Rival reverence

Chapter 2

Inner Ego

Riddick´s mind raced over the past few moments. The last thing he remembered was that kid drugging him up, then to the present condition.
Tied down by the hands, feet, neck and waist. Some sedatives kept him away from being able to talk. he knew the feeling of sedatives all too well.

*They ain´t no amateurs, that's for sure*

His logic trying to find a possible reason for the assault, for this condition. For the disgusting emotion that embraced his humanity. He hated being chained, now more than ever, especially when he was suppose to be a free man.

A smile flashed across the new face, a needle adding into his view.
Had he been able to see normal colors he'd have noticed the redness of that liquid.
Had it not been contained he would have been able to smell the coppery taste of his own blood.

-You look confused, Mr. Riddick.

The woman, now he noticed, was wearing a doctor's outfit. So either this was a very sick fuck or an actual doctor.
His guess would be the earlier one.

-This is standard procedure, I am in need of probing your head a bit.

Her nails dug into his skin. A painful sensation spread through him like a virus.
Breathing became harshly. It were as if his lounges were no longer under his control.

All he could see was the blackness, hypnotic darkness of that being.
Her calm eyes....calm...calm.

The feeling. red.
A feeling of warmth.

Curled up like a fetus.
A fetus.

He was a fetus.

His mind surged involuntarily over his entire life.

The salted pain of being abandoned by everything and everyone.
The cruelty of being kicked and called a monster.

The thirst, the pain.
All covered in his own heart beat.
Every single kill, thought, vision and dream trespassed his blurred memory of the past.

A blast of few seconds, a precious silence.
The years in cryo sleep hit him like the worst news.
He felt as if his mind would crack any minute and nothing would be left.

It raved back, the mind that that woman now controlled.
To a precious moment of wrong doing.

When he'd hurt Jack. her blood on his hands and the way he'd enjoyed it.
his fantasies coming true at last.

going back, back, deeper.
Every breathing moment with Jack shared with something completely different.

Dark.

Lonely.

No warmth or cold, just feeling.
He could feel his body, yet he knew it was not his, Just a reflection.
being within his own mind.

He saw colors, his own skin, not prison pale but dark from the sun.

-You have a very interesting mind Mr., Riddick.

he spun around, seeing that woman again, this time she was dressed in armory of some sort.

Oddly enough he didn't want to attack her.

-What you doing with my head?

She smiled, a normal smile of superior knowledge.

-I needed to make sure that you weren't the psycho the norms thought you to be.

His calm cool returning to him. Feeling like himself, despite the prying creature.

-find anything interesting doc?

She gave him an obscure glance as his breath hit her neck. She didn't seem to care at all
about his presence.

-Yes, now I understand.

He felt like laughing. That woman thought she understood him? What was there to understand about a predador?

-Very much Mr. Riddick.

Eyes narrowed slightly, her black eyes in cruelty.

Another ride, had he been able to scream he would have forced all that cruel pain out of his body into his surroundings.
Pain of remembering.

Things beneath the surface of his complex mind.

Jack.
Always Jack.

her smile, her whispers, the way she moved.

Not the Jack he'd known.
An older Jack, a different Jack.

A scar on her face.

Cruel memories that weren't his, but now the knowledge was.
A heart ripping apart.

Back to the darkness.

A girl laying on the seemingly existing floor.

He approached.

Her nudity covered in blood and wounds. Eternal pain as she sobbed.
Torn masses of hair hid her face.

His hand reached out to touch the girl, but from under his touch yet another wound bleed. His fingers leaving a streak of blood. The painful cries of the girl ceased.
her brown eyes looked up, a face bloodied by the woudn he'd given her.
A momento.

Jack.

-This is you Riddick, not her.

That bald woman again. Looking at him with accusation. The accusation in her face spoke of an undoubtable truth: She knew Jack.
How could she? Perhaps only from his memories. he was sure she knew all about him.

His lips about to form words that no one spoke. Numb lips, couldn't feel them.

Reality returned, the woman's face directly infront of his.

-Welcome to the Zion Mission team, Mr. Riddick.

She took a few steps away and the metal bondage drew back to their imprisonment.
He was free. Free to do what he intended ion doing.

Attacking her.
A swift single attack that should have taken a woman out, even a strong one.

He fell to his knees, his nose bleeding, head poundig.
The bitch had hit a nerve and maybe broken his nose too.

-You're amongst equals now Riddick.

The voice strong and monotone, yet with a sense of emotions.
She knelt infront of him, looking at him.
As if he were nothing but an ant. And a pitiful ant at that. Then her face turned into another direction, not caring much whether Riddick would mark another advance at her or not.

A harsh glare to a special someone.

-Paulie, he didn't attack you

A singular statement of a superior to a worker.

-You were only suppose to sedate him if he'd attack you.

Riddick´s eyes wondered to the left, seeing that brat again. Sitting on a table, swinging her legs. A boy stood by his side. fiery red hair, unusually slim.
Probably fifteen.

The Kid's face turned towards Riddick as he directed her words towards the doctor.

-C´mon, Wolf, I owed you some trouble, specially after not letting me on the mission.

The kid´s voice gruesome, the boy giving her a look, an odd look.

-Apologize to the man, will you.

Wolf, as the woman was named, sincerely seemed to mean her words.
Paulie jumped down, headed towards the now standing Riddick. he stopped a few steps away, looking up at him.

-Look, I don't give a flying fuck about you or anyone else, so don't take this personally, I just wanted to give the Doc a problem or two, so I drugged you up, I'm sorry.

No sincerity lay in the kid's voice, none at all, but Riddick couldn't help but give the boy some respect. Very few people had taken him out in his life time.
The humiliating part being that it was an eight year old.

-Don't bother.

All he said. The boy looked over to her doubtful friend.

-See, I told yah Thief, he´s pretty fucking likable.

"Thief" merely shrugged his shoulders, no words whispered from the boys lips.
Then the eyes wandered straight to Riddick. Piercing blue eyes looking straight through him.

-We're alike.

The boy got ready to leave as a laughter rumbled from Riddick´s lips. Not another wannabe?
Nah, the boy looked like too much of a wimp to even try.
Thief headed for the doors, the younger boy springing after him.

-Yo, dude wait, what the fuck you talkin´´bout?!

Yet another voice added into the vacuum of Riddick´s mind, though he was pretty sure that the woman was outta his head he still sensed her touch on his mind.

-Is it standard procedure to have you drugged by kid?

Sarcasm shining through Riddick like the sun he hated so much.

-No. I do apologize.

Riddick, his nose not bleeding turned towards the good doctor, many questions on his lips but one above all.
He didn't ask that question though.
He'd rather find out for himself.

-What you did to me, what the fuck was it?

The woman, washing her hands, didn't bother to look at Riddick as she took a towel and
dried her pale CLAWED hands.

-mind probing.

-Telepathy?

A vicious snort came from her, a strange sound, not one made by a human.

-No, not at all, I lock my DNA with yours, I read you.

He couldn't help but wound whether she was lying or not. It did sound rather unbelievable.

-So now you know everything about me Doc.

A low voice, meant to give the woman shivers up her spine and give away something that could be used against her, a weakness.

-Yes, probably more than you do.

Riddick, with his thoughts and confusion still had some questions he wanted answered.
Wolf didn't give him the time to either finish his thoughts or mouth the questions.

-How are you feeling?

A professional question on a professional level.

-Pretty damn fine considering that you've been fucking with my head.

her face lacking all expression, her mind nothing but a haze behind her eyes.
Unreadable. Empty.
He noticed something, about her scent. Something lacking, something so vital to the scent of a woman.
No pheromones.

-Good, then you should be up to meeting your future colleagues.

*********************************

The debriefing room rather darkish, but still bright enough for Riddick to need the googols.
A few people sat there, excluding himself there were only three individuals.
The supposed head probing doctor and two other men.
All silent.

-Thirty credits saying she won't come

A man with Asian features reacted harshly to his colleagues words.

-A fucking coffin if you try that again.

The gambler, blond and suntan, leaned back, gave Riddick a friendly but yet devilish look. The kind he knew himself to radiate.

Silence and anticipation. Anticipation in every single body that slumbered in that dusk.
The feeling of obscurity made an attempt to hide it, though it only worked to a certain point. A suspicion crawled through the newest member. There was only one person he knew would avoid him.

Metallic doors slid open, that brat grinning in the doors.

-Lights to normal.

The gambler dragged his hand over and faked up real agony.

-Oh, damn it Thief, I got hang overs.

-Well, so do I and I'm not complaining.

Thief's voice somber and solemn.

Behind him two others showed up. Another boy and a girl, probably the boy's age.
black long curled hair and eyes like Wolf.

*damn, do they use kids. Some fucking mess I'm gonna have to run out of*

Mentioning Wolf, who now sat depressingly and stressful.

-She ain´t coming.

She looked straight over the group, the kids sitting on something that rather looked like shelves than chairs.

Rising up with elegance and precision, getting ready to address the psychos.

-As all present know, Mr. Riddick here, has just returned to freedom after 14 years of cryo. He's agreed to lead our Mission team since I've decided to boot the mother fucking job. So introduction.

The Gambler tugged at his jacked and stood up like a regular trash lawyer.

-Mark Goodberg. Bankrobberer and mass murderer, weapon's specialist and geologist.

the nest in the row, the Asian male.

-Lee McDare, former serial killer and hacker, weapon's and bombs.

That boy raised his hand, speaking somberly.

-Thief, Crawler and combat specialist.

The dice thrown to the black haired girl.

-Wolf 2, crawler and weapon's specialist.

The unfamiliar boy, dark features, around ten.

-Marcus, crawler and hacker.

Then there was that brat again, Paulie, who had a different glow about himself.

-Paulie, crawler and tag master.

*Tag-master?*

The dice thrown over to Riddick.

-Richard B. Riddick, ex convict, murderer.

His nostrils catching a scent of something out of the ordinary. Blood.
A woman came running into the room.

-We got jumpers in doc two.

Wolf's alert presence jumped off. Riddick´s eyes catching the most glorious sight.
This people knew how to arm up. All of them were loaded with arm guns, knifes, machine guns, all the latest shit.

-Mr. Riddick, looks like your first field trip's up.

****************
The second doc was a complete mess, people bleeding and injured, yet trying to help others in worse condition.

*A sufficient society*

Wolf had informed him that jumpers were bio machines, designed to kill.
They'd been attacked a few times, some loss, right now they were interested in getting one still active, to learn how they work and then blow their asses.

Some one was working big time at trying to work the gate to doc two.
A concerned expression crossed the mans´face as he looked at wolf.

-I can't crack it, she's locked us out.

A fist clench. Riddick saw a passionate expression of rage on the brat's face.
An unsettling suspicion set into his spirit.

-Damn it. Lee, get on it.

Wolf's command immediately worked out.
With haste the single member got to work.

-EVERYONE; CLEAR THE AREA.

Mark screaming over the crowd, helping others to move their asses.
Soon enough the area was only occupied by the mission team and crawlers.

The hacker stopped working on the doors, stepped away. Instant fury flared over his face and a fist came pounding into the metal, almost leaving a dent.

-FUCK IT.

His sweaty brows turning towards the present team leader.

-I've never seen this kind before...DAMN YOU.

With even more haste and agility he started to crack the doors open via digital abusion.
Then calmly backed away, yet worry shone through his face like nothing before.

-She's coming out....

Lee´ eyes rambled across the screen in worry. The calm fading away.

-we better get the fuck away.

The entire gang got into composition, guns aimed, knifes ready.
The doors slid open

Expectation settled calmly.
Nothing but electric lashes.

A strange creature, metal shining but soaked in blood jumped its height dozen times.
heading for Thief

Something in Riddick told him to protect the kid. Why? Not like this fifteen year old mattered to him.

No one moved, the concentration in his face great and focused. His gun rode off, the jumper squealed as it was torn into thousand pieces.
Blood splattered over all present faces.
Yet, no one moved.

Then a body thrown out, a living body, holding something under the palm of her hand.
Her breath heavy and gruesome, her brown hair glued to her skin, shoulderblade long.
Sweaty, muscular. A tank top and army trousers.
Her body covered in blood, her own and that of the jumpers.
That thing was trying to dig through her hand, it was progressing.

Brown eyes looked sharply up, facing Wolf. A known smile.

-I got one, alive.

With a kick the doors slammed closed, and the woman rose up, holding that moving bio shit in her right hand, Swiss army blade in the other.

The rest of the crew immediately got to work, removing the jumper from the depths of Jack's palm.

Riddick´s heat beat changing, her scent just the way he remembered it. Like musk Vanilla.

Thief stood in the midst of the floor, his both fists clenched, eyes staring with burning wrath.

-Riddick, meet Jack, pilot, hacker, combat and weapon's specialist. but none of that really fucking matters, she's just a suicidal bitch who doesn't give a damn about....anything

In a cruel fashion their eyes met.
Unspoken words crossed eternity.