Another Quick Escape
"Removal completed, Lord Black. Tatihara has been cleansed; all three factions are officially benign," a pleased, elderly man reported into the den den mushi, his wrinkled visage and white doctor's coat contrasting with the black suit of his steel raven masked compatriot whose massive hand currently suffocated the last gasps of life from the muscled second of the lowest ranked 'made man' in the Black Mafia Family. The stoic killer stood atop a pile of bruised, suited corpses with one standing out from the rest. Luo Qan, the old man in charge of BMF's operations on this unruly West Blue outpost, lay pitiably broken and decimated, the last desperate grasp of his outstretched hand cut off by a scalpel from the elderly doctor.
"Done already? I knew I chose the right man for the job. I trust there was minimal damage to the surrounding areas," the boss questioned through the den den mushi, a satisfied lilt intoning his words.
"You flatter me," the doctor smiled, "Rest assured, all tumors were removed with minimal trauma to the body at large."
"Hmph; it's not everyday even I usurp the established power structure of an entire island in mere hours. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to impose on you a while longer."
"Serving you is never an imposition, sir."
"See, that's what Qan never understood. Anyway, I need you to stay there for a little while. Sangre's smart enough to recognize a loss, but I still need to sort things out with that blood bastard," a noticeable grumble in Black's voice as he spoke those last few words. "This is still a sensitive time; make sure no vermin infest our new foundation. When you return, we'll discuss bringing you onto The Council. Sadly, I had to let one of my top guys go, and with how well you've just shown you can lead, I think this opportunity is overdue."
"Your will is mine, sir," the doctor responded humbly, raising an eyebrow as a shadowed figure entered his peripheral.
"In that case," the transponder snail mimicked a wicked smile, "I may need one of your 'Three Ravens' for the clean up job in that area. I'll call back later with details."
Kaclunk. "Aah, Luo Qan's Shadow. What have you brought me," the doctor smiled.
"This is Cockroach; he delivered G's territory and shipping routes to us."
"Mmh," the elder doctor nodded. "Come here, Mr. Cockroach."
The doctor grabbed the traitorous underling's lean hand in an ever tightening grip that had Cockroach whimpering and looking up at the Emissary with pleading eyes as the intense handshake brought him to his knees. Without a word, the Emissary placed his other hand atop Cockroach's head and effortlessly crushed his skull - blood spilling from every orifice - before dropping him alongside the other bodies, taking time to pull out a handkerchief to wipe his hands and letting the dirtied cloth fall over the man's face.
"The only smart thing to do with rats and bugs is stamp them out. Speaking of, I presume sterilization is nearly complete."
"Yes; people are scared, but they simply need a strong leader to take control."
"Could that be you," the doctor questioned, an entertained smirk crossing his lips at the Shadow's silence. "I know; Shadows work from the dark. I used to be a Shadow myself, but talent should rise, don't you agree? I can put in a Google word if you'd like to try for Sir Black's personal entourage, though, if not you, he may want you to assist whoever is placed in charge here."
Achoo. Black sneezed in his office, his call over, he turned his chair to the doorway where a curvaceous, fit female dressed in a pair of low cut jeans - a slim metal instrument at the small of her back visible due to the white tank top leaving her toned abdomen visible - stood just inside the door, the metal prosthetic in place of her right arm clasping a bundle of documents. "I'd say overkill sending Jack in, but I trust your instincts," he stated. "What else do we know?"
"We believe the fishman Darko mentioned to be Grendel, a thief and low-level mercenary. No word yet on what Morrigan hired him for."
"Presumably to entangle the young boy in his machinations. Disobedience is one thing, but he'd have seen my business severely disrupted. No matter; he'd outlived his usefulness," Black dismissed the musings with a wave. "We'll be eliminating that line from future itineraries."
"Eliminating," the woman smirked, her tone of piqued curiosity. "What of Darko?"
"You know Val, some things about me haven't changed since I was a kid. One is I still don't like to share. You may do as you please with him, but he is no longer irreplaceable to our future."
Val understood well. Black respected loyalty above all else with strength as a close second. When an informant or subordinate was discovered to be putting his or her wares on the open market, so to speak, they'd either be phased out or eliminated. She'd sent Doc out to eliminate one such matter in that area, now a second hindrance arose in her domain. The athletic, hot tempered woman grumbled at the problems arising one after the other, but her boss, true to his epithet, remained even keeled. . . In fact, he seemed almost happy. "What has you in such a good mood, sir?"
"My daughter returns from her first trip out today, remember; that's reason enough. I trust preparations are well on their way?"
"Wrong one. . . But, if you're asking are the staff running around like chickens with their heads cut off, then yes," Val answered a bit testily.
"Aah, sorry," Black apologized, caught off guard for a moment. "I wasn't paying attention. Whose watching the coast, by the way?"
"Digger, I believe."
Black noticed as a thread of memory flashed across the corner of Val's eyes. "What is it?"
"I overhead a scout saying they saw a ship on the horizon about an hour ago. Didn't report it because it disappeared almost immediately. The sun was probably just playing a trick or -"
"Or, Kirin is back and caught all of you off guard," Black deadpanned, fingers steepling in front of a growing scowl. Not long after, a blast rocked the lower levels of the building. Black could only sigh. "So rambunctious. Since you're here, go stop her, will you; she needs to get cleaned up for tonight's festivities." Not a second after Black had given his orders, a knock appeared at the door.
Shaad heard the knocking at the door and stirred from his restless slumber, the morning sun an uninvited guest through the half open curtains. He felt like hell, but somehow that seemed like an improvement. 'Why?'
'Adrenaline finally wore off.'
'What?'
'Long story short, you're an idiot.'
Shaad released a low groan and rolled his eyes as he sat up in the bed, all the while trying to coax a migraine away (for which that knocking all down the hall wasn't helping). He was gonna need a longer version of that story.
'I told 'em 'bout the old man's bar,' Shaad recalled. 'On the way over my legs started feeling heavy, and my chest began constricting real tight and throbbing with pain. I needed medicine. . . 'This is a bar, not a pharmacy' the old barkeep growled. . . Then -'
Shaad threw his head back and just looked up, left arm falling to the bed. He felt the sheets, but it was what he felt beneath the sheets that froze him briefly.
Shaad's hand gripping her butt, Raine stirred softly. "Oohm, aren't you feisty this morning," she purred, rolling over in the bed and looking up at Shaad with a devilish grin. "You gonna be up for it this time?'
Shaad moved his hand, but ignored Raine's statement. "I drank, didn't I?"
Shaad's gaze was hard - serious - but Raine's smirk was playful as she nodded yes.
"How many?"
"Eh -"
"What?"
Raine shifted up in the bed. Alerted by shouting from outside, she paused briefly before getting out bed. "Everybody up! Guards are doing a grid search! They'll be here shortly."
"You had about three drinks at first," Raine continued while pulling on a pair of shorts. "Maybe we should talk about this later," Raine suggested as Vega appeared in the doorway.
"Walk and talk," Shaad countered sternly, looking into the alley through the partially open curtain and seeing a squad of soldiers entering the building two doors over.
"Fine," Raine eventually agreed while pulling on a shirt. "You drank to numb the pain. After the first few - by the way, you a lightweight. I mean that 'Shine was damn near flammable, but you a lightweight," Raine detoured on a side bar, Shaad waving her back with a scowl over his shoulder as they descended the stairs. "Anyway, your mind checked out pretty early. . . Your body, on the other hand, decided it hadn't quite had enough. After a while, I cut you off 'cause you was costin' me money, and you - well you know what happened from there," Raine seductively hinted.
Shaad merely cast a blank stare at Raine while Vega checked to make sure the bar's back door was clear. Raine then adopted a fake pout, complaining, "You monster, taking my innocence and claiming not to even remember," with a gasp and a hand to her chest.
"Let's go," Shaad commanded flatly, waving his crew out and to a gap between two buildings across the alley.
"Mhm. You're no fun."
"That's not what you said last night," Shaad shot back, the words more reflexive than intentional, though they drew a smirk as the three hurried across.
Just as they arrived under cover of the shadows, dozens of soldiers poured through the open space where a door once stood at the back of the bar's far neighbor and into the alleyway.
"Run on my mark. Ready?"
Not waiting for a reply, Shaad jumped from between the buildings into the middle of the street.
"I think y'all might be looking for me," he called before one of those strong throat kicks punched in the wooden of the quaint building across from the one they'd just exited. "Come on. I'm waiting."
Raine mumbled a curse before jetting behind Shaad and down the street.
"Boost." Shaad pushed off the ground in an instant, charging the squad of soldiers head on. They braced to receive him, but Shaad skidded to a stop, kicking up a mass of dirt and exploding in the opposite direction behind a cloud of dust.
"What was that," Raine demanded when he caught up.
"A solid for the barkeep. I at least should keep from endangering him or his."
The squad captain Shaad fought in the forest stormed through the waning dust, coughing heavily as he leveled his pistol at the group, taking aim at Vega who was bringing up the rear. The gunshot rang out in the dusky air. The aim was perfect, but the bullet never came close. Hearing the shot, Shaad glanced back. He spotted the feisty redheaded daughter smiling in their direction, her back pressed low against the wide open door of the bar.
"That was close."
Outside of the gated city, the town was packed with narrow streets. The three pirates stayed ahead of their pursuers with ease. As morning traffic began to trickle onto the streets, they were forced to slow down, but hiding was made easier. However, more guards had been dispatched than Shaad would've projected, and like a flood, they thundered in from every direction as the group reached the outskirts of town, pushing aside civilians with little care. There had to be over a hundred in total and Shaad's group held little prospect of escaping cleanly as more interceded from connecting pathways along the scarcely populated area. Buildings in ruins and discarded scrap piled high in dozens of large mounds made navigation difficult even without the cramped lodgings and people.
"Raine, find us a boat. Vega, cover her."
"What? What happened to the one we came here on?"
"Damaged."
"And, when were you gonna tell me?"
"No time," Shaad said, just avoiding getting hit by a bullet that nicked his sheath. "Now, go."
"What about you?"
Their pursuers gaining ground, shots flew all around. Barely swerving past a small detachment from the right, the group cut behind a hill which turned out to just be an extra-large pile of junk. Jumping and turning without stopping, Shaad acted quickly. A swift stroke of his swords sent the massive heap tumbling over. That would slow the guards down at least a little.
"Don't wait up." Shaad lunged away from Raine and Vega, making sure to be seen, and bounded off in the opposite direction.
It was a good plan, if not childishly simple: distract and lure the guards in one direction so his allies had an unobstructed path in the other. The guards weren't so stupid, though. While the majority followed Shaad, it didn't go unnoticed by others that Raine and Vega weren't with him.
Doubling back into the city, Shaad, with his speed and reflexes boosted, weaved through the mass of people like a shifting breeze. While criminals weren't an anomaly in this part of town, the people acted strangely used to it, parting for the police, but not paying the cause any extended mind. It didn't take long to put a good deal of distance between him and his pursuers, slipping into a narrow gap between two buildings. There was just enough space to stand sideways, but that didn't matter. Shaad just needed a minute to catch his breath.
The shadows provided enough cover that his presence wasn't obvious, and no one ever looked into alleys. No one except kids, that is. Damn kids, bored and looking around while their parents dragged them from place to place. It was the conversation that made him look, nearby and unmoving. What he saw was a little girl holding her mother's hand and looking directly at him. It hadn't crossed his mind how suspicious he might look hiding in an alley until the little girl's gaze shifted from him to behind her and back a few times. The city's guards and police force were still a ways back, but Shaad could hear them closing fast.
Shaad knew mischief when he saw it, and that little girl was rotten to the core. From the slow spreading smile that first gave it away to the twinkle in her eyes like she'd just discovered a new game, this girl was obviously trouble. With her mother deep in conversation, she held out a hand, palm up. She wanted something for her silence. But, Shaad didn't know what nor did he have anything to give her anyway. When she checked behind her again, Shaad began to silently plead with her. The guards had slowed. They'd lost sight of him, and suspected he might try to hide. The girls smile spread even further in the face of Shaad's pleas.
Pointing a finger at the culprit, a high pitched squeal acted as the beacon. The girl's mother, shocked by the scream, looked down then into the shadows.
"Shit." The alarm was in full force, now. Taking one final deep breath, Shaad cleared nearly three stories jumping to the rooftops in a single leap.
Watching the guards chase him from the streets, Shaad was out of their reach but unable to get away because of the poor workmanship prevalent in this part of town. Anytime he pushed too hard, it felt like his foot might plow straight through the roof below. Unable to really escape, he was hounded by gunfire. Judging by the errant shots, none of these guards were winning a marksmanship competition anytime soon, but all it took was one lucky shot. That shot came as Shaad readied to leap onto a clear path with a line towards the coast just skirting the forest treeline. The round ripped into his side, losing momentum on his sword sheath before getting lodged in solid muscle. The impact and sudden pain caused Shaad to stumble and tumble instead of lift off.
Crash. Shaad groaned as he lifted himself to a sitting position, brushing the broken wood off of himself. Instinctively taking in his surroundings, his eyes stopped on a shapely woman in a bathtub. Stunned into silence, she sat bolt upright, trying, and failing, to cover her ample bosom as Shaad stood up.
"What was that!?" Pounding footsteps turned to primal rage as the door was flung open and a large built man stood in the doorway. Barging into the bathroom, the man was swiftly tripped up.
"Go to sleep," Shaad implored with an annoyed sigh, slamming the man's face into the bathtub rim, letting his unconscious form fall to the floor with his face painted in fresh blood. "Um, that smells good. Is that lavender?" The woman just nodded. "Mind if I take it?" Shaad spoke casually despite the situation. Receiving no answer, Shaad just shrugged, grabbed the bottle and turned away, rummaging through the contents of the destroyed wall cabinet. "Thanks for being so understanding. I'll be out of your hair shortly." Grabbing some tweezers, matches, gauze, and alcohol, Shaad tossed the items into a pouch he spotted in the debris and tied it to his belt.
The guards were right outside. Shaad heard as the front door was essentially blown off its hinges. "No respect for personal property," he mumbled. "Sorry about this." With a salute of acknowledgement to the still in shock woman, Shaad knocked a new hole into the wall and exploded into a sprint along the street, blowing by confused and clamoring passerby.
Shaad couldn't move as fast as before, and he was being surrounded as reinforcements fast approached from up ahead, including one of the mammoth of men who typically guarded the gated district at the heart of this sprawling city. Until now, he'd only been running, but to make it further, he'd have to fight.
"I think it's time I introduced myself," Shaad muttered, a smirk forming as he drew both his swords. Blades held tightly in a reverse grip and crossed in front of him, Shaad launched himself high into the air and into the approaching enemy. As he readied to attack, though, a shooting pain froze him in midair, his swords only good for lessening the crushing blow from the half-giant's monstrous club swing before he was sent careening through the air.