercept two of the couriers. You will intercept the third Mr. Davidson." "Alone, of course," he said, not seeming overjoyed by the prospect. "There is a worry that a team would get in your way seeing how effective you are on your own." "I'm up to testing that theory out." "Perhaps on a less sensitive mission," he told him. "Our information, "Williams continued, "say the three routes they're on will take them through the quieter parts of the city. So hopefully we can contain the situation as much as possible." Haily asked another question," Are we going to track them to where ever they're going?" "No, our primary concern is the information they may have. Mr. Davidson you will be stationed here at the docks. It should be quiet this time of year so you shouldn't be stopped as you investigate." "That's a pretty big area for little old me to cover,” he said sounding surprised. "I'm sure you can handle it." "Is it too late to mention I'm allergic to seafood?" "No you’re not," Haily told him. "You were eating a fish sandwich the other day." "It comes and goes." Haily obviously wasn't buying the story and crossed her arms in front of her. "I get seasick real easily? Eh, it was worth a shot." Davidson headed out of the room. Haily sighed heavily and followed him out. "I would have though killing a child would have affected him more," Willaims said after they left. "I'm sure he's feeling it on the inside," Anderson told her. But he had to agree in some way. If they were trying to convince people he went through with it, or a least felt something, they should at least know how to act. *** Jack sat on an old crate with his jacket buttoned up. He passed the time by watching his breath on the chilly night and tracking the half moon in the sky. A small part of him remembered there was suppose to be a half moon the night the monkey blew up the mountain. The things you remember about events you wanted to forget. He saw Rachel get off her crate and start walking around trying to warm up. "I told you to bring a heavier jacket." "Like you knew it was going to be this cold," she snapped while rubbing her arms. "Well they got this new thing called the Weather Channel." "Whatever." She paced some more. "You know a gentleman would give me his coat." "I'll see if I can find you one," he said as he flipped the hood over his head. "Would it hurt you to at least make the offer?" "You might take me up on it than I'd be cold." Leaning back he said, "At least it's warmer out here than it was in the command center." "What were you expecting?" She sat back on her crate, "Do you think we should tell them now? The kids have to be miles away from here by now." "If they were smart they'll be in another state all together." He scanned the docks again. Same as before nothing but a bunch of water and warehouses. But for a moment he thought he saw an old man in a suit standing by a warehouse door. Looking a little closer he didn't see anything there, but he got off his crate anyway. He knew that old man. "Max?", he uttered quietly. "You see something?", Rachel asked looking in the direction he was Jack looked at her than back to the door. "Just... stretching my legs a bit." He then started waving his arms around to keep up the act. But his gaze kept going back to that spot. His imagination was playing trick with him, that had to be it. There was no way Max could have been there. "Well I think I do," she was pointing toward the other end of the dock. A shadow just went behind a building. No way he’d imagined that one. "Come on, I'll follow while you head that way and cut him off." "Right, be careful." Jack hurried off to catch whoever it was before she caught up with it. Taking the corner he flat out ran down the space between the buildings. He heard two sets of footsteps coming at him but it turned to one soon enough. Jack slowed down when he saw the briefcase just sitting on the ground. Rachel came up soon after just as confused as he was. "Did you see anybody?", she asked almost out of breath. "Would I be standing here if I saw anybody?" "This one had to be a decoy, why else would he leave it?" "I don't know, maybe so we stand around looking like a couple of...," he trailed off. They both looked like they had the same thought. "Ah crap," he looked up to see a mass of blue coming at them. He pushed Rachel out of the way as it landed and knocked him back. He stared into the black eyes of a Drakan that looked a like a grasshopper. He quickly raised his left arm and the belt materialized around over the jacket. He moved the arm to the left and raised his right arm. The grasshopper suddenly jumped over him and grabbed him around the neck. The pressure quickly grew and he couldn't breath. Jack tried to elbow the thing behind him but couldn't get a good shot in. Running out of ideas he kicked his right leg back between it's legs. It made a noise and the pressure around his neck stopped. He pushed away to get some distance between them and got his arms back into position. "Henshin!," he choked out and hit the top of the belt. He turned around to face the Drakan as Fusion armor covered him. Holding his neck for a moment he punched the grasshopper in the face as it straightened up. Unleashing a backhand he made the Drakan spin around. He wasn't expecting the foot that came around and caught him in the head. Jack's head snapped back as he went to a knee. Its’ knee came up and hit him under the chin and he fell to his back. The Drakan stomped his foot down onto his chest and he felt it through the armor. Jack grabbed the foot and twisted. The antennas on it’s’ head went wild as it tried to maintain its’ balance. He kicked it in the back as he got to his feet. The grasshopper went down but it planted its’ hands and kicked both of its’ feet back. Jack went flying from the impact. Jack slowly got up saying, "Oh yeah, I felt that one." He looked up to see the Drakan rushing at him. "Oy," was all he got out before the grasshopper tackled him and they crashed into a set of crates behind him. Jack slammed his forearms into the side of its’ head, stunning it. Letting his frustration get the better of him he picked the Drakan up, turned and slammed him back into the crates. Jack started throwing punches then threw the grasshopper out of the mess. He ran in with every intention of pounding that bug into the ground. But it jumped out of the way so all he got was concrete. Jack watched as it landed and jumped again, this time landing on the roof of a warehouse. "No you don't," he said as he ran and jumped to the roof too. The grasshopper looked surprised to see him up there. For a brief moment he impressed himself before he got serious again. He charged the grasshopper praying it was still too shocked to move. Faking a punch he hit a side kick to the stomach. He missed an elbow to the back of its’ head that left him open to a leg sweep. Jack blocked a stomp aimed at his head and got to his feet quickly. He saw the meter start to flash. Jack grabbed the right pod on his belt and twisted up. The charge that built up went up his side and down his right arm rather quickly. Making a fist he ducked a swing and landed a straight punch to its ribs. The grasshopper flew over the side before exploding. He held his back for a moment after it was over, "Gonna feel this one in the morning." *** "I have some unfortunate news," Mr. Anderson said the next day. Jack muttered something under his breath but she paid attention to the boss. "While all three teams successfully intercepted their targets all three turned out to be decoys. In fact all three cases were rigged to explode when opened." "Well duh," Jack blurted out," they got a monkey who has explosives as a hobby." "True, fortunately the one who found this out personally is going to survive." "You gonna hook him up too?", Jack asked. "A second operative with the Fusion system cold be helpful," she added. "If he was treated right," she aimed the shot directly at Mitchell who ignored it. He did say, "Outside of a hand he's not considered a candidate." "Dude doesn't know how lucky he is then," Jack said as he got up and headed for the door. "I got something to check out, so later." She got up too, "I have to finish the report. I'll have it for you as soon as I can." She really wasn't in the mood to be in the same room as Mitchell at the moment, no matter who else was in there. *** Anderson waited until the door was closed before speaking to Mitchell, "Well?" "Danny found nothing." Anderson didn't bother to hide his disappointment. "If Jack found the dart he's not hiding it in his apartment." "But we still can't count out the possibility that he has it, so I sent him out for nothing,” he sighed heavily. “At least three rebels operatives are out of the picture so the nights wasn't a total loss." He turned to look out his window. "Are you thinking the same thing I am about the information we received?" "They were seeing were they got leaks." Anderson's thought exactly. "Well we have to be a little more careful about what we hear from now on." *** Jack found the door open and the man he was looking for sitting at his desk. He knocked on the door any way. Dr. Friedman looked at him and gave him a friendly smile after a moment. "Can I come in?" "Anytime at all," he got up looking a little concerned. "Are you feeling any after affects from last night?" "Nothing a couple of aspirin won't fix, but that's not why I'm here." "Oh,” he looked curious, “why are you here than?" He hesitated for a bit, "I can trust you to keep something on the down low right?" "Of course, what kind of doctor would I be if I couldn't?" "Do you remember that Drakan at the college campus from a couple of days back?" "Yes, I heard it wasn't violent so you let it alone. It was the talk of the building for the rest of the day." "Yeah but nobody knows I went back." Friedman's demeanor changed slightly. "And you fought and killed him," he said rather matter of factly. Almost like he was expecting it. "That wasn't the idea when I went back." "Oh?" "I don't know about you but I noticed some things that's not meshing with everything else. I went back hoping he had some answers." "So what happened?" "Well we were talking then I think he got hit with something. As crazy as this sounds he went nuts and attacked me right after that. You have to believe me, I didn't want it to happen that way. But after it was over I found this," he reached into a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Unwrapping it revealed the black dart. "You think you can tell me what was in this?" "Maybe, but do you think somebody wanted you to fight the Drakan?" "I wouldn't believe it either, but it's the only thing that's making sense right now." "Can I ask you why you want to know so badly?" "I come across a lot of rotten people in my life, and he was definitely one of the good ones. If somebody wanted this done to him I want to put his head on a pike." "I'll try my best, but I’m not promising anything but I'll try to see what was in here." Jack nodded than looked over the doctor's shoulder into his open briefcase. "Hopefully it's not that." He pointed to a bottle holding a neon green liquid. "That's some nasty looking stuff you got there." "Oh that,” he said nervously, “a colleague of mine gave it too me. I have a patient who's severely sick. He said that would help him in some way." Friedman was quiet for a few moments and looked at him. "Although I'm starting to wonder if the side effects are worse than the actual disease at the moment." "Nothing can be as bad as that looks, but I'm sure you'll make the right decision." "I hope your right." He pocketed the dart and patted it. "I'll let you know what I find as soon as I can." "Thanks Doc. I don't know how it will help, but maybe it'll give another piece of the puzzle I didn't have before." Friedman agreed and he left the room. He reached the elevator and went in. Before the door closed he thought he heard the sound of breaking glass, but he dismissed it. "First you're seeing things and now you’re hearing things. Davidson this place is driving you crazy." |
08-04-2012, 12:36 AM | #13 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 486
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<Episode 13>
Like she thought Jack was walking behind her sulking all the way. He looked that way ever since she told him he was wanted down in R&D. Why it was so hard to get him down there lately she didn't think she would ever know. But she did believe she heard him mumble something like, "What are they thinking about tweaking now?". Too bad she couldn't tell him anything about what they had planned. Mr. Anderson secretary only told her that they thought they had a way to test this strength theory of his. "Cheer up Jack, at least you'll find out either way if you're right or not." "If it involves hooking me up to something I'm performing my own test," he answered sounding a little edgy. "Why are you so grumpy today? I thought you would have felt better knowing if you were stronger or not." "I guess," he seemed a little distracted. "Sorry, I haven't been sleeping well lately." She stopped, “Are you having that nightmare again?" "Most of the time," he kept on walking. Rachel hurried to catch up. "What about the rest of the time?" “Just some... things that's been going around in my head." "Like what?" "Look I don't want to talk about this, I just want to get this stupid thing over with." "Alright, but were not done talking about this." "Yes we are," he said like there was nothing to it. She was positive he did that to push her buttons. "I can make that an order," she said mainly as a joke. He apparently didn't take it that way. "Hey,” he snapped, “you can't order me to tell you my personal problems." "Whoa," she put her hands up, "relax killer." Mistake number two right there and she knew it. Mentally kicking herself she said, "Sorry, slip of the tongue. "Sure." They walked on in relative silence. Finally he said, "I think we're both gonna need a vacation after this is over." She had to agree, a vacation was sounding pretty good right about now. They arrived at R&D soon enough and stared at the contraption that was in the room. "These guys ain't busy enough." "Yeah," she found herself agreeing. There was a pad suspended between two poles on the far wall. Numerous wires connected the pad to a row of monitors on a nearby table by the door. Jack walked up to a half empty basket of baseballs. The other half was being picked up by a couple of assistants. "Ah Barry?" "Hi guys," he came up to them while tossing a ball into the air. "As you can see I had a little brain storm after your last visit Rachel." "I'm guessing I don't punch anything?", Jack asked while eyeing the ball. "Without any data from before your upgrade that would be pointless. As would any weight lifting type of test. I figured throwing a few fastballs would the next best thing. I got the idea after I remembered a commercial years ago were a pitcher was pushing his throwing arm into a barrel of rice to keep it strong. I already had several people throw a few to develop a baseline for the test." "You put a lot of thought into this," she was very impressed with all of this. "Wouldn't it have been easier to buy a radar gun?", Jack asked him. "Then they wouldn't have the chance to build something from scratch," Anderson came from behind them. "I thought I come by and see how the test went." "Can I give it a go?", she asked. Barry tossed her the ball. She moved so she stood behind a tape line on the floor. Rachel threw the ball as hard as she could and hit the pad dead center. After a moment a ninety two popped up on one of the monitors. "Still got it," she smirked to herself. "That's pretty good," Jack said obviously impressed, then he quickly added, "for a girl." "Whatever helps you sleep at night." Jack said nothing as he took a ball out of the basket. Then he handed it toward Mr. Anderson. He held up a hand, "I was never much of an athlete." "Oh come on, you know you wanna. Besides," he had a sly grin on his face, "I want to see how bad I smoke ya." Anderson took the ball and studied it," Well, I suppose throwing one won't be too humiliating." He took a spot behind the mark and threw the ball. It registered a seventy two. He adjusted his suit, "Like I said I'm not very athletic." "It's still better than Tim's best throw," Barry told them. "No surprise there," Jack muttered as he grabbed another ball and got ready to do the test. He juggled it a few times before actually throwing it. The ball hit the pad harder than she was expecting. Everyone turned to the monitor and waited. One sixty two. Barry whistled at the results. "Well," he said after a moment, "if this company had baseball team you'd definitely be the star pitcher." *** The waiting was getting to him. Barry and his group spent a good half hour going over the results after he threw a few more at the pad. Rachel and Anderson were hovering by making some small talk. They tried to get him in on the conversation, but he grunted if he answered at all. His attention was on Barry's group. Too bad he didn't get enhanced hearing to go with the enhanced strength. Better keep quiet about that before they got any ideas. But he had an idea what they were going to say. Most people might say he was being paranoid, but he saw the way these R&D guys looked at him. He could see the wheels turning in their heads, thinking of ways to improve the Fusion systems. It really sucks being a prototype. "Relax Mr. Davidson," Anderson told him, his frustrations were apparently showing. "Didn't anybody tell you patience was a virtue?" "My Uncle did once." He snorted as he thought about it, "But I think my mom would kill me if I took after him more." "I'd believe it," Rachel said. "One of these days you're going to have to tell me about this Uncle of yours Mr. Davidson." "I'll have my people call your people and we'll do lunch." Barry broke away from the group and came toward them. "Well," he began, "it's pretty obvious Jack is stronger in his powered down state. Something we didn't see coming." "Obviously," he said dryly. "Well is this stable now?", Rachel asked him. "I mean is he going to get stronger as time goes on?" "I don't know," Barry admitted, "not without running some more tests first." He knew Barry would be using those words sooner or later. "Do we have any options?" Anderson wondered. "Obviously this is going to be an inconvenience to Mr. Davidson. If he does become stronger he could become a danger to those around him." "Thanks, I needed that thought in my head," he mumbled. Barry started rubbing his chin, “Well, we could adjust the system. After we find out where the power ratios went wrong it'll be easy to fix. Of course he'll have to spend a few days in a tank while we fine tune things." He had heard enough, "I don't think so." "But Jack...," Barry started. "No buts," he cut him off, "I said no." "Are you sure Mr. Davidson? Something like this could be hard to get used to." "I'll live with it." With that he left the room. He walked down several hallways before stopping. Leaning against a wall he put his face in his hands. Power ratios, fine tune, they were talking like he was a freaking car. Not for the first time he thought Richie was the lucky one in that avalanche. "Are you going to be alright?", Rachel asked after she caught up. He put his hands down and nodded. "I knew you wouldn't go for it." "You should have told them that. I already spent over six months in that goop." "I was thinking more about the adjustments." "That too." She leaned against the wall too, "I'm a pretty good listener you know." "I know, you say it every chance you get." Jack put his head back against the wall. "I didn't ask for this you know. I didn't wake up one morning wishing somebody would turn me into a freak. But somebody did any way. Now because they were given the ok to tinker with things my boss thinks I could become a danger to everyone around me." "Hey, it's just a concern he had." She put a hand on his shoulder, "Nobody thinks you're going to be a danger to anybody." "Yeah, but what about the other night when I pushed you out of the way before I found out I could throw a one sixty fastball? What if I hurt you?" "You didn't so don't even think about that. Even in the off chance you did get stronger, we'll help you through it. I'll help you get through it." He put a hand on hers, gently, and smiled wearily. "I know, I'm just tired Rachel." He looked at both of his hands. "Tired of this crap inside me. Tired of smelling like death. I'm tired of this whole situation. I'm tired of feeling like a freakin' lab rat!" He turned and punched the wall in frustration. His fist went through the plaster, a little past his wrist. Just what he needed, a reminder he had to think about this stuff now. "Great, just great." "Does anything feel like it's broken?", Rachel asked with concern in her voice. "No," he said more annoyed with himself than anything. "Did it make you feel any better?" "It did before I realized I'm probably gonna have to pay to get this fixed." After a moment he stated chuckling at the situation, Rachel joined in. "Mom warned me stuff like this would happen if I wasn't careful." "Punch a lot of wall in your time huh?" "I usually saved it for the punching bag in the basement. I got to remember to buy one of those." "Hey Jack," two security guards passed by. "What happened here?" He opened his mouth but Rachel spoke first, "Wall sprung a leak." "You beat me to it," he whined. "Sure man, sure." Before they walked off one pointed at him, "Don't forget man, tonight at eight o'clock. Without the wall." "Yeah, yeah." They turned the corner and were out of sight. "I really wish they’d forget about that." "Forget about what?" "Nothing important." He tugged on his arm to remove it from the wall, it wouldn't budge. "Uh-oh." He pulled a little harder as Rachel stifled a laugh. "A little help here." She got between him and the wall, reached behind his head and pulled the hood over it. "I'll see if I can find you some," she patted him on the shoulder and walked off. He watched her leave shaking his head, "Should have given her the jacket." Looking around he didn't see anybody around. "Oh, what the hell." Putting his foot on the wall he pulled with all he had and freed his hand. He also ended up making the hole bigger. Dusting the gloves off he looked around, still nobody around. So he put his hands in his pockets and walked off whistling. *** "You should have seen this coming," Anderson said as he paced the room. Armstrong sent every else in the room away so he felt free in expressing dissatisfaction. "This is totally unacceptable." "I know," Armstrong said, too calmly. "This is the prototype stage after all, things like this are going to happen. Just think about how this information is going to benefit the Fusion system mark two." "The mark two is the farthest thing on my mind right now." He stopped pacing and calmed himself. "My apologizes Dr. Armstrong. Certain things have been eating at my mind lately. I did not mean to blow this situation out of proportion." "No worrys sir, I've done the same thing to my staff a few times. This can be fixed, it's just a matter of convincing Jack to let us do it." "You might have a better time in convincing him to pull his own teeth." Armstrong agreed. Taylor walked in talking on his cell phone. He hung up as he came close. "What is it Taylor?" "We might have a lead on Christopher." He refused to get his hopes up. "Are you sure? I will not go through another debacle like the one Allen put us through." "I'd stake my life on it." "Good because your life depends in this being accurate." He picked a baseball out of the basket. "Get Mitchell in on this. If this is accurate I don't want Christopher leaving where ever he is alive. Is this understood?" "Perfectly sir." "Good." Anderson looked at the ball in his and than at the pad. Not holding anything back this time he threw it into the pad. As he readjusted his tie he looked at the moniter. Four fifty one. "Smoke me indeed." *** Jack wasn't sure what Hell looked like but this had to be close. That team he saved when all this started finally got him to agree to go out for drinks to thank him. That included the entire scout team on the assignment. But for some reason it grew to include the apparent fan club that was slowly grew among Mitchell's men. Now the whole lot of them were sitting around bragging about the Drakan they’ve killed. He just sat at the bar drinking his beer, ignoring everything around him. Too bad they wouldn't let him do it in peace. Two of the guards, Terry and Dave, he thought that's what people called them, stood on both sides of him. From the smell they definitely more than a few already. "Jack," Dave said, "we were talking a bit back there and do you know what we realized?" "You got a collective I.Q. of two?" "What a kidder," Terry slapped him on the back, spilling some of his beer in the process. "Naw man, we realized that out of all the guys in the room, you killed more of those freaks than anybody. But I got to know one thing, what are you feeling while your doing it? I mean, I feel good 'cause we're helping getting rid of these freaks. Hell, if I had my way I'd wipe 'em all out if I had the chance, bunch of freaks." Jack looked at Dave through narrowed eyes. He was on the scout team that checked out the safe house with the elephant. "But you, what are you feeling?" Jack looked at the bottle in his hands then at his reflection in the mirror behind the bar. "Not a thing, not a damn thing." Terry slapped him on the back again. "I told you this guy was stone cold. You have to be to take out a bunch of kids like he did." "Good riddance," Dave said after a drink. "Less of those things the better. Get 'em before they can breed, right dude?" "Damn right," Terry readily agreed. If he heard any more of this he was going to activate the system and start knocking heads together. The fact that was sounding more and more like a good idea by the moment said it was time to leave. So he quickly finished off his beer and got out from between the two. He doubted either of them noticed he left seeing how they were so into there "conversation". "Where are you going?", somebody asked. "Nature’s calling." They nodded and went back to talking. He was almost out of there. Then he ran into Mitchell. "Leaving early buddy?", he asked. "You don't look that drunk to me." "I got to drive home." There was a loud crash and a lot of laughing at something. "Glad I don't have to pay for that." "I see the boys are starting to get a little rowdy. It's good for them to blow off a little steam like this." Jack looked back into the room. An idiot was standing with his back turned to the others and a bottle on his head while a couple of other was taking aim. He would hate to be around when these guys started blowing off a lot of steam. "Sure you can't stay for a few more drinks? There on me." He tapped his arm, "Don't want to rust." Mitchell gave a short loud laugh. "That's pretty good, I like that one." Mitchell clapped him on the shoulder and went into the bar. "Alright you goldbricks, time to show you the proper way to get wasted." That was definitely his cue to leave. Jack got to the front door but took a left into the men's room and locked the door. Leaning against the sink he looked at his reflection in the mirror one more time. Back in school, when he thought about what he would be doing when he was older, this wasn't what he imagined. He pulled down the neckline of his shirt to reveal a couple of the scars. Nope, not even close. He hung his head feeling the weight of the situation. This night was not helping it get any lighter. Three of these guys were in his room back at World Inc. that night. His first major clue that something was up. And he was no closer to figuring out what was up or who shot that dart. But Dave and Terry might have pointed him in the right direction by accident. Oh what a night. Jack looked back into the mirror and saw the amphibious eyes of a green frog staring back at him. "Holy...!", he turned around and saw nothing but empty space. He looked back at the mirror but only saw his reflection. Looking back and forth with his heart beating at warp speed he muttered, "Maybe a few more beers wouldn't hurt." *** Rachel exited the elevator holding her head. She mumbled a few choice words in French thinking about that meeting she just left. She prayed the aspirin was still in the glove box. If she had to go through that after every mission she was going to hurt somebody. "Rachel." Dr. Freidman walked away from his car. "What are you doing here so late?" "Accounting has a new penny pinching bean counter. He called me in to go over every expense on the mission Jack's been in. I talking everything from what were paying Jack to how much gas we're using. Would you believe he told me to buy a more fuel efficient car?" "Wait, would this be a tall, skinny guy with these huge wire frame glasses?" "You already dealt with him I see." "He asked me if I really needed a machine that was keeping a patient of mine alive." Rachel groaned, she knew guys like that back in high school. That attitude really rubbed her the wrong way. She was all with saving a little money but that was extreme. It was the same with Freidman apparently. "Maybe we should introduce him to Jack," she joked. "That would cruel for one of them, I'm just not sure who at the moment. Oh that reminds me, when you see Jack tell him I identified what was in that dart he gave me." "What dart?", she asked. "You know, the one that he said made a Drakan go crazy and attack him. The one at the campus when he went back." A look of realization grew on his face. "You have no clue what I'm talking about do you?" She started shaking her head slowly. "I think I said too much," and he turned to leave. "Wait, what are you talking about." "All I can tell you is talk to Jack, he's the one who told me about the dart." "But why didn't he tell me about it?", she wondered out loud. *** Jack brought the bike to a stop at a red light. He left the bar and the party a few hours ago and was just driving around town. He decided he needed some air more than he needed another beer. Especially after a bottle of something flew past his head and the guys cheering in approval as it exploded on the wall. He speed off as the light turned green. Jack glanced down a couple of alleys as he past them. A shadow high on a wall caught his attention. It didn't look all that human. He told himself to keep on going and that it was none of his business. Half a block later he turned the bike around and headed back, "Damn it." He got off the bike and looked down the alley as he took his helmet off. The shadow had just jumped down from where it was. Carefully he went down in case he was falling for another trap. It wasn't long before he found the source of the shadow. The red Drakan he saw had a bald head and a ring of ragged feathers around its’ neck like a vulture. It had a blue Turtle around the neck and twisted, he could hear the sickening snap from where he was. The vulture let the turtle drop and turned his attention to a dark haired woman a little further down the alley. She hunched down and turned into a green Tiger with darker green stripes. He wasn't exactly sure but it looked like the vulture's beak was grinning. The sick bastard was actually enjoying this. "Hey!", he shouted to get it's attention. "Go away human," the vulture warned, "or your next." "Right." Jack raised his left arm across his chest and the belt formed around his waist. Swinging his left arm to the side he brought his right up to his face. "Henshin!", and he slammed his right hand on top of the belt. It scanned his body and he was soon wearing the black body suit and blue armor of the Fusion system. The tiger took a step back, "The Drakan Killer." "So you're the Killer. After I'm done with this one we'll compare notes.” The vulture turned to look at the tiger. He ran in and pulled the vulture back. "What are...," it started before he punched him. Jack spun in place and kicked him back. "You idiot! We're on the same side." It pointed to the tiger behind him. "She's one of the rebels!" "I don't know if that's true or not but you're the one with blood on your hands." "Pot calling the kettle black Killer." The vulture got up and started throwing punches at him. He kept his arms up to block the fist coming at him. Then its’ foot came up and caught him in the gut. He took a step back, side stepped a lunge and brought his knee up. The vulture breathed out hard as he bent from the impact. He went to throw it into the wall but it tripped him up. It started kicking him in the sides as he tried to get up. Then the Vulture grabbed him by the back collar of the armor and pulled him up. He was forced face first into the wall and it leaned against him. "Come on Killer," it said in his ear," you know we're exactly alike, why should we fight?" "I'm nothing like you," he growled as he pushed off the wall. Jack backhanded the vulture as he turned around. He grabbed it by the shoulder and threw it into the wall and started punching it to the ground. The last punch cracked the vulture's beak up the side. Jack picked the Drakan back up and started punching again. The vulture ducked a punched and pushed him back. It tried to make a move for the tiger and he tried to stop it. Jack came away with a fist full of red feathers as the vulture yelped in pain and grabbed his neck. Its’ eyes narrowed as it jumped up and tried to kick him in the head. Jack dodged the kick and grabbed it around the neck as it landed. He briefly thought about snapping its’ neck like it did the turtle's. His gaze came around to the tiger. She already smelt like death, he couldn't add to it. He glanced at the meter, it was close to flashing, now he had to think quick. There was a dumpster that looked like it was close enough to use. The vulture elbowed him in the side so he released his grip and punched him in the back of the head. It was stunned long enough for him to rip the lock off and open the lid. The vulture rushed in like he hopped it would. When it was close enough he grabbed it and threw it into the dumpster, the lid clanging loudly as it came down. He twisted the right pod up and he got into position, waiting as the charge went down his arm. The vulture raised the lid looking groggy and saw him perched there. Jack punched it back into the dumpster and slammed the lid down quickly. He held onto it as there was a muffled explosion and the dumper shook a little. He started breathing heavy after it was over. "I can't be anything like you," he whispered. That comment touched a nerve, no doubt about it. Jack steeped away and was surprised the tiger was still there. "You know, a smart person would have left by now," he said trying not to sound threatening. She said nothing, just staring at him. Taking a step toward her made her back up and fall. He looked at himself, this wasn't going to cut it, so he hit the top of the belt. The system powered down as he knelt down to look her eye to eye. "You all right?" She reverted back to her human form, blue eyes wide in surprise," You're concerned?" He shrugged his shoulders. "But you're the Drakan Killer." "So I've heard." He got up and offered her a hand. Warily she took it and he helped her up. "Let me ask one more time, are you all right?" "I think so," she said sounding a little stunned. "Ok then. I’d offer to take you home, but my reputation and all." He started to walk off, fully aware he was leaving himself expose if she decided to attack. Right now he really didn't care if she did or not. "Why are you letting me live?" "Because," he paused to look at the dumpster as he passed it, "for the first time in a long time I'm pretty sure who the bad guy was." |
08-11-2012, 02:30 AM | #14 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 486
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<Episode 14>
He and the thing he was facing were surrounded by a quiet, familiar mountain range. That calm was shattered the moment he shouted, "Henshin!", and charged the shape in front of him. The rage inside him grew as it turned into the blue monkey the closer he got. The moment he was close enough to strike it faded away. Then he was hit from behind. As he went down he kicked out a foot but the monkey wasn't there. He pounded the ground as frustration started mingling with the rage inside of him. When he got to his feet he was greeted by a blue furry foot that knocked him down again. Quickly he got up and looked around but it was no where to be found. It had to be some where around here but where? He felt something behind him and he swung a fist back. A strike at his head was blocked and he planted a foot into a monkey's gut. It didn't disappear this time, "Gotcha!". He hit an uppercut that snapped its’ head back. Grinning behind the mask he grabbed the monkey by the back of the head and smashed his knee into it’s’ head repeatedly. The monkey somehow grabbed onto his other leg and tripped him. The next thing he knew that damn Drakan was on top of him trying to pound him into the ground. Blocking the blows as best he could he tried to get a shot in. Finally he got his right hand through, gripping it around the throat and started squeezing. Before long the Drakan stopped beating on his head and tried to remove the hand from around it’s’ neck. Then he got the other hand on its’ neck and squeezed even more. He forced the monkey to its’ back and wouldn't let go. The monkey slowly stopped fighting and its’ eyes went dead. He slowly got to his feet and hovered over the carcass for a moment. "Go to Hell," he spat and walked off. He didn't get far before a deep, evil laugh filled the air. Turning around the monkey rose up unnaturally and looked at him. Confusion and a hint of fear quickly replaced the rage and frustration. The very next instant it had crossed the distance between them and hit him in the chest. He flew back hard, skidding as he landed. It was on him again and picked him up by the chest armor. They looked eye to eye before it said, "You first," and threw him. The meter started flashing as he staggered to his feet. The monkey grinned, banged its’ chest and held its’ arms wide open. It was almost like it knew what was happening. Well if it wanted to die that bad he was willing to go along with it. He grabbed the right pod and twisted down, nothing happened. "What?", he twisted the pod up and down several times with the same result. He looked for the button under the belt then started pounding on the pod to try to get it to work. Again the monkey was right in front of him before he knew it. The Drakan palmed his head and jumped. He was planted into the side of the mountain before he was thrown again. The monkey waved its’ hands around its’ waist and the Fusion belt appeared it. His armor faded away that same instant, "No." It grinned evilly and uttered a demonic sounding, "Henshin." The Fusion armor formed around the monkey's shape. It lifted up a hand made a waving motion. Out of nowhere other shapes started walking foreword. He recognized them almost instantly: a frog, a rabbit, an ox, just about all the Drakan he fought and killed stood by the monkey side. All of they were wearing the Fusion belt. The Drakan glanced at them and nodded once. All the belts glowed brightly and all of them were incased in the Fusion armor. He started to run but something grabbed his right arm. An old man in a suit held on tightly. "Max what are you doing?" Then something grabbed his left arm. To say he was surprised didn't even begin to cover it. That solemn look he had never seen on that face before but he could recognize that curly hair and those glasses anywhere, "Richie?" His friend said nothing, just looked up the mountain. The armored Drakan, almost as one, reached for the belt. Some twisted the pod down while other pressed the button that used to be there. He struggled to get free, "Whoa... wait, damn it let me go!" The Drakans jumped up and aimed their feet at him. "NOOO!", Jack woke up screaming, crossing his arms in front of him. Breathing hard he slowly put his arms down and looked around. He was still in his bed, alive for the most part. What the hell, instead of going away that damn nightmare was getting worse. Ever since Max. He sat there waiting for his heart to stop trying to burst through his chest. Jack glanced at the clock. It said it was three in the morning. He'd only been asleep for a few hours. Laying back down he stared at the ceiling for a long time. Finally he swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up saying, "Sleep is over rated any way." *** The past few nights had been cooler than usual and his left arm was aching from it. Ever since that abomination broke it. One of the things he had to learn to live with from the encounter. Like the fact he was now part of Christopher's inner circle. Only because he was one of the very few that survived the Killer. That group grew by one the other night. Christopher's sister Melissa was the latest to walk away unharmed. The others happened to be a group of children being watched over by Thomas Rodgers son Arron. Of course the pup decided to stay, another green to the cause. That disgusted him more than anything. Of course he was as much of an outsider in that group as he was to the inner circle. He didn’t escape, the metal bug let them go. Something that stuck in his gut to no end. But that was no where near as bad as what he had been hearing lately. Everybody was united in the opinion that the thing had to be stopped. Now there was talk that it wasn't as evil as originally thought. Maybe it could be persuaded to switch sides. That nonsense made him want to retch. Fortunately it affected other in the circle the same way. They were just as vocal about it as he was. Too bad the old man was in the other court and was just as vocal about his doubts. "I agree something has to be done," he said after some of the argument had died down. "But I still say we can't do anything without knowing all the facts first." "The fact is," someone blurted out," it killed our kind." "We've killed our kind too," someone else countered. "Don't forget that fact." "That's different." "How is it different exactly?" "Because sometimes death is necessary to get the mission done." "It was on a mission too," Christopher spoke suddenly. He wasn't looking at them, just staring into space. "Look Christopher, I realize it spared your sister..." "Saved," he cut in, "it saved my sister." "That doesn't mean it's not a threat now. That mission is to take us out. What it did can not out weigh what it has done." "We all done some things for the cause we weren't proud of," the old man told him. "Or a decision we were forced to live with," Christopher said. Jason's eyes narrowed. What decision did the want to be king regret. Heading up the cause perhaps? Whatever he was feeling Christopher shut it down and was soon back to business. "I'll admit I'm having my doubts about the Drakan Killer. He may be a pawn in all of this. We all know how Anderson likes to manipulate people to get his way." "He might be doing it now," Jason spoke up. Several of them looked at him for speaking out of turn. Christopher, however, leaned foreword. "How so?" "He could have orchestrated the whole event to make sure your sister believed it was saving her." "You’re reaching for straws here," the old man countered. "I seriously doubt even Anderson would sacrifice one of his own men just for show." "According to our contact's report he did so to see if the thing would work like they designed it." The old man shifted in his seat, "Now you want to believe what he says." "What did your contact," Christopher asked, "tell you about the man inside this thing? What was his name again?" "Jack Davidson, and he didn't talk about him much. The only time he started any kind of conversation with our contact was when he gave him the dart." "This fairy tale again," someone moaned. "We did our own test on it," the old man told them. "Even our people say the compound inside that thing could cause the affect the Killer said it did in the right dosage." "And depending on the story he told the humans, he could prove whenever he wanted that we're the aggressors in all of this." "Still doesn't mean we shouldn't do anything about the Killer." "I agree," Christopher said, surprising every one. "Despite my doubts it should still be considered a threat to us, at the moment. And I might have an idea on how to deal with it." *** She paid for her cup of coffee and turned to see Jack staring at something. Rachel wasn't sure if she should ask what he was looking at. He could be setting her up again for all she knew. Well if he did she could always "accidently" spill some of her coffee on him. After what Mitchell told her it might not be the last accident Jack could have today. "What's the hold up?" He pointed into the cafeteria, "Those people over there." This had to be a set up, "I don't see the problem." "They're sitting at our table." She was still wasn't seeing it. "We always sit there." "There are a few dozen empty seats we can sit at." "That's not the point." He was actually being serious about this. She pushed past him, "And my Dad said girls were too picky about things." Rachel took a table as far away from that table as she could. She had to smile as Jack took the seat across from her and shot a look at the other table. "I swear you try to make things harder than they have to be." Jack looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Why do I get the feeling I did something." "Mitchell talked to me a bit ago." "That's something." Jack said as he looked around the room, maybe looking for an escape. "So why were you beating the crap out of our guys? Mitchell told me he was very surprised when one of his guys went flying a few feet after you pushed him." He immediately went on the defensive, "First of all it's not my fault nobody told Mitchell and his boys about the upgrade little side effect. And two Dave and Terry had it coming." "Why did they supposedly have it coming?" "You should have been at the party." "Like I should havebeen at the campus when you went back and found that dart?" Jack froze for an instant, like a kid caught getting caught sneaking a cookie. "Why can't anybody keep there mouth shut around here?” he asked looking and sounding annoyed. “Freidman actually asked me what kind a doctor he would be if he couldn't keep his patient’s secrets for crying out loud." "Yeah about that, he thought I was in on it. For that matter why wasn't I told about this? If there's some kind of dart that can make the Drakan go crazy I should know about it." He didn't look at her, "I wanted some more information about it before I told you anything." "So what do you know about it?" "You pretty much covered it." "I still don't know why you didn't tell me. I could have helped you check this out. I'm starting to think you don't trust me." Again he wouldn't look at her. "You don't trust me?" He quickly said, "I trust you, I trust you. But I felt I needed to play this one a little close to the vest. "Next thing you'll be telling me you think World Inc. is behind it." He looked at her this time but didn't say anything. He didn't have to, she read it in his face. "Oh my God." "Not the entire company, I'm pretty sure Heather wouldn't be in on it. And you too," he added as an after thought. "Besides, I don't know who's on what side at the moment. Terry and Dave drove that point home the other night." "Is that why you beat them up then?" "It was the main reason." "What was the... wait I don't want to know. We're going to go over this in detail later." "Off property, this place makes me a little jumpy lately." "Lately? You always seemed jumpy when your here." "It's like I told you before, you guys develop military prototypes yet animals run around and howl in the air ducts. But I haven't ruled out the possibility of it being a couple of Drakan in heat." After all this time she was still amazed how he could switch gears from being serious to joking without breaking anything. "You are definitely one of a kind." "Thank you." "It wasn't a compliment." Jack quickly balled up a napkin and tossed it at her. She tossed it back. "You know, I would love to find out what the Drakan working here, if there are any more here that is, think about you being here." "I like to know why they needed something like me to begin with. I mean there's a small army here, something like me seems like over kill." "I guess they needed someone to go hand to hand with them if they had too." Jack smiled for a moment for some reason. "Still seems like over kill." "That's why you’re not in charge. A fact I'm grateful for daily." Jack stuck his tongue out at her. *** As she slowly sat down in the chair Christopher looked out the door. She leaned over slightly to see what held his attention. Melissa was tending to a "boo-boo" on one of the young ones. She had to smile, that one and her brother always had a way with children. The look Christopher had told her he wished things would stay this way forever. But he wouldn't have asked to see her if they were. "So, you’re facing him in the Arena," she started. He had a small smile on his face," So you saw it before I announced it." She tapped the side of his leg with her cane. "It doesn't work that way and you know it. Word, however, travels faster than anybody would like. You do remember what I told you about a Drakan made of metal?" "I remember,” he replied looking distant, “but I have to face him anyway." "Why do you have to?" "Because they expect me to," he said as his feature darkened. "That doesn't mean you should do it." "Damn it Emily," he let go of some of the frustration he was holding. "Every time someone mentions the Drakan Killer and I'm around they look at me. I can see it in their eyes, I'm the one who's supposed to deal with this thing. The all mighty Christopher, unofficial leader of the great rebellion." A small glint returned to his eyes, "And now I guess I can add slayer of the Drakan Killer to my list of accolades." "You always did make things sound larger than life." "And it never impressed you, not even when I was little. Most of us Greens are full of hot air any way." "True, but you were one of the few who had an actual cause to put your energy into. I doubt half of us would even be here if it wasn't for you. A lot of leaders say things, but you actually believe what you say so they believe what you say." "But what happens to them if something happens to me?" "No one is bigger than the cause Christopher, not even you. Even if the others don't want to believe it. We'll survive and go on. Our goal might take longer to complete. Of course there was no guarantee we would get what we want even with you in the lead." She used her cane to get up. Christopher came over to help her and she patted his hand. "And don't think I haven't noticed you telling and showing things to Melissa, just in case." “I have to be prepared for anything," he said slowly, "you've told me that for as long as I can remember. The reason I asked to see you is will they have to go on without me?" "I wish I could tell you child, but your path is fuzzy at the time you face the Killer. All I can tell you is the decisions both of you make will not only affect your destinies but of those around both of you." A wave of sadness came over her. "I wish I could tell you more than that," she said softly. "It's alright Emily, it was more than enough." He kissed her on the forehead and hugged her. She tried to hide the feeling of dread that was growing inside her. *** This was not the best week he ever had. They had a lead on Melissa so he sent one of his men after her. If something happened to her it had to affect Christopher in some way. Then his man disappeared, to make matter worse Davidson was in the area so he had an idea bout what happened. Now he read this, what was Christopher thinking? The Arena of all places. It was suppose to be a place where Drakan fought in battles of honor. He personally gained control of this company by defeating Allen's father there in combat. Now Christopher was using it to hide? Oh how the mighty have fallen. Anderson put the file down as the others walked into the command center. Haily and Davidson took there usual spots. Actually Haily was Davidson went to the other side to the room for some reason. "There's more than one place to stand." Haily groaned as he made his way back to her. Like before he thought it was best not to inquire about the situation that much. "You seem to be in a good mood today Mr. Davidson," he observed. "I was bound to have one sooner or later." "I suppose that's true. Before we start you wouldn't happen to know anything about a hole in the wall near R&D would you?" "A hole in the wall? No, nothing ringing a bell at the moment. You know anything about it Rachel?" "I think I would have noticed something like that." "We don't know nothing," Davidson looked totally innocent as he spoke. Anderson had a monitor set up to show that was a lie but decided against it. He would rather see the mood change after he told him what he knew. "Then I guess we should get down to business. I'll get right to the point, we know where the location of the rebel leader." Like he expected Davidson jovial mood disappeared, replaced by something darker. "Are you sure this time?" "I'm quite sure Mr. Davidson. The information was doubled check, then tripled check and doubled checked again. There will be no children this time around." "Not that it mattered last time," Williams muttered, but not low enough that they didn't hear her. Davidson looked at the ceiling. Haily appeared to be uncomfortable but she was patting him on the back. How much longer before the situation exploded? Apparently now because Davidson blurted, "They're alive alright, the kids are alive. None of them went boom." There were a few gasp in surprise around the room. He might as well play along. "But Miss. Haily reported..." "I lied," she said plainly. Although she did looked relived that it was finally out. "Why would you lie about something like this?" "So you’d leave them alone," Davidson told him. "What would make you think we would go after children?" "Have Mitchell's men knock back a few and you'll find out." That might explain why two of those men had to be looked at by Freidman and his staff earlier. He confirmed it by leaning over to Haily and saying, "Told you they had it coming." One of these days he was going to have to add sound to the video footage just so he wouldn't be left in the dark about these things. They outlined the basic plan after about an hour. Williams wasn't sure how to act now that she knew the truth about the children. Davidson acted like nothing was ever wrong between them and even tried to get her to laugh a few times to lighten the mood of the room. Because of that he decided to throw Davidson a bone by saying he could try to take the leader alive if he could. It would make things a little more difficult but he readily agreed to it over Haily objections. After they left to get ready he went to a black phone on the wall. Mitchell picked up after the first ring. "Is your team ready to go?" "We're getting ready to leave now." “Good, make sure Haily and Davidson don't see you arrive. Do you remember what we discussed?" "No rebel will leave the confrontation alive." "Excellent, make sure it happens." "What Jack doesn't get we will. But what about Jack?" He thought about it for a moment. "We'll worry about him later. If he tries anything I'll be ready." *** When they arrived Jack stared at the cave opening for a long time. He was concentrating so hard she had to nudge him to get his attention. When he looked at her she could see there was concern in his eyes. That was something she wasn't expecting. "What is it?" "I was just wondering if the monkey was in there with him." "Only one way to find out, right?" She headed for the cave. He put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "This is a first." "Stay out here." "Jack I'm you mission operator. I'm going in with you." "Look, I got a bad feeling about this. I'd feel better is you stayed out here." "You didn't listen to me when I had reservations when they sent you after the monkey," she said as she crossed her arms. She had to remind him who exactly was in charge. "I know, but you're supposed to be the smart out of the two of us," he snapped. Jack rubbed his face as he calmed down and tried another route. He put both hands on her shoulders, "I'm asking you, friend to friend, to stay out here for this one." She was going to tell him no but she locked eyes with him. Not only was he concerned he actually looked worried. Slowly she nodded her head, "Alright, but you're filing the report." "Just as long as you fix my errors, because guys like me are why they invented spell check." Jack squeezed her shoulders then got serious. He looked at the cave and raised his left arm across his chest. She saw the belt appear around his waist. He moved his arm to the side and raised his right arm up. "Henshin!", he cried as he brought his right hand on top of the belt. She backed up a bit as the armor materialized on him. "I'll be out as soon as I can," He said as took the staff from its holder and walked toward the cave. As he reached the mouth of the cave he turned to give her a quick salute then went on. Now she had a bad feeling about this. *** He traveled through the tunnel until he came to an inner cavern. A surprisingly well lit inner cavern at that. The lights attached to the roof allowed him to see with no problem was only part of what surprised him. The cavern itself looked like a small stadium. The sides were cut to form rows of seats and steps. At the bottom was a group of six men. Jack looked around to see if there was anybody else as he went down the stairs. Five of the men changed shape and surrounded the dark haired guy who didn't change. If they weren't going to attack now neither was he. "I'm guessing you’re the top dog." "In a matter of speaking," he said as he walked past the others. "I thought you be taller." "Yeah I get that, so how is this going down? You gonna talk or are your boys and me going to go at it?" "I'd rather have done this by myself but my guards wouldn't be talked out of it. We don't have to fight you know. We can work this out peacefully." This might be easier than he thought it would. It couldn't last. "I have an option to bring you in alive if I can. You and me can walk out of here and head to World Inc. right here and now. There wouldn't have to be any more bloodshed." The rebel leader sighed, sounding very tired. "I know Anderson a little too well. That wouldn't be a bloodless option." Jack had to agree with him on that one. If Dave and Terry were any indication of the situation. "You can always walk away with us and join our cause." Jack slowly shook his head at the offer. "And neither of us can walk away. I'm afraid there's only one way this can end." He changed to a dark green tiger with light green stripes. His mind flashed to the female tiger the other night. Looks like the vulture might have been right after all. No matter, that was then this is now. "I guess so," he snapped the staff to extend it to its full length. Jack held the staff up and waited for them to make the first move. Neither side had to wait long as two of leader's guards, a blue lizard and a red hammerhead shark, broke rank and charged him. Jack ran at them bringing the staff up to attack in return. At that moment one of the last things his Uncle told him echoed in his head. If you know you're going down make damn sure you take a couple of them down with you. |
08-18-2012, 02:37 AM | #15 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 486
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<Episode 15>
Jack ducked a punch from the hammerhead and cracked the lizard in the head with the staff. The rebel leader and the others ran in to help these two. He jumped over a red lion with a scar on its chest as it tried to grab him. When he landed Jack kicked the leader in the chest, turned and rammed the end of the staff into the lion's gut. Jack tried to drive it through the things as he use the Drakan to knock down the hammerhead. A red fish of some sort hit him with a straight right that he felt through the helmet. He spun around and took a home run swing with the staff into the fish's side. The hammerhead grabbed the staff suddenly as the tiger planted its shin into his gut. Jack went down to a knee as the hammerhead let go of the staff to come in to kick him in the head. He tried to get off his knees but something pushed him pack down and tried to keep him there. Pushing up just enough to turn over he let a fist fly. A blue mantis’s mandibles went wide as it cried out in pain, he guessed it was a guy. Rocking up then back he kicked it where its spine should have been to knock it foreword. Jack reached for the staff but the lizard shot out its tongue at the staff and flung it away. "Son of a ...," Jack muttered as he backed up to get some room between them. The Drakan regrouped as well and tried to circle him. Looking quickly he saw that the staff didn't land that far away, it was just a matter of getting to it. Easier said than done. Trying an old trick that worked for him back in high school he made a move toward the leader. The shark and mantis moved to protect him. Jack stopped and changed direction and bowled over the lizard. He rolled off and went for the staff before the lion tackled him to the ground. A red furry hand hauled him up while the claws on the other slashed at the back of his neck. He kicked a foot back that the lion caught and flipped him around and knocked him down. The fish jumped over the lion and stomped a foot into his chest. The armor barely held up, but it still hurt like hell. Both of them picked him up by the arms and held him in place as the mantis jumped up and aimed a kick at him. For a brief moment he was back in the nightmare and freaked. "NO!", He flung the lion in front of him to take the kick. With his right arm free he started raining punches at the fish's head. The tiger leaped up and kneed him in the chest. It roared as it raised a clawed hand over its head. Jack fell back and put his foot to its stomach to flip it over. He barely ducked a kick by the fish. He got up quickly and elbowed it in the back of the head. A roar caused him to turn and see the hammerhead come at him. Jack picked it up over his head and slammed the thing to the ground. The tiger kicked him square in the back the forced him into a palm strike to the chest by the lion. Then both of them grabbed him and threw him over the rest of the group. He landed and saw stars that cleared to reveal a blue insect foot coming right at him. Jack grabbed the foot to deflect the blow. The mantis guarded itself to protect its lower region from another punch. Jack got to a knee and did throw a punch, right at its knee. The crack was audible as the leg bent backwards and it went down screaming. He didn't have a moment to breathe as the fish jumped on top of him and started pounding away. *** Rachel paced back in forth in front of the car and motorcycle outside of the cave. Several times she almost went inside to see what was happening but stopped. Jack asked her to stay outside for this assignment and she said she would. What could she really do to help him out in there any way? It was him against who knew how many in there. But she was also his mission operator. She promised herself that she would personally keep track of every assignment he would be assigned to. So she wandered close to the mouth of the cave to see if she could hear anything. There was a scream that she didn't think was human. Or at least that's what she told herself. "The hell with it," she reached into a pocket and pulled out her cell phone. Maybe Mitchell had an assault team near by and they could get here before it was too late. There was no chance in hell of that happening of course and she knew it, but she didn't want to admit it. She should have insisted that a team went with them on this one. Rachel was about to press send when she heard a noise. It didn't come from the cave. In fact it sounded like a few cars coming to a stop. She didn't have to travel far before she saw a couple of vans that the assault team used and Mitchell was motioning for his men to fall in. She was glad to see them, but why were they here? Nobody told her they were part of the plan. *** Jack battled his way to his feet as the meter started flashing. The lion threw a punch at him that he barely saw coming. He grabbed it and flipped it over his shoulder, then his hand went to the right pod and twisted it up He blocked a kick from the lizard as the charge went up his side and down his right arm. Jack aimed the fist at the center of the thing's chest and nailed it. In the biggest stroke of luck he ever had it crashed into the fish and exploded. The fish fell backwards smoking and it wasn't moving. The other looked at their fallen comrades, he took that moment they gave him to grab a quick couple of breathes. The tiger balled up a fist then screamed in anger and charged. Jack kicked out on instinct that snapped its head back. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the hammerhead come at him with his staff in its head. The lion grabbed him from behind and pinned his arms back. Jack dropped to his knees to force the lion to lean over. The hammerhead couldn't stop as it cracked the staff on top of the other one's head. He got out from under it and grabbed the staff. Hoping they hadn't heard about this one he twisted it to collapse to its original size. The hammerhead looked down in surprise as he kicked it in the gut to make it let go. Jack backed up as he snapped it back to its full length. He remembered a few fights back in high school were he was outnumbered for some reason. He never won any of those, something in his brain must have trying to tell him something. The lion growled, "The stories said you were a demon." Oh yeah, some demon. His head was pounding. His body was aching like he couldn't believe. Most of his muscles were just this side of feeling like Jell-O. And if it wasn't for his reconstructed legs he doubted he'd even be standing right now. Jack took a deep breath and cracked his neck. "Bring it kitty cat." Why in the hell did he say that? The tiger and the lion came at him. Well, Mom always said his mouth would get him in trouble. *** Melissa tried to keep her mind off the fact Chris was fighting the Drakan Killer. She did plan to be out there with the others. If she looked confident of his victory then they should feel it too. That was the plan and she tried to make it work like Chris could. But he could do it and look like he wasn't even trying, something she never mastered. So she ended up in Emily's room. The old lady was sitting at her table nursing a tired looking plant. She looked so calm at the moment Melissa actually envied her. She knew deep down she was asking the impossible but she asked it anyway, "Are you sure you don't know what's happening?" "My gift provides me with glimpses of what might happen," she answered. Then she looked at her over her glasses. "Not once have they provided me the opportunity to do play by play," she said with a smile and a small chuckle. She sat down feeling the frustration, "I must look like an idiot." "You look like someone who is worried about her brother. Even if you are conflicted about it," she added softly. "That noticeable huh?" "Very, but some what understandable. Your brother has to kill the man who saved your life." She picked up a pitcher and poured some water into the pot. "But the man didn't earn the name ‘Drakan Killer’ because he was nice to us. I'd imagine that's why you set up that little surprise without Christopher knowing." Nothing seemed to get past her. "You 'saw' that I'd imagine." Out of habit Melissa made sure the cane was out of her reach. She and Chris were bopped with it more than once growing up after such a comment "More like I heavily suspected, and judging from you reaction I must be right." "Like you said, the Killer got the name for a reason. Is it wrong for me to help my brother out?" she asked a little too defensively "Normally I would say no," she sighed heavily. "You have to remember fate brought them together now for a reason. Now it's up to them to decide which path they take from here." *** The hammerhead threw him over its head. Jack grabbed the staff after he landed and looked up. It came at him with its mouth wide open. He jammed the end of the staff into its mouth. The shark gagged and went backwards holding it mouth. The tiger went to check on him as the lion got between them. Jack glanced at the meter, it was close to flashing again. How long has he been getting his butt kicked here? Ok it was official he had to get out of here while he was still breathing. He turned to run but something tripped him up. Crap, he forgot about the mantis. Jack started kicking at until it let go and he scooted away. He used the staff to get to his feet and stumbled backwards. "Christopher!", a new voice cried out. "What?" the leader looked around. Ten more Drakan ran toward them and gathered around the tiger, facing him. Jack fell to a knee, "Oh come on!" "What are you doing here?", the tiger demanded. "Your sister sent us to watch your back," a blue horse answered. "I told her to make sure you stayed out of this." "And she told us to make sure you stayed alive." The horse pushed it toward an opening. "Get out of here, we'll finish this thing off for good." The lion had to drag the tiger toward the opening. Jack got to his feet again. The meter started flashing again while they were talking. An idea came to him and he only had one shot of making it work. Taking a moment to set himself he ran at the group. They stood there waiting for him. As he ran he moved his grip on the staff to the end of the staff and raised it up. He planted the other end on the ground as he reached them and jump. Jack vaulted over the group as he let go of the staff and landed on the other side. He told himself, "don't stop," over and over in his head as he twisted the pod down and ran at the leader. *** Emily froze as a vision of something dark came to her. Suddenly Christopher's path became very clear. She tried to keep herself calm for Melissa's sake. The child never had the gift like she did but she could sense what others around her were feeling from time to time. It wasn't enough as she suddenly went very rigid. Tears started to form, "No." She got up and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's all right child, it's all right. But you must be strong for the others. They are going to need you now more than ever." *** The moment he jumped everything seemed to move in slow motion. The lion saw what was happening and tried to push its leader out of the way. The tiger grabbed the lion and threw it out of the way. Jack extended his right leg and the tiger stood there. It didn't even move or tried to block, it didn't even react as he came closer. His foot came into contact with the tiger's shoulder. It flew back as he landed, Jack turned to the oncoming group. He heard the explosion as he burst threw the group and kept running. He was expecting them to pile on top of him at any moment. The staff was slowly getting closer, it was now or never. He jumped for it, grabbed it as he rolled to a knee and got the staff up to block the first attack. It didn't come. The Drakan surrounded the flaming remains, some dropped to there knees. Almost as one they looked at the ceiling and howled. Jack remembered hearing a similar howl before, back at World Inc., back when all this started. Then he was confused, now it shook him to his core and his blood went cold. He could hardly breathe, it felt like he was going to have a breakdown or something. Jack collapsed the staff and had to walk away, get as far away from here as he could. He needed to get some air, clear his head. Try to figure out what the hell he was feeling. He chanced a look back, some of the Drakan were staring at him, like they were going to attack him again. Right now he didn't care, he just wanted out of here. "Now!", a bunch of black uniformed men burst out and took a position around the top row. Before what he was seeing could register they opened fired. The Drakan went down and they kept firing. "No," what he was feeling started being replaced by anger, "No!". Jack raced up the steps and grabbed the closest one. He slammed him against the wall and shouted, "What are you doing?!" "Following orders..." He cut him off, "What orders?" "What you don't take out we take down. No Drakan leaves alive." "Who gave you that order?" "Anderson did." Jack looked back into the stone stadium. The Drakan were lying on the ground in a growing pool of blood. His grip tightened around the man's uniform. Yelling in anger he tossed the man down the steps. He stormed toward the opening he came in knocking whoever was in his path out of the way. "That son of a bitch!" *** Anderson sat at his desk awaiting word from the operation. This was the main reason he regretted allowing Haily to accompany Davidson on his missions. If she stayed here and talked to him threw a link than he would have instant word of what was happening. The phone rang and he quickly picked it up, "Yes?" Mitchell was on the other end. "Mission accomplished Mr. Anderson." Best news he heard all day. "Excellent. What is Davidson's condition?" "He's alive but according to my men he didn't appear happy. You might want to get out of there, I don't think I can beat him back." "Don't worry Mitchell, I'm sure I can handle myself." He looked at a drawer on his desk, "Armstrong and I already had something built in case things get out of hand." *** Rachel heard the gunshots and hurried back to the cave and went in. She wasn't sure how far she got when Jack rushed past her. "What's going on in there?" He didn't answer her, he just powered down and kept on going. "Jack, wait a minute. Did Mitchell and..." "Not now," he finally said, there was something in his voice she never heard before. Jack looked at the staff in his hands like it was the first time he seen it. He got a disgusted look on his face and threw it down. She picked it up and saw there was a hint of a reddish liquid on one end of it. He got on his motorcycle and rode off. Rachel put the staff in an inside pocket of her coat as she got in her car and went after him. A quick glance in her rear view mirror showed several assault team members coming out of the cave. What happened in there? What ever happened in there Jack was taking it pretty heavily. She was barely keeping him in sight on the road. Before long she realized where he was heading, back to World. Inc. What kind of damage management was she going to have to do now? But for whom, that was the big question at the moment. Jack parked the motorcycle by the front door and went in. She parked behind him and raced too cut him off. She saw Jack had gotten to the desk before he fell to his knees and threw up. "Jack!", she went to his side. He pushed her away and got back on his feet. He looked at the secretary behind the desk. "Where's Anderson?", he demanded angrily. "In his office." He went off again. She tried to calm him down but he wasn't listening. Everybody they past gave them a wide birth as they passed. Actually part of her was glad he was still moving. It looked like if he stopped he'd fall over. She formed a quick plan in her head, let Jack say what he had to say then get him to Freidman as soon as possible right after. He saw Anderson's door and seemed to get another burst of energy. Jack walked up and kicked the door in. "Oh man," she muttered. She looked at the door, it was hanging on by one hinge. This was coming out of something alright. "Mr. Davidson," Anderson didn't look all that surprise to see him in this state, "I understand you are upset but...". Jack grabbed him by the shirt collar and slammed him against the wall. "Jack put him..." "Shut up!", he shouted before returning his attention back to Anderson. "What kind of man are you!? What kind of man would organize that kind of massacre? What in the hell did they ever do to you to deserve that?" Anderson smiled calmly, "I already told you, they wanted to live outside of what worked for centuries. I couldn't have that." "Why does that matter to you so much?" "It offends me." "You're nuts." "No, I'm saner than most people I know." His eyes went feral looking, cat like. "And I don't appreciate being hassled in this manner." "What the hell?", Jack let go slightly, "You're one of them?" Rachel backed up for the door as he changed into a green cheetah. Anderson grinned as he grabbed Jack in return and threw him into the opposite wall. He changed back and went into a desk drawer. Jack got to his feet and put his left arm across his chest. The belt appeared around his waist and a small device appeared in Anderson’s hand. Before she could warn him Jack finished the movement and shouted, "Henshin!" Anderson pressed the thing in his hands as Jack brought his hand down on top of the belt. A whistling like sound she never heard before filled the air as the armor formed. Then it faded away surprising them both. "What...?", he looked at her. "I didn't know about this," she told him. "Did you really think," Anderson said, "I would have a weapon designed and not have a way to counter act it in case it turned on me?" Mitchell ran in with his gun up. "He's a Drakan," she told him, "cover him." He looked at Anderson then pointed his gun at her. "Wait, didn't you here what I said?" Jack fell back down, "Why am I not that surprised?" "I already knew” Mitchell said casually. “Why do you think he confides in me?" "So what do you turn into Mitchell?", Jack said between breaths. "I'm guessing a rat." Then he turned to her with an accusing look in his eyes. "Or is that you?", he spat. He didn't actually think she could be in one, could he? "Don't blame the girl Jack," Mitchell told him. "She didn't know, we weren't sure how well she could act. As for me I'm as human as the two of you. Well," he grinned, "as human as she is anyway. I still got all my original parts, unlike some people in the room." Jack sat there fuming. "Now don't be crude Mitchell," Anderson said as picked up Jack by the arm and pushed toward the door. "But we do have a problem on our hands at the moment. See if Dr. Armstrong has something that could remedy part of it. I believe he was working on some kind of control unit when he was developing the Fusion system. At the time I didn't think it was necessary, but let's see if he modified it. As I recall when placed the wearing couldn't do anything without being told what to do first. I mean everything. And take her with you, I need to figure out if we can trust her like we did before this. And if not, I'll figure out what to do with her." *** "I told him it was a mistake not giving you to me," Mitchell told him as he led them down a service hallway. Apparently there were some holding cells designed for Drakan prisoners under the first floor. These guys thought of everything alright. They even had Rachel here pretending to be a prisoner too. "This never would have happened if you were placed in my unit. But he wanted someone who could operate independently. It was good in theory, I'll give him that, but they didn't have to assign you to someone to make you even more independent." "In case you haven't noticed," Rachel told him, "he's always been like this. Even you couldn't beat it out of him." "Not for lack of trying. I don't even know why he was picked for this project. I had guys hurt as bad as he was on that mission, one of them should have been put in. I don't know what Anderson saw in this bastard." "Keep talking," he mumbled. Mitchell jammed the gun into his back. "What was that 'buddy'? I got to be honest with you, you don't look like you can put up much of a fight right now." "That's how you like you're targets right? Get them when they can't fight back?" "Oh get real Jack, this is a war. You kill these things all the time, so don't get on a high horse and preach to me." They reached the ground floor according to the sign. If there was a way out of this he wasn't seeing it. Rachel coughed a few times. He looked over as she opened her coat slightly, there was the staff. She pulled it out so Mitchell wouldn't notice. Then she snapped it back to extend one end. It caught Mitchell in the leg, "What are you...," was all he got out before Jack tagged him on the chin with a right. He grabbed the gun and kicked him in the gut. Whipping the gun across his face knocked him out. Rachel collapsed the staff and handed it to him. "There's fire exit over there," she pointed out. He didn't move. "Why are you helping me? You work for them." "I was in the dark as much as you were. What I knew I told you." "Yeah right." She swore in French. "After all this time have I ever given you any reason not to trust me?" God, he wanted to say yes so bad right then she could probably taste it. But if he had to be honest with himself, there was maybe one thing he could think of, that uh she uttered when he asked her how she found him. But then there were all the apparent arguments she fought on his behalf. Rachel also went out of her way to make him feel like less of a freak. And right now, as much as he hated to admit it, they were in the same boat. He pointed a finger in her face, "Don't make me regret this." Jack tried the door, it wouldn't budge, either stuck or locked. He backed up a few feet and rammed the door open. It lead to a side alleyway. Rachel got out and headed for the sounds of the street. He dumped the gun into a dumpster and followed her. She peeked around the corner. "Your Uncle ever give you any tips about this?" She looked at him, "You think you can make it?", she sounded concerned. "I'm on my sixth wind," was all he said as he checked things out. His bike was still out in front of the building. He pushed her around the corner and headed for it. Rachel was going for her car but he stopped her. "Get on the bike," she didn't argue. Quickly he started the engine and rushed off. There had to place in this city were he could hide out for awhile. He should have listened to his Uncle more when he talked about it. *** "So he got away." Mitchell remained silent, but that mark on his face spoke volumes. Haily and Davidson were a little more resourceful than he thought. A pity things worked out the way they did, that could have been helpful to him in the war against what was left of the rebels. "When will your men return to base?" "They're still securing the Arena, but they should be back within the hour. In the meantime I'll get another team together and track Jack and Rachel down. I'll have someone tell them to get on the case the moment they return." "Let's give them a few more hours before we go after them, shall we." Mitchell wasn't sure what to say. "I'm not sure that's wise, the longer we wait the harder they'll be to find." "I always thought the hunt was a little more interesting if the prey had a slight edge." Mitchell didn't look convinced, but he would follow orders. "It's not like you can't locate Davidson whenever you want." "Rachel could find away to counter act it." "Like I said, it makes things more interesting." Mitchell nodded and left the room. It was a problem he admitted to himself. Haily might know a couple of things that could possibly hurt him, but not by much. Davidson, on the other hand, was basically a loaded weapon in a man who could be feeling like prey and if he thought he had nothing to lose it could get messy. But there was an upside to today’s situation. The rebels were dealt a devastating blow. He doubted they could recover, and that could only help him in the long run. Then his thoughts turned to the late Christopher. He was a rather formidable foe over the years, he felt the need to say something. Anderson looked out the window over looking the city, his city, and sighed. There was only one thing he could say, "Farewell cousin." |
08-22-2012, 02:38 AM | #16 |
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Join Date: May 2012
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<Episode 16>
When nobody heard anything from Christopher his inner circle sent somebody to check out the Arena. Word came an hour later, Christopher was dead. The news spread like wildfire soon after. People were weeping while others were cursing Anderson and the Drakan Killer. Some just wandered around with a blank look on there face or sat in stunned silence. He, on there other hand, didn't know what to feel. On one hand he couldn't stand the wanna be king. But the effect his death had wasn't helpful to the cause. Jason stayed away from the others for that reason. He didn't want to explain himself to the others, no good could come from the situation. The old woman, Emily, walked by where he was standing and looked at him. Then she stopped and studied him a little more closely. After a moment she said, "I thought you would have been pleased at the way things turned out." "Don't try your hocus pocus crap with me old woman. I know better than to think you can see into my soul." She actually chuckled at him. "Nobody needs a special gift to see how you felt about him. They can see it in your eyes how much you despised him." "He obviously didn't know it, did he?", he shot back. "Oh Christopher knew Jason, he knew. In fact he told me he was glad you were around." She smiled as he raised a questioning eyebrow. "He always felt that you and the ones like you kept him honest." She turned to leave, "He always appreciated that, even if he despised the way you did things." "Then why did he send me on those missions then? If he despised them so much he should have found another way." "Because those missions needed your particular skills. And he knew he would have to live with the results. If there was a way for this rebellion to complete it goals without shedding a drop of blood he would have jumped on it in a heartbeat. But like any good student of history he knew that was rarely the case and steeled himself for it." "So as far as he was concerned I was a necessary evil then, is that what you're saying?" "If you wish to put it that way." "So how did he see me then?" "As a poor soul he was condemning to hell." She stopped and turned just enough to give him another look over. "But you were already on you way there, weren't you?" With that she started walking away again. He was not going to let her talk down to him like that. "If you two were so close why aren't you weeping like the others?" Without stopping she said, "We all grieve in our own way. I prefer to be there for those who need me while grieving in private." She turned the corner and left him alone again. He kicked himself for letting her get in his head like that. Jason was going to need a clear head for the next couple of days. The old man informed him that a special council meeting was going to take place soon. Something about choosing a new figure head to rally the troops around or some crap like that. Knowing his luck it would probably be another green. *** The next half hour was a blur, or at least that was how it seemed to her. Rachel was in such a daze she didn't realize Jack stopped in front of their building until he got off the motorcycle. He looked at her and said, "Get to your apartment, grab what you need and meet me back here in fifteen minutes." Actually it sounded more like an order but he went in the building before she could say anything. There wasn't much she could say, they both knew this would be the first place they'd looked for them. The situation still didn't seem real to her. Anderson was a Drakan, and he'd been sending Jack after his own kind. She tried to put it out of her mind as she shoved some essentials into a bag. Part of her was surprised the black and gray motorcycle was still parked out front as she reached the ground floor. Rachel wouldn't have been surprised to see if it was gone. Jack came out a moment later with a backpack over his shoulder, looking around for any sign of trouble. They were on the road in the next instant. She convinced him to head for this overpass in a run down part of the city. Jack wasn't sure about it until she told him the cameras didn't go that far yet. And as far as she knew it was till true. He shot her a disbelieving look back at her but he asked for directions. It was an hour ride before he parked the KR-1000 under the overpass. Jack got off, leaned against the closest pillar and slide to the ground. By the time she kneeled down next to him Jack was already out. She wasn't sure what kind of injuries he had, he could have had a concussion for all she knew. Rachel opened an eyelid, the eye reacted to the light like it should. Where was Friedman when you needed him? Right now she was hoping it was just exhaustion, he must have been running on adrenaline for the past couple of hours. Rachel looked around seeing a market that looked pretty close. She checked her pockets looking to see how much cash she had on her. No way was she trusting a credit card at this point. She looked at Jack and checked out the surrounding area, particularly the overpass. Hopefully there was enough metal in the area to hid them for a bit. She raced over to the market and bought some sandwiches that looked edible. She also picked up some small bags of chips and a couple of cans of soda. Rachel wasn't sure how she was going to explain the aluminum foil without Jack blowing his top. He was still sleeping when she got back so she pulled up a crate and ate her sandwich. Rachel kept some kind of guard, who else was going to at the moment. Jack startled her by gasping loudly as he woke up. She quickly went to his side, "Talk to me." He calmed down and waved her away. Jack just sat there, not really looking at anything. Like she thought his stomach started growling so she handed him the other sandwich. He grunted a thanks and quietly ate. After a few moments Jack crushed the can and threw it. The clang seemed louder than it should have been as it hit another pillar. Jack got to his feet and started pacing. "So what do we do now?" "I don't know," he said as he ran his hands through his hair. Then he walked up to another pillar and kicked it. "He was a Drakan! The bastard was a freaking Drakan the entire time!" Then he turned to her, "Why didn't you tell me?" "I already told you I didn't know." He wasn't listening. "And I'm still not convinced you don't turn into anything." "Well I don't so get over it," she snapped. Oh yeah that was helping things. "Look, we can argue about this later but we got to do something." "So what do you suggest then?" "I don't know, maybe the rebels..." "Oh the rebels," Jack said very sarcastically as he moved around in grand fashion, "Of course they'll help us out, why didn't I think of that? As soon as we explain that I was a pawn in all this they will surely take us in." Then he raised up a finger like he realized something, "No, wait... they're not." He got in her face and yelled, "I killed the big cheese!" "Don't yell at me. I'm not the one who got us in this mess." "So you’re blaming me for this? So this is all my fault for not following orders like a good little bug?" "No!", she had to walk away. This was getting them no where. "We need to think this out why we still have the time." She turned to see he was listening to her. He was staring at the motorcycle. "What is it?" "Can they track the bike?", he asked. "Why?", She wasn't sure were this was going. He couldn't be worried about losing his toy while being in this mess. "It just hit me we'll have better luck not getting caught if we split up. So can they track the bike?" Oh for crying out loud. "I don't think separating is such a good idea right now." "Can they track the bike?", he repeated. "Would you listen to me..." "Yes or no," he interrupted, "can they track the bike?" She let out a heavy breath, "No, they can not track the bike." "See, that wasn't so hard." He got on the motorcycle and started the engine. She tried to get a word in but he revved the engine every time she opened her mouth. Jack looked at her and said, "Good luck," as he put on the helmet. It was no time before she saw him disappear from sight. To the air she said the thing she was trying to tell him, "Because the tracker isn't in the bike." *** OK, we got her," his man said. Mitchell looked through the offered binoculars. Jack just rode off and left her there. "What about Davidson?" "Now that they're separated we can get Jack later. Right now to get her before he hooks backs up with her." He handed the binoculars back to the man and headed for the van. Mitchell pulled the device Anderson gave him out of his pocket. It looked like an oversized remote for a car alarm but it only had the one button. Anderson told him it worked on Jack earlier. He guessed he'd find out later to see if it did or not. Mitchell looked up and saw his reflection in the windshield, he'll have to pay Jack back for that mark on his face later too. *** The light on his intercom went on, his appointments had arrived. Anderson got up and walked around the desk to great them as the door opened. An older man in a dark gray suit came in with a stern looking, balding man in a general's uniform. He held out a hand to both of them as he spoke, "Senator Henning, General Rhodes thank you for coming on such short notice." "This better be good Anderson," Henning said a he took a chair. "I'm missing a... important meeting for this." The General rolled his eyes as he sat. He has the same idea as Anderson about what this "meeting" actually was. Anderson took his chair, might as well get this over with. "We had a slight problem with one of the projects you contacted my company to work on." "Which one," Rhodes asked. "Who cares," Henning told him, "he didn't need to drag us here for something he could have had someone call in to our offices. Which is what this is sounding like." He got up to leave. "It's the Fusion project," Anderson said calmly. Rhodes put a hand on the Senator shoulder to force him to sit back down. "What happened with the project?" "What is this project about exactly?", Henning cut in. Rhodes looked rightfully dumbfounded. "You don't know what it is?", the General asked. "Do you have any idea how many projects cross my desk? I can't keep track of them all." "Quite," This was why he hated working with this particular government official. You could actually look at his record and see where he stopped caring. Why did he keep helping him get re-elected? Keeping his attention on Rhodes he continued, "To put it frankly, our test subject walked out with it." "You just don't walk out with a military prototype, "Henning argued. Anderson just ignored him. "You could with this one and nobody would know it," Rhodes informed him. "Is the test subject stable?" "Physically yes, mentally... that's another story. He apparently became mentally unstable in the past couple of weeks. Seeing monster and thinking we were out to get him, things like that. Unfortunately nobody realized at the time that the person we assigned to watch him was feeding his dementia. They forced their way out of the building this afternoon." "This could hurt us, couldn't it?", Henning asked, finally seeming to get the big picture. "They both know it's a military prototype. That alone could lead to question that none of us want asked." "So what do you want us to do?" "Well General, because of the nature of the project we have our own specially trained security force. They are after them as we speak. But, I'm afraid the project worked a little too well. In case they fail I thought you might be able to assist in the capture." "Don't you have something like the project to help you take it out?", the Senator asked. He couldn't be serious? "There has to be something here to help you take it out. Enough of the black op budget gets funneled into here." Ah, he saw it now, the Senator didn't want anything to get attached to him. "It's not that simple Senator," Rhodes said. "There are other factors involved in this project." Henning opened his mouth to say something but Anderson spoke first. "At the moment we're putting the project on hold until we discovered what caused this. While I firmly believe the problem is solely within the test subject, some of our scientists think it could have been a glitch in the system." "That's one hell of a glitch," Rhodes joked. "Yeah well, you better catch this person or there's going to be Hell to pay." Henning got up and left. Rhodes looked relieved he was gone, a feeling he shared. The mood of the room changed dramatically as Rhodes relaxed. "I got word Christopher was taken care of, so I'm assuming the project wasn't a total loss." "At least Davidson did the job he was made for before this happened. To be honest I should have seen this coming. He always seemed to be suspicious of everything, but I thought I could handle it." "Well we all make mistakes," Rhodes added, "sir. So what do you want me to do in case Mitchell loses him?" Anderson picked up a file and handed it to him. "Plan B as they say. The basic information about Haily and Davidson is in there. I'm sure you know who to hand this to in case you have to?" "I know the perfect person and I already have a cover story. It's a little run of the mill but it'll work." "Good, I'll leave it in your hands then." *** He kept riding until he got tired again. How long was he on the road? He should have took that clock. Jack saw a diner across the way, must be his lucky day. He parked the bike, entered and put the helmet on the counter as he took a stool. He glanced around the place, it looked normal enough. A waitress walked over and handed him a worn menu. She started going over the special when she looked at him. "No offense honey, but you look like hell. Wait, let me guess, I should see the other guy right? If I had a dime every time I saw that." "Lady I'm the other guy they keep talking about." She smiled sadly and poured him a cup of coffee. "We're out of decaf, but it looks like you could use the buzz right now. I'll be back in a few so you can make up you mind." The coffee tasted like mud but he survived worse, so far. God, what a mess he was in. He doubted even his Uncle could talk his way out of a hole this deep. There was no place in the city where he could hide for long. There were so many cameras in this city a fly couldn't fart without them knowing about it. So how do the rebels hide out for so long? What was the name of the guy his Uncle said could help you get out of town? Nick, that was it. He put his face in his hands, his mom was going to kill him for even considering this. Hell, she would kill him for getting into this mess to begin with. Jack heard a sniffing noise and a cold spot started growing in his stomach. No not here, not now. He glanced over to a guy a couple of stools over, a trucker who looked like he hadn't seen the inside of a shower for a while. A big sucker too. The trucker kept sniffing the air turning his head in Jack's direction. Jack put a hand up to cover his face and hoped he wasn't noticed. The man clapped once and made a joyous sound. Taking a chance Jack looked over at him, he was smelling his food. Jack let out the breath he was holding. He forgot about that after what happened. This whole smelling like death crap was going to make hiding that much harder. He smacked his forehead as he remembered something else, "Damn it." By the time the waitress returned and asked, "So did you figure out what you wanted yet?", he had put some money on the counter and was half way out the door. *** Rachel walked for who knows how long. The entire time she was calling Jack every name in the book in any language she could think of. Out of all the things she did for him. Out of all the battles she fought for him in the boardrooms. He had the nerve to go off and leave her alone. She expected it but she didn't think he’d actually do it. She hoped he choked on his idea. There were no crooks in her family, how was she supposed to know what to do in this situation. A few more choice words came to mind. She kicked a can that was in her path, then she saw the van. One similar to the ones she saw at the cave. Rachel turned around and headed the other way. Going back to World Inc. didn't seem like an option. Because she thought Anderson wasn’t going to find her all that trustworthy after what happened. She went a few feet before another van pulled up a few yards in front of her. "Oh no," she went into a side alley and went right into a construction yard. And there was another van that blocked the only exit she could see. Mitchell was leaning against the hood. "Hey Rachel," he said with a wave. "You know Mr. Anderson is really disappointed in you. Gather round boys.” His men can out from behind the van. None of them were carrying any guns. The only good thing in this situation. "The man just wanted to talk." "That's a laugh, a man. Anderson not a man he's one of them." Mitchell talked to his men. “See, I told you she would say Anderson was a Drakan. She tried the same thing with me earlier. I didn't believe it then and you shouldn't believe it now." "You son of a..." "Mr. Anderson was hoping you would come back under you own free will. I told him you wouldn't. Take her into custody boys, do try to be gentle. You know how he hates it what a prisoner gets roughed up." A few men walked toward to her. "It didn't have to be this way Rachel," he said sadly. "Go to Hell." Another quickly growing sound could be heard in the background, another engine. How many men did they need to take her in? Then she saw what was making the noise. Jack came around the van drove right down the middle of them and right at her. Mitchell's team had to jump out of the way to avoid getting run over. He kicked one close to her as he skidded to a stop. Jack ripped off the helmet as he jumped off the KR-1000 and smashed the helmet into the head of another one. Then he dropped the helmet and raised his left arm across his chest. *** "Henshin!" Jack said as he slammed his right hand on top of the belt. It scanned his body and the black body suit and the blue insect like armor formed around him. He survived the situation quickly. Ten men, well nine if you didn't count the one still on the ground, in black uniforms plus Mitchell surrounded him, waiting for somebody to make the first move. He was really sick of being outnumbered today. "All right listen up. I'm tired, I'm irritable and I'm ticked off. Not really a good combination for you guys. So why don't guys just go away and we'll do this some other day." Mitchell walked foreword, "Not going to happen Jack. Do it just like I told you guys." What an idiot. Mitchell and his troops each pulled out a nightstick. "That's the best you got?" Jack brought up his hands and wiggled his fingers, "Look at me I'm scared." Then they turned something on the stick and each one extended an inch and a spark flew out. "OK, that could be a problem." He took a step backwards toward the bike. Two of them came at him as he reached back and grabbed the staff. He swung and snapped one end to extend it to clock one guy in the side if the head. He repeated it to nail the other. Two down, he looked at the others, "Next." "Not one at a time you idiots!", Mitchell yelled at them. The others rushed him. Jack swung the staff and they stopped in their tracks. They looked at each other and came in again. He kicked one in the chest as he came close enough. As that one went flying back another snuck in and jammed the nightstick into his side. He felt the electric charge go through his body. Screaming he grabbed him guy the wrist and pulled the stick away. Grabbing another one he swung them together. They fell to the ground as Jack jumped over them and rammed the staff into a group of them. A couple of them jumped on top of him jamming their sticks into him. His anger got the best of him and he forced them off of him. He threw the staff at Rachel who had to duck to avoid getting hit. "Watch it." "Guard yourself." Someone he recognized from the party ran at him. Jack kneeled down and hooked one arm around a leg while grabbing a handful of uniform with the other. He picked him up and slammed him to the ground. He elbowed another and felt something give. Seeing another stick come at him swatted it away and clothesline him down. Jack turned to see Mitchell right in front of him with a device in his hand. He recognized it, Anderson had the same thing to make the armor go away. "Ah hell." "Let's see how tough you are now," he said as he pressed the button. It made the same sound as before. Jack looked at himself, the armor wasn't reacting this time. "What's with this piece of crap?", Mitchell looked at him with desperation in his eyes. "Well," he said sounding very relieved, "ain't that a kick in the nuts? Actually," he lifted his foot right between the other guys legs, "that not a bad idea." Mitchell went down crying in agony, Jack reached down and picked him up. "You know, I'm surprised you had any." He took the device from his hand and crushed it. Looking at him Jack brought him in quickly so his head would slam against the helmet. Then he ran toward the van and tossed him. Mitchell hit the top of the van at a corner. His back bent at an awkward angle as there was a crack as he screamed and fell to the ground face first. Jack walked over and used his foot to turn him over. He stared down at the man and glanced at the meter. It wasn't close to flashing, so there wasn't any temptation there. Still, it would be so easy to end it right here and now. Jack raised up his right hand and made a fist. Fear danced in Mitchell's eyes. Then he reared back and yelled. Mitchell closed his eyes as Rachel cried out for him stop. He let the fist fly as it crashed into the side of the van near the engine. He felt around until he got a handful of wires and tubing and pulled them out. Throwing it to the ground he looked at the others and held his arms wide, "Who else wants some?" Those who could didn't think twice about running, good he was still feeling the fight he had with the rebels. He powered down and got down on one knee so he could look Mitchell right in the eyes. "You wanna know the biggest difference between you in me? I don't enjoy this in any way." He got up walked to the bike and Rachel. She already collapsed the staff and was putting it back. She walked up to him as he said, “We're getting out of here." "Why did you come back?" He grabbed her jacket and pushed her toward the bike, "Hey!" "Less talking and more moving." They got on the bike and he took a moment to look at Mitchell. "Next time I don't hold back," he muttered and drove off. *** It was hours before he received word. Taylor was telling him the basic of the reports. Most of the team he sent out was in the medical wing. Mitchell was paralyzed for the most part. But he wasn't paying attention, he was watching the television station on the wall monitor, waiting for it. Then the news came on and Rhodes was soon pictured. He put up a hand to silence Taylor as he raised the volume. Rhodes was speaking, "We are looking for these two in a case of espionage. They took some sensitive material and they might sell it to some unfriendly faction. Any help the public can provide will be greatly appreciated." Yes that was old but it would be effective. An anchor appeared next with a picture of Haily and Davidson next to his head, "Authorities say Rachel Haily is five nine with blond hair and green eyes with no identifying marks. Jack Davidson is six two with brown hair and eyes. Most of Davidson body is covered in scars from an accident in the mountains. Davidson is to be considered armed and dangerous and shouldn't be approached. A reward is available for those who provide information leading to their capture." Anderson lowered the volume and smiled. Yes it was true that the hunt was more exciting when your prey had the advantage. But even a hunter had to look past the excitement for the most efficient means of getting the job done. Granted this method would cause more problems and questions that were necessary. But with most of the city looking for them, they had no place to hide. It was only a matter of time before Haily and Davidson were caught and brought back here. |
08-29-2012, 01:16 AM | #17 |
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Join Date: May 2012
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<Episode 17>
The rain outside made a pinging sound as it hit the old storm drain they were hiding in. Jack kept guard near the opening while Rachel sat a little further in. He kept one eye on the look out for any World Inc. troops and the other on her. Not that he thought she would try anything, but because of the way she was acting. Rachel hadn't said anything to him since he pointed this place out. He still didn't understand why she asked if this thing was made of metal. But the sad part was he knew why he was getting the silent treatment now. He didn't really treat her all that gently when he came back for her, and the whole fact he just up and left her. Jack walked over to her and sat across from her. Rachel turned to look further down into the tunnel. "Look, I'm not making any excuses..." "That because you don't have any excuses to make," She said finally. All right he had that one coming. "I know I overreacted... " "Overreacted," she gave out a short laugh, "that's the understatement of the year." That one got on what was left of his nerves a bit. "I'm trying to say I'm sorry here." And that came out sounding a little angrier than he had in mind. He was mentally kicking himself as she finally looked at him. "You're damn right you’re sorry! How could you act like that, after everything I've done for you? First you act like I was in on this the entire time! Then you go off and leave me on my own. And then when you do come back you freaking manhandle me!" He didn't think it was manhandling exactly but he caught those words before they came out of his mouth. One thing he learned in his short life, never correct an angry woman or you'd never hear the end of it. "You're right," was all he could say at the moment. "You're damn right I'm right." Yeah it was going to take awhile to fix this one, if ever. They were quiet for a few more moments. "We should head out in the morning," he said. "Unless there's a power outage because of the rain." "The command center has a back up generator,” she told him. “And the cameras have a solar battery of R&D design that can last around eight hours." There went that idea. "I'm guessing change over time is minimal." "They practice the emergency drill at least once a day so they have it done to a science by now." She reached into the grocery bag she had with her and pulled out a box of aluminum foil. Again with the metal, what the hell? "Before we decide on or go anywhere there's something we need to do first." "I don't care how kinky you are now ain't the time," he said to try to lighten the mood. She didn't look like she found it all that funny. "If you're planning to poach a rat I think I heard some down that way." "I wish you would stay serious...", she started before stopping. "This is the best idea I had for blocking the tracker's signal." "Wait, you said they couldn't track the bike." Slowly she said, "And they can't" He didn't like where this was heading. "Then where is it?" Rachel looked a little apprehensive as she leaned in, reached behind his head and tapped a spot at the base of his skull, "Right about here." He knocked her arm away, "Ah hell no! How long has this piece of crap been in my head?" Rachel found something down the tunnel interesting again, "Since you were first bonded with the Fusion system." "Son of a bitch!", Jack got up and walked away. Anything he felt about treating her the way he did quickly disappeared. Half of him wanted to get on the bike and leave her sorry butt again. That half was starting to sound like it had the right idea. "This is how you found me the other day wasn't it? You should have told me about this thing." "Anderson said it was to be kept under need to know." "I think I needed to know before now!" "I should have told you but I didn't know when." "I know, how about this, ' we can get out over there, oh and by the way....', that sounded like a good time to me." "All right, we both made mistakes here. But this still need to be done. Now turn around and sit down." Not believing he was doing this Jack did as he was told. There was a sound of foil being ripped then she pulled his hood back. "This should fix it so they can't pinpoint our location," she said as she worked. In moments she put the hood over head. As he turned to look at her Jack could hear his hair rub against the foil. "I hate you." "Get over it," Rachel shot back as he got back on his feet. She put the foil back in the bag. "We might be eating those rats before long. I'm hoping somebody in your family knew how to cook over an open fire." "What your Aunt in the bayou never cook a lizard?" Again she didn't find it funny, right know he didn't care. He pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. "We shouldn't be starving anytime soon." She opened it and her eyes went wide in surprise. "Where did you get this?" "Whenever I deposited a check I always kept a couple of thousand of it in cash. Just in case Anderson decided to take everything away after I got the monkey." Rachel slowly went from shocked to angry. Way angrier then she looked before. A moment later he realized why. "Telling you sounded a whole lot better in my head." "You were going to go off and leave me on my own when you had this?". She slapped the envelope into his chest, "You jerk!" "Ok , so I'm one up in the mistake department." This day keeps getting better and better. Thank God it was almost over. "Its going to be a long night, you better get some sleep while I keep watch." "No, I'll keep watch," she said after calming down a bit, "you look like you need the sleep more than I do.” He started to protest but she cut in, "And I will use this foil to gag you if I have too." "Fine," he said as he sat back down. "Wake me up in a few hours to take over." Rachel agreed and took a spot near the opening. He tried to get comfortable, trying to decide which nightmare was worse. The one he was in now or the one he was in when he was asleep. *** Anderson studied the blinking light on the telephone. There was a temptation to "accidentally" lose the call. No that wouldn't work, the man on the other end would just call back and be even more annoying. Humans could be so taxing at times. Taking a moment to calculate the distance of his closest assassin Anderson picked up the receiver, "Good morning Senator, sorry about the delay but there was a report on my desk that needed my full attention." "Is that right," Henning said. "Would today's paper be part of that so called report?" Anderson glanced down at his desk at said paper. Haily and Davidson picture was featured on the front page. "Not particularly. Why do you ask, was there something in there you found interesting?" "Is this your idea of handling it?!", Henning yelled. "I thought the project was classified, why are you announcing it all over the news?" "They were only told about Haily and Davidson." He hated explaining himself to the humans. It was almost as bad as a blue questioning his decision, if not worse. "Nothing of the project was mentioned." "Unless they spill it. God what a mess you put us in." This from a man who was unfamiliar with the project to begin with. It was almost humorous. "We've taken precaution in case the local authorities apprehend them before we do." Which might be the case since they lost Davidson's signal hours ago. Williams had her people going over the system in case it was a glitch. But he thought Mitchell assumption was correct and Haily had found a way to block it. "You know what?", Henning continued, "I don't care. I'm going to launch a full investigation into your company for allowing this to happen." Anderson did laugh out loud this time. "Do you think this is funny Anderson?" It was time to put this human in his place. "I don't think you will be doing that Senator." "Don't think Rhodes will go against me on this." "How did you win reelection last time Senator?", he asked idly He was apparently thrown by the change of subject, "I don't see what this has to do with anything." "Oh yes I remember now, the person projected to beat you by a very wide margin dropped out of the race suddenly. A particularly nasty drug habit I believe." "What are you getting at?" He allowed himself a small smile, "Who do you think found and released that information?" "You...", Henning sputtered. "Not me personally, I have very thorough people working for me. People who will stop at nothing until they find something. No matter how small it may be. Then I also have a group under me who will take that information and spin it into something as large as possible. Although I must admit I love seeing the product of their work after they're done. It's as close to being little masterpieces as one can get." "Are you threatening me Anderson?" "Of course not Senator. All I'm saying is that if any investigation is launched at my company, by anybody, the world will find out how you like to be tied up by your mistress and whipped." "I do not..." "You will after I'm done with you, "he said coolly. “Even I am surprised at how convincing the evidence they create can be. I'm sure your wife, whose is the sole name on the deed to the house and cars you own, will find it convincing as well. So I suggest you be a good little Senator and leave this alone." He hung up before Henning could respond. While it was useful to have same man in charge of the budget committee Henning was becoming a problem. Perhaps it was time to cut ties and support someone else. Taylor walked in a few minutes later going over the report in his hand. Best to get this out of the way now before anything else was discussed. "Contact Rhodes and see who else is in Henning's committee. I want to know everything about them. "Of course sir," Taylor said as he put the report down on his desk. "So what went wrong yesterday?" "During the interviews I discovered two flaws in the assault team plan to capture them." He stood there not saying anything else. Times like this he missed how Allen would get to the point without being asked. He almost thought Taylor felt he was in control of the situation this way. Anderson sighed loudly, just for effect. A small sign to tell him otherwise. "What were they?" "They overestimated their ability to take down Davidson." "That much was obvious Mr. Taylor." "Yes sir," he agreed. "The second was Mitchell use of the system disrupter. He apparently used it after Davidson powered up sir." Anderson suspected as much. He told Mitchell it was designed to disrupt the activation sequence. "Dr. Armstrong says he can have another one ready in no time." He was going to dismiss him but he thought the information over. “I must admit what Mitchell tried intrigues me. Have Armstrong look into it." Taylor nodded in response. He doubted Armstrong would be all that pleased with the request. R&D was already working on several ideas to counter the Fusion system. But depending on the prey, it was nice to have options. ***` That morning had been a rough one. When she woke Jack up for his shift at guard duty he went to run his hand through his hair. Rachel had to remind about the tracker in his head. He grumbled something as he got up took her spot by the opening. She went to sleep rather quickly but it seemed like no time before he was jostling her awake, "What?" "Time to move," he told her. Rachel looked outside, it was daylight. She was expecting crack of dawn, but she was grateful for the couple of extra hours of sleep. But she was also surprised he was still there. "Any idea on what we do now?" "I think I know a place we can hide out for a while, for a couple of days at least. I'm assuming there are cameras located at the ways in and out of the city." She shrugged, "Possibly, I never thought to find out. It never seemed that important." "I think it be better if we played it paranoid and assume they do." "Ok then what do we do?" He looked a little disgusted before he spoke. "My Uncle knew a guy that specialized in getting things and people out of the town without being noticed. I'll try to track him down and see if he could help us. It's gonna cost us a bit though." Rubbing the back of her neck she said, "I can't believe this is sounding like a good idea." She looked at him in disbelief, "And you grew up with this stuff?" "Mom made sure it stayed out of the house as much as possible. But I saw it enough to recognize it when I see it." Now she had to know, "Is that what happened with Anderson? Is that why you didn't trust him?" He sighed, "That was part of it, but I also distrust rich people, so it was kind of a double whammy." He looked outside before speaking again, "We better get going, it's gonna be a tricky couple of days." Jack walked the KR-1000 out of the tunnel and waited until she got on before starting the engine. Almost at once she wished he didn't leave the helmet behind yesterday as she kept a hand on top of the hood to keep it from flying off. After a few miles he pulled into a gas station saying he wanted to be sure he had a full tank, just in case. They stood on either side of the motorcycle not looking at each other. They might have been getting along a bit ago but there was still some animosity there. She looked around to take her minds off thing when she noticed something strange. "Why is everybody looking at us?", she wondered out loud. "Maybe they're wonder how I got stuck with you," he said. "Jackass," she muttered. Then she heard him smack himself, hopefully in the head. Good, she wished she did it first. How much longer was he going to act like this? More importantly how much longer was she going to be stuck with him? After another moment he started tugging on her jacket. "Would you quit it." "You might want to see this," Jack told her. "What is it?, she snapped as she turned to see what was so important. He was pointing to something behind him, looking a little panicked. Rachel wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking at until she saw the newspaper machines. Their pictures were on each and every one of them. She held on to the motorcycle to keep from falling over. She uttered one word in French, "Merde." "My thoughts exactly," he said as he pulled the nozzle out of the gas tank. "People are on their phones, what do we do?" "I say we add stealing gas to whatever they're saying about us." They jumped on the KR-1000 and Jack got them out of there quick. She spotted a police car coming at them from the other direction. Jack saw it before she could point it out and yelled, "Lean with it!", right before taking a hard right into an alley. Rachel held on for dear life as he drove around the things and people in the alley at high speeds. After exiting the alley and almost getting blindsided by a truck Rachel closed her eyes and just leaned in whatever direction it felt like they were going. To think she called him a madman after he first got this thing. Suddenly they came to a stop. She opened an eye, they were in another alley. "Is giving them a chance to block us in that good of an idea?" "Would you rather I've lead them to the place I was telling you about?" "I guess not," Rachel answered as she got off the motorcycle. "I haven't exactly been on the run before, I'm a little new at this." "Not like I have a whole lot of experience at this either," he shot back. Jack closed his eyes and looked like he was trying to calm down. "Besides I figured we could use a moment or two to catch our breath. Well I could any way," he started rubbing his chest, about were Rachel was holding on. "Damn you got a death grip." Rachel smile despite the situation, "I like to stay breathing, what can I say." He returned the smile. "So how far away is this place?" "Not far, a few blocks I think. I'm going to need to see some street signs to know for sure." She really didn't want to know the answer to this thought she just had, but she had to know. "I'm assuming our faces being on the front page of the papers might affect us getting out of town." "Price might get jacked up." She stated getting a headache thinking about all of this. It was hard to believe that yesterday morning their biggest problem was were to sit in the cafeteria. *** She walked the halls trying to avoid the others. But they found her anyway to offer their condolences. Was it possible to get sick of people saying they were sorry for her loss? Melissa was positive she reached that point a long time ago. Besides she had other things on her mind that she wanted to think about. Alone, if that was at all possible. She turned a corner that lead to the outside and ran into Emily and a small blond child. "Is something wrong?" “Nothing to concern yourself about,” Emily told her. "Samantha here needed help looking for her ball. She thought I could help her look for it. How did you put it little one, people said I had a knack for finding things?" "And it was right were she said it was," the girl beamed. Melissa smiled back even though she didn't want to. "That's good, now you better get going before your parents start getting worried." She hugged the ball and ran off. "I wish I was that young again," she said out loud. "I think just about everyone wish they could be today," Emily replied. "You know I have always marveled at the way children can bounce back from most things." "You didn't really use you 'knack' to find that ball did you?" "If I wanted to young one, but sometimes you need to know the right questions to ask." Emily studied her for a moment, "Is there something wrong Melissa?" "I just needed some air." It wasn't a total lie. Not that the woman before her ever believed them to begin with. "I wouldn't, it's going to rain soon." Melissa gave her a quizzical look. "My shoulder always aches when it's about to rain. And my shoulder is never wrong," she gave her a sly smile. "So what is wrong?" "The special council meeting that's coming up. Part of me is afraid they're going to pick me." "Oh,” she replied with mild surprise, “why would you think that? Did you get a feeling off one of them?" "Chris warned me once that if anything happened to him then I'd be put in charge in order to gain sympathy." "Warned?", it was strange to see her looking uncertain. "I'm not sure I understand." "I'd just be a figure head, very little actual power, if any. Not that I want to be put in that position, but I don't want to be used like that either. But I'm not a leader either, not like Chris was." Emily put a hand on her shoulder. "No offense child, but Christopher wasn't that leader either, at least not at first. He slowly grew into the role. Him being right more than he was wrong helped his confidence a lot during those early times, and helped the other gain confidence in him." She sat down on a nearby barrel. "It's just too bad that aura of that role grew faster than he did into it." "I noticed, there were times I had to force him to step back for a few moments here and there. There are times I think the position would have killed him sooner or later." The old woman nodded, "If Christopher had one failing is that he thought he had to live up to his own legend. If the Killer didn't kill him something else would have. If you are granted that position make sure you learn from his mistake. I don't think I can stand losing the two of you." “I don't think either have much to worry about. I mean what are the odds that would really happen?" Emily grunted before she got up and walked off saying nothing more. Melissa hated it when she did that. It meant she knew or 'saw' something and wasn't letting on what it was. *** Waiting until it started getting dark and with the hood as far over his head as it would go Jack checked out the street. The first thing he noticed was that they were closer to the hideout than he thought. They should probably head there as soon as he got back. They cops haven't found them yet and that alley felt a little too open for his taste. With that out of the way he started out to search for a newsstand. More than likely not the smartest move he could make at the moment, but he had to know what they were saying about him and Rachel. Besides he could use a good piece of fiction right now. He found a machine quickly enough and bought one. Reading it on the way back he tried to keep his reaction to minimum, trying to avoid attracting any attention. When he finally got back to Rachel he told her, "They said I'm crazy." Then he noticed the three guys in black leather who had her surrounded. One had his hand around covering her mouth. "Why me?", he muttered. "Let her go," he said to them hoping he sounded a bit convincing. The skinny one with the beard and a chain around his neck said, "He's smells like Drakan blood too." Jack looked up and held his arms wide, "Seriously why me?" The one with a scar over his right eye, who had Rachel up against the wall, pointed at the paper in his hands. "I told ya she looked familiar. These punks are the one they’re looking for." Those two started counting the money from the look of it. The third, a fat bald guy with a dragon tattoo on his head just stared at him "Smell the death on this one boys, I'd betcha this chump the Drakan Killer." The other two started looking scared. In fact scar let go of Rachel. Now if only the third one looked that way. "Imagine the respect when the red and greens found out us blues took him out." "Rather have the money," scar said. "They say anything about him being dead or alive? Either way we turn her in for the reward and word gets out that we took out the Killer." The dragon tattoo stated and his gut looked like it was getting bigger as he changed into a blue hippo. "Remind me to keep something to prove I did it. And make sure she don't go any where" Jack dropped the paper as he raised his left arm up across his chest. The belt appeared and he swung it to the side and raised his right arm. "Henshin!", he slammed his right hand on top of the belt and the armor covered him. Jack ran in and planted his foot in the Drakan stomach. It bent over and backed up, then it looked at him and smiled. "Ah crap," he said as he ducked a right cross and punched it between the eyes. The Drakan put its hands up to cover its face, Jack came in and it kicked its leg out. He got hit in the chest and flew back. The hippo put his hands down and smiled at him again. "I thought you were supposed to be tough chump." It looked at the others, who stayed in their human form. "You could take this guy Tony", it said to the bearded one, who gave it the finger. Jack got to his feet and ran at the Drakan again. The hippo patted its stomach, daring him to do it again. But he jumped and flipped over the Drakan and kicked it in the back as he landed. It stumbled foreword and tried to turn around. Jack hit a right cross of his own that kept it staggering. He tried punching it down but the hippo would only go down to a knee. Backing up a bit he kicked it in the head. As its head snapped around it's leg swung out catching him by surprise and behind the knees. He landed on his back and tried to get up before the hippo did, no such luck. It dragged him up by the arm and slammed him into the wall. Then it slammed him face first in the other wall. The hippo repeated the move a few more times before letting him drop. The Drakan wiped something off his mouth, "Tougher than I thought you'd be. Tony!", it yelled while holding out a hand. The bearded guy threw the chain at the hippo. Jack rolled out of the way as an end of it was whipped at him. He was forced to roll a few more times before he could get up to a knee. He got an arm up and the chain wrapped around his forearm. The hippo started to pull it but he moved first, hitting a quick jump kick under its chin. He glanced at the bike, thinking about getting the staff. That moment gave the Drakan the chance to clock him in the back of head. Jack lashed back with a backhand that luckily found its jaw. That gave him time to get rid of the stars he was seeing. Now if only that damn ringing would go away. Jack turned and snapped its head back with and uppercut. Then he saw scar pull out a knife and take a step toward Rachel. The hippo saw that he was distracted and wrapped the chain around his neck and pulled it tight. Jack grabbed at the chain but it kept getting tighter. The Drakan kicked him behind the knee to force him down. It was getting harder and harder to breath, despite little protection the body suit gave him. The meter started flashing, he hoped he wasn’t imagining it as he twisted the right pod down. The mini turbines started spinning as he reached behind his head and grabbed the chain. Jack tried to pull the chain open while the hippo pulled it tighter. It seemed like forever but the chain finally snapped. Not even thinking twice he kicked his right foot back. The foot hit its stomach and the hippo flew back into some garbage cans and exploded. Jack grabbed a length of the chain that was left and slowly got to his feet. He looked at the other two and waved them on. They looked at each other, turned and ran out of there. He dropped back to his knees and held his neck. "Bout time that Killer crap started working for me." Jack hit the belt again to power down the system and looked at Rachel," They do anything to you?" It took a few moments but she said, "They found me right before you got back." He was surprised he felt relived that she was all right. It not like he shouldn't be feeling nothing, but still. But that was too close this time, no doubt about it. "We better get out of here in case they have friends nearby, or decide to call the cops." *** Anderson walked the hall of the medical section with Taylor and Armstrong in tow. The head of R&D talked the entire way while he listened. When they arrived at the door he was heading for he looked at him, "Are you what you are saying is even possible?" Armstrong looked a little hurt, "Have I ever told you anything that wasn't?" "Excuse my doubts Dr. Armstrong, but it was six months before you said Davidson was ready." "I know, but we also had to rebuild his left arm and both of his legs from what was left after his accident. Granted spine injuries are always a little tricky, but I'm comfortable we can get it done in a fraction of the time. This is the Mark 2 I'm talking about here sir. It's one of the improvements we've made from Jack's design." "I'll need to think it over," he told them. "Stay out here, I wish to talk to him in private." He had already made up his mind by the time he entered the room. Mitchell was there in the darkened laying in the bed. He glanced at him briefly before returning his gaze to the ceiling. Anderson had the sudden urge to say don't get up. Obviously Davidson influence, he'll be glad when it was gone. Anderson walked up to the bed and clasped his hands behind his back. "Mitchell, I have a proposition for you." |
09-07-2012, 12:58 AM | #18 |
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<Episode 18>
"We got a slight problem," Jack said as soon as he saw Rachel. He was surprised to see her outside the warehouse they were hiding out at. Well, it wasn't much of a warehouse, it hasn't been used for as long as he could remember. He only knew about because his Uncle would hide out here every so often, usually after a hot "job". He was surprised that when his Uncle showed it too him it had a couple of escape routes built in, one were his bike was quietly resting. That amazed him when his Uncle showed him the place when he was younger. He couldn't blame Rachel for standing outside though. They both had been cooped up in the place for the last two days. Actually he wasn't to sure how much longer they could stay there and not get caught. Rachel, who was having her own doubts about the place, sighed and started rubbing her forehead, "Do I even want to know?" "Nick won't help." "I knew I didn't want to know," she started rubbing with both hands now. "And why won't he help? "Well, seeing how we're not only wanted by the police but the Army and the US government we are officially too hot to handle. He said he was doing me a favor by forgetting he saw me." He went to rub the back of his head but stopped, he was suddenly worried about moving the hood and foil. So he started scratching the beard that was growing instead. He really, really hated having to think about stuff like this now. "Not to mention World Inc., the rebels and any Drakan not involved in this conflict we come across. I'm assuming you didn't tell him about that part.” "What sane person would believe it without proof? Guess I could have powered up." Then he added when it looked like she was going to say something, "I'm joking." "I don't see how you can." She looked at the night sky before asking, "You sure we can trust him to keep his word?" "Out of all the guys my Uncle hung around with he was the one I trusted the most. Hell, I think I trusted him more than my own Uncle." "I'm sorry, but I have to meet this Uncle of yours one of these days." "Well if we're caught maybe we'll be lucky enough to get sent to the same prison. I'll make the introductions." She tried not to smile, but there was a small one playing on her lips. Things were still messed up between them but they were getting better. But he doubted things would be the way they were before this crap started. "We better get back and figure out what we're going to do now." She nodded as they walked off. A sound caught their attention, somebody seeing him on the street was the first thought racing through his head. But it wasn't, two guys had apparently grabbed a woman off the streets. His guts were twisting on the inside, he wanted to help but.... Jack was trying to force himself to turn around and try to live with it, hope... pray this wasn't added to the nightmare. Then he got a good look at the woman, forgot everything he was just thinking and ran at them. "Let her go!", he shouted and threw a right hook as the closest one turned around, not holding anything back. The first guy spun completely around before falling to the ground. The second guy let the woman go and tried to run. "No you don't you son of a bitch!", he grabbed him and threw him further into the alley. Jack waved him on, the guy tried to run past him. He caught the bastard and threw him into a wall. Holding him to the wall with his left hand Jack stated wailing away with his right, again holding nothing back. A one sixty two fastball finally made him stop. Jack looked at the guys face, his nose was bent to one side among other things, and let him drop. He grabbed some newspaper and tried wiping the blood off the glove and made sure the hood was still in place. The last thing he needed was to give Anderson a clear signal from this damn chip in his head. He caught the woman trying to look at him out of the corner of his eye. He turned away and deepened his voice, "Get out of here." "What... who...," she sputtered. This was tearing him up inside. "Get out of here!", he snapped. God he hated talking to her that way. "But I wanted...," Jack didn't stay to listen, he just walked off praying she wouldn't follow. He saw Rachel looking at him dumbfounded. This was going to be a tough on to explain. "Wait," the woman said, "that's the girl they're looking for." He could feel her staring at the back of his head. Please not here, not like this. "Jack?", she put a hand on his shoulder and said a little more urgently, "Jack?" He just looked straight ahead. Lie to her you moron, he told himself. Don't get her involved in this. Uncle Pete already screwed her life up as it is. Tell her Jack who. I don't know what you're talking about. Yell at her to go away. Break her heart damn it, something to get her away from here. Tears started to form in his eyes as she reached for his chin to make him face her. Jack grabbed the hand and felt it trembling. He closed his eyes, he couldn't to this, not to her. He finally looked at her and she put a hand to her mouth, looking like she just saw a ghost. God why was it so hard to speak. "Hey Mom." *** Was he trying to drive her crazy? All right she could see trying to help the poor woman. But going ballistic like that and then letting her get a good look at him. What in the hell was he thinking? Jack looked at her then said something to the woman. Whoever this woman was nodded, said something to him and headed back toward the street. Jack put his hands in his pockets and walked toward her. "Are you trying to get us caught?", she asked but he kept on walking. "I'm talking to you." "I'll explain it later." "How about you explain it now? How could you take a stupid risk like that?" "Stupid risk?" He turned to her and snapped, "Fine when it's your mother getting dragged into an alley I'll just keep on walking!" "Wait... what?" "That was my Mom Rachel, what was I supposed to do?" "Your Mom," she was dumbstruck as he turned around. "But Mr. Anderson said his people couldn't find her." Jack stopped in his tracks, turning just enough to look at her. "Ok, now we gotta talk." *** The hour was getting late and quite a few of his personnel had already left for the evening. There was some paperwork on his desk that needed his signature that he was taking his time with. A rival CEO in his city had invited him to a banquet to support whatever needy cause was trendy this month. He should probably finish this up and go. Anderson had already blown off the last two he was invited to and he had to keep up appearances. Even if being in a room with that many humans made him nauseous. The way these inferior being pretended to be superior to everything else. Davidson had no idea of the favor he did for him by making his armor blue, not that he would ever understand it. A knock at his door caught his attention and Taylor walked in. Well it would distract him from the papers on his desk for a few moments. At the very least it would allow him to be fashionably late for the banquet. "What is it Mr. Taylor?" "I realize it's late sir but Dr. Armstrong called me last minute. The hand scanners are ready for field use." Anderson just nodded in response. The scanners were designed to pick up Davidson tracking signal at relatively close range by using a tighter and stronger beam. He made a mental note to have some attached to the cameras on the outside. A more cost effective way of searching for them other than having several of his men out there on foot. "He says the maximum range is about twenty feet." "Hmm, I was hoping for a greater range but that will have to do for now. Is there anything else?" "Yes sir there is," he said as he put some folders on his desk. "Like you asked I talked to Mitchell and we narrowed the candidates for the task force leadership, temporarily of course, down to three. All we need is you final approval." "Fine I'll look these over in the morning," he picked one up and skimmed through it. He wanted Mitchell's personal opinion on these men before promoting any of them. Not that he didn't trust Taylor’s opinion on the matter, but Mitchell did train these men. It better be early in the morning, Mitchell was scheduled to go into the mark two program soon. "We wouldn't have to do this if Mitchell selected a new second in command," Taylor commented. Anderson said nothing for a moment. They lost the previous second in the same conflict that delivered Davidson to them. He suspected that Mitchell held the fact Davidson survived and was bonded to the Fusion system over his own men against him. "Perhaps," Anderson told him, "but few had the experience and qualifications he did. If he was in better shape when they found him I might have considered him for the program." "Hmm," his VP uttered. "Can I ask you something that has been bothering me?" Anderson leaned back in his chair and told him to continue. "Why did you pick Davidson for the Fusion program? I've gone over the reports of the incident and the medical resources I have access to and I can't figure it out. Several of our men where qualified for the program. So what made him so special?" "To be honest with you, I don't really know. And I have asked myself that same question every so often since the decision was made. We had several men in the program's prep stage. Several men who were very loyal and very dedicated I might add. But when I saw Davidson's mangled form floating there in that tube next to the others, something told me he was the one to green light. I very rarely listen to my gut, as they say, but when I do it is rarely wrong. And up until recently he did not disappoint." "And you never thought this would happen?" "I knew it was in the realm of possibilities. I also know we can handle the situation." He turned his chair around and looked out the window at the night skyline. "I just wish I had the foresight to green light another one at the time." As he sat there an idea came to him. There were a few still in the mark one prep stage. Surly one of them could be used. The person wouldn't even have to beat Davidson, just keep him busy and dispose of the occasional rebel until Mitchell was ready. "Mr. Taylor," he swung his chair back around, "have someone bring me the files on those who survived the incident. I want the information no later than two tomorrow." Instead of complying Taylor looked confused. "Is there something in that order you did not understand?" "Excuse me sir, but you only green lighted Davidson?" "I believe that is what I said." "Then why was I recently handed a file on another one green lighted into the program at about the same time." "Another one?", Anderson went back in his memories to when he gave the order. He personally gave the word on the spot, he pointed right at Davidson. There was no way another could have been green lighted without his say so. Allen, it had to be him. His files indicated he had everything to take over the company but not this. A back up plan perhaps, in case something went wrong or not fast enough. Perhaps something to personally take him out, that would be his style. Still somebody else had to know about this if Taylor was given a case file. "Is Armstrong still in the building?" "I believe so." "Get him up here. And bring me that file." He wanted answers and he wanted them now. Looks like he was missing that banquet after all. *** Rachel sat on one of the cots they found while Jack took in what she just told him. "You told him to look for my Mom?", Jack demanded. Oh yeah, he was reacting just like she thought he would. "I asked him to look her so you could talk to her," she explained. She was halfway expecting him to cut her off at some point. "I was trying to make things a little easier for you. But like I said Anderson kept telling me they couldn't find any info on her." "I'm pretty sure they did," he sat in a folding chair by the ratty old card table that was set up. "That first assignment they sent me on, the safe house and the elephant. The same one with the trap that damn monkey set for me. That was in my Mom's old neighborhood." "Please tell me you’re kidding." "I know it's more than likely some weird coincidence, but it always seemed a bit strange to me." "Jack I didn't think...", she was at a lose for words, "I mean I never believed..." She couldn't believe she handed Anderson a string to control Jack like a puppet with. "I know it's not your fault," he said. Too bad she knew him well enough to know that a small part probably did. "We were both getting jerked around,” he gave her a sly grin, “and not in the good way either." She got the implied meaning, "Did you have to go to the gutter for that one?" "Yes I did," he answered matter of factly. "Why for God sakes?" "I'm a guy." Before she could say anything a knock at the door made her jump. It was strange though, two knock, then four and the three. Jack got up and went to the door and knocked once then three times then he put a hand on the doorknob. She quickly figured out who was on the other side, "You didn't tell her where to find us?" "Yell at me later," he muttered before opening the door. For some reason he looked down and said, "Oh no, Rufus," before backing up and letting his mother in. Rachel got a better look at her now, she had the same dark hair Jack did but her eyes were blue. She came in with a pet Taxi that she quietly put on the table. Jack just stared at the case as he closed the door. Nobody said anything for a while before he said, "Really want to make sure it's me don't you? "I can't think of a better test," she said as she open the taxi and a brown tabby cat walked out surveying the area. It saw Rachel as she check it out and started rubbing against her arm. She scratched it behind the ear and it started purring up a storm. Jack's Mom looked at him and said, "Well?" He sighed, "Make sure the cat doesn't runaway." He walked up slowly and held out a hand to pet it. The cat saw him and started hissing and swiped at him with its claws. Jack backed up, looked at him Mom and asked, "Happy now?" Rachel tried to calm the cat down, "What did you do to this cat?" "I told you animals don't like me." "I don't believe that, you had to do something otherwise it wouldn't be acting like this." "I didn't do anything to the damn cat!", he snapped. "Gah if you only knew how tired I am of saying that." Then his Mom took him into her arms, "My baby's alive." OK now she was officially confused. "Rufus had hated him from the moment they set eyes on each other." She turned back to Jack and reached for the hood, "Let me get a good look at you." He quickly put both hands on top of his heads to keep the hood firmly in place. "Trust me that's not a good idea." "What do you mean...,” she got a good look inside the hood, “is that foil in there? Jack what's going on?" "It's long story Mom." "Oh trust me I got time. First I have a guy in a suit over a year ago telling me you're dead. Then I turn on the news a few days ago and find out you're wanted by the government." "It's a really long story," he amended. "All this time and you couldn't let me know you were alive?", she smacked him on the arm. "I wanted to, do you have any idea how many times I drove by the house? And what was I suppose to do? Walk up to the door and say ‘Hey, guess what’ ?" "It would have been better than finding out the way I did." "I know, but things were... complicated." "Does it involve little miss thing over here?", she jerked a thumb in her direction. "Excuse me," Rachel crossed her, "miss thing?" Jack got between them. "She's not the enemy Mom." "Jack I can talk for myself,” Rachel told him. "Yeah, but you never argued against her before." His mom crossed her arms, "And what is that suppose to mean exactly?" Jack opened his mouth and saw the look on her face. He put his hands up and silently sat in a chair. "Whatever, I'm just glad my boys alive," she put a hand on his shoulder and he put one of his on top of it. To her she said, "I'm sorry honey, I'm still a little shocked about this whole thing." "It's all right Mrs. Davidson." "Call me Helen, all of Jacks friends do. I am assuming the two of you are friends." "I like to think we were before the current situation," she told her. "Right now we're just kinda stuck with each other," Jack added. Rachel was about to comment on that, all right go off on him, when he said, "I didn't mean it like that." Quickly changing the subject he turned to his mother. "I know I should be keeping a low profile these days, but when I saw those two drag you into the alley...", he couldn't finish the thought. "Hey, I gotta pay the bill somehow." Rachel's eyes went wide as Jack groaned. She saw her discomfort and told her, "Honey, I'm joking." It took her a moment to get out, "Well I see where you get your sense of humor." "He should have taken more after me than he did his Uncle. What did you steal that got everybody in the country looking for you?" "I didn't steal anything," Jack told her. Then he started rubbing his left arm, "Not that I had an option either way. It's the main reason I talking to you right now." "Jack was in an accident, that much was true," Rachel took over, Jack looked a little uncomfortable explaining this. "He was fitted with an experimental life support system. I was his... uh... his case worker." It was close enough to the truth at any point. "Case worker huh?", she wasn't sure if Helen believed her or not. She smacked Jack lightly on the arm, "So what happened, you miss a couple of payments?" "That part is...," he searched for the right word, "complicated." "So I hear," she told him. They both looked at each other and started from the beginning. Not everything of course, they both left the Drakan and rebels out of it, just the basic of the situation. Although Jack did say he did some things he wasn't exactly proud of. Helen took it all in quietly. Well, she did until Jack told her about his plan to split up and what happened afterwards. Then she went right into Mother mode. "You were going to leave this poor girl on her own when you had all that money?" She then proceeded to slap him on the back of the head. "Ow!", Jack grabbed his head. "I raised you better than that." "Yes Mom." She slapped him in the back of the head again. "And don't use that tone of voice with me young man." After a moment she did it a third time. Despite all the crap he put her threw lately Rachel tried not to enjoy the sight all that much. "What was that one for?" "For thinking what you were thinking." "That your the best Mom in the world?", he said right before getting out of range. She put her hand to her face. "Sometimes I wonder who he takes after more me or Petey." "Petey was his Uncle right?" Rachel wondered out loud. "He told you about him huh?” she sighed. “Petey moved in with us after I lost Ken in a car crash. Jack was only three months old when it happened. I try to stop myself from thinking about the type of man Jack could have been if he was around, and I wouldn't trade who he is now for anything in the world. Although there are times I swear Ken possessed Jack because sometimes they act almost exactly alike." "I don't want to sound like I'm second guessing or anything, but considering his 'night job'," Rachel felt weird asking this after that, "was he really the best person to bring in to help?" Helen chuckled a bit. “You would not believe how many times I asked myself that. And I told myself the same thing again and again, if you can't count on family who can you count on? Besides I've been handling my brother for years so he wasn't going to be a problem. The people he hung around with on the other hand," she went quiet for a bit. "It felt like an uphill battle on both sides at times, but I got us threw it." Helen put Rufus back into the taxi, glanced at Jack then turned to her. She gave her that same sly grin that Jack sported more times than she cared to remember and said, "So... how has my boy been behaving himself?" *** Mom stayed for a couple of hour, mostly telling some embarrassing stories about him. Naturally Rachel told a few more currents ones. Naturally he spoke only when spoken to. Not out of respect, because if he complained about any of it Mom had some really embarrassing stories she was sitting on. And Rachel was going to hard enough to be around as it was. He was surprised at how well they appeared to be getting along now. At one point he went to get the make shift storeroom they had to get something to eat and came back they looked at him and stifled a laugh, both of them. He made a mental note not to tick her off anytime soon. The night ended with his Mom saying she would try to see him again as soon as she could. He wasn't expecting it to be that morning with her pounding on the door. His concern quickly turned to worry as he let her in. "What wrong Mom?" "You and Rachel have to get out of here. The police are coming, somebody saw you and followed you here last night." Once again he was asking why me? "I'm gonna kill Nick." "Nick was the one who told me, he was hoping I knew how to warn you." He turned to Rachel who was already packing her things. Jack did the same while grabbing some cans of food. She caught a couple he threw at her asking, "Any idea when they'll be here?" The sound of sirens was followed by several cars screeching to a halt in front of the building. His Uncle did say they were always around when you didn't want them. "Answers that question," Jack and his mom both said. He went to a wall and slide part of it back, revealing one of those hidden passages and the bike. Turning around he looked right at his mom. "This just got a bit more complicated," he mumbled. No way he was going to leave her here. He pulled the envelope of money out of his pocket and put it in the backpack. Handing it to here he said, "You two take the bike I'll go another way." "Jack now is not the time to split up," Rachel argued. "Listen to her," his mom added. "We don't have time for a debate, go! I'll meet you in the back alley by Arnold." He pushed them toward the bike. As they got on Rachel gave her a slightly worried look. "She taught me how to drive these things so you'll be in good hands." "What are you talking about, you’re better at driving these things than I am." Rachel uttered an, "Oh God," as he closed the panel. He heard the bike's engine start up and fad away as he backed away from the door. There was another way out on the opposite wall and he could have made it if he already didn't make up his mind a few minutes ago. By the time the S.W.A.T. team busted in he was on his knees with his hands on top of his head. Jack was told to lie on his stomach by one of them as the others checked the warehouse. He hoped this bought them some time as they concentrated on him. "All clear," S.W.A.T. number two said as his hand were cuffed behind his back and he was raised to his feet. "Where's the other one you were with?" "What other one?", he said as emotionless as possible. "Smart guy huh?" S.W.A.T. number one said as he pulled the hood off his head. And now Anderson had a good idea where he was. Number one saw the foil and pulled it out. "Hey looky here boys. Trying to keep the mothership from finding you?" He just bit his tongue to keep quiet. "Jack Davidson you are under arrest for theft of government property and treason. You have the right to remain silent...," he began as he was dragged out the door. He was surprised there wasn't a media blitz too as he was escorted to a nearby van. He was placed in and a guard joined him. As they drove off two things bugged him, one his guard wasn't really guarding him all that closely. Two, he knew he saw this guy before. Ten minutes in the guard pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. "We got him, prepare to switch vehicles in a few minutes." He closed the phone and gave him a big grin, "Bossman is gonna love seeing you again." Now things were clicking together. "You're one of Anderson goons," That's were he saw him, he was one of the jackasses from the party. "Then I'm not gonna regret this later." The van turned sharply catching the guard off guard as Jack jumped at him. His shoulder rammed into the guards chest then he snapped his head up catching the guard under the chin. He went down and a quick kick kept him down, hopefully for long enough. Jack got the cuffs under than in front of him like his Uncle showed him and searched the guard for a key and found one. Nobody in front seemed to noticed and he briefly wondered if they had one of those devices Anderson used on him to keep the armor from appearing. Only one way to find out. Kneeling down on top of the fallen "cop" he raised his left arm across his chest to make the belt appear. Swinging the arm to the side he brought up his right arm, "Henshin!", and brought his right hand down. A bit later the van stopped in front of a waiting unmarked van. One of the guards went back and opened the door. He was surprised to be staring into the red eyes of a blue metal insect crouching by the opening. Jack waved at him slightly before jumping at him and knocked him out without much trouble. He spotted a third guard taking to a guy dressed like a Men in Black reject. The third one charged but Jack grabbed him by the neck before he could react. Looking at MIB he said, "Don't think I'll regret this one either." Jack spun the guard around and tossed him at the other one. MIB caught him with no effort and threw him into the wall. "I don't believe this. Does he got pictures on you guys or something? Is that why you’re working for him?" "Cute human," MIB said as he put his sunglasses in his pocket as horn grew from his head and he turned into a red goat. "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't see a human standing," Jack said before he charged the Drakan. *** Rachel held on as Helen drove down a back street. The ride wasn't as bad as Jack's when he was pushing the engine but it was close. "What's that?", Helen pointed to something. As they got closer she could see it was a S.W.A.T. van sitting there and several officers laying on the ground knocked out. Jack was not dumb enough to power up the system and take them out, was he? Helen stopped the KR-1000 where it was and made her get off. "What are you doing?" Personally she didn't want to be this close to the police as it was, unconscious or not. "Jack might be hurt," she said as she got off and looked around the area. "Maybe it was this Anderson guy you told me about got them." She was trying not to think of that but it was possible. Then they noticed the big hole in a wooden fence. More than possible. About then something blue and black flew over the fence and landed a few yards in front of them. She knew who it was but Helen was going, "Oh my God!" "Oy." Jack got to his feet and looked at them, "Get her out of here!" His mom recognized his voice, "Jack?" A red Drakan, looked like a goat, calmly walked threw the hole. Jack got out of the way as it tried to ram it with it’s horns. The Drakan grabbed the punch Jack aimed at his head. He went to a knee yelling in pain as it twisted the arm. Rachel went to the motorcycle and activated the lasers hidden by the headlight. It recoiled in pain as it was truck by the beams and came toward them. Jack grabbed it from behind around the waist and threw it back. He started punching and kicking it while he had the opening. At one point he grabbed it by the scruff of hair under its’ chin and planted a fist right between it's eyes then spun around and kicked it back. His hand went for the right pod but he hesitated and looked back at them. She knew what he was thinking and looked around. The building to their left looked abandoned. "Jack that door by you! The door!" He saw it and nodded. Jack reached the goat as it was getting up and punched it where the laser burned its’ flesh. The Drakan bent over in pain as he grab and threw it head first into the door. Jack twisted the pod up and went in. She grabbed Helen by the arm and pulled her back, "You'll be safer back her, hopefully." "What is going on?" An explosion came from the building that got her attention. "What in the hell?" After a few moments Jack came out in his street clothes. It took a few more moments but he finally looked in there direction. "Helen...," Rachel tried to explain what happened before she cut her off. "Complicated doesn't even begin to describe what I just saw." |
09-20-2012, 11:11 PM | #19 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 486
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<Episode 19>
"Complicated doesn't even begin to describe what I just saw," Jack mom told her. Rachel wasn't exactly sure were to start explaining what they left out from the previous night. Jack slowly walked up, holding the back of his head. His exposed head she realized. He showed her the inside of the hood to confirm what she was thinking. "Good thing I kept the foil in my bag," she muttered as she started rummaging through it. "It’s not exactly Arnold's," he said as he looked around, "but it's better than nothing." She looked around too. God only knew how fast Anderson would get another team mobilized. Helen just stared at her son, who was trying not to look too uncomfortable from her gaze. "They turned you into a...," she struggled, looking for the right word. "What was the name of that stupid show Richie made you watch? Kamen Rider, that was it." "I try not to think about it that much," he told her. "And what are you exactly in all of this?", Helen asked her. "I'm pretty sure you're not a case worker so don't try to tell me that again." Rachel found the box of foil before she answered, "I'm... I was his mission operator." "Mission operator?", she paced the alley. "And you sent him after those things?" "We sent him after one side," she offered. "And what in the hell does that mean?" "Mom it's.... ,"Jack started. Helen pinched the bridge of her nose and held up the other hand. "So help me if you say complicated I will beat both of you right here and right now." Rachel leaned over toward back and whispered, "She really wouldn't do it, would she?" "How do you think she kept my uncle and his friends in line," he answered. Rachel gave in to an urge to take a step back. "Not gonna help you," he said with a grin. Then he saw the look on his mom face and the grin disappeared as he took a couple of steps back of his own. "I'm done." "Too bad I know better," she sighed. "Can you at least tell me why you're walking around with foil in that hood now?" "There's a tracking chip in my head. According to Rachel it blocks the signal." Helen took the foil from her hands. "Give me that jacket. I'll fix the hood while you two tell me what's going on." "That's all right," Jack said quickly. "I'll just sit in front of you, we really don't have the time to argue about this. "Then give me the jacket," she said firmly and held out a hand. Jack hesitated but he took the jacket off. Her eyes went wide as she saw the scars on his arms. She shot an accusing look toward her but said nothing. Helen sat down on the back bumper of the van and pulled out a length of the foil. "You better start at the beginning." Jack sat inside the van in an attempt to block the signal as they told her everything else. The details of Jack's accident. The Drakan, Anderson and the rebels were a little harder to explain. Fortunately seeing the one Jack fought help things a bit. Helen quietly listened to all of it as she lined the hood and soon handed it back to Jack. As he put it on the guard on the inside started to stir. Jack knocked him back out with a quick punch, "Nighty night." "Assaulting a police officer isn't going to help your situation," his mom scolded. He jumped out of the van while double checking the hood saying, "That's not a cop. He's one of the guys working for Anderson that we were telling you about." "Does he," she pointed toward the 'officer' , "turn into anything then?" "I don't think he would have went down that easy if he was one of them." "And the... Drakan you threw in that building? The explosion I heard?" Jack looked at the ground. She couldn't even look her in the eyes. Helen looked very sad as she said, "You did say there were some things you weren't proud of." She hugged her son. "I'm sorry Mom," he said quietly. "I didn't want to get you involved in this." She pulled back slightly saying, "Don't be sorry. You're my boy, you can drag me into just about any mess you get yourself into." He smiled at the comment. "So, how's your food situation?" "I think we got enough to last us few days," Rachel told her. Helen nodded. "Do you remember that lot a couple of blocks down?", she asked Jack. "I'll meet you there in a half hour with some more food for you." "Mom, you don't have to do that." "And," she went on like he never said anything, "if I don't see you there in a half hour I will track you down myself. We both know you don't want that." "I'll be there," he said. Helen patted him on the arm and went off. Jack looked at the unconscious men around the area. A sour look crossed his face. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" "About your Mom?" He nodded, "I'm afraid so." *** As they sat waiting in the lot Jack tried not to let the queasy feeling in his stomach take him over. How in the hell was he suppose to ask his Mom what Rachel and him had talked about. Rachel put a supportive hand on his shoulder as they saw her come up. This was going to suck. He got to his feet and gave her a quick hug, "You're late." She slapped him on the side of the arm, "Watch it young man." She reached into one the bags she had and pulled out two black motorcycle helmets. "I swung by the house to pick these up. I didn't see any at the warehouse when I was there. So I figured you could use them" To Rachel she said, "They belong to Ken and me, years ago. It almost seems like forever at this point. Oh I also thought you might want this too." She handed him a picture. Jack had to bite his lip to make sure he still felt anything. It was a picture himself and Richie, taken about a month before that damn accident. "Thanks Mom," he put the photo in a pocket on the front of his jacket. Trying to hide what he was feeling he patted the helmet in his hands. "I don't know why you're giving us these. You know my head harder than this thing." "And that's why I have to keep telling you things over and over," she smiled at him and he returned it. Now if only he felt like smiling at the moment. His mom looked at him funny, she knew what he was feeling, he had no doubt about that. He always had a hard time hiding things from her. She moved a couple of stray hairs out of his face. "It's all right Jack." She handed him the other bag she was carrying. "This should last you a couple of weeks. I'm not sure about Rachel but I know you can be a bottomless pit at times." "Hey I've seen Rachel eat, she can pack it away." He ducked the empty pop can that was thrown at him, "It was worth it." "Was he always like this?", Rachel asked her. "Unfortunately, but like I told you I wouldn't have him any other way." She hugged him again, “I better get home. I know it's kinda dangerous for you but try to let me know how you're doing, huh." He grabbed her by the arm to stop her. "Yeah, about that." This was sooo gonna suck. "What is it?" "Well, thanks to some stuff I just recently found out," his eyes glanced over to Rachel, "you might be in trouble." "What Jack is trying to say is," Rachel spoke up, "Anderson knows about you. We both think there's a good chance he might use you to get to Jack." "No offense honey but that boss of your sounds like a real bastard." "He's a Drakan who sent me after his own kind. Trust me Mom that doesn't even begin to describe him." "No argument there," Rachel agreed. "So what am I suppose to do then?", his mom wondered. "That machine of yours isn't exactly built for three." If this plan didn't make her knock him out nothing would. "You have to get out of town. It's the only way they can't get to you." "And how am I suppose to do that without a ton of questions?", she demanded. He looked over to Rachel who just shrugged her shoulders, "This part of the plan was your idea." "Thanks a lot." Jack looked at the ground to set himself before facing her again. "You're gonna have to go to Nick." She backed up and held up her hands, "You did not just say that." "I know this sounds crazy but it's the only way." "The only way he says," she said to the sky. "I've heard enough from my brother to know Nick doesn't relocate people for free. And I'm sure as hell not taking any of that money you have on you." "I know, I know but listen to me I thought this out." She shook her head but she was listening. "Go to Nick and tell him that I'm calling in the Ashley incident back from ninety-nine. He'll know what I'm talking about and it'll get you to any city in the country." "Do I want to know the story behind this Ashley thing?" "Better if you didn't." "This is what I get for letting Pete in the house," she mumbled. "Then I guess this is good bye then." "I guess," his voice cracked slightly. He knew this was going to be hard, but nothing like this. To Rachel surprise his mom went over to hug her. "Take care of my boy, you hear? I just got him back." "I will," she promised. "And if he gives you any trouble just slap him in back of the head. That always worked for me." "I'll remember that Helen," she replied with a laugh. Then she hugged him and neither of them wanted to let go. "Jack I just want you to know, no matter what you've done, no matter what you do or what you think you have to do, I'll love you no matter what." "I love you too Mom." "I know baby, I know." She kissed him on the cheek, "Take care of yourself, for my sake at least," and walked away. A few steps away she turned and said, "You better have told that poor girl thank you." As she continued on Jack promised himself he was going to find her again, no matter what. Right now he just had another reason to be pissed at Anderson. Rachel came over while he was wiping a tear from his eye. "Are you going to be all right?" "Yeah," he lied. Taking a few moments to get himself under control he asked, “What did she mean I better have thanked you?" "I'm assuming," Rachel said, "she meant when I saved your bacon from that Drakan." "I should thank you for that? You nearly fried my bacon with those lasers." "Oh quit your bitching," she told him. Then she added, "Chipmunk." He knew he was going to regret the two of them talking last night. "If your mom's a gabber you better pray to God I never meet her." *** He spent a few minutes that morning to visit Mitchell and offer a few encouraging word before he went into the Mark Two program. Despite being only human he proved his worth in Anderson's eyes several times over. Mitchell should be very happy with the rank he favored him with. That afternoon he cleared his schedule and with Taylor, Armstrong and Perez, the new assault team temporary commander, drove to a dock on the edge of town Allen apparently owned. Anderson sat quietly in the limo, fortunately none of his fellow passengers were in a talking mood either. Taylor was doing something on his PDA. Armstrong was still engrossed in the other Mark One's file, he was just as surprised as anybody to learn about its existence. Allen was far more resourceful than anybody gave him credit for. Perez sat there by himself fuming, an hour after he accepted the job they received word they had captured Davidson only to lose him again. Not the best way to start a new position. Anderson himself should have been madder about the situation than what he was. Part of him was particularly pleased with Davidson performance, and that it once again proved he made the right choice. Although he doubted any of his companions would share his point of view. The building they arrived at was unassuming at first glance. Perez gestured to the men getting out of the car behind them to survey the area. Perez himself doubled checked the clip in the gun before returning it to its holster. Anderson gave an amused look toward Taylor, tying to impress the boss on the first day. They approached the building and a door opened. Perez got in front of them as a man in his fifties and wearing a lab coat walked out. He asked had a metal flask halfway to his lips before he noticed them. "Oh bloody hell," he muttered with a bit of an accent as he quickly tried to hide the flask. Anderson recognized him almost immediately, "Dr. Parker? I was under the impression you left the company some time ago." "I don't know what you're talking about," he grumbled as he came forward. "I've been here over a year an a half on that special assignment you gave me." He put a hand on the balding spot on his head, "Starting to think Allen forgot about my assigned exile. Hey," he looked at the group, "were is the esteemed Mr. Allen? He usually comes here to scream at the top of his lungs at how slow things are going." "Mr. Allen is no longer with the company." "Explains why I haven't seen him in months. What happened?" Anderson looked him dead in the eyes, "He went against me." "Ah," Parker said while he looked at the group. He looked like he was going to try to run. "Couldn't happen to a nicer fellow, if you get my drift." "Relax Dr. Parker, we're here to see the test subject." "Finally come to check out what I'm doing here." He shot a look at Armstrong, "Or have you come to see to see how to do it right? If I heard the rumor mill correctly that is." "There's a reason why I'm the one still in the main lab Parker," Armstrong said with an annoyed look on his face. "So says the man who needs help." "Just remember who's in charge of Research and Development." "Only because you’re a gre..." "Mr. Perez," Anderson quickly interrupted their “discussion”, "we'll be inside the building if we need you." Perez nodded while shooting a warning look to the scientist. Mitchell was one of the few humans who knew what they really were and he was in no rush to expand that number. When they were alone he said, "Dr. Parker, I assure you your rank had nothing to do with who was made head of..." "The hell it didn't!", Parker exploded. "I stood by and swallowed every IQ test you could come up with that was shoved down my throat. Because who could ever believe a red could be more than just muscles. And the results were the same every time, I'm smarter than anybody you got under that roof of yours. Hell, I make this twit look like Forest freakin' Gump. But heaven forbid if a green should ever take an order from a red." "Sounds like the rebel rhetoric to me," Armstrong said. Anderson had to admit he had a point. "They probably appreciate me a bit more than you lot do." He pulled out a pack of cigarettes out of his coat and lit one up. "Come on then, the guinea pig is this way." "Is it wise to be smoking around the test subject and the equipment?", Taylor asked. "Probably not," Parker admitted between puffs. "Not exactly the most optimums of conditions to begin with." The inside of the building was the exact opposite of R&D. The room was barely lit, small and outside of themselves deserted. A familiar tube of blue liquid was in the center of the room. They all could see a man floating inside of it. Anderson checked out the rest of the room. An operating table was pushed against a wall, a still bloody sheet was on top of it. There were various charts of the human body. Graphs and things written on several chalkboards filled the room. Parker sat on the edge of a very cluttered desk and gestured toward the tube. "Well there he is, Fusion mark one." "Where is the rest of your staff Dr. Parker?", Anderson asked not looking at him but at the person in the tube. He recognized this one from that night. Definitely in better shape now than he was back then. "You’ve already seen him." "You did all that surgery by yourself?" "Even I'm not that daft," Parker sounded insulted. "Allen was able to sneak in some of your precious R&D boys and girl when I needed them. "Who?", Armstrong demanded. "Wouldn't you like to know," Parker answered with a devilish grin. Armstrong started to say something but held his tongue. Instead he put his briefcase on the table, pulled out a red folder marked "confidential" and slapped it on the desk. "Since you’ve been out of the loop you obviously don't know about the improvements we made to the system." "Yes," Anderson added, "we come a long way since the program started." Parker took the file and leafed through it. "So there is another Fusion already out there," he muttered. A few moments later he put the file down and crossed his arms. "Impressive." "I'm glad you think so," Armstrong said, but his tone said otherwise. "I think you'll agree we can implements these upgrades in a matter of weeks." "No need," the man said suddenly, "I already put them in." "Wha... ," Taylor sputtered, "how... ?" "I believe Mr. Taylor is trying to ask how you accomplished these improvements and when?", Anderson said for him. "It wasn't that hard to figure out," he finally flicked some of the ash off the end of the cigarette and letting it drop to the floor. "Hell, any half wit could see it. I put them into this bloke a few month after I got him." Armstrong was at a loss for words. People under him already knew about the upgrades he came up with before Davidson run in with Allen. Anderson made a mental note not to go near R&D until the fire died down. Still, he might as well get to the point of why they came. "So when will the subject be ready Dr. Parker? Since you are so far ahead of the curve and all." "Not anytime soon. The bloke was barely alive in that oversized fish tank when I got my hands on him. The boy was a mess, it's a miracle he survived this long. Especially in this mess, seeing how I'm all alone and all that." "Consider that changed Dr. Parker." Armstrong clasps his hands behind his back. Starting today you will have a proper staff to order around." Armstrong looked betrayed but he didn't personally care if he was or not. "I just have one condition." Parker expression soured and he muttered, "Knew it was too good to be true. So what's this condition?" "According to the file this one's armor is still the default gray. I liked that changed to blue." Parker raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?" "Do we have a deal Dr. Parker?" "I'd be stupid to say no then, wouldn't I?" *** This was the moment she had been dreading for the past week. She was asked to come to the "war" room as some called it. Chris hated that name, but he recognized the need for it. Melissa stood outside the door for a few moments. The faint scent of Drakan blood came from the room. Thanks to Anderson's assassin she was marked with that scent too. Her scent would have joined with her bodyguard's if it wasn't for the Drakan Killer. Melissa's thoughts darkened, if it wasn’t for the Drakan Killer she wouldn't be in this situation to begin with. Setting her resolve she opened the door. The other cell leaders looked at her, faces betraying nothing. Their emotions on the other hand was a different story. For a brief moment she felt several flashes of pride, disgust and annoyance. The biggest source of the latter came from Jason standing in the corner over there. His eyes narrowed as she looked at him. She never did trust that one, and she never saw what her brother saw in him either. There was an empty chair, Chris's chair she had no doubt about that. Reluctantly she took the chair. "Melissa," one of the older men said, he name wasn't coming to her at the moment, "Thank you for joining us." She didn't know what to say so she just nodded. He understood her discomfort and got to the point. "The council has decided, unanimously," he looked at a couple of the others like he was daring them to say something, "that you should be the one who should take over for Christopher." Well there it was and she hasn't imploded yet. "I'll try to fill the post to the best of my abilities." He was satisfied with her reply. How in the hell was she suppose to fill the position that belonged to her brother? Fortunately this particular meeting was kept rather short. They basically they updated each other what their cell had been doing over the past week. She guessed they didn't want to bore the new figure head with details, how very kind of them. After about an hour everyone started to leave. "Lance," a blond headed man her and her brother knew for years turned and came her way. There was nobody in that room she trusted more than him. "What is it Melissa?", he asked, his voice filled with concern. "You might have guessed Chris told some of the things that went on in here. I'm embarrassed to say I never really paid that much attention, I'd figured this wouldn't be happening." She took a deep breath before continuing, "I was hoping you would get me up to speed on things." Lance gave her a warm smile and sat in the chair next to her, "Of course. You might want to get comfortable this going to take awhile." "I didn't think it wasn't." *** Emily sat in her darken room and cleared her thoughts. A feeling that was rattling her bones told her something major was going to happen. If she was lucky the fates would give her a hint on what that was. She felt like she moved so she opened her eyes. The setting surprised her slightly, the Arena. Emily realized what she was seeing, Christopher's encounter with the Drakan Killer. There was the Drakan made of metal that she warned him about so long ago standing at one part of the arena. At the other was Christopher and one of his bodyguards. Silently she watched as the Killer pole vaulted over the group of Drakan that Melissa had sent to protect her brother. She watched as the Killer jumped up and aimed its’ right foot at him. She could not turn away as Christopher tossed his bodyguard to the side and took the blow. The Killer turned and ran as Christopher flew back and exploded. It broke through and leaped toward a staff that was lying on the ground and turned ready for another attack. The other surrounded Christopher's body and heralded him to the afterlife. Emily studied the Killer. Strong feeling were coming from him, almost like a floodgate suddenly broke inside him. Confusion, hurt, sadness and surprisingly enough guilt. It ... he turned to leave then they came in. The troopers dressed in black surrounded the upper level of the Arena and open fired. Ignoring the massacre around her she studied the Killer. Those feelings that was coming from him disappeared, replaced by different ones. Betrayal, anger...hate, pure hatred came from him in waves. He was as sickened by this event as she was. He ran up the stairs and grabbed the closest trooper. Something was said and the Killer looked back into the Arena as another wave of anger and hate came from him. He took it out on several of the troopers as he made his way out again. Emily closed her eyes as she felt herself move again. This wasn't what she was expecting but it gave her some insight into the Killer now and it gave her much to think about. She opened her eyes again, but realized she wasn't in her room. Well she was and she wasn't. It was her room, she recognized everything in here. But it wasn't because she was looking at herself and a young man she had never seen before. Emily knelt down to get a good look at him. He had brown hair and a light complexion. His brown eyes barely had the spark of life in them, like something dark and evil slowly took it from him. She looked at the rest of him, gym shoes, a black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Nothing at all that made him stand out, well except those scars covering his arms. A light of realization hit her. This was the real face of the Drakan Killer. He was in the same room as her. She looked at herself, she didn't look afraid. In fact she almost looked concerned for the young man. But why was he here, this event never happened. But she wasn't seeing something from the past was she? Fate always did throw you a curve ball when you looked for answers. But when was this going to happen? Emily opened her eyes again and was alone. She tried to absorb what fate decided showed her. Emily knew she had an idea about what was going to happen. And nobody, particularly Melissa was going to be happy about it. *** Jack should have woken up Rachel a few hours ago to take over for guard duty. But if he had to be honest with himself he didn't want to fall asleep. From finding out about Anderson and the adrenaline of being on the run for the first couple of days the nightmare went away. Then they came back right after in full force. Of course his waking hours weren't much better. Like before he started seeing the Drakan he killed. Right now he watched as the red rabbit, Molly that's what Max said her name was, walk up and sit right in front of him. All she did was stare at him, just stare. Jack closed his eyes and muttered, "You're not there," over and over again. When he opened them she was gone. Wiping the sweat off his forehead he pulled the picture out of his pocket for the hundredth time. There they were, smiling like a couple of idiots holding two fingers behind the other ones head. For the hundredth time he felt his heart sink faster than he thought was humanly possible. That man was his best friend, they do just about anything for each other no questions asked. But after all this time, ever since he woke up in that room at World Inc., he never found out were Richie was buried. God, what kind a friend was he? Was that why Richie always held him down in the nightmare? A pair of headlight that stopped in front of the tunnel they were hiding in broke through his self pity and got his attention. Jack put the picture back and got to his feet with Rachel waking up from the lights, "What the hell?" A man with gray hair wearing coverall and a ball cap stood in front of the lights. He looked at them and then at a paper in his hands. "You're the ones I'm looking for all right. Of course I could smell that before I even looked at this." Great another Drakan. Jack started to put his left arm up. "Whoa!," he shouted putting up both hands. "Down boy, heel! I didn't come to fight." Jack kept his arm part of the way up just in case as Rachel came up behind him. “Who are you," she demanded, "and what do you want?" "Name's Dustin," he raised his ball cap slightly, "but folks tend to call me Dusty. And right now, I'm the closest thing in the world you two got for a friend." |
09-26-2012, 11:27 PM | #20 |
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 486
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<Episode 20>
Jack stood there as the old guy claimed he was there only friend they had in the world. He glanced back at Rachel who was just as confused as he was. Still keeping his left arm part of the way up he asked, "Why should we believe you?" The other man just gave him a ragged grin, "Do you think y'all have another option?" Wiggling the fingers on his left hand slightly he answered, "I'm pretty sure I can make one if I have too." Dusty coughed out a laugh, "Bet you could too, and in record time I'd bet. But like I said I didn't come to fight I just come to help you guys out." "How did you know where to find us?", Rachel demanded. "It wasn't easy I'll tell you what." Dusty waved an arm wide, "Do you have any idea how many places there are to hide in this city? Well... I guess you two would have a good idea. The guy who asked me to find the two of you owes me a ton of gas money though." Jack lowered his arm, but not by much, "Somebody asked you to find us? So you're not our only friend in the world." That was one lie he caught him in "If you want to get technical, but I'm here and he ain't. That got to count for something." "Who asked you to find us?", Rachel asked him. Dusty looked hesitant to answer. "Let's just say he's a mutual acquaintance and leave it at that. Be trouble for him if the wrong people found out about this huge favor he asked me to do." "I don't trust him," Jack mumbled. "I agree," she replied, "but right now any port in the storm is a good one." He looked at her in disbelief, "You can't be serious." "Like he said we don't have a whole lot of options right now." To Dusty she said, "What do you want us to do?" He pointed to the light behind him, "Y'all can hop in the truck and I'll take you to where you can be safe." "I think," Rachel countered, "we'll follow you on our motorcycle." He mouthed the word 'our' but she ignored him. "Jack isn't in the mood to give it up just yet." The older guy scratched the side of his head, "You do realize Anderson has his boys on the look out for that ride of yours?" "We'll chance it," Rachel told him. "Suit yourself," Dusty walked to the driver side door and opened it. "How do I know you two won't ditch me when I ain't looking?" "How do we know you're not leading us into a trap?", he shot back. "A bit paranoid ain't ya. Then again who could blame ya." He got behind the wheel of the truck and waited while Jack pulled his bike out of the tunnel and they got on. Dusty backed his truck up a bit and they got a good look at the rust bucket of a truck he was driving. He shouted out the passenger window, "Now don't out run ol' Bessie with that fancy cycle of yours." Jack looked back at her, "You got us following a guy who named his Sanford and Son truck 'Bessie'." "Would you feel better if he named it Mertle?", she told him. "Besides if he can find us so can World Inc. . If he's offering us a safe harbor we can at least listen to him. It not like you can't handle it if things go wrong." He strapped on the helmet saying, "Why do I keep listening to you? You're not even my boss anymore." He started the engine and followed 'Bessie' down the road. *** Dusty lead them to what looked liked an old car junkyard. Maybe not exactly old, there were a few newer model among the old. She could tell some of them were missing things like doors or a hood as they passed them. Jack tensed up as the truck they were following stopped in front of a beat up old shack. Dusty got out saying, "Home sweet home. Come on in, can I fix you guys some coffee? Maybe grab you a beer if you want?" "I ain't thirsty," Jack said plainly. "I never drink coffee this late," Rachel added. Dusty snorted in response. She didn't know if he was insulted or not. They followed him into the shack. Both of them looked around in surprised, things were way different on the inside. While the outside looked old and almost abandoned the interior was well kept and pristine. Outside from the various boxes and clothes on the floor that is. "Interesting," she ended up saying. "I get that a lot," Dusty replied while sitting in an old easy chair. "Keep telling myself I'm going to fix up the outside." He chuckled, “Of course I've been telling myself that for the last twenty years. Relax and make yourself at home." They both sat on a couch that was close to the door. "Take that coat of your off boy and stay awhile." "I'm fine," he said. "Friedman already told me about that thing in your head. I took the proper precautions so don't worry." "Friedman?!", they both exclaimed. Rachel asked, "How do you know Dr. Friedman?" "And why you telling us now?"," Jack added. "We went to the same medical school." He reached over and poured himself a cup of coffee. "That's when he found out what a Drakan was actually. We both got a bit drunk and I got a little too relaxed. I'll tell you, explaining that sobered us up real quick." He smiled from the memory. "As for why now, this is the only place I was sure we won't be overheard." "You said you took precaution?", Rachel was curious. "What are you talking about?" "I got a signal jammer set up in the house," he said casually as he took a sip. "Got some more around here that I need to get in place so you can walk around without that stuff around your head." He motioned for Jack to remove the hood. Reluctantly he did so, then he started scratching the back of his head for a couple of moments. Dusty chuckled again, "Bet that felt pretty good." "You have no idea." Jack looked like he had a thought, "Are these jammers portable?" The older man looked thoughtful, "Well I guess, if I could hook up the right kind of battery. I imagine so." "Then hook me up man." "You might want to rethink that after you see it." He pulled a shirt off of something near him. It was the size of an old portable TV. It had what looked like a small TV antenna on the top of it. Over all it was about a foot and a half tall. Jack looked at it saying, "That's gonna be a little noticeable. You got anything smaller?" "This is the small one." Jack looked a little dismayed. "This has got a range of about twenty five, thirty feet so you should be all right in the house." "We're did you get this?" Rachel asked. "I built it," Dusty said with a little pride. "I may be a doctor by trade but I need something to do between patients. Besides I always had a bit of a knack with this stuff so it wasn't much of a problem." "How many more of these do you have?" Rachel said while finding herself looking out the window. She wasn't sure about Jack but she was expecting World Inc. task force to bust in. Rachel felt a little better when she caught Jack doing the same thing. "About four or five,” he answered, "I still got to test a couple of them to make sure they work. I already have some spots marked out on the grounds. That should give you some room to stretch your legs. I know about being cooped up all to well. In the morning you can give me a hand if you want." "Dude why is that thing so big? I seen people talk on cell phone that are about the size of credit cards." "I got to work with what I got," he replied. "If I had the right parts I could make these things the size of a remote if I wanted too. Besides this one's a special build." "I'm almost afraid to ask...,"Jack started. Dusty picked up remote and turned on the television. "Don't want anything to mess with my shows," he said with a smirk. "Hey, cool Gunsmoke." "A man with taste." "You two are going to get along great," she remarked to Jack. "So you’re a doctor and you can make things like that signal jammer?" Dusty nodded, "Can you take things apart, or maybe deactivate some things?" Jack looked at her tapping the back of his head, getting the idea. "I suppose." Dusty rubbed his chin, "What did you have in mind?" "The tracking chip in Jack's head." "Don't ask for anything small do ya? Huh, gonna have to see if Friedman can get me the plans. Don't want to go poking around in there with out a road map, so to speak. Also gonna have to see if I can get the right equipment for the job. I can do a lot of things here, that ain't one of them." Jack eye narrowed, "How exactly?" "I got my connections." "World Inc. ...." Dusty leaned foreword, looking serious for the first time, "Boy, I don't deal with that particular devil." "So you’re with the rebels then," Rachel said. "Not exactly," he told her. "When they have someone too sick or injured that can't take care of they come to me. And sometimes to return the favor they let me have or borrow some things I need. That's about as involved in this mess that I get. But to do what you ask, it's gonna take me a few days to get everything set up." "We're not going anywhere." "There she goes talking for me again," Jack mumbled. She elbowed him in the side. "I'll start making the calls in the morning. Right now I'm betting you two want to get some rest." He pointed down a hallway, "The bedrooms are that way. Bathroom is that door at the end of the hall. Room on the right is mine. You two can figure out how you're gonna share the one on the left." "I got dibs," Jack said quickly. She elbowed his side even harder this time, "What was that for?" She just looked at him, eyebrow slightly raised. "Don't you give that look." After a few moments he looked away, "All right, I got dibs on the coach." Dusty chuckled as he finished his coffee and went to bed. "I'm going to bed too," she said. Rachel got to the door than got in, "Enjoy the couch." *** Anderson walked along the walls of the Command Center watching the others inside. Williams was going over some kind of read out in her hands. She was trying to things ready for the other Fusion operative. Maybe more, but there was no need to think that far ahead. Unlike with Davidson, however, they had to a shorter amount of time to prepare. "Mr. Anderson," she called out. "Yes Miss. Williams," he said as he walked toward her. "Are you sure about this?", he was expecting this to come up sooner or later. Perhaps it was better to get this out of the way know. "Having another person you know virtually nothing about I mean." "And you think I should know better after Mr. Davidson?" "More or less," he had to admire her, she wasn't backing down. "This person could turn out worse then Jack in any case you could come up with." "A valid concern Miss. Williams. We have taken the proper measures in case something similar with Davidson happens this time around, just in case. I prefer to think of this one as a practice until Mitchell becomes active, maybe that will help you too." Williams nodded and took another read out from an assistant. Anderson excused himself and left the Center to let her work. Granted he was trying to placate her concerns, but even he had to admit that Dr. Parker came up with a rather ingenious solution to the potential problem. Armstrong, of course, wasn't all that enamored with the idea. Parker was more than happy to rub in the fact he thought of something the other man didn't. Strange how he never saw the, let's call it competition, between the two. Then again he was never down in R&D unless he had to be. Anderson reached inside his jacket, pulled out a cell phone and stopped by a row of windows. There were two rings on the other end before he heard, "This is Taylor." He sent Taylor out to talk to several candidates for mission operator. Not for Mitchell, but for the recently discovered Fusion subject. This time he wouldn't make the mistake of hiring somebody so... human this time around. "How are the interviews going?" "As well as can be expected," his VP sounded tired. "But I'm pleased to say it looks like we have at least two potential candidates." "Excellent. What were their reactions to the nature of the assignment?" "Some what cautious sir. The Drakan Killer legend isn't exactly a well liked tale among our circle." That was one way of putting it. Some Drakan he had overheard went into graphic detail on how they would handle the Killer "I expected as much. How many did you tell this to?" "Chen and Douglas, the two I was talking about. If I had to be honest, I'd say Chen was our best option out of the two." "What makes you say that?" "Douglas's brother has rumored ties to the rebels, too much of a security risk. I almost didn't interview him because of it." "That doesn't mean Chen is clean," he stated. "He could just be better at hiding his affiliation. Arrange meetings for both of them next week. Separately of course. I want to talk to them personally to feel them out. In the mean time we should tell Perez to have some of his people watch them just in case." "I believe Perez already has a couple of men watching them as we speak." The past few weeks have been full of surprises. "How did he manage that?" "He tagged along sir. Perez wanted to personally check out these men himself. Something about making sure we didn't have another Haily to go along with potentially another Davidson." "That seems to be a common fear going around," he quipped. "Sir?" "Nothing important Mr. Taylor. Have Perez report to me when you get back." Anderson ended the call and returned the phone back inside his jacket. He admired Perez initiative for joining in on the interviews and assigned men to monitor a potential leak. But part of him thought it was best to remind him that he was only temporarily in charge. Anderson knew he was more than qualified for the position, but he trusted Mitchell like no other. He chuckled to himself as he realized he trusted that human more then most Drakan he knew. Very high praise from him for someone he considered a lower species. *** On her second official day on the "job" she finally understood why Chris spent so much of his limited free time in the gym. It was after hours and most of the others were asleep, except for a few guards roaming the halls. So no one saw her pound away at the beat up punching bag hanging from the ceiling. Melissa wasn't really worried about her technique. At the moment she was picturing the faces of those who were annoying her to no end. It didn't really matter who was picturing in her mind's eye. Those two jackasses on the council. Anderson and his circle. Those under her who can't seem to go to the bathroom without her say so. She pounded the bag even harder when she pictured the face of the Drakan Killer. Melissa stopped and leaned on the bag. Thanks to the Lance and council she learned the Killer's real name, Jack Davidson. That was good news to her. That meant it was human, it wasn't some kind of demon from Hell. If the Killer was just human then how did it apparently kill her brother, his guards and the ones she sent to protect him? What kind of human could do that? She mentally kicked herself, that was the legend about the Killer talking. She seen him in action and Jack Davidson was definitely no demon. He was more than human, that much was certain. Melissa muttered, "What did you do to him Anderson?" "Talking to your cousin again?", Emily voice surprised her. "Christopher did the same thing down here from time to time. Although he was usually hitting that thing using words I won't repeat." "I've had a hard time still thinking of him as family lately." Emily just nodded as she took a seat on a near by bench. "So what have you been trying to tell me for the past two days?" The older woman was surprisingly quiet. "I don't need a special gift to see something eating at you." She sat next to her, "So what's up?" "I had a vision," was all she said. Melissa wasn't sure if she should be worried or not. She never had to drag what the vision was out of her before. "And...?" "It was about the Drakan Killer," she said softly. "He was here in my vision." "The Killer finds out where we are?" She found herself going over the various escape routes and plans in her head. "How did he...?" "He wasn't attacking us," she said. "I was talking to him." "Are you sure you where talking to him here?", she pointed at the ground to empathize her point. "You know I can't leave the habitat, not without the proper precaution. No, I was talking to the Killer in my room. It looked like I was guiding him in something." That was a lot to take in all at once. Then Emily hit Melissa with her next statement. "I can only think of one answer as to way he was, or will be here." She had to stop this line of thinking right now, "Emily please don't ask me to do that." "I can't think of another way to explain it," she said calmly. Melissa got off the bench and walked away. "Do you have any idea what kind of trouble that's going to cause? The cells have been splintering since Chris's death. That would pull them apart even further." "And I wouldn't have told you of this if it wasn't important child. My vision are rarely wrong, you know this." "And they're also open to interpretation," she snapped back. Emily was taken aback. "You never doubted me before," she said, hurt evident in her voice. Melissa forced her self to ignore it. "And I never had this many people relaying on me before. I can't make a decision like that on blind faith, not any more." Emily looked very stoic as she stood. "The decision, as always, is yours. But I do ask you to think about it a little longer. As leader you have to weigh every option presented to you equally." She left her alone. Melissa screamed and pounded the bag in frustration before she left the room. *** It took a few minutes for Rachel to remember where she was. As often as she woke up somewhere different lately she should be used to it by now. Apparently, judging by the clock, Jack and Dusty decided to let her sleep in that morning. Grabbing a fresh set of clothes from her bag she headed for the bathroom and took a shower that felt way too good. After she got dressed she found breakfast was already on the table. Apparently they decided to not wait for her. So she ate quickly and went to find them. It didn't take that long actually. They were a few yards away from the house placing another one of those jammers Dusty put together. She quicken her pace so she could lend a hand. Dusty knelt down and flipped a few switches. After a few moments he said, "It's working." At those words Jacked pulled the hood back and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "You ain't getting tired on me already are you son?" "I have foil wrapped around my head. Do you have any idea how hot it gets under here?" He looked over to her, "looked who finally decided to get up." She ignored him and talked to Dusty, "Thanks for breakfast." Dusty checked out a few more things on the jammer, "Don't thank me thank Jack over here. Best flapjacks I ever had." "You can cook?", she said in disbelief. "You never told me that." "You never asked." "Son, that joke older than I am," Dusty commented while he arranged some junk to hide the jammer. "Wait, I know your Uncle taught you, right?" Jack snorted, "My Uncle can burn water." Dusty whistled as he got up. "Now that's a bad cook. Come on we got a few more of these to set up." "Anything I can do to help?", she asked. "You wanna lift these things for a change?", Jack said while pointing at the remaining jammers. "Sorry, but I already had things figured out before I found you guys. Even put up a couple of warning markers so he wouldn't go out of bounds on accident." "He just needed a mule," Jack said dryly as he put the hood back over his head. "Say, you don't turn into a..." "Son," he cut him off, "I'm only gonna tell you this once. Never ask a Drakan what his true form is. Height of rudeness don't ya know." "Don't you know any better," she put in. Jack just shot her a look. Oh there was no way she could let that pass. "So, how was the couch?" "Lumpy," he sounded irritated, "very lumpy." "You know," Dusty said suddenly, "if you two want to share that bed in the guest room go right ahead, it ain't gonna bother me none. All I ask is that y'all keep it kinda quiet so this old man can get some sleep." Rachel and Jack both froze in place. They looked at each other briefly than looked away just as quick. Jack took a jammer saying, "The couch is kinda comfy actually." "I think I'll double check those markers," she said at the same time while leaving rather quickly. Dusty looked at both of them, "Was it something I said?" *** Jack sat on the hood of an old Chevy just inside the jammer range. But he still had the hood on just case. He wanted to be alone with his demons for the moment. Mainly he wanted to be alone, he was also trying to avoid Rachel. It was easy enough to do the lot Dusty owned was pretty big. Outside of Dusty's Drakan medical practice he also ran this auto part yard to pay the bills. So he could lose himself for awhile if he wanted to, and forget that the red bull walked with him for awhile. Of course it helped that Rachel was trying to avoid him too. Or at least he thought she was until she came into view, "Hi." "Hey." They were quiet for a few moments. "Look Rachel..." "Jack we...,"she started. They both laughed that they spoke at the same time. He patted the hood next to him and she hopped on. "About what Dusty said." "Yeah, I know." "Look, I wanted you to know that I care about you as a friend." She stopped and looked at him, "We are still friend right." "Yeah, we are," he didn't even have to think twice in answering that one. "I care about you too, as a friend. That's way I'm staying on the couch." He wasn't sure but she looked relieved. "I don't what some of these old people are thinking, two people our age can't just be friends. Something has to be going between them." "Exactly," she agreed readily. "I wouldn't be surprised if your mom thought the same thing." "But she was smart enough not to say anything. Although that would explain a couple of the looks she gave you." She shoved him than smiled, he had to smile back. For a brief moment things felt like they were before everything went south. He didn't realized how much he missed that. Then a scream of pain filled the air. Jack and Rachel ran to try to find the source and quickly discovered it. A red kangaroo was fighting a blue bobcat. The bobcat raked it claws at the other one who used it's thick legs to jump out of the way. Jack raised his left arm across his chest to bring out the belt. He swung his arm to the left and raised his right arm, "Henshin!", and brought down his right hand. After the armor formed he ran toward the fight but he slowed to a stop watching them. "Get in there!", Rachel yelled at him. "One of them might be Dusty. You got to help him." "Which one?", he shot back. About then the kangaroo fell to its back and kicked the bobcat with both feet. The blue Drakan crashed into an old van and reverted back to Dusty. Rachel called out his name as she went to him. Jack got between them and the kangaroo, "Friend of yours?" "No," he grunted as Rachel helped him out. "That's one of Anderson spies. I caught him checking you two out." "How do you know...," Jack started before it charged him, "later." The Drakan threw a right cross he ducked easily. Jack countered with an uppercut but the Drakan jumped out of the way. He rushed in but grabbed nothing but air as the Drakan jumped again. As he stumbled and tried to keep his balance the kangaroo landed, jumped again and planted both feet right in the middle of his back. Jack pounded a fist into the ground as he got up and blocked a knee aimed at his head. He pushed it back and nailed a solid fist to its’ head. It covered up as he tried to get in another shot. Then it spun around sharply, Jack got ready for a backhand. He wasn't expecting it to go down and sweep his legs out from under him. The kangaroo jumped up again. Jack got his feet up catching it in the stomach. He heard the breath quickly leave its’ body as it backed up. Jack kicked it under the chin. He quickly got up, threw it into a stack of cars and started pounding away. He backed up and let it fall to the ground. "Who do you work for?", he demand. Jack didn't know if Dusty was telling the truth or not, but he had to be sure. The kangaroo held up a hand for him to back off, maybe it was going to talk. Then it jumped to its’ feet and flew right at him. Jack crashed to his back from the impact, stunned. When the stars cleared he raised up saw that the kangaroo disappeared. "Son of a ...," he grunted as he searched the area. Rachel and Dusty looked around too. "Did you see where it went?" "He was jumping around all over the place," Dusty said. "It was hard to keep track." "I think it landed that way," Rachel pointed near the house. Jack perked up as an engine started, one he knew all to well, "Ah hell no." He ran and leaped on top of a trailer. Some guy with blond hair wearing black leather was revving up his bike. All right now he was pissed. He leaped from stack to stack to gain ground. The long haired biker didn't see him until he was right in his path. He skidded the bike to a stop. Jack grabbed him and threw him off of it. The biker turned back into the red kangaroo as it landed. Jack didn't give it a chance to react as he ran in. It fell to the ground and he picked him back up. An elbow to the face caught him by surprised. The Drakan tried to kick him but he caught it by the foot and flung it into a post. The Drakan got up and Jack tackled it but he was flung off. The meter flashed as it tried to jump away. Jack went after it on foot, he twisted the pod down on the fly. The two mini turbines in the belt started spin as he saw his chance. He jumped up at the same time it did. Jack stuck out his right foot and caught it in mid air in the side. The Kangaroo jerked to the side as it direction was forcibly changed. It exploded before it reached the ground. Jack landed and powered down the system as Rachel and Dusty ran up. "Is it me," she started, "or were you more worried about that Drakan taking your motorcycle than it telling World Inc. where we are." "Rules of the road little lady," Dusty said, holding his side. "Never touch another man ride." "Something like that." Jack walked up to Dusty and looked him right in the eye. “Do you mind telling me how you knew that was a spy?" *end theme-Papa Roach-Sometimes* |
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