The Dark Amazons

by DaveCorsair555

Jane Arkensaw lost her parents at sixteen to the fearsome Jeff the killer. She is hired by a secret government agency to hunt down Jeff and other criminals. After years, she is finally closer than ever to punishing the killer who ruined her life, but he is not alone. Jane will also meet other ruthless killers, supernatural creatures, but also people like her who are vigilant.

The Dark Amazons

PROLOGUE

My name is Jane Arkensaw, but the media and my enemies call me "Jane the killer." A nickname that I have always thought was rather trite and a bit too similar to that of my nemesis "Jeff the killer," but over time I have gotten over it. Also because, indeed, from a certain sense it fits very well with my particular profession. I am writing this so that, whoever reads, will know the truth about what really happened. The truth about the events surrounding me, serial killer Jeffrey Alan Woods, some of the bizarre criminals and creatures it dealt with, and the "Dark Amazons."

Some time ago I read in passing on the Internet a few stories inspired by the tragic news event that marked my life forever, but they all ended up being ridiculous fanfiction. Little stories where the figures inspired by mine all ended up as banal pissed-off gothic girls seeking revenge. But in the end they remained just little stories anyway. What I write below is my real story, the pure truth.

I was born on July 1, 1992. I lived quietly with my family in the town of Mandeville, Louisiana. My family consisted of Bruce and Paula Arkensaw. They were both born in Los Angeles County, California, and moved to Louisiana at a young age to work in counseling. Thanks to them I had a worthy childhood and everything had been going well in my life… Until on August 12, 2008, young serial killer Jeffrey Alan Woods, later known as "Jeff the killer," sadistically murdered my family in cold blood. I, unfortunately, witnessed this as I peeked in terror from a closet, in which my parents had put me for protection. For four years I lived with a few foster homes, but I never bonded much with anyone. The only person who was a friend to me was the psychologist they made me see during those four years; she helped me to metabolize the trauma I suffered when I was 16. During that time I would get as much information as I could about the killer who ruined my life.

As it turns out, he happened to be almost my age. Jeffrey Alan Woods was born on October 3, 1991, just almost a year older than me. He went to the same high school as I did; it is possible that I even passed him in some hallway. On the night he became a killer he was almost 17 years old. He was reported to have had a pretty bad family life, until he suffered an accident that disfigured the left side of his face he went totally crazy. He murdered 15 people the night my parents died, they were among them. The first victims were his own parents, but for apparently unknown reasons he spared his younger brother Liu Woods. There was speculation that she was the only person he loved, or at least did not hate.

In the year 2012, four years after that fateful night, Jeff the killer was officially America's public enemy number one. On December 16, 2012, I was contacted by a government official working in a secret agency of the U.S. government. His name was Daniel Smithson, and he would become a figure who would accompany me for the next few years to come. He promised me revenge against the being who took my family away, a job as a professional assassin. He told me I could become a punisher toward anyone who was part of the criminal scum infesting the country, promised me a better life than I had then. However, on condition I test a chemical compound that would give me much more strength, greater agility and improve my intelligence. It was presented to me as an "elixir," a kind of Captain America-style super soldier serum. I was promised various abilities that would help me do good, fight crime and especially efficiently hunt down the now infamous Jeff the killer. Minor side effects were calculated, however, I was reassured that they were negligible and would not consist of anything serious.

I asked them why I was contacted among the many surviving victims of that serial killer, apparently because I was one of the most suitable subjects. Especially among the survivors of his massacres. I had boxed and tried various martial arts classes during those years; they were my main outlet. Probably my favorite thing in those years, along with appointments with my psychologist. Excluding that, I spent almost every day of those years staring into space in the rooms where they put me to sleep. I listened to music that was much louder and darker than the tastes of all my school peers. I watched a variety of horror or action movies. The sports results I brought home were considered very good, even excellent in some cases. For this I was reputed to be one of the best candidates from the agency in question. With such an opportunity, still haunted by hatred for that damned killer, I accepted their proposal.

Later I was taken to the headquarters of the government agency in Richmond, Virginia. It is an agency so secretive that it is usually simply called "The Agency," but officially it is called the United States Department of Special Anti-Crime Unit. I know, it sounds like the name of a "Law & Order" style TV series. Officially, there are seventeen agencies in the "United States Intelligence Community," but this was the eighteenth. Just to give you an idea of how secretive it is. So I went through some medical checks, various physical and psychological tests, gave my consent signature, and finally after all that they had me test the compound that would make me a perfect killer who would be more efficient than ever.

I had been strapped to a kind of medical bed with straps while they reassured me that it was solely for my safety and theirs. This was due to previous failed tests. All the volunteers who had tried that compound became very aggressive and violent, in most cases dying. That is why that compound was nicknamed "Liquid Hate" by some. But they reassured me about that too, by then it had been perfected to the best and I had nothing to fear. It was injected directly into my bloodstream, from where it would affect everything else in my body. Later I also had some aggressive behavior mixed with convulsions, but it all lasted for only about a minute and a half. In the end, it had worked. But there also came the side effects that came with it.

They were right that they were negligible from some points of view, but they were also noticeable. My skin had turned totally white. My hair, which I had always worn quite long and wavy, went from the dark brown color I had always had to a pure black. My eyes and lips also became totally black. At first I was quite shocked given that radical change in my appearance, but subsequently I metabolized and so accepted my new look.

I wanted to get as quickly as possible to the revenge I so desired; I had accepted the cost involved. Over time, though, I realized how different and flashy I appear in other people's eyes, hard not to be conspicuous with such a look unless I use fairly massive make-up. But in the end I always put that on the back burner. At worst they would mistake me for a very gothic/metallic girl.

The important thing was that the serum injected into my body was working perfectly. I was stronger, faster, more agile, shinier, cooler-I had become a living war machine, perfect for hunting down America's number one serial killer and also the criminal scum that infested the country. I was the ultimate killer, a true triumph for the agency and for the U.S. government.

When I went on undercover missions in urban areas, I always used a rather dark look that matched well with my rather gothic appearance. Leather jacket (or alternatively long black Matrix-style jacket), black jeans, boots, and a few t-shirts from some rock/metal band. Sometimes I varied but only slightly. If necessary I would also use other types of standard civilian clothes, depending on the situation. I also used a special stealth suit to enter complexes full of guards, guarding very rich or important people who ended up in my crosshairs for some questionable action committed in private life. I always gave my best in my work. In the early years I made a few mistakes and missed a few targets, but I usually got away with it because of my young age. When I wasn't chasing Jeff, I was constantly given little jobs like that. In later years I was able to improve and almost never made a mistake.

It's been five years since I started my career as a professional assassin, for five years I've been murdering in cold blood anyone with a very bad criminal record and anyone who pointed me to the agency. By early 2017 I had become even better at what I do best, I had become the best in my field. Unfortunately, however, Jeff was still the freedom, I always missed that damn killer all those years. I found him extremely frustrating. He had also become smarter, faster and bloodier. Sometimes he escaped in ways that both I and the agency people struggled to explain. Despite my increasing skill and professionalism in my missions, Jeff was still almost elusive. And he remained the number one killer in the country. There must have been something else going on, because he was no longer just a good serial killer. It's as if he had acquired who knows how new abilities that only a few people can use… He had to have undergone some enhancements. Drugs? Steroids? A mixture? Very likely, but for five years we had no concrete certainty about that.

The first few times I met him he was almost silent, except for a few giggles from a typical psychopath. He would run away, as if he didn't care to fight. Probably accustomed to running away from anyone who would stand in his way. The media often portrayed him with photomontages inspired by that first photo, in which he showed a completely white inhuman face, bulging eyes and a grin furrowing his mouth. An ugly copy of the Joker in short. But thanks to my interventions it turned out that it was actually a mask. For fun he also liked to use very similar masks from time to time, mostly inspired by the Joker. And this move caused misinformation and confusion to take over. But his real appearance was something else; I was able to see his face as it happened to some lucky survivors. He was a boy with a rather normal face, except for the other side that was completely disfigured and almost totally devoid of hair. A scar ran down his face from the left side of his mouth to his completely white eye. After the debunking of this false myth, at least the media could console themselves with the fact that he still looks like a Batman villain. That was a small satisfaction.

Another trademark of his were a kind of catchphrase he wrote on the walls of many victims. "Go to sleep". Sometimes, extremely annoyed by this, I would correct his phrase to "DON'T Go to sleep" with black paint. Once I even added below "or you won't wake up." Because in fact anyone Jeff "sends to sleep" will never wake up again. Mine was an open declaration of war.

I would have hunted the damn thing relentlessly if the agency people had not continually given me other targets to follow. I was bound, even though Jeff was the most famous, he was not the only criminal around. Apparently he wasn't even the only odd-looking criminal around.

Well there were also numerous cases of killers characterized by bizarre appearance, most of them filed by the agency. One had a blue mask with black holes for eyes, another simply had welding goggles and was equipped with lumberjack axes, a girl with dirty clothes and a mask engraved with a devilishly creepy smile… There were others, but in the end they all looked like plain, bizarre-looking killers.

There were also sightings of mysterious beings considered nonhuman. What are usually considered for the most part urban legends were actually taken seriously by the U.S. government. The most famous was a tall, pale being dressed in black, sometimes depicted with tentacles sticking out of its back. I was told, however, that this was not our problem. There were rumors that these beings were the problem of another secret organization acting internationally. Even those at the agency I worked for knew very little about it and the superhuman beings it dealt with. Some thought it was just a legend.

But I only cared about my goals anyway, and especially about Jeff the killer. As I write this still runs the year 2017, the year I finally came up against him. But not only with him. I also ran into other killers similar to him, whom I had heard about but never seen. That's the year when, once again, everything changed for me. The year when I would meet people who would be a game changer.

CHAPTER 1

It was a cold February day. February 15th, 2017 to be precise.

I was in Savannah, Georgia. I had just assassinated an underworld boss and all his thugs. I was wearing the typical gothic/metallic attire I use in the suburbs when I go to hunt common criminals. When the job was finished Smithson, as always, contacted me. It was always Smithson who communicated to me the new positions of Jeff the killer. I will report all dialogue and monologues that I consider revealing, or even minimally significant, to the story.

Smithson: "Jane, are you there? How did it go?"

Me: "Smooth as silk. As always."

Smithson: "Perfect. Jeffrey Alan Woods has been spotted again, this time around Statesboro. It's not far from Savannah, we're sending one of the SUVs to take you to the location where he's been reported. I was told that some policemen shot him after reporting him, he should be wounded. Maybe this is a good time. So good luck Jane."

Me: "Perfect. I must not miss this time."

After they drove me to the predetermined place, I was standing in front of an old abandoned ruin. Probably an old warehouse, it had been abandoned since about the 1920s or 1930s. In short, a perfect place as a hideout for some savage serial killer. After searching the building, I finally found the killer I had been hunting for years. I had found him on the second floor, behind a hallway wall.

He seemed to be waiting for me, probably catching a glimpse of me as I arrived. He was pointing his typical blood-dried knife at me, holding his abdomen with the other. Logically he was dressing himself because of some wounds inflicted in a recent shooting, the one Smithson had reported to me. He had on his typical white sweatshirt, perhaps the same one he had frequently been spotted wearing. On top he had a black leather jacket, then he had on black jeans and some gray-black shoes. The clothes were broken, dirty, and bloody. I certainly did not expect otherwise from a stray, rabid dog like him. It was the typical attire in which he was spotted. He had a half smile. It was accompanied by an expression that seemed to convey pleasant surprise.

I also usually had two pistols in my outfit that I used in many of my missions, but when I encountered him I preferred to expose my two daggers. I would hide various types of knives in my clothing, of different lengths and different thicknesses. Maybe less logical and effective from a more professional point of view, however, I wanted to enjoy my revenge with a fight that was on a level playing field. More hand-to-hand combat. Especially at such a time when he seemed to be at an obvious disadvantage.

I remember as if it were yesterday our actual first exchange of words. I was so pissed off as he acted in that amused, moody way he always used in the audio files I heard in some of his cases.

"I finally found you, damned!"

"Heheh… You're the one who's been after me for a long time, aren't you? But what a nice outfit you have on. It's lacking a bit of… Red, though. Yes… Blood red here and there."

"Shut up! Your murderous rampage ends here!"

"Cool. I found a worthy opponent it seems. It will be a pleasure to eviscerate you. But first I'm going to test you a bit, as I'm doing with her…"

"Who the hell are you referring to?"

That was how I met "Nina the killer." I found out later that her real name was Nina Hopkins, she was a young girl who was apparently normal but was afflicted with severe schizophrenia. She lived in Silver City, New Mexico. Turning 16 the year before in 2016, she had now become obsessed with Jeff the killer, so much so that she disguised herself as him and committed murders in his name. Her family were the first victims; she had shamelessly copied her bloody idol. Basically in the end she was one of those pathetic fangirls obsessed with some idol, but unlike that other she had not become obsessed with the pop singer of the moment but rather with a fucking serial killer.

During her first sightings she was seen with her face dyed red and white as in the photos the media showed of Jeff, but unlike the latter she was wearing a purple sweatshirt. She was also described wearing skinny jeans, classic converse and black hair tied in a ponytail. She was later noticed by the very serial killer she worshipped.

He took her with him, so for about a year they were together. To the girl's disturbed mind it seemed like a dreamy romantic relationship, but to the serial killer's even more disturbed mind it was just a pastime. She was practically a plaything for him, as well as a lackey. The truth is that he did not love her as she did him; he exploited her. He abused her, treated her like shit, but she was okay with that because no matter what he did to her he was still her idol. A perfect example of the worst kind of toxic, sick relationships. If Jeff the killer is a bad copy of the Joker, Nina the killer was a ridiculous parody of Harley Quinn as a fucking e-girl. This all came up as a result of disgusting and pathetic letters apparently written in blood. Letters found in the victims' homes, as if she was writing a diary but shredded and scattered all over the houses they had attacked. In fact, they both apparently liked to write about their deeds that they thought were noteworthy. Yuck…

I had finally met her that day. She was different from her first sightings. She had only the left half of her face painted. On the painted face side her hair was shaved while on the other side it was black but quite short. She had on a purple but open sweatshirt that showed a sports top paired with a skirt. She also had a variety of accessories on, typical of a teenage girl who liked to be on display. The only exclamation I ever heard from her was the following:

"Is this bitch bothering you, my prince? I'll put you to sleep now! Nobody bothers my Jeff!"

I know. Extremely pathetic. Poor her…

We thus clashed in combat. She was agile enough all things considered, but not enough for yours truly. She had a weak build for a fight with some professional in combat like me. After breaking the bones in all her limbs, I first gave her a few stab wounds in the abdomen and then slit her throat, to make sure she would die quickly and atrociously. I always made sure to kill in the bloodiest way the worst beings I face, or even those who manage enough to piss me off. I had gotten rid of her as quickly and efficiently as possible. I wanted to warm up as best I could for the confrontation I so craved against Jeff. After just a few seconds, the hapless and pathetic Nina the killer was dead in a bloodbath.

I did not expect tears from a monster like Jeff towards one of his lackeys, but I still saw an expression of disappointment that made me feel a modicum of satisfaction.

"Wwwhaaat the fuuuck… You ugly bitch… You killed my favorite little whore!…"

But the disappointment soon passed.

"…Now you will be my new favorite little bitch. Heheh."

I had finally arrived at that moment I had so longed for… Too bad that soon after came a mysterious guy in an all-blue sweatshirt, black jeans, and… A blue mask with black eyes. He was one of those weirdo killers I had read about at the agency. He was known by the name "Eyeless Jack."

From the report I read his name was Jack Nichols. He was a young man from Bozeman, Montana, class of 1996. The boy went missing in 2015 at age 19, when he was a college freshman. This was confirmed by his DNA taken from a tooth found embedded in the flesh of one of his victims.

According to the most widely accepted version, the cause of Jack Nichols' radical transformation into a beast occurred because of a pagan ritual originating from Eastern Europe. It is said that it was framed, because of some misplaced friendship or a girl he liked, and became the sacrifice of some college students who were actually religious fanatics. The ritual involved the victim harboring an ancient demon, but first his eyes had to be excised and a boiling black liquid (probably tar) put into his emptied eye sockets. Afterwards, those who practiced the ritual would all sacrifice themselves as a feast for the demon. This is the most credited version because it coincides with the discovery of about twelve corpses near Montana State University in September 2015. The period before the first official sightings of Eyeless Jack. It is not considered official, though, mainly because it seems a bit too romanticized as a story in the eyes of more realistic and skeptical people. They prefer to believe that it is the result of some kind of experiment or something like that.

The fact remains, however, that his murders have the peculiarity of leaving all his victims without kidneys. It has been speculated that he ate them as nourishment, along with perhaps other parts of human flesh. There are various testimonies of policemen who tried to clash with it, but he was always stronger and more agile. He is so called because during his sightings he seems to have no eyes behind his mask, but rather a mysterious black liquid dripping from the mask. Very similar to tar.

So I was not dealing with a mere killer, or a puny little girl like Nina, but a being no longer human and endowed with special strength and agility. Finally, a perfect opponent… too bad it came before my vengeance with Jeff. And it caught me off guard. Probably my fate thought it would be too easy, or similar bullshits.

We thus began to fight, he was strong but I was able to stand up to him. Or at least that was initially the case during our first few minutes of fighting. He, however, managed to hit me in the head and render me briefly unconscious.

I regained consciousness not many minutes later. I was tied pretty tightly to a column in the old building, and I was also upside down. In front of me was Jeff, but around me and him was not only that creature masked in blue and black, but other individuals. I recognized all of them; I had read about them in the agency files as well.

"Clockwork. Natalie Oulette's "stage" name. Class of 1996. Born in Charlottesville, Virginia. A girl who in 2015 began claiming victims in her hometown. She was also a wretch who lived in a rather horrible family. After a variety of abuse and violence, she went crazy and exterminated them in a very bloody way. Classic US young killer origin story of today in short. Except she chose to stick a fucking watch in her left fucking eye. Realistically she should have fainted from the bleeding after such extreme actions, although it is not officially established. She is dressed in a fur coat and a faded green t-shirt, skinny jeans, and the usual converse. Her long brown hair is rather wavy and unkempt. She apparently loved using two kitchen knives, and she walks around with a stuffed giraffe hanging from her waist. Probably the only thing he never hated.

"Zero." Birth name Alice Marie Jackson. Class of 1999. Young girl from Madison, Nebraska, also caught in a murderous rampage in 2016. She too, classic story of the poor bullied and abused wretch who went mad later. Unlike others she manifested a kind of dual personality. One is the poor loser girl who has been through a lot, the other who has now taken over is sadistic, crazy and cruel. So much so that she even murdered the one who was her best friend at the time. In a disturbing letter found by local police, she wrote that she has been seeing in black and white since she went mad. Probably a case of achromatopsia, a type of color blindness. Given this two-tone fixation, she dresses in this unique combination that makes her practically a sort of Jack Skellington cosplayer. She had her entire body painted white and black circles drawn around her eyes. The t-shirt, shorts and boots she wore were all black with some white-colored details. He had a scarf and long socks both with black and white stripes. His weapon of choice was a bat, hypothetically belonging to his stepfather who was his first victim.

"Ticci Toby". Nickname by which Tobias Erin Rogers is known. Also born in 1999. Boy from Willowcreek, Oregon. His older sister who died in a car accident, his usual abusive fucking father, Tourette's syndrome, several psychiatric visits, and maybe even an alleged influence of the so-called "Slenderman" were the right ingredients to drive him properly insane in 2014. His father was his first victim, unlike some of his peers he murdered only him of his family. As in his sightings he wears a beige sweatshirt, brown sport pants, gray welder's glasses with yellow lenses, and a black bandana with brown stripes covering his mouth. He always uses two lumberjack axes as weapons for his murders, presumably belonging to his deceased father.

And finally, "Rouge." Name of the being into which Heather Marshall has mutated. Class of 1993 from Fort Collins, Colorado. Following a miscarriage, the death of her husband, several episodes of self-harm and a few visits from the now infamous Slenderman figure she finally went insane five years earlier in 2012. For several years since then it has been guarding some wooded areas in Colorado, slaughtering anyone who comes across it. By some accounts it was very strong as well as agile and fast. This was probably due to the fact that it had done some heavy work in the past. It had a white mask with a devilish grin drawn on it, black eyes and an "x" for a nose. It was reminiscent of a skull. He also had a brown sweatshirt, dark beige pants, black gloves, dark brown boots and a gray bandana around his neck. The only visible part of his body was his arms, showing obvious marks and scratches from past self-harm.

There are several cases similar to those of "Ticci Toby" and "Rouge," of people gone mad and influenced by this enigmatic supernatural figure known as "Slenderman." As a result of this, he became a popular figure among lovers of urban legends.

They all stood around me, but only a few of them stared at me. Especially Jeff. I found it strange to see several killers together from such distant areas, I thought that probably during some of their escapes around the states they teamed up together.

The following are the absurd dialogues I heard from those beings:

Clockwork: "Good morning, little flower."

Zero: "What the fuck are you greeting her for? We'll eviscerate her later anyway!"

Clockwork: "I was just being fucking ironic, you idiot!"

Jeff: "What the fuck, bitches!… Get the fuck out of here! You know it's my prey anyway."

Toby: "I thought you wanted him to join us…"

Jeff: "Yes, also. But if she's not up for it, of course we'll have fun with her. And I'll have fun any way she goes of course. Haha…"

Toby: "…what if… What if she runs away?"

Jeff: "Of course she doesn't run away! Unless there are only losers wankers like you around."

Toby: "I am not a loser-wanker… OK!? YOU UNDERSTAND!?"

Jeff: "Okay. Whatever the fuck you want, then we'll see if you are or not… Heheh…"

At this point I intervened: "…really?! You've made thug friends? You're pathetic… All of you are… I ended up in a fucking cliché! But you're just a circus of filthy, ridiculous lunatics destined to die in excruciating suffering anyway!…" I subsequently laughed wryly.

Jeff: "Sing it all you want… The facts are against you. Listen here: it can only go one of two ways for you. Either you come with us and get high on blood, booze and drugs, or we're going to have a really good time with you. With this nice pale little body you've got as the mundane depressed emo metalhead that you are."

Me, still laughing wryly, "Mundane depressed emo metalhead? Says the pathetic Joker knockoff…"

Jeff, in a childish tone: "So what? Are you coming with the Joker's knockoff, or do you want to die in hilarious ways?"

So I spit in his face, finally another small satisfaction.

Jeff laughed it off as he wiped his ugly grunt and then later did this absurd monologue: "Hahahah… You chose the funniest option… Tell you what: first I'll get you killed by this mix of menstruating chicks and hooded dudes, then I'll properly eviscerate you in a slow and painful way… For you of course. Heheh… Finally the girls will dance with your guts, the others will use your bones as clothing while I will use your skull first as a bong and then as a toilet to piss and shit HAHAHAH what do you say? In fact… Now that I think about it, I haven't fucked in a while. Nina you killed it for me, and I don't feel like trying today what necrophilia is like… Heheh… So I'm gonna fuck your pretty little pale body whether you like it or not. Because it's too cool, at least for me… Hahah…"

I growled: "You sick fool… Aren't those other bitches around you enough?!"

Jeff: "Unfortunately, no… They won't let me fuck them, and they're too puny for my taste. Tick Tack fucks Mr. Hatchet, while Miss Skellington another one I don't give a damn about. At least Nina was nice to me, though; these, on the other hand, are just fucking bitches! Hehehe…"

Clockwork: "We're going to bite your dick off asshole!"

Jeff: " And I'll rip your tongue out, you slut! Haha…"

Me: "Are you done with your psycho bullshit?"

Jeff: "Nah… You know how it is, that's just the way I am… Psychopath I am and psychopath I remain… Hehehehe…"

At that moment Eyeless Jack, who had said nothing so far, in a rough voice exclaimed, "Hurry up with your stupid little theater, you assholes! It's possible that someone will be here before long!…"

Jeff: "Shut up you freak! Let us enjoy ourselves in peace and just relax, come on…"

Jack: "Okay. Fuck you then if the cops or the fucking feds show up. Killer Number One of my balls."

Jeff: "If you stop busting MY balls, we'll let you have his kidneys. You like them, don't you…?"

Jack: "…I do, actually. Yes, definitely."

Jeff: "Then stand there good and don't break our balls!"

Jack: "…you know I can beat you easily, don't you?"

Jeff: "Sure. And I'm Eminem. HAHAH…"

Clockwork: "Son of a bitch are we going to gut her or not…!"

Jeff: "Of course, dear my little slut. Hihih…"

Me: "Haha. You are the worst bunch of villains I have ever seen in my life. How ridiculous you are…"

Jeff: "You say this? Well, my dear… Superheroes in tights don't exist except in the movies, and in comic books and retarded cartoons. The police are populated by packs of queers with dried-up dicks. And the feds don't give a damn. They're either scratching their balls, or they're just thinking about the terrorism of my balls abroad."

Me: "But do you know who I am…?!"

Jeff: "Yes, a pale gothic little bitch who only spews lurid sarcastic jokes that nobody gives a damn about. I admit, though, I find you funny…"

Me: "My name is Jane Arkensaw! Class of 1992. And I'm the one chasing you, you asshole! You murdered my family in Mandeville in 2008, and now I work for the fucking government of the fucking United States of America! I have murdered several hundred pieces of shit that were like you, but you are at the top of the list of bad babies. Now I'm going to have my revenge, and I'm going to kill this filthy little circus of gutless loser underdogs too!… Hahah."

Jeff: "Hear hear… Jane from Mandeville… We were like high school buddies back then! Yeah, that's cool… Little reunion of fucking ex-high schoolers! That's so cool… So maybe that scratchy little shit town wasn't so shitty. Oh noo sorry… Did I kill you mommy and daddy? It's just that you know… When you're like me, who really enjoy too much killing anyone who comes your way, you don't pay much attention to who you kill… Hahahah."

Zero: "Jeff what the fuck… This fucking slut works for the stupid fucking government! Now we're gonna have the fucking feds after us for real…!"

Jeff: "And relax, you little cunt… So far none of those ball-scratchers know…"

Me: "I've got a tracking chip in my neck, you asshole! You're screwed! Haha…"

Jeff: "What the fuck did you say…?! Hahah… Federal of my ass… I'll gut you anyway, you're too appetizing…"

An external, apparently metallic noise interrupted the crazy, ridiculous dialogue.

Jeff: "What the f…"

Toby: "Wait! Where's Rouge…? He must have heard something!"

Jack: "Holy shit…! Somebody's there!"

After such words, Jack left.

Clockwork: "The fucking feds… They're here for real for fuck's sake!"

Zero: "Maybe they're just cops."

Jeff: "Cops or not, they'll either be a pain in the ass… Or it'll be some fun Hahah!"

Toby: "And then what if maybe they kill us? Or maybe they'll lock us up! Or they'll experiment on us…"

Jeff: "Or you are a gutless decerebrate asshole! Are you in or what? We're not fucking aliens! They're not taking you to fucking Area 51, putting a fucking anal probe up your fucking shitty little ass! Hahahah but how much of an asshole are you…!"

Toby: "SHUT UP OR I WILL DEVENT YOU SHIT ASS!"

Jeff: "Uuuh that's scary… Do you really think these outbursts of yours of my balls will make me shit my pants? Haha… You poor deluded fucker that you are…"

Zero: "Cut it out, you bunch of pissers!"

Jeff: "I'm going to shit in your mouth if you call me a pisser one more time, you fucking slut!"

Zero, as he picks up his bat: "You don't scare me either, you shitty little fucker!"

Jeff: "It's your loss, you fucking pussy."

Clockwork: "Do you want us to tear each other apart like animals, or have our asses saved?"

Jeff: "Finally an ounce of brains has activated in your lame little bitch noggin."

Clockwork: "If I let you win this pathetic insult contest, will you end it?"

Jeff: "Mmmm… Yes. Hahah."

Clockwork: "Okay. Fuck everybody then!"

Me: "Hahaha… You're the hilarious ones… I'll really enjoy it when I slaughter you one by one."

Jeff: "Dream on, dream on baby…"

Toby: "Guys… Jack is not back yet…"

Jeff: "Fuck him… It's actually not such a bad idea to be in this little group of killer pussies that you guys are."

Zero: "I'm reconsidering… If you keep being such a fucking asshole I'm out of here."

Jeff: "Yeah, that's right… You get the fuck out and then fuck you if you croak bad. Way to go dumb… Haha!"

Clockwork: "If it wasn't for that shit you put up your ass, you'd be a wank without us. Jack's right, Killer Number One of my balls… Hah."

Jeff: "You want to start the insult contest again? You know I win anyway… Heheh…"

Me: "Shit in the ass? What are you talking about…?"

Jeff: "You'd like to know, wouldn't you?… Heheh…"

Toby: "It wasn't an adrenaline compound mixed with like steroids and stuff, was it?"

Jeff: "Shut up you asshole! I'll bite your tongue off if you say one more word!"

Toby felt himself choking.

Jeff: "Hahah… I see you get it… Good on my half-ass…"

Toby was lifted up into the air, it was a thread semi invisible to the naked eye from that distance, except to me.

Jeff: "What the fuck…"

Toby falls to the ground. A mysterious figure had swooped down on Jeff the Killer, the latter falling unconscious as a result.

Clockwork: "…fuck you! I wanted to kick his ass myself!"

Zero: "Who the fuck is this bitch here?!"

The mysterious female figure kicks Zero in the face, after which she quickly collides with Clockwork getting the better of him.

I was slowly trying to free myself with a pocket knife I had in a pocket of my jeans. Those assholes had not searched me, or at least not completely. By making them keep ranting I would have had enough time, but I actually had a lot of use for that mysterious figure. So she ended up untying me totally, I was careful to land down from that uncomfortable position.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

Me: "Yeah… Thanks, but I would have been fine anyway. It's my job to deal with this scum."

"Well, it came in handy for you though, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did…"

She was a slender girl dressed in dark blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a bordeaux-colored leather jacket. She had medium-length brown hair. She had a peculiar mask that covered most of her face except the right half of her forehead. It looked like one of those theatrical masks that portrayed black lips and eyes. The right eye seemed to have a red pupil, the other was just black. The entire left side was furrowed with a kind of black nettle weave.

"My name is Nemesis. Come with me if you want to live! Okay… I admit I've always wanted to say that."

"I see… Thanks, but I'll take it from here."

"Wait…! There are still those two plush beasts around."

"True. Then I could use a hand. I'll take the blue one, you take the dirty one with a grin."

"Got it."

In fact, shortly thereafter, Eyeless Jack and Rouge showed up again. I was only a few feet away from Jeff the killer while he was unconscious, but at that moment it was wiser to stand up to those two hooded beasts. Also because I would have liked to face him under different circumstances where I would have kicked his ass.

So we fought those beasts. For me and blue mask it was the second round, this time he had not caught me off guard. We ended up fighting in the next room. I was finally managing to stand up to him better than before, at least until I kicked that ridiculous mask off him.

"You shouldn't have done that, you little whore…!" He exclaimed.

I had revealed his real face, it was a simple face but gray and with eyes that were still black and watery. At one point from his mouth, full of serrated teeth like a carnivorous predator, came out a kind of black tentacle instead of a tongue.

"Holy shit! What the fuck are you! A Lovecraft's fucking monster!?" I exclaimed as he grabbed my arm with that horrid tongue-tentacle. Despite the grossness, I had finally found my bread and butter. As my skill increased over those years, several of my quests I had perceived as too easy for my level. It's certainly not every day you meet a hooded Lovecraftian pseudo-monster.

I subsequently cut off his hideous black tongue-tentacle with my favorite dagger, as he writhed in pain I took a run-up and kicked him out a window. I immediately afterwards took advantage of the victory, of this second round with the hooded beast, to dash into the room where those pathetic clowns of "killers" interrogated me. But by then it was empty. Pissed black, I threw a fist at a column, crumbling a large chunk of it. My new acquaintance Nemesis had reached me just then.

"I'm sorry you missed it… I was able to listen to your wacky interrogation from another room while I was upstairs. I heard you lost your family to that Jeff the killer."

"Yes… In return, I became the best professional assassin around. I don't say that to brag, but because in fact I am."

"Ah, good. So you work for the government?"

"Damn!… Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it. But those shits will die as soon as possible anyway. I can't tell you much about my profession, it's very confidential."

"What happened to your skin? What about your eyes? I hope I'm not being indiscreet. You know, I'm a little abnormal myself…"

"It's just a negligible side effect of a special serum that has made me better than I've ever been."

"Negligible? No offense, but it doesn't seem that negligible to me…"

"Negligible from a professional point of view."

"…and personal?"

"I've accepted it by now. Sometimes I give off a little, but at worst they mistake me for a gothic metalhead or even a Satanist."

"Haha… I see."

"Why do you call yourself Nemesis?"

"Well… I guess I thought it was very cool."

"What is your real name?"

"That's it… I'm just Nemesis."

"Isn't that a nickname? For example I am known as Jane the killer. Yes, it's not the best and it's too similar to Jeff the killer, but I don't give it much weight in the end."

"…let's just say I don't remember mine."

"Do you have a case of amnesia?"

"Let's say I do.

"Why "Let's say"?"

"Because I'm not sure. Sometimes there are things I thought I was sure of that are not so. I don't remember much about my past. All I know is that I have skills, and I have to use them to the best of my ability to protect the innocent from pieces of shit like the ones before."

"I admire this, because it is what I also aspire to. Except for the death of Jeffrey Alan Woods. So you don't know anything about where you came from and who you knew?"

"I don't think so. It's like I have these little fragments in my head, and sometimes I'm not sure if they're memories or just dreams."

"Off the top of my head you would be about 22 years old. That would be two less than me."

"That may be. I'm certainly not 50. Hahah."

"Why that mask?"

"I like it. It beautifies my style. But really it's more to cover a small physical flaw I have."

"I see. I see that you are a very enigmatic character, but quite sociable. It's been a long time since I've had a friendly conversation, and since I've met someone who didn't want to take me out. I find that pleasant."

"Thank you. The same goes for me. I don't have anyone right now. I do justice for my own business."

"Wait, is that a yo-yo with blades?"

"Just like that. Do you like it? I can also use knives and such, but I prefer this. It's really cool."

"It's actually very original. Better than the usual kitchen knives, cleavers and machetes that those loser beings use."

"You can say that again! You know, come to think of it, I felt there was someone else like me. Like us!"

"Like us? Who?"

"I was watching and reading about some sightings where there's this young blond girl from Texas who's walking around dressed in white with some kind of sword."

"That sounds like a description of a character from those commercial Japanese cartoons, the ones that were fashionable even among several of my peers."

"That's actually true… They called her 'Judge Angel' or something like that. As far as I've seen she's actually not like the other bizarre young killers around. It would seem that her victims are all bad people who have done some pretty horrible things. He's been around for a few months now, his last sighting I think was around Florida. What do you say to that? He might be a good person to help out."

"All very interesting. I'm afraid I'll still have work to do from tomorrow on, though. And Jeff the killer is my top priority."

"But… What if you tell the guys you work for that you have to investigate some miscreants around there? Or do you just follow the guys who point you out and that's it?"

"I'm often given certain targets, however, I can also choose to go after the kind of criminal scum I actually want. As long as it's low-ranking. Let's say I've risen in rank recently."

"Let's say?"

"Yes, let's say it."

"I can totally understand this righteous revenge of yours against that horrid killer, but now that he's made himself into a sort of pack maybe it's better to have someone help you out. Especially if they are also accompanied by those two superhuman beastly figures. Don't you think?"

"That's a fair point indeed. It happened that I was put in the company of some operative on some of the more complicated missions over the years, but I was always in charge of the big fishes. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it to you… But fuck it! Whatever, you're in it now. Just don't tell it to nobody, at least not without my permission."

"Ook. Well, so you're okay with the idea?"

"Let's say it yes, come on."

"Haha…"

"The chick dressed in white you say, what city in Florida was she last spotted in?"

"Around Jacksonville. I think."

"Okay. It can be done. It's not too far away. We'll meet there tomorrow then. In the meantime, I have to attach this tracking chip to you."

"Excuse me? Tracking chip?! What am I to you now, a dog?"

"Don't worry, you don't automatically become government property. I always carry some tracking chip with me, in case I miss some rogue. Only I will be aware of that. It's just in case, so I know if I can trust you."

"Do you think I would set a trap for you?"

"Anything is possible, I have to consider every possibility in my work."

"Wow, I didn't know I walked into a Mission: Impossible movie. But seriously, you're like a spy then? That's cool."

"Yeah, kind of. For many things my job is actually cool. For others a pain in the ass, however, but for the time being not too bad. Just as long as you don't flaunt it around like those schoolgirls on social media."

"Rest assured, you've found the right person."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow."

"Very well."

I attached the chip to her, apparently she had trusted it. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I had just finally met someone who was doing the right thing. Yes, she was a vigilante, but then again, so was I in the end. It was a good idea to investigate another bizarre character who was, however, acting for good, I had to take that chance.

When I reentered one of the agency's caches nearby, I immediately reported my confrontation with those subjects and to monitor the entire county at a minimum. I also reported sighting that Nemesis, but omitting our agreement. It was the first time I had omitted anything from my mission report, this was because Nemesis seemed quite reliable. It had been a long time since I had met such a person.

In those last few years I had been surrounded solely by anonymous agents, boring and taxing superiors, and violent criminals, sometimes extremely vulgar. Those pussy young killers were almost kindergarten children in comparison. Even before that, in the years between my family's departure and my joining the agency, surrounding me were rather vulgar and very boomers uncles, fake or indifferent foster parents, a few decerebrate pain-in-the-ass half-brothers and half-sisters, and schoolmates who were a mixture of pathetic gossips, fucking pussies, or people I gave absolutely no shit about. Too harsh? I'd like to make everyone experience what I went through in all those fucking nine years of my life and then I'd really like to see.

But there were always two people who were close to me, always made me feel better about every day. One is Daniel Smithson, a 45-year-old man from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Short black hair, always dressed in a classic black tuxedo typical of U.S. government employees. He is the one who enlisted me in the agency. When I first met him, he illustrated the agency's proposal to me as something truly beneficial, a new chance for me. Indeed it was. He was always concerned about me, any service I needed he would get it for me. He was always courteous and considerate.

The other is an employee and newly appointed operations officer named Annie Richiardson. A young girl of 22 from Lexington, Kentucky. She had short blond hair and green eyes. While the others were more indifferent, or fearful of me, she was always so positive with me but also with everyone. And that doesn't stop her from doing her duty well. I found her very nice actually…

I digress. I was at the point of that mission statement of mine. So I reported that I had a lead that would take me a few days to Jacksonville, with the goal of tracking down other dangerous killers, and fortunately they gave me permission.

CHAPTER 2

The next day I was in the bonds of Jacksonville as promised. I hoped that Nemesis girl hadn't slipped away in spite of the tracer I put on her, but fortunately she had turned up. While waiting for me, she was humming a tune that seemed to be "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."

"No feds? Then you've been true to your word."

"Of course. Any news? Did you find her?"

"Almost, I was on her trail."

We started immediately afterwards to walk the constraints. In the meantime we discussed.

"I checked her file. She calls herself "Judge Angels," but her real name is Dina Angela Clarke. Class of 1999. Daughter of a judge who disowned her because of an eye deformity, he locked her up for 17 years in the mansion where she lived in Houston, Texas. Usual loser outcast life that made her schizophrenic and bipolar. She murdered her father about six months ago, after he himself murdered her mother. Since then she has been wandering around the southern states murdering people. You were right that her victims, at least the verified ones, had quite a few skeletons in their closets. She has been spotted in places where two other strange characters have been spotted. One is Helen Otis of Westmister, Maryland. Class of 1998. Known as "Bloody Painter," mainly for his "artwork" made from blood and visceral fluids. Compared to other cases, he was just one of those typical poor schoolboy geeks bullied. So a few months ago he went crazy and killed about all his classmates. And then there's the one they call "Nurse Ann." Almost nothing is known about her except for various sightings. Apparently she is a crazed former nurse, dresses in black and has a freaking chainsaw as her weapon like Leatherface. According to some sightings she was portrayed as some sort of zombie with numerous scars and an eye patch. I thought it was more likely that she was a cosplayer wearing Halloween makeup like those losers we've been kicking ass, but after that double tongue-twister fight I might even believe it..."

"This is crazy stuff… Hahah…"

"I don't know how reliable this "Angels" can be, she is given as schizophrenic, bipolar and very unstable. Although I read that they were trying to treat her with various psychotropic drugs, managing to keep her good."

"She goes after bad people, just like we do."

"And then what do we do? The horror version of Charlie's Angels?"

"Haha. No, really. Maybe it's not a bad idea at all, in fact…"

"Seriously? But I was just kidding…"

"If that Dina proves to be a good person, or at least decent, we should join forces. We'd all three be vigilantes saving the weakest and kicking the asses of every piece of shit in the country. All the Satan beasts and weirdo killers around. Come on, what do you say?"

"Yes, nice plot for an early 2000s urban vigilante hero movie."

"Maybe you're right… But while we're at it, let's meet this Angels and see what to do next."

"Very well."

"Jane, how do you like working for the government?"

"It's actually more of a secret government agency. However I find it quite satisfying, it has made me what I am now."

"Do you have friends?"

"No. My profession requires a lot of concentration and seriousness usually. Although it's mostly because I've been very closed all these years."

"You seem more open now, though. Does that mean we have become friends?"

"In my opinion it's still early to tell, but it's a good start."

"Okay. Have you ever done anything rather questionable, even by your standards?"

"From a certain point of view, my work in general is rather questionable. But that's okay with me, because the main thing is to punish the guilty for their shit."

"I was thinking more in the sense if you happened to hurt, even accidentally, some innocent person."

"No. Definitely not."

"Are you sure that everyone you led to death was a bad person? What if maybe some of them were just people who were inconvenient for your superiors?"

"Yes. No. Are you interrogating me by any chance?!"

"No, sorry… My curiosity was getting the best of me… I guess it's a difficult and demanding job. At least by general standards."

"Indeed it is, but after five years I can handle it all the best by now. Let's talk a little bit about you."

"I don't mind, but I told you that unfortunately I remember very little of my past. Especially my childhood."

"How long have you lost your memory?"

"It must be two years now."

"…and so for these two years you've been chasing serial killers and various pieces of shit."

"Pretty much yes. Ah, you know? Actually I wasn't really alone. I had Geneva with me."

"Who is Geneva?"

"My personal tarantula."

"Do you have a pet? And can you take it with you when you're out and about?"

"Yes."

"Where is she now?"

"I take her for a little ride now and then. I'll introduce her to you better later."

"But isn't there a risk of losing her?"

"Nah, unlikely. Let's say she's a very special tarantula…"

"Did it bite you and give you superpowers?"

"Not that kind of special. I'll show you later…"

"Where have you been so far?"

"When I lost my memory I was, I think, in the Rocky Mountains. Maybe Idaho or Utah, I don't really remember. After a few months on the West Coast, I went around here and there heading east. By now I must have gone around most of the country. You know, I used to be much more closed myself, like you. But then I met this very nice young girl. However, she was the daughter of a fucking religious extremist who would get triggered by every little shit that didn't conform to her absurd bigoted mentality. So I did her a big favor by properly killing her. Too bad I had to go, or else the cops would have caught me or given her trouble. That's why I was alone all this time. I preferred to be a lone wolf. On the one hand it was cool, but on the other hand I got tired of working alone by now. Meeting someone like you was the best thing that has happened to me in a long time."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that. You're a great traveler then. You don't remember anything at all about your past?"

"Little or nothing. Occasionally I dream about some faces, maybe my parents, but sometimes I dream about a strange dark figure who lives in the middle of the woods… I've done some research on the Internet, apparently he's a character from an urban legend born of various alleged sightings."

"I know him. His name is Slenderman. He's quite infamous now, like Jeff the killer."

"Yes, that's right. I've so wondered why I dream about him… I don't know if he could exist, but if he did… I think I lost my memory because of him."

"Apparently we live in a country infested with masked guys with tentacles in their stomachs, zombie nurses and even anorexic monsters roaming the rural areas. Very crazy stuff…"

"At this point I'm going to start believing that Silent Hill and Freddy Krueger really exist too."

"Okay. I'm getting reports now of commotion a few blocks away to the west."

"Your colleagues at the computer? With those satellites spying on citizens?"

"Pretty much yes."

"Great! Let's go then."

We thus reached the designated area, where we finally sighted our target. The girl matched the description. She was wearing a white jumpsuit smeared with typical blood red, apparently a fencing uniform. She was also very reminiscent of those straitjackets they put on patients in psychiatric hospitals, probably was the idea they threw those straps around her arms for some reason. Short blond hair and… A fucking sword, just like the ones in fantasy movies. There was fun to be had in short.

The girl was fleeing from one of the bonds that intersect the one we were in, caught a glimpse of us and shouted "Stay away from me!"

Nemesis subsequently shouts at her "We don't want to hurt you!"

The unhinged little blonde rushes toward us, so we get ready to defend ourselves and in no time we clash. She was really agile and fast, she could handle that big sword she had. But I was obviously stronger, and Nemesis had a freaking yo-yo equipped with blades and a very solid long rope. We managed to get the better of it, logically it would only have gone that way with similar circumstances. But under different circumstances I would not have hesitated to stab it, shoot it cold, strangle it, break its spine, or other various ways that I practiced several times to complete my missions. But this time I was dealing with someone with an ounce of humanity. At least in theory. We tie her up tightly for questioning.

Dina: "Let go of me you assholes!"

Me: "If you'd at least calm down… Be thankful I didn't kill you like I do all the other dogs that come my way."

Nemesis: "Come on… We just want to talk."

Me: "What the fuck… You really do have totally black eyes like they described."

Dina: "Yes, and I can see twice as well as your stupid eyes! What? Yours are too, what the fuck did you copy me!"

Me: "They've been like that since you were in middle school. Ah, that's right, you never made them…"

Dina: "Thank my shitty daddy! My first conviction. Hahaha!"

Nemesis: "Okay, calm down girls. All three of us have swallowed a lot of bitter cock over the years. Welcome to the club."

Me: "Are you Dina Angela Clark? Class of 1999 from Houston, Texas?"

Dina: "That's Judge Angels to you!"

Me: "Ok. Whatever… Is it true that you only kill shitty people? Only the guilty ones?"

Dina: "That's not my name for nothing. Anyone who is guilty suffers the wrath of my sword!"

Nemesis: "Dina… We are like you."

Dina: "Dina is dead, don't call me Dina! Then what the hell are you saying!"

Nemesis: "We also roam all over the states kicking the ass of all the horrible people who come our way. We're just like you!"

Me: "That's right. If so, that you fight for the same cause as us, we don't want to hurt you."

Dina: "…really? But who are you?"

Nemesis: "I am Nemesis. I have a yo-yo with blades, a tarantula, and I kick ass like you."

Me: "Jane Arkensaw. Professional assassin since 2012."

Dina: "Wow… Okay. So do you want to be my friends?"

Me: "That depends."

Nemesis: "Yes. The more the merrier, right?"

Me: "Also because you don't look very well put together… By the looks of it there's also some of your blood mixed with your enemies' blood. Very cool sword."

Dina: "Thank you! I'm actually exhausted today…"

Nemesis: "We'll rest together then. And maybe we'll chat to get acquainted if and when you feel like it."

Dina: "Um, okay!"

Shortly thereafter we medicated the young blond warrior and in the evening we went to a hideout that had been pointed out to me by the agency. In the evening we were together in a bedroom equipped with two beds, one of which was a bunk bed. Dina was upstairs, Nemesis downstairs, and I in the other.

Nemesis: "Are you alone?"

Dina: "No, I'm with you now, hehe."

Me: "You mean if you usually travel alone. You don't have anyone since you've been doing this?"

Dina: "You mean since I've been a judge? Mmm… Actually yes. I met this super beautiful guy. He's like me, actually like us. He makes beautiful paintings with lots of blood red. Real blood, hihih… He's from the North and his name is Helen."

Me: "Helen Otis? The one who calls himself Bloody Painter?"

Dina: "Haha yes. Just him. He's nice, he's handsome, he's very handsome… That was my first time with him. And at the moment the only one. Hahah."

Nemesis: "You lost your virginity with him? That's great. The important thing is that you are good with him."

Me: "And that he is a good person."

Dina: "Of course he is a good person! He's too nice and handsome not to be! He only kills assholes and ugly bitches. Hahah. Then I met this really weird chick. A nurse with a chainsaw. At first she was a rotten bitch, but then I found out that she was simply very lonely. And angry at the people who made her. Her name is Ann."

Me: "Nurse Ann? I read about her and her sightings. Created you say? By who? Is she human?"

Dina: "Uff… He didn't tell me everything… Probably the usual typical mad scientist doing shit against nature 80s horror movie style. Human? Sort of… She has skin like gray and lots of scars. She's kind of made of pieces of dead people."

Nemesis: "A zombie nurse!? Like in the Silent Hill movies!"

Me: "Rather like in the Silent Hill video games, they made the movies from."

Dina: "Hahah, geek… Yeah, she was like an undead or some shit. But in the end she's just a very sad poor thing. Then I went elsewhere, and then I met you here."

Me: "Where does this Ann live? We could help her if she needs help."

Nemesis: "Great idea! If she's so sad, we could go visit her."

Dina: "Yes. She might like it… But it's pretty far from here, I think."

Me: "Is it outside Florida?"

Dina: "I think so… I don't really remember. I think it's better to think about it tomorrow."

Me: "Okay."

Nemesis: "Have a good rest."

Half an hour later I was out on the terrace and Nemesis joins me.

Me: "You were very good at not telling her anything about my connection with the government. There was a risk that she would freak out."

Nemesis: "Indeed. She's nice. A little childish, but she's probably acting weird because of what she's been through. But none of us are normal anyway."

Me: "I don't know… I'm not sure whether to trust her or not. She's obviously a little crazy. She might be too unpredictable."

Nemesis: "Maybe she just needs help, our help."

Me: "Okay. We'll see how it goes. I'd rather not let my guard down too much, though. When you do what I do, it's necessary. I keep an eye on her. And on you, too."

Nemesis: "Me? Oh, come on… We're pseudo friends now. No?"

Me: "Right now we are more pseudo-pseudo friends. And if you be good, next time I'll promote you to pseudo friend."

Nemesis: "Okay boss. Hahah. Maybe that Ann can help our cause too."

Me: "Let me think… A huge, burly zombie nurse, seemingly semi-immortal, with a fucking huge chainsaw… Fuck yes! She's a good candidate. Just as long as she doesn't randomly kill people like the other pussies we're going to kick ass."

Nemesis: "…but especially that she doesn't do it to us. Instead of that Bloody Artist what do you think?"

Me: "I have my doubts… Maybe he is like them, or maybe he is similar to us. I will check his file better. It reminds me of an ugly, pathetic story. The one about the loser I took out in no time."

Nemesis: "I saw her in passing the other day. She was Jeff the killer's lackey. Nina the killer."

Me: "I read her file. Her name was Nina Hopkins. She was literally his personal fucking whore. God, what a loser… Maybe this is not the same case, at least I hope. I'm not inspired by that Helen… Then what kind of shitty name is Helen?! Wasn't it a female name?"

Nemesis: "Well… Go figure some parents…"

Me: "I checked just now the files on the sightings of the mysterious all-black nurse. For the most part they are from northern Alabama. The last one goes back to the vicinity of Birmingham."

Nemesis: "So next stop Sweet Home Alabama?"

Me: "Yes. Paying a little visit there is a great idea. But we mustn't lose sight of that damned pederast Jeffrey Alan Woods and his gang of halfwits. I mustn't let them out of my sight for too long."

Nemesis: "You'll see, we'll all kick his ass."

Me: "Go ahead if you want. I'll stay here a little longer."

Nemesis: "Okay. Good night Jane."

No one had ever said "Good night Jane" to me for at least nine years.

After Nemesis had left me alone, I saw fit to contact the one person I really trusted at the agency. Annie Richardson.

Annie: "Hello?"

Me: "It's me, Jane."

Annie: "Hi Jane! What do you need?"

Me: "I need to ask you a big favor. You might be risking your ass, but it's for a good cause."

Annie: "Oh, yeah…? What is it about?"

Me: "A V-22."

Annie: "A… WHAT?!"

Me: "You got that right. I'm not kidding. I know it's a big favor, but like I said, it's for a good cause."

Annie: "Ah, okay… Okay. All right! It can be done. But right away?"

Me: "Yes. I'm helping some people who need help."

Annie: "Then okay, I can do it."

Me: "I wouldn't ask so much of you if it wasn't really important. Oh, and I need the Deluxe model with the invisible shielding and the radio control. You have to come and bring it to me so you can help me with the mission. Then I'll explain everything to you…"

Annie: "Deluxe… And I have to come… There will be a lot of paperwork but… Okay okay it can be done."

Me: "Get Daniel Smithson to help you. He is always there for me. He should understand."

Annie: "Daniel Smithson? Definitely."

Me: "Thank you very much Annie. I really appreciate it from you."

Annie: "Me too. I mean… Well. Then I'll bring it to you there in Jacksonville, Florida. As soon as possible."

Me: "That's right. See you later."

Annie: "Okay, great. See you later."

I had already happened on several missions to board a "Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey" tiltrotor, a special military aircraft also used by the United States in the Iraq War. When I had free time, among my reading, I also occasionally leafed through the instruction manuals of some military vehicles and aircraft. In order to become the best assassin around, I wanted to be ready and able to handle myself as well as possible in any situation. I had actually initially thought of a V-280, but it is still a very expensive prototype. So I asked to borrow a V-22. That particular V-22 was a special version equipped with invisible shielding and radio control. It was a kind of prototype used by the agency, so it was very risky to request it. If it wasn't for a very risky mission set in rural territories, I was in danger of losing my job and maybe even going to the supreme court. But I needed it. We needed it.

I saw fit to make such a risky move because three individuals like us would have been too conspicuous around. But mostly to get to another state as quickly as possible. But looking back on it now, in retrospect, it could have turned out to be a huge screw-up. Before then I had always been a very private person, cautious and careful about the orders they gave me. Instead, on that day I was risking my own and a colleague's ass for some girls I had just met, under the guise of getting as efficiently and quickly as possible to my long-cherished revenge against Jeffrey Alan Woods. But the truth was that Nemesis had completely turned the tables. She and these would-be vigilantes.

Nemesis's curiosity and doubt of the previous day were beginning to set foot in my head as well. I had never posed such doubts until then, for five years I had done nothing but follow orders as best I could, killing as many scum as I could but of course, first and foremost, to my sacred revenge for Jeff. But in those days everything changed. It might have been absurd but-what if Nemesis had been right? What if instead I had taken out someone too many who simply was inconvenient to those in the agency? And come to think of it, although Annie Richardson was the one I relied on most from the agency, it was better to keep an eye on her, too. Kindness and positivity are not necessarily synonymous for reliability, security, and trustworthiness. Curiously enough, Nemesis had become more or less the person I trusted most-but what if I was wrong? I had considered the possibility that his amnesia might be a farce, but I found it unlikely. What was she before her amnesia? Had she been like all the other murderers in reality? I felt, though, that she was honest and had only good intentions. Angels was a big risk, maybe she was even doing good but her mental problems were definitely not to be underestimated. However, I also wanted to face this risk, if Nemesis was right she was also just a poor disturbed little girl in need of help. Perhaps we would have deserved more psychiatric visits than avenging all the victims of those murderers, but in hindsight it was for the best.

Despite the risk of the actions I was taking, I considered it the best thing to do. In all those years of assassinations, all I did was target some rather mundane, low-ranking criminal scum. Underworld bosses, drug dealers, rapists, murderers, low-ranking criminals. The ones the police and feds have always been after. Those bizarre criminals I met a few days earlier did not differ much from the usual U.S. criminal scum, but that Eyeless Jack did. Ever since I met that being my mind sort of started to open up more. He was not the only superhuman being on file. There were others. In addition to him and the Slenderman, I read about other such beings who were not just commonplace killers, but real abnormal beasts. I read about a slender being with long limbs, one without arms, and one that looked like something out of a black-and-white horror movie. Were these just sightings of probable deception and misunderstanding, or were they something more? Perhaps Mr. Tongue-Tentacle was an exception, a strange malformation. I still did not have enough evidence for the existence of these creatures and the supernatural in general.

Going to see what is seen as a burly, tall zombie nurse would have been not only further proof of this, if Dina Angela Clark was right she might also be a poor wretch to be given a second chance. I was then reminded of that very secret mysterious international organization of which I had heard some rumors, dealing with secret things probably Area 51 style. Logically it may also be superhuman beasts and Men in Black-style paranormal stuff. By now everything was probable, but if there really is such an organization, why do I still see such offbeat beasts around? Was it just a legend among government employees? Or did no one manage to catch them? Holy shit, I managed to stand up to that fucking Mr. Tongue-twister twice, if only I would have prepared and concentrated to the maximum I might even have managed to kill that filthy beast properly. Beyond that, a bizarre and unusual team of female individuals with uncommon abilities that could make a difference was taking shape. A team that could take on not only mundane criminal scum but also something more, could take on superhuman beings and things out of the imagination of normal people. I had to try. Between the possibility of finding dirt in the secret government agency I had worked for five years, taking out killers and beasts out of the ordinary and giving poor misfits with a modicum of humanity a new chance the risk was worth it. Despite being poor misfits, they had remarkable skills. But maybe that was not enough. Yes, logically they would also need worthy training that would make them better and much more efficient.

CHAPTER 3

The next morning Annie took the military aircraft I requested to a nearby area. The two girls and I headed out of town to the designated area in a wooded area until we reached the aircraft.

Dina: "WOAH that's so cool, like in those tamarack action movies where they kill fucking terrorists!"

Me: "That's right. I requested it because it will probably come in very handy for what we're going to run into."

Dina: "Did the people you work for give it to you? Who do you work for?"

Me: "Let's say yes, an acquaintance of mine lent it to me. I work for… People who want world peace, but feel that someone has to get their hands dirty. I am the one who gets my hands dirty. Here."

Dina: "Ah, ook."

Nemesis: "Great. But wait please, Geneva has finally finished her little autonomous patrol. She better come with us if we have to change states."

Suddenly some kind of beast emerged from the forest. It was huge, hairy, and… It didn't look at all like a mammal of similar size like a bear. It was a giant fucking tarantula. Dina and I, alert, got into a fighting stance.

Dina: "What the fuck is that thing!?"

Me: "Holy shit!"

Nemesis: "Calm down! She's you Geneva. It's just a little mutation that makes her change size."

Me: "That thing is Geneva?"

Nemesis: "Yes I know I should have told you, but I thought it would be fun to surprise you. What a stupid idea I had… Haha."

Me: "Please, next time you have to surprise us, don't do it with giant spiders anymore. Got it?"

Nemesis: "Oh, sorry. Are you arachnophobic by any chance?"

Me: "No, I'm just not used to colossal tarantulas."

Dina: "So… We have a giant spider! Hahah that's cool."

Me: "If it doesn't eat us or get us shot at, it sure is."

Nemesis: "Don't worry, it's harmless. She is aggressive only with those who attack her or me."

Me: "Why do you have a giant tarantula as a pet? How long have you had it."

Nemesis: "About a year or so. I found it around an old burning laboratory."

Me: "Where?"

Nemesis: "Minnesota. I think."

Me: "Okay… And it's "harmless" with anyone who doesn't attack him or you. Am I right?"

Nemesis: "Yes."

Me: "Okay. All right. Just tell her not to walk or drool on us while we sleep."

Nemesis: "Don't worry."

Soon after, the giant tarantula changed size, returning to the standard size of an average tarantula.

Me: "It can change size…"

Nemesis: "I told you."

Dina: "That's cool."

Me: "Okay. That was all very interesting, but now we have to go."

We went inside, where Annie Richardson was waiting for us. She was wearing the typical uniform that agency operations personnel use on missions.

Annie: "Very pleased to see you again Jane Arkensaw. All that paperwork was worth it to see you at work in the thick of the mission."

Me: "I am so grateful to you Annie Richardson. You are very helpful to me in this mission. This time I'm dealing with creatures out of the ordinary, I thought it appropriate to do so. Ah, right. They are Nemesis and Angels."

Dina, in an authoritative tone: "Judge Angels for you."

Me: "Yeah. As you want, "Judge Angels". Nemesis has a mutant tarantula as a pet that can practically become colossal, don't be scared."

Annie: "Holy shit… This is probably the coolest mission I've ever been on. Sorry, I couldn't resist."

Me: "No problem Annie."

Annie: "So they're on our side."

Me: "Affirmative. They're kind of like me. Now sorry but we have to go right away."

Annie: "Birmingham, Alabama. Right?"

Me: "That's right."

Annie: "Perfect. Buckle up then."

There were other interesting discussions during the flight.

Me: "Don't you girls usually use disguises, or stuff like that? Don't tell me you go around from state to state looking like that…"

Nemesis: "It depends. Sometimes I use a few second-hand jackets or shirts picked up here and there, other times I manage to be inconspicuous even like this."

Me: "Even with a mask?"

Nemesis: "Sometimes I alternate it with a few pairs of aviator-style sunglasses. How about you? You look pretty unusual yourself."

Me: "True. If necessary I use make-up and contact lenses to look like a normal girl. But usually, if it's not strictly necessary, I walk around as I please. At worst they mistake me for the usual gothic chick who is a bit of a beast of Satan."

Dina: "Hahah that's cool."

Me: "You Dina?"

Dina: "Oh, come on…! I already told you to call me…"

Me, in an ironic tone: "Judge Angels. Pardon. Whatever you want. Do you use disguises and things like that instead?"

Dina: "I always dress like that, but sometimes some jackets or sweatshirts I wear too."

Nemesis: "Do you always use that fencing suit?"

Dina: "Usually yes. Now that I think about it I might get a new one around…"

Me: "Maybe they're at a discount on some site like " "."

Dina: "Never heard of that."

Me: "Just kidding. But I think if you really like to dress like an anime character, you can find something around."

Nemesis: "There are those gatherings of people dressed characters from Japanese anime, cartoons, movies and various video games. The Comicons. They have them almost everywhere now. The biggest one is the one in San Diego, California."

Dina: "Ha. Ha. Ha… Look at my attire is very authoritative. I am a judge, judging all the guilty who must perish for their horrid sins."

Me: "That sounds like a Bible verse."

Dina: "It's the pure truth! Hahah! I'm going to kick the ass of all those unworthy beings."

Nemesis: "So will we. If we do it together, we will be more efficient. We serve the same cause the three of us."

Dina: "That's true indeed… But I'm the best of all. Hahah."

Me: "No offense… But realistically I don't see an 18-year-old blonde like you doing very well, against all the criminal scum of America."

Dina: "You dare to doubt Judge Angels!? I can kick your ass anytime I want too! "

Nemesis: "Calm down! It was only his advice. When we met you were hurt and we are sorry to see you hurting yourself all by yourself like this."

Dina: "For your information, I can handle myself just fine."

Me: "Yesterday I saw that you have two broken ribs, more or less. You need to be more careful. I've always been a lone wolf myself, but it's definitely not a walk in the park. I could help you. I could train you to become stronger, more efficient and improve your skills."

Nemesis: "Would you really do that? That would be great."

Dina: "What would you teach us?"

Me: "Besides improving you in everything? Various kinds of martial arts. Mainly I did boxing before I became a professional assassin, then I became a black belt in Kung Fu, Judo and Jujitsu. I also self-taught various moves from other types of Asian, Israeli and Brazilian martial arts."

Dina: "Wow, that's cool. If I can become better than that, then I can also try."

Me: "If we want to become an effective team, it is necessary to do so."

Nemesis: "I agree."

A few minutes later, curiosity gets the best of me.

Me: "Nemesis, it is in the right eye that is your physical defect. Isn't it?"

Nemesis: "Yes. In fact it is."

Me: "Why don't you show me? You can trust it by now anyway."

Nemesis: "Ok. All right…"

Nemesis pulls down that theatrical mask. She has a pretty face for a girl her age. The flaw she was referring to is a black eye with a red pupil.

Me: "You are a pretty girl. But I'm telling you impartially. You should not be ashamed of this "defect" of yours. It's nothing serious."

Nemesis: "It feels too strange to show it. I feel more comfortable with this mask I made for myself."

Me: "Right, that's your right. Your eye is related to your amnesia then, isn't it?."

Nemesis: "Yes, that is true. I really think that is the case. As I mentioned to you yesterday, some time ago I tried to investigate my past but with little result."

Me: "I will help you then. You have a right to know more about your past and what you were before."

Nemesis: "Thank you very much. But I have a fear that maybe I have done questionable actions. Maybe so much questionable that I wanted to forget everything…"

Me: "Because did you hear about those cases? I've read about those cases, too. People who claimed to have done actions without their will at the hands of a mysterious paranormal entity, or some shit like that…"

Nemesis: "Slenderman. Yes, it is possible. After this story, we should investigate this, so I'll have back who years I don't remember."

Me: "If you have been one of these cases, then you are not to blame. If you have done some questionable action, it is solely the fault of that creature. Something tells me that it has something to do with this as well… "Ticci Toby," one of the killers we met, had in his file his possible connection with the Slenderman. It said that drawings and doodles had been found with that black, wiry figure with a white head and tentacles. There were also repeated symbols consisting of some "x" intersecting circles. "Rouge," she is also connected. It was reported in her file that before she went totally insane she used to make strange drawings with similar figures. In contrast, the others we met were just bad kids driven crazy by really shitty family situations. And then there is the case of Eyeless Jack. It is not known whether he is related or not. But he is a superhuman being, speculated to be possessed by some kind of demon worshipped by a mysterious pagan cult in Eastern Europe. I have read about many cases similar to the ones we have encountered. They are all around North America. After I finish with Jeffrey Alan Woods, I'm going to look for them. In fact… That's why we are together. We can show that we are an effective team. We have to unite everyone who fights for our cause and get those gouges out of hell."

Nemesis: "Then you will be an excellent leader. Brave, valiant, strong and determined."

Me: "I thank you. All this is also possible because of you."

Nemesis: "Flattered. Haha."

Me: "I also just checked the file on Helen Otis, aka "Bloody Painter," as well. My doubts were well-founded this time. There are many verified victims who have no record whatsoever. Maybe he may have been apparently nice to Angels, but he's closer to people like Jeff than to us."

Nemesis: "Ah… Geez. Maybe it's better to think about it later and calmly. If she finds out, she might not accept it or be very hurt. But we'll help her anyway."

Me: "That's the same thing I thought. Well said."

During the trip I couldn't help but hear Dina giggling in various ways, same story during the previous evening. The way she talks and acts, it is as if she is still twelve or fifteen years old. This also must be because of the consequences of being locked up in a big Texas mansion for 17 years almost alone.

About three hours later we were finally in Birmingham, Alabama. After we landed in an area nearby, we entered the abandoned hospital where some of her sightings had occurred. Annie stayed on the aircraft, because leaving a multi-trillion-dollar U.S. military aircraft unattended was not wise at all.

The "Carraway Hospital" had been abandoned for not many years, so it was in an overall good state. At least compared to other abandoned buildings I happened to visit. The areas exposed to sunlight were in a pretty good state and gave much of an idea of what it looked like when it was in operation. But going into the darker and more hidden areas the situation changed, everything became more creepy and rather eerie. Fortunately, we weren't ordinary teenagers who get creeped out by a simple abandoned and decaying building, we were more used to cramped places similar to that.

Me: "Judge Angels, can you please tell us more about how you and the zombie nurse met?"

Dina: "So, in short… I came here like several months ago to… So. To rest and stuff. But then this fucking giantess popped up with a fucking chainsaw yelling "RABBIT!" Or some shit like that, so I decapitated her as only my super sexy sword can do. Hehehe… Too bad she then literally got her head on straight. Yes, it sounds like a Joke, but holy cow it's not. She really hung it up. Then we kind of super fought, I was kicking her ass but holy shit did that bitch hurt. Then fortunately she kind of calmed down. After I pinned her down properly. She stopped being a fucking rotten bitch and we became almost friends. She said she was like a guard who was supposed to guard this stupid place from who knows who by someone's order. Like a mad scientist like in those funny movies and cartoons. And that she was lonely and sad. I, on the other hand, told her that I was a warrior who judged and killed the bad guys who were supposed to die badly and that I was super mythical to do that. Then I decided to just leave. She preferred to stay here."

Me: "Okay. Very interesting. But maybe you didn't think of taking her somewhere else to help her or something?"

Dina: "Well… Since she was so insistent on being here, I preferred to go my own way. Yes, she was almost nice, but I had to continue with my mission. That is to say…"

Nemesis: "Punish the guilty, in short."

Dina: "That's right!"

Me: "Nice for a field trip to an abandoned hospital in the heart of famous Dixieland, but if I find out you lied to us or that there are no damn nurses down here I'm going to kick your ass for the rest of the day."

Dina: "Then I'll kick YOUR ass before you know it! In your face!"

Nemesis: "We have to kick other people's asses, not each other's. Otherwise, so much… Goodbye."

Dina: "By the way… Let's come up with a name!"

Nemesis: "Good idea!"

Me: "Superheroine type? As a code name for the team?"

Nemesis: "Like… "The Beat 'em up girls"!"

Me: "Or "The Ass Kickers". It's so shitty, come on…"

Dina: "Charlie's Angels. Hahaha."

Nemesis: "Too bad, they already got it. Or Cat's Eyes!"

Me: "We don't have to remain a trio."

Nemesis: "What do you propose?"

Me: "Well… "The Amazons"? Nah, that's stupid…"

Nemesis: "It's not bad. Amazons… "The Dark Amazons.". Because we're dark, badass, we fight urban legends and we say a lot of bad words."

Dina: "Haha… Damn right it's true! It's actually cool come on!"

Me: "Yeah, pretty cool. Maybe this is it though. I heard something…"

Nemesis: "Exactly where from…"

"RABBITS!"

Bursting through a door from another hallway, that fucking zombie nurse had finally popped up.

Nemesis: "Holy shit!"

Me: "Holy fuck! She really exists!"

Dina: "I told you so! Now do you believe it?!"

Our confrontation was very intriguing. That lone giantess in black gave us a hard time. She moved that huge chainsaw like it weighed a few ounces, but it must have weighed almost a ton. It was actually quite short, but intense as a confrontation. If Angels had managed to stand up to her, all three of us together could very well do it. That confrontation was further proof that this initiative was absolutely worthwhile and worth exploiting. We tied up the crazed nurse with one of those fire extinguishing hoses so we could calm her down and interrogate her. Now that she was standing still and I was getting a better look at her, I found that everything Dina related was true.

The descriptions of the sightings were also true this time. She was at least two meters tall, with wavy brown hair that came to cover her right eye. The other eye was red. She was dressed in a modified nurse's uniform, all black with red crosses here and there. It covered almost her entire body except her legs, which showed her unnatural complexion composed in pieces of various shades of gray. They had what from a distance looked like scars, but were actually seams joining of colored body pieces one with a slightly different shade of gray. What the hell… We were dealing with the female version of the Frankenstein's monster.

Ann: "Who are you? Get out of here!"

Me: "If you keep quiet we won't do anything to you. We don't want to hurt you if you don't force yourself. We are just here to help you."

Nemesis: "You know Dina, don't you? Judge Angels. Weren't you acquaintances?"

Dina: "Wow. Good to see you again."

Ann: "Angela… It's you."

Dina: "You're not still mad at me, are you?"

Ann: "No… Who are you others?"

Me: "My name is Jane Arkensaw and she goes by the name Nemesis. We fight crime and bad people. We protect the weakest so they don't go through what we all went through."

Nemesis: "What is your name instead?"

Ann: "Ann. Ann Lusen Mia."

Nemesis: "What a nice name. Nice to meet you Ann. We want to help you. Do you live here all by yourself? How long has it been?"

Ann: "I don't know, a long time. Years."

Me: "Where are you from? Do you have any memory of who you were and what happened to you?"

Ann: "I don't remember much unfortunately… But I do remember that I used to be a normal woman with red hair and that I'm from New York. Maybe from Albany or those areas there."

Dina: "I don't know any neighborhood in New York called Albany."

Me: "New York means the U.S. state named after the city of the same name. Albany is its capital."

Dina: "Aaaah, right..."

Nemesis: "Who made you the way you are now? Do you remember?"

Ann: "He was a doctor, he said he was a very experimental doctor. I was a nurse working for him. One day I found myself volunteering for a "science experiment"… I ended up with this new abominable body. I freaked out and killed all those people around me. But I didn't want to… I hate the one who did this to me! But initially I couldn't hurt him, as if he had done something to my brain… My job was to stay here and watch. One day I finally managed to kill him, but what he did to me remains irreparable. Despite his death, I can't help but carry out the task he gave me. I have been guarding this place for years. It is the only home I know."

Me: "Were you here when the hospital was abandoned?"

Ann: "I don't really remember. Maybe."

Nemesis: "Angels told us that you were lonely and sad down here."

Ann: "Yes, I was. It's not a very cheerful and crowded place."

Dina: "Come to think of it, I didn't ask you this last time but… Why do you yell "rabbit" at those you attack?"

Ann: "Usually anyone I meet always runs away from me with terror in their eyes. Like rabbits. That's why when I attack anyone who enters my territory, I have to scream. Everyone runs away from me anyway…"

Nemesis: "Be quiet now. We can help you."

Me: "How many people did you kill after that crazy doctor died?"

Ann: "Actually I seem to remember almost none… Except for that one time there were five or six men who seemed to want to attack me and do who knows what. They were among the few I didn't scare. They looked like violent criminals, so I defended myself. That was a while ago."

Nemesis: "Why don't you come with us? We'll help you."

Ann: "Thank you very much… But I haven't left this place for years and years."

Me: "You don't seem like a bad person. You can do good, fight horrible people and mysterious creatures that haunt the country. You could join our cause."

Ann: "Me do good? But if everyone fears me, I'm a monster…"

Nemesis: "Don't say that. It's not true. Even if you look bizarre, you can be a good person and do good. Why stay here alone forever? There is nothing here."

Dina: "Yeah, who cares about this place. No offense, but you have nothing to care about. This place is falling apart anyway."

Me: "Fuck what other people think about you and your looks. In my opinion you are very hot instead. Obviously from a more technical and unbiased point of view."

Dina: "It's not that you're a lesbian or something?"

Me: "What the hell are you going to say? Think for yourself. That was just an opinion."

Ann: "Seriously? Thank you! I had never met kind people like you."

Nemesis: "You deserve a second chance like us."

Me: "You just had a lot of bad luck like the three of us. But you can prove that you are a better person."

Nemesis: "To show you our trust, we're releasing you now. Sorry, but we couldn't talk to you before while you were unsheathing that big tool."

Me: "I honestly find your huge chainsaw really cool."

Ann: "Thanks… I guess."

Dina: "If you come with us, let's go kill some weirdo pieces of shit. Jane has to kill Jeff the killer, Nemesis all those who are bigots and/or attack her and her beloved magnifying tarantula, while I kill all the culprits in this world. You can kill everyone else, of course only if they are bad, and if we don't kill them first. Hahaha…"

Ann: "I think that's great."

Me: "It's already a feat to fight the criminal scum of this nation, to the rest of the world let's think about it later calmly… Better to take it one step at a time, my dear."

Dina: "Then you'll train us anyway. No? Hehe. We would know how to do a thousand oriental martial arts moves and no one would stop us. Hahaha!"

Nemesis: "Then we'll see if that's the case."

Ann: "Now where do we go?"

Me: "We have an aircraft outside, come with you. Be careful with that contraption, though."

Ann: "Now you don't have to worry anymore. This is only for those who will suffer our wrath."

Me: "Perfect. Then let's go."

Helping these poor wretches made me feel better; I felt that I was doing something right. I was becoming more and more convinced of my hard choices. Even though Jeff the killer remained my top priority, giving these girls a chance would contribute so much to the cause I have always fought for. That we all fight for. The Dark Amazons were being born, what would be a beam of light that would bring justice to a dark, terrifying and troubled world.

We thus arrived at the aircraft. The team I had formed had grown to four members, including me and excluding Annie Richardson who was currently only the pilot of the aircraft.

Me: "Okay girls. I think that's enough of us to hold our own against about four deranged teenage murderers and two hooded beasts."

Dina: "Wait, Helen is here too!"

Ann: "Who's Helen?"

Nemesis: "Apparently it's her boyfriend."

Me: "Sorry Angels, but I don't know if it's worth it."

Dina: "Why? Just because she's not a female like us or doesn't have superpowers? Helen needs to be with me, with us!"

Me: "Listen, Angels… I checked her file earlier. Among his verified victims are a lot of people who had not committed crimes of any kind. Even though you may love him, unfortunately he's just like the others."

Dina: "What the fuck are you talking about!? What file? Bullshits! Lies! He loves me and he is a good person! He only kills those who bully him and the bad guys!"

Me: "Unfortunately, that's the way it is. Now we have to go."

Dina: "I also want Helen on the team!"

Nemesis: "Please calm down. We will find him sooner or later, but we have to go. We have to stop those killers from carrying out more useless and unjust slaughter."

Dina: "But he can help us too! I want to go to Helen!"

Ann: "Do you really love him? Are you sure you know him well?"

Dina: "Yes! I love him! I want to see him!"

Me: "Dina I understand your problems, crushes ect, but we have priorities. We have to stay together. That Helen has done questionable actions. It's written in black and white, it's the hard truth."

Dina: "Don't call me Dina without my permission! Shut up!"

Dina was beginning to get agitated, her psychiatric problems were beginning to show. She had been pretty quiet actually in those two days she was with us, for a young girl with mental disorders. Unfortunately, she had fall in love with the wrong person, not accepting the uncomfortable truth. The situation slowly escalated. But I knew how it would end…

Me: "We will help you find him later. We also came here to pick up and help Ann. You can't walk around alone anymore, you have to stay with us."

Dina: "No…!"

Me: "Angels please… You may be good at killing bad guys, but if you go too far you risk getting killed yourself if you keep this up. We have to help you."

Dina: "Fuck it! I want to go alone to see him!"

Nemesis: "Please Dina! Let us help you!"

Me: "Angels! Calm down! If you really want to know his last sightings were in Texas. That's over one thousand miles away! Would you rather walk all by yourself, or faster to safety with us?"

Dina: "I don't care!"

Me: "If you really love this individual, why did you separate?"

Dina: "He said he had to take care of some things, then I never saw him again. But rest assured that we will see each other again! We were made for each other!"

Me: "Dina, you are really stupid!"

Dina: "Hahahahaha… Fuck you all!"

Ann: "What the hell is wrong with her?"

Nemesis: "She has serious mental problems unfortunately."

Me: "Angels! Stop it or I'll fix you!"

Dina had sprung toward me drawing her sword, I dodge her. We start fighting each other, again.

In the clash I manage to grasp the sword with my hands. I had not seen many authentic swords in my life. Except for a few katanas taken in combat by some yakuza thugs, which I also used to clash with them. Especially like that one. I disputed that it is quite lethal, it left a little mark between my fingers. To a normal person that sword would have cut the fingers or at least made them bleed a lot, but I was not like others. The so-called "elixir" that made me what I had become had made me much more resistant.

Nemesis and Ann also intervened. Although she was quite pissed off, it had been very stupid of her. She was going up against not only the two chicks who had held her down the day before, but also a burly woman with a huge chainsaw. Of course we didn't want to hurt her, but we were doing everything we could to put her down. While instead she seemed determined to inflict some deadly blows on us, or at least cut off a limb. Finally we managed to get her on the ground and disarm her. Annie also came in and shot her with a taser gun.

Me: "Annie! Pass me a tranquilizer!"

Annie obeyed. Dina is almost totally unconscious, almost asleep.

Me: "You did great Annie. I need to know where the killers I met in Georgia are."

Annie: "There are some shady individuals, similar to their sketches, spotted in Van Horn, Texas."

Me: "West Texas? That's over 1.200 miles from here! Fuck… We have to hurry. What are the previous sightings instead?"

Annie: "Before Van Horn there was a similar sighting in San Angelo. Before that in Austin, Monroe in Louisiana, Hattiesburg in Mississippi, Montgomery in Alabama, and Albany in Georgia. Jane, Smithson sent me files on Jeff the killer that I had not yet seen. They must be very confidential. It is also reported that this is not the first time Jeffrey Alan Woods has been spotted in Texas, especially near El Paso. It's been about since 2012 that almost every year there have been sightings of him there."

Me: "El Paso did you say? So many times? Why the fuck didn't they ever let me know!? It doesn't make sense!"

Annie: "I don't know, I don't know what to tell you… He sent me this information from a secret agency server on the deep web. There was also information from some of their old archives."

Me: "Okay, very interesting. But we'll think about it in the air, we need to go right away and get to El Paso as soon as possible."

Annie: "At a little over 1.200 miles, at full speed, we should be down there in maybe four hours or even a little less. We can make it."

Me: "Especially now that I have this tough, and unstable, team. Perfect. Let's go."

While we were in the air, Angels regains consciousness.

Dina: "Holy shit..."

Nemesis: "Are you better? We're so sorry we knocked you out, but you had become unstable."

Ann: "You'll get over it."

Me: "I heard about the latest sightings of your beloved blood artist. Lucky for you, he is very close to where we are going. Are you happy now?"

Dina: "…I think so. I'm sorry, but sometimes when I get pissed off I can't see straight and I go crazy. I'm afraid I went a little overboard actually…"

Me: "Yes, we saw that."

Nemesis: "We told you we would help you."

Dina: "Thank you Nemesis."

Nemesis: "You know, I have a black eye like yours and Jane's."

Immediately afterwards Nemesis lowered the mask she wore practically all the time.

Dina: "Haha. That's so cool. We all have black eyes except Ann."

Me: "Come to think of it… Ann, you always have hair over your right eye. Can you see us from there too?"

Nemesis: "I was wondering that too."

Ann moved her hair, showing the empty eye socket.

Ann: "Who made me this way, left me without an eye. I can only see out of my left eye."

Dina: "So… you're a lefty. Hahah."

Nemesis: "Geez… I feel sorry for you."

Ann: "Not too bad."

Nemesis: "You are still very beautiful anyway."

Ann: "I'm really flattered. It's literally been years since someone has given me a compliment. Or talks to me in short. You know how it is."

Me: "We can easily fix you a glass eye if you want. Or if you prefer, a pirate eye patch."

Ann: "Really? That would be nice. Thank you. Jane…"

Me: "Yes?"

Ann: "What happened to you instead?"

Me: "I volunteered for an experimental serum that would make me better in everything physically and mentally. They presented it to me as an "elixir", but in reality they literally labeled it as "Liquid Hate". That's what made me who I am. It had these side effects, although they are not severe they are quite noticeable. But I got over it, I accepted the price of going after my family's killer."

Nemesis: "What was your family like?"

Me: "I was very lucky. My parents wanted me to live the best I could. They worked in counseling, we were quite well off. It wasn't always rosy, but overall I lived really well those years. It was the best part of my life. Unfortunately, I lost everything when I was 16, my parents hid me away and then I fell among the victims of the newborn Mandeville killer who would become America's number one. I then lived four years first with some idiot uncles of mine and then in five foster homes. I never adjusted, even to the mediocre schools they sent me to. That's where I started boxing and trying various kinds of martial arts, they were my main outlet. I was also seeing a psychologist who was able to make me feel better. It was also because of that that I was chosen for that experiment. Now here I am, I have become this."

Nemesis: "You have a very sad, interesting and fascinating story in my opinion."

Me: "Thank you, I guess. We will look for information about your past together later."

During the flight, half an hour later, Dina falls asleep again.

Me: "Angels is unstable. She is in danger of slowing us down. Perhaps it would be wiser to take her to some neuropsychiatric clinic to help her."

Nemesis: "You have a point in theory, but… If we let her vent against those we need to attack maybe it will pass, or at least stabilize."

Me: "This one is in danger of getting herself killed if we don't keep her at bay a little."

Nemesis: "She has twice as good eyesight as a human, doesn't she? You and she are the best at this. For the time being we have to help her."

Me: "You are very noble. Let's hope well then… But sedating her every time she freaks out for too long I don't think would be very healthy for her."

Nemesis: "Not even if they maybe decide to pump her full of psychotropic drugs in one of those clinics you say, or if they decide to study her for her abnormality."

Me: "Good point."

CHAPTER 4

We had finally arrived in El Paso, Texas. Of course, we landed nearby in a place rather hidden from prying eyes. After we had gotten off, my agency phone started ringing. It was Daniel Smithson. I briefly stepped away to answer it.

Me: "Hello? Smithson?"

Smithson: "Jane! Glad to hear from you. I know you're on a mission and Miss Richardson is there too. How is she doing?"

Me: "So far so good. After years of running away, we are finally really very close to catching and finishing Jeffrey Alan Woods. There should be the other killers I reported on a few days ago."

Smithson: "But that's great! I'm very happy for you. Jane, Miss Richardson told me that despite the particular requirement of that V-22, this mission was vital. I trusted her, I know you are obviously the best in your field. I have watched you improve all these years and I am honestly proud of your progress. I know that's not so professional to say, but it honestly feels that way to me and I felt it was only fair to let you know."

Me: "It is also because of you that I have become what I am now. You have done your job excellently. Listen, I need to ask you a few things. They are important."

Smithson: "Tell me as well, Jane."

Me: "First, scan the area where I am now in real time, in El Paso, Texas. Like you did in Jacksonville, Florida. I'm really very close finally. Then another thing. I am trying to help a good girl find out who she was before she lost her memory two years ago. Maybe you can do something to find some information about missing girls in the western United States. She is Caucasian, with brown hair, green eyes and a slim build. She is about 22 years old and 5.7 feet tall. I know it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, but if you can give it a try I'd appreciate it."

Smithson: "All right Jane. It can be done. Fortunately, our computers are very advanced. It's like we practically already have Windows 12."

Me: "Smithson... Miss Richardson told me that you found some old hidden files where all the locations and dates of Jeffrey Alan Woods' sightings from 2008 to the present were reported. Why didn't I know about this? A variety of positions are reported that I never knew about. Especially from 2013 to 2016. Why?"

Smithson: "Right… Yes, you're right. Jane, I basically learned about this a few days ago. The current head of the agency Thomas Karl Johnson, who took over from the previous one in 2013, it would appear to be his work. Along with those files were other files containing information about sightings of other mysterious beings that almost no media had ever covered. Even there is confirmation of the existence of that international private organization that hunts them down and sends them to mysterious sites around the world. I discovered all this one day when I was doing research. Some information was missing for your mission, so I asked a former colleague of mine to hack the secret files that were in the deep web. I found out all of this partly because of him. Then I sent them to Miss Richardson and to you. Regarding the Jeffrey Alan Woods files I honestly have a hard time explaining this… The only logical explanation for this would be scandalous to say the least. It is likely that the current head of the agency decided to hide these files so that you would work longer as a professional assassin. Every time you got closer to Jeff he would pull you away from it. He made more innocent people die because of him, only to have you hunt down more criminal scum. The trivial one as you say. Jane… I am sorry to be the one to give you such a revelation, but apparently that is the hard truth. I was scandalized by this discovery myself. That is also why I made sure that your big particular request, to use a very expensive special military aircraft, was granted. Unfortunately, there is something rotten going on here at the agency. I risk my neck to give you this information, but I felt it was the right thing to do. Now, however you decide to act, I hope you will make the right choices. Even though unfortunately Mr. Johnson has been using you all these years, you have still become at 24 1/2 years old a true professional in your field. A good person capable of doing good. I am proud of you."

Me: "Daniel… Thank you very much for everything. Everything is clearer now. I am shocked, but now I am finally close to my goal. I have three, actually four, girls with me who can fight for my cause. After this, it will be up to the head of the agency. And you will help me as you have always admirably done. I thank you. Take care."

Smithson: "Likewise Jane. Good luck."

Despite the shock, everything was now clearer. All those years of the damn thing escaping my clutches was the fault of someone within the agency. And according to what Smithson had told me, it was indeed the current head in charge for four years. If that was true, then he was very insane. That was the only way I could define someone who would rather give up several innocent lives and have me waste years of my life than lose the best operative. The person responsible for this would pay dearly… Yes, I would have become a wanted person too if I turned to a secret government agency, but the person responsible for this could not get away with it after such petty actions. But first it was up to Jeff the killer and his gang. The girls were ready, although they had no training equal to mine they had in return skills they knew how to use very well.

I later caught up with my team.

Me: "Okay. Listen to me. There is information that you should know. For those who don't know yet, I work for a secret government agency. Or at least I used to work there. They made me who I am with the promise of revenge, provided I ended of their targets and the crime infesting the nation. I just found out I was being played. Someone higher up in the agency withheld valuable information from me. Information that could have stopped Jeff the killer years ago. But he preferred to use me and sacrifice innocent victims for years just to keep me on a leash. But now all that changes. I will severely punish the person responsible for this, but only as a result of this our first mission together as "The Dark Amazons". We are very problematic girls, but capable of making a difference. And now let's go and properly slaughter those rotten sacks of shit that they are! Together!"

Nemesis: "Speech worthy of Captain America. Except for the language of course. Hahah."

Dina: "YEEAHHH let's kick ass!"

Ann: "Honored to be a part of this."

Nemesis: "I'm sorry for you, about this absurd discovery. We will all go together to punish anyone who deserves it."

Me: "Thanks Nemesis, but we'll deal with that later."

Shortly afterwards, I also informed Annie who had stayed inside.

Annie: "I'm just as shocked as you are… But you always get away with everything anyway, don't you?"

Me: "I'm afraid I'll have to leave you here again this time. I will call you if necessary, though. It's possible some other killer may pop up, or someone else who will consider us a threat. I reasoned with the basic information I had, the most logical solution is that those depraved people are following Jeff for him to give them something. They mentioned something that Jeffrey injected himself with to get stronger and faster. Probably a mixed compound of steroids, adrenaline and other shit that managed to make him elusive for about nine years."

Annie: "That makes sense then. Smithson recently sent me the coordinates of a place nearby where those wanted men may be. Plus among the information about the place is a small chemical factory toward the northwest of town."

Me: "Perfect. Thanks again Annie. See you later."

The team and I walked to the designated location. We wore simple disguises such as jackets and the like, to be inconspicuous until we would get to the killers. We passed by an old industrial complex. At one point I had the feeling that we were being spied on by someone, so I motioned for the girls to stop. After a few seconds, I noticed a figure peeping out of a window of an old building that overlooked the bond we had just boarded up.

He seemed to have a white mask. I thus motioned for him to enter the building very cautiously through one of the open doors. As we discreetly inspected the place, I finally caught the mysterious figure. He was wearing a dirty blue shirt, black pants, short, brown, unkempt hair, and finally a mask with a "very original" Joker-style smile painted on it but in a cell phone emoji version. He was Angels' infamous boyfriend, Helen Otis aka "Bloody Painter." With her presence we would kill two birds with one stone.

I had further confirmation about a likely gathering of young murderers in that town. While Dina would instead have resolved the issue of her strong but misplaced teenage crush, and the disagreements with her and our morals. At least that was my hope. Before the discovery that he would cause the previous fight with Dina, I hoped that he might be what it described. A person with an ounce of humanity who only kills the guilty, unfortunately he was yet another pathetic young killer. I felt sorry for Dina, but we could not have her case end up like the sad and pathetic case of Nina Hopkins with Jeffrey Alan Woods.

So I pounced on it. "Holy shit! Who the hell are you ugly b…" He cursed just before he was attacked by yours truly. In that confrontation he had proved to be quite agile and fast, but not enough to defend himself against my attack and combat experience. In fact, he was honestly quite poor compared to all those freaks I had faced in those days.

He is immobilized by the strings of Nemesis' yo-yo. He dangled defeated and already exhausted. We gathered in the same room in no time. We took off those simple disguises for the time being. Of course Dina would have been glad to see him again.

Dina: "Helen! It's you!"

Helen: "Dina! My favorite angel."

Me, in confidence with Nemesis: "Yuck… How corny they are…"

Nemesis: "You can say that again…"

Dina: "Come on, leave him! He's not a threat to us. Helen, now that we are finally together again, come with us."

Helen: "Who the hell are this bunch of sluts you're with?"

Nemesis: "We had thought of calling ourselves "The Dark Amazons" or something like that."

Me: "We are the "sluts" who if they find out if you have killed innocent people, will make you die in excruciating pain."

Helen: "Innocent?! Hahahaha… No one is innocent!"

Me: "Do you even think you're Jesus Christ now? But don't make me laugh…"

Ann: "Why do you dress so funny?"

Helen: "It's not funny! Look who's talking, a huge nurse… What the fuck! You're like Frankenstein if he had a vagina and two huge tits. Hahaha…"

Ann: "And you'll be worm manure if you keep being a dick in this ridiculous way!"

Dina: "That was the one I mentioned to you last time. She's not mean. We have to be on the same side Helen."

Helen: "Sorry, my little angel… But this group of bitches don't agree with me at all."

Nemesis: "Do you want me to squeeze harder?"

Helen: "My answer might surprise you. Hahaha…!"

Nemesis: "What a pain in the ass… Do you all have to laugh because you're even a little crazy? You're all the same… No offense Angels."

Dina: "That's ok, for this time. Come on Helen…"

Me: "Is it true that you killed innocent people? And before that you killed all your schoolmates? It's a horrible thing bullying, sure, but it's not a good excuse to kill anyone you don't like."

Nemesis: "Haven't you ever seen all those movies where the bullied protagonists then make friends with their former bullies? Look there are cases like that."

Helen: "Shut up…! All respectable bullshit. All falsehoods! No one is innocent! Everyone has to die! And we who have been unjustly denigrated by all of them will feast on their rotting fucking corpses! Hahahah…!"

Me: "Wow! Typical villain talk from any movie mixed with the ethics of religious extremists. How pathetic you are… Sorry Angels, but I am of the opinion that you need to choose your boyfriends better."

Dina: "But Helen… What the hell are you saying? If we only kill all the assholes, then we help the weaker ones. As we were!"

Nemesis: "Good Angels, tell them! As you can see, your pathetic and bigoted speech is watering all over the place and is enormously hypocritical. Being pissed off against the world is no reason to make your fellow man suffer. Genius."

Helen: "Shut up! Shut up! All you do is spew that stupid respectable bullshit that the dirty fucking media tells you to wash your brains out and totally deflate them!"

Me: "I didn't think I'd say this… But you're really a hoot. If it weren't for your petty crimes, I'd take you with us permanently strapped in as our personal clown. Hah."

Ann: "But does this kid really mean what he says?"

Nemesis: "He's just yet another nut who thinks only from his personal experience and ends up distorting reality. That's basically how you end up becoming a villain."

Ann: "Like the ones in the comic books?"

Nemesis: "Yes. Just like that."

Helen: "Ahhh… Laugh it up… Sing it out… You won't get very far anyway. Soon we'll be kicking all you loser floozies' asses! Hahaha!"

Me: "Who's "we"? Why are you here?"

Helen: "I'm not telling you anything at all!"

Ann: "But if you wouldn't stop babbling until recently, about everyone being guilty and that other rubbish you were saying."

Dina: "Helen… Who are you with now? Are they the ones we're after?"

Me: "Either you tell us, or you'll end up really bad. You'll regret being born."

Helen: "You complain about what I say, but you are the trivial ones! Like you fucking dark-breasted emo girl who hides behind mediocre action movie phrases, the ones who only watch those fucking fat, average Americans."

Ann: "…and that's how she started babbling again."

Me: "Oh, no. You didn't understand. Either blather about what we ask of you, or we'll tear that pathetic tongue out of you."

I took him by the shirt. I had recently noticed that she also had a pathetic pin with a smiley face, like the one from the Watchmen comic.

Helen: "Drop me! You don't know who you are against! "

Me, ironically: "Uuuuu what a fear! Help!… The fearsome masked kid with a creative streak! Every man for himself…"

Dina: "Wait… Come on Helen at least help us. Why are you doing this to us?"

Helen: "Dina, fuck you! If you've really decided to be with this circus of shitty whores, then you've failed down the line! "

Dina: "You should have come back to me!"

Helen: "I had some urgent things!"

Dina: "Like what? Find a boyband of fucking moron killers?!"

Helen: "No! Getting stronger! I can't go on like this anymore! I like to see blood on the walls and on the ground, but not if it's my own. Jeff the killer promised me to become better at everything. Like that Jack-without-eyes dressed in blue, or like you! Aside from the shit you spew from those sewers, I recognize that you are strong. It's not fair that shits like you have this and I don't! I want more, so I will continue to feast on the shitty corpses of this stupid fucking humanity!"

Me: "Wow… We managed to dispense with the torture with a sappy teenage drama movie style fight."

Dina: "But… So it's true? Are you also like them? Do you kill indiscriminately?! You said only the guilty!"

Helen: "How dumb are you? I have said repeatedly that they are ALL guilty! No one is innocent! You are yet another delusion Dina Angels! You really are delusional, if you really believe in these fucking respectable morals! You don't deserve me! Fuck you and these skanks! All of you, suck my balls!"

Dina: "I trusted you! It is YOU who disappoint ME!"

Dina was beginning to have tears in her eyes. By now the hard truth had come out for her. Unfortunately, she had trusted the wrong person.

Ann: "Yes. She's the one who doesn't deserve you! You are really mean, arrogant, but most of all a horrible person like those others!"

Me: "I feel sorry for Angels, but now at least we can finally slaughter him properly."

Nemesis: "Girls, there is someone!"

A mysterious figure had broken a window above us. It was Rouge. In a matter of seconds she leaped toward Helen, grabbed it, and ran away as the wires that bound it came apart. We chased her, but then she knocked over a huge pile of barrels and boxes that were inside the old warehouse. I try to climb over it with difficulty and go to the window from where she escaped, but by then she had managed to slip away.

Ann: "Damn it!"

Nemesis: "That stupid beast was unexpectedly quick, even broke my wires. Fortunately I have more, but then I'll have to find new ones."

Me: "Don't worry. Fortunately, I had also thought of this. I put a small tracker in Bloody Painter's clothing, it also acts as a microphone and micro-camera. So we'll know where he's headed. We now officially know that Jeffrey Alan Woods is behind this, as expected. He has promised to give these killers something that will make them stronger. Maybe even beasts like that fucking Eyeless Jack. We have to prepare for the worst."

Dina: "Helen…"

Nemesis: "We are so sorry."

Dina: "You were right then…"

Me: "I had only told you the truth. I had intangible evidence. Now that you also know about my connection with the government, you have certainty. I hesitated to tell you before that because I didn't want to get you worked up over anything."

Dina: "…then we must punish him too! In fact, I will be the one to execute him!"

Ann: "Your now ex-boyfriend? You bet."

Nemesis: "Great!"

Me: "That Helen was really stupid to leave you like that, he turned out to be the little shit he is. Now we have an added incentive to fight them if that Bloody Painter is also on their side."

Nemesis: "Well said! Now what do we do?"

Me: "At the moment we are still unsure if Jeff and his gang have already gotten what they were after. While I check the audio tracker I put on that wretch, we will start reaching that chemical factory not far from town. If they haven't reached it yet, it's possible they will reach it later."

Afterwards we exited the building and put our disguises back on. I usually try never to break into vehicles that are not my property, but this was an emergency case. We had to avoid further bloodshed by those lunatics, with the exception of their own. I broke into a van so we could get to the chemical factory outside the city. Perhaps someone would have thought it more logical to follow the signal directly and get to the killers' hideout, but I thought it more appropriate to do so because there had to be something in that place that had fallen into the wrong hands several times and had to be destroyed. Plus, in such a place, more interesting confrontations would have arisen that would not immediately arouse too much attention. At some point I finally got a signal from the transmitter. The reported location was an abandoned building, a former orphanage now in ruins. The microcamera finally showed the prey we were looking for, the built-in microphone playing back their voices.

Helen: "Let go of me… I could manage on my own, you filthy masked beast that you are!"

Toby: "I told you he was there too. Rouge is careful about these things even when she's out of her comfort zone."

Clock: "Yeah okay, screw that."

Jeff: "Look look who we have here… The arterial blood artist. Check it out folks! This one kicks Jason Pollok's ass! Hahaha…"

Clock: "Too puny."

Zero: "Too pathetic."

Jeff: "Look who's talking… From what pulpit!"

Zero: "Put it in your ass, moron!"

Toby: "You look funny dressed like that. You look like a dumb cartoon."

Helen: "Dumb you are! Loser!"

Toby: "I'll smash your pretty little face if you don't be a good boy. Hahah, I even rhymed."

Jeff: "Stick that rhyme up your ass. Hey Smile Mask, you want something we're looking for too. Don't you?"

Helen: "You got it right this time. If you stop insulting each other, I'll go with you."

Jeff: "Oops, request denied. Sorry… I remember you anyway. It's obvious why you're here."

Clock: "Hope it was worth it, putting up with your irritating ass so much."

Jeff: "What! I'M the one who put up with your pathetic whining! What the fuck… But it matters little now. If you play nice, I'll show you. Or rather, I'm actually waiting for someone else to give us the green light to go down there. I think it's like a few hours away."

Zero: "What the fuck exactly are we waiting for?"

Jeff: "It should kind of be a truck coming from Mexico. But rest assured bamboozles, in due time the time will come when we finally get really high."

Toby: "They're my friends Masky and Hoodie. They too were rescued by our boss, like Rouge."

Clock: "The creepy tall guy?"

Zero: "The fucking Slenderman!"

Toby: "That's the one! Most people don't believe he exists, but he's always there. Even Jeff has met him!"

Jeff: "True… That's how they describe him. Tall and dressed like a giant fucking anorexic penguin. Hahah. I even kicked his ass once, years ago…"

Toby: "But he told me the exact opposite."

Jeff: "Then he's wrong. Shut up or I'll kick your ass, you half-wit!"

Toby: "STILL WITH THIS FUCKING STORY?! I'LL RIP YOUR TONGUE OUT!"

Toby tries to attack Jeff, but he knocks him out with several punches.

Jeff: "Hahahaha… You're dumb as hell. You're too funny… If you're done whining, we're going to get a little high. Of course waiting for the REAL fun!"

Zero: "I found a shitload of vodka myself!"

Jeff: "Hey Tick Tack! I can see your nipples are hardened, go ahead and fuck that half-ass back."

Clock: "Get the fuck out of here, you cocksucking asshole!"

Jeff: "While those two losers are fucking, let's do it too. Come on."

Zero: "I told you I give my ass only to my boyfriend! He can kick your ass easily!"

Jeff: "WHO?! The ghost puppeteer?! Hahaha. If he exists he's a half-assed pussy too compared to that other half-assed pussy."

Zero: "But fuck you, dumb asshole!"

Jeff: "Instead of fucking with me, go upstairs that there's also coke that Tick Tack brought."

Clock: "If you call me that again I won't give it to you!"

Jeff: "the coke or your vagina? Hahahah… Hey you artist of my assholes. Only discount store beer for you!"

Helen: "No thanks. I prefer something that doesn't taste like piss."

Jeff: "Oook. Whatever… BURP."

Hearing all that havoc, my years-long lust for revenge was alleviated by the blatant patheticness of that being and his circus of lunatics. The transmitter I had attached to Bloody Painter's pin blended in with the emoji's eye. Fortunately, they hadn't noticed it yet; they were too busy dicking around. Bloody Painter had not yet said anything about our questioning. As to why this was so, there were two equally possible logical options. Most likely he either didn't want to piss them off and end up getting slaughtered, especially since he was less strong and agile than they were, or he also planned to outsmart them all and take all the loot.

I sent that audio and video recorded evidence to Daniel Smithson on the agency phone. As well as the only phone I was using. I texted him to come in about five hours to give us a hand, after which a team would arrive and inspect the place. Afterwards the news would swoop in to document what would happen that night. It was now a foregone conclusion that, whatever would happen, a few deaths would surely escape.

CHAPTER 5

That evening my team and I had finally reached the factory. We had set up in the back with the van. After only an hour of waiting, the transmitter had turned on again. The two guys who had been waiting had arrived. "Masky" and "Hoodie". I had searched the agency's database and found their sketches.

Timothy Write and Brian Thomas, known as "Masky" and "Hoodie", respectively, are both two year-old boys from Cleveland, Ohio. Both were class of 1996. They were normal boys, best friends, until about three years ago they became victims of Slenderman. Since then there have been sightings mainly in the Great Lakes states. But this time they had ended up much further South.

The connection between some of these killers and the Slenderman was finally confirmed. It seemed that in addition to making numerous people disappear from the face of the Earth, he also liked to control some of them. But in reality there were other cases of individuals being controlled directly by him like veritable soulless puppets. Instead Ticci Toby, Rouge, Masky and Hoodie were just sort of followers who were in contact with him. Jeffrey had also dealt with it, apparently they had even clashed. Logically it was Toby who was right, because a rather young boy against a large supernatural creature would have realistically zero chance of victory.

At that point it was logical to wonder why Slenderman's henchmen had joined forces with other simple killers. Perhaps out of rebellion, or for some mysterious reason their leader had granted them that. There were things that were not very clear to me. But then again, we are talking about mysterious non-natural creatures here, maybe they even come from other dimensions or some shit like that. But at the moment it wasn't that important.

Jeff: "There they are! Our very own Chip 'n Dale! How cute you are…"

Masky: "Doesn't work do the funny guy with us, Jeffrey Alan Woods."

Jeff: "Present your honor! Haha…"

Masky: "Toby said that you were a buffoon in fact."

Hoodie: "True."

Jeff: "That pussy doesn't know a damn thing about yours truly gentlemen. So are we on then?"

Masky: "Yes, let's hurry. We know where it is, you how to do the rest instead."

Jeff: "Well said! Move your asses then!"

Masky: "Wait! What about that Jane the killer chasing you? If she brings the fucking feds with her we're in deep shit!"

Jeff: "All the more reason to move your ass! Anyway, there's no use pissing yourselves thinking about the feds, those pussies will have other shit to do instead of standing behind me and a bunch of freaks."

Masky: "Watch your mouth. You may be "Killer Number One", but without us you wouldn't make it."

Jeff: "We'll see about that… Let's hurry."

Toby: "Hey, hey Masky! I knew you were coming no later than late in the evening."

Masky: "Good find. Wow, you are a phenomenon."

Toby: "Are you kidding me, by any chance?!"

Masky: "Nah… You already think about it so much yourself."

Toby: "But shut up…"

Hoodie: "YOU shut up, and walk!"

Masky: "Yeah, you said it."

Toby: "Then later we'll see who's going to kick whose ass!"

At that point we had to go inside the factory, to make sure we could thwart the killers. Soon after that we spotted the truck in question, it was going to come in through the back as planned. I had gone down first, I had to take care of putting the guards to sleep with a sleeping pill after the truck entered. That night the staff there was very understaffed, Jeffrey and his thugs knew what they were doing and picked the right night. It was an easy play for me. In that case I preferred to take off the stud that I was now used to wearing, I was in a black sleeveless t-shirt that accompanied my usual black jeans and black athletic shoes. I had my own style, like Nemesis and the others. After I had set everything up, I called the team, so we went inside.

After the warehouse was a chemical laboratory, with the rest of the factory next to it making toiletries and stuff. Inside the truck was stuff of various kinds that was of no interest to us, except for a crate full of warnings about its fragility. We had found the target in question. If the killers found it, but especially if they all took that dangerous chemical compound, it would be bitter cocks not only for us but for anyone who would come across their path.

From the secret files I had reviewed, every time Jeffrey Alan Woods left the El Paso area he became more aggressive, dangerous, strong and fast. He was making at least twice as many victims as his classic operation. This was no accident at all. Of course he always left his typical trademark: scars on his victims' cheeks that formed an unnatural smile, sometimes even burned eyelids and some writing on the walls. The now infamous "Go to sleep."

Every last time I had chased him he managed to vanish, each time the agency assured me that they would subsequently track him down as quickly and efficiently as possible. It was all lies in the end, because they preferred to keep their best soldier at bay. At the cost of letting America's number one killer still on the loose and empowered with that shit in his body. That's why when I met Nemesis I decided to give her and the two other girls I would meet later a chance. It had turned out to be a wise decision.

Smithson had finally sent me a file on pieces of DNA collected from around and dating back to Jeffrey Alan Woods. He confirmed that the mixture he was using was a set of ingredients that they use for steroids, and also for the serum that they injected me with. There was also an ingredient that was produced in that lab in El Paso. If that chemical compound was doing so much damage with a young killer like Jeff, let alone with as many as five others at a minimum. El Paso and the surrounding area was going to become a fucking carnage. We had to stop it at all costs. Everyone had to die. We were ready for it.

Although they were not fighters at my level, I had given them tips on the aircraft to make them more efficient. Fortunately I had seen them make good use of their skills; with this opportunity they would do it to the best of their ability. Of course, hoping not to die. It was also quite dangerous, especially with someone around with tentacles in their stomachs. To be an effective team we had to look out for each other a little bit to try to survive. There were nine of them, two of them already upgraded. We, on the other hand, were four, but we were already empowered. We also had some tricks up our sleeves. Nemesis had her pet who could turn into a ferocious beast, I had Annie Richardson guarding the tiltrotor who could be an additional and valuable help. So technically we became six.

After we had gone inside, I explained the plan in detail:

Me: "Nemesis and Ann. You stand here guarding the entrance to the warehouse and watch out for that crate. Angels and I will go inside and supervise the lab. Geneva will guard that crate, First Nemesis assured me that she was capable. Now we can even do without the disguises. I will give you microphones that we will use if we split up and tracers, so in emergencies we will support each other. The real goal of our mission is to not let all our opponents get the full mixture that will make them more beastly. But most importantly to finish them off. And one last thing… Of course Jeff the killer is mine regardless."

Ann: "Ok, boss!"

Nemesis: "Roger that. You'll see, Geneva and I won't let you down."

Me: "Perfect. Angels, you will stay with me for the time being. Helen is coming soon anyway and you'll have your work cut out for you."

Dina: "That's all I ask. Do you say there are also frog corpses?"

Me: "I highly doubt it. Usually only in high schools do they vivisect frogs, as far as I know."

The laboratory was pretty much as we expected, like the ones in movies and the like. There were also various machines probably used to make certain kinds of chemical comports. It probably would have been easier and more efficient to set the whole lab on fire directly. Surely the El Paso police would have noticed, but it still might have been a better solution even if drastic. The important thing was to stop those criminals.

They had finally arrived. Nemesis had spotted Ticci Toby, Masky, Hoodie, and Rouge. So he rushed to attack the latter for a second round after Statesboro. Masky and Hoodie sputtered away at the entrance, but had run into Ann. The details I report below were later told to me by them themselves, although I was not there in person I report them anyway.

Ann: "Now you're going to pay, criminals!"

Masky: "But what the hell… Wait! You are…"

Hoodie: "You are Ann."

Ann: "What did you say? How do you know my name!"

Masky: "We met you long ago, we were like… Colleagues."

Hoodie: "The operator then put you on guard at a place in the Southeast."

Masky: "We never saw you again. We saw each other like once and maybe half a time."

Hoodie: "You had even tried on her, you wanted to do her."

Masky: "Are you serious? You keep quiet most of the time, and when you open your mouth do you have to spout such bullshit?"

Ann: "I used to work… For the Slenderman?"

Masky: "He mentioned to us that he found you wandering around some woods he was visiting. He gave you a purpose."

Ann: "Guarding an abandoned building for years?!"

Hoodie: "But… We didn't know that."

Masky: "Sometimes it happens that he forgets about his proxies."

Ann: "What the hell is a "proxy"? What the fuck are you talking about?!"

Masky: "Those who work closely with him. They are like puppets. But we're not like those walking lickers corpses. Am I right Hoodie?"

Hoodie: "Yeah. That's true, Masky."

Masky: "I'm not sure if you were a proxy… Maybe you were. He probably didn't need you anymore."

Ann: "Do you mean to tell me that a damn ghostly creature made me his slave long ago, and imprisoned me down there in that shithole place!?"

Hoodie: "When you put it that way…"

Masky: " Now that I think of it… That girl, there with the mask and ropes, also worked for him a while back. That was her, wasn't it?"

Hoodie: "Could be."

Ann: "Nemesis? Her too?!"

Masky: "Yeah, that's what she called herself! I think she was dumped, too. She was no longer serving her purposes. Sometimes it's like he's having fun letting those she influenced wander around to see, what they're up to or some shit like that."

Hoodie: "Maybe you shouldn't have told her."

Masky: "But fuck it! I'm sick of the operator's orders! He just uses us for fun at the end! He doesn't need any of us! The guy over there can go wherever the fuck he wants, doing all the shit he wants in the end! Fortunately, he let us come here. I wanted to try that stuff myself to get properly high. That's what we are now anyway."

Hoodie: "Okay. But maybe now we should fight this zombie nur…"

Ann: "Shut up!"

Ann had sawed Hoodie in two. He and Masky were real pussies at the end.

Masky: "Nooo Hoodie! You filthy cadaverous bitch, now I'm going to tear you apart!"

Masky tries to fight her off and dodge her blows, but he gets hit in the head after a few dozen seconds. He bleeds to death with his head in half.

After several minutes of fighting, Nemesis had kicked Rouge who sent her into a nearby van. She was then attacked by Ticci Toby. Toby was very dangerous with those two lumberjack axes of his, but he is immobilized by the strings of Nemesis' deadly yo-yo. As Toby falls to the ground, Nemesis is joined by Ann.

Nemesis: "You killed them both? You were amazing. They were such losers those two. What is it?"

Ann: "Does that Toby also work for that Slender?"

Nemesis: "Apparently yes, why?"

Ann: "Those two guys told me that… I used to be a subordinate of his, too. And so were you."

Nemesis: "Wait wait wait… Really? Slenderman? Me? Them?"

Ann: "You, little boy! Spit it out!"

Nemesis: "Answer or we will hurt you very badly."

Toby: "Hehehe… No pain will be too much as inflicted on me in the past anyway. The most tremendous tortures are caresses for me. Hahaha!"

Nemesis: "We'll let you listen to something like Justin Bieber, and then see how you reconsider."

Ann: "Do you know us? What did Slenderman do to Nemesis?"

Toby: "Yeah. You're actually familiar… Now that I think about it I knew someone named Nemesis but I'm not sure… She worked for him for a while and then he got rid of her like. Yeah, you were similar to her. She was very pretty… She disappeared from my radar, before I proposed a nice movie date or something. Heheh."

Nemesis: "We don't give a damn about your mental wanking. Is he the one who gave me this look?"

Toby: "I don't really remember. I mean really. If you were her, I just saw you like that. I don't know, ask him! He's never there, though, unless he wants to be. He goes where he wants to do what he likes best. That's all I know. NOW DROP ME OR I'LL BEHEAD YOU!"

Ann: "Pathetic…"

Nemesis: "I knew I was dealing with him one way or another. He must have done this to me."

Ann: "It all makes more sense now. How was it possible that I kept being bound by the will of a crazy old man who died years before? It was that damn Slenderman who dumped me down there. One day he will pay dearly for ruining our lives too!"

Nemesis: "Definitely, but we have other priorities now. Why don't you take care of this silent, unhinged filth? I'll go fight someone else."

Ann: "Sure. Gladly."

Just after those last words, Eyeless Jack had popped up to attack Nemesis. The two had begun to give each other a hard time. Ann intervened by unsheathing her chainsaw, but Jack was able to dodge it with inhuman movements. Rouge comes up behind Ann holding her back, Ann manages to throw her off and then immediately sling himself at her, managing to wound her in the abdomen. Wounded, she runs away first to the roof of a van and then to the roof of the building. She had managed to lose the one who had managed to wound her.

Nemesis had succeeded for a few seconds in pinning Jack down. Ann took the opportunity to attack him as well, succeeding. Although wounded, Jack had struggled and then managed to free himself. After he had pulled away, Ann and Nemesis could not help but notice his quick superhuman garrison factor. He had managed rather quickly to almost completely eliminate the effects of the blow inflicted. Immediately he runs away as well. Soon after, they notice that Toby has also managed to escape.

Nemesis: "Fuck!…"

Ann: "We'll get those damn cowards back. Rest assured of that."

Meanwhile, inside the lab, Dina and I were ready for anyone to come in. At one point we heard noises on the ceiling. From one of the ventilation ducts Zero had jumped down, I immediately dashed toward her to fight her off. She managed to dodge me and sneak away under a table, so I chased after her. She was fast, but not fast enough for me. She could carry that bat almost as if it was made of plastic instead of iron and wood, so it was better not to underestimate her strength and her ability to handle it too much. Out from under the table, he began to twirl it here and there blindly to try to hit me but in vain.

We started fighting, she had turned out a little better than I thought. She had enough physique to hold her own against me, at least for a few seconds. I then managed to bring her down with a kick. I hit her in the belly, starting to groan. Then I threw one of the many glass bottles on those tables at her, one I threw right in her face, and she screamed. As she tried to crawl away, I managed to grab her bat and break her spine. I kept hitting her here and there. She was now all sore and shaking.

Me: "What you have been through is terrible, but by now you have become like the monsters who created you. Your sick fun ends here."

Zero: "Shut up… Fuck off!"

I drew a knife and stabbed her several times in the throat and then in the abdomen until she stopped breathing. Zero had also been terminated. She would do nothing more to anyone.

I got up and realized that Dina was face to face with her infamous ex.

Helen: "Let me through! I won't do anything to you, if you let me have what I want!"

Dina: "Never! You have to face me for what you did to me! And all those innocent people you killed!"

Helen: "Dina… You will end badly. Move away or even I won't have mercy!"

Clock: "Leave this pathetic little blonde bitch to me."

Clockwork had launched herself on the attack toward Dina, she had come out of the door behind us. I immediately managed to block her and throw her to the ground, but she had gotten back up as if nothing had happened. With two knives occupying both her hands, she started to attack me, attempting to stab me. But I was agile enough to dodge each of her blows. I grabbed her by the arm and sent her at the glass stuff on the tables, after which she fell to the ground grunting. I turned for a moment to realize that both Dina and Helen are no longer inside the room.

Toby: "Don't touch my girlfriend!"

Toby was also back on the attack. Now it was my turn. I managed to kick him hard in the head, but a few seconds later he had gotten back up and attacked me again. I dodged his hatchets and then gave him a good punch to the stomach, only to immediately drop him with a kick. I finally hit him in the face several times. In the process Clockwork was getting back up, but was then caught by Nemesis. Nemesis managed to wound her several times with her weapon. She was caught off guard again, however, by Rouge. As she returned to fight with the latter and with Toby on the ground, I sprinted toward Clockwork to finish her off. She seems to be miraculously standing, but despite that she still looks very pissed off. We fought again, her agility however was no match for mine. After some very strong blows she finally fell to the ground.

Me: "I read your curious file. You were crazy enough to stick a fucking watch in your fucking left eye. I don't know what happened to you or how you manage to live with it, but a normal person would have fainted from shock."

Clock: "You're finished! Your time is up!"

Me: "Hahah. Seriously! You made this huge bullshit… To make pathetic fucking horrible jokes like this?! Then I really think that maybe… It's "time" for your right eye to try that contraption too. What do you say?"

I don't like to admit it, but sometimes I could be very sadistic myself. I am not a hero and I don't think I ever will be. Although I do everything I can to do good and fight bad people, sometimes I too do things that are questionable to say the least in order to fight them. When you're a professional killer who has been killing for years now, sometimes you want to indulge a little bit in what you do best. This is one of those cases.

Shortly after, I literally stuck the knife in her watch that was replacing her eye. I ripped it out of the socket and then stuck it in her other eye. She had let out a high-pitched shrill scream but by then, as she said, her time had come. To finish her off for good, I threw a stab into her skull at her left temple. The "dreaded" Clockwork was also finished. Now it would finally be Jeff's turn.

Nemesis was still fighting with Rouge, at one point he threw a bottle with some dangerous substance in it at her, causing the latter to writhe in pain groaning.

Toby: "Rouge NO!"

Toby had regained his senses and got up, but I had immediately launched myself at him by kicking him in the abdomen. Then I caught him and threw him to the other side. He had ended up next to Clockwork's body.

Nemesis: "Wait Jane! Maybe he knows more about my past. I heard it was that Slender guy's fault that I lost my memory."

Me: "You? Toby?"

Nemesis: "Ann, too. Before he killed those other two, they told him that she was also influenced by it. That's why she was subjugated down there."

Me: "Maybe Rouge knows something too. Then it's better not to finish them off for the time being."

Toby: "Clock noooo…! You killed my only fuck-girl-friend! You bastards!"

Toby had gotten up, despite the many blows inflicted he was still standing and able to fight. He must have managed to take one of those substances. This time it was Nemesis who attacked him and knocked him down. We make sure to immobilize him properly. I to be on the safe side broke his leg, but it just grunts instead of screaming. Finally Toby was out of the fight. We would have killed him, if it wasn't potentially important to find out more about Nemesis' past.

Me: "Keep an eye on them! Tie up Rouge too!"

I subsequently went to the warehouse to check the crate in the truck. I saw that the giant tarantula was colliding with Eyeless Jack. Inside the truck the box was open, it must have been Toby who opened it. The box contained a non-American brand of steroids and some adrenaline. But these were just some of the ingredients for the concoction Jeff used to keep surviving. Some of the products it contained had been taken, but despite this inconvenience the plan was still working.

We had already eliminated four of the nine members of our opponents' group, two others we had knocked out. That left Jeff, Jack, and Helen. Dina was probably chasing Helen, Jack was fighting the tarantula while Jeff had not yet appeared. At that point it was logical to think that he was hiding so he could outsmart everyone.

At some point a few seconds later, the fight between Jack and our domestic beast took a turn. Black tentacles surrounded Geneva, after which they lifted her up to throw her out of the warehouse against a van. Nemesis had witnessed the scene.

Nemesis: "Geneva noooo!"

Both Nemesis and I are so ran against jack. We fight for at least two minutes or so. Jack was very strong, more than any of the others, but she and I give him as much trouble as we can. Until he decides again to spit out as many as two tentacles that grab us both by the arms. Two more pop out and grab our legs. I manage to cut first one and then the other, Nemesis cuts one. Three others had popped out.

Me: "Fuck, this shit is really a fucking Lovecraftian creature!"

Nemesis: "Cut!"

Finally Ann had also arrived, striking Jack's back with her weapon, causing him to scream. Nemesis had managed to break free from the other tentacle. We all three fought it, when Jack was about to give in he started to run away into the building.

Ann: "Sorry I was late…"

Nemesis: "It's okay now."

Me: "Let's chase him!"

We chased him all the way inside the factory, there were large tanks where potentially harmful chemicals were mixed. I threw knives at him, managing to slow him down. Nemesis had caught him with his weapon, temporarily immobilizing him. I then grabbed him, sticking another knife to his throat. Ann plunged her weapon into the hooded beast's abdomen. We finally left him unconscious. It was leaking some sort of black blood.

If that being had once been human, surely the one we fought was not. I then pulled off his dirty blue mask and pulled down that now stinking hood. You could see his gray face better with these black eyes dripping black gunk. He also had very unkempt dark brown hair.

Me: "Nemesis! Go back to the two we knocked out! And of course make sure if Geneva is still okay."

Nemesis: "Yeah, sure! I'm on my way."

Ann: "What the hell was he carrying? A mini Kraken?"

Me: "I'm not sure. But from the most accepted version told in his report, he got that way as a result of a strange pagan cult of an ancient Eastern European cult. He must have been possessed by one of those fucking demons. I find it hard to believe, but after meeting him and you I am now more open to theories about the existence of freaking paranormal beings."

Ann: "We live in a really fucked up world then."

Jack: "What a fucking pain… Damn you sluts!"

Ann: "The damn thing is still breathing!"

Jack: "Well… You know what they say. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. What the hell… I just wanted a laugh to see what those freaks in my balls were up to."

Me: "You even talk like them, you don't sound much different."

Jack: "Look who's talking. Hypocrites that you are! You are then that government vigilante who had sided against them. And now you've surrounded yourself with ridiculous freaks too, but in your case with those bullshit pacifist fucking beliefs."

Me: "I see you've learned to spew bullshit too. You, however, are much stronger and tougher to beat. Why do you get involved with these pussies?"

Jack: "Did you hear me or are you deaf? I just wanted to have a laugh."

Me: "Just to make sure. Did you really join these pussies just for that?"

Jack: "Believe it or not, that's just the way it is. Besides, I like killing people too, but I do it for survival."

Me: "For "survival". Wow, did you hear that?"

Ann: "Yes. Typical… Now we'll be the ones to take you down, for our survival."

Me: "Let's plug his mouth, before he…"

By now he had pulled out another tentacle, grabbed one of Ann's legs and dropped it downstairs. I tried to grab it but his hand was literally stuck to mine. I had to plug his mouth first or step on his stomach, I had underestimated his garrison factor.

Me: "Ann!"

Ann: "I'm fine, don't worry. Oof… Just hand me the reattaching hand, I'm used to it by now anyway."

I thus did as she asked.

Jack: "Never underestimate Eyeless Jack!"

Jack, after those words, was stabbed from behind. It was Judge Angels' sword.

Dina: "Jack Nichols, aka Eyeless Jack! I shall sentence you… Guilty!"

Dina pulled the sword from Jack's body. I lunged at him, kicking him into one of the tanks. We heard him scream in pain, black tentacles briefly leaked out of the tub, then fell back in helplessly.

Me: "Angels! Are you fine?"

Dina: "Yes, thank you. I was chasing my asshole ex, but I can't find him anymore. Now I'm going back to look for him."

Me: "Be careful, Angels. I'll give you a hand if you want."

Dina: "Okay! Anyway okay, you can call me "Dina". But only when I feel like it and only you!"

Me: "Okay… Judge Angels."

Dina: "Heheh."

I saw Ann coming out of the tub area as he reattached his hand. I then followed Dina to quickly look for Helen, but he had already appeared in the doorway to the lab.

Dina: "Here you are at last! Face me!"

Helen: "You asked for it! Your loss! You and your little fucking slutty friends are in deep shit!"

Dina had pounced on Helen, but he seemed more agile and also stronger. He too must have taken a minimum of steroids and/or adrenaline. During the confrontation Helen had managed to grab his sword and throw it away. Dina punched and kicked him, but he resisted, until he managed to throw it toward one of the tables. Dina then managed to retrieve the sword to return to confront him. Helen then ended up losing her right hand, screaming in pain. He then quickly ran off into the warehouse as Dina chased after him.

It had all happened rather quickly, I had waited a moment to see how she would fare, but at some point I felt the need to rush to help her. Until I heard a certain voice, very familiar and hateful, behind me.

Jeff: "Hahahahah…! This is so much fun! I love this whole thing! Jane! We finally meet again!"

Turning around, I discovered that it was indeed Jeff. He had the same dirty attire as last time and had the same shitty disfigured face as always. The one, however, which, like the crazy fucking narcissist that he was, he worshipped.

Me: "You! Here you are at last! You big motherfucker that you are! Where the damned fuck were you?"

Jeff: "Simple my dear. I was enjoying the show from a little corner. And in the process I was able to get that nice cocktail of this kick-ass stuff. Yes, the one I like to take when I'm feeling a little… Less fit. Heheh. In fact, I took a nice extra dose this time. I guess you guessed what it is… It's basically a homemade version of the shit you injected yourself with. The one to hunt down the legendary and famous Jeff the killer. Hahahaha! Too bad, you and your gang of freaking whores couldn't stop me from taking a massive dose. You guys were busy killing that bunch of lame-ass pussies and losers anyway. Two of them couldn't resist and took trivial doses, they were such wankers. But that's what they were all for in the end anyway, giving you shit while I became more powerful than ever! HAHAHAH!"

Me: "If you really believe that that filth in your body will put you on my level, then you are fucking deluded! How do you know about the "Liquid Hate"?"

Jeff: "You know how it is… Word gets around, especially from the chatty cops. A gang of Mexican gangsters used to pass through here, trying to get high and empowered with this special blend, but it was always fatal to those fucking licking bitches. Me, on the other hand, I did it the right way, started with a small dose and then increased more and more, and now… Hahahah! I've never been fucking better!"

Me: "After this interesting fucking banal villain monologue, I will finally have my revenge after nine fucking years of shit I've had because of you!"

Jeff: "Oh Jane… I'm so glad I found you. Finally someone my equal, an opponent worthy of being slaughtered in the worst way by yours truly. I had actually spotted you several times a while ago, however, I didn't have much of a flutter and I'm used to running from the fucking cops. But now we're face to face! Are you happy now, Jane? Fuck yeah! This shit is finally starting to take effect! HAHAHA!"

Jeff was beginning to change skin color as he laughed like the fool he was. It had turned white, like mine. He looked more pumped up and taller. That damn mixture could really mimic the serum they had given me years ago.

Me: "You really are a loser beggar! I knew you were a pansy, little better than those wankers maybe. You think you got what you wanted, but it was also what I wanted too. I'm finally going to enjoy my fucking revenge to the fullest! Bring it on, Jeffrey Alan fucking Woods!"

Jeff: "HAHAHAH OK. If you really want to, okay. Let's do it!"

As my long-awaited hand-to-hand fight with Jeff was about to begin, Dina (as I was later told) was still fighting Bloody Painter. He had escaped to the warehouse to get more steroids and shit like that. She was thus preventing him from doing so. Apparently, in spite of his severed hand, the concoction he had injected into his body allowed him to resist and relieved the pain.

With a quick move he had managed to dodge his sword to slash at her, hitting her first in the chest and then in the head with his remaining hand. He lunges again to stab her, but she rolls away. She once again picks up her sword and this time manages to hit him in the face. Bloody Painter's mask, now broken, is thrown away. Helen had received a scar running down his face and had briefly held himself in pain. Then he had run at her again, this time managing to dodge and stab her in the left shoulder. While Dina held her injured shoulder, Helen tried to strike back again. But this time he had failed to dodge a large sword blow that Dina delivered by surprise to his chest. Bleeding and staggering, Helen falls to the ground exhausted. Tears come back to Dina's eyes.

Dina: "I loved you Helen! Why did you do this to me?"

Helen: "Dina… I loved you too… But in the end you didn't accept me for who I am. I was afraid it wouldn't work out in the end this story…"

Dina: "We had been so good! But you chose the wrong path!"

Helen: "Well… It was good while it lasted… Don't blame me Dina, blame this shitty society. I'm sorry Dina…"

Dina: "Helen Otis… AKA Bloody Painter… I shall sentence you…"

Dina, on her knees, deals the death blow to Helen's heart.

Dina: "…guilty!"

At that point Dina had begun to sob. Once again that young vigilante had properly punished another criminal. But that time it had been really hard for her, because it was the one who first loved her opponent.

Ann had joined Dina shortly afterward, after she had taken care of Toby and Rouge.

Ann: "Dina! You made it. Ah, right… I'm so sorry Dina. You did the right thing in the end, though. Come on, I'll help you."

Dina: "T-thank you so much Ann…"

Dina was hurt both physically and emotionally, but she had Ann holding her as they left Helen Otis' body.

In the process, I had finally started fighting with a pumped-up Jeff the Killer. High on steroids, adrenaline and shit like that. It had basically made him an ugly copy of what I was. Punches, kicks, and stab wounds were flying. We both dodged as many as we took. We continued like that for about three minutes. At one point I went up over his head to punch him from up there. Yes, pretty much like the Avengers' Black Widow style. After that Jeff threw me toward the wall. I then got back up and then lunged at him with one of my typical aerial kicks. I sent him into bottles full of flammable stuff, flames burst out, and within a minute we were surrounded by fire. For normal people it was potentially very fatal, but not for me and for Jeff as well. I couldn't ask for anything better.

I almost felt no pain fighting my absolute nemesis. We were both really enjoying the beating one was inflicting on the other. I then threw the entire table with several glass bottles on it, Jeff had come out full of glass shards stuck to his skin that made it bleed, but the damn fool was laughing in spite of that. All that violence was proving to be the high point after those shitty nine years of life. The last five had been less shitty for some things, but finally that blessed moment I had been waiting for years and years had arrived.

Another five minutes had now passed. I was also beginning to bleed from a few scratches I had gotten here and there. Jeff had found a drawer filled with blades, he threw one at my arm. At that moment Jeff was able to discover another ace up my sleeve. I was also endowed with a powerful regenerative factor that made me heal quickly even the most serious wounds. After I removed the blade from his arm, it healed quickly. Throwing the blade at his good eye, Jeff screamed. I had succeeded in making him blind. I pounce on him again on the drawer of blades, he had to suffer in the most excruciating way. I take the opportunity to inflict as many blows on him as I can. Jeff is finally on the ground.

Jeff: "HAHAHAH… Jane, you're a real piece of work. But dang you hurt goddamn it…!"

Me: "Get ready damn you! I'm about to send you to hell!"

I stabbed him in the abdomen, stabbing him all over, but then he gets back up and flips me over. We collided again but on the ground. We staggered back up afterwards. I went to get a bottle of bleach.

Me: "…you know? I read a story about you. Whoever wrote it imagined how you had that face in the early newspapers' picture. The one where you had that crappy white mask with the bulging eyes and that crappy inhuman smile. It was really pathetic, and so unrealistic…"

Jeff: "…that one?! Fuck yes I read it. It made me piss my pants laughing for fuck's sake! HAHAH!"

Me: "Basically you were a loser kid who had some fucking bleach spilled on you along with some fucking whiskey, then you caught fire… And you became like that! Let's do an experiment Jeff… let's see what happens if I pour it on you and set you on fire for real. Come on! Aren't you curious?"

Jeff: "Mmm… Yeah I am curious indeed, nothing can hurt me anymore anyway! But first you have to catch me, biatch!"

Although he was blinded, he could hear my voice. He had lunged toward me, I dodged him and threw the noxious liquid from the bottle at him. Jeff was disoriented and struggling to breathe. I pick up a flaming object and throw it at him. Finally the killer catches fire. He screams in pain. I watched him squirm for about five minutes, it was really a huge satisfaction. When he finished burning he had lost his clothes, his skin had become a mixture of black, brown and red. Jeff was on the ground, mirrored in broken glass. He had started snickering again. I walked over to him, lifted him up holding him by the throat and threw him against the wall.

By now the flames were partly fanning out, but there was a risk of an explosion. Jeff awkwardly tried to throw a few more punches, then I stabbed him again. He falls to the ground. Before I give him the killing blow, I looked at him.

Jeff: "Coff coff, Jane… You're so powerful… And I had so much fun… Jane. I… I'm sorry."

Me: "Do you only now regret your horrid misdeeds? Do you really think you can avoid hell? But please…"

Jeff: "I used to enjoy all the killing, yeah I did… But… I would never have become like this if it hadn't been for my stupid parents, some shitty bullies and that pathetic little Southern town of my balls. Liu… My little brother… Tell him I'm sorry… I'm sorry Jane, but unfortunately life has been really shitty for me. I have accepted this fucking fate. Unfortunately, this misfortune has hit you too… But look at you… Haha. You were the best opponent I ever met. I knew it would end like this sooner or later… I'm glad you finished me Jane. Hahah."

Me: "And I'm sorry… That it fell to the poor loser kid you were to become a monster. Now it's over Jeff. It ends here and now forever."

Jeff: "And way to go Jane… Jane the killer."

Me: "I am Jane Arkensaw. But alternatively I also prefer… Jane Everlasting."

Jeff: "Yeah, as you like… Whatever… now I think I need a good night's sleep."

Me: "Go to sleep, Jeff."

I catch him and stab him in the throat several times. I decapitate him, with his remaining hair I hold his head. After staring at it for about a minute, I place it on a table and go outside. My revenge was finally accomplished after a good five years of hunting, and nine years of waiting. My parents, my family, could finally rest in peace. I don't know if they would have been proud of what I had become now anyway, but this was now me. I had sworn it on their grave, the oath was kept. Jeffrey Alan Woods, aka Jeff the killer, would never hurt anyone again. He passed away on Saturday, February 18th, 2017. I had finally done justice. Thanks in part to the imperfect but excellent people I had met. The Dark Amazons.

As I exited the building, I met my team holding off the only two we had not yet settled properly. Ticci Toby and Rouge.

Nemesis: "…did you make it?"

Me: "Yes… It's over. Finally…"

After those words I fell to the ground exhausted. The fight against Jeff had been enormously satisfying, but very intense and demanding. I was exhausted, bleeding but not too much. Fortunately, Nemesis, Dina and Ann would help me.

Ann: "I'll help you Jane! It's a good thing you found a nurse like me, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten off so easily."

We were then all sitting on the floor in front of a wall, only Ann was standing to check on our prisoners.

Me: "How are you? Nemesis, is Geneva better?"

Nemesis: "Fortunately, yes. She has a few scratches, but she will recover. Good thing she is a genetically modified tarantula."

Me: "Dina?"

Dina: "I'll be better… All the culprits have been punished. Except for these two. Nemesis, if Geneva bites me, will I be able to shoot spider webs and climb walls?"

Nemesis: "Maybe instead you grow arms a plus and become hairy."

Dina: "Yuck… I quit."

Nemesis: "We questioned these two a bit, I even used that truth serum you lent us. We found out a little more. It would seem that they're not as much of a piece of shit as the others. Like Toby, when he's not a puppet of that so-called "operator," he's usually killing drug dealers and bar turds. He even says he can't feel pain even under torture. I'm not surprised by anything at this point either. Rouge has his brain melted and that's pretty much it."

Rouge: "Toby…"

Toby: "Rouge! Don't worry, we'll get out of here…"

Nemesis: "Don't count on it, kid… Ah, right. Rouge can talk if she wants to, though very little. Jane… I think I found out what my name is. Apparently I was… Nancy."

Me: "Nancy…"

I below used my phone, I had seen that Smithson had been able to send me possible sketches. I scanned all the "Nancy". I finally found what looked like her case.

Me: "It would appear that you might be… Nancy Gale. Born in 1995 in Reno, Nevada. Disappeared at age 19 in 2014."

Nemesis: "Yes, now it all makes perhaps more sense… Someday we must find that being. I need to know more!"

Me: "Count on it. The important thing now is to get out of here. Damn! Now that I think about it, the police will be here any minute. Now that I'm together with wanted people like you, I don't know if they'll listen to me and give us a hard time. The agency people should be coming too. I have to warn Smithson."

Fortunately, Smithson was already arriving in an agency SUV; he was alone. I had mentioned to him several minutes earlier about the girls and the prisoners. A few minutes later he had finally arrived. We ran to the vehicle.

Smithson: "Jane! It's good to see you again! Do you need a ride by any chance?"

Me: "Yes, thank you. Now hurry up please! I will tell you later the directions. We will bring the two prisoners behind."

Smithson: "Don't worry about them. A colleague of mine is coming to pick them up. They are no longer your problem. Now go up."

We all got into the car, the SUV drove off soon after. A police helicopter was coming, sirens could already be heard. Smithson had once again proved to be a good driver, that SUV was definitely for us.

On the way, I couldn't help but spot another mysterious figure on one of the rooftops of the suburban houses. He looked like Eyeless Jack, had he by any chance survived? Even after that tub of toxic, noxious stuff? No, the thing seemed to have a black sweatshirt. If I hadn't seen wrong, it seemed to have a half-white half-black mask, with what looked like a smiley that alternated the same colors from one side of the mask to the other. I don't remember if there was a similar case among the files of killers and weird creatures I had consulted. Under different circumstances I would have gone looking for that figure to see what the hell it was and whether or not it was a threat, but right now we had much bigger priorities to think about.

We finally arrived at the aircraft. Smithson had correctly followed the directions I had reported to him on route. We all got out of the vehicle. Annie came to greet us.

Annie: "Are you all right? I was hoping so…"

Me: "It's okay Annie. Thank you Daniel."

Smithson: "Don't worry Jane. You know you can trust me. So, you finally did it. Jeffrey Alan Woods aka Jeff the killer, America's number one enemy, is no longer a threat thanks to you."

Me: "That's right. All the others who were involved have also been terminated except for those last two. We left them alive because of valuable information and because they were no longer a threat at the time."

Smithson: "You have done well. You don't have to worry about them anymore. Some of our colleagues will take them into custody. It will be very interesting to study similar subjects. Regarding these new friends of yours, they can be trusted can't they?"

Me: "If not for them, the mission would not have been a success."

Smithson: "Excellent. I really think we could help them. I looked at their files, too. Miss Clark has some mental problems that need to be taken care of, Miss Mia on the other hand perhaps needs some adjustment to her… Particular condition. Whereas Miss…"

Me: "She seems to be Nancy Gale. She has lost her memory for two years."

Smithson: "Then we'll help her too. Jane. I guess you want to make your boss pay, I want you to know that I will support you. When this scandal comes out, the media will love it. Thanks to you, we will get rid of the rot in this agency. It will go back to being more efficient than before. You'll see…"

Me: "I really think I can think about it right now."

Smithson: "Now?"

Me: "I'm sorry Smithson…"

I stabbed Smithson in the stomach, I can't help but notice his astonished expression.

Annie: "Jane!"

Nemesis: "Holy shit!"

Smithson: "Jane… What the hell are you doing…?"

Smithson falls to his knees, holding the wound I inflicted on him.

Me: "What you told me was only partly true. I hoped to the last that I was wrong, but something was factually wrong. When you phoned me, if you were really shocked you would have told me that information earlier. And just now you seemed a little too enthusiastic in supporting me to kill the leader, as if you wished for that hypothetical coup d'etat. Then nice excuse about the former "fellow hacker." In these five years of working at the agency, rising through the ranks, I had come to know that "hackers" do not have access to the most secret information. Only the boss and those with the highest rank have it. You have also now risen in rank, but only for six months. You are usually one of the first to learn about the locations of our targets. It was you who omitted that information, passing it directly to the head of the agency. The insane person in question, the one who sacrificed countless innocent lives to keep me in your service, was you. Since you enlisted me yourself, from our first meeting you made it all seem like something really worth it. Even if it was only partly so… You flattered me all these years, you admire me even now that I stabbed you. You went out of your way to try to make me live better this endless hunt for Jeff and the normal crime to deal with that served as a warm-up. I hoped that wasn't true… But you kind of underestimated my intelligence. Maybe, in part, it played you of the possible guilt you carry. The price to pay for the Jane you always put on a pedestal. Am I right, Smithson?"

Annie: "What? Are you serious Jane? Smithson…"

Smithson, while hinting at a slight smile, "Oh, Jane… I can't hide anything from you, I see… You guessed it. Jane, look… I know I sound like a monster now… But statistically Jeff the killer's murders amounted to about five hundred at a minimum, but the criminals you were eliminating amounted to at least three thousand a year. I felt that was a price worth paying for. I know I'm not a good person at all, but Jane… You're a successful experiment. You were a triumph for us. We made you an excellent professional assassin. I am so sorry for your disappointment Jane…"

Me: "I guess the boss also entrusted me with a few too many targets for his own gain. But I'll take my time thinking about the agency. Now I have them, now we are there to defend the weakest. We'll fight anyone who deserves it, we won't be too biased like those in the agency."

Smithson: "Coff… Jane! Those people have problems. It's a good initiative on your part… But they need help. They are not professional like you. They are not suitable."

Me: "I will make them better, we will help each other. And we will find someone else like us to serve the same cause. We'll clean up this haunted world."

Smithson: "Jane. I'm still proud of you. Any way it would have gone, you are a real success Jane. You are a blessing. But the government will come after you. You have taken a V-22, a VTOL worth 80 million of U.S. Dollars! Even Miss Richardson is involved. You will have a bad time."

Me: "We will face all the obstacles that come in front of us. We are the Dark Amazons, we will survive for everyone's sake."

Smithson: "I hope so for you then…"

Me: "Goodbye, Daniel Smithson."

Smithson: "It's been a real pleasure for me. Jane Arkensaw."

I inflict a few more stab wounds in his abdomen. Daniel Smithson falls lifeless on the ground.

Dina: "…it was really intriguing."

Nemesis: "Wow."

Ann: "Holy crap."

Annie: "I can't believe it… So now we're both going to be wanted."

Me: "Well yes, but we think better of it later. Let's load up the SUV on top, it will come in handy. We'll leave right away."

Annie: "…what the hell is that?"

Me: "That… What?"

I subsequently turned around. A mysterious figure could be glimpsed among the trees. But this time it was different, it looked almost like a ghost… It was him. He looked like a very pale man, dressed in black and at least more than six feet tall. He was glimpsed for about ten seconds, after which he immediately disappeared. Police sirens could still be heard. A helicopter was heading toward our position, scanning the forest with a powerful searchlight. We thus hurried off. The aircraft took off quickly, we escaped in time, and the helicopter did not see us. We thus left El Paso. I was up front in the cockpit with Annie.

Annie: "…what now? Where do we go?"

Me: "Take us to Santa Barbara, California. I bought a mansion with a heliport. The agency doesn't know that I own it, the high-ranking ones can afford to have private property anywhere. I also have one in the Cayman Islands, but it's closer Santa Barbara."

Annie: "Perfect then."

EPILOGUE

A few days ago I discreetly passed through my hometown to say goodbye to my parents at the cemetery. It had now been two weeks since the events in El Paso. Afterwards I went to New Orleans, where Liu Woods had moved. The unfortunate younger brother of the now deceased serial killer Jeffrey Alan Woods. He is now 23 years old. He wanted to join the police force but was turned down, so he went into journalism but without detaching himself from criminology. After the death of his criminal brother, he wrote an autobiographical book called "Survived My Brother," and it is the best seller of the moment. Even today, more than two weeks later, the news continues to talk about the death of Jeffrey Alan Woods and the killers connected to him.

I visited him outside his new home. He has been living now for a year with his girlfriend whom he met in college. I was dressed incognito, wearing make-up that hid my true nature. He was dressed casually in a Pink Floyd t-shirt, beige pants and a brown shirt. He had short brown hair, kept neatly trimmed. I approached him as he was leaving the house.

Me: "Are you Liu Woods?"

Liu: "Sorry. I'm not in the mood for more interviews today."

Me: "I'm not a reporter. I just wanted to talk to you. My name is Jane."

Liu: "How do you do. I'll give you five minutes. I'm never late for work."

Me: "That will be enough."

Liu: "What can I do for you."

Me: "I met your brother in Statesboro, Georgia, then in El Paso, Texas. I saw him die."

Liu: "Ah… Were you really there? Did he hurt you? What was he like?"

Me: "He was obviously mentally ill. He looked just like a villain from a movie."

Liu: "Yes, I know… He looked like a Batman villain. He actually read a lot of his comics, cartoons and movies. Maybe he was also influenced by that. Probably more controversy will erupt from now on for each of his new movies. Typical bigotry."

Me: "Yeah… He had killed my parents, too, the night he became a murderer. I killed him in El Paso. I'm Jane Arkensaw, I worked for the government and chased that serial killer for five years."

Liu: "You… You are "Jane the killer!" You are also an outlaw now. You're the one who stopped him then."

Me: "He had to be stopped. He killed several thousand people in nine years. His last words were addressed to you. He told me he felt sorry for you. You are the only one he ever really loved."

Liu: "…yes. I knew that. We were very close growing up. In fact, they weren't much our parents. It wasn't such a hardscrabble family but not so happy either. We had been targeted by bad boys, there was corruption in that town. He said he was a victim of an unjust society that slaughtered the weakest. Maybe he had a point about some things… But after that damn incident he went crazy, the rest is history."

Me: "He was accidentally shot with a flare, in the face while confronting those who had bullied him. I read your book. It was very interesting. But I preferred to hear your words."

Liu: "Glad to hear you say that. Now he won't hurt anyone anymore. I'm very sorry about your parents. My condolences."

Me: "Thank you, same for yours. And for the one who was your brother."

Liu: "Thank you very much. What are you going to do now? I heard there was someone else in El Paso. Are you in an outlaw group?"

Me: "I kind of am. I came here to tell you all this out of fairness. I would appreciate it if you didn't say anything to anyone."

Liu: "Don't worry. I've read a lot about you, too. You don't look like the others, your verified victims were all criminals. Now that I have met you in person, you seem like a good person."

Me: "Thanks. …you know what? I've reconsidered. People need to know the truth. I'll write it all down, then I'll send it to you. You will publish it."

Liu: "I don't know… It's not a bad idea at all, but no one might not believe you. Years ago the media was convinced that Jeff had burned his face with heck of a lot of bleach. Just saying."

Me: "Try it anyway. Alternatively, I don't know, try Reddit, 4chan, some blogs… Shit like that."

Liu: "Good. In between memes, you'll get young followers ready to defend you on social. They're going to shit on those sites of made-up stories inspired by those ridiculous cheap killers. They call them "creepypasta" or something like that. A play on words with "copy-paste" and "creepy." These young people…"

Me: "Aren't you young too?"

Liu: "I am old inside. I'm a decent crime reporter doing biographical books at 23. Haha."

Me: "Haha. I see… I'm glad I met you in person. You are a good person Liu."

Liu: "Likewise. Then, to tell the truth, I was tempted to change my name from "Liu" to "Lucas." My parents, eh… Also because by now "Liu" has become synonymous with "younger-brother-of-a-serial-killer." After a while you get tired of it."

Me: "I hear you… I wish you good luck with everything, Liu. Or Lucas, if you prefer."

Liu: "Likewise. Are you now going to go back to who knows where to kick more criminals?"

Me: "Most likely. That's what I am now. I have a team, good people. We will make a difference together."

Liu: "Very happy for you. Don't get yourself killed Jane. Take care."

Me: "I will let you know. Good work!"

Liu: "Thank you!"

As Liu got into the car, I drove away from his residence.

The next day I returned to my mansion in Santa Barbara, where the Dark Amazons and I have been living for two weeks. Slowly we are recharging. We all needed a break after a long time spent traveling around various states almost nonstop. For the first time I feel at peace. No one entrusts me with missions around the United States anymore. Sure, there are still criminal scum running rampant and a variety of dangerous creatures roaming all over North America. I was beginning to train my team as best I could. We are outlaws who will soon return to do justice where we are needed.

I went into the living room, where the girls were. This time they were not wearing the bizarre uniforms they had been wearing for a long time, but normal clothes. They looked like a normal, healthy company of girls. The exception was their typical physical features. Occasionally we could go out somewhere, but we had to be careful to be inconspicuous.

Nancy: "Welcome back Jane! How did it go with Liu?"

Me: "Good, come on. All good with him."

Ann: "Glad to see you back. Without you Dina is a mess."

Dina: "But that's not true! I'm always like that!"

Ann: "Yeah. If you say so…"

Annie: "Jane, how nice to see you again!"

Me: "Any news?"

Annie: "You're not going to believe this… But it's very possible that Eyeless Jack kind of survived. Or come back to life and similar bullshits. The news showed one of the tanks at the factory that had a big weird hole at the bottom, and there are new sightings of a guy who looks a lot like him. They get confused sometimes, though, because there is a new one with a black-and-white smiley mask. He seems to be called "Kagekao," "Kagako," or something like that. He must be from Japan or so. Then unfortunately Ticci Toby and Rouge escaped from the feds, they are probably hanging around in the New Mexico parts. Other than that I don't have anything else right now."

Me: "I see… I may have spotted him in El Paso, too. We'll take our time to think about it. Hey Dina, are you happy now? You are no longer the only anime-style character appearing in the media."

Dina: "I remain the best of course!"

Me: "Nancy. Sooner or later we'll investigate Slenderman better too."

Nancy: "Perfect. In the meantime, let's kick someone else's ass."

Ann: "Honestly, I've never been better in years. It's also because of you girls."

Me: "It is I who have to thank you girls. Although we made some mistakes, for being our first mission together it went pretty well. We stopped Jeff the killer and other murderers who were on the loose. We can consider it a success. Now rightly we are resting down here, but we will continue to train and improve day by day. We better not let our guard down too much, we are still outlaw vigilantes now. Probably before long we will also have to change cities or states for safety. You have been able to handle your problems and turn out to be good people, slowly we will help each other."

Nancy: "True words."

Dina: "Pizza tonight?"

Ann: "Great idea."

Annie: "Perfect."

The risky choices I made in those days changed my life and the lives of others forever. It was the third time I faced such a radical change, but this time it was for the better. The Dark Amazons was an initiative that had begun to pay off. There is a price to pay, but for me and them it is worth it. We will probably never have a normal life, but every now and then we manage to have something that looks like it. I don't know what the future will hold for us, but we will do our best to face the adversity that comes our way. We will be a ray of light in a dark and haunted world; we will make a difference. Criminals and cursed creatures will have to fear us. For that is the purpose of The Dark Amazons.

I am Jane Arkensaw. This is my story, but mostly the story of how The Dark Amazons came to be.

Over and out.