Mask Of Joy

Chapter 3

Jason's POV

Jason couldn't quite believe what was happening. First of all, Reyna calling him after such a long period of radio silence and then she turned up at his doorstep.

Nor did he expect his two best friends to show up too, unannounced, eavesdropping on them. He still didn't know why they did this; it just didn't make any sense to Jason.

He shook the thought away as he climbed into the limo and sat next to Piper and Leo. Jason was surprised to see a man sitting opposite Reyna as he stared at the three of them with narrowed eyes.

"Who are these cupcakes?" the man asked as the limo drove away down the street.

Reyna gave them a side glance, her eyes landing on Jason for a second before she answered: "They're the new recruits."

"You said there would only be one recruit," the man said. "Not three."

"Yeah, well things happened and now there are three of them," she said strictly as Jason, Leo and Piper watched the exchange silently.

The man sighed before he eyed Jason and his friends. There was a moment of silence before he sighed once more and pointed a thumb against his chest. "I'm Coach Hedge. I'm sorry if I seem tense, but for the last months, things have been… complicated."

"Yeah complicated doesn't even begin to describe it," Reyna said as she looked down sadly. "A lot of people have died."

Leo cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to break the moody conversation," he said. "But what the hell are we doing here? I'm guessing we're not being recruited to some kind of music group, so what's this about?"

Everyone gave Leo a weird look. "What?" he asked.

"This morning," Hedge said, "I got a message from the base. They said an extraction team is on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package, a recruit, but they wouldn't give me details."

"It doesn't matter if it's one recruit or three," Reyna said. "Now it's best I – we explain what's going on to you guys.

"Jason already knows-"

Suddenly the limo hit something violently, sending them all forward before the limo twisted and tumbled upside down. The limo had flipped so many times that Jason had become disorientated, before he even sustained the concussion that had him drifting in and out of consciousness.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxTimelapsexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

When he woke up, he was fleetingly aware of the metallic taste in his mouth that he recognized: blood. He fluttered his eyelids open and winced as he tried to move. He blinked a couple time as he took in what he saw.

There was a constant ringing in his ears as he saw the world sideways. He was at first confused why the black cars and the men in suits were standing on the wall, when he realized it was the ground.

"Kid, c'mon get up!" Coach Hedge's voice came to Jason. He shook his head and sat up taking in his surroundings.

He was sitting on the ground next to the upside down limo. Coach Hedge stood next to him as he helped the others, Reyna, Piper and Leo out of the limo. They were next to the Hudson River, on a deserted street.

"Go, go, go!" said Coach Hedge. Jason got to his feet as Coach Hedge and Reyna guided Jason and his friends to the nearest building. It was a multileveled apartment building.

Suddenly tires screeching and car engines were heading down the street and Jason saw a couple cars driving towards them in full speed. Coach Hedge and Reyna opened the front door and hushed them in.

Once inside, Coach Hedge pressed the button to call the elevator. There was a screen above the elevator doors with an arrow that aimed to the far right at number 32 and slowly turned counter clockwise towards the zero.

"Screw this!" Coach Hedge opened the door to the stair case and ran up the steps. Jason, Piper and Leo were next, followed by Reyna as they ran up the levels.

"How far do we go?!" Leo yelled.

"To the roof!" Coach Hedge replied, making Leo groan.

It took them a while, but Jason was only lightly out of breath as he reached the roof. Piper and Leo came next completely out of breath and finally Reyna who didn't seem at all exhausted as she closed the door to the roof behind her.

She joined Coach Hedge as they pulled out some kind of device. Leo sat on the edge of the roof and took out random stuff from his belt. Piper bent forward gathering her breath. Jason was about to approach her when he heard yelling from behind the door.

Leo jumped to his feet a bit too quick and lost his balance and almost toppled over the roof, but Jason grabbed his jacket and pulled him back. "Thanks, man!"

Suddenly the door burst open and a man came charging onto the roof with a katana sword. Reyna was the first to react as she parried his strike with her sword.

After a few exchanges, three other men came running through the roof door and started to attack her. The third man was heading for the others.

Piper barely dodged his first strike before he kicked her in the ribs sending her to the ground dazed.

"Piper!" Jason tried to charge forward, but Coach Hedge pushed him back.

"Coach," Jason said, "let me go!"

Three more men in suits came through that door and they took place behind the man with the katana sword, who was looking at the Coach, while the other three engaged Reyna who was holding up on her own pretty well.

The man with the katana sword gave him a psycho happy smile. "Oh, come on, Coach. Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. Isn't that why they retired you? I've been on your tracks the whole year, and you didn't even know. You're losing your weight, grandpa."

The coach made an angry sound like an animal bleating. "That's it, cupcake. You're going down."

"You think you can protect three kids at once, old man?" Dylan laughed. "Good luck."

Dylan pointed at Leo, and one of the men charged him with two knives. Leo tried to back away and he nearly fell off the roof again, but he caught his balance. Just before the man could cut Leo in two with his knives, he jumped out of the way, but the man caught Leo's leg before he stumbled and they both disappeared over the edge.

Jason watched in horror as they disappeared of the edge. Jason's heart jumped a beat again when he saw the two land onto the other roof of the building several meters below.

"Help!" Leo yelled up at him. "Rope, please? Bungee cord? Something?"

Coach Hedge cursed and tossed Jason his weapon. "I don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. Keep Dylan busy"—he stabbed a thumb at the man with the katana sword—"while I get Leo."

Hedge leaped over the railing. He landed with a roll on the other roof and charged the man with the knives.

"Isn't that cute!" Dylan turned toward Jason. "Now it's your turn, boy."

Jason threw the club. It seemed useless to use it head on against a katana sword. The club flew right at Dylan and smacked him hard on the head, so he fell to his knees.

Piper wasn't as dazed as she appeared. Her fingers closed around the club when it rolled next to her, but before she could use it, Dylan rose. Blood running down his forehead, where the club had hit him.

"Nice try, boy." He glared at Jason. "But you'll have to do better."

The two men behind Dylan came forward with their weapons: the one on the left had a metal baseball bat, while the other had double axes.

Dylan grinned that psycho grin of his. "I'm glad I waited, kid. I've been following Leo and Piper for weeks. Could've killed them at any time. But my mistress said a third one was coming—someone special. She'll reward me greatly for your death!"

Piper stayed down, pretending to be dazed, her hand still holding on to the club. Her face was pale, but she gave Jason a determined look, and he understood the message: Keep their attention. I'll brain them from behind.

Cute, smart, and violent. She never seized to amaze him. He clenched his fists and got ready to charge, but he never got a chance.

Dylan raised his hand, and just then Jason noticed he was holding a pistol. Bang! Jason found himself flat on his back. His mouth tasted like burning aluminium foil.

He hissed in pain as he clutched his burning stomach. He looked down at his hand, but there weren't any blood. He lifted his head and saw the bullet had gone straight though his stomach, but no blood poured out of it.

The men were laughing. Piper was screaming defiantly, but it all sounded tinny and far away. Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw Coach Hedge running towards them with Leo on his back.

Piper was on her feet, desperately swinging the club to fend off the two extra armed men, but they were just toying with her. The club was deflected by their own weapons or they dodged her swing. And Dylan loomed over Jason.

"Stop," Jason croaked. He rose unsteadily to his feet, clutching his stomach and he wasn't sure who was more surprised: him, or the armed men.

"How are you alive?" Dylan's form flickered. "That—that's not possible!"

"Jason!" Reyna yelled as she threw her sword at him before she punched the last of the three armed men that had gone after her earlier. Jason caught the sword by the hilt.

"My turn," Jason said. He held Reyna's sword—a wickedly sharp double-edged weapon. The ridged grip fitted his fingers perfectly, and the whole thing was gold—hilt, handle, and blade.

Dylan snarled and backed up. He looked at his two comrades and yelled, "Well? Kill him!"

The other armed men didn't look happy with that order, but they charged at Jason, their weapons ready. Jason swung first. His blade cut clean through the man's metallic bat like it was made of butter. He looked surprised at his weapon, before Jason knocked him out with the butt of his hilt.

The second man launched in a flurry of slashes with his twin axes, but Jason deflected every blow and managed to disarmed the man. Jason stepped in—one quick thrust, and the second man fell to the ground, clutching his stomach.

Dylan wailed in outrage. He looked down as if expecting his comrades to get back up. "Impossible! Who are you?"

Piper was so stunned she dropped her club. "Jason, how … ?"

Then Coach Hedge leaped back onto the roof and dumped Leo like a sack of flour. "Fear me!" Hedge bellowed, flexing his short arms. Then he looked around and realized there was only Dylan.

"Curse it, boy!" he snapped at Jason. "Didn't you leave some for me? I like a challenge!"

Leo got to his feet, breathing hard. He looked completely humiliated. "Yo, Coach Supergoat, whoever you are—I just fell off the freaking roof! Stop asking for challenges!"

Dylan hissed at them, but Jason could see fear in his eyes. "You have no idea how many enemies you've awakened. My mistress will destroy all your agents. This war you cannot win."

He lunged at Jason, but Piper tackled the man from behind. Both of them went sprawling.

Leo, Jason, and the coach surged forward to help, but Dylan knocked Piper off him and swiped a dangerous ark with his katana sword nearly cutting the three of them in two.

Jason and Coach Hedge landed on their butts. Jason's sword skidded across the ground. Leo hit the back of his head and curled on his side, dazed and groaning. Piper got the worst of it. She was thrown off Dylan's back and hit the railing, tumbling over the side until she was hanging by one hand over the abyss.

Jason started toward her, but Dylan screamed, "I'll settle for this one!" He grabbed Leo's arm and brought his katana sword above his head to strike.

"Help!" Piper yelled. "Somebody!"

"Jason, go!" Hedge yelled. "Save her!"

Coach Hedge tackled Dylan, liberating Leo from the man's grasp. Leo dropped safely to the floor, but Dylan grappled the Coach's arms instead.

Hedge tried to head-butt him, then kicked him and called him a cupcake. "Go! Save her! I've got this!" He yelled to Jason.

Instinct took over him. Jason ran to the railing, thinking, I'm a lunatic, and jumped over the side. He barely caught Piper's wrist while he caught the side of the roof with his right hand.

"J-J-Jason," Piper exclaimed.

He smiled down at her and she smiled back. He looked back up and tried to pull her back up, but it was impossible with one hand, and he could feel the other one slipping already.

She was slipping away from him…. Then Reyna came into view and grabbed his wrist. She helped the two of them back up.

Jason hugged Piper tight, and she repositioned herself so she was hugging him too.

They were nose to nose. Her heart beat so hard, Jason could feel it through her clothes. Her breath smelled like cinnamon.

Reyna cleared her throat and the two let go. Jason saw Leo on the ground a few feet away as he groaned. They quickly made their way towards him.

"Stupid … ugly … goat," he muttered.

"Where did he go?" Piper asked.

Leo pointed at the door. "Never came up. Please tell me he didn't actually save my life."

"Twice," Jason said.

Leo groaned even louder. "What happened? The katana guy, the gold sword … I hit my head. That's it, right? I'm hallucinating?"

Jason had forgotten about the sword. He walked over to where it was lying and picked it up. The blade was well balanced.

He handed it back to Reyna who pressed a button on it and it transformed/shrank into a tablet.

"Yep," Leo said. "Definitely hallucinating."

Jason looked around at the bodies. "We need to get out of here," Jason said. "Maybe if we—"

"Ohhh-kay," Leo interrupted. "Look up there and tell me that's not a UFO heading straight for us."

At first Jason thought Leo had hit his head too hard. Then he saw a dark shape descending from the east—

"Reinforcements," Reyna said. "Finally. The extraction squad is here."

"Extraction squad?" Leo struggled to his feet. "That sounds painful."

"And where are they extracting us to?" Piper asked.

Jason watched as the ship hovered over them sending powerful winds from its two rotors. It landed next to them and the back door opened.

"C'mon! Let's go!" Reyna hushed the three of them inside the vessel. Jason looked back at the door that led to the staircase and half expected Coach Hedge to be running out of it.

The backdoor closed and they took off.