Nose Over Tail
Chapter 10:
Dead on the Floor
"What's with the weapons?" One of Trinity's soldiers asked, poking the pile of ninja weapons on Dr. Wayne's table.
Another soldier grinned and elbowed his friend. "Doc's picked up a new hobby."
The nunchucks rolled, clanking into the metal of a katana blade. "Can't imagine that oaf of a dog picking up karate." He scoffed.
The two shared a laugh as the squad leader hushed them. "Evidence. It's evidence that he stole the goods."
"Lex?" The three soldiers turned to the door they'd left open, where an anthropomorphic giant panda stood. She was one of two, an exotic species, and therefore well known by the TCB agents. "Oh…" she took a step back and lifted her hands instinctively. "Is Dr. Wayne here?"
"It's none of your business, Dre. Can't you see we're working? And you should be locked down in your apartment." The squad leader barked at her. "Cuff her, we'll take her in for not minding the instruction. Bet you came looking for Dade…" the leader moved dangerously close to her.
"I don't know what you mean." She stated boldly.
"If Dade or Aiden were here, then we know the Doc's behind the heist. And you wouldn't be here if Dade wasn't here. Now would you, princess?" His voice was low, taunting.
Dre turned her panda face away from him. "If you're going to cuff me, then cuff me," she instructed. "It turns out that Aiden and Dade are my friends. And Lex is my doctor. He wasn't working today, I thought he might be here. Furthermore, Aiden and Dade are Lex's sons. If they've been here, it's not surprise. Just because they frequent their adoptive father's home means nothing about my reason for hoping to find my doctor."
"You're slick, I'll give you that. Your arguments are sound, Dre. But I'm not a fool." He leaned in on her, close enough that she could smell his breath from the way he bore down on her. "Know what's the story with the weapons?"
She shook her head. "I've never seen them before."
"You're Chinese aren't you? Aren't panda from China?"
Dre did all she could to keep from rolling her eyes. "I was born in the US to human parents, thank you Mr. Bills for being ignorant and discriminating. Di was the panda that caused us both to mutate and he was from China. Don't be stupid."
He'd had enough and he backhanded Dre with all of his might. "Filthy mutant. How dare you speak to me in such a manner." He reeled back and kicked her, as his initial hit had sent her sprawling to the floor. She dared not retaliate just then.
He got three good kicks in and had reeled back to kick her again when the wind was suddenly knocked from him, for a flying kick to the chest threw him through the door leading to the kitchen. His head collided with the counter hard and his body smashes into the cabinet with the full weight of his body.
The other two agents immediately leveled their guns on a very determined turtle. Leo's eyes narrowed in on the two men before him. Though he was only faced with two, he could hear a few others further back in the house, rummaging through things. "You won't touch her." Leo warned dangerously and with certainty in his statement. As if he himself were going to ensure it was true. It was the last thing they would hear him say.
In a quick movement, Leo threw himself forward and slid forward on his carapace, using his leg to sweep the ground and bring both soldiers flat on their backs. When he sprang to his feet, he was reconnected with his katana. Like a security blanket or an old friend, the double blades centered him. His first course of action was disarming the men.
Neither was prepared for a ninja and, as a result, Leo and removed the guns from both men without any effort whatsoever. He was so focused that he didn't hear Dre's, 'no…' behind him. He didn't even think before he moved down the hall and proceeded forward with his mission. Which resulted in six unconscious TCB agents. Leo didn't even break a sweat.
He tucked his katana into their holsters on his back and came back to where Dre had thrown the door shut and locked it. She turned to look at Leo. Wiping a bit of blood from the corner of her mouth and further matting it in her white fur she frowned. "What have you done?" she asked with a hint of disdain mix with surprise in her tone.
"Well, I started off by helping you," Leo pointed out. "Now, you'll tell me where my brothers are."
Dre didn't want to concede that he had helped her, stubbornly. Instead she was too concerned about the unconscious men of Trinity's that littered the doctor's house. Furthermore, they had been right, she was concerned about her friends and it was why she'd come. Aiden and Dade were closer to her than family. They were her mutant family in many ways. Hearing about mandatory lockdown meant, to her, that one or both of them had gone on a PoMo run and gotten caught. With six agents nearly dead on the floor, Trinity would surely attribute the theft with Lex, though this man – whom Dre did not know – was responsible.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I came here looking for Dade or Aiden."
"Who?" Leo asked.
Dre groaned, touching her side where she'd been kicked. "Dade…oversized, grouchy bird. Aiden, shorter and stouter, a turtle. You don't know who they are?" Everyone in the city knew Aiden and Dade, just like they knew Lex. Lex was the city's lead doctor while Aiden and Dade were his adopted sons. This gave Dre all the clues she needed…this man didn't belong here. He was unregistered.
Leo's face showed no signs of what he was thinking and one corner of Dre's mouth turned up.
"Very well, we can play your game. I don't know you, you don't know me and we're both looking for people important to us. One of us has to give. I guess that's going to be the one who has people that matter more to them."
Leo's eye twitched at her challenge, he picked up on it immediately. She was baiting him.
She felt her side flare in pain and wondered for a moment if they hadn't kicked something important inside of her. She wasn't a doctor, or even a medical professional, but she was sure that twinge in her belly wasn't a good one. She felt a chill pass over her and it gave her an incentive.
"Please, I have to find them. I'm worried that the agents were after them…and would kill them if they found my…my friends. If they were here, and your brothers were, I'm sure that their together. They wouldn't leave anyone behind…" She hesitated, "well...let me rephrase that, Aiden wouldn't leave anyone behind."
"Why would these men be after your friends?"
"PoMo…I think this lock down might be in search for stolen PoMo."
Leo closed his eyes. The tale Lex Wayne had woven for them, which was how Mikey got caught up with these mutants, involved just that – a box of that drug. He didn't give himself the luxury of considering why it was that they seemed to get themselves caught up in things he didn't have room to sort out. He dismissed his lamenting the why's and how's for the immediate need to act.
"Where would Dade and Aiden go? Where would they hide it? If they had been here, what would their course of action be?"
Dre's head was spinning. She couldn't fathom how the layers of fat she kept around her hips and middle didn't help insulate her organs from attacks such as this. She stumbled forward and caught the edge of the table. Leo immediately met her, catching her free hand. "Down," she pointed to the kitchen. "The basement to the sewer, but that place will be crawling with agents."
Leo shook his head, "We don't have a choice. We have to get out of here and I'm not leaving you."
She nodded. "I just want to find my friends and make sure they're okay."
Leo didn't want to point out that she should worry about her own safety.
"And I don't want to be around when these guys wake up." Dre added in a huff, as she held her side.
"Then we try the sewer exit." Leo confirmed. "Let me help you."
Dre looked at him skeptically. "I don't even know your name."
"Leo," he tried to sound less staunch when he greeted her. She was a mutant as he was, yet Leo still wasn't sure who he could trust. Though her words resonated with him as truth for the parts of the story he had heard.
"Dre. I'm Dre." She told him, and with a soft breath leaned on him ever so slightly. "Let's hope your brothers are with my friends and we can both go home happy."
Leo offered her a weak smile that failed to reach his eyes, "Let's hope." He agreed.
