Chapter 3

From the Jaws of Defeat

Jon and Jarod sat in the back room of the mineshaft tied to a couple of rough wooden chairs. A big man with scraggly hair stood leering down at them triumphantly.

"Well, Moose," said another man as he and a third man came into the room, "what are we going to do with them?"

"We'll just wait the boss will be here in a couple of hours we'll let him decide what to do with them, they're not going anywhere."

"Don't count on it!" growled Jon glaring daggers at the man.

"Shut up!" Yelled the man punching Jon and knocking him and the chair over onto the floor.

"Leave him alone," yelled Jarod struggling against his ropes. The men pulled the chair and Jon up off the floor. Blood oozed from the split that Jon had in his lip. The man sneered again and dropped one of Jon's knives on the ground barely an inch in front of his foot.

"Well," he said mockingly, "I you're going to escape you're going to need something to cut those ropes with if you can get to it." He walked away laughing his head off. And holding up the other two throwing knives he said as he popped a piece of Jarod's PEZ into his mouth,

"Who's up for a game of mumbly peg?" Jarod leaned toward Jon,

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah," Said Jon licking the blood on his lip and spitting it out, "He hits like a girl." Suddenly Jon straightened his leg out and raised it. With one fluid motion he brought his heel down on the handle of the knife. The impact flipped it up into the air where he caught on the top of his foot. Flipping over his head he caught it as it fell behind his back and used it to cut the ropes that bound his wrists and held him to the chair.

"You know," he said with a smirk as he cut Jarod loose, "You'd think that if he enough brains to tie us up and taunt me with one of my own knives he'd be smart enough to remember that knees bend." When he had finished freeing Jarod he stepped back.

"Jarod keep out of sight for a minute, here's where we start to have a little fun with dumb, dumber, and dumbest out there."

Jon crouched down in the shadows and it was then that Jarod heard the slow shallow breathing that signaled the beginning of a transformation.

The three hoods were sitting in next room one had a deck of cards and was playing solitaire the big man from before was throwing one of Jon's knives into one of the posts that held up the shaft.

"Hey Rico," he said, "Check on our guests."

"What for?" said Rico, "They ain't going anywhere."

"Don't back talk me!!" snapped Moose, "Just do what I tell you!!" grumbling Rico got up and went into the back room. No sooner had he disappeared from sight than they heard him scream and then a roar. Moose and the other guy jumped up.

"W-W-What was t-that, M-M-Moose?" asked the smaller man.

"I don't know, Tony," said the burly man shaking like a leaf. Suddenly a white Bengal Tiger jumped up on top of a stack of barrels and gave a reverberating ROAR!! Moose and Tony turned at bolted only to both be clotheslined by the side of a forklift tine and knocked cold. The tiger began to transform and in a few seconds was Jonathan Chase again. Jon shook his head as he retrieved his knives,

"These guys are pathetic."

"Well what did you expect," said Jarod as he grabbed them and started to drag them to the back room, "after all we are dealing with negative number IQ's here."

"Wakey, Wakey," said Jarod nudging Moose. Moose opened his eyes to find himself and his two cohorts tied up in the back room with Jarod and Jonathan Looking down at them."

"My how the tables have turned," said Jarod with his trademark Cheshire-cat grin, "Now," he continued pointing Moose's own sawed off shotgun at him, "Who are you working for?"

"Drop dead," snarled Moose, "I ain't telling you nothing!" Jarod tuned to Jonathan who was squatting a few feet away running a small honing stone over the blade of one of his knives.

"Jon," he said, "do you think you could make this man talk?"

"Oh I'm sure of it," said Jon his eye took on a evil sadistic gleam, "I was raised by the Umbutu," he continued his voice becoming more menacing every second as he stood and walked toward Moose with the knife gleaming in the lantern light, "the Umbutu taught me many ways to loosen the tongue."

"Really," said Jarod raising his eyebrows and pretending to be fascinated by the subject.

"Yes," replied Jon testing the blade of his knife leering at Moose who was now sweating profusely and gulping, "I found that the most effective technique was the castration technique. In fact I mastered that particular technique I never miss and can castrate a guy with one move."

"What kind of move?" asked Jarod, never missing a beat.

" I'll show you," said Jon. He whirled on Moose swinging the knife held blade down in a wide over hand swing."

"No!" Moose hollered closing his eyes. There was a loud wooden THUNK and when opened his eyes he saw the point of the knife embedded in the wood of the chair barely a fraction of an inch from his groin.

"You're lucky Moose," he growled, "It seems I do miss on occasion although it is quite by accident."

"I work for Damien Blackwell, I work for Damien Blackwell," he hollered, "Just keep that lunatic away from me!!" Jarod nodded to Jon who turned a skulked out of the room.

A few seconds later after Jarod finished re-gagging Moose he came out and found Jon leaning against the outside of the doorway smirking. Jarod returned the grin.

"You should get an academy award for that performance," said Jarod, "How did you think up such a convincing technique." Jon raised his eyebrows

"Who says I made it up," he said turning and walking toward the entrance. Jarod stood there for a minute and considered what Jon said and shuddered.

"YEOW," he said to himself.

"Do you know who this Damien Blackwell is?" asked Jarod as they made there way down the trail to the car as day was breaking.

"Sadie's notes say that he is the CEO of the local branch of the Macron Corporation." Replied Jonathan. Jarod grimaced

"This operation may be bigger than we all thought." Suddenly he saw that Jon had stopped and was looking down at the stream in front of them.

"Of course," he said, "why didn't I think of it before."

"Think of what?" asked Jarod.

"I know how Sadie was exposed," he said pointing to the stream, "This is part of the stream that runs right through the mine back there. Sadie wouldn't have used the stones to crossed on a hot day she would take off her shoes and wade in the water. And the frigid temperature of the water wood have slowed down the circulation in her legs which would explain her delayed reaction."

"Thank goodness for that," said Jarod, "that bought her some time, with the toxic soufflé they're hiding up there, if she had reacted right away she'd be dead." Jarod pulled a test tube from his pocket and took a sample.

"Come on," he said, "Let's get back to the hospital and get Sadie on the anti-toxins that she needs. Then are going to arrange a little surprise for Mr. Blackwell!"

TBC

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