Busuzima, Uriko, Bakuryu (Kenji), Yugo, Alice, Shira, Stun, Long, Jenny, Alan and Shen-Long are all characters of the Bloody Roar Series, and I don't own them, Hudson do. Although I wish I did. However Vincent, Kevin Lightfoot, Horn and Tusk, Barry Serpent, Yotaba Kouto and Subject Drake Dante are mine, and I keep them locked tight in a cupboard. In the unlikely event that someone else would want to use them, please e-mail me first, or I'll be very annoyed and little else.
Right, legal stuff out the way, I would just like to thank God, for inventing the fingers (useful little beggars), my parents for letting me use the P.C at all hours, and the people who wrote in about some of my other books I've written. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Till Death Do Us Part
It was starting to get dark, and outside Long's house, Alan Gado, Jenny, Jane and Alice were waiting for whatever it was that Long was doing.
'What's taking him?' Said Alan, looking at his watch, 'This isn't like him.'
'Yeah, I wonder what he's up to,' Said Jenny, tracing a long fingernail down her other hands palm while she waited, 'I'm going in to find out.'
Jenny wondered back into the house, and started to look for Long as only she could; she started to go through every draw, cupboard and cabinet that wasn't locked shut. She would never admit to being a nosy person, but saying you're not something and the things you actually do often comes into conflict. Unfortunately Long was no fool, and everything was locked up tight, much to Jenny's disappointment, but then she noticed the light coming out from under the door from Long's bedroom, and seeing that she WAS looking for Long after all, she sidled her way to the bedroom door, waited for a moment, and then opened as quickly as she could, stepping inside. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she blinked, looked at Long, and saw…..
She didn't stop laughing for about twenty minutes afterwards, tears rolling down her face and turning her usually pale white cheeks puffy and red.
Vincent and Kevin crept silently through the bushes that grew around the massive mansion, trying to find out what was going on inside. Vincent had said that the mansion didn't have much security bar an elderly man who checked the place was empty once a night and locked all the doors. However, Mr. Kouto was no fool, and there were now several black clad men standing outside the main and side doors, each one holding a machine gun and a long knife hung from each ones belt.
'They're human,' Said Vincent, sniffing the air, 'I can smell it. But no doubt he'll have some hired zoanthropes inside the mansion. Most likely they'll be worse than Horn and Tusk.'
'Not a problem Vinny,' Said Kevin, cracking his knuckles and grinning, 'We're not here to get inside, remember? We're here to scout out the land and report back to the others.'
'You're right. Well, it looks like there's nothing else we can do here, so lets head back to Long's house…'
Suddenly, the bushes to their left began to rustle, and before either could react a small dark shape had bounded out of the foliage and crashed into Kevin, followed by several more. Three broke off from the rest and headed for Vincent, who had leapt to his friends aid and was kicking and punching with methodical care, each blow sending one of the dark figures tumbling away from the floored Kevin, but even the two zoanthropes couldn't do much in the face of overwhelming numbers. Both were soon pinned to the ground, and beaten senseless until they blacked out. Binding their hands and legs, the unconscious pair were carried off back into the bushes, and lost from sight.
Back at Long's house, everyone was still waiting for Long to get outside with Uriko. Jenny hadn't emerged yet either, but if they listened they could hear faint voices bickering from within. Eventually, Long appeared in his Tommy Hill-figure T-shirt and jeans, his hair still tied in its long pony tail, but somehow in a more casual way. Uriko was behind him, dressed in her usual outfit (blue and white silk dress thing with VERY long sleeves) and Jenny, who was still giggling to herself quietly. Alan looked his old friend up and down, and snarled.
'Where the hell is the real Long? Is this another trick Busuzima?' He growled, stepping forward with his arms raised to strike, but Uriko nimbly leapt in between them.
'Wait, this IS the real Long! He's just….got his clothes in the wash! Yeah, that's right, he's washing his clothes and he's got to wear these instead.'
'It's true,' Said Long, looking sheepish under their collective stares, 'I'm washing my clothes…(er, wait, that should be "threads")….I'm washing my threads right now, so I'm wearing this suit….(no, gear I think would me more appropriate)…..I'm wearing this gear until they're ready. Er, cool man…..'
The silence was growing intense. Behind Lounge's back, Uriko slapped her brow and shook her head sadly; it had taken her several hours to hammer the more streetwise vocabulary into his head, and that was STILL the best he could manage.
'Okay then,' Said Alice, slowly and carefully, 'Er, good for you Long. Well, now that we're all here, we should get going.'
They others nodded, and turned to leave. Long bent down a little to whisper in Urikos ear.
'Did that go okay? I've been practicing by street words.'
Uriko gave him a long hard stare. Did she really have it in her to lie to her Kenpo master?
'You did great Master Long. No one suspected a thing.'
Hey, what do you know? I can.
Jane stood, amazed at what she saw. Was this really the stern, noble Long she secretly loved and admired?!?!? But Long would never wear jeans! Was this a trick, or some sort of trap to entice her? It was the only possible explanation; no doubt Long had noticed all her longing stares and was trying to fool her into believing he was a totally different person. Well, TWO people could play that game; she would double bluff him, and pretend that she DIDN'T like him. When he was ready to declare his love for her instead of hiding it behind his clothes, she would return the love vows and then…..she could bearly even THINK about it, it excited her so much. Giving Long a brief scowl, she spun around and walked off, Jenny keeping pace with her, still giggling.
'What's so funny Jenny?'
The bat zoanthrope thought to regain control of her vocal cords, and took a brief gasp of breath.
'If you think that Long looks bad now, you should have seen what he was wearing before….' She managed to blurt out, before another fit of laughter gripped her. Jane stared at the laughing woman for a moment, and took a sharp step away from her.
'Uriko,' Muttered Long, as they continued to walk, 'Jane isn't looking at me. I've tried to catch her attention, but she just keeps looking away.'
'Ah, she must be playing hard to get,' Said Uriko sagely. Long gave her a blank look.
'Look,' Sighed Uriko, 'She's noticed that you've dressed up to impress her, right? But she still wants YOU to ask HER out, so she ignores you and waits for you to snap. So what you have to do is ignore her as well. In a few hours she'll be eating out of your hand.'
'Are you sure? That sounds very unhygienic,' Said Long doubtfully.
'Master, remember that conversation we had about metaphors?'
'No.'
'Ah? Well, that was one of them.'
'Oh, I see.'
Uriko gave another weary sigh. It was going to take a lot more than some jeans and a T-shit to get Long a date with Jane. She just hoped he didn't start talking to her and try out some of those words she had taught him….
It was only a few minutes after the others had left when Kenji and Stun arrived at Long's house. Kenji searched through the house, while Stun waited outside, but there was no clue as to where they had gone. All Kenji could find was a awful lime green shirt that someone had tried to hide in one of Long's drawers. The young zoanthrope walked out the door, crestfallen.
'Where are the others kid?' Said Stun, choking back the pain as he spoke. Kenji shrugged.
'Beats me. All I can tell is that there were about six people in there, and they left not too long ago. One of them was Uriko.'
'How can you tell?' Asked Stun.
'Oh, she wears this fragrance, this little thing called Blossom 19th that you can get from….' Kenji stopped, suddenly aware that a boy shouldn't know this much about perfume, 'I dunno, some store I guess. But by the smell of it, she was definitely here.'
'Well then, sniff her out,' Said Stun. Kenji gave him a strange look.
'What?'
'Look, it's pretty simple; your girlfriend smells like weeds-.'
'Flowers,' Corrected Kenji.
'Whatever. She smells of this stuff, and you can recognize it, so just take a deep sniff and figure out which way she went.'
'What do I look like, a bloodhound? Can't we just fly around the city and try and spot them from the air?'
'No can do my little friend; I'm worn out, probably won't be able to morph for a while.'
Kenji sighed, but the thought of Uriko walking into a secret army of zoanthropes without knowing strengthened his resolve. He took a deep, long sniff, his nostrils twitching slightly as they tested the air currents.
'Okay, I think I've got a lead,' He said, pointing down a road, 'This way, only a few blocks away.'
'Easy for you to say kid; you haven't been flying around this city all damn day,' Muttered Stun, setting off after the running Kenji at a light jog.
Busuzima groaned and rubbed his forehead, wincing as he fingers found the large bruise on his head. It was badly swollen and covered with crusted blood, but someone had placed a warm, wet towel over the wound, and the pain had went from a mind numbing explosion to simply being bloody painful. He managed to push himself up slightly, propping himself on his elbows, and took a look around himself. He was in the lab, and he could see the thick metal door had been ripped open by something big. Something REALLY big. Something he really didn't want to meet anytime soon. Swinging his legs off the cold steel bunk he was lying on, he groggily swayed to his feet and started to stagger towards the door. One hand was stretched out, pushing himself against the wall, the other was clasped to his brow, trying to lessen the pain. His foot hit the corner of a sharp desk, and he only just stopped himself cursing out loud, mouthing silent words of pain that could not be repeated on these pages anyway. Growling angrily under his breath, he was about to reach the gaping doorway when SHE came through it, smiling as sweetly as ever.
'I see you're up then, honey,' She said, grinning nastily. Busuzima tried to spin around and hurry off in the other direction, but his feet were still trying to figure out what the hell the rest of the body was doing, and decided to remain where they were. Unfortunately, this meant that the estranged scientist toppled over his own legs, bashing his head off the steel floor. This time the curses were very clear to hear, but I'm still not going to repeat them, as they were very explicit and rude. The woman smiled again.
'Oh dear, it looks like you're still not ready to walk yet. Never mind, let Beth help you up again.'
The woman, who was very skinny and could not have weighed more than a hundred and ten pounds, bent down and heaved the stranded man up by the waist, hauling him over her shoulder with no apparent effort and dumping him back in the bunk. This time, she bound his arms and legs with leather straps.
'There, now you can't hurt yourself walking around in your condition,' She said like an elderly mother, patting Busuzima on the head, 'Well, I think it's about time we got reacquainted.'
Busuzima moaned, as the beautiful woman before him brought forth unhappy memories.
'Look, Beth, can't we just have a coffee and talk things over like human beings?'
At this, the red haired woman (Beth) laughed out loud, brushing her bangs out her face and grinning again, her green almond shaped eyes locked with Busuzima's.
'But that's rather the point, isn't it? It's because of YOU that neither of us are human beings. It's YOUR fault that meant I had to leave my home and go live in Mexico for the last twelve years.'
'I did what I had too,' Said Busuzima defensively, wincing as the memory returned unwanted, 'If I hadn't have done it, then I would still be in China testing cosmetics on damn rabbits. I HAD to show them my research.'
'And your research included injecting me with crocodile DNA and turning me into a zoanthrope then?' Said Beth, still grinning, but this time in the manner a shark would grin rather than an attractive woman. Busuzima turned away, unable to meet her gaze.
'I….I would never have done it unless I was sure,' He said, his voice wavering, 'We were married after all, and I loved you…..but there was no one else.'
Beth didn't reply to this. She flicked her bangs back with a casual wave of her hand, and stood up, walking over to the bound Busuzima.
'Well, I have not been idol these last twelve years. I was your partner in marriage, AND in the lab, and I've been working with a few of my new friends working on something.'
Busuzima tried to hide his fear, but perspiration was dripping down his face. Beth reached into her pocket, and brought forth a long cylinder of paper.
'Busuzima, I would like you to sign on the dotted line here….'
'What?' Said Busuzima in surprise. He had expected something that would disembowel, disintegrate or dismember him in an unpleasant matter, but before his sweat fogged eyes there was a piece of paper with very tiny print on it. He squinted at the first two line.
'What?' He said again, this time in amazement, 'You want to DIVORCE me!?'
'Yep. Considering you turned me into a crocodile zoanthrope, I think it's a very fair trade.'
'But….but I LOVE you!!!' He protested.
'Oh please, I found your magazines, the ones with the…..men in them.'
'I…..you…..what…..I can explain them!!!!' He managed to splutter the sentence out, but Beth didn't want to hear it.
'Look, I'm okay with it. I've moved on, went on to see other people, lived in other….'
'WHAT!?!?! You've been with other people!?!?!?!' Raged Busuzima, straining against the straps that held him to the table.
'Well I was hardly expecting you to come back for me. After they gave you your little job, you forgot about me and left to do all your little experiments, so I decided to carry on life without you.'
'But I thought you were still back in the village in China! I sent you relief money for crying out loud!'
' Well I never got a penny of it,' Said Beth, her smile long faded now. Her face was much less attractive now, and set like stone. A long silence engulfed the pair again.
'Look, just what are you planning to do?' Said Busuzima. Beth was walking around again, looking at the computer screens and data records with interest.
'I heard you were working for a man named Mr. Kouto. Mr. Kouto had made lots and lots of enemies over the years, and all of them are very powerful. I'm working as a bounty hunter and hired saboteur, so they paid me to hunt down Kouto's secret lab and destroy anything I found there. Meeting you was simply a pleasant bonus.'
'Well I'm sorry to say this, but this isn't Kouto's secret lab,' Said Busuzima, 'It's mine. I never knew that Kouto HAD a secret lab, but then again that's the point of it being a secret.'
'What?' Said Beth, spinning around, 'But I followed you from the explosion in the last lab. I would have thought you would have went straight to Mr. Kouto.'
'Hell, are you kidding? If what Barry said was right, then we'd --'
'Who?' Asked Beth, now right up beside Busuzima again.
'Barry. You know, the guy who was in the tunnel with me. I think you hit him with a dart.'
Beth wasn't paying attention to him; her face had a faraway look on it, as if she was searching her memory for something. She shook her head quickly, and looked back at Busuzima.
'Okay honey, this is the deal; tell me everything you know, and I'll just make you sign the divorce papers. If you don't cooperate, then I'm going to cut off a very certain appendage I haven't seen in twelve years, and THEN make you sign the papers. Now, start talking…..'
'I really, really hate sewers,' Muttered Yugo, padding along yet another sewer tunnel. He was feeling tired, his nose was filled up with mucus in retaliation to the terrible smell, and to top it all off he had to lug Barry Serpent around on his back. The Mexican zoanthrope had started to hum some sort of tune, and whatever it was it was grating down Yugo's spin like fingers down a blackboard.
'Will you please stop humming that damn tune!' Yelled Yugo, finally snapping. Barry stopped mid-bar, and turned his head so he was looking at Yugo, or at least Yugo's ear.
'What'ssss wrong with it? It'ssss one of my favorite tunesssss. My father used to ssssing it to me when we went to El Piamo with the herd every sssspring.'
Yugo groaned inwardly; he had stopped him humming, but it looked like he was going to recount his life story instead. He was already missing the humming.
'Look, I really don't care about what you and your father did in El Piamo or whatever. Right now, we are in a sewer, looking for that useless @$$ Busuzima who's managed to get himself captured. I need him to get into this mansion with this secret army so I can heroically save the day.'
'Yeah right. You'll be lucky to find Bussssuzima, and even if you do make it to the manssssion, you'll be gunned down in sssseconds. Mr. Kouto issssn't your average bad guy, or hasssn't that gotten through your densssse skull yet?'
'Hey, I'm not your average good guy either,' Said Yugo angrily, 'I can do this without anyone's help.'
'Except Busssuzima'sss of courssse,' Said Barry innocently, 'And he'ssss your worssst enemy after all.'
Yugo stopped for a moment. As much as he loathed to admit it, Barry had a point; he was going to rescue that perverted freak who had done so much evil in his life for the sake of a little glory. Maybe….
Yugo's train of thought was brutally derailed however, as Barry, using his telekinetic powers, had levitated a lump of rock from off the floor and sent it crashing into the wolf zoanthropes head. With a little moan Yugo toppled over, pitching head first into the sewer stream. Barry twisted nimbly in the air, and landed on his feet, standing up straight as he watched Yugo's body drift away. He had realized he could use his legs again for the last ten minutes, and had started to scheme upon how he would escape. Now all he had to do was find the lab…..
It was several minutes later when Barry, tired and sweating, found the remains of the battle that Busuzima and Beth had been in. He nudged the remains of a sentry gun with a foot, and stuck his hands in his pocket. Oh well, he thought, there's only one way to explain this….Mr. Kouto hunted Busuzima down and wrecked the place. Sad really, he wasn't so bad for a Gaylord, but Barry wasn't really the kind of guy that would shed any tears about some prick of a scientist. Shrugging, he turned to leave, but suddenly he heard an all too familiar voice. He turned around, brow furrowed in confusion, and took a step towards the door.
'Beth?' He said to himself, and crept closer…..
Vincent gave a little grunt of pain, and half opened his eyes. They were blurred and ached badly, but he could make out his feet, which was at first very disturbing, but then quite a relief. He was hanging from a wall with his arms and legs shackled to it, and his head was bowed down, looking at the floor. Below him was a metal walkway, and through the little holes in the floor he could see men, scientist in white coats to be precise, rushing around in varying degrees of panic. This was all very confusing, but before he had a chance to sort his thought out, a sharp slap across the face brought to his attention that there was someone standing before him. Vincent turned to look at the figure, ignoring his stinging cheek.
'Uncle Kouto,' He said blankly, his eyes glaring into those of his elder's, 'I see you've been using the secret lab then.'
'Well observed Vincent. Indeed, I've been reviving the army your father helped me build.'
'My father wasn't helping you build and army,' Hissed Vincent, 'He was trying to make the world a better place.'
'And he was a fool in thinking that he could,' Said Kouto, turning his back on the young teenager to look out over the lab, 'He thought he was making biological aids for people who could not help themselves, but all he was doing was paving the way for me to rule. Tell me, do you really think that if I had not tried to take over them, that someone else would not have tried to do the same?'
'I…I don't know,' Said Vincent reluctantly. Kouto shook his head sadly.
'It really pains me to see you like this Vincent. You were always my favorite nephew; I only met you a few times before I was driven away by your parents, but I could tell you had intelligence and power. That is rare in a man, and even rarer in a zoanthrope. So I'm going to give you a chance to save your neck and that of your friends.'
Vincent looked up, as a giant metal arm swung slowly around and came to a stop with a hiss of hydraulics. In its grip was Kevin, still unconscious and dangling like a puppet with its strings cut.
'Let him go,' Vincent growled, but Kouto merely chuckled at his tone.
'Now now Vincent, that's no way to treat your elders. Now, what is it to be? If yes, you can be my assistant, and help me rule this pitiful place. If no, I push this little red button here, and your friend will never know what hit him. Of course, we'll both know it's the floor that hits him, but that's another story.'
Vincent was silent for a moment, head bowed in thought. What could he do? He couldn't escape, not in his condition, and his friends life was in danger. He slowly lifted his head, and looked Kouto straight in the eye.
'If I join you…..you'll let Kevin live?'
'You have my word,' Said Kouto, placing his right hand on his heart. Vincent paused again.
'How do you expect to take on the military presence in the city?' He said finally. Kouto smiled, and laid a hand on Vincent's shoulder.
'You leave that to your Uncle Kouto……'
Kenji reached the corner at a sprint, his nostrils flaring as he tried to pick up the scent. He had lost it a moment ago as he passed by a pizza joint, but picked it up again a few streets away. Stephen Goldberg was still some way behind him, panting for breath and cursing a stitch in his right side. As Kenji waited for his bulky companion to catch up, he noticed the man had a large but thin cardboard box tucked under his arm.
'Pizza!?' Yelled Kenji, 'You stopped for pizza at a time like this!?'
'Relax kid, when you're hungry, you should eat,' Said Stun with labored breath, taking a seat on a handy flight of steps and opening the box with a waft of steam, 'I learnt that much living on the streets these past few years. Want a slice?'
Kenji opened his mouth to argue, but his stomach intercepted the message and changed it into a "yes" before it reached his vocal chords. Taking a seat next to the hulking man, he accepted the slice handed to him, and took a bite. He grimaced for a moment, and then started to pick off the olives.
'So Stephen,' Said Kenji after a few minutes of silence, 'Tell me a bit about yourself. If we're going to run around this city in the middle of the night looking for my friends, I'd like to know a bit more about you.'
Stun paused, a slice of pizza half way towards his mandibles hidden by the scarf he wrapped around his face and shoulders. He placed the slice back in the box, and sighed.
'It's been pretty tough,' He said, shrugging his shoulders, 'When Busuzima turned me into….this, my whole life changed for the worse. Sure, I could turn into a monster that could rip up buildings with his teeth, but I was still me, in a sense. I wanted to keep hold of my humanity, but for me to live I had to keep taking a formula that included some……unsavory ingredients. It was a nightmare to take it, and a nightmare without it. I was stuck between two points and I couldn't get out.'
He bowed his head for a moment, apparently oblivious to Kenji or anything else for that matter.
'When I broke loose and started to hunt down Busuzima, I met Yugo and Long on the way. I got into a fight with the pair of them, damn near killed them both, but in the end it was me who ended up on my back. Maybe I didn't want to kill them because I was still human inside, but for whatever reason, after the whole business was over the took me in, and helped me to get back on my feet……of talons, whatever the hell these things are now. I learned to live with a different kind of serum, and I got all the help I needed form the guys like Yugo and Alice and Long. I never went to them of course; you were still screwed up from your mind control, and Uriko….well, she doesn't like bugs, but I could always rely on one of them to answer my call if I needed them. So kid, I owe a lot to your guardians, so I guess I owe you one too.'
Stun stood up, and handed him the box with the remaining pizza.
'There, we're even. Now, lets find the others.'
Kenji stood up and nodded. Together, the two unlikely allies headed off once more into the dark alleys, and disappeared.
Sorry for the delay on this chapter, but I had SO much work to do :P. Anyway, lots more action on the way, where we discover the truth behind Busuzimas supposed marriage, we hear more from Kenji and his struggle to find Uriko again, Jane Gado has a good old bitch about men and why they never do what you want them to, and we find out if Vincent really has turned over to the dark side. Until then, keep on writing!
Right, legal stuff out the way, I would just like to thank God, for inventing the fingers (useful little beggars), my parents for letting me use the P.C at all hours, and the people who wrote in about some of my other books I've written. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Till Death Do Us Part
It was starting to get dark, and outside Long's house, Alan Gado, Jenny, Jane and Alice were waiting for whatever it was that Long was doing.
'What's taking him?' Said Alan, looking at his watch, 'This isn't like him.'
'Yeah, I wonder what he's up to,' Said Jenny, tracing a long fingernail down her other hands palm while she waited, 'I'm going in to find out.'
Jenny wondered back into the house, and started to look for Long as only she could; she started to go through every draw, cupboard and cabinet that wasn't locked shut. She would never admit to being a nosy person, but saying you're not something and the things you actually do often comes into conflict. Unfortunately Long was no fool, and everything was locked up tight, much to Jenny's disappointment, but then she noticed the light coming out from under the door from Long's bedroom, and seeing that she WAS looking for Long after all, she sidled her way to the bedroom door, waited for a moment, and then opened as quickly as she could, stepping inside. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she blinked, looked at Long, and saw…..
She didn't stop laughing for about twenty minutes afterwards, tears rolling down her face and turning her usually pale white cheeks puffy and red.
Vincent and Kevin crept silently through the bushes that grew around the massive mansion, trying to find out what was going on inside. Vincent had said that the mansion didn't have much security bar an elderly man who checked the place was empty once a night and locked all the doors. However, Mr. Kouto was no fool, and there were now several black clad men standing outside the main and side doors, each one holding a machine gun and a long knife hung from each ones belt.
'They're human,' Said Vincent, sniffing the air, 'I can smell it. But no doubt he'll have some hired zoanthropes inside the mansion. Most likely they'll be worse than Horn and Tusk.'
'Not a problem Vinny,' Said Kevin, cracking his knuckles and grinning, 'We're not here to get inside, remember? We're here to scout out the land and report back to the others.'
'You're right. Well, it looks like there's nothing else we can do here, so lets head back to Long's house…'
Suddenly, the bushes to their left began to rustle, and before either could react a small dark shape had bounded out of the foliage and crashed into Kevin, followed by several more. Three broke off from the rest and headed for Vincent, who had leapt to his friends aid and was kicking and punching with methodical care, each blow sending one of the dark figures tumbling away from the floored Kevin, but even the two zoanthropes couldn't do much in the face of overwhelming numbers. Both were soon pinned to the ground, and beaten senseless until they blacked out. Binding their hands and legs, the unconscious pair were carried off back into the bushes, and lost from sight.
Back at Long's house, everyone was still waiting for Long to get outside with Uriko. Jenny hadn't emerged yet either, but if they listened they could hear faint voices bickering from within. Eventually, Long appeared in his Tommy Hill-figure T-shirt and jeans, his hair still tied in its long pony tail, but somehow in a more casual way. Uriko was behind him, dressed in her usual outfit (blue and white silk dress thing with VERY long sleeves) and Jenny, who was still giggling to herself quietly. Alan looked his old friend up and down, and snarled.
'Where the hell is the real Long? Is this another trick Busuzima?' He growled, stepping forward with his arms raised to strike, but Uriko nimbly leapt in between them.
'Wait, this IS the real Long! He's just….got his clothes in the wash! Yeah, that's right, he's washing his clothes and he's got to wear these instead.'
'It's true,' Said Long, looking sheepish under their collective stares, 'I'm washing my clothes…(er, wait, that should be "threads")….I'm washing my threads right now, so I'm wearing this suit….(no, gear I think would me more appropriate)…..I'm wearing this gear until they're ready. Er, cool man…..'
The silence was growing intense. Behind Lounge's back, Uriko slapped her brow and shook her head sadly; it had taken her several hours to hammer the more streetwise vocabulary into his head, and that was STILL the best he could manage.
'Okay then,' Said Alice, slowly and carefully, 'Er, good for you Long. Well, now that we're all here, we should get going.'
They others nodded, and turned to leave. Long bent down a little to whisper in Urikos ear.
'Did that go okay? I've been practicing by street words.'
Uriko gave him a long hard stare. Did she really have it in her to lie to her Kenpo master?
'You did great Master Long. No one suspected a thing.'
Hey, what do you know? I can.
Jane stood, amazed at what she saw. Was this really the stern, noble Long she secretly loved and admired?!?!? But Long would never wear jeans! Was this a trick, or some sort of trap to entice her? It was the only possible explanation; no doubt Long had noticed all her longing stares and was trying to fool her into believing he was a totally different person. Well, TWO people could play that game; she would double bluff him, and pretend that she DIDN'T like him. When he was ready to declare his love for her instead of hiding it behind his clothes, she would return the love vows and then…..she could bearly even THINK about it, it excited her so much. Giving Long a brief scowl, she spun around and walked off, Jenny keeping pace with her, still giggling.
'What's so funny Jenny?'
The bat zoanthrope thought to regain control of her vocal cords, and took a brief gasp of breath.
'If you think that Long looks bad now, you should have seen what he was wearing before….' She managed to blurt out, before another fit of laughter gripped her. Jane stared at the laughing woman for a moment, and took a sharp step away from her.
'Uriko,' Muttered Long, as they continued to walk, 'Jane isn't looking at me. I've tried to catch her attention, but she just keeps looking away.'
'Ah, she must be playing hard to get,' Said Uriko sagely. Long gave her a blank look.
'Look,' Sighed Uriko, 'She's noticed that you've dressed up to impress her, right? But she still wants YOU to ask HER out, so she ignores you and waits for you to snap. So what you have to do is ignore her as well. In a few hours she'll be eating out of your hand.'
'Are you sure? That sounds very unhygienic,' Said Long doubtfully.
'Master, remember that conversation we had about metaphors?'
'No.'
'Ah? Well, that was one of them.'
'Oh, I see.'
Uriko gave another weary sigh. It was going to take a lot more than some jeans and a T-shit to get Long a date with Jane. She just hoped he didn't start talking to her and try out some of those words she had taught him….
It was only a few minutes after the others had left when Kenji and Stun arrived at Long's house. Kenji searched through the house, while Stun waited outside, but there was no clue as to where they had gone. All Kenji could find was a awful lime green shirt that someone had tried to hide in one of Long's drawers. The young zoanthrope walked out the door, crestfallen.
'Where are the others kid?' Said Stun, choking back the pain as he spoke. Kenji shrugged.
'Beats me. All I can tell is that there were about six people in there, and they left not too long ago. One of them was Uriko.'
'How can you tell?' Asked Stun.
'Oh, she wears this fragrance, this little thing called Blossom 19th that you can get from….' Kenji stopped, suddenly aware that a boy shouldn't know this much about perfume, 'I dunno, some store I guess. But by the smell of it, she was definitely here.'
'Well then, sniff her out,' Said Stun. Kenji gave him a strange look.
'What?'
'Look, it's pretty simple; your girlfriend smells like weeds-.'
'Flowers,' Corrected Kenji.
'Whatever. She smells of this stuff, and you can recognize it, so just take a deep sniff and figure out which way she went.'
'What do I look like, a bloodhound? Can't we just fly around the city and try and spot them from the air?'
'No can do my little friend; I'm worn out, probably won't be able to morph for a while.'
Kenji sighed, but the thought of Uriko walking into a secret army of zoanthropes without knowing strengthened his resolve. He took a deep, long sniff, his nostrils twitching slightly as they tested the air currents.
'Okay, I think I've got a lead,' He said, pointing down a road, 'This way, only a few blocks away.'
'Easy for you to say kid; you haven't been flying around this city all damn day,' Muttered Stun, setting off after the running Kenji at a light jog.
Busuzima groaned and rubbed his forehead, wincing as he fingers found the large bruise on his head. It was badly swollen and covered with crusted blood, but someone had placed a warm, wet towel over the wound, and the pain had went from a mind numbing explosion to simply being bloody painful. He managed to push himself up slightly, propping himself on his elbows, and took a look around himself. He was in the lab, and he could see the thick metal door had been ripped open by something big. Something REALLY big. Something he really didn't want to meet anytime soon. Swinging his legs off the cold steel bunk he was lying on, he groggily swayed to his feet and started to stagger towards the door. One hand was stretched out, pushing himself against the wall, the other was clasped to his brow, trying to lessen the pain. His foot hit the corner of a sharp desk, and he only just stopped himself cursing out loud, mouthing silent words of pain that could not be repeated on these pages anyway. Growling angrily under his breath, he was about to reach the gaping doorway when SHE came through it, smiling as sweetly as ever.
'I see you're up then, honey,' She said, grinning nastily. Busuzima tried to spin around and hurry off in the other direction, but his feet were still trying to figure out what the hell the rest of the body was doing, and decided to remain where they were. Unfortunately, this meant that the estranged scientist toppled over his own legs, bashing his head off the steel floor. This time the curses were very clear to hear, but I'm still not going to repeat them, as they were very explicit and rude. The woman smiled again.
'Oh dear, it looks like you're still not ready to walk yet. Never mind, let Beth help you up again.'
The woman, who was very skinny and could not have weighed more than a hundred and ten pounds, bent down and heaved the stranded man up by the waist, hauling him over her shoulder with no apparent effort and dumping him back in the bunk. This time, she bound his arms and legs with leather straps.
'There, now you can't hurt yourself walking around in your condition,' She said like an elderly mother, patting Busuzima on the head, 'Well, I think it's about time we got reacquainted.'
Busuzima moaned, as the beautiful woman before him brought forth unhappy memories.
'Look, Beth, can't we just have a coffee and talk things over like human beings?'
At this, the red haired woman (Beth) laughed out loud, brushing her bangs out her face and grinning again, her green almond shaped eyes locked with Busuzima's.
'But that's rather the point, isn't it? It's because of YOU that neither of us are human beings. It's YOUR fault that meant I had to leave my home and go live in Mexico for the last twelve years.'
'I did what I had too,' Said Busuzima defensively, wincing as the memory returned unwanted, 'If I hadn't have done it, then I would still be in China testing cosmetics on damn rabbits. I HAD to show them my research.'
'And your research included injecting me with crocodile DNA and turning me into a zoanthrope then?' Said Beth, still grinning, but this time in the manner a shark would grin rather than an attractive woman. Busuzima turned away, unable to meet her gaze.
'I….I would never have done it unless I was sure,' He said, his voice wavering, 'We were married after all, and I loved you…..but there was no one else.'
Beth didn't reply to this. She flicked her bangs back with a casual wave of her hand, and stood up, walking over to the bound Busuzima.
'Well, I have not been idol these last twelve years. I was your partner in marriage, AND in the lab, and I've been working with a few of my new friends working on something.'
Busuzima tried to hide his fear, but perspiration was dripping down his face. Beth reached into her pocket, and brought forth a long cylinder of paper.
'Busuzima, I would like you to sign on the dotted line here….'
'What?' Said Busuzima in surprise. He had expected something that would disembowel, disintegrate or dismember him in an unpleasant matter, but before his sweat fogged eyes there was a piece of paper with very tiny print on it. He squinted at the first two line.
'What?' He said again, this time in amazement, 'You want to DIVORCE me!?'
'Yep. Considering you turned me into a crocodile zoanthrope, I think it's a very fair trade.'
'But….but I LOVE you!!!' He protested.
'Oh please, I found your magazines, the ones with the…..men in them.'
'I…..you…..what…..I can explain them!!!!' He managed to splutter the sentence out, but Beth didn't want to hear it.
'Look, I'm okay with it. I've moved on, went on to see other people, lived in other….'
'WHAT!?!?! You've been with other people!?!?!?!' Raged Busuzima, straining against the straps that held him to the table.
'Well I was hardly expecting you to come back for me. After they gave you your little job, you forgot about me and left to do all your little experiments, so I decided to carry on life without you.'
'But I thought you were still back in the village in China! I sent you relief money for crying out loud!'
' Well I never got a penny of it,' Said Beth, her smile long faded now. Her face was much less attractive now, and set like stone. A long silence engulfed the pair again.
'Look, just what are you planning to do?' Said Busuzima. Beth was walking around again, looking at the computer screens and data records with interest.
'I heard you were working for a man named Mr. Kouto. Mr. Kouto had made lots and lots of enemies over the years, and all of them are very powerful. I'm working as a bounty hunter and hired saboteur, so they paid me to hunt down Kouto's secret lab and destroy anything I found there. Meeting you was simply a pleasant bonus.'
'Well I'm sorry to say this, but this isn't Kouto's secret lab,' Said Busuzima, 'It's mine. I never knew that Kouto HAD a secret lab, but then again that's the point of it being a secret.'
'What?' Said Beth, spinning around, 'But I followed you from the explosion in the last lab. I would have thought you would have went straight to Mr. Kouto.'
'Hell, are you kidding? If what Barry said was right, then we'd --'
'Who?' Asked Beth, now right up beside Busuzima again.
'Barry. You know, the guy who was in the tunnel with me. I think you hit him with a dart.'
Beth wasn't paying attention to him; her face had a faraway look on it, as if she was searching her memory for something. She shook her head quickly, and looked back at Busuzima.
'Okay honey, this is the deal; tell me everything you know, and I'll just make you sign the divorce papers. If you don't cooperate, then I'm going to cut off a very certain appendage I haven't seen in twelve years, and THEN make you sign the papers. Now, start talking…..'
'I really, really hate sewers,' Muttered Yugo, padding along yet another sewer tunnel. He was feeling tired, his nose was filled up with mucus in retaliation to the terrible smell, and to top it all off he had to lug Barry Serpent around on his back. The Mexican zoanthrope had started to hum some sort of tune, and whatever it was it was grating down Yugo's spin like fingers down a blackboard.
'Will you please stop humming that damn tune!' Yelled Yugo, finally snapping. Barry stopped mid-bar, and turned his head so he was looking at Yugo, or at least Yugo's ear.
'What'ssss wrong with it? It'ssss one of my favorite tunesssss. My father used to ssssing it to me when we went to El Piamo with the herd every sssspring.'
Yugo groaned inwardly; he had stopped him humming, but it looked like he was going to recount his life story instead. He was already missing the humming.
'Look, I really don't care about what you and your father did in El Piamo or whatever. Right now, we are in a sewer, looking for that useless @$$ Busuzima who's managed to get himself captured. I need him to get into this mansion with this secret army so I can heroically save the day.'
'Yeah right. You'll be lucky to find Bussssuzima, and even if you do make it to the manssssion, you'll be gunned down in sssseconds. Mr. Kouto issssn't your average bad guy, or hasssn't that gotten through your densssse skull yet?'
'Hey, I'm not your average good guy either,' Said Yugo angrily, 'I can do this without anyone's help.'
'Except Busssuzima'sss of courssse,' Said Barry innocently, 'And he'ssss your worssst enemy after all.'
Yugo stopped for a moment. As much as he loathed to admit it, Barry had a point; he was going to rescue that perverted freak who had done so much evil in his life for the sake of a little glory. Maybe….
Yugo's train of thought was brutally derailed however, as Barry, using his telekinetic powers, had levitated a lump of rock from off the floor and sent it crashing into the wolf zoanthropes head. With a little moan Yugo toppled over, pitching head first into the sewer stream. Barry twisted nimbly in the air, and landed on his feet, standing up straight as he watched Yugo's body drift away. He had realized he could use his legs again for the last ten minutes, and had started to scheme upon how he would escape. Now all he had to do was find the lab…..
It was several minutes later when Barry, tired and sweating, found the remains of the battle that Busuzima and Beth had been in. He nudged the remains of a sentry gun with a foot, and stuck his hands in his pocket. Oh well, he thought, there's only one way to explain this….Mr. Kouto hunted Busuzima down and wrecked the place. Sad really, he wasn't so bad for a Gaylord, but Barry wasn't really the kind of guy that would shed any tears about some prick of a scientist. Shrugging, he turned to leave, but suddenly he heard an all too familiar voice. He turned around, brow furrowed in confusion, and took a step towards the door.
'Beth?' He said to himself, and crept closer…..
Vincent gave a little grunt of pain, and half opened his eyes. They were blurred and ached badly, but he could make out his feet, which was at first very disturbing, but then quite a relief. He was hanging from a wall with his arms and legs shackled to it, and his head was bowed down, looking at the floor. Below him was a metal walkway, and through the little holes in the floor he could see men, scientist in white coats to be precise, rushing around in varying degrees of panic. This was all very confusing, but before he had a chance to sort his thought out, a sharp slap across the face brought to his attention that there was someone standing before him. Vincent turned to look at the figure, ignoring his stinging cheek.
'Uncle Kouto,' He said blankly, his eyes glaring into those of his elder's, 'I see you've been using the secret lab then.'
'Well observed Vincent. Indeed, I've been reviving the army your father helped me build.'
'My father wasn't helping you build and army,' Hissed Vincent, 'He was trying to make the world a better place.'
'And he was a fool in thinking that he could,' Said Kouto, turning his back on the young teenager to look out over the lab, 'He thought he was making biological aids for people who could not help themselves, but all he was doing was paving the way for me to rule. Tell me, do you really think that if I had not tried to take over them, that someone else would not have tried to do the same?'
'I…I don't know,' Said Vincent reluctantly. Kouto shook his head sadly.
'It really pains me to see you like this Vincent. You were always my favorite nephew; I only met you a few times before I was driven away by your parents, but I could tell you had intelligence and power. That is rare in a man, and even rarer in a zoanthrope. So I'm going to give you a chance to save your neck and that of your friends.'
Vincent looked up, as a giant metal arm swung slowly around and came to a stop with a hiss of hydraulics. In its grip was Kevin, still unconscious and dangling like a puppet with its strings cut.
'Let him go,' Vincent growled, but Kouto merely chuckled at his tone.
'Now now Vincent, that's no way to treat your elders. Now, what is it to be? If yes, you can be my assistant, and help me rule this pitiful place. If no, I push this little red button here, and your friend will never know what hit him. Of course, we'll both know it's the floor that hits him, but that's another story.'
Vincent was silent for a moment, head bowed in thought. What could he do? He couldn't escape, not in his condition, and his friends life was in danger. He slowly lifted his head, and looked Kouto straight in the eye.
'If I join you…..you'll let Kevin live?'
'You have my word,' Said Kouto, placing his right hand on his heart. Vincent paused again.
'How do you expect to take on the military presence in the city?' He said finally. Kouto smiled, and laid a hand on Vincent's shoulder.
'You leave that to your Uncle Kouto……'
Kenji reached the corner at a sprint, his nostrils flaring as he tried to pick up the scent. He had lost it a moment ago as he passed by a pizza joint, but picked it up again a few streets away. Stephen Goldberg was still some way behind him, panting for breath and cursing a stitch in his right side. As Kenji waited for his bulky companion to catch up, he noticed the man had a large but thin cardboard box tucked under his arm.
'Pizza!?' Yelled Kenji, 'You stopped for pizza at a time like this!?'
'Relax kid, when you're hungry, you should eat,' Said Stun with labored breath, taking a seat on a handy flight of steps and opening the box with a waft of steam, 'I learnt that much living on the streets these past few years. Want a slice?'
Kenji opened his mouth to argue, but his stomach intercepted the message and changed it into a "yes" before it reached his vocal chords. Taking a seat next to the hulking man, he accepted the slice handed to him, and took a bite. He grimaced for a moment, and then started to pick off the olives.
'So Stephen,' Said Kenji after a few minutes of silence, 'Tell me a bit about yourself. If we're going to run around this city in the middle of the night looking for my friends, I'd like to know a bit more about you.'
Stun paused, a slice of pizza half way towards his mandibles hidden by the scarf he wrapped around his face and shoulders. He placed the slice back in the box, and sighed.
'It's been pretty tough,' He said, shrugging his shoulders, 'When Busuzima turned me into….this, my whole life changed for the worse. Sure, I could turn into a monster that could rip up buildings with his teeth, but I was still me, in a sense. I wanted to keep hold of my humanity, but for me to live I had to keep taking a formula that included some……unsavory ingredients. It was a nightmare to take it, and a nightmare without it. I was stuck between two points and I couldn't get out.'
He bowed his head for a moment, apparently oblivious to Kenji or anything else for that matter.
'When I broke loose and started to hunt down Busuzima, I met Yugo and Long on the way. I got into a fight with the pair of them, damn near killed them both, but in the end it was me who ended up on my back. Maybe I didn't want to kill them because I was still human inside, but for whatever reason, after the whole business was over the took me in, and helped me to get back on my feet……of talons, whatever the hell these things are now. I learned to live with a different kind of serum, and I got all the help I needed form the guys like Yugo and Alice and Long. I never went to them of course; you were still screwed up from your mind control, and Uriko….well, she doesn't like bugs, but I could always rely on one of them to answer my call if I needed them. So kid, I owe a lot to your guardians, so I guess I owe you one too.'
Stun stood up, and handed him the box with the remaining pizza.
'There, we're even. Now, lets find the others.'
Kenji stood up and nodded. Together, the two unlikely allies headed off once more into the dark alleys, and disappeared.
Sorry for the delay on this chapter, but I had SO much work to do :P. Anyway, lots more action on the way, where we discover the truth behind Busuzimas supposed marriage, we hear more from Kenji and his struggle to find Uriko again, Jane Gado has a good old bitch about men and why they never do what you want them to, and we find out if Vincent really has turned over to the dark side. Until then, keep on writing!