Chapter 25

Lice and Reaper stepped out of the rain and shook the water out of their hair. "Fuck," whispered Lice as he rubbed his chest. "It's cold."

Reaper just smiled and put a finger to his mouth for silence. Waving his torch around he checked the darkness for any surprises. Once he was sure the area was clear he turned it off and popped a flare. Red light flashed out, almost frightening Lice, who stumbled over a rock.

"Jesus Christ, let out a fucking warning next time will you?" said Lice through gritted teeth. "Fuck."

"Sorry," said Reaper with a slight smile.

Lice stepped over to a larger rock and sat down, pulling his jacket closer around his body. He looked over at Reaper to see that he was actually stripping down. "Aren't you cold?" Lice asked.

"Yeah, but not much." said Reaper checking for any water in his weapons. He dipped his hand into his pack and pulled out some chewing gum. Taking out a piece, he put it in his mouth and chewed. He took out another piece and threw it to Lice. "Chew on that. It'll help."

Lice threw the gum into his mouth and chewed. After a moment, his body started to heat up. "How the fuck?" he asked looking at Reaper.

Reaper just shrugged and went back to checking his weapons.

After a few minutes of silence, Lice spoke again. "Ok, how are you going to kill Simms, or whatever his fucking name is these days?"

Reaper looked at Lice and shrugged. "No idea. But I'll find something."

"Ok," said Lice, laughing, "But when it comes to fighting him, I want in."

Reaper smiled. "Done, but don't fuck up..." he started but was cut off as Lice abruptly stood up, weapon raised, aiming over Reapers shoulder. Reaper ducked, allowing Lice a clean line of fire. Bullets peppered the area behind him as Lice fired on full automatic. Something screeched and Reaper lifted his head to see a human shaped monster jump out into the rain. It leaped up onto a wall and sprinted up it. Once it was up on the ledge it turned toward them and a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.

Simms sat up on the wall glaring at Reaper and Lice, a maniac smile spread across his face. "Fuckers." he growled before he disappeared into the black of the night.

"Jesus titty fucking..." breathed Lice as he held out a hand to pull up Reaper.

"Christ." finished Reaper, taking Lice's hand and pulling himself up.

"We have to go after him." said Lice, about to step into the rain.

Reaper pulled him back. "No, it's what he wants." He then thought for a minute. "We'll set a trap for him. Lure him in then try to take him out."

"Naturally, this is the shittest trap I have ever heard of." said Lice, posted up in one of the tall buildings around the town centre. From the position he was in he was sure he could not be seen. It provided a perfect field of vision. The only problem was the rain it came down heavily as Lice sighted down the scope of his sniper rifle. Through the scope, he could see Reaper standing out in the middle of the town centre.

"Shuddup." said Reapers voice through the COM, over the howling wind and rain.

"You could have at least taken your rifle," said Lice, eyeing Reapers M4 and Samurai sword leaning up against the wall next to his own M4. "What if it turns out to be an ambush? Or worse?"

"You do remember that I did keep my Desert Eagle, in case that problem ever comes right? Not to mention I took your combat knife." said Reaper, "Now shut up."

Reaper stood in the middle of the town centre, covered in water by the pelting rain. The water hitting his face felt like a thousand needles, but not an ounce of pain showed on Reapers face. He looked up into the sky. Lightning flashed and a new wave of needle-like rain washed over his face. Closing his eyes, he screamed out into the emptiness.

"SIMMS, YOU SICK FUCKING PRICK! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? SHOW YOURSELF SO I CAN RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF!"

The only reply was the sound of the heavy ran hitting the ground and the short claps of thunder. Reaper let his head down and sighed, letting the rage inside of him dissipate.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to say." said a low growling voice. Reaper lifted his head and looked around but there was nobody there.

"Oh fuck," growled Lice over the COM. "Reaper, he's behind you!"

Reaper felt something smash him in the back of the head and he stumbled forward. Spinning around he received a kick to the lower jaw, sending him on his back. Water and mud sprayed out and splattered all over Reapers face.

"Don't worry man, I got him." said Lice over the COM. Reaper heard a series of clicks over the COM, closely followed by Lice cursing. "How the fuck? What the fuck is wrong with this fucking thing? It's jammed somehow. Fuck!"

Reaper jumped up and eyed Simms. Hatred burning in his eyes.

"You know, when I saw Smoking Toaster get fried on that pole, I was kind of glad it wasn't you." said Simms with his hands behind his back.

"What's your real name Simms?" said Reaper, wiping mud from around his eyes.

"Why do you want to know?" asked Simms, his head tilted toward Reaper.

Reaper wiped the mud from around his mouth and laughed... "So I can put it on your death certificate."

Simms looked to the ground. "If you really want to know that bad," he said. He looked back at Reaper. "It's Jones. Xavier Jones, but please, just call me Simms."

Simms stepped forward and in a cloud of smoke, he was gone. A second later Reaper felt an intense pain slash across his back. He stumbled forward and turnedaround to find that Simms was standing behind him, his sword clasped in his hands. Reaper saw a drop of blood drip off the tip of the blade of Simms's sword and splash into the water at his feet. Simms had slashed his sword across Reapers back. Reaper put a hand on his back and looked at it. Blood mixed with water, ran off his hand, and ran into the water on the ground.

Quick as a flash Reaper whipped out his Desert Eagle and fired. The bull stopper rounds hit harmlessly against Simms's biotic shields. Simms just smiled. As quick as he could Reaper reloaded and fired again, hoping to bring down Simms's shields so that he could attack.

Simms dodged the incoming bullets and brought up his sword once again. Reaper tried to dodge but he wasn't quick enough and the blade of Simms's' sword cut a thin line across Reapers mid section. Reaper screamed out in pain and doubled over in the mud. He's too fucking fast.

"How about we make this a fair fight?" asked Simms all of a sudden.

Reaper looked up at him. "How do you propose we do that?"

Simms thought for a moment and threw his sword away. "No swords. No guns..." he said. Reaper heard a pop and looked around. "...and no Biotics." finished Simms smiling.

Reaper now saw that the water was starting to soak Simms' coat. It wasn't like that before, he thought. Then he realised that Simms's shields were gone. I guess that was the popping noise, he thought as he stood painfully up. "One condition," said Reaper. "None of that hyper speed shit like just before."

Simms took off his coat and threw it to the ground a few metres away. Cracking his neck and knuckles, he kept his eyes on Reaper the whole time. "You ready?"

Reaper slicked his hair back and brought up his arms into a Close Quarters Combat stance. A hint of a smile spread across his face. "I was born ready motherfucker."

A smile grin spread across Simms's' horrid face. "Motherfucker," he chuckled. "I like that."

Where the fuck is Lice or Shadow when I need them! thought Reaper as he stood his ground. He watched as Simms positioned into his own CQC stance.

Simms launched in with a flurry of punches and kicks, making Reaper stepped back a little as he blocked each move, occasionally retaliating with a few punches of his own.

Simms punched Reaper in the face, making him lower his guard and punched him three times in the gut. Reaper doubled over with the pain as Simms grabbed onto the back of Reaper body armour and started to pound into his chest with his knee. Once he was finished Reaper stood up unsteadily.

Reaper stumbled around, smiling bloody teeth, as he held onto his ribs. "Is that all you've got?" he asked spitting out blood. Settling back into his CQC stance he grinned again. "Show me something I haven't seen before."

Simms grinned and nodded. "Alright." he said thinking, "Something new. Alright check this out." Taking three quick steps, Simms launched himself into a back flip and caught Reaper under the chin with his boot.

Reaper hit the ground with a splash of water and mud. He tried to move but he couldn't move a muscle. Fuck. Where are you Jim?

After a minute Reaper saw movement in the corner of his eye and he looked over to see Simms standing over top of him, Reaper's Desert Eagle gripped in his right hand.

Pain shot through Reaper's shoulder. He screamed out in pain and saw his metal arm twitching. Another lance of pain shot through his arm and now Reaper saw that it was steaming. What the hell? His mind screamed as he felt a burning sensation in his shoulder.

Simms saw it as well and shook his head. "Now, now, we can't have that. I want to kill you painlessly." he said kneeling down next to Reaper. He reached over and pulled out a little metal syringe from Reaper's chest pocket. "Let me fix that for you." he said pulling off the safety cap. Rolling up Reaper's sleeve, he jabbed it into his shoulder and injected the drugs.

When the syringe was empty, Simms looked down into Reaper's eyes and smiled. Reaper just smiled back, showing his bloodied teeth.

"STORMBREAKER, THIS IS LICE, WE NEED SOME ASSISTANCE DOWN HERE!" screamed Lice into his COM as he sprinted down the stairs of the apartment building. Both his and Reapers M4's were in each hand as he ran. His Sniper Rifle and Reaper's sword were over his back.

"Roger that Lice, Stormbreaker here, Shadow and Yeti are heading for the dropship now, where are you?" called Jameson's voice over the COM.

Lice stopped on a flight of stairs and caught his breath. "Town centre. Azoth City. Tell them to look for the red flare." he said after a moment. "And tell Yeti not to use the Mech."

"Roger that. Message sent." said Jameson's voice. "Anything else?"

"No thanks, that's all for now." said Lice running down the stairs once again. He reached the bottom and ran outside into the blinding rain. When he caught sight of Reaper lying on the ground with Simms kneeling next to him with Reaper's Desert Eagle pointed at Reaper's forehead. He sprinted even harder.

Reaper smiled up at Simms and looked at the barrel of the weapon that was about to take his life.

"Any last words?" asked Simms as he pulled the hammer back on the weapon.

"Yeah," said Reaper, "Just three."

"And what are they?" asked Simms.

Reapers metal hand shot up, grabbed Simms's throat, and started to squeeze tightly. His other hand grabbed Simms's gun arm and twisted, making him release the Desert Eagle.

"How about, time to die?" asked Reaper through gritted teeth.

Simms's eyes bulged as his air supply was cut off. Grabbing at Reaper's metal arm he tried to pull it off him but the grip was too tight. Reaper just squeezed tighter.

Slowly standing up, Reaper twisted slightly to the side and lashed out a kick to Simms's legs, making him crumple to the ground. Reaper stood over the top of him as Simms started to choke. Forcing his head to the ground Reaper set both of his knees on top of Simms's arms, so then he couldn't move or attack.

Reaper switched hands on the throat and brought back his metal hand up into the air. Then as hard as he could he started to punch him in the face.

"BLOW...ME...YOU...SICK...FUCKING...CUNT!" screamed Reaper, saying each word as he landed each punch. After a few moments, Reaper noticed that Lice was standing a few metres behind him. But Reaper didn't care. He just kept laying into Simms's face, turning it into a bloodied, deformed mess.

Walking up to him Lice placed a hand on Reaper's shoulder, waited until Reaper stood up, and wiped the green, black and red blood off his hands. "Dropship is on the way, Shadow and Yeti will be here soon." said Lice.

Before Reaper could reply, he heard a groan of pain and turned to see Simms steadily standing up. "Fuckers." he groaned as he made it to his feet. He looked over at Reaper and wiped away the blood from his face. It disappeared quickly as it mixed with the rain. "Great one Reaper. Now the whole universe is going to know that you died scratching my nose." Reaper heard a crack as Simms snapped his nose back into place with a deformed hand.

Reaper sighed. "Why don't you just fucking die?"

Simms laughed and brought up his hands showing them to the sky. Then he brought them down as a wave of biotic energy fired its way towards Reaper and Lice.

Reaper and Lice both dived in different directions, Reaper aiming toward the Desert Eagle lying in the mud. Bringing it up he fired off three rounds, but the bullets just bounced harmlessly against Simms's shields. Fuck, how do I kill this asshole?

Reaper heard a booming sound overhead and saw a Pegasus dropship fly over the top of a tall church tower. It hovered just above the tip of the tower, floodlights playing across the ground trying to find them.

"Oh, shit I forgot," muttered Lice as he fished through his pockets. A moment later, he pulled out a couple of red flares. "Light this!" he yelled throwing one to Reaper. Reaper caught it and automatically set it alight and waved it above his head as he fired at Simms with his Desert Eagle, trying to bring down his shields.

Simms saw it as well and fired a burst of biotic powers up at the dropship.