M: The only excuse I can offer for being so late with this chapter is the usual- Part-time Job and College put together. Meh.
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Eight
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Compared to the horror stories he'd heard at work, the preparations for the flight to the southwest was unusually smooth. He simply plunked down his ticket, waited half an hour for the boarding call, and sorted out with the airport officials the idea that Data Seven would not need tranquilizers for the journey ahead.
"Sir" one of the younger employees had blandly protested. "Please. It's procedure. I know your pet... jaguar... seems calm now, but when we take off, he'll thrash around and damage the cargo. You have to understand."
"No, I'd trust him with my life. He's fine." That was the truth- Data Seven might have the outer appearance of a black panther, but he was far smarter than any animal. He wouldn't panic just because he would be stuck in a large cage for several hours.
"Okay." He continued, as something occurred to him. "Tell you what. I'm so confident that my friend won't cause any trouble that I'll pay personally for any damages."
In part, this was a con job. They wouldn't be able to contact him after he got off the plane- he would be traveling abroad for the next few days tracking down any lead as to where Cyber Six had been taken. It wasn't purposeful; he just didn't have a cell phone was all. All the same, the manager seemed adamant on following procedure- either Data Seven would take the tranquilizer, or he wouldn't be coming.
In the end, Lucas decided to cave in, just to get moving. He apologized as best he could, and stayed with him as the physician applied the tiny needle to black fur.
Two hours later, he could look down upon endless seas and wondered where Cyber Six was, a little guilty for traveling in such comfort while she suffered. Of course, we really have no idea why she was kidnapped in the first place. What does it matter? The point is that she was taken unwillingly after performing the bravest act I've ever seen.
Wait a second. If she was back at the lab all along, why didn't she come back to Meridiana? Was she that badly hurt?
Skritch, skritch, skritch.
His eyes widened in annoyance. Whatever that noise was, it was coming from somewhere above him, possibly a loose rivet or whatever. That was the last thing he needed right now- he was so sick with worry that he couldn't even eat when the steward stopped by, ignoring the fact that he hadn't eaten since morning.
Skritch, skritch, skritch.
It sounded close, as though right in the baggage compartment over his head. Could it be that someone actually put their pet aboard the passenger deck when he hadn't?
Bang. Bang. Now he was sure it was coming from the overhead compartment, and a few other people were looking up in wonder. Something was rattling it, trying to break out. Waiting ten breaths more, Lucas stood to find the source of the rattling and pried the guilty compartment open.
One more bang, and he was staring straight into a familiar face. He immediately stood higher, tightened his face and shouted.
"You!?"
"You?!"
Jose had yelled at the same time, neither totally knowing the other's name, only that the other had been on the side of their enemies for the last few months. Wrestling him out of the compartment he'd been uncomfortably wedged into, Lucas held him down into an empty seat, knowing full well that this kid was twisted as they came.
It wasn't long before everyone nearby took notice as Lucas held the squirming kid down. He wasn't sure what to say when the steward came back, only that he couldn't let Jose out of his sight for a moment- he was already viciously biting the bigger man's arm to get loose, and the pain nearly caused him to cry out. Suddenly, the kid reached back and removed something tiny and glowing from his green-beige shorts and flung it.
The absence of the arm that he reached to stop the glass vial was the opening Jose needed to squirm out of his grasp and dart down the aisle... right into the steward. Picking himself up, he ran even faster, but now Lucas was coming down the aisle after him, trying not to lose sight of him, but slowed down noticeably by avoiding all manner of civilian with his larger frame.
Data Seven was still tranquilized- it was up to him to stop whatever mischief that little brat was up to. Even if Jose had somehow managed to stuff a Fixed Idea into the compartment with him, it wouldn't help him now. He ran on, driven faster by the possibility that Jose might be connected to the kidnapping.
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Newly christened 'lord' Grant left the mansion's quarters in a thoughtful mood. It did not require a lot of focus to keep the nervous system of his subject deceived, leaving him free to form opinions of his new colleagues.
From afar and hidden in shadows, there were very few ways to tell Marsden apart from the 'lords' that he'd introduced him to, except that Marsden was fat and had toned skin. They called themselves The Fathers of Bloodward, and the impressions he'd received by reading their dark minds gave him much to dwell on.
Not one of them was younger than forty, that much was certain. They had all been dressed in the same style as Marsden- classical. Though they held no discernible power of their own, he had managed to learn of at least ten major branches of shady activity controlled by them, none of the clueless thugs any the wiser as to the five or six common masters they served. It was a vast crime cartel controlled by a handful of 'gentlemen', plain and simple, with the end of their agenda being nothing less than total domination.
Caressing the violet-tinted curtains tentatively, he put them aside and thought of someone far more pleasant- Cyber Six. Resisting the urge to reach out with his mind and find out how she was faring had distracted him all throughout the meeting. Now, with rain just beginning to blot the window, she was no doubt fully enraptured in the illusion he'd helped to create. Would he even have time to pay attention to her once he'd settled into his duties as the seventh 'Father'?
The ghostly empty hallway yielded no answers, and never would. He would simply have to wait for her return with bated breath. With his new peers, plus that gorgeous Cyber at his side, he would be happy for the rest of his life.
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Jose had already lost all feeling in his legs by the time he'd managed to elude his pursuer, but hiding below decks wouldn't help. He was lucky even to be here- the lock on the compartments below was stuck fast, and it had taken his second tiny vial of Sustenance to burn through it. Now he was down to one, hidden on his third pocket, only the size of a pencil. He gasped as he pushed through into the dark space below the passenger deck, and looked around in fear before realizing exactly where he was.
He'd stumbled into the deck where the animals were kept. Through the stifling darkness illuminated by his final vial, he could see cats, dogs, and birds all keened over into blissful sleep.
His eyes stopped tracking when he noticed a massive hump of black fur in the largest cage. The yellow slits that were normal Data Seven's eyes were shut tight into dreamland, his tail curler about in a defensive posture.
Some good luck at last. He grinned. His object of revenge was totally helpless now- helpless against his wrath!
He looked again and gave a half-sigh. The only problem was figuring out how to do it. He had no knives or firearms to use, and even the last vial would only burn away some of the mongrel's fur.
He'd have to find a way to dump him off the plane. Yes, that would do it. Tiptoeing around to a hatch on the side, he struggled with the small hatch on the left before realizing two things- it was locked even tighter than the door to the cargo deck, and that he would have to be far away before opening it. The wind whistled a reverie through the dank chamber, causing him to shiver not with delight, but with chills.
Thirty seconds later, he was better prepared- the age was pressed against the hatch to fall out once he blasted it open. He couldn't resist walking up to taunt Data Seven one last time, none-too-delicately plucking one whisker from the right side. Disappointingly, he still didn't wake up.
Oh well. Hehehe... At least I can take some consolation knowing that he'll die the worst way possible for a cat- by drowning. Say goodbye, Data Seven!
He had the vial in position to throw when a much stronger and burlier hand grabbed his arm and held up three feet off the ground, staring into the angry face of Lucas Amato.
A strained look of innocence crossed his face. "Uh... hiiiii."
Not missing a beat, Lucas reached behind him and pulled the last vial from his hand. "Can I see your passport?"
Unable to fake it anymore, Jose screamed as loudly as possible and squirmed again to get away, but Lucas held him tight. Relaxing only slightly, he shoved his face into the large man's, jutting out his jaw. "I demand that you let me go! NOW!! I'll make you regret it later if you don't!"
"You're in no position to be threatening anyone" answered Lucas. "Now, come with me. If you keep quiet and play along until the end of the flight, I'll let you go, alright? Until then, just pretend you're my nephew or something." He did not want to say 'son', the thought was so revolting.
Obviously not wanting to give in after coming so close, he thrashed about some more, achieving nothing and again cursing the genetic limit his father had placed upon him. It was that limit that kept him from wrestling out of this smelly man's grasp.
Finally, after nearly half an hour of halfhearted attempts at escaping, Jose quieted down, realizing how helpless he was in the grip of a full-grown man.
"Don't take me lightly" he snarled, and finally lifted both arms up, and stopped biting Lucas. "When we land, I'll kill that fleabag."
By now immensely tired of the boy's threats and insults, Lucas now held him with one hand, mumbled "yeah right", and marched up to the passenger deck to explain the broken lock. "My nephew got excited, you see..." he explained sheepishly to a pair of glaring officials. "He wanted to go see his pet, so he busted the lock, but he won't cause any more trouble... WILL you now?" At this, he lifted Jose up two feet to glare a copilot in the eyes.
"Yeah."
Lucas sighed. As much as he disliked this, it was only way to keep this rotten brat off their backs for a while. He was too young for juvie hall, and too old... not to mention WAY too violent to just leave on someone's doorstep... An enduring compromise was the best he was going to get for now. Hopefully, without any of those big green guys with him, he would remain nothing more than an annoyance.
And yet somehow he knew, even that was too much to hope for.
Hold on, Cyber Six. We're coming...
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It struck the red-haired informant named Reginald as more than a little ironic that the person who'd been sent to kill him had tracked him to a church. Had it been 200 or even 100 years earlier, he would have joyously cried out 'Sanctuary!' and left it at that.
It wouldn't work now. The Fathers of Bloodward wanted him dead before he could blab, and not even the house of The Lord would stop them.
Darkness and rain shrouded the place, save for four symmetrical candles on the sides. The priest at the podium knew Reginald from the past, and knew to leave him well enough alone- Reginald was not what you could call a heavy religious man. Someone involved as he was with detective work in the darkest corners of London could afford to dispense with all association with the church... yet he still believed in his heart of hearts that something else watched from a higher plane... and would not be at all pleased with what he saw right now.
The church's two massive gonglike bells rung out, seemingly to announce a new arrival. He looked from to side to side, but could not see anyone... then he relaxed upon the bench into his trench coat, finally lowering his gun. Maybe he'd given the black-cloaked figure the slip in the rain.
Maybe not. Still, it did him a world of good to know that The Father's most talented killer, the Aleut with the daggers- was not on his trail. They'd sent someone else, possibly a fresh recruit without any real field experience, to rub him out. That inexperience was a blessing for him tonight. He could lay low until this new guy had given up, and make his way to the safety of the police station. Until then, he would welcome the short rest in a place he felt more comfortable than most in, actually smiling at the priest.
Another gong... and just after that, a crackling sound that untrained ears would miss. Reginald held back any sort of curse and turned to get away at a brisk pace- the killer had obviously broken through the upper windows to get at him.
He's fast. Maybe three, four minutes since I sat down and he's all over me. I've got to be careful...
The danger was closer than he thought. Reginald was six feet from the thick wooden doors when another window shattered and the black-cloaked figure vaulted from ceiling to carpet. Too slow to react, the priest simply fainted at seeing such an obviously deadly person here.
Reginald, on the other hand, leapt back in surprise after his first look up-close, bringing his gun to bear- the one who'd been tracking him all this time was actually a strikingly pristine, black-haired woman, whose cape and outfit conformed to her like the skin of an eel.
Faster than he'd dreamed possible, the strange woman lashed out with one leg and hit the gun from his hand as it went off. Raw pain surged through him from the arm- he'd gotten his hand caught in the trigger guard, and her kick was incredibly strong. Sensing that this woman was even more lethal than the Father's former professional, he sprinted back up the hall... only to be caught halfway down as the woman somehow jumped over him and to the other side all in one motion.
This is impossible... how could she-
No more time for thought- the woman softly whispered "this is for Griselda and Terra", and then hit him in the face onto a side bench... which then broke said bench... and the one after that, and the one after that...
Blood and fear mottled Reginald's vision, and he knew he'd broken at least one rib. If he could just crawl back to the gun on his sprained ankle...
"This is for Lucas."
She did not give him even that much time, pulling him up onto his feet by the hair and prepared to finish it. Reginald closed his eyes- he had very few regrets, save for the fact that he could not continue his work. This was the best place to die from among a smorgasbord of dark alternatives.
Another harsh, rattling whisper filled his mind even as he gave up on ever using his eyes again.
"And this..."
She'd ceased putting pressure on his spine, leaving it halfway destroyed. Instead of a death crack, he heard the fluttering of the cape, and then the gong he was staring up at in wonder. The woman was nowhere to be seen.
Human intervention... or divine? He would never know.
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M: (For Bacner) Never heard of Mastermind from X-Men. Maybe I'll look him up.