(Possibilty of a sequel's up in the air right now, but for those reading who want to try their luck at writing one - by all means be my guest. Just drop me an email so we can spare any possible unpleasantries. Just don't start to write right away; there are a few more chapters that need posting first.
(Godhand's Number)
47
Analysis of the device wasn't as easy as Kimberly simply had put it. Tara had to jump on the sacred boulder from atop the thick fencing, the rough stone picking at her palms, scratching at the naked soles of her feet. Thankfully, the pack jolted not as she pulled herself to the rock's peak. Yet with the tap of that little red button on the PDA, a lime-green beam glared from the device's IR port, a flat and wide one that swept the pack top to bottom with a single pass. "Analyzing…" stared back at her from that screen, emblazoned in white over a dark shade of Team Possible's logo.
"Analyzing, Kim." She said.
"Well, what do you know?" Kim's retort was bitterly saturated. "You can read."
"Hey!" she frowned back. "If you want to do this, then be my guest! I still don't understand why I couldn't do this from the fence."
"Because the Kimmunicator needs to be in close proximity to the target, Tara." Kim explained after a deep breath. The auburn leaned herself back against, an arm outstretched behind her like a kickstand. "It can only be away at arm's length at max. I tried it once during a mission and I kept getting error messages."
"Next time, I think I'll keep my shoes on." She rubbed at a tender sole with her free hand. "The things I do for friendship."
"At least you will make the Palestinians a little bit happier." Robin was transfixed with the nasty rags around Kim's waist. "That is not just a rock you are sitting on, you know. It is probably the most important rock to Islam, next to the -Ka'ba- in Mecca."
"At least Allah will look favorably down upon you for doing that, Ms. Stark." Mr. Abdul-Latif seconded. "Despite the madness outside, you have shown him courtesy by respecting The Prophet's rock."
"I hardly think the Muslims won't get irate when they find out an 'infidel' was in their holy place, let alone the rock." She replied. "Seething, foaming at the mouth while they picture me taking a sit on this stone - it's a vivid image! I just hope that image doesn't lead to my early demise."
"Do not worry about it, Ms. Stark." Mr. Chairman shook his head. "Though I would rather be honest with my people, there are just some things that are better left unsaid."
"I hope so—!" The PDA chirped at her--and thin lines of green drew a boxy image on the screen. Small lines of letters and words typed out too on the screen, flanking the image wherever they could fit. "Ah - analysis is complete!"
"Great." Kim replied. "What's it say?"
"Uh…." She squinted. Of all the times she needed her reading glasses; she should have packed them. "Not really sure…. It's hard to sift through all this BS."
"Try harder." The auburn put it simply, irritatingly enough. "Just say the first thing that makes the most amount of sense. That's what I always do."
"Okay."
She felt her brow perk while she peered at the screen. Skimming had turned out to be a useful technique; something her English teacher had taught her that was actually useful for a change. Skim: it wasn't just for milk anymore, and it had paid off. Throughout the small blocks of neon text, two letters constantly popped out to her like a whack-a-mole.
"Here's something." She lifted up a finger. "'Hg'. It keeps popping up all over the place. Does it mean anything?"
"Mercury." Mr. Chairman nodded. "You are looking at a neutron bomb, Ms. Stark. Of course you are going to find mercury in the core of the device, though it's been highly irradiated with other materials."
"Okay." She nodded. "But even at its base?"
"What'd you mean?" Kim asked.
"It says right here." She tapped the screen. "There's the 'Hg' with a line pointing at the bottom of the bomb. There's nothing really at the foot of the bomb. It looks like empty space with some sort of pan structure. I don't know why. Maybe it's to cook dinner, though the mercury would definitely kill you!"
Kim jolted herself forward, off her mock kickstand completely.
"Crap!"
"What?" she blinked defensively. "Did I read it wrong or something?"
"No." Kim shook her head furiously. "You didn't."
"What's it mean then?" she asked.
"It's a mercury switch." Kim said. "It's designed blow the bomb should anyone manhandle it. If the quicksilver touches the receptors simultaneously, it'll complete the circuit and trigger detonation. You've done what you can, Tara. Get down from there. Touch the pack and we'll be floating with the dust motes!"
"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" she asked crossly, easing herself up carefully to her feet. "Wait for the end?"
The bones in her legs crashed into each other, rearing up painfully to her hips when her soles flattened against the floor. She then wisely took her time climbing atop the enclosure.
"I don't know what else we can do." The auburn sighed. "We gave it our best. And Drazen, that goddamn piece of shit! All we can do now is hope that the boys took care of him."
"And took care of him we did, KP!"
All looked for the doors, eyes following that voice to where it came before the Noble Sanctuary had its way. If life were like a movie, this would be the protagonists' moment of victory. The wicked had surely fallen at the hands of the two heroes, standing valiantly in the portal despite their weary posture. Like the woman in waiting, she hopped off the fence, rushing for her man with open arms in the lead.
She practically squeezed her man into herself.
"GOOD - to see you too… Tara!" Yune breathed, his words squeezing out of his body. "Please! Let me go…!"
"Oh!" her arms went limp, falling to her sides again. "Sorry about that."
"It's okay, T." He took in a fresh breath, letting it sit before he blew it out. "My ribs are a little sore though."
"I said you should have taken it easy." She folded her arms. "But did you listen to me? Not just no, Yune - but -hell- no!"
"Like I said," Yune rubbed his side gently, "good to see you too."
"Kim!" Ron exclaimed, rushing for the girl quickly as though the fire outside left an ember on his back pocket. "You're still alive!"
"Yeah." The auburn held the boy's wrapped arms with a soft embrace. "It wasn't my time to go just yet. What about Drazen though? What happened to him?"
"Drazen…." Ron drew it out purposefully. All eyes locked on to the blond expectantly. "He… took a trip! Yes, that's it. Took a nice long trip."
"Ask a silly question, Kim." she felt her eyes roll. "Looking at the boys right now, I think it's safe to say that they won the fight."
"This bodes well, yes friends?" Robin pushed herself to her boots.
"Not quite." Yune shook his head. She felt her innards cringe. "Drazen's gone, surely, but he activated the bomb!"
The quiet sanctuary wasn't quiet anymore, erupting in a choir of discord.
"WHAT?" the sanctuary seemingly shouted back.
"Um - Ow…." her man picked at his ear.
"What'd you mean?" Kim would have leapt to her feet if it weren't for Ron. "The bomb's alive?"
"Yes, I'm afraid." Yune nodded grimly. "The punk flipped the switch before the fight, and that was five minutes ago. We've got five more minutes before the delay timer kicks in! And if that happens, we're as good as dead."
"Delay timer?" The auburn pushed her love's arms out of the way, easing herself to her feet with Robin's help. "Does that mean it can be diffused?"
"That's what Uzi said." Ron nodded. "But I'd trust him like I would with the UN."
"What does that mean?" she asked. "What can we do?"
"Separate the red mercury core from the detonation charge." Her man replied. "There's going to be an explosion, of course, but that can't be avoided."
"It won't go nuclear then?" Kim put a hand to her square knot.
"That's the idea." Her man said.
"Good idea, but it's not going to be easy." The auburn shook her head. "Drazen sure as hell didn't have it made that way."
"Booby traps?" those almond eyes went wide.
"A mercury switch." She nodded. "At the very bottom of the bomb. One wrong move and we're dead!"
"Switch or not," Yune shrugged, "we still have to try. The more we yak, the less time we've got. Where's the bomb at?"
She waved her hand for the boulder behind her.
"Where do you think, Yune?" she asked.
"Pompous as always." Her man sighed. "That's Drazen for you."
Yune shifted to her right, sidestepping her completely - and he was already halfway to the fencing when she turned around. Hopping that fence like an oversized hurdle… he disappeared completely behind it. There was a loud -THUNK- not a split second later.
"Aw - damn Keds!" Yune cursed gruffly. Hushed sniggers snorted out around her. She would have laughed any other day. "Tara, do you have to be barefoot for - EVERYTHING?"
"Sorry!" she called back, jogging for the hurdle. "I forgot."
"Forget it." He moaned.
That noggin of black, flat hair popped back over the fencing, and his limbs flattened against the rock. The hands clenched - and with a huff, he hoisted himself up just as her palms touched the top of the fence. Yune was at the backpack when she cleared the hurdle again.
"Tara!" he frowned disparagingly. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Helping!" she smiled back. She found her sneakers less than a reach away, her feet slipping in through the flattened heel cups effortlessly. "What would you want me to do?"
"Get back over the fence!" he said. "Pronto!"
"No." she shook her head. "I won't!"
Yune blinked incredulously.
"Excuse me?" his brow furrowed. His upper lip buckled like it was clef.
"Yune," she folded her arms, "if they said about this bomb is true, then being over the fence wouldn't do me any more good than standing right here! We'll be dust in an instant, I know. But I love you. I hate being apart from you even a second, let alone eternity. If it's our time to go, then let me go with you!"
"Tara…!" There was a grumbling drone, from both the pack's zipper and from her man. "Sweet as it is, it's not really the time for it…! I kind of have my hands full at the moment!"
"I know." She nodded. "That's why I'm here. If there's something that I can do, then let me do it! It'd be bad if God frowned on you because you wouldn't let me help."
"Oh - all right!" he groaned. "But don't screw around here."
"Don't worry." She smiled warmly. "I won't. Now, what do you want me to do?"
"Okay." He replied. "I'm going to attempt to remove the device. Do me a favor and keep the pack still. Can you reach it?"
"I think so." She reached for it, pushing her weight to the balls of her feet, her heels lifting the rest of her up. The thick soles of her shoes helped much. "Yeah."
"This is going to take some time." The tan hands disappeared into the depths of his pack. "Can you stay like that?"
"I'll… hold out for as long as I can." She took in a breath. "Just do your thing - and fast!"
"Bomb disposal's a slow process, T." he replied. "It'll take as long as it takes. Besides, you'll get good exercise this way. Maybe even refine your foot posture for kicks!"
"Joy!" she groaned—!
"Shit!" Ron shouted, the cry thick with panic. "I don't believe it!"
She turned her head as much as her spine would let her, pain pulsing in her head while her eyes strained to see. Ron seemed to be down in a posture like a crouch, one hand hidden by his body while the other was outstretched. His auburn love staggered away, while Robin… just stood there. The dark girl couldn't move like her boots were slapped with a fresh layer of cement.
But why, what was all the drama—
—"UZI!" Ron's pet rat practically shrieked. —
—About?
XXX
Drazen's head hurt. Drazen's head hurt badly. It hurt him so much. Not even the medicine could cure the headache. It was all gone. He thought his back felt a load lighter for some reason.
The enemy stood in front of him. They stood there brashly, mockingly. They made his head hurt. They stole his medicine! They would soon point and laugh at him. He couldn't have that - he wouldn't have that!
He hated them. He hated them so much! He wanted to make them pay for what they did to him. They must!
All of them must die, and die they shall!
XXX
Odd, this surely was. Where was the anger, where was the rage? Where was the bitter tirade, drunk with fury and broken pride? It wasn't stewing and bubbling in the stubborn ass before Ron's eyes. It simply wasn't there at all.
Drazen looked like a drunk after a late night out at the bar, stumbling against a column by the fallen doors for support. The black pants were gone, consumed by the blaze he had surely walked through. Not hopped, not skipped, not ran; walked, and the black patches of flesh on the limbs showed it clearly! Least the fire had shown civility, sparing the stubborn punk his boxer shorts. Unmentionables were named just so for a reason.
"How the hell…?" Yune asked uselessly.
"Don't know. Don't care!" He frowned. The metal in his pocket was useful once more when he trained it on the punk. "I don't care what you say, Yune. If this asshole wants to go to Hell so badly, I'd be happy to accommodate!"
"Ronald, take it easy." Robin walked beside him. Pressure fell upon the barrel like the dark girl's hand, forcing the gun to stare at the carpet. "He looks as though he is hurt."
"After a trip down the southern wall?" His glare narrowed as his brow furrowed. "That'd sure as hell knock you sideways!"
"Then a bullet to the leg is not necessary, Ron." The girl replied. "The fall and the fire already have taken the fight out of him. Leave him alone until the authorities can come."
"Leave him alone?" Kim said rhetorically, aptly. "Ha—! We should take care of him now! It'll just be harder later on."
"I don't believe that." Robin took a step forward. "He may have scarred me, but I still must do what I can. I owe at least that to the Lord."
Robin took another step, and another, and another till she was out of his reach. Kim tottered to his side. Annoying pain shot out when her head buried into his shoulder.
"Robin…." Kim breathed. "Get back here!"
"Kim, take it easy." He replied. "Don't push yourself."
"Not now, Ron." she frowned. "Robin - come on! Leave him alone!"
Uzi slipped off the column, flattening against the carpet like road-kill - and the glint of his tanks stabbed into his eye. He gasped, and dread's clammy touch twisted his innards a little more vigorously. Drazen's tanks: he had seen them before the punk took his trip, glinting rather greenly like the stuff back in the temperature lab. Now it glinted in the light rather cleanly… -too- cleanly.
Which means…! -
They both cursed.
"SHIT!"
"Robin!" he shouted. "Get over here - NOW!"
"Not now, friend." The girl casually waved her hand back. "I have work to do."
"You don't understand!" Kim pleaded. "The threat isn't gone! You have to retreat!"
"I am sorry, but I cannot." The tight ponytail swayed dramatically when the girl shook her head. Robin was within dangerous reach of Drazen, who was shoving himself to his wobbly feet. "I am compelled by the Lord to help whoever I can, friend or foe. I do not expect you to understand. But please, let me do--!"
Too late! Drazen had enough sense rattling in his brain to snatch the girl up single-handedly - way up at that! Uzziel had her by the throat. Robin's feet flapped, actually flapped like a fish's tail fresh out of water!
"Robin!" Tara exclaimed.
"Tara!" Yune yelped. "Watch the pack!"
XXX
The brown girl had it coming!
She turned the lieutenant against him - he was sure of it!
She would die - SHE HAD TO DIE!
Ha-ha-ha! No one was going to leave this city!
EVERYONE'S GOING TO DIE!
XXX
There was no time! Conditioning took control of his body, seized his arms, and clenched his hands around the spongy grip as he brought up the revolver. His index burning like the flames outside, he yanked the trigger back the full way. It bucked in his hand; the shot went too wide! A wispy cloud puffed out of the far column.
"Careful!" Kim exclaimed. "You could hit her!"
"Would—!" Robin coughed, her hands scratching futilely at Drazen's own. "Is this a bad time - to apologize?"
"Yes!" Kim shouted. "We're going to save you!"
"Friends…!" the girl gasped haggardly. Knuckles drained of color, a ghastly shade of white as Uzi's hand clenched tighter. "I… would like to say - that it has been a pleasure…!"
"NO!" He put Drazen's charred leg in the iron sights, forcing the stubborn trigger back again! Another wispy cloud puffed from the column! "DAMN! Shut up!"
"Robin, no." Kim begged. "Please no!"
"The Lord - will be with you always…." Robin smiled weakly - barely! "Do not be sad… for me. At least I… will see my Shia - again—!"
KRRACK! -
With but a wiggle of the bastard's hand, Robin was gone. Those warm dark eyes shunned him, rolling back into her head. Her mouth moved no more, spoke no longer the warm encouragement that made like music to his ears, simply hanging agape. The day the music died, and the musician was nothing more than a broken rag doll, crumpling to the carpet in a dead heap.
"No…!" A plop dumped beside him. Kim had fallen to her knees, hunched over the carpet while her weak arms offered her support. "No, no, no, no…!"
"Robin!" Tara sniffed. "No…!"
"Tara!" Yune barked. "Focus!"
"B-but…!" the blonde stuttered. "But—!"
"I know it sucks, but you have to focus!" Her man replied. "We still have to diffuse this sucker!"
"But--!"
"No buts!" Yune asserted. "Now let's do it!"
Ron eyes wandered never from the impulsive, volatile fiend. Uzziel was happy, insanely joyful with the toothy grin of a great white. He was hemorrhaging the love, the single hazel dull, brimming wetly with crimson, trickling down the mangled face around the shark smile… just like Tank Man.
"I'll keep him busy!" he called back. "Just defuse the nuke! Kimberly, take the Mr. Chairman! I want you two out of here now!"
"Huh?" She gave him back a dubious, wet glance. "You're taking him on by yourself - ARE YOU INSANE? Look what he did to Robin!"
"You're too weak to fight." He nodded gently. "You nearly died a few minutes ago. So as a Jew and too a survivor of The Family's treachery, I will be the one who finishes this!"
"But--!"
"I can take care of this!" he shouted. "Just - go!"
"Leave him to it, Ms. Possible." Mr. Chairman said. "While I maybe a Muslim, I shall have faith in him. I cannot explain why, I simply do."
"But!"
"You have heard this 'Yune' too, I believe." Mr. Chairman continued. "No buts! There is no choice to make here. Your caretaker has died, I am sorry. If you die, she would have died for nothing. You should honor her by doing what this man asks, even if it means to fall back. Please, if you have to do it then do it for her."
"…Okay." She pushed herself to her feet. "Let's go, Mr. Chairman."
Kim disappeared behind him for her to reappear before him moments later with Mr. Abd-al-Latif taking an arm around her neck.
"Fight like a warrior, Ronnie." Her emerald gaze hardly ever shimmered this clearly. "You have to win! DON'T - die on me…!"
"You got it." He smiled back. "Now go!"
XXX
Dark girl was too easy. He unsatisfied! Redhead girl would be challenge!
She has ugly head. Her ugly head made his head ugly! So he must kill her!
Beautiful when her blood stains carpet - just like the Muslim's!
Kill two mongrels with one stone - HE MUST!
XXX
Kimberly and the chairman hobbled for the door as fast as they could on their tired feet. They bobbed and weaved unnecessarily around Sadie, both taking in breaths deeply with every upswing of their upper bodies. They were but shadows before the consuming portal, their heights rivaled by lashing, fiery tongues, lapping for them hungrily. Still they ventured to them anyway, as though Hell itself was safer than here.
Drazen fell back against the column, the tanks ringing out in a sharp -TING- against the stone. The madman raised a fist in protest—
—And the column grumbled back, a loud rumbling that shook the sanctuary as the ancient stone recoiled Drazen's low blow. Ragged, thick lines of jet black stabbed out from under the madman's fist, racing erratically around the column - and thick puffs of powder white exploded out of those lines! Even at the top, another thick halo of white consumed the peak like a cloud.
He couldn't have said it - shouted it better.
"TIMBER—!"
The rumbling grew into a violent growl; the tall column fell away from the main structure like a falling tree! Kim and the chairman pushed with their feet, falling to their backs promptly. Several hot, flickering tongues were crushed. A few cut in half by the column itself, making like overgrown embers, the fluttering brief before the rippling air swallowed them up.
They were trapped! Through that thick, foggy noggin, Drazen somehow knew it too. The drugged loon pushed himself away from the ragged stump, lurching for his game. Kim shoved herself to her feet, extending Mr. Chairman a hand while the loony closed in a little more quickly. That shark grin grew wider, trickling blood fouled the enamel.
It'd be Kim's blood staining those teeth soon enough! He couldn't have that.
He lifted the .357 again, his grip finally firm, his arm finally steady. The foresight hardly wavered much away from Drazen's weaving head. His nerves were as hard as the claw hammer, the soothing clicks slowing the beat of his quickened heart in time's nick. Kim recoiled no more as Uzi stumbled within an arm's reach—!
BLAM!
A delicate blossom of red bloomed out of Drazen's crown fleetingly, dissolving in the air instantly! Uzi flopped against the fallen column. Hand in hand, Kimberly and Mr. Chairman wisely broke contact, hobbling around Sadie for cover. He did it; he had saved them both! The bullet was forged in God's favor - that must have been it!
"Get him?" his little buddy asked aptly.
"I… don't know." He felt his eyes roll up and to the right. "Did I?"
"Dead or a KO, we don't have time to check!" Yune called. "Be grateful he's down for the moment."
"I'll be grateful when you're done!" Tara exclaimed. "God - this is killing me!"
He turned around. Yune sat comfortably upon the Noble Rock beside some parts, a stern expression pulled on his face while his fingers did their best to work magic inside the pack. Sore or not, he couldn't tell with Tara, the main body of blonde, wavy hair hidden by her trembling, outstretched arms. Balls of her feet kept her steady while elevated heels propped her high enough for a grasp on the pack.
"Should have worn my heels today." Tara moaned. "Are you - DONE yet?"
"Want some cheese with your whine, T?" Yune frowned back.
"Yune…!" she growled.
"Let me just… THERE!" the Asian exclaimed. "Mercury switch is disabled!"
"That was nuts!" The blonde dropped herself down, naked heels slapping against the insoles. She rubbed at her biceps vigorously. "How many damn traps does one bomb need, anyway?"
"Not enough." Yune shrugged. "Okay, everyone quiet. I'm about to remove the core components. So sudden noises, please!"
"Without a protective suit?" Mr. Chairman exclaimed.
"Guess so." Yune shrugged back. "Unless I'm missing something, I doubt the core's exposed. We'd be feeling sick by now if that were true."
"True." Mr. Chairman nodded. "Either way, good luck to you."
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman." Yune frowned again. "Proceeding to remove the core components."
XXX
His head hurt again. Blondie put a slug in his head. He must pay - HE MUST DIE!
Rage burned in his heart, in his body, his legs, and his arms! Rage - RAGE!
Death… sweet death… BEAUTIFUL DEATH! Red, yellow, black, or white! If they're Muslim, that surely is all right! Because - EVERYONE'S GOING TO DIE!
Die, die, die - die - die!
Yellow rubber duck!
DIE!
XXX
"GRRRAAAAHHHH!"
Kim's hands met her ears, palms pressing against the curvy flesh firmly. She could feel it through her soles. Tara dropped below the top of the fencing. Yune flinched - his stone face twisting painfully. His hands ripped out the pack and clasped over his ears. The sanctuary trembled throughout as bad as when the column fell - worse - when a loud shout came—
—And died just as soon. Carefully her hands parted from her ears. Silence blew back into her head; it was deafening.
"Hello…?" she asked rhetorically, fingering her ear as the simple word entered in. "Ah… good. I'm not deaf yet."
"What the HELL was that?" Ronnie shouted. "Some kind of monster?"
"Whatever it was, it couldn't be good." The puffy mane of wavy blonde peered over the top of the fencing again, shifting as its owner shook her head. "But man - that'd hurt—!"
"SHIT!" Yune's painful mask broke, whites easily seen on the almond eyes. He rolled over backwards, disappearing behind the boulder. "INCOMING!"
She spun on her heels - and caught the sight of Sadie in the air - IN THE AIR! The SUV arced gently, but the size of a matchbox car - a matchbox car that grew exponentially before her. She could feel but a tickle of shade on her clammy skin just before she remembered her feet!
MOVE, DAMNIT! -
Her ribs warped into her body when her side met the floor, easing back properly as her impetus rolled her onward. Sadie's glossy eyes caught a close look at the carpet, chipping her shiny teeth - and the floor quaked violently in an explosion of glass and twisting metal. The flying tailgate lifted the vehicle up again, flipping her over completely! The fence was nothing more than a stack of toothpicks, crackling, splintering while Sadie smashed through.
Belly flopping in itself was bad enough, though Kim could only imagine what the Noble Rock did to Sadie's undercarriage.
"Thank you very much…." The vehicle groaned, her synthetic voice deepening in a muted decrescendo. Sadie screeched piercingly, metal howled, roaring all together on the floor when she slipped completely off.
"FUCK!" The black mat of hair shot up over the rock's tip. "TARA!"
Tara hacked painfully, and her blonde wavy mane crept over the top of a ragged fencepost.
"Aw…!" Tara coughed. "I'm here - barely…!"
Yune took in a breath, and gave thanks where thanks were surely due. Kim rolled to her feet, turning around on her heels awkwardly in the hunch—
The scene was blurry at the edges when her eyes crossed.
"THE F—!"
Uzi stood - the madman actually STOOD exactly where Sadie was happily parked, the vehicle's exhaust pipe at his firmed feet. The shark smile gone, warped into a quivering snarl! Crimson mingled on the right side of his face, trickles from the dull, cloudy eye merging with the river flowing out from the new orifice flanking his skull. Impossibly, he snatched up that length of grimy pipe single handedly!
Through the sights of the pistol, Ron kept his eye on the nut-job.
Drazen opened his snarling maw, blood dripping behind the crimson smeared enamel. He let out a shout - a half shout, cut off as though he inhaled a bug or a rogue piece of dust. Hand and rapier at his belly, he keeled over. Crimson was lost on the red carpet, pouring from his mouth generously like it was -Evil Dead- all over again!
Where's Bruce Campbell when you need him? -
"Groovy…!" Rufus said in a seething drawl.
"Groovy - my ASS!" Ron eased himself back a step.
Uzziel was swelling! The tanks on his back moved away, parting a little too much to be of much comfort. Crimson oozed down the flesh of his leg, pooling at his feet, and dripping onto the carpet at the very top of his peg—!
RIIIPPP! -
The cloth of Uzi's vest tore apart, popping apart at the seams from his expanding girth! The flesh peeking through the rip pleated strangely. Purple tissue peeked through the creases, glinting wetly with red. Cloth at the tear on the side parted further - the peg for a leg groaned! Blood was like a surplus of tomato juice, circling, sloshing in the tanks up to the top braces!
"He's going to pop!" Ron yelped--
But Drazen didn't. Veins pressing through the flesh, muscle peeking through messy red rips in the skin, two dull cow eyes dotting his bloody face. At least twice his normal size and mass, Uzi was swollen like an overripe, festering pimple; ready to violently explode should the slightest poke him!
She fleetingly wondered what a bullet would do. Ron must have pondered it too, for he sent Drazen one with an explosive crack! The bullet smashed into its target. Crimson dots leapt out of the strange, rippling flesh - but that was it!
Uzi simply raised up that pipe with a swollen, pudgy fist.
"GRRRAAHH - GRRRAAAAHHHH!"
The dingy pipe was like a translucent, rusty circle, spinning swiftly for her man!
Ron leapt out of the way - and the pipe rang out vacantly when it bounced off the floor. Uzi made a wobbly beeline right for him!
"HOLY—!"
He couldn't finish. Drazen's pudgy hand snatched Ron by the face - but he stopped not! Face in hand, they disappeared behind a row of columns - and to its core, an explosion of rock and stone shook the sanctuary like an earthquake!
"RON!" she screamed.