A/N: Korsar2303: glad you liked this ticking bomb. The OVA appearance I've chosen does have a reason, but I do admit to iking that version better. My own bias, nothing more.
Now, onwards.
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"No" the youth said hoarsely. He threw his bedroom door open and frantically searched inside, as remote as the possibility was.
Dead Master and Riley were nowhere to be found.
"Shit" he cursed. He sprinted to the next room, the guest bedroom. He repeated the procedure, with the same result. And the next room after that.
Robert left the kitchen with a cup of coffee in hand, clad in only his bathrobe. He was heading for the living room to watch some television, but was interrupted in his journey by the sound of someone racing down the stairs. Raising one of his brows, he looked to see his grandson sprinting down the steps in great loping strides, eating up two or three steps at a time. He stayed in place at the sight, his head tracking him as he reached the end and spin to the next room by grabbing the handrail.
Once he was out of sight, Robert focused on his hearing to tell him what the boy was doing. Despite his advancing age he could hear fine (though he pretended it was much worse when the situation called for it). He heard door after door get yanked open, each time a mumbled "shit" followed it. Taking his attention away from him for a moment, he wondered what could put him in such a state. A glance around gave him his answer.
An out of breath Huey sprinted back the way he came, skidding to a stop just before the old man.
"Grandad, have you seen-" he started to question, but stopped to cough raggedly from a distinct lack of breathing. Seeing him temporarily incapacitated, Robert decided to cut him some slack.
"Those two left half an hour ago" he answered. The youth's head snapped up in shock.
"What!" he cried out. His grandfather shrugged.
"Yeah I know its weird. Up by seven am on a school day, wonder whats gotten into that little n****" he commented calmly. Huey's breathing picked up almost to hyperventilation levels.
"Did they say where they were goin!?" he demanded.
"Calm down, before you pop a blood vessel. He didn't tell me, but he did leave a note. Dunno why" he answered, pointing towards the kitchen. They afro'd boy took off without a word. The old man shook his head at his strange behavior, internally asking himself what had gotten into everyone lately. Shrugging, he decided it didn't matter before resuming his original plan of TV watching.
Huey scrambled into the kitchen. He began to frantically search every surface, looking for everything with words. Such was his state that he actually passed over the small post-it note attached to the refrigerator via a magnet twice before realizing it was there. Yanking it off to send the small object flying, he fretfully scanned over the note. His worst fears were confirmed in that moment.
Robert looked over again when he heard Huey running again. He was going to yell for the boy to slow down before he hurt himself, or broke something. But the front door was thrown open and slammed shut before he could do so. Again he raised a brow at his bizarre behavior. And again he shook off his concerns, instead he became aware that he was alone in the house for the first time in weeks. He huffed and grabbed the remote.
Huey had his bike mounted and moving as fast as he could manage. Normally he tried to keep his speed down since there were any number of things that warranted caution: debris in the road, pedestrians, ornery neighbors, paranoid cops, et cetera. But at that time he wasn't in the mood to care. He pedaled quickly, pushing his legs to their limits. In short order his breath was reduced to ragged sputters, but still he pedaled.
Four days passed after Dead Master decided she was bored with school, and she made an innocent suggestion that he vehemently shot down. He even went so far as to make her promise to not go, and for a time it seemed to work. She said no more about the subject, making him faintly hope she was serious. He saw now that she was just lulling him into a false sense of security. In the corner of his mind not tainted by panic he wondered what Riley was doing with her.
It was a twenty minute ride to the park at a decent pace, another ten to reach Ed Wuncler's home. In just twenty two minutes (and three close calls with passerby's) he covered that distance. At another time he would've felt pride at accomplishing a feat like that, perhaps enough to boast about it. At present though, he was too consumed by worry to even notice. Visions of destruction and death danced before his eyes the entire way.
He only started to slow down when the man's home began to loom before him. Four stories tall, eighty rooms, and several square miles of carefully manicured lawns and gardens ostentatiously announced the presence of the enormous Wuncler mansion. It was home to the richest man in Woodcrest, perhaps the country. Before the youth could enter the property itself, he had to get past the fortress like wall that surrounded the place. Right by the main driveway was a guardhouse, who's current occupant exited to meet the boy as he pulled up to it.
"Oh fuck" Huey muttered unhappily. Coming out of the guardhouse was a plump older man, darker than anyone else he knew. The man wore the black uniform the owner liked for his guards to have, complete with the billed cap. He regarded the young Freeman with unconcealed distaste.
"Hay now, this here is private property. You can take yo low class shit elsewhere" Uncle Rukus greeted sourly.
"I don't got time for this, just let me in" Huey answered in kind, skipping the formalities. Rukus sneered, reaching for his side to pat the nightstick on his belt.
"You think I'm just gonna let your darkie ass in just 'cause you said so? Get the fuck outta here before I beat some n**** ass" he threatened.
"You let Riley in earlier" he shot. The bane of his existence chuckled, but doubt flashed across his features.
"There's no way that little monkeys is in this here buildin, you just trying to trick me" he said, with much less confidence than he wanted.
"Check inside damnit" Huey snapped.
The walkie talkie on Rukus's belt crackled to life.
"Control to gate, come in. Rukus, pick up" the authoritative male voice on the other end commanded. Scowling at the youth, he unclipped the device from his belt to speak into it.
"This is gate, I got a monkey in front of me. Permission to use deadly force?" he asked hopefully.
"Negative. Send him in, he's expected" the man said curtly before static replaced his voice. Rukus glared, first at the radio, then at the troublemaking boy that was glowering right back at him. Narrowing his gaze, he walked backwards to the guardhouse, flicking something just in the door. The large ornate gate that blocked of the driveway rattled, the center splitting to open wide. Wasting no more time, Huey pushed off again into the entranceway.
"You try to steal anythin and I'll bust your head!" the racist guard threatened. The youth was out of earshot in short order though.
The slight incline made his already sore muscles send slivers of agony in protest, even with the short distance that was left to go. By the time he reached the front door he was heaving breath, and having trouble keeping the bike upright. When he lowered his leg to prop it up, it nearly buckled under the strain. Grimacing the entire time, he gave one more burst of effort to dismount it.
He had to stop a moment to catch his wind, despite knowing full well how much he needed to hurry. When he felt slightly better he glanced at the door, only to do a double take at the butler patiently standing at attention.
"Mister Freeman?" he asked neutrally,. Huey was momentarily taken aback at his presence; he looked like a stereotypical butler down the fine details, lacking only an english accent or something like it.
"Yes?" he said back, his short breath clipping his words short. The man nodded before turning around to open the door, gesturing for him to follow. Sparing a peek at his bike, he trotted after him.
"Is mister Wuncler home?" Huey asked quickly, keeping up with the man's long strides. He peeked around that the ostensible surroundings, noting several pieces of gilded art that were likely worth more than his home by several orders of magnitude.
"The elder Wuncler is not. He is currently upstate for a shareholders meeting, he will return the day after tomorrow. But I'm assuming you were referring to the young Wuncler, no?" the butler asked back. The two came to a set of stairs, which he internally groaned at. Nevertheless he soldiered on after the man.
"Thats right" he agreed.
"He is currently entertaining guests in his...recreation room. I was instructed earlier to take you to him if you arrived" the butler explained, making Huey give him a questioning look. He didn't get the chance to ask however, as the man came to a stop before a door. Just beyond he could hear ambient sounds, unlike anything else that he heard thus far. It sounded like faint music, filtering through the walls. He thought he saw the butler sigh before he opened the door.
The loud music beat out like a physical thing, briefly deafening him after the relative quiet outside. The butler didn't looked phased by the powerful beat, he just stood in place to wait patiently. After several seconds his perseverance paid off; the music lowered considerably by whoever had the sound system, though it didn't shut off entirely. From inside came a bellow of "who the fuck is it!?"
"Mister Wuncler, your guest has arrived" the butler said neutrally.
"Who? I didn't invite no-hold up, nevermind, send him in" the deep ghetto accented voice shouted. The butler gave Huey one more flat look before gesturing for him to enter. Before he walked through the door he gave a quick "thanks" to him, not seeing his nodding reply cut off by the closing door.
The "recreation room" was much different than the rest of the mansion. Posters of bands and famous rappers were plastered all over the walls, while expensive lamps and statuettes had cheap clothes tossed over them. On every piece of furniture there was either pricy electronics, weapons, or both scattered on the tops. Dominating the center of the room was a circle made of an enormous hundred inch TV with large speakers flanking it, and two large couches. Four people were on the couches, two on one and two on the other.
"Yo! What up n****?" greeted the first of the couch dwellers. Edward Wuncler the third, sporting a tank top with blue jeans. Gin Rummy waved perfunctorily, not taking his eyes off of the screen. Glancing at it, Huey saw that it was a shooter game, currently spilt between two players. He didn't know which one it was, but he didn't care anyway.
"Hey" he said lowly, his narrowing gaze moving to the other couch. On one side was Riley, a look of intense concentration on his face and a game controller clutched in his hand. Every few seconds he muttered a curse, giving every indication that he failed to notice his brother standing just a few feet away.
On the opposite side of the couch was Dead Master. She was sitting with her stocking clad legs propped up by a cushion laden stand. On her lap was a laptop computer, a model that was priced easily four times the cost of his grandfathers. A pair of earphones snaked down from her head to the side of the machine as well. Like Riley, she was deeply engrossed with whatever was on the screen. Feeling eyes on her, she glanced up.
"Oh, its you" she said, with a total lack of sincerity.
"What."
"I wanted out of the house for a couple of hours, I was so bored."
"The fuck."
"And you kept hovering over me so much, I was feeling threatened."
"Are you doing here?" he demanded.
"I just said, I was bored. Honestly, you're a boring person" she remarked.
"You in the way" Riley complained. Huey shot him a death glare before turning back to the girl. He was about to go on a tirade but the TV suddenly went quiet, making both Riley and Gin curse.
"Kay, we all here now" Ed announced. His afro'd head swiveled to the dangerous man-child, seeing both a remote in his lowering hand and a self satisfied smirk on his face.
"What the fuck n****!? That match had like a minute left!" Gin snarled.
"Yeah what gives!?" Riley shouted. Dead Master clicked something on the laptop before pushing it aside, yanking out the plugs as well. Huey merely glared.
"Ya'll are here naow, lets get down to business" he stated with an uncharacteristic degree of seriousness. He insistently waved for the computer, which the girl brought to him, brushing past the youth without a word. Setting it down in front of him, Ed nodded and pulled a small widget out from his pocket to attach to one of its ports. Upon closer examination Huey discovered it was a bluetooth. Clicking something on the keyboard, he pointed towards the TV.
"Check this shit out" he boasted. The four other occupants glanced at the large screen, all but one had a look of guarded curiosity.
"This that bank shit?" Gin asked irritably, moments before the image loaded. It was a photo of the front of a marble stoned building, with a large sign above the front door identifying it was the "Leyson & Rex Associates Banking" in friendly print.
"Neat" Dead Master commented.
"Ah shit, it is" Gin muttered.
"Wait, I thought you said you weren't doin it, canceled or somethin" Riley asked, earning a questioning glance from his brother.
"It was, now we're back on" Ed proclaimed.
"So you two are robbin your grandad's bank again?" Huey asked laconically. The man's smirk rose a notch.
"Nope. That there is a competitor's bank, we're gonna drive them out of town" Ed corrected proudly.
"Cuz old man Wuncler asked you to" Huey said drily.
"Yep" the redhead agreed.
"Slight correction though, this ain't a two person job. The game plan called for five n****s" Gin added. He looked at him confusedly tor a moment, not catching on. In a few seconds his eyes went wide in revelation.
"No way" he murmured.
"I said it was canceled before since those two n****s my boy there was supposed to meet with didn't show" Ed went on. Huey quickly turned around to his suddenly squirming brother, utterly shocked.
"You what?!" he shouted.
"Hey hey, chill out, I was just meetin up with them" Riley tried to placate.
"You were goin to rob a bank?!" Huey yelled.
"Lower your voice" Dead Master commanded lowly. He sent a brief glare at her before refocusing on the boy, who fidgeted defensively.
"Relax man, its all cool" Ed soothed. Huey stabbed a finger at him, ignoring the men.
"You are not doin this" he said threateningly.
"He is, we all agreed to this like two weeks ago" Gin piped in. All that did was make his eyes narrow.
"Fuck you n****, you not the boss of me" Riley snapped angrily.
"I'm not gonna watch you go to prison" he shot back.
"I won't you paranoid bastard! Ed here has it all taken care of, right?" he nodded to the redhead.
"Fuck yeah n****, all that shits ready" he confirmed enthusiastically.
"Every time you do shit like this, somethin goes wrong. Every fucking time. Not this time, I'm gonna keep you out of this come hell or high water" Huey vowed. His brother tsk'd.
"List one time that my plans gone wrong" Riley challenged.
"The mall santa, Oprah, the chocolate scam, Stinkmeaner, your chain, Gangstalicious, I can go on all goddamn day" he listed off angrily.
"Shut the hell up, both of you" Gin snarled. Huey felt a hand gently touch his shoulder, one that felt far too hard to be made of flesh. Turning his scowling head, he saw Dead Master scowling right back at him.
"Sit down" she said authoritatively, before suddenly shoving him. His cry of surprise was muffled by the soft couch when his face impacted. It didn't hurt of course, he was just stunned at her actions. Pulling his face out from the cushions, he glanced at her questionably. Out of the corner of his vision he noted that Riley had jumped away.
"Better now?" she asked sarcastically. He nodded, his frown reforming.
"That was sick" Riley commented admirably. Both of them shot the boy a hostile look, making him shrink back.
"Anyway, here's the plan" Ed announced. Huey pushed himself back to his feet and made a visible effort of straightening out his clothes.
"I want no part of it then. Later jackasses" he stated before walking to the door. He was almost to it when he heard "so what do I do?" making him stop in his tracks. His torso was still frozen, so he had to use his legs to twist his body around.
"Say what" he said quietly. Her horned head flicked to his direction, along with Ed's.
"Five n**** plan remember? N**** one" he pointed to himself "n**** two" to a nodding Gin "n**** three" to Riley. His finger inexorably moved to the otherworldly girl "n**** number four" he finished. Huey was silent for a moment.
"You do realize she's an alien" he posed. The man-child shrugged indifferently.
"So?" he asked.
"Thats a good thing. No fingerprints, no dental records, completely anonymous" Gin added.
"Besides, this sounds like fun" Dead Master piped in. Huey let his head and arms drop to sigh.
"You got me" he murmured.
"So you in?" Riley yelled from the far side of the room. He resignedly nodded.
"Sweet! Now get yo ass over here, we got plannin to do" Ed commanded.
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Eastern Woodcrest, the next day...
In an uncharacteristic display of restraint, the Escalade's sound system was left off. Not entirely by choice; Huey had pointed out that since the mission needed something resembling stealth, it wasn't a good idea to announce to the whole city where they were. The shiny black vehicle still drew attention quite easily however, making heads turn on practically every sidewalk they passed by. More than a few cops tailed them for a distance. Huey groaned at the absurdity of it all.
"Naw naw, I said the twelve hundreds. Twelve hundreds, hear me? Hello? Bruh, I said twelve hundreds, fuck the thousands bullshit" Ed vigorously spoke to no one from behind the wheel. If it wasn't for the smartphone hooked up to his dashboard the youth would've wondered if he was crazy.
"Fuckin iphone bullshit" Gin muttered from the passenger seat. He was hunched up and scanning the road for threats, real or imagined.
The three other co-conspirators were crowded into the backseat. Huey alternated between glancing out the window for location and face palming, Dead Master stared with muted amazement at all the things that passed them by, and Riley was silently fuming in the middle since the other two claimed the windows. None of them were in a particularly good mood, with only the girl not actively upset. Gins earlier recommendation of some fast food blew off some steam, but it failed to get rid of it.
"Why am I in the middle seat?" Riley asked icily.
"Because I called it and you didn't want to argue with her" his brother answered cynically. The boy huffed.
"I call it on the ride back" he claimed.
"On the ride back we're probably gonna be shot at. I don't think it'll matter" he pointed out sourly.
The girl hiccuped. Upon seeing both of their questioning stares she shrugged.
"The sodapop, I think" she said defensively. They continued to stare for another second before returning to their respective griping.
"Alright alright, see ya later bruh" Ed farewelled, reaching out to tap the phone's screen.
"That shit creeps the hell out of me" Gin commented. Ed glanced at him askance.
"Man, we go over this shit every time. New tech isn't the devils work or some bullshit like that" he dismissed.
"I never said a damn thing about devils work. I just don't like new tech is all. Sides, that smartphone thing you got me to buy tried to kill me, remember?" he replied irritably.
"Oh you too?" Riley asked bemusedly. Both men ignored him.
"One time only, I can guarantee that won't happen again" Ed promised.
"Hmm, we'll see about that. That fuckin thing will-hold up" Gun suddenly darted forward, putting one hand on the dash and one on his friend's shoulder. Ignoring Riley's snort again he pointed out the window on the drivers side. Ed looked, and smiled maliciously.
"Thats the place" he announced, with all three of the backseat children glanced out Huey's window.
Ed pulled the escalade up to the curb, amazingly within the lined boundaries. Across the street was the bank, looking moderately impressive in the flesh. Huey examined the building in detail, noting how many people were coming and going. To his relief there wasn't many. He estimated there was hopefully less than fifty customers inside, since it was not even nine a.m. on a tuesday. Two guards stood watch by the main doors, giving cursory looks and greetings to each person that went inside. That on the other hand worried him.
"This is it. Anyone feel like pussin out, nows the time" Ed called out. No one responded, making him grin.
"Alright then, lets get this show on the road" he proclaimed.
At almost the same time the Escalade's four doors opened together. Out of three a single individual exited, out of the fourth two left. Riley cursed under his breath at being the last one out before he joined them in going for the rear of the vehicle. The youth and the girl stopped to wait, while the blonde man crossed his arms to wait as well. The cornrowed boy found, to his aggravation, that he was again last to the gathering. Ed went to the latch and opened the back door.
In the spacious back, there was a poorly stacked supply of duffel bags, spare clothes, and weapons. Lots of weapons. When Huey saw how many there were he couldn't help but groan; despite him telling them not to Ed and Gin brought an arsenal along anyway. The men in question both smirked while they grabbed their weapons first. Two military grade assault rifles in their cases. Left in the bed was a smattering of different weapons for the children to grab.
Riley grinned evilly as he beheld his prize. He grabbed the two handguns that rested on the carpeted bed like a proverbial knight grabbing his sword, giving each of them an excited look before sloppily shoving the barrel into the belt of his pants. After grabbing the black overcoat that Ed insisted they had to have (making them look like cheap action movie 'heroes') in the warm spring day he noticed out of the corner of his eye that his brother was watching him reproachfully, which he scoffed at.
"Like you could do better" he said scornfully.
Huey rolled his eyes before turning back to the stockpile. Having already put on his coat he searched for a gun to use. His original scheme of just a simple pistol was ignored because of how heavily armed everyone else was going for, something that wouldn't be appreciated if/when they got into a shootout (and to avoid being mocked). Instead, he grabbed a submachine gun, an MP5 with an unnecessary laser sight. Conducting a brass check, he nodded in satisfaction when he heard a distinctive double clacking sound. Against his better judgment he looked over.
In Dead Master's claws was a small pump action shotgun, which she was examining with wonder.
"You have to be one of the last people in the world that needs a gun" he said dryly. He noted her coat didn't seem to bother her, considering it was mashing her stubby wings against her back. Apart of him questioned how she was able to put it on without tearing the sleeves.
"But I am one of the first who wants one" she replied distantly. While they spoke each one stuffed the guns into the duffels (save Riley) and shoved underneath their arms, where the buckled strap kept them in place.
Giving his and everyone else's ensembles a critical glance, Ed smiled and jabbed his thumb up.
"We all good? Sweet. Just stash the guns til we get inside, everyone remember the plan?" he asked them.
"I'm the n**** who planned this dumbass" Riley derided.
"Whatever. We got ten minutes before we get the fuck outta here, so lets roll" he said quickly, the children beginning to fall in around him. His stride to the bank was interrupted by Gin grabbing his arm.
"Hold up. Masks?" he pointed out. Ed looked at him blankly for a moment before his eyes widened.
"Oh, shit I bout forgot" he said. He pulled his duffel back out to unzip it, rooting around inside for something to the young members's confusion. After an expectant few seconds he went "ahah" and pulled out a wad of dark fabric. He held the bundle out, apparently wanting them to grab it. Gin was the first, yanking out a piece of whatever it was. When the blonde man held it up to the light Huey discovered it was a black bandana.
After grabbing one for himself he checked to see how they were going to use them. What surprised him was them using the garments sensibly; Gin tied it around his neck but left a large loose flap that could quickly cover everything below his eyes, tucking most of it under his shirt as well. A glance at Riley showed the boy quickly readjusting his own to match theirs. A muted sigh preceded his glance at the last member, who had the bandana held in her hands and was staring confusedly at it.
"Want help?" he asked laconically. Her eyes moved to him, narrowing dangerously.
"Gotta do it like this" Riley said, stunning him by going behind her to help. She hesitated for a moment before passing him the cloth. The boy had to pass it around her neck as opposed to over it, on account of the horns. Once that was done he needed only a few more seconds to get it tied before he backed off, letting her tuck it in herself.
"Thank you" she said lowly. Wearing a satisfied smirk, he nodded proudly.
"Kay, now we good?" Ed asked in annoyance. Upon seeing no further problems he nodded again.
"Finally. Ten minutes, lets go" he declared.
At long last it began. Ed went first, crossing the street with Gin beside him. It was jaywalking, but neither cared. Huey and Dead Master traveled to one corner for the actual crosswalk, Riley walked to the other. The crossing lights held the former two up for several nerve wracking seconds before it indicated go. Looking around, he saw that there wasn't many pedestrians in the immediate vicinity. He was relieved that the risk of casualties was much lower as a result.
For the first time that day Riley wasn't last to the gathering. He reached the men waiting near the main door before the other pair, though only by a few seconds. As per the plan none of them spoke to each other, though it didn't take a genius to realize the five were connected in some way. The odd looks the two guards gave the small gaggle told the afro'd youth as much. Fortunately, for everyone's sakes, they decided not search them. The strange mixture of black boys, white men, and an alien girl were let in with a cursory hello.
Huey shook his head in disbelief as they crossed the threshold into the bank proper. Inside was a layout he thought of as typical. An open space with a roped off waiting line, a large marble counter, potted plants scattered everywhere, and so on. Unusually, there was a large amount of woodwork throughout the area. He dismissed the scenery and focused on what mattered: three guards (all male), three receptionists (all female), five civilians (mixed) that had no idea what was about to happen, He hoped none of them were armed.
Feeling the hefty gun jostle under his arm, he went to the corner of the place to one of the guards. A peek showed his brother doing the same to the other. Ed went right to one of the reception ladies that just finished with a customer, cutting in line to the few other people's annoyance. Dead Master stopped at the end of the waiting line and glanced around, suppressing a grin. Ed stayed near the front doors trying to not look expectant. At a glance everything looked to be going according to plan.
"Can I help you sir?" the clueless receptionist asked friendly. Soft music played as white noise, but it was low enough for him to hear the conversation. Huey hoped that the man-child wouldn't spout some corny one liner before pulling out a weapon; convincing him to not walk in guns blazing (his preferred operating style) was hard enough.
"Yeah, I'd like to make a withdrawal for the Carlisle account" he said, somehow without sounding like a joke. Huey felt relieved enough to sigh gratefully.
"Lets see...ah, Carlisle. How much would you like to withdrawal sir?" she asked. He chuckled, brushing his jacket aside to reveal the very much illegal rifle.
"All of it" he said smugly. Twenty feet away Huey rolled his eyes while tugging up the bandana.
Shaking his annoyance away, he began his part of the plan. The guard had reached for his sidearm while going for his radio, but he saw the black boy by him pull out and point a submachine gun right at him. Widening his eyes, the guard stared helplessly at him, frozen in place. When the barrel of the gun gestured downwards he obeyed at once, sliding his gun away and lying flat on his stomach.
"Drop the gun bitch ass! Thats right, slide it out the way" Riley yelled at his own guard. Sparing a peek at the two he saw that the guard was down as he ordered. He also saw that the boy had both his guns out and was all but hopping around. Again Huey rolled his eyes, seeing that the few customers did the sensible action by getting on their own stomachs and staying quiet beyond a few whimpers.
"Drop the weapon!" yelled the last guard. The youth froze.
The last guard, explicitly Dead Master's to deal with, had his pistol pointed right at the cold eyed girl. Gin noticed from his position brought his rifle to bear on the man. Darting his head around the guard saw his heavily disadvantaged position, yet he stayed in place with the sights of his weapon trained on the girl. None of the three moved for many seconds, and Huey was unwilling to take his attention off of his own man for more than an eye blink.
"Drop. The weapon" the man angrily ordered. The girl didn't move an inch.
"Get on the ground man, before I have to shoot you" Gin told him, his voice eerily calm.
"I did not go through three fucking tours in Afghanistan to get held up by some two bit thugs!" he snapped over his shoulder.
The furious guard took his attention off of the girl for a second at most. When he brought his eyes back around he discovered it was his greatest mistake. Dead Master shifted her stance to whip something at him, the chain wrapping itself around his wrists before he could blink. His two handed hold on his handgun betrayed him, letting her get the better of him immediately. With one contemptuous pull he was yanked off his feet.
He landed in a heap right by her, too quickly to do more than gasp. Amazingly, the gun didn't go off. At once she bent over and twisted the gun from his tight hold. She ignored his moans of pain in favor of examining his sidearm in greater detail for several seconds. Finally she shrugged and tossed it over her shoulder, noticing from the corner of her vision that Huey was staring flatly at her. She responded with a derisive snort.
"My gun got caught on the strap" she said defensively.
"You had one job" he replied flatly.
"Go to hell" she snapped. Watching the bickering, Gin groaned in annoyance.
"Timeframe n****s!" Gin snarled. Both teens snorted, rolling their eyes.
Huey used his gun to make the guard by him move to the center towards his groaning comrade, making sure he didn't go anywhere near his weapon. Riley yelled uncreative abuses at his own hostage to move him as well, the man's features showing disbelief at the situation. Once the three men were in the center area, he left the three under his brother's watch while Gin kept his eyes outside. With that taken care of, he and the girl headed to the counter.
"Move it" Ed urged, furiously gesturing the receptionists out with his M16. When he saw movement out of the corner of his vision he was a heartbeat away from spraying them with gunfire, only stopping when he saw the boys distinctive hairstyle.
"What took you so long? Lets go" he barked, jabbing his hand to the back.
Following his finger, Huey saw their prize: a six by three foot safe, helpfully already opened. Visible to the fluorescent lights was paper money, lots of it. Far too much for their puny duffel bags. Quietly sighing, he pulled the bag from under his shoulder out to unzip it. Looking over, he saw Dead Master doing the same with much less ease. While she jostled it the shotgun she ogled earlier slipped out to fall to the ground. She regarded the gun sourly.
"Why did it come out that time?" she grumbled to herself.
"Doesn't matter, start filling it" Huey said quickly, darting to the safe. He put his arm behind a stack and pulled it towards him, letting the hundreds of packed bills tumble into the yawning opening of his bag. Several wads didn't make it and fell to the side, onto the floor. He forced himself to ignore them, continuing to shove the money inside.
Once he was done he zipped it up to push it aside, turning his torso around to wave her closer. Instead of doing that she tossed her own duffel at him, picking up her gun instead. Frowning, he repeated the procedure with hers. Now thoroughly weighted down, he shoved it out of the way only to have another bag land right by him. The frown morphed into a scowl as he saw Ed readjusting his coat, shrugging indifferently at him.
"I'm busy" he defended weakly. He scowled at him despite the obscuring bandana while filled the bag for the third time. Once that one was zipped up he half expected another to get tossed his way, but fortunately none did. Standing up, he let his sore muscles get readjusted before going to one of the three bags. One tug on the strap told him how it was going to play out.
"I can't carry all three of these" he said laconically. Ed stole a few quick glances at him, scowling at him from under the cover.
"Well try damnit! You're the mule" he snapped.
"We're all supposed to carry one remember?" he snapped back.
Dead Master rolled her eyes. She tossed a glowing object over her shoulder, which quickly transformed into two balls of swirling light. In seconds they dissipated into two beach ball sized black skulls, floating on their own and glowing with a sickly green light. On of the receptionists watched the event and screamed at the top of her lungs. Fortunately for her sake, Ed's bark of "shut the fuck up!" convinced her to clamp her mouth shut. When he followed her wide gaze, he too was temporarily dumbstruck.
"How's this?" she asked blandly. Both man and boy unconsciously gulped.
"Whatever, grab one" Ed commanded.
With a faint gesture the skulls closed in on the youth. He watched as the twin monstrosities approached him, using every once of his willpower to keep from freaking out. They stopped two feet away and opened their unnatural jaws, showing nothing beyond more of the gangrenous light on the inside. Primal fear clouded his thinking, making him need a moment to figure out what he was supposed to do.
He lifted a strap from the closest bag and kept it wide, and the floating object delicately moved to catch it inside its mouth. It closed a second later, keeping it in a secure, if intrinsically horrifying grip. Then, it levitated up. For a heart beat the strap went taunt, the skull seemingly hesitating to rise further. The moment passed, and the eldritch thing lifted into the air with the duffel bag dangling underneath it. Still numb, Huey did the same to the other skull for the same result.
Her fingers twitched to move the floating skulls away, and he hefted the last duffel over his shoulder. His spine protested from the effort, the grimace on his face taking hold. He was glad that the gun had a strap. Panting in effort, he trudged around the counter with the two unnatural creations floating after him. Behind them Dead Master sedately followed the three, a smug grin evident even under the bandana. He thought the day couldn't get worse, which was exactly when it did.
"I hear sirens!" Gin called out. All four of the robbers snapped their heads to attention.
"Alright listen up! None of you bastards saw anythin! Got it?!" Ed shouted. Huey saw a few of the terrified civilians nodding frantically, though the guards kept tight expressions (the middle guard that had dealt with the girl especially).
Riley and Ed darted to the front door while sweeping their guns around for any last minute troublemakers. Dead Master came from around the baggage train to the new gathering. Gin waited until they were all right by it, scanning everyone's face for any sign of fear. He nodded in satisfaction, noting with concern Huey's struggle. His eyes lingered on the floating skulls for a couple of seconds, but he shook his head.
"Y'all ready?" he asked them.
"Lets do this" Ed said determinedly.
"Ready whenever you dumb ass is" Riley cockily answered.
"This will be fun" Dead Master said with dark excitement.
Huey groaned under his burden.
"Okay, on three. One" he held up a hand with a finger extended "two" another raised, with the tension in the air rising with the volume of the sirens.
"Three!" Gin threw the door open.
Ninety minutes later...
Rukus almost didn't open the gate. The sight of the large black vehicle coated with innumerable dents, scratches, and bullet holes leaking steam from the crumpled hood shakily rolling up to the front entrance was so far removed from his list of acceptable beings he could hardly believe it. Only when he exited the guardhouse with the taser from his desk did he finally get a detailed look at the car. Though it was hard to see under the vicious abuse it had suffered, it was clearly an Escalade. When the broken drivers side window came into view, he did a double take.
"Mista Wuncler! Lordy, what the hell happened to yo car!?" he exclaimed. The sour faced Ed quietly sighed.
"A long day. Let us in" he told him, his voice oddly deflated. Rukus snapped a quick salute with his left hand before running back to the switch. The large gate rumbled and opened, and the mangled car trundled through. Rukus gave a concerned nod at the driver and his passenger. When he saw the tired face slumped against the back window he scowled. The car left his post before he could rain insults on the boy, to his considerable disappointment.
The butler that greeted Huey the day before was already out and waiting by the front door, with a half dozen adjutants patiently waiting. The wrecked car's engine stalked a few feet from the customary spot, though its remaining momentum let it coast the remaining distance. A heartbeat after it stopped something loud and metallic rattled out from under the hood, making the volume of steam increased somewhat.
Ed left first, his door creaking uncomfortably as he pushed it open. The door behind his also opened, showing Huey with dark circles under his eyes. On the other side Gin's door started to open before something snapped, making it fall off its hinges entirely to crash to the ground. The blonde man stared cynically at it, too won out to give more than a token curse. Riley had better luck with his own, and he looked to be in marginally better condition than the others. Last was Dead Master, who hopped out with bounce to her step.
"Mister Wuncler, good to see you. Are you well?" the butler asked cordially. With his shoulders slumped he trudged away from the wrecked car.
"Yeah yeah. I'm gonna go take a nap" he said tiredly, brushing passed him.
"Your grandfather is returning later, may I ask what you want done with your car?" he questioned.
"Its my fuckin car" Gin bitterly protested, who had stopped to look over the vehicle with a pained expression.
"Get rid of it" was the young heir's laconic response.
The rest of the group sans the girl were fumbling with the back latch for a moment before it released. In contrast from earlier the door didn't lift under its own power, making the man have to hold the door up. Huey and Riley reached inside to pull out two heavy looking duffel bags, miraculously untouched by whatever had torn the vehicle a new one. They both groaned in effort to lift the heavy bags, unable to lift them up further than a foot off of the ground. Dead Master quickly reached inside to grab one of her own to carry, slinging it over her shoulder without a care.
"My fuckin car" Gin mumbled as the impromptu convoy walked passed the awaiting butler. As they did, he caught the acrid scent of gunpowder from all of them. He watched them strangely until they were out of sight, wondering if he was going to see their antics on the evening news. Shaking his concerns away, he turned to his newest task.
"Alright, strip everything salvageable out if it. Someone give the tow service a call. Where's the closest scrapyard? And where did that supply of chlorine vanish to?" he called out orders to the assembled butlers, who quickly took to their tasks. He circled the car to inspect how severe the damage was, incidentally discovering something unusual on the other side: a large gash that spanned from the front fender almost to the rear.
Inside, the procession labored to return back to Ed's recreation room.
"That was some bullshit" Ed muttered.
"Why was I the only one that was carrying the cash?" Huey sourly asked.
"You should be asking why you shot my goddamn stereo?" Gin shot.
"It was too loud, none of you could hear anything" he tiredly defended.
"It was my stereo, all you had to do was turn it down" he said angrily.
"We were being shot at, Ed was trying to call some bitch, and so on. Telling you to shut it off wasn't an option" he tiredly replied.
"I liked that song" Dead Master said wistfully. Riley snorted.
"Really? DMX is a bitch" he declared.
"I still liked that song" she retorted.
"By the way" Huey looked over his shoulder "why exactly did you feel the need to climb out the window, kicking me in the stomach in the process, to get on top of the car?"
"Because I couldn't use my weapons while I was cramped up like that" Dead Master answered..
"Like the shotgun that jumped out of your hands when you fired it?" he asked drily.
"More like my scythe. Its been a while since I used it" she answered without pause.
"Hey, while he's at it, why did you try slicin the side that I was on?" Riley turned to question. She shrugged apologetically.
"Wasn't trying to, I was about to fall off" she defended.
In due time the mixed group came to the room. Ed swung the door open to trudge inside, his partners in crime following him in the same way, with one exception. The redhead took his favorite lounge chair, falling back into his puffy embrace. Huey and Gin flopped onto one of the couches, while Riley sank into the other, al, three dropping the bags of money by the door. Collectively they groaned, the stress of the last two and a half hours beginning the slow process of bleeding away.
Dead Master made a beeline to the mini fridge, discovering with delight some oranges.
"Man, I'm beat" Ed said to no one in particular.
"No kiddin" Gin mumbled. Riley turned his head around, spotting the laptop sitting on it's own. He reached over to drag it closer.
"I missed two days of school. For this" Huey murmured to himself.
Dead Master walked away from the snacks to the group, leaning over the back of Riley's couch.
"What're doing?" she asked the boy. He had the laptop on his lap and was loading a video.
"Watchin funniest fails. Check this one out" he pointed to the caption, which read 'interview gone wrong' in bold print. She hunched over the back to watch.
After buffering for a moment it opened to a news set up. A reporter was standing beside a dark skinned man with white hair wearing a red coat, both muttering something and glancing off screen. Behind them was a busy street in some city, with a corner mart just visible on the edge of the screen. At some unseen cue they both straightened up.
"Staff sergeant Archer, what're your thoughts on the recent dilemma over the UK's decision to purchase new unmanned ariel vehicles, or UAVs for short, from the Euro group as opposed to the United States?" The reporter asked, his manner of speaking strange to the girl's ears. Huey turned his head to the pair upon hearing the topic.
"Well I think thats its a wise choice. I know we have a pretty close setup with the Americans, but we're not an extension of them. A thing like this should show them we can operate on our own. Last I checked this is the United Kingdom, not Airstrip One" the red coated man answered.
"Is this the army's official position?" the reporter asked.
"No comment" Red coat said quickly.
"Is Nineteen Eighty Four popular among the army?" Reporter pressed. Red coat suddenly turned to stride away. Reporter exchanged an disbelieving glance at the cameraman before jogging after the man, the formerly steady camera becoming nauseatingly jerky as it bounded after the two. Reporter jogged right to Red coat's side, the words tumbling out of his mouth.
"Sir sir! The interviews not over!" he protested. Red coat sent a scowl at him before shoving him away. The incredulous expression on Reporter's face brought a chuckle from Riley.
"You can't do that!" he screeched.
Red coat's reply was a right hook. Reporter staggered, before coming up with his own punch. In juts a few seconds the two otherwise civilized men had devolved into a twisted pile of flailing limbs and curses. The cameraman kept a steady line on them both. Riley was laughing at the display, and he glanced at the girl to see her laugh. Instead, he saw an empty expression. Her green eyes were fixated on the screen, but she wasn't seeing what he was. One of her hands reached over the top to pinch ahold of the computer, the other came to a rest on his shoulder.
She lifted up at the same time she shoved the boy away.
Huey jolted up. The power behind her action wasn't enough to send him flying, and the soft couch cushioned his landing. Nevertheless he cried out in pain, grabbing both of the men's attentions. Ignoring his aching muscles he forced himself off his comfortable seat, to go to her side. His own hard expression fell when he saw her face deepen into a scowl. He peeked at the screen, noting that she paused the video. Onscreen was the ongoing brawl, a thinly populated street, and little else.
"What'd you do that for?" he demanded of her anyway.
"Thats her" Dead Master snarled. Confused, Huey looked at the screen again. Her extended claw hovered right above the screen at something in the background of the video. He squinted, at first not seeing whatever it was that had her so riled. Then he saw it; a girl with pale skin and weird clothes. Swiveling his eyes to her, he saw one of the purest expressions of hate that he had ever witnessed.
"What is that?" he said quietly. Her response was almost a bestial growl.
"Black Rock Shooter."
Dead Master's theme music: First Person Shooter - Celldweller.
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A/N: so it begins. Next chapter will finally link up with Koko & Friends (tm). Stay tuned.