SEARCH AND DESTROY
Blood. Warm and metallic. The taste of it invades his throat, leaking down his esophagus to fill his aching belly. Every inch of him hurts. His swollen eyes throb just trying to open them as he stirs awake.
So groggy, he wonders how long he's been unconscious. Minutes? Hours? And how did he come to this predicament? Just thinking about it makes his head hurt even worse than it already does. His brain feels as if it's filled with bees, buzzing and rattling around inside his skull, stinging at the back of his eyes. He moans painfully. Just about the only thing he can do right about now.
"Good morning sunshine." A sweet voice lulls from behind.
He tries to lift his chin, but the weight of his head is far too much for his weak neck to bear.
"Here. Let me help you with that."
Grabbing hold of the back of his head, the owner of that saccharine-sweet tone digs her claws into his scalp and forcefully thrusts his head down into a bucket of water on the table in front of them. Acting on instinct, the man thrashes around wildly as she holds him under. He struggles greatly, the adrenaline of being shocked awake fueling his actions, that and the will to live, but it's no use, she's secured him to his seat. Tied to a chair, he's helpless. Completely at the mercy of her vengeance.
His body shudders and convulses involuntarily as he drowns. He tries to hold his breath, but the need to breathe consumes him. His lungs burn. So much so to the point where they feel as if they just might burst from his chest. His heart seizes and his brain floods with uncontrollable fear. Water fills his lungs. Bubbles reach the surface. And just when he thinks it's over, when he decides to let his body go limp and give up the fight, she brings him back up to the surface.
Sopping wet, he throws his head back and hungrily gulps in oxygen. He coughs and sputters, vomiting up water and gasping for air. His chest heaves, breathing heavy and shaky but thankful to be breathing at all. After calming a bit, he tries to wipe the dripping bangs from his eyes but remembers his tied hands. Instead, he whips his head to the side, flinging water as he does so just to better clear his line of blurry vision. So that he might look upon his captor.
"Why, Uncle Mario, you look like a drowned rat."
Pretty as a picture and rabid as a bat, the girl with no name stands to the side, demure with her arms crossed at her chest, admiring her work. Quick to admit, she's acquired a taste for watching him in pain.
"You stupid bitch," Mario manages to croak, "My men wi-"
"Are not coming." She interrupts in tired monotone. "I already explained this to you. Remember? When I was kicking in your spleen? I guess that's the problem with drowning. Cut off oxygen to the brain long enough and it goes all to mush." The huntress gets in extra close to her prey, lifting his head up with the sharp end of a hunting knife so that they might see eye to eye. She smiles. "They're all gone. I took care of them. And when I'm done having my fun, I'll take real good care of you too. Just like you did to me."
Releasing him, she makes sure to give his neck a little bit of a scrape as she takes the knife away from under his chin. He winces at the sensation.
"So that's what this is about? Revenge?"
Slow and languid, she stalks around his chair, waving the knife in the air as she speaks.
"An eye for an eye. A die for a die." She replies with a shrug. "You know how it is... Kill me once, shame on you. Kill me twice..." She sighs, stopping in her steps. Bending at the hip, she places her hands down on the table. "And you know what the worst part of it all is? I'm embarrassed for you! First drowned then shot? How unoriginally boring! I mean really! Come on! You can do better than that! Put some effort into offing me!"
"But you ain't dead." He spits. "You're supposed to be dead!"
"Sorry to disappoint." She purrs darkly. A grin forms. "You know, you should really look into getting a refund for that hit."
She snickers at her own wit, making the bound man ever more aggravated.
"You think this is funny? That this is some sorta game?" Mario threatens loudly. "When I get outta here, I'm gonna-"
She grabs hold of his head and dunks him again, letting him thrash around for a few long seconds before letting him back up for air. By now he should have learned his lesson. She's in control here. The one calling the shots. There's a new boss in town.
"You'll what? BORE me to death?" She laughs as he gags. "Nah. If I'm gonna go out tonight, then I choose to do it with a little bit more style." Again she gets in extra close and purrs in his ear. "And I'm taking you to Hell with me."
Mario listens to her footsteps as she walks away, though he can still feel her presence in the room somewhere. Hear her tinkering with something, though hasn't a clue as to what it might be. For the first time, his nostrils clear up just enough for him to smell something besides his own sweat and blood. Gasoline? Maybe not, but it's something flammable alright and he's soaked in it. Suddenly, an all new fear kicks in.
"So what, then?" His teeth chatter from the cold and endorphins in his blood. Chilled wet clothes cling to his beaten frame. "You planning on goin' out with a bang just so you can gank me? Heh... I'm honored."
"Don't be." She replies without losing her cool. "If it means taking murderous scum like you off the streets and out of the picture, trust me, it's worth any price. Even my life." A wicked little grin crosses her lips. Though he can't see it, he can sure as hell hear it in her tone. "And oh I dunno... Cats got nine lives, right? Reckon I got a few left. At least one after this. Better make it a good one, right? Who knows? Maybe I'll even go hero. Can you imagine?" She giggles. "Nahhhh..."
The girl returns to her work and Mario returns to attempting an escape. The ropes around his wrists are tight, digging into his skin to the point of bleeding. Every little twist and turn pains him tremendously.
"Look out, honey 'cause I'm using technology. Ain't got time to make no apology..."
He can hear her singing somewhere and strains his neck to see. How can she be singing at a time like this? As a man is bound and bleeding. His life on the line, so near death. She holds all the cards and she's loving every minute of it. Playing him. Toying with him like some deranged cat batting around a mouse for the fun of it before the kill. He twists himself further and harder against his restraints but it only leaves him more and more tired. Head dizzy from the fumes and more than exhausted from the exertion, he can feel himself slipping out of consciousness once more.
"Soul radiation in the dead of night. Love in the middle of a fire fight. Honey gotta help me please. Somebody gotta save my soul. Baby detonates for mee..." She sings to her audience of one as she finishes up her work behind the scenes.
Holding a trigger switch in her hand, she grins down at the thing seductively and gives it a kiss for good luck. Her triumph. Her glory. Her legacy. Live fast. Love hard. Die young. Leave a good-smelling corpse.
"Kaboom." She mouths.
The song she sings here is the same one she sang during the bank heist. It's Search And Destroy by The Stooges. Figure her for a bit of a punk!
EASTER EGGS! The word "gank" is used on the show Supernatural, usually by Dean. It means to kill. "A die for a die." Said by Cats to Max in the movie Batman Returns. 'Nother Cats quote "Live fast. Love hard..." from Catwoman Vol. 2 #18.
