Chapter 29: Seek and Strike
Shinji hailed a taxi and reached Biyu Street in 20 minutes. Paying the cab driver, it drove off while he looked around the area. Instead of going along the sidewalk, he walked to a nearby alleyway to stay in the shadows. No one appeared to be down the narrow passageway. Stopping somewhere in the middle, he pulled his backpack to his front. Opening it up, he got out his black gloves and an extra magazine. He slipped on his gloves and placed the clip in an inner coat pocket. Getting his pistol out, he pulled the slide back quietly. Seeing one bullet in the chamber, Shinji reset the slide and placed it back in the holster.
Looking for a place to hide his backpack, there was a nearby dumpster. Going behind it, there was a small open space. Stuffing his bag there, he walked down the alleyway a little then waited. Sounds of cars passed by at the ends of the passageway. The night was cold and was getting damp. Based on the distant thunder sounds, a rainstorm was coming. Standing parallel to an alleyway wall, he stared at the other side continuing to wait. After some time, soft footsteps were heard coming to his left. A silhouette in black got closer until it stopped seeing his dark magenta eyes slowly turn toward it.
"Hey there Shinji," Rayne said quietly with a smile removing her ski mask.
"Good evening Miss Rayne," Shinji responded quietly and bowed.
"Here's the silencer," she said. Getting out a pipe looking object, she handed it to him.
"It should screw on to your gun."
"I see. Thank you," he said.
Grabbing the silencer, he pulled his pistol out. After installing it, he holstered his handgun. He observed that she was wearing everything black from her skintight jumpsuit to the kelvic armor padding around her torso, legs, and arms. Rayne explained the operation which would take place in ten minutes. The primary objective was to either capture or take out the gang leader. The second objectives were to knockout or stop other gang members if they were in the way of the first objective. After her briefing, she gave a layout of the site and where the guards would be. Double checking their equipment, everything seemed to be in order.
"You ready?" she asked and saw a nod from the boy.
Both turned toward the street that was at the end of the alleyway and headed across the street. Reaching the other side, there were a couple of buildings in front with no lights on. The young officer stated that it was the warehouse where they need to go. Stating it was behind the buildings in front, they will need to go through the passageways around them to get to the main location. Despite no lights being on for the buildings in front, there was movement in the dark night. A few men with assault rifles and flash lights were walking around. Rayne looked at the night sky seeing dark clouds forming.
"Miss Rayne?"
"Hmm?"
"In regards to the guards that could get in the way of the first objective…do you want them dead or alive?" he said with impassively. She looked down deep in thought. She remembered some of the convictions that the leader and gang members committed. Anger and a strong sense of justice washed over her.
'No…no…I'm an officer not a murderer,' she thought controlling her inner intentions.
"Alive if possible," she whispered back getting binoculars out to watch the guards movements. The male pilot was about to respond when a sharp ping went through his mind. It made him blink.
"…" he said as he started looking around with his eyes.
Shinji saw himself in an underground hospital. The hallways were colored in dark green with dark shadows surrounding him. Looking down, he was bare. Peering further, he saw that his body was all scarred over and bloody. Bringing his hands up, there was rich red liquid dripping off of them. Small movements started forming in his palms. The invisible curser formulated ragged shaped words.
'They'll all die,' the left hand stated.
'They'll all die,' the right hand stated.
Blinking again, he looked around with an impassive gaze again. Everything around him was covered with the same phrase in red. Moving his eyes forward, they widen. Standing a short distance away was a boy with a blood ax. The small bone-thin boy walked out of the shadows showing his torn, bloody, battered and bruised body to him.
The faceless child seemed to have seen him and started running low to the ground as an animal. The Third Child stood there watching the ax being dragged on the ground making scrapping sounds. The boy brought the ax above his head and jumped. When close enough, he swung the ax down on his left collar bone. Shinji felt the blade sink in deep as blood started gushing out.
The child let go of the ax and tripped him to the floor. The male pilot watched his blood stream out of his body in slow motion. Landing with a booming thud, he saw the young child stand over him. Yanking the ax out, a mouth ripped through on the faceless kid. It gave him an extremely wide toothy grin as blood kept pooling out of his body.
Without warning, the child began repetitive down swings of the ax on his body. Blinking and hearing a brief spurt of static, he was now standing nearby. Looking with his eyes to the left, the boy continued its chopping. The body below it became mutilated as blood exploded from it. Major blood vessels were bursting as bones and cartilage snapped and crunched loudly. The only other sound that the male pilot could hear was the child growling harshly with pain and enjoyment.
"…" Shinji said.
Continuing to watch the butchering, he tried to return his facial expression to a stark one. Seeing that the body below the child was dressed with a lab coat, the doctor was nothing but a blood pile of meat, bones, and splattered organs. Looking back at the small boy, he was splashed with the iron liquid as it was heaving for air. Putting the ax down, the boy was bent over expecting the pile of flesh to come alive.
'Do you like?' it asked calmly with an innocent smile
The Third Child suddenly saw the boy's form glitch. It was now standing toe-to-toe with him. Peering down at the child, it was looking up at him. There was only the evil grinning smile on its featureless face. The bloody ax materialized in the kid's hands and he started licking it as if it were a lollipop.
"Shinji…you alright?" Rayne asked. The male pilot blinked and saw that he was in a dark alleyway. Realizing where he was, he spoke.
"My apologizes...I was spacing out." he said. Moving his hand right hand, he placed it on an alleyway wall for a little support.
"Are you sure? This is a pretty big operation. I can understand if you are nervous."
"Yes," he said. Curling his gloved fingers, they scrapped against the wall painfully.
"I am a little nervous. But I will be fine."
"Alright. I'll take the left side and you take the right side. The drop door in front is guarded heavily so we can't sneak through the front. The left side leads to the back of the warehouse. There's a window a little up on the second floor, but it is the only entrance on the right side. There should be a walkway when you got through it."
"Are there snipers around?"
"Those guys will be taken care once we start. So don't worry about them."
"Very well," Shinji said. Turning toward the buildings in front of them, the young officer put on her ski-mask.
"On my signal, we start in…5…4…3…2…1…go!" Rayne whispered pointed a hand forward.
The two ran across the street quietly and unnoticed. Getting to their prospective sides, she signaled that she would go first. Peaking into the ally that led to the warehouse, she moved quickly then hid. A guard came around the corner at the end of a front building on her side. He did sweeps with his flashlights and walked passed her. Once he was gone, she moved stealthy and continued her way on the left side of the building.
Looking down his ally on to the right side of the front buildings, it seemed clear. Walking down it, he saw the same guard turn around the building corner up ahead. Quickly hiding behind nearby trash cans, the guard did the same sweeping motion with his flashlight. Walking passed the pilot the mobster stopped. He yawned and muttered something before walking again. Once he turned the corner at the other end, the male pilot got up and walked briskly down the right side passage of the building.
Passing the set of buildings, the warehouse was seen. It looked like an ordinary one. There was a tall wooden fence that went around the entire structure. Given that there were no lights or moonlight, it made getting detected in the dark night difficult. Enough space was on either side of the warehouse to put two cars side by side.
Strangely, only a skeleton crew of guards were walking around. His voices indicated that the ones on the roof were shot. Looking at the large front shutter door, there were a couple of guards standing there with assault rifles. Looking down the area on the right side of the warehouse, there appeared to be only one guard patrolling.
When the guard turned around and started walking to the back end of the warehouse, Shinji briskly walked alongside the fence toward the right side. Staying close to the wooden barrier and avoiding loose objects, the front guards didn't see him as he passed their sight. Reaching the right side, he went across quietly to be on the warehouse side wall.
Shinji looked around and saw there was not much to hide behind except for the couple of barrel drums. Seeing the guard turning around and walking back, he immediately dropped to the ground to hide behind one of the barrels. The guard came wielding an AK-47 and flashed his flashlight to the fence. Seeing nothing and yawning, he turned it off and continued walking slowly. He was two heads taller than the Third Child and had a bulky build. As he was getting closer, an audience was calling for dark entertainment.
'He's getting closer!'
'Come on…one bullet won't hurt!'
'Silence him!'
'Skin him!'
'Eat him alive! You cannibal!'
"…" Shinji replied to them.
Looking up to see the guard slowly walk passed him, the last comment caused him to clench his fists murderously. His control over their desires was waning. To take back control, the male pilot had to act quickly before they took over. He reached for his pistol and picked up a couple of small rocks. The guard continued walkinguntil he heard rubble move to his left. He turned his head and held his gun forward.
"Who d'here?" he asked. Viewing the shadows, only silence ringed. After a couple of seconds, nothing stirred. Shrugging his shoulders, he was about to continue when he heard shuffles to his right. He whipped the rifle in that direction.
"Who's dere?" he asked louder. Confused from still not seeing anything, he started to hear more rubble move in front of him and behind.
"H-Hey, come out!" he shouted in paranoia.
Turning around to view behind him, only the warehouse ground and night illumination was seen. Starting to feel creeped out a little, an audible click sounded. It came from behind. He knew the sound was a pistol despite feeling a cold end of a barrel on the back of his neck. Holding his hands up, the AK-47 dropped to the ground.
The barrel tapped his neck and he was pushed toward the side wall of the warehouse. Walking toward it, the guard thought about the person behind him. It had to be someone that was shorter than him for the barrel was angled up at his neck. But that didn't matter. He couldn't here the individual's footsteps behind him. Stopping at the wall, the cold barrel went away slowly.
'What's he doin?' the guard thought as if time seemed to slow down. Sweat was going down his forehead as he continue to hear nothing. Slowly turning around, there was no one there. He stared for a little then snapped out of it.
"Godda tell th-" he said before getting cut off.
A silent gun fired and the guard fell to the ground lifelessly. A 9mm bullet rolled out his mouth. It created a small pathway from the roof of the guard's mouth through the top of his skull. Hanging on a protruding pipe on the side wall, Shinji dropped down. Putting his handgun away, he dragged the body to the barrel drums. Leaning it against the warehouse side, the dead guard gave a small appearance that he was sleeping.
'…more…' all his voices stated in his head at the same time.
Looking up, the second window was high with nothing to climb toward it. A couple of voices stated to search in the shadows. Turning around, he blinked seeing a ladder highlighted in yellow next to the fence. Looking back toward the buildings, no guards were around with a flashlight in pointing in his direction. Quickly heading toward the fence, he grabbed the ladder and brought it to the side of the warehouse.
Setting it up, he climbed to the second last step. There was a small space between him and the window sill. Take one step on the top of the ladder, he pushed off it and grabbed the ledge. Looking down and back at ground, no one was down there. Hearing a footstep above him, a guard was holding the roof edge looking down at him. About to quick draw, the guard gave an ok signal and motioned him in.
Blinking and thinking it was one of Rayne's strike members, Shinji inched up to rest his elbows on the window sill. Peering into the dirty window, the pilot saw nothing but darkness. Occasionally, he would see a dull illumination that would come and go away. Looking around the window, there didn't seem to be any sensors around the window. Creeping closer to the window, he tried pulling up on the bottom of the window.
'It's unlocked,' he thought in slight confusion as it opened a little.
"More…we want mooorree," all the voices chimed at the same time.
Ignoring them, he pushed the lower window up slowly. Waiting, a few moments went by and nothing occurred. Gripping the other side of the sill, he pulled himself up a little. Peering through the window, there was no one patrolling the second floor in the warehouse. Quietly getting the rest of himself inside, he closed the window with a quiet squeak. Watching and waiting, it seemed he wasn't heard.
Crouching and going near the second floor's walkway edge, only a skeleton crew of guards seemed to be roaming around on the ground level. They weren't packing any heavy firepower and seemed lax. There were a couple of guards walking around storage units near what seemed like an office. A dull illumination was emitting from that room. Keeping in a crouched position, Shinji looked down the second floor walkway.
There were stairs leading to the lower level at the other end. Sneaking slowly towards it, he avoided stepping on anything that would cause detection. Reaching the stairs, he peered down them. At the bottom, a guard was smoking a cigarette. It dangled in his mouth as he breathed out white and grey smoke.
The male pilot saw shadows moving on the ground floor and placed his hand on his firearm. Judging by how the figure blended with the darkness and the small glimpses of orange, he guessed who it was. He proceeded behind the guard. Before coming inside the building, Rayne knocked out the few guards that were guarding the back entrance. To her surprise, the back door was unlocked.
'…that's odd. Wouldn't there be more security for this guy?' she thought puzzled.
She opened the door slowly to find no traps or guards on the other side of the door. Entering, she closed the door and surveyed what was in front of her. She was in a hallway with a room to her right. At the end of the passageway was the main warehouse floor. Having her pistol at the ready, she walked alongside the wall adjacent to the room. A door with a window on it came up and she peered in.
It was a dark lit room with no traces of anyone she could see. Feeling suspicious about it, she opened the door slightly and threw a small pebble into the room. Pressing her back to space next to the door, she listened. Nothing happened and she didn't hear anything move inside. The only sounds she heard were the faint echoing footsteps in the main area of the warehouse. Putting the pistol in front of her, she opened the door slowly. To her confusion, it was an empty room for the exception of a dangling burned out ceiling light bulb.
'…nothing…' she thought looking around the room and behind the door. She even looked up at the ceiling and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
'…no video cams, no sensors, no traps…nothing,' she thought exiting the room.
She walked into the main warehouse and felt disappointed. Very little was in the warehouse. A staircase with a guard in front of it was smoking to her left. Farther down, she could barely see other guards walking around the walls and a couple of storage units. About to proceed, she heard a faint squeak.
Rayne stayed motionless and turned her eyes in the direction of the sound. The guards didn't seem to notice as they continued their slow patrol and smoking cigarettes. She frowned. These gang members were seriously lacking everything to be even a night watcher. She saw a glimpse of a figure moving on the second floor.
It was now on the top of the stairs and seemed to be staring at the guard. As she walked alongside the wall that was left of the hallway, the figure seemed to follow her movements. The closer she got, the more she could make out the faint dark magenta eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. She smiled a little for another similarity between them. Pointing at the guard with her pistol, the boy descended quietly down the stairs. She got behind a cardboard box near the guard and waited.
"Man this is boring. Nothing ever happ-," the guard was cut off by a hard whack at the back of his head.
The guard's yelp was muffled by a gloved hand. He was hit again in the same area and fell unconscious. Rayne darted around where she was hiding and held the man up. Both holstered their pistols and lowered the guard down to the ground. Adjusting, both picked up the man. Rayne led them back to the empty room to place the gang member in.
She told Shinji that there were two more knocked out men outside. Heading back outside, the officer scouted around first. With the coast clear, both dragged the bodies back into the empty room. Placing them near the other body, the Third Child watched as Rayne placed the bodies closer together. The voices muttered that she was definitely a wicked person based on the position she put them in.
Back to the open space of the warehouse, both spilt up again to take out the few remaining guards. One was dragging his feet going around the storage units while the other was pacing slowly next to the opposite wall. The last guard was in an office in which had warm lights and colors seeping through the blinds. Since there were no alarms or mobsters attacking, both assumed the individual was watching TV. Shinji walked behind the wall guard and stopped when the gang member halted. The Third Child got into a fighting stance.
'Round One,' the child voice said giddy as the guard started to turn. 'FIGHT!'
When the gang member fully turned around, a fist collided with his chin. Not knocked out completely, he tried to aim his gun at the intruder while falling backwards. Not seeing anyone in front of him, a knee collided in the back of his head. His sight went into darkness as his body slowly was placed on the floor. Aching everywhere, footsteps near him faded into nothingness as he blacked out.
Shinji walked toward the other guard and saw Rayne come behind him. He was about to advance when her foot shot up right between the guard's legs. A dull thud sounded with folding cloths came as the guard moaned in a high pitch. He fell to the ground passing out to the floor holding his groin.
'Ooooooooo!,' all Shinji's voices stated with pained expressions holding their privates. They saw the officer standing up and look at their direction. Immediately, all the voices crowded behind the Third Child.
"…" the male pilot said blinking a couple of times. He glanced behind him as they all were looking passed him at her. Turning back around, she motioned him to get closer.
'Careful…she's a viper,' Shino stated as Shinji left them. Rayne spotted him walking slightly odd.
"You alright?"
"Your method…is painful," he said impassively.
"Hee hee. Yes, but it gets the job done."
'Did you think he'll be normal after that?' the child voice asked looking at Shoji. The adult voice smiled but had a grimace on his face. It made the blue-eyed child shiver.
"Let's get the last guard," Rayne said pointing to the office.
They sneaked to the office and looked inside. A guard was sitting in front of TV making squeaky noises on a large chair. Both couldn't tell what the man was watching or doing. Rayne opened the door slowly and Shinji crept in. The guard didn't notice him.
Getting behind the gang member, he stood up slowly. Looking at what the male was doing then at the video content, a flashback washed over him. Knowing what would happen if he looked at the guard again, he turned fully around feeling his fingers curl to make hand claws. Looking down, he could feel the tension in his fingers increasing.
Rayne saw him turn around and quietly walk away. He stopped a few feet away and was starring at the ground. Curious, she walked in slowly and observed. Instantly fuming, she whipped out her pistol and struck the guard in the back of his head with the butt end of her pistol. The man slumped forward crashing into the ground with his hands at his crotch.
'Rolling Babes III: Hot Pursuit,' the child voice stated looking at a video cassette. He looked around at the others who were staring at the video in contemplation. The red-blue eye voice was standing next to Shinji turned away as well. Looking at the officer, the child voice instantly backed away.
'RUN! She's pissed!'
Shinji was able to calm himself down and turn around. He saw all the voices run out of the room. The one that stood next to him went behind him and looked over his shoulder at the officer. Blinking, he turned to her.
'Men,' Rayne thought frowning at the guard. Remembering the boy's reaction, she looked at him. He was looking in her direction though couldn't tell what expression he had. A question came in her mind, but was interrupted.
[Ahhh…Oooo…yeeAAHH!...give it to me baby…yeah] the movie stated. It kept rolling with a woman moaning semi fake-pleasures. Rayne felt her cheeks turn red a little from the sounds. Shinji turned toward the TV and walked toward it. Watching him turn it off, he turned toward her.
"Shall we Miss Rayne?" he whispered.
"Shall we what?" she asked.
"Shall we continue the operation?"
"Oh, yeah," she said quickly and nodded. Both walked slowly around the warehouse moving the bodies to the dark room. The other guard was let alone in the office.
'The concrete is a nice metaphor on how he'll not get laid,' Rayne thought searching the warehouse.
After a quick sweep inside, they didn't find anything else out of the ordinary. The storage units were left alone for the possibility of traps or alarms if one was opened. Double checking all possible areas for another room, everything had been cleaned.
'Where is he? Did he catch wind of us and split?' Rayne thought contemplating. Not hearing anything from her radio headset of gang members coming or going, it meant he was still here somewhere. Looking to where the male pilot was, he was walking between the space of the storage units. He suddenly stopped and looked down.
'It looks like he found something,' the officer stated to herself. Heading toward where he was, he bent down and grabbed something. Reaching him, he lifted up a panel which showed a large manhole.