Chapter 4

Necessary Actions

Jet kept his eyes on Maarku, taking a stand against the orca zoanthrope. Seeing the sight of the older man made him wonder how he knew Shina. Probably when this fight was over, he could get some answers from the young woman. Still, he wouldn't allow Maarku to harm her in anyway.

'Hold on, we're inside my apartment!' He thought, his eyes widened in sudden realization and held his hands up. "Stop!"

Maarku's legs accidently crossed together, being caught off guard by Jet's body language. The Hawaiian soldier landed face first into the floor, losing his zoanthrope form and back to being human.

Shina looked at the action of the older male, and groaned in response. "Seriously Jet, you're worried about your place instead of your life?!" She snapped at him, astonished that he was in a life and death situation. In her mind, she wondered how she could put up with him… Then again, she had to remember Jet was a guy who liked to keep things intact.

Jet cringed at her snapping at him, shrugging his shoulders innocently. "Shina, it's my first apartment." He said, looking at her with his blue eyes. "I've had it for a year… Plus how can I explain to my landlord how a giant T-Rex and orca zoanthropes were fighting here? Not to mention the costs to fix the building."

Groaning out loud, Maarku looked at Jet and Shina with annoyed look on his face. "You know, for someone who's more concerned with people and property damages, you are an oddball of an assignment… However, I'm willing to comply but don't go weaseling out of this fight." He said in a deathly serious tone, putting the army knife away in his vest.

"He's not chickening out of a fight." Shina reassured Maarku, looking at the older man. She had a strong urge to pummel him, wanting to beat him for betraying her father's unit and friends… For what Maarku thought was right him, for some hollow and meaningless goal.

"For someone allowing him to fight, I'm curious why you don't join in." Maarku said, seeing the still calm expression on her face. "After all, you are holding a secret from him? I can feel it in you."

Jet looked at Maarku, raising an eyebrow at him. "I think we already played the 'memory lane' scene already. How about we just wrapped this up, and get this done?"

Maarku sneered, growling a bit at Jet and his attention was back on him. "Fine by me, I can take you on in my human form anyway!" He said, charging at the white-haired motorcyclist.

Shina quickly went for the door, opening and watched Jet side-step Maarku and trip him. The large soldier flew across the room and out the door, crashing into the railing outside and fell down a long flight of steps. Plus she could hear some cartoony-like sound effects thrown in along with the curse words the man spoke. "Let's hope he doesn't need a hospital."

…

Clint swung through the city, shooting out thin-wires from the metal ornaments around his wrists. He started to regret this; not ripping off the movements from some spider dude from a comic book. No, it was the assignment he was given. Sure, he'd revel in causing death but he had a hot date tonight.

Eyes widened behind his covered face, he wondered where this thought occurred. 'Hold on, since when did I develop a caring side?' He wondered in his head. Using that time to jump onto the area of the abandoned building, he lifted up the goggles and pulled down his mask. Taking a good look at his own reflection, the silver-haired man looked at his face.

Having grown up in an abusive family, his father was an abusive drunk. The only person that showed him compassion was his mother, but she died after graduating high school. In response to the death, he killed the old man. After that, he went to sign up for the police academy. His application was rejected and got kicked out, due to being mentally unstable and showed signs of being a sociopath. In response, he killed the people that kicked him out and was put in jail.

Some multinational called Tylon offered him power, in exchange for his services. Being forced to work with Maarku, he was kept on a tight leash so that he wouldn't overdo his 'killing spree' and be caught up in the moment. Over the years, Clint stayed as a low-level grunt, something he came to despise.

He poured his heart and soul into his work, killing anyone who had cold feet within the company that wanted to back out. Clint never gave up, and it was that yearning that made him stronger. When the company fell apart, he instantly went into hiding. Going back to America, he laid low in New York City, his original birthplace. Then he met the man named Slade, who saw Clint's skill-set in stealth, assassination, and espionage intrigued him. Hearing that he was starting a vigilante group, Clint jumped at the opportunity. Being given artificial gene-splicing, Clint was now a zoanthrope. Within the new group he was in, Clint was now one of the top-ranked operatives in the Night Brigade.

The only drawback was being partnered with Maarku again. He was a complete stiff, being a complete stickler for the rules. Now Clint had his fair share of hatred to humans, but never at the females. Maybe in his subconscious, he remembered the compassion his mother showed him and took it on males that represented his old man.

'Oh joy, my assignment is nothing but a coward.' Clint growled in frustration, pulling his mask back up and had his visor cover his eyes. It was game time and he opened one of the windows from the ruff. Sliding through the opening, he landed on his feet and looked around the shadowy areas. "Alright Goldberg, how about you make this nice and easy by show yourself."

Having looked around, he saw something stand up and looked pretty damn big. Seeing the blue insectoid-like man show himself, he watched the large figure make eye contact with him. Clint looked at the large 'bug-man' with disgust, wanting to either vomit or run for the hills. Yet for something that was a man-made zoanthrope, he wondered how Busuzima did it. He shoved that thought aside, putting on his game face. "Look in the mirror much?"

Stun growled in annoyance, his yellow eyes glaring death at Clint. This young man had a lot of nerve for not knowing he was getting into. Seeing the insignia on his belt, he wondered what group he was apart of? He had rumors about some group of vigilante zoanthropes, mostly when he had to go out and rummage for food in the alleyways. "You…. Have some brass if you… Think you can take me down." He said and his voice mostly hissing and scratchy.

"I'm just here on business." Clint said, cracking his knuckles. Bravado was not going to save him. If Busuzima wanted him to rough up this Steven Goldberg, or Stun, whatever he went by, he had better make it quick. "But you better be worth it bug man."

…

Outside of the abandoned pier, the same ones that were held for the underworld activities that Jet did, was the stage for the nineteen-year-old T-Rex zoanthrope and Maarku. The two were able to agree of not getting any innocent people involved, and both were stubborn to the end. Shina acted as a 'neutral party', making sure that the two stuck with the agreement. She knew Jet would keep his promise, but the blonde teenager didn't want any funny business from the orca zoanthrope.

Maarku looked at Jet, dead set on getting a blood or skin sample for Busuzima. The fact that the green-haired scientist wanted this kid's DNA was beyond him. He once again pushed any thoughts he had aside and focused on the fight. "Come at me kid."

Jet watched Maarku motion his hand to come at him. His body stiffened a bit, but he got into a stance. He charged at the large man, but immediately jumped into the air. Landing on his feet, he used his leg to sweep his opponent off his feet.

The Hawaiian man grunted hard, landing on his back. The fall being stopped by concrete would've hurt a regular non-athletic person. However, Maarku was largely built and the concrete cracked in some areas. Grabbing the leg, he swung Jet into a pile of barrels. 'That should buy me enough time.' He thought in his mind, needing a plan to grab a sample.

Shina was very tempted to step in, but watching the fight made her uneasy. Wanting the fight to be hers, she wanted to show the traitorous soldier that she wasn't the same girl that he kidnapped. Her icy blue eyes focused on Jet slowly getting back up, smirking a bit. That smirk faded when she watched Maarku walk over to his direction.

Jet regained his senses, turning his head and glared at Maarku. He didn't care about the throw, but the strength the man displayed as a human made him cautious. It was probably the enhancements the scientists gave him to hold his ground. Picking up one of the barrels, he started throwing them at his aggressor's direction. With some luck, he could come up with a plan and use the barrels as a distraction.

"Resorting to throwing stuff? That's pretty cowardly of you." Maarku called out, moving his arm to his chest and swung it out. It hit his fist, sending it flying to the side. He decided to maneuver as well, figuring mixing things up would throw off his young opponent's aim. Watching Jet jump up into the air, he was hit by the wooden barrel. Thinking it was empty, he made a face with disgust.

Jet resisted the urge to laugh, seeing the outdated vinegar oil all over Maarku's body. He ran towards his opponent again, this time hitting him with two barrels of smelly and slippery oil.

Maarku growled in annoyance, turning around and lunged at Jet. Grabbing a hold of the nineteen-year old male, he punched him hard in the face. "You think I'm funny?! Let's see how funny this is!" He yelled, taking out his army knife and shoved it into Jet's shoulder.

Jet yelled in pain, head-butting the muscle bound Hawaiian off of him. Stumbling a bit, he clutched his shoulder and got on one knee. If he took out the knife, the amount of blood coming out would weaken him.

Shina saw the way Jet was in pain, rushing into the fight. 'Screw this!' she thought in her mind, as she wasn't about to let the white-haired man die on her. Getting near Maarku, who was close to Jet, punched him in the rib cage. Seeing him yell in pain from the surprise attack, she got his full attention. "You want someone to fight, here I am!"

Maarku looked at Shina, his eyes filled with rage. "I don't need any weapons to end you!" He yelled, his mind clouded by red and anger. All he could think about was anyone who thought they could defeat him to just end up dead.

Shina kept her eyes focused on Maarku, bobbing and weaving left to right when he took at least three swings at her. Changing into her beast form, she had morphed into a leopard zoanthrope. Hitting his broad shoulder on the right side two times, she caused him pain. Elbowing him in the face was the next step, and jumped into the air to perform a drop kick on him.

Maarku screamed as he landed on his back again, grunting in a lot of pain. He started to pant heavily, his eyes fixated on Shina's new form. So she did have zoanthrope blood in her after all and of feline species just like her old man. "I'll admit… You're old man would be proud… But still, I wonder how he'd react to you… from keeping it a secret."

Having calmed down, Shina reverted back to her human form and narrowed her eyes at him. "He'd be proud of me, but you… not so much." She said in a deathly calm tone, walking towards her now battered opponent. "Now, you're obviously working for someone, since you usually follow orders… So who sent you?"

The orca zoanthrope looked at Shina, and then remembered he had his army knife stuck in Jet's shoulder. Looking at Jet and back to the young girl again, he pretended to clutch his rib cage. "Tell your old man… he can kiss my feet and burn in hell." He answered, pulling out a grenade.

Shina thought it was a grenade, but in reality it was tear gas. The smoke soon clouded her vision, feeling Maarku make a dash for it. 'Damn it, I got to get away from this gas!' She thought in her mind, and covered the rest of her whole upper body with her bomber jacket.

Jet saw Maarku making a dash at him, watching the large man transform back into that humanoid orca again. Watching him leap, he suddenly felt the knife be pulled from his shoulder and screamed in pain. Thankfully the knife wasn't stuck in anything major, or he'd be screwed.

Maarku continued to run, seeing he had blood on his knife. Taking out Busuzima's injector gun, the needle sucked the blood off of his blade. Charging at the caged fence, he knocked it over and stumbled a bit but regained his footing. The large orca continued to run, feeling his injuries starting to heal up a bit faster now. 'That fight was too close…Even Gado's kid is something the Night Brigade can't take for granted' He concluded in his mind.

…

Back in the abandoned factory, Clint made the first move and made a mad dash at Stun, throwing the first punch. This 'bug man' intrigued him, having read about Busuzima's description on him. The experiments that the mad scientist performed on him, said that Stun's body would degenerate with some cellular stabilizer. Yet here he was, still standing and breathing for three solid years.

Stun side-stepped, throwing his knee forward into Clint's abdomen and head-butted him. Watching the dark blue-clad operative stumble backwards, he looked at him with curiosity. "Who… sent you?" He asked and his voice a bit raspy.

Clint slowly regained his footing, chuckling a bit. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you."

Yellow eyes narrowed at the silver-haired assailant, knowing he wasn't going to get an answer from him. Still, death was something he wished for. Not only to get rid of this cursed body, but for the research he did that caused so many lives to be lost. However, something in him told him to fight on.

"Sorry… but I believe… Death will have to wait." Stun spoke, charging at Clint with full force.

Clint managed to leap over the large insectoid-like man, crouching and performing a sweep kick to knock Stun off of his feet. Jumping back into the air, he drove his knee into Stun's back and caused him agonizing pain. "How does that feel Goldberg? Not so nice now is it?"

Stun growled, slowly brushing off the pain and glared at the young man. He threw a punch at him, being elbowed in the face and kicked in the thigh. Obviously this assassin was well trained, being able to move so quickly. In his old body, the man that was known as Stephen Goldberg used to work out and practice wrestling to stay in shape. While he was physically fit and strong, he was also intelligent and if not as equally smart as Busuzima.

"Not as nice as this!" Stun retorted back by performing a chop move to Clint's neck, hitting the young man hard in one spot that caused him pain. Not too much, but made sure it hurt like hell.

Clint yelled in pain, stumbling a bit and used a beam to put his weight on for support. "W-what did you do?!" He demanded, wondering how someone like Stun was able to learn such a deadly move.

Stun chuckled, amused that the man that was sent to battle him underestimated the strength and intelligence of him. "There's a lot that the human body can take, such as pressure points." He explained, thinking the assassin could learn a lesson. "As a man who studied science, and practiced in wrestling, I learned to study those weak points. Although don't let this setback put any 'pressure' on you."

"Alright bug man, you just made it personal!" Clint growled, energy charging up within his body and yelled. Four extra limbs were in his place, giving him six arms. The uniform he wore was torn in some areas, but he now had arachnid-like features.

Stun was curious, seeing how his opponent now had an insectoid-like appearance now. Busuzima had gone on how insectoid zoanthropes were never possible, before he was experimented on. He was the first to be turned into one, and that turned out to be a botched failure. Now it seemed that the mistake had been corrected.

The now spider zoanthrope clenched his fists, shooting out strands of web from his wrists. Aiming directly at Stun would be pointless, and would need to throw the bigger insectoid-man's focus off. Clinging to the beams, he used those strands to swing around and hit the larger individual.

Stun was getting hit hard, feeling the strength from the six-armed operative. He grunted hard, getting hit in the jaw and was sent flying. Hitting one of creates he groaned and shook his head. It was time to see if he was like the other zoanthropes. Changing into a much larger insectoid-like creature, he took the form of a beetle zoanthrope and was much bigger in height and muscle. When he saw Clint shoot around strand of webbing his way, he caught it.

Clint's eyes widened behind his visor, being yanked forward and his face met with the large fist. The visor cracked in half, causing him to abandon his sight in the dark. Seeing the large beetle zoanthrope walk toward him, he was grabbed by the face. Being pinned down left him at a big disadvantage. To think his life would end by the hands of this deformed freak.

Stun felt the urge to kill the young operative here and now, but something in him kicked in. Reverting back to his 'normal form', he yelled in pain and clutched his sides. 'Please…Not now! Not when I am so close!' He cursed in his mind, feeling the sudden pains in his body caused by the degeneration.

Gathering himself up, Clint pulled off his mask and his eight red eyes glared death at Stun. Charging at the weakened opponent, he tackled him hard and punched him in the face with all six of his fists. The screams from his opponent were blocked out, the young arachnid caught up in a whirlwind of rage. He kept hitting Stun, throwing him to a nearby wall. Taking one of the long pipes on the ground, he walks over to the insectoid-like man and starts hitting him with it. Clint kept repeating the action over and over again. Tossing the pipe away, he kicked the large bug man with his foot.

After about a good thirty minutes of beating his target, he pulled out a metal wire from his from his pouch. He reverted back into his human form so he could choke Stun with his wire and snap his neck. "I should kill you right now!" He hissed, seeing Stun wither in pain, and clutched his sides. For some odd reason, seeing him in this state made him feel sorry. Not out of sympathy for the older male's decaying body and mind, but someone that didn't fight back. Growling in an annoyed tone, he put his gun back into his pouch. "You're not worth it." He hissed, turning around and took out his phone. Calling for any nearby units on his location, he got a signal. "It's Clint! Send a unit to my coordinates. I found a target and would like to send him to… Japan." He said, having a sadistic grin on his face.

He may have spared Stun's life, but he would so love to see his reaction in a place he was not familiar with. Right now, he remembered he had a hot date and that was something he looked forward too. Walking over to Stun, he kicked him in the abdomen and spat at his head. 'That's for making a fool out of me.'

…

Jet howled in pain, feeling his shoulder get realigned back into place. Thankfully he took some painkillers but it would take away for them to kick in. Looking at Shina, he could see a smirk on her face. "I wish I was as endurable."

"You're good the way you are." Shina said, ruffling his white-blue streaked hair.

Chuckling in response, he looked at her with his blue eyes and sighed deeply. "So, you're a zoanthrope, huh?" He finally spoke, wondering where to start. "How do you know so much about Maarku? What's the history between him and your father?"

Shina sat down next to Jet, stretching her body and wondered where to start. "You already know my father adopted me and I was an orphan of war, and you already know my side of it since you've asked me about it so many times." She chuckled, regaining her sense of seriousness. "The best person to tell you about Maarku Krueger in my father… However, I do know some things about him as I got older and found out myself. I mentioned he and my dad were old war buddies, but Maarku and a few others from my dad's unit had plans of their own."

"What were those plans?" Jet inquired, having an idea of where this was going. He wanted to get an idea of the bigger picture, something that Shina would be able to fill him in on.

"The ex-soldiers went AWOL," Shina began to explain, remembering the man's face as clear as day. "It was on a day my dad showed his zoanthrope form, something he hid from his unit. There was one mission they were on, and out of desperation my dad transformed into a humanoid lion, and killed the soldiers that were on the enemy's side. They were lost in the sight of my dad's power, and looked to somehow exploit that power. My dad refused, and that's when they decided to take things into his own hands."

"If you ask me, they seem like a bad bunch of people." Jet said, wondering if this was the same group that Maarku was working for. "Whatever happened to those soldiers?"

The spiky blonde woman shook her head, wishing she'd known the answer to that one. "I don't know what happened to them, but I do know that when I was thirteen I was kidnapped. Maarku was looking to bait my dad into a trap, and the two fought in a battle to the death. Those scars on Maarku's body, they're the ones my dad left on him."

Jet finished listening to Shina's story, knowing that Maarku escaped and was laying low until now. "We should call your dad and let him know what's going on."

"I agree and he needs to know Maarku is back." Shina said, getting out her cell phone. As she dialed her father's number. 'Maarku…What exactly are you up to?' She wondered in her mind.

…

As the night time in New York rolled by, Clint had already cleaned and healed himself up by staying in his zoanthrope form. That fight took a toll on him physically, but needed to stay in the game mentally. He wanted to make a good impression on Cathy and didn't want her to think he wasn't interested. They were at a night club, having a good time and dancing.

"So, you enjoying yourself?" Cathy moved her hips, wearing a short black mini-dress. Normally she didn't dress like this in public, and only went out like this with her lady friends. The twenty-year-old pizza girl grinds her large ass against Clint's lower region. She wore five-inch high heels, giving herself some height to her normal 5'6" physique. Plus she was rather beautiful, her hair in a high ponytail, and lips covered in red lipstick. Also she wore some silver earrings and a golden necklace with some dark blue gems on it.

Clint groaned, feeling a bit turned on. Yet he wondered if he had fully healed from his ordeal with Stun. After he had gotten back to the apartment, he had an argument with Busuzima about not telling him how powerful Stun was. Like Maarku, he was starting to question the thirty-three-year old scientist.

"You bet I am." Clint said, his hands moving to her hips. 'Shit, this girl is smoking hot!' He thought in his mind, breathing steady and turned her around. His lavender eyes scanned in her appearance, licking his lips.

Cathy saw the way Clint looked at her, smiling a bit. Pressing her big breasts into his hard chest, she leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "Let's head back to my place."

The silver haired operative looked at her, his ears perking up with interest already. Not only had he asked out a pretty girl, but he would also bed her as well. Too bad they couldn't do the nasty right here in this club. "I can't see why not?"

After several hours, Clint and Cathy were panting heavily. The brunette looked at Clint, smiling at the performance he did on her. "Holy shit!... How many times did I orgasm?"

"About ten times." Clint answered honestly, grinning a bit. Hearing his phone ring, he went to his jacket and picked it up. There were several voicemails and texts from Busuzima, earning a groan from him. 'Can't that fuckin' lizard do something himself?'

"I'll be right back." Clint winked at Cathy, going to grab his pants and threw them on. Walking out of the room, he went to the kitchen and accepted the call. "What is it? I'm busy at the-"

"I want you back here at my location this minute." Busuzima said over on his end, an annoyed tone in his voice. It was hard to reach Clint, seeing how that no good spider liked to interact with the human night life. Not that the scientist minded any fun, but it was behind his experiments that he enjoyed causing pain. "Unless I come looking for you with the tracer I put on your phone."

Clint growled, thinking he needed to get another new phone. This stalker behavior from the chameleon zoanthrope was sudden, and he did not like it one bit. "Alright, just let me get dressed and I'll meet you back at the usual location." He said before hanging up.

"Is everything okay?" Cathy called out to Clint, walking to the kitchen in a white robe.

"Y-yeah, one of my co-workers called… I need to head out now." Clint answered, narrowing his eyes on the wall. He hated to leave a pretty girl like Cathy hanging. Something about her made his life feel grounded, like he was ready to hang up the vigilante gig and blend in. Yet if he didn't come back, either Maarku or Busuzima would harm her.

"If you need to go, I'll wait." Cathy reassured him, taking Clint's hand into her own and kissed it.

'Man, this kid really doesn't deserve me…But hot damn, her waiting for me is worth it.' Clint thought in his mind, grinning inwardly. "I know this whole day was sudden but… I really like you, and I want to get to know you." He said, wondering if he should let her in on his secret. "Cathy, there's something I need to tell you."

Cathy looked at Clint with curiosity, wondering what he wanted to tell her. "What is it?"

"Cathy… I'm not a… regular person." Clint began to explain, his lavender eyes on the young woman. This was it, a very big leap of faith. He was going to expose his secret to her. "I'm a zoanthrope…."

Watching Clint transform into a humanoid spider, her eyes widened her horror. Screaming at the top of her lungs, her phobia of arachnids kicking in and grabbed a chair. "Stay away from me you filthy freak!" She exclaimed, can't believing she had sex with such a vile creature.

The silver haired man's heart felt broken, quickly dodging her attack. Catching the chair, he stood his ground and looked at her. Something inside of Clint snapped, his eyes narrowing dangerously at her. Feeling the angry side of his brain take over, he shot strands of webbing from his wrists. Seeing her struggle, it made him smirk. Walking over to her, he met with her face.

Cathy had never expected this to happen. "Please, don't hurt me." She begged.

Oh they were way pass the forgiveness stage. Clint was leaning closer to her frightened expression. Taking out his metal wire, his grin widened. He had officially cross the line, and enjoyed the screams as he choked her too death.

What appeared to be long hours, Clint had left the apartment through the window. Busuzima was hidden within the apartment, coming out of the closet. He walked around the apartment and seeing the way the spider zoanthrope left a huge mess and found traces of blood everywhere. 'I suppose hiring Catherine was a good idea. It's sad to see her fall victim of the spider. She would've made an excellent candidate for the plans I had in store.' He thought in his twisted brain, shifting to the next phase of his plan. 'However, I see potential in a man like Clint. Now that I have him in the mindset of not trusting humans, I can finally begin to recruit followers to my own cause.' He concluded as his beady eyes opened, his mouth shifted to a mischievously evil grin.

…

Oh I had fun with this one. Just when you think I was going to give Clint a happy ending, the plot itself decided to twist and become cruel to the poor spider! I wanted to try and introduce racism into the Bloody Roar stories, something I didn't see in the video games. I know Clint's scene at the end was rushed, but it was a way to get him to show that a vicious killer like him isn't so one-dimensional. I decided to make an exception of posting another chapter this week, and wanted to get the chance to flesh out Clint and Maarku's characters. Hope you all enjoyed the story!