Danger Zone
By Divamercury
Sorry, Ian's not free yet, but will be soon. The catfight beginsand ends. Hope you like it, and if you're reading this, Pix, tell me if I did this the way you might have imagined it. Please read and review!
Chapter 20
"You heard me, Mac. I knew coming into this that I had stronger powers but I was unaware of how great the difference was."
"How dare you?" Mac inquired. "You come in here under the pretext of trying to help Sara and the rest of us but all you do is continue to make trouble and berate me for things that were and still are out of my control! Who the hell do you think you are?"
"No one to be trifled with, I can guarantee that. Do you think you're a match for me?"
"Only one way to find out."
Raven and Mac stood up and moved out into some open space in the room.
"Cut it out, you two. You guys are on the same side here; you're working toward the same goal. There's no reason to do this!" I said, trying to keep them apart.
"Stay out of this, Sara."
"Who are you, Raven? And why this vendetta?" I asked.
"I'm another of your Guardians, Sara, of which you have many, and I am much more. And I always am the one that has to clean up the messes that this one makes, often ending in your death!" she exclaimed, pointing to Mac. "I shouldn't have to, because you aren't supposed to die that soon. Don't you think that I have a legitimate reason to be just a little bit pissed off?
"Sara, please, back off. This isn't your fight. This is between the Priestess and myself; may the best woman win."
"Cut it out, you two. If you're as important as you've both been telling me you are, it wouldn't be a good idea for you two to kill each other. This is ridiculous."
"Yes, ladies, please. This isn't the time or the place," Will inserted.
"Both of you, stay out of this," Mac and Raven said simultaneously.
Will and I stood between them, trying to stop this absurd conflict and were quite surprised when they stepped around us. Identical glares save their color looked at and through us. Raven's right eye twitched, as did Mac's left eye, and before I could even breathe once more it seemed that an invisible force came struck me in the stomach and propelled me to the opposite wall, knocking me against the drywall. Will's impact came seconds later.
"Nice catch, Mr. Wall," I muttered. "What the hell?! What are you two playing at?"
"We can't have intervention from you right now, Sara," Mac said. "Now, Raven, where were we?"
"Forgive me, but I believe I was preparing to kick your negligent religious ass."
* * *
"My negligent ass? Where was your ass when we needed you? If you're such a righteous protector, why weren't you here when you could actually have been of some help?"
At Raven's barely controlled look, which made me feel like she was shooting daggers at me, I anchored my feet. Raven would definitely be a strong opponent, but nothing I couldn't handle. I was sick and tired of her lip and I intended to teach her a lesson.
"Oh, I don't know, I was just deep in a coma, Andreanna!"
"Don't call me that!"
"Let's just get this over with."
"Fine by me."
Raven glared at me and I knew what she was about to do. She tried to push me against the wall like we had done to Sara. I fought her attack with all the strength I had, but she kept gaining ground as I lost it, my feet sliding across the floor. I finally was able to concentrate all my energy in one place and with a quick rub of my necklace, was able to send Raven flying backward through the air. She crashed into a small sofa and landed with the loud sounds of splintering wood. She sprang up instantly and mentally lifted me off the ground, stranding me in the air. I struggled, flailing my arms and legs helplessly. Flinging my hand out towards her, I did the same thing to her, and we stayed like that until I ran out of energy and dropped Raven back to the floor. Raven's concentration was partly broken and the next thing we knew Sara had freed herself from the wall and the Witchblade was activated and pointed down at Raven's exposed throat, since Raven had landed on her back and hadn't yet moved. Raven was the one that had been holding Sara downuntil that moment at least.
"I have absolutely had it with your bickering! This isn't about you two and your petty differences that have accumulated over the past millennium! This is about a very important man's life, which may be over soon if you don't get it together!" she said, throwing furious glances between the two of us. "Now suck it up and we'll move on. Raven, put Mac down and tell us the rest of the information you found out from talking to Ian. If you don't, so help me, I'll use this thing, and I really don't want to. Keep that in mind. There's a fine line between pissed off and frantic and I think I've crossed it. So let's go."
* * *
With a blink of her eye, Raven dropped Mac (far from gingerly) back to the floor. I glared at her and she gave me an innocent "What?" expression in return with a shrug of her shoulders. They followed me back to the living area like a couple of chastised children, which in a sense they were. Will recovered his equilibrium after his previous attack and staggered over to where we were to listen to Raven's monologue, who was ever so slightly more nervous now that she knew I wouldn't hesitate to smack her around to prove a point.
"Ian told me some names of buildings that he could seeumm, Harrison Operations, Strauss Industries, and I think Almeda Incorporated. He also saw a part of a street sign starting with the letters C-U-M-M. I think that's everything he told me."
"All right, then. This is where I will take over. Come along," Will said, and we followed him into the heart of the Associates' control center. He sat down at one of the myriad of computers and pulled up a map of the city. He searched for the names of the corporations and the locations of the outposts in NYC.
"Aha! Here's the buildings owned by those companies Raven was told about: Harrison, Strauss, and Almeda, all on Cummings Avenue. And here—" Will said, zooming in close to another warehouse, "—is the largest warehouse on the street. Formerly operated by Vorschlag Industries but currently vacantabout 10 other companies owned it before Vorschlag bought it. People say it was jinxed. All the companies that have used it so far have gone bankruptexcept Vorschlag. They called it Perdition for a while. "
"That's got to be the one we're looking for. But I severely doubt that it's vacant. In fact, it's probably crawling with dirty cops right about nowWell, now that that's all settled, I believe I'm making a trip to that warehouse," I said a few moments later. "Any volunteers for the cavalry?"
Most of the heads in the room nodded. "We'll go in there with you," Will said, speaking for the others.
"Actually, I'd like it better if you'd follow me in after a few minutes. It'd be more dramatic," I said. And it'll give me a chance to get everything done without having to worry about anyone else,' I thought.
He nodded. "We'll give you two minutes before we move in."
"Great. Come on; let's get moving. I've been ready for this," I said, and the warehouse was a flurry of activity as we gathered weapons and supplies while we prepared for our ambush.
