Ultraviolet

Chapter 17

Steel-plated Pride

The space around them was a maze, surrounded by tons of corroded cars stacked sky-high. The Specialist's helicopter had taken off just moments ago, leaving Ultraviolet and Heatseeker alone in this junkyard. Even worse was that her opponent was armed with a sniper rifle of sorts. There was no way she could approach him without being shot at.

Alright, Vi… First task: find cover, she told herself as she scrambled across the snow-filled clearing, towards the nearest pile of cars. Crouching with her back against the freezing metal frames of the cars, she peeked around the edge of her cover, trying to catch a glimpse of her opponent's position.

Still she knew that it's futile if she didn't have a method to fight back. After all, what could she possibly do against a sniper rifle? At least she could defend against it with a force field… until she could not hold on anymore, and the metallic bullet tore through her body…

This is not the time to have such thoughts… she chided herself mentally. However without a plan she was running blind in this junkyard.

There was movement detected from the corner of Ultraviolet's eye. Heatseeker, her unseen opponent had finally stepped out into the open, sniper rifle clutched comfortably in his hands. For the first time Ultraviolet got a good look at his features, though they were rather blurry from thirty metres out in the heavy snowfall.

Quite obvious were his cropped short hair, two slits for eyes and a square jaw. He looked like a military commander with his build, with bulging muscles her father would have been proud of. Standing at maybe six feet and six inches, his intimidating frame would tower over Ultraviolet if she stood next to him.

His eyes scanned each area slowly, taking his time. Ultraviolet watched as he raised the sniper rifle, aiming in the distance away from her; there was a muffled crack, followed by a screech ringing out into the night. It was probably a wild animal; yet he shot it on sight. This man was truly merciless.

"Still hiding?" he called out as he lowered the rifle. "It's only this big; running won't do you any good…" Those grim eyes continued their search for Ultraviolet, as her head ducked back into cover. She was now blind to the danger that may be approaching her that very second.

Like a confirmation of her worst fears, the windscreen from the car behind her shattered, continuing its trajectory through the next car as well. If Ultraviolet didn't do anything now, she was a goner. She had to act on instinct. Putting her body as flat as possible, she rolled under the nearest car. From her prone position, her eyes trailed the approaching feet when it paused on the site where she hid.

"This part is warmer…" he muttered under his breath, kneeling and bending down to peek under the car where Ultraviolet was hiding, staring at her stunned face for a second.

Instinct took over as Ultraviolet's fist shot out; it landed a direct hit between his eyes, forcing him back. Reaching out with her hands, she grabbed hold of the weapon in his hands, wrestling it from him. In hope of disarming him, Ultraviolet slammed his wrist against the underside of the car until he dropped the rifle straight into her waiting palms.

She had every intention to use this rifle against him… After all he had no qualms about shooting a defenceless teenage girl. The weapon's warmth could be felt under her gloves, as Ultraviolet rolled out into the open against her opponent, who was still nursing where he was hit.

"Let's see how you do against your own weapon," Ultraviolet sneered as she raised the scope up to eye level. The sheer weight of the rifle made her grip unstable; she could just drop the thing at any minute.

"I doubt you can hit an elephant fifty metres out with that aim," Heatseeker said with a laugh. Still, Ultraviolet could see him backing away slightly. I'll show him, she told herself. She narrowed her eyes and tried to maintain her aim on his chest. Putting a finger into the trigger guard, she pulled down on the trigger, unsure of how a firearm works with this being her first shot with a rifle. The swaying chains from a crane overhead tested her concentration.

The trigger clicked in place as she jerked her finger inwards from anxiety; a single bullet flew out of the barrel as the rifle's recoil made the weapon jerk straight up. Heatseeker had stopped several feet away, and true to his words the bullet whizzed past his shoulder harmlessly, disappearing into the dark backdrop.

"You missed…" Heatseeker taunted, arms spread out as though asking her to take another shot. "Don't try it if you're incapable of using such a powerful weapon."

Violet flared in frustration as she hurriedly pulled the cocking lever, allowing another bullet to enter the chamber. Taking aim again, she was determined to succeed in this shot. In her mind the warnings about her urge to kill surfaced again; she brushed the thoughts aside as she placed her finger on the trigger. Opposite her Heatseeker had a worried look on his face.

She depressed the bullet in one action, but the trigger won't budge. Clicking the trigger won't work, and with no working knowledge of a gun she was hopeless.

"You shouldn't have loaded two rounds into the chamber, Violet. Now you've jammed up such a good weapon." Heatseeker watched as his weapon was tossed aside casually by Ultraviolet. Now she was really angry. It had to be a fistfight to end this; at least she'd get an outlet to release her fury. Taking a few steps forward, she made to attack Heatseeker.

"Hold it," Heatseeker warned, pulling out a handgun from some hidden part of his suit, raising the weapon till it was level with her head. "I don't want to do this, but you leave me no choice…"

"You can't choose if you want to kill me? Just let me go like your sister did… What's holding you back?" There was an unusual calm in her voice even in the face of death.

"For the sake of the team and what's left of it… For our future and whatever we may be facing… For my pride…" There was a quiver in his voice, as he flicked the safety switch off. With a steady hand he squeezed the trigger; Ultraviolet responded in kind with a force field, as the bullet deflected off the surface causing no harm to her.

"I forgot about that," he muttered as he unloaded the rest of his rounds on the force field. Ultraviolet knew that she couldn't keep this up forever; she formulated a plan as Heatseeker pulled out another magazine of bullets. As he ejected the spent magazine, she dropped the force field, taking off away from her opponent. Counting off the seconds till she heard the next shot, she took an abrupt left, before swerving right back on course. This, she felt, was sure to throw his aim off-track.

That's the way, Vi, she thought as she dodged left, disappearing behind the nearest pile of cars. The stream of bullets told her that Heatseeker was nowhere close to hitting her. Her last turn took her past a pile of tiny Japanese-made cars. Risking a peek behind, she saw that Heatseeker was perhaps fifty metres back, now loading more rounds into his gun.

Now came the unprecedented part of her plan. She needed another place to hide, but not until he was close enough. She scrambled behind the cars, out of Heatseeker's sight and waited. After deliberating for a few seconds, she took a deep breath and peeked to her right.

No Heatseeker.

Jerking her head around, she gaped at the sight of her opponent behind her, whirling her body around as well. Heatseeker's cold stare accompanied an equally unforgiving gun barrel. Staring into his eyes, Ultraviolet realised that his eyes were just two white spheres, without the pupils or iris that normal humans had.

"The chase ends here."

"You don't have to do this," Ultraviolet pleaded again as she backed away, rounding the corner of the car as a shot penetrated the glass inches from her right arm. Keeping her eyes peeled on the approaching target, she hoped to lose her pursuer amongst the maze of cars around.

Ultraviolet's pounding feet passed yet another group of vehicles, what else was there in this junkyard? Behind her the shots had ceased, presumably he was out of rounds, or perhaps waiting for a clear shot. She ran for a full minute, not sure where she was after the random turns she had taken. Slowly fatigue seeped through to her entire system, overpowering even the effects of adrenaline. Her pace was definitely slower; soon she'll have to stop.

"Tired already?" Heatseeker's voice boomed out from around her, masking his position. A scream escaped her mouth as she saw a shadow pass by the opposite block of cars. Squatting down, she cast a force field around herself, keeping its size minimal to conserve strength. At the same time she was resting her tired legs.

A single shot rang out, deflecting off her force field. Just a warning shot, she reckoned. Warning that he's keeping his sight on her. Ultraviolet was out of solutions; maybe she should just give up…

"Why don't you keep the gun and fight me?" She shouted out to the darkness, hoping her taunts could possibly save her.

"Gladly…" He stepped out of the shadows, stowing away his handgun behind his back. "But I have another deal in mind… a challenge. I'll give you a minute's head start. If I can shoot you within five minutes, you'll die. If not I'll let you pass. I'll even tell you how to get there. How about it?"

Ultraviolet nodded, rearing up to full height. Heatseeker grinned at the acceptance, indicating to the tiny watch implanted in his wrist guard. "Five minutes starts… now!"

She shot off into the labyrinth behind her, counting off the seconds till she would be pursued again. Anyway, it'll only be four minutes when she was in any real danger… how hard was that?

Five minutes and counting.

Trivia: 'Steel-plated Pride' as a chapter name was first thought of for my Economics teacher, who was unfortunately asked to leave the school for being the worst teacher around. I was just wondering how he lived with the insults… truly 'steel-plated'… But as implied, whatever was underneath his pride was much weaker… Different case for Lance, but same… Confused? So am I…