"Turn left here!", one of the men yelled. The turn took them away from the house, but it was the only hope they had. Then he called out for another left and then another. Soon they were facing the street. They looked left and saw that they were behind their drug dealing pursuers. The group smiled and ran across the street. They were winded but alive as they made their way to Damteni's house. He stood at the top of the stairs looking down at them, and his look was enough to make a man want to run and hide.
He was a large man, almost 2 meters tall and 100 kilos. He was handsome by any measure, but his scowl was quite menacing. His skin was as pale as the moon, and his hair as black as the night time. His eyes were a bluish green, but they held no life. Whatever joy or happiness had once lived in those eyes had died long ago. He made no noise as he moved towards them. "Did you get what I sent you for?", he asked them in Georgian.
"Yes of course." The men opened their hands to show him their haul. He nodded. His scowl didn't change to worse, so he must have been pleased. The men started up the stairs when three engines revved to gain speed. The group turned around and saw that the smugglers had found them. Armed men stuck out of the sides of the Fiats like cannons from old ships. They had AK's and were serious about killing the men who had stolen from them. Some men had pistols, but nothing that could have begun to approach automatic weapons. All the joy they'd had evaporated. "Master I don't know…. I…"
Damteni held up his hand. "You served me well today. Go upstairs." The men ran into the house, some looking over their shoulders. They saw Damteni walk calmly into the middle of the street as the cars approached. They were in the house by the time they heard the screeching of tires and then the first collision. The sound of crumpling metal is distinctive and so are the sounds of struggling desperate men. Their cries were muffled as was the lone gunshot.
When Damteni walked back into the house fifteen minutes later, the street was clear. There were no cars, no dead men, not even a spent bullet casing, nothing at all to show that those men had ever existed. Damteni stepped past his men. Water dripped from his fingers where he had washed off the blood of the men he'd just killed. His shirt showed one neat round hole where the bullet had impacted his chest. His expression hadn't changed. He still scowled.
A half naked woman came partway down from the upstairs bedroom wiping her eyes. She stood with her big bouncing breasts shaking from a sudden stop. "Are you coming back up?", she asked in a trembling voice. She'd just met Damteni three days earlier and since then he'd screwed her more times than she could count, each time he'd taken her to an earth shattering orgasm. She'd become a fiend for his sex, for his cock. Damteni was more man than all the other men she'd fucked combined.
The master looked at his men. "Pack up. We're leaving today." The men nodded and scurried to do his bidding. Then he looked up to those breasts. He gave her a genuine smile. When he smiled the woman realized just how beautifully handsome Damteni was. He came up the stairs, his boots barely making noise as he walked. The woman flushed at his approach and tingled at his touch. He put his hand flat on her ass and lifted her with one arm. She kicked her legs like a little girl on a swing as Damteni took her to the bedroom. He'd fucked this girl for her pleasure, but it was finally time for him to enjoy himself.
He tossed her down to the bed and unfastened his trousers. His cock was already lengthening and hardening. The girl leapt towards it to take it in her mouth, but Damteni didn't have time for that. He pushed her to her back and mounted her like he hadn't done before. The pleasure came first. It made her huge melons bounce and jiggle all over the place and her curvy fleshy body began to tremble and shake as he gave her orgasm after orgasm just from his pounding, but then as he got more excited his cock took her from pleasure to pain. He began to groan as she began to scream. This woman's body could perhaps last long enough to give Damteni the satisfaction he needed. She was almost there. He fucked her a little harder and she came again, even with the intense pain. She tore at her hair and then she scratched at Damteni, scratched him more than hard enough to gouge out the flesh of a normal man, but as his cock plowed in and out of this unfortunate woman she realized that he was far from a normal man. Her fingernails broke and tore from the nail beds as she scratched him, but his skin was completely unaffected.
Down below Damteni's men heard the fucking and the screaming. A couple of them took bets to see if she would last. Those that picked 'no' won the bet. The girl died before the master finished and came. He came anyway of course because her death was nothing to ruin his mood. He'd intended for her to die. If she'd only fucked him once or twice he would have let her go, but she'd seen too much. She'd seen all the faces even if she hadn't cared about his activities at all. Damteni carried the naked body down the stairs by her neck. Her loins were still dripping his seed as he laid her on the floor.
"Bury her properly", Damteni ordered two of his men who got to working immediately. The boss' scowl returned and it was back to business as usual. Two hours later the house was spotlessly clean and everything was packed. Damteni's men were in two large van's waiting. A car pulled up and an older lady stepped out. She walked past Damteni into the house but came out a couple of minutes later.
"This is so wonderful. I did not know that men could clean so well", she replied with a smile.
Damteni gave a polite chuckle. "I told you that we would leave it better than we found it."
"I rarely encounter young men as mannered as you and your friends", she looked back at the vans and then quickly to Damteni and pointed her boney finger at his face. "You're from the coast aren't you?", she asked suddenly.
Damteni smiled, and for the first time in a long while a smile actually touched those blue green eyes. "Guilty, madam", he replied with a little bow. "I'm from Poti originally." He handed the lady a roll of money that represented the rent.
The lady didn't bother counting it. "I thought so." She put the money away. "Young man, if you and your buddies ever need a place to rent in Tbilisi again, please call me."
Damteni shook the woman's hand. "I wouldn't want to rent from anyone else." He joined his men in one of the vans and they left for the airport. Once at the airport he reached into his pocket and handed all of his men except one a unique ticket. "We're finished for a while boys. Go home. Enjoy your families. I will call you again when the need arises." The men filed out of the van without a word. Then Damteni turned to the last man, the lone American of the bunch. Mikheil was an ethnic Georgian who'd been born in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents though had been born in Damteni's hometown, so he had a soft spot for the young man. It helped that he was also trustworthy, eager, and loyal. "Here's your ticket, Mikheil. I need you to take this parcel to Tony in Chicago. He's been waiting on it for some time. The delay was unavoidable as you know, but I want him to have it as soon as possible. Once you've delivered it, consider yourself on vacation as well."
"Very good Master", the man said and took the cardboard box as if his own life were inside. Damteni had a ticket of his own. It took him first to Moscow, then to Singapore, and on to Manila. Damteni didn't believe in downtime, so while this crew rested, he'd go look in on the people that he called his children.
It was almost impossible to find a decent place to smoke anymore. Freddie McLemore looked around and realized that Chicago had caught the coastal disease of political correctness. He shrugged and lit his last Camel knowing that it had been bound to happen sooner or later. He looked over his shoulder at the no smoking sign posted on a pillar to the left of the Warrmer Institute's front door and remembered when it hadn't been there. Freddie had been an employee of one of the world's foremost research facilities for nearly a decade. He was assistant to a brilliant yet unreliable doctor named Dan Horowitz. Dan had gone missing for almost a year, and while most of his colleagues were happy to have him back at Warrmers they were still confused as to why he'd gone on the run in the first place. Freddie didn't wonder. He already knew that it was his fault.
From the late 90's until about two years ago, Freddie had made a mint off of Dan's talent. Nothing good lasts forever Freddie had found out. The day that Dan had run had been the last day that Freddie had gotten any money from a guy named Jason Mallster. Mallster blamed Freddie for losing his access to Dan's research, and for a little while Freddie had been afraid for his life. Now it didn't matter. Ole Mallster had been dead for a few months, killed at his own condo development in New York. That was poetry. Freddie wondered if it had been an inside job.
He took a drag on his cigarette and thought about his situation without Mallster's money. His piggybank was drying up after two years. He made pretty good money from Warrmer's because he was a pretty good scientist, but he'd gotten used to those fat checks. Freddie was plenty ambitious, but it was Dan Horowitz who was on the cutting edge of neuroscience. If Freddie had been half as talented as Dan he'd have already been a very rich man. Instead Freddie took another puff and lamented his position in life until out of the corner of his eye he saw someone who looked vaguely familiar. He couldn't remember a name, but he remembered where he'd seen that face before. The one and only time Freddie had met Jason Mallster in person the man currently walking towards the coffee shop had been standing next to the Syndicate boss. Freddie snuffed out the cigarette and hurried over.
Jean saw the man approaching well before he crossed the street, but the man wasn't trying to conceal his approach at all. That didn't make Jean feel any better. Many a man had been killed by a bullet he saw coming and just couldn't dodge. Jean's fingers brushed against the grip of the pistol under his jacket as the man slowed and stopped at a respectful distance. "Hey, tell me if I'm wrong, but you used to work for a guy named Mallster."
Jean raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to this stranger. "Your next sentence better explain what you want", he warned in a hushed voice.
Freddie held his hands up a little. "I work with a guy who used to do business with Mallster. I even met him once a few years ago. Anyway, all I'm sayin is that I want to see if we could resume business with whoever took over for your dear departed leader."
"How do you know someone took over?" Jean was wary and he wasn't going to volunteer anything.
Freddie grinned. "An organization that had that much doe and that much clout doesn't disappear because one guy gets killed. I don't know if you're here on business or what, but I'm guessing that you work for the new guy."
The truth was that Jean wasn't on business. He was on vacation. He was meeting his ex-wife and his children in Chicago. There were a few cities closer to their home in Montreal, but they'd always liked this city, and it wasn't a good idea for Jean to attempt to enter Canada for the time being. "What do you sell?", Jean asked.
"Super soldier brains. My boss invented the process and is the foremost expert in laying down a framework for human programming. It was lucrative for both sides and if your new leader is ready to get going we can have something new by the end of the year."
"That fast?"
"When you're good you're good", Freddie bluffed.
"Give me a way to contact you."
Freddie reached into his pocket and handed Jean his card. "The sooner I'm contacted the sooner I can get started."
Jean nodded and walked past the coffee shop. He bounced up the stairs to catch a train. He'd get his morning caffeine in another part of town. Freddie walked into a convenience store to buy a new pack of smokes. He lit up before he walked out and smiled. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number that he used to have in speed dial. "Hey, Tony this is Freddie. Please tell me you have some more of those magic sticks that you sold me a while back."
Freddie frowned. "You've got something better? Okay, I'm in. Where I can I meet you to pick it up? Oh I have to bring the person to the thing? Damn I might need some help for that. You know my money's good." Freddie would have to leverage everything he had to get this done. "Okay, let me double check my schedule then I'll call you with a time." Freddie hung up and headed back to work with extra spring in his step.
Benny had just finished breakfast with his beloved X-424 when his phone rang. He wiped his hands on a dish cloth before picking it up. "Hello."
"I've got some interesting news", Jean started right into his message. "I'll tell you about it in person", he continued and Benny was confused for a moment. Jean was several hundred miles away, but then he remembered.
"Yeah, I'll see ya then", Benny said and hung up the phone. He hurried over to his computer and waited for the message to appear. One of the things Benny had gotten from his Syndicate overlords was a secure communications system. It was unwieldy, but secure. Jean told of his meeting with Freddie and his promise to help with the next evolution of the super soldier program. Benny called for Dr. Jeff Long to join him.
"Do you know this Frederick McLemore?"
Jeff nodded. "Freddie? Yeah he works with Dan Horowitz. He's okay, but Dan is the man. If I knew he was still aboard like he used to be then we would be well on the way to getting to a true fifth generation. We could probably even upgrade the Femmes to generation 5 or beyond."
X-424 stood across the room from Jeff while he and Benny spoke. She hated being near him. He'd already helped destroy her once, and now that she'd managed to put some of her broken mind back together, Jeff was in the process of figuring out a way to destroy her once and for all. It was actually gratifying and a symbol of her repaired mind that she could actually hate. She hated enough to defy all her programming and rip Jeff's head off his shoulders and show him his spine before the blood drained away from his eyes so he couldn't see it. Her fingers wanted to break his bones and her ears wanted to hear his screams, so she stayed far enough away to keep her from doing something rash.
"If Freddie can get Dan back in, I would say jump on the situation as quickly as possible", Jeff suggested. Benny agreed and started typing. "Oh", Jeff said then swallowed and glanced at X-424 who'd crossed her arms across her ample breasts. "Tell Freddie that I will call him directly. I have some instructions for him. Dan's always been squeamish about speaking directly about his… side research." Benny shrugged and added that request to his message. Once the message was sent, Jeff left the room. He had to get ready for Freddie's call. He had something special in mind for the earliest parts of this renewed partnership. X-424 knew something was up, but she'd just bide her time. She had a couple of people working on her behalf. She'd just be patient and let the situation play out.
The
plane from Singapore landed in the Philippines two minutes
early. Damteni was out of the airport quickly since he only had one
bag, which he carried to alleviate suspicion only. He made his way to a
marina used mostly by poor fishermen to retrieve his boat. It fit right
in next to the local pump boats that the Filipinos used for just about
every purpose. Damteni cast off and piloted the boat out into open
water. It was a bit of a trip to a forgotten island that didn't even
have a name, just a number on old maps. During World War II the
Japanese had constructed a state of the art fortress under the volcanic
rock only to have the Americans completely ignore it. There was never a
single shot fired or bomb dropped on the island throughout the entirety
of the war. Eventually the Japanese emptied the island of men and
material to be used in Okinawa. Most of the soldiers never made it
though. Their transport ship was sent to the bottom by a submarine.
There was some action this day however. Deep inside the island where
peace had reigned during war time, a battle raged.
Miyu ducked and rolled away as the beam knocked chunks off the concrete wall where she'd been standing. Her eyes widened and she looked across the room at her opponent. She crouched as Lars stood and coolly took aim again. The air around him shimmered before another blast of energy came her way. Miyu jumped straight up and rotated in the air until she was inverted. She aimed her claws at the ceiling. Her steel hard talons stabbed the cement and she hung upside down just long enough to gather strength in her feminine feline muscles. She leapt at Lars with incredible speed, but he was ready. This blast caught Miyu in the chest. She fell to the ground hard with her fur covered skin smoking from the blast. The smell of scorched hair filled the air making Lars smirk. It was a rare show of emotion from the young Swede.
Just as Lars raised his buzzing hands to finish Miyu, Rico smashed into his back knocking him to the ground. Lars spun and pushed Rico off, but Miyu was up again. She moved to damned quickly for Lars to easily follow her, but he only needed to get in another shot.
Rico would have helped his friend, but he had his hands full. He knew that he shouldn't toy with Liv, but it was so much fun. She'd hit him pretty hard. Hard enough to shake the fortress, but still Rico looked unhurt. He smiled at her and stood up straight as she snorted like a bull and ran towards him. Liv's muscles hulked. Her face was a mask of rage. She lowered her shoulder and drove it into Rico hard enough to stop a truck. His chest caved inward like a cheap rubber band. He was driven backwards at ever increasing speed. He extended his arms and legs as he flew backwards into a door frame. He gripped the thick concrete and Liv's charge began to slow as Rico's arms and legs extended, absorbing Liv's power. Then Rico screwed up his face and pushed back against her. Liv's bare feet slipped and slid along the floor as he forced her backwards so fast that she fell and slid into the far wall.
Rico's bones popped and cracked as they went to their natural orientation. He cracked his neck a couple of times as he looked at Liv get back to her feet. Her muscles were even bigger and her face even redder. Her fury grew to new levels. Her scream made ears ring before she took off after Rico. He was ready for another reckless attack, but he should have remembered that behind all that muscle was a smart young woman.
Liv stopped her charge with dancer like precision and sent a punch to the center of Rico's stomach. The young man bent forward from the blow and from surprise. Liv grinned evilly and unleashed a tremendously hard punch that struck in the exact same place. The outline of her fist showed through Rico's back. His complexion turned green and he tried to back away, but Liv grabbed him by the neck and snatched the stunned young man off his feet. She threw him over her shoulder and wrapped her other arm behind his knees. Then with a guttural sound deeper than a growl, she pulled forward. Her biceps and lats flexed epically. Rico's spine lengthened as Liv's arms came forward more and more. Her gargantuan pectorals thickened as her arms came together. Her legs tore the last bits of the seams of her formerly loose sweat pants. The rags fell to the side and the muscle beast was naked except for the remnants of her sweat soaked panties.
Rico screamed as Liv's arms folded him and lengthened him at the same time. His bones were only able to take so much. He stiffened his body just like Damteni had taught him, but that only lasted for a brief moment. All the heads in the room turned towards them as Liv broke through Rico's attempt to defy her muscles. It sounded like a grenade had gone off when his body started bending again. His screams changed octaves as she brought his head around to her front and his knees touched his silky mop of jet black hair.
"Enough! You win!", Rico shouted in his native Spanish, but Liv didn't speak Spanish. She forced her arms forward harder. Her biceps and pecs were relentless. Her back bulged hugely too adding more angles to the rack upon which Rico's body was being broken. Liv's eyes looked pleased when she'd forced Rico's knees behind his own head. She wasn't nearly done though. She took a breath and screamed again as her muscles flexed ferociously. Rico's face set in a silent scream. Not even his body could take this sort of pressure.
Lars helped Miyu to her feet, their fight long forgotten. "Hey, sis, that's enough", Lars called out but knew that Liv wasn't listening. She didn't listen to anybody when she got like this.
"Come on Liv", Miyu called out. She and Liv were pretty close friends, but even with all of her gifts Miyu wasn't going to get close to Liv when she was raging like this. To make sure the unasked question wasn't aired, Miyu's body changed from its more feline form to that of a shapely young woman. The fur disappeared along with about six inches of height. Miyu's body was fit and hard with more muscle than most women, but not enough to deal with Liv. Lars could have blasted his sister with his strongest energy blast and she'd ignore it until later on when it would hurt and he'd feel guilty.
Shu rolled her eyes and jumped off the ledge where she and her sister Wen had been watching the fight. They were far too advanced in their training to fight with this crew. Shu was halfway to Liv when suddenly a hand reached out of the wall and grabbed Rico's arm. Rico became translucent and fell from Liv's grasp. That same arm pulled Rico out of her reach and into the solid concrete wall.
"Chris!!!!", Liv screamed and pounded her fists against the wall hard enough to make everyone's teeth rattle. She punched a chunk of concrete from the wall bigger than a basketball. She gripped some two inch thick rebar and snatched the ten foot piece of steel out of the concrete like it was nothing at all. Her naked muscles seethed with evil intent, but Shu just walked up to the berserking young woman and said, "Stop this now", in a calm neutral tone.
Liv's eyes flashed towards Shu with annoyance and suddenly her big muscled arm swung towards the much smaller girl. The wind whistled as that huge arm moved with blistering speed. Shu huffed as the arm traveled towards her then leaned back at the last possible moment. Liv's backhanded slap missed by fractions of an inch. She growled and swung again. Shu leaned back further and then another swing made her lean back further still. Shu's back was almost parallel to the ground now. On the next swing Shu grabbed Liv's massively muscled forearm and let it snatch her off the ground. She let go and somersaulted in the air to land behind the muscle beast. Before Liv could turn around, Shu grabbed the muscle bound girl's neck with all ten fingers.
Shu had hoped to avoid this, but everyone in the room knew what was coming. Shu's brown eyes flashed bright white and her hands glowed. Her skin lost its olive color and turned ghostly pale. Thin shimmering veins showed under that pale skin and suddenly Liv's strength began to wane. The muscle girl's eyes both turned completely black like the sockets were empty hollows. Shu's face grimaced and the glow on her hands brightened. Liv roared and tried to throw Shu off, but the glow brightened again and Liv's mighty muscles became useless. The much smaller Chinese girl was firmly in control. Liv kept fighting, but when Shu's eyes narrowed and her body vibrated with power the fight left Liv completely.
"That's it!", Shu's sister Wen shouted from her perch on the ledge. "Show these newbies who's boss around here!" She kept her hands on Liv's neck as the girl lost consciousness and lay down on the floor.
"Are you going to let her go?", Lars demanded once he was sure Liv was calmed enough to regain her composure.
"When I'm ready", Shu replied in a booming layered voice that was night and day from her normal one.
Lars didn't like the answer. He was Liv's older brother and while he realized that he didn't need to be her protector, he wasn't going to let her suffer either. He raised his hands and very quickly shot twin blasts of bioelectric energy at Shu that hit her right in the head. She lost contact with Liv who stayed on the ground.
Shu screamed and fell to the ground more angry than hurt. She jumped up to face Lars who by then had fully powered up. Shu came at him, and he hit her with a fear fueled blast that knocked the petite girl across the room and bounced her off the far wall. She rolled to the floor steaming just like Miyu had earlier.
Lars was still catching his breath from almost being attacked by Shu when he felt a blow to the side of his head. He fell to the ground and instinctively rolled away as Wen came at him. Lars got one hand towards her and shot blasts after blast. Wen dodged them like he was shooting in slow motion, but she didn't remember that Lars didn't just have to shoot from his hands. He squeezed his eyes shut and focused to fire a beam from the center of his chest. This one caught Wen in the side.
Lars scrambled to his feet as Wen looked at him with shock, disbelief, and venom on her pretty face. Her almond eyes narrowed as she looked down at the smoldering ruins of her stylish wrap. She slowly unfurled her favorite top, and Lars swallowed hard as Wen displayed her body beneath. Her arms were lengths of shredded muscle down to the bone. Small tits sat proudly on her chest being pressed out by the barbwire pectorals behind them. Her abdominal wall was an undulating brick wall covered in flawless olive tinged skin. Her waist was tiny and she didn't have hips to speak off, but her quads had enough sweep for her entire body with ribbons of muscles flowing up and around from her knees to her hips. Her calves were sleek, lean, and coffin nail hard. Even her little bare feet looked muscular.
Lars charged his power, but didn't get a chance to unleash it. He saw a wave of striations slice up Wen's left quad and should have anticipated her movement because she was so damned fast that he didn't see it. He felt it. She kicked him in the jaw sending droplets of blood flying to floor. A knee to his chest made him gasp and a spinning hook looked like it might have taken the young man's head off. Wen stood still like she hadn't even been fighting. Her chest rose slightly and her ultra hard tummy moved in and out slightly. Her right leg flashed straight up into the air. Her toes pointed towards the ceiling as Lars fell. In the short time it took to fall, she rotated her hips and slammed her leg down. She put her foot on his neck and slammed him to the ground even harder. When she pressed down her quads bulged. The petite girl's muscles flared bigger and harder as she pushed her foot into the relatively soft flesh of Lars' neck. The surging, seething muscles looked like they'd push through her thin skin. New striations sliced across the heads of her quads and her hip flexors looked like tangles of cables as she ramped up the pressure. Lars' face turned shades of purple and then blue.
Chris had worked his way around behind Wen and had come out of the wall a couple of feet when he froze in place. Wen spun towards him and pointed her finger in his face. The cuteness of her features were gone as she warned, "Move towards him and you're next." Her voice was enough to make Chris sink back into the wall.
Wen turned her attention back to Lars. "You should have let Shu finish with your sister. She knows when to stop. Now I have to teach you a lesson too." Lars' face pleaded no as Wen bent down to touch him.
Suddenly a pale hand grabbed Wen's and pulled her up. Her muscles tensed and tried to fight the movement, but only when she turned to see Damteni did she know that her muscles weren't going to be enough. She wasn't finished with Lars though and not even Damteni should get in her way. Her eyes flashed and her hands glowed. Her skin turned even paler than his and her hands began to glow. The veins showed under her skin, but to her surprise Damteni's hand only tightened against her wrist. She looked at his face to see his eyes still a blue green. His face tightened and then the pain of pushback started. Wen let out a yelp as her skin glowed brighter, but Damteni didn't weaken. Everyone saw the tendons of his hand tighten his grip on her little wrist.
Wen's muscles flexed hard but they were no match for his. She moaned now as the pain increased. Her entire body glowed like a candle through a cloth, but Damteni stood firm despite it. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she poured more power on. Damteni smiled. Wen's body shook from the strain. Shu was on her feet now and standing very near her sister. She wanted Wen to stop, but she kept trying harder and harder. Her muscles were rock hard and razor sharp as she gave everything she had, enough to have killed ten regular men, but Damteni was no regular man.
"You are quite spirited", Damteni said. "But I fear you aren't as smart as your sister." He looked Wen in the eyes and opened his fingers allowing her to slip to the floor. She lay on the concrete in agony from her total defeat. When Wen or Shu touched someone with their power, the person couldn't pull away no matter how strong their muscles were. Damteni was different. He hadn't let Wen go because she was close to defeating him, he'd wanted to show her how much stronger than her he actually was.
"One of these days you will learn that my life is my own, Wen. But I do like the effort." Damteni almost smiled as he looked around the room at his charges. "From all of you. I was watching the fight and was most impressed." He walked over to Liv and gently helped her to her feet. He used a finger to raise her gaze to his. "We must remember that we are on the same team. Everyone here has the same goals." Liv nodded and apologized to Rico whose body still hadn't gone back to normal.
"It's cool", he replied even if he didn't quite mean it.
"Come out here", Damteni called to Chris who appeared sheepishly from the wall. He put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "You've been here for about three months now, correct?"
"Yes sir", Chris Adams replied.
"You have to be more forceful. I know that none of these people can hurt you, but you have to mix it up to get better. I have a special mission in mind for you, and being passive won't work."
Chris nodded. "It's just that I remember how I felt when…"
"Killing is never easy, and the mission I have in mind for you doesn't necessarily involve taking lives, but we have to be ready to make sacrifices for our cause."
"I understand", Chris said softly.
"Good", Damteni said and clapped his hands. "This spar is over. You all go get some food. You have to keep your strength up." The group started to file out of the room. Damteni pointed towards Shu and Wen. "You two eat with the group", he ordered. They huffed and slapped their hands to their hard muscled thighs, but didn't argue. "And Wen, put some clothes on first."
Damteni left the room through another door and was coming up a ramp when another man joined him. "They're starting to get an edge", Damteni said.
"I still worry about Chris", Ansari told his master. "You have an important role for him, but he's gun shy."
"He's not naturally that way. He's still broken. Don't worry so much. You're my ace in the hole anyway. No one will ever see you coming."
Ansari laughed. "They never do."
That evening Damteni sat in a chair in his small office/bedroom. There was a general's suite in the fortress complex, but Damteni didn't want that. He was a footman not some high brow general. Even after all these years Damteni still thought of himself as a normal grunt. He leaned back thinking about some of the old times when he'd been sharing stale bread and half rotted meat with his fellow soldiers on the eve of a battle that would leave some of them dead. He carried on their memories though. He remembered the names of many of his fallen comrades, their girls' names and many of their children too. A soldier's always proud of his progeny. Damteni felt a sudden malaise come over him at the thought of family and switched mental gears. He glanced at the clock on his desk and calculated what time Mikheil would be landing in Chicago.
Freddie was a little surprised to hear back so quickly, and it wasn't Jean who called, but Jeff Long, Mallster's main coordinator of the super soldier program. Freddie thought that maybe Jeff had been scooped up when the Fed's had raided the laboratory in Texas. He was glad to be talking to another scientist. Jeff had some of his own research that he was going to send for Dan to finish. Freddie didn't know what it was about yet, but he didn't care. He was about to start making real money again. Now there was the next hurdle, getting Dan to do something he didn't want to.
A couple of rooms over Dan had a smile on his face and a tune in his head as he went over data logs from the previous week's experiments. He was getting great stuff from his test subjects. Dan felt that he was well on his way to curing some brain diseases that plagued many people. Things like Alzheimer's would only be heard about in stories and read about in history books. It would take some more years, but Dan was satisfied with where he was in life and where he was going. He'd gladly spend those years searching for something good. This feeling was a far cry from how he'd felt in the past when his research had been co-opted by Jason Mallster.
In those days Dan had been trying to figure out if a person's thoughts and choices could be affected or even changed by someone else. Jason was Dan's sister's ex-boyfriend and he started funding Dan's research very generously. Dan had figured out how to program a brain like the organic computer that it was. He sent all of his data to Mallster's scientists. Dan thought all of his research was theoretical when it came to humans until one of Mallster's scientists asked a question about sympathetic nerve responses in an erased brain. Dan was appalled that Mallster was doing research on humans, destroying people's lives completely because as a brain was programmed from the outside its own natural pathways were destroyed. Whatever experiences that person had had were gone forever. It was the same as a bullet to the heart because for all intents and purposes that person was dead.
Dan cut Mallster off completely. It nearly bankrupted him but he gave Mallster back all his money as well. That was when Dan had come to work for the Warrmer Institute since he no longer had the money for individual research. Dan was proud though that his assistant Freddie came to Warrmer's with him. Freddie had been quite instrumental from the beginning. Freddie was diligent and smarter than he gave himself credit for. Dan changed his research from controlling brains to healing brains and Freddie was completely on board with that. Freddie should be leading a lab of his own, but he was completely loyal to Dan, which gave the slightly older scientist a good feeling.
Just then Freddie walked in holding his good thinking charm. Dan grinned. A man of science was supposed to be above superstition, but Dan didn't say anything because Freddie insisted that this piece of ancient metal sculpture helped him think. The good thinking charm looked like a miniature pillar. It was about as long as man's forearm and it might have been part of a much larger work at one point. Dan thought that it looked like it had been part of a model of a building, hence the pillar shape. He just couldn't even remember an ancient building model made of tin, of course perhaps the rest of this thing had been melted down to make bronze some time in the past.
Dan went back to looking at the data logs while Freddie looked at Dan as the pillar's power began to take control. Dan was right about the superstition thing. Freddie was a man of science, just one who was also had an interest in the occult and in man's pagan past. Most aspects of that subculture were contrived or completely fake, but a sliver of it was real, like this tin pillar. This one had been mated to Dan's mind years earlier and as it sat near him, it slowly took control of his mind. Dan's eyes glassed over and his movements stopped. He was ready to receive Freddie's instructions. Dan thought of human brains as computers. If they were, then this pillar reset them to the command prompt.
Freddie had to give Dan a simple command, something he didn't mind doing because this pillar's control wasn't as strong as it had once been. "Hey, Dan I'm taking you out. Just be natural and follow me to my car in the parking garage."
Freddie waited a few seconds and Dan closed his notes and jumped up from the stool to grab his coat. "Hey, you ready to go, you're supposed to be treating me today", Dan said as if the thoughts had been his own. Freddie grabbed his coat and the two men headed down the elevator. No one thought anything of it, but the hold was already weakening. Dan started to look confused. He didn't remember getting on the elevator and he had no idea why he was there. He was supposed to be reviewing data.
The doors opened and Freddie started towards his car. Dan followed at a bit of a distance, fighting a little harder with each step. He just had to go a few more steps because once he got near a thick concrete column there was a break in the camera's line of sight. Just as Dan entered this video shadow, the rear doors of Freddie's Jeep opened and three men came out of the back seat. Dan wanted to run, but couldn't. They grabbed Dan and held him tightly while Freddie retrieved the car. He stopped the passenger door right next to Dan who stopped struggling when he felt the gun in his ribs.
"Just come on Dan, you won't get hurt. I promise."
"Freddie you're a fucking little weasel."
"Perhaps", Freddie allowed and patted the seat. Dan got in and Tony's goons got in behind him. "Look natural", Freddie said with a fake smile on his face as they rounded the corners heading to street level then on to their destination.
Freddie drove in silence. His mind was active though. He knew that Dan was probably trying to figure out what had happened to him, but he wouldn't. Dan was like most people. He believed that 21st century humans were the most advanced who had ever lived. Freddie knew differently. Dan had spent years trying to learn how to control a human brain and in the distant past some guy had already figured it out. All the volumes of Dan's research was condensed inside of little tin pillar. Of course there was a problem with using ancient technology. The maintenance schedules had been lost, and so no one knew how to fix them. Freddie's little pillar was running out of juice. When he'd first started using it Freddie's control over Dan had been strong now Dan was already alert again and Freddie's commands had been forgotten. Tony promised a new and better way to control brains and Freddie hoped his old acquaintance could deliver.
Tony Cosolini's warehouse was in a tough part of town, but everyone knew better than to break in to Tony's place. Six men had tried and six men had died. Each of them had been found dead inside the warehouse with no apparent injuries. Lots and lots of crime happened around Tony's import/export warehouse, but nothing happened to it. Freddie pulled into the large building and saw Tony walking towards the car.
Tony was medium height and mostly medium build, but he'd grown a paunch over the years. He'd shaved his head after his hairline had gone into retreat, but a bald head sort of fit him. He always wore nice suits and smelled like fine cologne. Tony extended his hand which Freddie shook. Normally Tony would have embraced a long time client like Freddie in a manly hug, but Freddie McLemore just wasn't the sort of person anyone wanted to hug, not even his own mother.
"I don't wanna waste your time. Let me show you what you came for", Tony said in a good natured way and started walking towards the back of the building. They walked past rows and rows of antiques to get to a building constructed within this building.
The little hut was made of concrete blocks poured solid and its flat roof was thick reinforced concrete. It had no windows and no air vents. The only opening was a door made of insulated steel. Freddie walked inside with Tony a couple of antsy men. Once inside Freddie laughed. There were at least three dozen old Chinese style bells hanging from thick wooden racks. "What? Are you gonna play a symphony on those bells?", he asked with a laugh that died quickly when no one around him joined in.
"This is a bianzhong", Tony said with pride and ran his fingers across the ornately decorated bronze of a couple of bells. "This particular one was found twenty years ago in Hunan Province. I bought it six months ago from a desperate seller in Hong Kong who'd had this piece as decoration in his home. It caused him quite a lot of pain recently. First his wife threw herself in front of a moving bus. Then his oldest son jumped into Victoria Harbor holding a cement block, and later on his youngest daughter slit her wrists. None of this was coincidence. It was caused by the power of these bells.
"It turned out that his house keeper had learned that she was in her employer's will. The fewer living family members he had on the day he died, the more money she would get. She used this bianzhong to force three happy, healthy people to commit suicide and she was only a few tones away from taking control of her employer's mind when he caught her and killed her with his own hands. His first thought was to destroy this instrument, but he thought that maybe destroying the vessels that held the power would release the power into the world and cause even more chaos. So he sold them to me."
Freddie's face had lost its color. "Something wrong?", Tony asked and this time his men started laughing. "Don't worry", he said and slapped Freddie on the back. "I told the guy I bought it from that I would keep it secured and I am keeping my end of the bargain", he said and looked around the bunker he'd built to house the bianzhong. "Oh and to answer your question, you're going to be making sweet music on this instrument, playing a symphony if you will. Just follow the instructions and you won't be affected. Only your target will."
Freddie spent a couple of hours practicing the sequence of bells he had to play. When he was ready, Tony's men shoved Dan inside and shut the thick steel door behind him. Dan's eyes fell on Freddie who stood behind the bells while Dan was in front. "I don't know what's going on Freddie, but you better start talking!" Freddie responded by striking the first bell with the mallet. The rich clear tone echoed in the room, but Freddie had been assured that as the player he wasn't going to be affected.
"You've gone crazy!", Dan yelled angrily and started towards Freddie. The second bell toned and then the third and by the fourth, Dan's movements had slowed to almost nothing. Freddie kept playing until he'd sounded 27 notes. The last of which hung in the air as Freddie came from behind the bianzhong. Dan's eyes were glassy and once again his brain was ready for instruction. Freddie gave Dan some very clear instructions that he'd written out earlier. Dan gave no outward sign of change after the words had been delivered, but that was a good sign.
There was a switch on the wall behind the bells to turn on a light on the outside. Freddie flicked it on and off in a predetermined sequence. Tony's men opened the door. "I guess it went well", Tony said as he entered.
"Worked just like you said it would", Freddie replied feeling relieved. "I meant to ask you though, how long does this last?" The pillar's control used to last a day or two.
"It lasts", Tony replied and Freddie frowned. "Until the day he dies or you decide to remove the bianzhong's control. That's how long it lasts." Tony didn't talk price, but Freddie knew this was going to cost him a lot. Whatever Tony's price was in the end, it would be worth it.
Dan was a living mannequin when he sat in Freddie's Jeep for the trip back to Warrmer's, but he was acting completely normal by the time the two of them were in the lab. Dan went back to reading logs and drinking coffee, but at exactly 1 pm Dan's face went blank and he stopped moving. Freddie came in then with all the data that Jeff Long had sent him. He set all the paper on the table in front of Dan and let the man with the big brain get to work. Freddie had gone over the stuff that Jeff had sent and couldn't for the life of him figure out why this was so important, but for some reason Jeff was determined to get Dan's help to fix a Femme numbered X-424.
Mikheil had slept most of the way from Moscow to Chicago. As an American it was thankfully easy to get from the plane to a taxi. He'd even declared his Master's package as an antique bought in Tbilisi for $700. He sat in the taxi with the box next to him on the seat as Mikheil dialed the contact number he'd gotten for Tony. It was late in the day, but one of Tony's men assured Mikheil that someone would be there soon. Mikheil paid the cabbie and stood on the corner in front of the warehouse waiting for Tony's man to show up.
He'd been standing there for about six minutes when a group of young men approached from both sides. Mikheil sighed and put his hand on his gun. "Hey pops", one of the men called out. "What's in the box? We know Tony's got shit in there worth a fortune. Why don't you gimme that box and I'll let you walk outta here?"
"How about you guys leave before you get into something that you can't get out of", Mikheil replied knowing that nothing he said would work. He gripped his gun and tried to pick out which one of these toughs he was going to kill first.
"Naw, ain't gonna be that way." Two men pulled guns and aimed them at Mikheil who didn't shrink away. If he lost his life, it would be while doing his Master's bidding.
"You shouldn't point guns like that. What if there is a bomb in this box? If you shoot me, I drop the box; it explodes, and all of us die."
"Then we'll just be dead then", the man nearest Mikheil said.
"I thought you might say that." Mikheil snatched the pistol from his pocket and didn't bother to aim carefully. He just pointed the muzzle in the goon's general direction and fired. It struck him high on the chest. His pistol fired wildly as he fell towards the icy pavement. Another gun fired. The bullet nicked the back of Mikheil's thigh, burning him more than anything. He spun quickly and leveled his pistol. This shot was aimed and would have killed the young man, but what felt like a white hot hammer hit Mikheil in the back. He felt the pain before he heard the crack of the gunshot. Mikheil's own shot hit the man in hip instead of the head.
Both men started towards the pavement. Mikheil lost his grip on the box and it fell beside him. Another hammer blow hit his right leg and then his left shoulder. Mikheil though aimed his gun and stuck another attacker in his mid section. Blood leaked from everyone's wounds. Mikheil put his arms around the box again, but a shot to the right arm made him drop his gun. Two hands snatched up the box and took off running. Mikheil picked up his gun in weakened hands and fired shots at the one running away with the box. He was pretty sure he hadn't hit any of them. His vision dimmed and he passed out.
Tires squealed and headlights bounced in the distance as Tony's associate sped towards the sound of a gun battle. He knew right away that the shots were coming from near the warehouse door. He also knew that none of the neighborhood people were dumb enough to try and break in. Those shots had to be for the man holding Tony's latest acquisition. When he pulled up he saw a man lying face down in a pool of blood and a bunch of blood trails leading away. The man grabbed his gun and his cellphone. It wasn't long before ambulance sirens could be heard. He hoped the guy would live. Then it was time to make a call to Tony, who very quickly made a call to Damteni.
"It is exceedingly embarrassing that the package was stolen before it could get into your possession, but I am a man of my word, Mr. Cosolini. The person I sent was quite capable, but the way you explain it to me, he was jumped my multiple attackers. It's not his fault, but it is my responsibility. I will send some of my best people to retrieve what is lost. You will be contacted when it is found." Damteni hung up the phone and walked through the fortress towards the dormitories.
The sleeping areas had been designed to hold many men to a room, but with the current roster of occupants, each person had a large room all to themselves. Most often they visited each other before lights out. Damteni walked to Shu's room and found Wen in there as well. They were speaking Mandarin to each other and despite his many travels, that was a language that Damteni had yet to master, so he spoke in English. "Wen, I need to speak with you."
She jumped up from the chair and hurried to stand next to Damteni, who just continued down the hall. Wen followed him three doors down to Liv's room. Damteni knocked then slowly pushed the partially ajar door all the way open. He looked inside to see Liv sitting in a chair with her slim legs curled up to her chest with her long skinny arms wrapped around them. Her face showed a bruise that Rico had given her during their sparring session, but what her body didn't show was her strength, her muscle. When the blood lust was gone from Liv, she was as wispy as a teen aged girl could be. Her pale complexion was somewhat sickly looking and her mannerisms somewhat retreating. All of that belied her true power, and while she seemed meek, she was anything but.
"Where's your brother?", Damteni asked and Liv answered immediately. Behind Damteni Wen rolled her eyes, thinking that her Master was going to punish she and Lars for their fight earlier.
"Wen, you have pretty eyes. It would be a shame for me to have to pluck one out if you roll them again", Damteni said without ever once looking in her direction. His tone sent a chill through her and Wen straightened up.
Damteni knocked on Miyu's door and heard the scrambling at once. He almost smiled, thinking back to his youth. He'd been as horny as they'd come. He'd always been respectful though, just as Lars was. Lars and Miyu stood side by side as the door opened. Both of them were a little out of sorts, but Damteni didn't have any rules against team members hooking up. As a matter of fact he thought Lars had good taste. If Damteni was going to sleep with any of the girls on the island Miyu would be his first choice.
"Lars get dressed. You and Wen are going on a little mission for me."
"Lars!?!", Shu wined from her doorway. "Master Damteni can't I go with Wen? We work so well together."
"You are quite formidable together, but I would not necessarily say you work well. Separately you are both thoughtful and professional. Together… you are like trains rolling down the tracks without engineers. I'm trusting that Lars and Wen will make a balanced team, but fear not Shu. Your time is coming soon."
Wen was disappointed that her sister wasn't coming, and that she had to work with Lars. He wasn't half as good as she or Shu was. Lars though couldn't keep the smile from his face. "You two go see Ansari and get travel documents. I want you to leave first thing in the morning."
"Sir, if I may be so bold", Lars began. "Where might we be going?"
"You two are going to America to retrieve something that has been stolen."
Lars was from a small village in northern Sweden, Wen from a since destroyed slum in China's Guangdong Province. Neither had been to the United States before and from what they'd seen of the world, Chicago might as well have been another planet. Both had seen Manila, but it wasn't like this place. Lars tried to keep his neck from craning upwards, but he couldn't help it. The buildings downtown reached towards the sky. He and Wen rode the elevated trains from the airport to their hotel inside some area called The Loop. Her eyes opened wider each time she saw an advertisement or a store. Damteni had given both of them a generous budget for their mission, but Wen had ideas on how to spend the money. They came to the very nice hotel that Ansari had booked for them. Before Lars could even open his suitcase, Wen had showered, brushed her hair, changed her clothes and started towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Shopping!", she exclaimed as if Lars should have already figured that out. "Didn't you see all those stores? If you're smart, you'd buy something for Miyu. Then maybe she'd do something more than kiss you", Wen added with a quick chuckle.
"Come on Wen, we're here on business", Lars lectured. "The Master says that you're supposed to be the older wiser one."
"I am", Wen declared. "Our Master has taught me lots of things, and he has broken me of many bad habits, but one thing not even he can do is stop me from being a teenaged girl." She laughed and walked out to the hall leaving the door to close behind her.
"You're nineteen!", Lars shouted. "Almost twenty!" Wen didn't come back to reply. He was sure she didn't even wait for the elevator. She'd probably used those surprisingly muscled legs to run down the stairs to the lobby. Lars' neck started a phantom ache thinking back to looking up at Wen's bulging quads and calves as she'd pressed his neck to the floor.
He didn't sit in the hotel room for long either. He grabbed his coat and walked outside to take in some sights. He walked to the lakefront and stood there wishing that Liv was with him. The scenery was a lot different, but there was some snow on the ground and some chill to the air. It would have reminded her of home. Of course if Liv had been along on this trip she wouldn't have been standing there next to her brother. She'd be shopping with Wen. Damteni was indeed wise. If he'd sent two women on this mission then nothing at all would have gotten done.
Four hours later, once her bags were safely in the hotel room, Lars and Wen met up and were in Mikheil's hospital room. He was in bad shape. The doctors said that his chances of surviving were less than 50%. Lars and Wen didn't know Mikheil, but he worked for Damteni so that meant he was family.
"Do you know who attacked you?", Lars asked Mikheil in a voice tinged with sympathy.
Mikheil shook his head with effort. "They were all wearing the same black, green, and red clothes. There were too many of them!", he groaned and his heart rate spiked. He grabbed Lars' hand and gripped as hard as his wounded arm would allow. "Tell the Master that I am sorry for failing him! I wanted to do better!"
"He's not angry. He just wants you to get better", Lars tried to comfort Mikheil. Lars looked for Wen to offer some support too, but she just rolled her eyes and looked out of the window and then down the hall. Mikheil kept squeezing Lars' hand until his entire body started shaking and his eyes rolled back into his head. Alarms sounded. "Go get a nurse or doctor!", Lars shouted at Wen who actually hurried, but the nurses were already coming in.
Lars and Wen stepped out of the way while the professionals worked on Mikheil for almost half an hour. When they left, his seizure was over, but they said that it had taken a lot out of him. His vitals were weaker across the board. Lars felt like he wanted to cry and Wen just looked annoyed. When the last nurse was about to leave the room Lars stopped her. "Do you have any idea who did this to him?"
"I don't know, but one of the guys who jumped him is up on the 8th floor in critical. It seems that Mikheil got a few of them before they got him. We're trying to save the attacker's life because I think before it's over he's going to be charged with murder. I hope for the best, but I don't know if your friend is going to make it." Her voice was compassionate, but the words were depressing. Lars looked at Wen who still looked annoyed.
"We need to go find the guy on the 8th floor to see if we can get him to talk." Lars started out of the room, but Wen walked to Mikheil's bedside. Lars frowned when she reached out and took his hand in both of hers. Lars wanted to tell her that a mercy killing wasn't the right idea, but when her hands started glowing he knew that it was too late. Her eyes flashed bright, but her skin didn't turn pale this time. The pained look didn't come to her cute little face. Instead she smiled. She looked towards the ceiling and her eyelids fluttered a bit. Lars watched as Mikheil's vital signs strengthened across the board. He started glowing just like Wen's hands just before she let him go.
"What did you do?", Lars asked and stepped closer to Wen.
"Gave him a fighting chance. He has a lot of healing to do. His body was weak." Lars looked confused. Wen smiled broadly. "I guess you thought my power only worked in one direction like yours", she said and stepped into the hall.
"So…
it hurts when you drain people and it looked like it felt good when you
added energy to Mikheil", Lars observed.
"Yeah, so?"
"So, if using your power to hurt people hurts you, then maybe that's not what your power was really made for", Lars answered then shrugged. "I don't know."
Wen sighed. "I don't know either. Maybe when Master's dreams are realized me and Shu won't have to hurt people anymore."
"Maybe", Lars echoed.
Once on the 8th floor it was easy to see which room the wounded gangbanger was in. "I wish Miyu was here", Wen said and Lars nodded. It would have been easier to slip past the police officers. Wen decided to take a different tact. She walked over to the closest police officer and spoke to him for a few minutes. She came back to Lars by the elevator and pushed the down arrow.
"He says that Mikheil was attacked by a gang called the South Side Cobras. They are a group of thugs who terrorize that neighborhood. They might have the package, or know who does."
Lars nodded and flexed his fingers. "I guess we should pay them a visit."
The Cobras hung out in a three story row house that used to be home to families that had been forced to move our years earlier. The row house functioned as a drug distribution center, gang headquarters, and popular hangout. The real gang leaders were actually doing time in Joliet. The guy running the gang at the moment was a novice who just happened to be the most violent of ones who'd vied for the job.
Wen and Lars were a block away scoping their target. "Well they're wearing the colors that Mikheil described", Lars observed and Wen agreed.
"It's impossible to tell how many are inside, but I guess it doesn't really matter." They just hoped the package was inside. They came up with a plan of attack, and as they spoke the frivolity went away. Lars saw a change come over Wen's tight little body. She'd been on missions for the Master before and she was prepared. "Use your hand to hand skills as much as you can", she said suddenly. "Don't rely just on your gift, but don't get yourself killed. I'd hate to have to explain that one to the Master."
"Don't worry about me. I'll do my job. It's you who doesn't need to die. I'd be more afraid of Shu than I would of the Master." That actually got a chuckle from Wen before she pulled over the hood to cover her face. There was no more banter. It was time to do what they'd come for.
Young Slick had been with the Cobras for three years, since he was 15. His father Slick was a founding member of the gang and one of the few things he'd ever taught his son was to keep his eyes open at all times. Danger could come suddenly and from nowhere. Young Slick stood on the side of the rowhouse near a vacant lot, casually glancing around to look for danger which most often came from drive bys. No one wanted to sit and duke it out with the South Side Cobras.
Slick was talking to a prospective girlfriend when he stopped talking mid-sentence. He looked around for the source of the black dot that had crossed his periphery. When he didn't see anything, he went back to wooing the young woman who was only two blocks away at home. Slick was already imagining spending time with the girl, when he saw a hole in the cone of light from the street lamp. Slick spun, and reached for his gun.
Wen came flying from the other direction. Her flying kick hit Slick in the jaw and knocked the lanky teen to the side. He didn't fall though. She spun for another blow, this one harder than the first. Wen was extraordinarily fast, but to her surprise so was Slick. He leaned out of reach of her kick, her boot heel flying just millimeters from his face. She spun again aiming this kick lower. It struck Slick in the center of his chest. He leaned forward a little but still drew his gun. He backed away towards the wall, limiting the angles of attack. His finger curled on the trigger, but he didn't have a target. He wanted to scream for his friends standing at the front of the house, but the kick left his lungs with no air. He gasped and looked for his attacker. He didn't look down.
Wen crawled towards Slick with her stomach on the ground. She scrambled until her head was between Slick's legs. Before he got the idea to look down and shoot her in the back, Wen stood up. Her little body bristled with muscles from her traps to her calves. Slick's body shot upward. Her core muscles flexed like they'd been forged out of living steel as she tilted to dump Slick on his head. Wen gave a little grunt and added her weight to drive him down. Wen was surprised again when after landing, Slick's gun was still in his hand. His eyes were watery, but the muzzle tracked towards Wen's head. She grabbed Slick's wrist with both of her hands and twisted hard. His finger broke first against the trigger guard with a little pop, but his wrist sounded like dry twigs stepped on in the woods when they surrendered to Wen's might. Slick's cries were muffled by Wen's right leg. He tried to bite her calf, but the material of her pants wouldn't let him get a mouthful.
Wen spun her body and was behind Slick in a flash. With her ass on the ground, she grabbed Slick's hair and positioned his head between her thighs. Before he could gather himself to fight back, Wen's legs clamped on and started to crush his neck. Her quads flexed thick like a bull's neck as she poured on the power. They were bigger and harder than they'd been when she'd mastered Lars. Slick didn't linger long. For the first time since this quick little duel had begun, the fight was finally going out of this gang banger. Wen could have killed him, but he'd fought well. She respected a good opponent so about ten seconds after Slick's body went slack, Wen let him go. She spun him over and bound his hands with strips from his own shirt. She pulled a rag from his pocket and stuffed it in his mouth.
Slick's
eyes opened and through a watery haze he saw his sleek
little attacker running towards his friend who'd stepped to the side of
the house to catch a smoke and take in a little chilly air. Slick tried
to shout threats at her. He tried to warn his buddy, but in the end
none
of it matter and Slick realized that even with his injuries, he was the
fortunate one. He was alive.
Wen's
attack caught this man unaware even though he'd glanced in her
direction twice before she'd gotten close enough to strike. Her muscles
were fully warmed up after dealing with Slick so her kick to his man's
face was devastating. He lost two teeth immediately. Blood dripped from
his nose and he almost fell to a knee. Instead of trying to reach for
his gun, this man tried to run to the front of the house and get help.
That unfortunately cost him his life. Wen stepped partially in his path
only to deliver a rising knee that hit directly under the man's chin.
He's opened his mouth to scream, but Wen closed it for him. He bit off
a bit of his tongue, but that was the least of his troubles. Using his
leg as a step, she vaulted herself up and somersaulted. As she came
down she encircled his neck. She landed, tightening her grip on the
man's neck, forcing his body into an awkward reverse bow shape. Then
Wen's upper body flexed. The material of her uniform groaned as it
tried to stretch to contain the flexing of her razor sharp muscles.
With her muscles flexed like living stone, Wen gave a quick, powerful
jerk. The man's neck flopped like a dead chicken's. She let the body
fall to the
ground. She didn't bother moving his body as she approached her
way into the house.
Slick watched Wen work her gloved hands under the sash and start jiggling and pushing up with bursts of strength that showed off her triceps. The old screws of the window lock pulled out of the splintered wood. From a distance Wen looked like a vapor instead of a person as she raised the window only a few inches and slipped her sleek little body inside. Slick sighed and let his head fall to the frozen ground. He had no idea what was going to happen inside the house. He just knew it wasn't going to go well for his boys.
On the other side of the house, Lars was already inside. He was in a hall full of doors, working his way towards the front of the house when suddenly a door behind Lars opened. The young Swede spun and found himself face to face with man who reeked of marijuana. The man's eyes opened wide, but it was his mouth opening that troubled Lars. One sound from this guy could alert ten or twenty or more. Lars' hands shimmered as two blasts left his palms and slammed into the unsuspecting man's chest. The man's body sizzled like fat in a fryer. His eyes opened even wider. His synapses were scrambled. Scrambled kept the man quiet for a short time, but not for long enough. Lars powered up and hit him again, this time sending a sustained jolt that was too much for the man's body to withstand. The man fell to the ground dead, his body steaming. Lars turned to continue towards the front of the house, but nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Wen standing right behind him.
"What did you do that for?", he asked in an angry whisper.
Wen's grin made him even angrier. She motioned for him to follow. They went up to the second floor. There were guys groping women in various sexual positions in this hallway. These people would probably be the lucky ones. They'd get away unscathed, unless they turned and tried to help their friends in the main room.
The gang's highest ranked guys were in a large room with their music blaring, their girls dancing, and their weed flowing back and forth between waiting hands and lungs. A few popped pills, and some guys with a southern flavor sipped a bit of purple drank. Wen's hips slipped from side to side and her tiny ass switched back and forth as she strode towards the partially open double doors. She pulled off her gloves as she walked. For some reason that put a smile on Lars' face. He knew what was about to happen. The time for subtlety was over.
Two guys looked towards Wen as she threw open the doors. She reached out and grabbed both men by the necks. Her eyes flashed white and her hands glowed. The two men lost strength as Wen stole it from them. The men became rag dolls under her control. Lars came in a moment later. A man was reaching for his gun. Lars raised his hand and a full blast shot out from his palm and hit the man in the center of his chest. His skin smoked as he fell to the ground writhing in lingering agony. Lars shot another guy and then another. By then Wen had dropped the first two guys. Her body glowed with fresh power as she touched two more people. These dropped to the ground after a second. She took a woman with both hands. Wen's eyes shined like the sun as she took this screaming woman by the neck and raised her off completely off the ground.
Wen's petite body bulged from all angles as she held this woman aloft. The woman's flailing stopped almost immediately. The woman's brown eyes turned black, including the whites. The woman's own muscles went slack. Wen's hands glowed brighter and brighter. Her muscles flexed harder and bigger, looking ready to pop off her small frame. Then she threw the woman down in the middle of the room. Everyone backed away from the still form.
Wen's calves bunched before she jumped higher and farther than any normal person could have. She landed next to the body of the woman and as she stood there, little ribbons of light flowed from Wen down to the woman. As that dim light touched the woman's body, she took a breath. Wen opened her mouth to speak, but instead glanced over to Lars and then to the big stereo in the corner that was still pumping out music at an ear blistering volume. Lars pointed his index finger at the stereo and suddenly the box burst into a thousand pieces.
The room was deathly quiet as Wen's glowing eyes looked at every face in the room making sure they were watching. They were. "You have something that we want", Wen said with the voices of several people at once. Her voice sounded like an unholy choir as she continued, "I don't have any malice towards you people, and your business doesn't concern me." All manners of fear showed on the faces pressing away from Wen as she stood in the middle of the room. "There was a robbery yesterday, and a box was stolen from a member of my family. Return the box and the contents and no one in this room has to die or be permanently hurt."
Lars noticed a man moving his hands and shifted his balance a little to see an SKS rifle leaning up against the wall. The man's fingers had just touched the barrel when Lars extended his hands and blasted the man with two full beams. His cloths caught fire and his body vibrated quickly, but Lars' wasn't finished. He squinted his eyes and sent more blasts until the man's heart exploded in his chest. The dead body dropped to the ground leaking blood from every hole. Lars shot the body again and again making noses crinkle at the smell of burning flesh, but he fired again and again until the man's body burst open like an overheated hot pocket. People gasped, some puked.
"We're tired of toying with you people!", Lars yelled in eerily perfect English. "We are holding back and we don't have to! Give us what you stole from us, or I swear that not one of you will live to see tomorrow!" Wen was impressed, but she realized that she'd have to put the exclamation point on Lars' statement.
She moved to her left, faster than any of the crowd would have believed a person could, and snatched a big thug by his waistband. Her biceps thickened, making the material pop and stretch again as she lifted him off the ground. The man cried out for someone to help. None came. Her shoulders and triceps looked painfully flexed against the tight material of her clothes as she held this man aloft. Nothing showed on her face until she touched the man's skin with her left hand. It glowed brightly this time, brighter than Lars had ever seen it glow. Wen remembered the last time she'd used her power like this. It had been the last time she and Shu had seen their home or their parents.
Her lips parted into a silent scream. She wouldn't make a sound though. She endured the pain that both she and the helpless man felt as she sucked everything from him. His once healthy looking skin turned ashen gray. His muscles slacked. His body gave up every bit of energy it had from every cell in his body. Usually the heart continues to beat for a time and even the brain continues to think after clinical death, but when Wen opened her fingers and let the man drop, he was a complete corpse. His eyes were fixed open, staring at whatever there was after death.
"Your stubbornness is unfortunate. This man had to die as punishment for your unwillingness to help us." Wen's body was always lean and her muscles always sculpted, but with this much power coursing through her veins all 5 feet of her looked invincible. Both Lars and Wen looked at a young man as he stepped from behind a couple of people. Wen's glowing eyes flashed and Lars aimed his beams.
"Naw, don't shoot! Fuck don't shoot!", the man called Pockets yelled and held his own hands up. Then he lowered his left hand and pulled up his baggy shirt to show that he was unarmed. "I was one of the guys who pulled that little stick up. There wasn't gonna be no shootin. I'd already told everybody that, but that asshole pulled out a gun and popped my boy!"
"Do you have the box and what was inside?", Wen asked hoping that this man hadn't destroyed the contents.
"Yeah", Pockets replied with a shrug that made Wen actually relax. "I dumped it in my room upstairs until I figured out what to do with it. To tell the truth, I don't know what all this is about. There wasn't shit in the box worth no man's life."
Wen looked down at the man she'd killed then back up to Pockets. She allowed her eyes to return to their normal color before she replied, "I beg to differ." She looked over at Lars. "Go with him."
Lars kept his guard up as he followed the man to a surprisingly well kept room on the third floor. Sitting on a chair was the box and the artifact on the table. Lars allowed himself a bit of satisfaction as he took everything in his hands. "Look man, be straight with me. Are you gonna kill me even after I gave you this thing back?"
"If it was up to me, the answer would be yes. But my colleague has the final say", Lars replied without any emotion as the two young men started back to the second floor.
"If I gotta die, just make that shit quick. I'll take it like a fuckin man, but don't kill nobody else for somethin' I've done. Those are my people", Pockets said with a similar lack of emotion. He had no idea that this impressed Lars more than any bravado would have. Pockets didn't bat an eye as he walked back into the big room.
"Are we happy?", Wen asked and Lars nodded.
Wen took a deep breath while she looked at the assembly then she whispered something in Lars ear. He said something back and she nodded. The two turned their backs and walked through the double doors. Wen was in the hallway as Lars stretched his arms to touch both sides of the doorframe. His hands shimmered like they did before he fired his blasts but this time the walls began to vibrate and shake. After a few seconds Lars removed his hands and started towards the stairs. He'd only taken three steps before the doorway collapsed trapping everyone inside. Once they were a couple of blocks away, Wen made a call to Tony who said that he was waiting for her at his warehouse. The two ran the relatively short distance to Tony's warehouse to find the man himself standing in the doorway.
Tony was a little excited to see who the famed Damteni would send to retrieve this package, and was surprised to see two teenagers jogging towards him with a box. Wen's muscles were still razor sharp and bulging as she and Lars came to a stop. Tony smiled. "So you guys are two of Damteni's best?", he said instead of greeting them.
"Just wait until the news tonight", Wen replied and handed over the box. Tony looked in the box and put it under his arm. He nodded his head and a car came out of the warehouse to drive Wen and Lars back to their hotel. The two weren't even particularly tired after their mission. They worked far harder during training sessions. Once they were back in the hotel they ordered room service and a movie from the pay per view and stayed up all night talking.
The
police had responded to the call of a battle at the South
Side Cobra hangout with 15 cars and a SWAT team. Turned out that
nothing of the sort was needed. The fire department showed up next and
rescued everyone from the slowly collapsing row house. By dawn everyone
was out and the house fell down completely.
Tony had gone to his second floor office never letting the box out of his possession. He finally set it on his desk and poured a double shot of Canadian whiskey. Only then did he open the box and take out the tablet inside. The artwork on this hunk of stone was priceless, but the painting was only there to obscure the real significance of the piece. Tony didn't even know what that was, only that it was important for a very special client. Tony put his drink down to dial his phone. He hoped she picked up.
"Hello", a sleepy voice answered.
"I'm sorry to bother you on vacation, Hayfa, but that item you've been waiting for just came in."
"Oh good." It was early morning in Tunisia, but this news was enough to make her start to wake up.
"It'll take me a few days to get all the paper work to the proper people, but I promise to call you as soon as it is ready to be picked up."
"I'll see you then. And thanks Tony."
"Anything for you Mrs. Redwine", Tony said and hung up his phone. He poured himself another drink and stared at the stone tablet until he fell asleep in his chair.
...to be continued...
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