Disclaimer: Jay Naylor is the writer, artist, and sole owner of Better Days, Original Days, and all affiliated characters.
Original Days 2
Chapter 20: The End is the Beginning is the…
"Love hurts. Friendships never last. Never trust others as much as they trust you. The catastrophic events of three days prior have cemented these rules within me. Ever since that day, everything has changed. Church, dead; Asura, dead; the other leaders of the company, all dead. I don't know how those that survived did it, but we did.
After White's revealing of his status as Jason's father, he nearly killed Jason. Over half of Jason's bones were broken or dislocated. Second and third degree burns mar a fifth of him. I barely made it in time to knock White away, keeping Jason's head from being blown off. I cannot say the same for his lower jaw however; Akira is making an artificial replacement, but Jason's voice will never be the same. Nor can I say the same thing for Jason's back. The force of the shot blasted him through the railing where he fell twenty feet to the ground. The doctors say that even if he wakes up, he may never walk again. What is known for certain, however, is that he will never work for the company again. So says Ryan, and I doubt there are any agents who would want to work with him anyway. I know that I don't.
Angela has been hit the worst by this. In the last three days there hasn't been a moment I haven't seen tear marks on her cheeks. She spends most of the time spent in her room. I don't know what she does in there, and I can't imagine what she's going through.
Leo's been hit hard too, though he's been handling it differently. Jason was his idol. I can't imagine how hard it hit him when the news of Jason's betrayals got out. However, I doubt he's any worse off than Ana.
Of all the people affected by those events, I worry for Ana the most. She was close to Church, and owes her life to his sacrifice. I believe that in her mind, Jason is responsible for Church's death. A part of me can't help but agree.
The effects on the company have been quick to arise. In the absence of the other directors, Ryan has declared an emergency state and taken over many of the duties and responsibilities once held by his now-deceased peers. He has also formed some form of alliance with Akira and his company; supplies and Intel for continued security. I don't know what to make of it, to be honest.
Finally, in light of recent events, Ryan has disbanded my team, and put us back on the active agent roster. In light of White's return, I can't understand the lessened need for a team dedicated to finding his technology, but Ryan is the boss, so I will go along with it. This is Fisk Black; father, brother, cousin, agent, and killer, signing off."
Fisk pressed stop on the recorder, took the cassette out, and secured it in a silvery-metallic case with the rest of his recordings. He slowly pushed his chair out from the desk and stood up, flinching a bit as he banged his left arm against the desk. After making sure the cast was all right he grabbed the case, his jacket, and his luggage, before making his way to the door of his hotel room. It had been too long since he had gotten to see his family, and Fisk didn't want to miss his plane.
Ana looked down on the body bag. Small, hot tears slowly leaked from the Dog's eyes and stained her cheeks, but she payed them no mind. A stab of pain came from her left ankle, signaling to her that she was either putting too much strain on the cast or needed another dose of her pain medication. She payed this no mind either, her attention focused solely on the burnt body of the Husky who'd saved her life.
It wasn't fair, she thought to herself, that a man as brave and loyal as Church died, while that traitorous bastard son of a traitor lived. The thought of the injustice in this sent hateful shivers down her spine, making her grip on her crutch tighten. She vowed to herself that she would never let something like this happen again if it was within her power to stop it. Never again would she be so weak as to require saving. If she stayed as she was, then her friend's death would be in vain, and she could not, would not let that happen.
She ran a hand over the sealed body bag once, before turning and hobbling out of the room. Nothing would get done if she spent all day looking at a dead body, afterall.
Freezing cold eyes stared blankly into polished glass. A monster stared back.
"How did everything come to this?" White ran a gloved hand across his face, feeling the contours and flex of the artificial skin along with the natural skin. He stared despondently for a moment more before turning with a sigh to look over the rest of his room, the pure white walls and harsh artificial lighting giving the impression of a frozen wasteland.
From near the closed door, Dr. Amedeo watched him closely, dark grey heavy coat contrasting like an ugly stain against the whiteness of the room's walls. Hearing White's question his crimson eyes narrowed, as he spoke up in his harsh, slithering tones. "Vhat are you referring to, Vhite? Has not everything gone as ve have planned?"
White thought over the doctor's words, before shaking his head and turning back away to look once more in the mirror. "That is not what is causing this feeling of loss and uncertainty within me. I fear I was…unprepared, to gun down my son. It leaves a foul taste in my mouth."
A wheezing sigh came from behind him, followed by the sound of metal striking the ground in a simulacrum of walking. White felt a large, skeletal hand rest on his shoulder, and he turned his head to look at Amedeo as the ancient Cat began to speak.
"Vhite, ve have known each other for a very long time. Ever since you vere a young boy I have taught you, trained you, helped you. First, as your mentor vithin the company vhen you vere a child; after that, as you vorked for the U.S. government and began to lay the foundation for this very organization. And finally, vatching over your children as they strove to fulfill your dreams."
White stared blankly at him, listening and wondering where all this was going. "Yes, I know of all this. You have been my oldest and most treasured comrade. I would never be where I currently am were it not for you."
"Exactly…" Amedeo turned White away from the mirror, guiding the Cougar along as he began making his way to the exit. "And through all this time I have taught you many things. The most important of which is to never regret your actions. People, places, relationships, they all come and go. They enter into your life and then leave it just as suddenly. The only constant in your life, Vhite, vill be yourself. Because of this, you are the only one you must be concerned with."
Amedeo opened the door and walked through, turning to look at White over his shoulder as he continued. "Jason made his choice, and you took the appropriate course of action. Concern yourself no more with it or him."
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"
Within the cold, wet confines of her room's shower, Angela lay huddled into a ball. Hot tears streamed down her face, lost in the freezing cold torrent from the shower head, having long lost its heat. Her naked form shuddered with grief, her hands clutched around a small silver cross as over and over she repeated those two words aloud.
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"
Beyond the shower curtain, beside the sink, laid a small piece of plastic. On this was a small pink plus sign.
The doors slid closed behind Leo with a swoosh, ruffling his loose white shirt. The tan-furred fox looked around the sterile-white room for a moment, before walking over to a hospital bed situated along the far-right corner of the room. Hospital machines beeped and whirred incessantly, the only sign that the broken Cat on the bed was alive.
"Jason…"
Leo looked down at him, barely resisting the urge to reach down and touch the silvery-grey plating where the Cat's damaged mouth was. Instead he merely sat down and kept watch, passing the time by continuously disassembling and reassembling his M9 pistols.
Ryan stared blankly ahead, his gaze never wavering as he strode through the pure-white hallway to his destination. He wore a snow-white business suit and coat, perfectly matching the white bandages hiding the upper-right half of his head, including his right eye and ear, from sight. His steps echoed harshly down the corridor, giving those ahead of him plenty of time to become not ahead of him.
He reached the end of the hall and entered into a lab just as electricity discharged from the ceiling-mounted revitalization machine down into the still body of Asura on the table below it. The blinding light of the electricity burned away at the shadows of the room, leaving its occupants in stark contrast with their surroundings.
"Forgive me if I kept the three of you waiting."
From his position beside Dr. Amedeo at the controls to the device, Mr. White turned and looked over at Ryan, before standing up and walking over to him. "No need for forgiveness my friend. In all honesty I was not expecting you to be able to make it at all in this weather. If you do not mind my asking, how is the eye?"
Ryan's hand moved up, briefly brushing over the bandages before returning to his side. "Completely gone; just my luck for one of your soldiers to have such good aim. It doesn't matter though; all of our goals have been accomplished."
"Yes, they have been." White took over the conversation, even as the two turned and began walking over to the body of Asura. "You have sole control of the company now, while remaining beyond suspicion; in that regard I suppose losing an eye helps. My wayward son has been broken both physically and mentally, rendering him a complete non-threat to current and future endeavors. And finally, the Organization shall not interfere with the Company, as long as the Company does not interfere with the Organization, along with mutual aid between the two goups. Those results are satisfactory, are they not?"
Ryan nodded, thinking back over all this. It had been roughly two months after their first encounter with the Organization when he had been approached by Deva. The terrorist had made an offer to Ryan, a mutually-beneficial deal. Things had moved slowly at first; some shared Intel here, some unknowingly-provided assistance there. It had in fact actually been Ryan himself who had revealed the final resting place of White's body to Deva, allowing Asura to go collect it. After that, things began to move quicker; now he, Ryan, was in control of the Company, and had even secured agreements to insure its continued existence.
As Ryan thought over recent events a frown marred his face. "So it is true then? Jason Black is your son."
Before White could respond another voice spoke up, mechanical and grating as the speaker stepped from beside Amedeo and joined the conversation. "As coincidental and unforeseen as it is, yes, Jason is my brother. Although, if it was up to me I would not have it so that I could in any way be associated with that fool, or his friends."
Maroon eyes flashed dangerously, as thin skin and fur pulled up into a mockery of a smile. The black and purple wig had long been discarded, along with the loose, casual clothing he'd been wearing almost nonstop since the plan had been put in motion. The artificial skin remained in place, leaving the mechanized Cat in his "normal" form. The form used when he needed to make public appearances. The form that Jason, Fisk, and the rest from the Company had grown to know.
Akira Shiro, Deva, moved forward to Ryan and White, his face still in the form of a smile. "It was sadly easy to gain their assistance; it merely required acting the part of a target, an asset which they would desire to preserve. It was even easier to gain their trust; the portrayal of a young, naïve idealist served that purpose nicely. And now, what to do with sad, pathetic Jason…"
Ryan couldn't help the shiver that ran through him as he listened to the terrorist speak, and tried to put on a confident smile. "Yes, well, I don't really care what will happen to him. We are in control, our plans continue on schedule, and most importantly…"
White turned from the two, briefly looking at his once-more living daughter before switching to a shuttered window beyond her. He slowly strode over to the armored screen that was as wide as he was tall. Ryan and Deva quickly went to his sides, joined a moment later by Asura and Amedeo. White flipped a switch beneath the shutters, causing them to slide to the sides, allowing the group to look out onto the Atlantic Ocean from the massive base situated along the side of Antarctica.
The sudden light did nothing to hinder their ability to see the armada before them. Dozens, hundreds of corvettes, destroyers, frigates, carriers, and super-carriers filled the frigid Antarctic water. Above them soared countless fighters and combat choppers, practicing combat maneuvers and filling the air with thunderous booms and pounding blades. Along the ice beach to either side, tens of thousands of troops practiced continuous assault drills. White looked out over this force and once more continued on for Ryan.
"And most importantly, there is no one who can interfere."
THE END
Ending Credits
Song: Separate Ways (Worlds apart), by Journey
Characters
Fisk Black: Christian Bale
Jason V. Black: Dante Basco
Angela Faunt: Grey Delisle
Mr. White: Hugo Weaving
Copperhead:????
Ryan Tobs: Mathew Fox
Dr. Claudandus Amedeo: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Akira Shiro: Jason Marsden/Deva: John DiMaggio
Derek Church: Burnie Burns
Ana Lucia Rodriguez: Michelle Rodriguez
Leonardo "Leo" Daverra: Greg Cipes
Hinata Shiro/Asura: Nika Futterman
Elizabeth Black: Nicole Sullivan
Lucy Erikson: Christy Carlson Romano
Tom Erikson: Danny Cooksey
Mr. Faunt: John Mahoney
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THIS WINTER, THE TRILOGY COMES TO A CLOSE…
ORIGINAL DAYS 3