Disclaimer: Please see Prologue
Part Five: Something Wicked This Way Comes
seven weeks later
Radu walked the streets of Toloch's warehouse district. The time was somewhere near midnight in Derez's twenty-six-hour day. Rosie, that day, had had an earlier shift than Radu, and had gone home hours ago. Radu, accustomed to the loud city, had tuned out any sounds above a footstep, and so did not hear the heartbeat of the dark figure a block away, perched on a fire escape.
Tonight is the night, thought Xenia, watching Radu come closer. Her current form was that of a Meridian female: tall, strongly built, complete with body armor, gun (for threatening purposes only, however), and a very small needle-knife with the fluid canisters full. Xenia was proud of her current body: she had stalked the streets for almost a week before spotting the Meridian alone on a side street. She had drained the Meridian until there was nothing left of her but bone, nerve, and the thinnest covering of skin, and had tied her twenty-pound corpse to a cement block and sunk it in the nearest river.
And now Xenia had the Meridian's body, her DNA, her likeness, and most importantly, her strength.
Radu heard the sound of a body dropping to the ground almost silently when he was halfway to the corner. He froze, extending his hearing until he was sure of the presence of a large person, four lungs, two hearts, directly in front of him. Beyond the reach of the streetlight's glow.
"I hear you!" he said. "I know you are there so you might as well not even bother with the stealth part."
"All right," the figure said, the high voice sounding seductive and insane. "I was going to attack you when you passed me, but since you know I am here, I'll show you my face." The voice hissed slightly on the "s" sounds, reminding Radu for a brief moment of his old enemy, Shank. "Anyway, I worked hard to get this body... you might as well see it before I kill you."
The figure stepped into the streetlight's circle of illumination. It was a tall woman, six and a half feet perhaps, very muscular, with bright red hair that fell in tangles just past the shoulders. She was wearing heavy body armor on the chest and torso, the rest of her body covered in almost skin-tight pants and top, most likely a plastic. Her skin was black, not what Harlan would call "black" which was really brown, but true black, the lips a painted red shade, the eyes burnt orange irises surrounded by the only white on her body. Gun strapped to her hip, a large one at that: a projectile weapon, not an energy weapon; meant to kill, not stun. Something in a case strung around her neck. Gloves with a bulge at the knuckles: they were probably lead-filled.
"Name is Xenia. I want you to know it so you can beg and scream for mercy later."
"What do you want." Radu said. The two of them stood twenty feet apart, facing each other.
"I'm a predator by nature. I want you."
Almost faster than the eye could follow, Xenia lunged at him. Running full speed, she jumped in the air, landing a solid kick in Radu's chest. He was pushed backwards, but did not fall. Surprise and pain showed on his face.
It hurt, he thought. She hurt me.
He was over his surprise in half a second. Harlan had taught him some martial arts basics in the past few months, and Radu, instead of blindly swinging with a closed fist, found himself bring one booted foot up to knee level and then swiftly kick the woman, Xenia, in the face.
Surprised, Xenia fell backwards. he hurt me! she thought.
"Strong, huh! You still don't have a chance."
In a second Xenia was back on her feet, jumping up like Radu had seen Harlan do. She kicked Radu in the stomach, using her full weight against him, and he stumbled back again.
Again, he kicked her in the face. This time, however, she grabbed his foot and swiftly pulled his 200 pounds off the ground, only for him to slam into the concrete. She kicked him once in the ribs, once in the face, while he lay on the ground, and then he grabbed her the way she had grabbed him and sent her sprawling on her back. By the time Radu had gotten back up, aching from hitting the ground and from Xenia's steel-toed boots, she too had recovered. Radu noted with some satisfaction that her face was bleeding (and most likely bruised badly, although he couldn't see anything in that perfect black skin). They fought, standing, trading punch for punch, kick for kick, evenly matched, for several minutes, and Radu was surprised to find himself tiring.
Why doesn't she use the gun? he suddenly thought. His thoughts were cut off abruptly by a punch in the face that whipped his head to the side. When he turned around she had retreated to a distance of about ten feet.
"You're a good match," she said, grinning, eyes glowing. "But I can't waste my time anymore."
That evil grin grew wider as she pulled on the case around her neck. The bottom part of the case turned out to be a handle: attached to the handle was a thin, inch-long blade. She threw the needle-knife at Radu with deadly precision.
Radu might have been strong... but he was not nearly fast enough to stop a projectile traveling that fast. He felt a sharp cutting pain in his stomach for a split second; then it was replaced by a numbing sensation, like anesthesia. Then the sedative that Xenia had loaded into the needle-knife cut into his bloodstream and Radu dropped like a corpse shoved out a window.
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Part Five: Something Wicked This Way Comes
seven weeks later
Radu walked the streets of Toloch's warehouse district. The time was somewhere near midnight in Derez's twenty-six-hour day. Rosie, that day, had had an earlier shift than Radu, and had gone home hours ago. Radu, accustomed to the loud city, had tuned out any sounds above a footstep, and so did not hear the heartbeat of the dark figure a block away, perched on a fire escape.
Tonight is the night, thought Xenia, watching Radu come closer. Her current form was that of a Meridian female: tall, strongly built, complete with body armor, gun (for threatening purposes only, however), and a very small needle-knife with the fluid canisters full. Xenia was proud of her current body: she had stalked the streets for almost a week before spotting the Meridian alone on a side street. She had drained the Meridian until there was nothing left of her but bone, nerve, and the thinnest covering of skin, and had tied her twenty-pound corpse to a cement block and sunk it in the nearest river.
And now Xenia had the Meridian's body, her DNA, her likeness, and most importantly, her strength.
Radu heard the sound of a body dropping to the ground almost silently when he was halfway to the corner. He froze, extending his hearing until he was sure of the presence of a large person, four lungs, two hearts, directly in front of him. Beyond the reach of the streetlight's glow.
"I hear you!" he said. "I know you are there so you might as well not even bother with the stealth part."
"All right," the figure said, the high voice sounding seductive and insane. "I was going to attack you when you passed me, but since you know I am here, I'll show you my face." The voice hissed slightly on the "s" sounds, reminding Radu for a brief moment of his old enemy, Shank. "Anyway, I worked hard to get this body... you might as well see it before I kill you."
The figure stepped into the streetlight's circle of illumination. It was a tall woman, six and a half feet perhaps, very muscular, with bright red hair that fell in tangles just past the shoulders. She was wearing heavy body armor on the chest and torso, the rest of her body covered in almost skin-tight pants and top, most likely a plastic. Her skin was black, not what Harlan would call "black" which was really brown, but true black, the lips a painted red shade, the eyes burnt orange irises surrounded by the only white on her body. Gun strapped to her hip, a large one at that: a projectile weapon, not an energy weapon; meant to kill, not stun. Something in a case strung around her neck. Gloves with a bulge at the knuckles: they were probably lead-filled.
"Name is Xenia. I want you to know it so you can beg and scream for mercy later."
"What do you want." Radu said. The two of them stood twenty feet apart, facing each other.
"I'm a predator by nature. I want you."
Almost faster than the eye could follow, Xenia lunged at him. Running full speed, she jumped in the air, landing a solid kick in Radu's chest. He was pushed backwards, but did not fall. Surprise and pain showed on his face.
It hurt, he thought. She hurt me.
He was over his surprise in half a second. Harlan had taught him some martial arts basics in the past few months, and Radu, instead of blindly swinging with a closed fist, found himself bring one booted foot up to knee level and then swiftly kick the woman, Xenia, in the face.
Surprised, Xenia fell backwards. he hurt me! she thought.
"Strong, huh! You still don't have a chance."
In a second Xenia was back on her feet, jumping up like Radu had seen Harlan do. She kicked Radu in the stomach, using her full weight against him, and he stumbled back again.
Again, he kicked her in the face. This time, however, she grabbed his foot and swiftly pulled his 200 pounds off the ground, only for him to slam into the concrete. She kicked him once in the ribs, once in the face, while he lay on the ground, and then he grabbed her the way she had grabbed him and sent her sprawling on her back. By the time Radu had gotten back up, aching from hitting the ground and from Xenia's steel-toed boots, she too had recovered. Radu noted with some satisfaction that her face was bleeding (and most likely bruised badly, although he couldn't see anything in that perfect black skin). They fought, standing, trading punch for punch, kick for kick, evenly matched, for several minutes, and Radu was surprised to find himself tiring.
Why doesn't she use the gun? he suddenly thought. His thoughts were cut off abruptly by a punch in the face that whipped his head to the side. When he turned around she had retreated to a distance of about ten feet.
"You're a good match," she said, grinning, eyes glowing. "But I can't waste my time anymore."
That evil grin grew wider as she pulled on the case around her neck. The bottom part of the case turned out to be a handle: attached to the handle was a thin, inch-long blade. She threw the needle-knife at Radu with deadly precision.
Radu might have been strong... but he was not nearly fast enough to stop a projectile traveling that fast. He felt a sharp cutting pain in his stomach for a split second; then it was replaced by a numbing sensation, like anesthesia. Then the sedative that Xenia had loaded into the needle-knife cut into his bloodstream and Radu dropped like a corpse shoved out a window.
[pic]