Friday, June 16th, 2017
Casa Genovese
01:58 GMT+2 (23:58 GMT June 15th)
The Fight
Hit Girl was stunned.
Forty-five had landed, just two hours previously . . . how many were dead? Had her need for revenge led her to cause the deaths of fifteen people? No. No. The anguished thoughts permeated her mind and prevented her from fighting, and for every blow she prevented, another got through, and her body screamed out for mercy from the punishment, but she could not get past the idea that so many might be dead because of her.
Even Kick-Ass was down, distracted by Hit Girl's beatdown. As he fought Joseph Valachi and Anthony Genovese, he absorbed the hefty punches, but he delivered his own in return, ignoring the pain which reached and energised his fucked-up nerve endings. The two men were grinning and that enraged Kick-Ass no end, but it also gave him pause as they were not behaving like a family facing down almost four dozen armoured vigilantes who were intent on killing them. Kick-Ass had been horrified by the very thought of some of their number lying dead, even as they fought. He had seen Hit Girl stunned by the news and he had been distracted which had allowed those bastards to kick him down. But he was not beaten, not by a fucking long shot!
Shadow ignored everything going on around her and she focussed on the arch-bitch Elena Genovese. She knew that no matter what, they had to win. Part of her feared for her colleagues in arms, but another part of her refused to believe a word that came out of that old bastard's mouth. Shadow was appalled that Hit Girl could even consider believing a word of it, but Hit Girl was changing and not necessarily for the best. Their time in the godforsaken jungle had caused mental pain for them all which had still not fully resurfaced. The anger which Shadow felt building inside her was intense and as she kicked, blocked, punched, blocked, kicked, blocked, the smirk on that bitch's lips began to fade as she was forced onto the defensive by the enraged vigilante.
Nemesis and La Coccinelle often fought together and both complimented one another immensely. Both swiftly discovered that the man they fought, Carlo Genovese, wore armour on his lower arms which allowed him to deflect their blades as they came in his direction. Nothing they did appeared to faze the bastard – maybe he was just impervious to pain. Whatever it was, it unnerved Nemesis, but she never relented, not for a moment as she knew that would mean death at the hands of the muscular brute which would never do. Carlos' machete swept through the air at speed, striking with great force. The brute made sure he put all his strength into each blow to beat the two girls down and if just one strike got through...
The brute bellowed as the tip of Nemesis' Wakizashi cut through his clothing and wounded him in the left bicep; but it was like prodding a raging bull, and it only made him all the angrier.
Nox, Glide & Rogue
Ominously, the unmistakeable metallic sound of weapons being readied could be heard echoing up the corridor and the sound of many feet on concrete followed close behind.
Nox went first, her Heckler & Koch MP5A5 spitting fire as she stepped out. Two men went down as the nine-millimetre bullets struck their torsos and spent brass clattered against the concrete wall and dropped to the floor below. The direct assault had momentarily upset the momentum of the defenders enough for Glide and Rogue to run across the corridor and drop to one knee where they provided covering fire as Nox moved down the corridor, dropping a third man. Nox waved Glide and Rogue onward and then pointed them in the direction of a doorway which opened to the left where a steel staircase could be seen beyond. Rogue went first, pushing open the door, her weapon checking out the landing and the staircase which went downward while Glide checked out the staircase heading upward. After firing off a long burst at the defenders, Nox followed on behind and she slammed the solid wood door closed behind her. Swiftly, the experienced Predator slapped a half block of C4 onto the doorframe then stuck in a multi-function detonator. Nox pulled out a length of cord which she secured to the door handle and she pressed a red button on the detonator and twisted the top – a red LED illuminated.
"Let's move!" Nox directed. "Up!"
Rogue ran up the staircase, her Heckler & Koch MP5KA5 aimed upwards. Two flights of steel steps later, the young girl paused beside an open doorway which appeared to lead onto a balcony of sorts. She was joined by Glide and then Nox. Just as they were about to move, someone pushed open the door twelve feet below them and as the cord was pulled, the detonator ignited and the C4 detonated, tearing apart the torso of that someone who would never open another door again. The unexpected boobytrap gave the defenders pause and the three vigilantes time to move forward.
The balcony was broad – about fourteen feet in width with a steel balustrade running around the outer edge for safety. The drop was about fourteen feet and the three girls looked down upon what was once a control room for the bunker and the surrounding defences. Now, it was the centrepiece of the bunker's accommodation and was fitted out as a fairly comfortable communal living area with comfortable chairs and couches. Shelves and tables around the walls added to the comfortable décor. There was even carpet on the concrete floor. Over the far side of the balcony were a set of steel stairs which led downwards into the living area. Leading off the balcony, away from the open space were several open areas which may have once been offices but were now additional, more private, living areas. In fact, two were occupied. About twenty feet away to the left, a woman had stepped out of one of the spaces. Rogue's memory matched up the image of Anna Genovese as her eyes caught sight of a boy and a girl, a distance away at the far end of the balcony, who did not appear to be very much younger than Glide and Rogue – they were Lorenzo and Teresa Genovese, son and daughter of Anthony and Elena. A large man stepped out to join the woman, his hulking form overshadowing Anna. Rogue recognised Frank Genovese, son of Vito. The man was pure evil, and his ugly mug was scarred from decades of fighting. The three vigilantes aimed their sub-machine guns as several men and women appeared on the balcony, three men and a woman from below, then two men and two women from another landing similar to their own where there had to be another set of stairs diagonally across the open space. For a moment, Nox considered heading back down their staircase but she could hear feet pounding beneath them – they had no choice but to move forward, despite being heavily outnumbered.
The closest threat was the three men and a woman who moved swiftly in their direction, from the right, despite the spray of bullets which Nox sent in their direction as a distraction while Glide and Rogue ducked down as Frank Genovese opened fire in their direction with a .40-calibre pistol. Both younger girls fired off their sub-machine guns at Frank, but their bullets missed the large man who had ducked out of sight with Anna. Then everything turned to shit as their magazines emptied and before either could reload, Nox screamed out as bullets struck her body armour and she fell backwards. The girl swiftly scrambled back to her feet and kicked out at the closest woman who deflected the kick and struck back with a strong kick of her own followed up by three bullets from a man's pistol. Glide and Rogue were horrified to see Nox stumble backward and then topple over the balustrade and vanish from sight with a scream. Men appeared from behind the two girls who abandoned their unloaded sub-machine guns, pushing the useless weapons behind their backs. Glide drew her twin ice axes which had once belonged to Polaris. Designed to dig into solid ice with their wicked-looking toothed head, the two-foot axes were lethal against flesh and bone. Beside Glide, Rogue drew her beautiful butterfly swords which glinted in the light which came from numerous LED light fixtures mounted high on the stone walls of the cavern. Though the pair of four-foot vigilantes appeared intimidating, their limited stature was not scaring any of the people present.
"Are you two little bastards the best on offer?" Anna Genovese laughed.
"Make a nice snack," Frank grinned.
There was laughter from the protective detail who brought up their own melee weapons somewhat half-heartedly; not seeing the two girls as much of a threat, however, Anna could see some amusing fun coming from the two vigilante deaths.
Stormtide, Tao Wu & Tao Tei
The much smaller team leapt over the large hole in the tunnel floor and they continued onward, knowing that they had to try and find another way into wherever Nox, Glide, and Rogue had gone.
The gunfire was sporadic and after Tao Wu had shot out two light fittings, the bullets were not very well aimed indicating that the person with the gun had no night vision equipment – a tactical bonus with which the three girls were equipped. Tao Tei went first. The eleven-year-old could see the offending defender and she was going to take the bastard down before they caused any more trouble. She pulled her MP5K sub-machine gun into her right shoulder as she aimed at the shadow within the shadows which was her target. Her right thumb flicked the lever mounted above the trigger down twice to select three-shot burst. As the iron sight above the muzzle lined up upon the target's head, the eleven-year-old squeezed the trigger once. Three bullets erupted from the muzzle of the weapon at over twelve-hundred feet-per-second. A fraction of a second later, the three bullets immolated the head which, unsurprisingly, caused the rest of the body to tumble to the ground.
"Cunt down!" Tao Tei said as she raced ahead and confirmed that the headless corpse was no longer a threat to them.
"Língluàn de niú!" Tao Wu commented as she stepped over the bloody remnants of the skull.
"What she said," Stormtide added, guessing what had been said by the tone.
Tao Tei shrugged as she followed on behind.
Splinter, Arbiter, Resolute, Intrepid, Harrier, Ajax & Petra
The hatch was steel and rusted around the edges.
The locking wheel was frozen in place and despite the efforts of Splinter and Petra, it refused to budge.
"So much for a quick escape!" Resolute muttered.
"Why don't we try some WD40?" Intrepid commented.
"You got some?" Harrier challenged the girl.
"Actually, I do," the girl responded as she pulled out an aerosol can from her webbing. "Always comes in handy."
"Well done!" Petra grinned.
Intrepid scrambled up the ladder and she proceeded to spray the oily liquid onto the locking mechanism and some of the rustier sections of the hatch where it joined the frame. They gave the liquid a few minutes to infuse into the mechanism and rust before Splinter and Petra had another go at the wheel. After a lot of grunting and yanking, the wheel groaned and then began to move, slowly at first, but it quickly gathered momentum as it spun. Once the locking wheel had locked against the stop, Resolute climbed up the ladder, his MP5K aimed at the hatch while Petra pushed up on the hatch, easing it open. Surprisingly, the hatch did not weigh much as it swung upwards silently – it was obviously counterweighted and well-oiled despite having not been opened in a while. Once Resolute could see through the opening, Petra stopped pushing on the hatch which remained in position, partly open.
"I don't see anything," Resolute reported as he looked up and down a wide corridor. "But I can hear sounds of fighting, some way off, I think."
"Okay, move into a covering position," Petra ordered. "Splinter – you go next and move into a covering position."
As Petra pushed up the hatch, the two boys climbed up and out into the corridor above.
..._...
Resolute moved a dozen feet to the left of the hatch while Splinter went in the opposite direction the same distance.
Neither saw any movement or any sign of trouble. Resolute was able to hear more of what was going on further along his corridor – it sounded like muted gunfire. Splinter had no sound in his direction beyond the constant humming of ancient air conditioning systems.
"Clear!" Resolute reported.
"Clear!" Splinter reported.
The rest of the team swarmed through the hatch which was then sealed by Petra as the last one through. Petra scanned the corridor with its cabling and pipework and cracked red paint. She joined Resolute and listened to the sounds of muted fighting.
"Let's move in this direction – somebody may need our assistance."
Together, the team moved out with Resolute on point and Splinter taking up the rear. They were all much relieved to be out of the dark tunnels and into reasonably well-lit corridors. They were all soaked and the air conditioning was chilly which did not help their mood, however, a brisk walk soon began to warm them up as they moved down the corridor, pausing once at a T-junction, to check all was clear before they headed to the right towards the sound which was growing in volume, but still muted. The reason for the muting soon became apparent as they came across a large steel hatch set into the concrete wall to their left. The corridor continued on for a short distance before it ended at the base of a set of steel steps. The hatch bore a faded red sign with Germanic text:
Einreise
Verboten
"I don't think we're supposed to go through there," Intrepid commented.
"But that is where the fighting is," Arbiter reasoned.
"I suppose," Intrepid allowed.
Everyone jumped as something clanged against the far side of the steel hatch, once, twice.
Bullets.
"Well, we've had it easy till now," Arbiter commented.
"Easy!?" Intrepid exclaimed. "Easy!? I was snogged by a lesbian while I was passed out!"
"You weren't breathing," Arbiter responded defensively.
"I suppose," Intrepid allowed.
"Do you two want to make out, or are we going to fight?" Petra demanded.
"We're good," Arbiter chuckled as Intrepid gave up arguing.
Petra grasped the locking wheel and she spun it
Drift, Rampart, Stripe & Tempest
The tunnels seemed endless as they trudged along.
They had not come across any more of the enemy which just made things all the drearier. Rampart hated enclosed spaces and especially confined spaces; she much preferred the open skies than the subterranean hell through which they were trudging. She shook her head as she refocussed her mind back to the dark tunnels. Ahead of her, her keen eyes detected movement and she raised her left hand, fist clenched. Tempest, immediately behind her, copied the signal as he stopped. Rampart stepped forward and then she bolted, racing along the corridor at top speed as she saw the shape of a person doing exactly the same thing. Rampart ignored the bullets fired from a pistol as she ran. After twenty yards, she caught the person and kicked them to the ground, knocking the pistol away as she did so – it turned out to be a woman.
"You fucking bitch!" Rampart growled. "Do you know how much I hate goddamn tunnels? Well? Do, ya?"
The woman tried to fight but Rampart was far too pissed off for that as she slapped the woman stupid.
"You think she's on her period?" Tempest asked Stripe as they caught up.
"You going to ask?" Stripe suggested.
"Think before you respond, Tempest!" Rampart warned as she smashed the woman's head against the wall of the tunnel putting her out cold.
"I think we should desist from making sexually inappropriate comments about the women folk," Tempest commented after a moment's thought.
"Cretin!" Rampart growled as Drift laughed out loud.
Tempest knew better than to respond, so he just followed on after the obviously annoyed Rampart.
Psyche & Fury
The right turn had led the pair to a free-standing steel staircase set in a deep concrete shaft which descended quite a distance.
"Time for some exercise," Psyche suggested as they began to saunter downwards. "You need the walk."
"Speak for yourself!" Fury responded. "You've picked up some extra flab around the tummy, I noticed."
"Fuck you!"
The pair bickered and sniped for the next few minutes, ultimately finding themselves having descended five storeys by the time they finally stopped. At the base of the staircase was another steel hatch. Psyche listened for a moment but heard nothing beyond the humming of air conditioning. Fury grasped the looking wheel mounted in the centre of the hatch and with a flex of her muscles, she spun the wheel easily and then pulled open the hatch. Psyche stepped through, her weapon raised, and she scanned the corridor beyond the hatch.
"Clear!"
Fury followed, pulling the hatch shut and spinning the locking wheel.
"Which way?" Fury asked Psyche.
"Good question, Fury. Let's..."
Psyche stopped talking as the locking wheel on a hatch a little further down the corridor began to turn. Fury ran forward and she took up a position to cover the hatch from the far side while Psyche crouched down a few yards from the hatch and she aimed her MP5K at where an enemy would come through. Then Fury suddenly saw something, and she darted up, twisting off a light switch and returning to her place. Both girls waited as the locking wheel locked against its stop and the hatch was pulled open, away from them. The moment Fury laid eyes on the muzzle of a weapon in the dim lighting which flooded through the open hatchway, she reached up and ranked the weapon forward and the person holding onto the weapon tripped over the hatch coaming. Psyche put a bullet into the falling form and then fired off a burst of three rounds into the next person stepping over the hatch coaming. That person fell backwards swearing violently as a stream of bullets had Psyche and Fury diving for cover. Psyche's mind had focussed on the swearing and then a chill ran down her back as she realised that they had every combat fighter's nightmare: a blue on blue.
"Check fire! Check Fire!" Psyche yelled out. "Challenger nine!"
The code word had the desired effect and all fire ceased instantly and there came a shouted response.
"Challenger seven!"
Psyche jumped up and she hit the switch for the lights then surveyed the scene as the lights came on. Tempest lay on the concrete floor rubbing his chest, but he was moving which was all that Psyche needed to know. Then she stepped over to the open hatchway and peered through. Then she groaned as she saw whom she had shot with a three-round burst.
"You fucking little whore!" Rampart growled. "Three fucking bullets? Really? Fuck my bastard chest hurts! I should have fucking killed when I had the fucking chance – Jesus fucking Christ!"
"Fog of war?" Psyche tried.
Rampart drew her sidearm, a Smith & Wesson M&P, and she aimed it at Psyche.
"Stand down, Rampart," Drift ordered.
"Just a dream," Rampart groaned as she holstered the weapon and stood up.
"Are you okay?" Psyche asked.
"I've been shot in the head, what's a few in the chest," Rampart responded sardonically.
"Let's get ourselves sorted out, shall we?" Drift suggested as they all stepped through the hatchway, Drift sealing it behind them.
"We'd better move – someone probably heard that ruckus caused by Psyche," Tempest suggested as he slapped said girl around the back of the head.
"That way," Fury suggested, pointing in the direction she and Psyche had been headed in just a few minutes earlier.
Together, the now larger team moved off.
Stormtide, Tao Wu & Tao Tei
The three girls quite literally fell into the action.
They had reached a dead end, only the supposed dead end did not seem right. On closer inspection and feeling a distinct draft, they identified – actually, Stormtide identified – a camouflaged air vent. Air was being sucked past them and they could hear sounds beyond the mesh. All three got to work with combat knives, prying the mesh off the stonework to which it was securely affixed with screws. It did not take them long to rip off the mesh which was about six feet square to reveal a concrete framed opening which led about three feet before stopping at a large industrial air conditioner. Stormtide studied the four steel mounts and she pulled a block of C4 from her belt and cut the block into four equal amounts. Each small block was then attached to a mounting brace. With her knife, Stormtide cut a length of detcord which was then connected to each block which then joined to a longer length and Stormtide lit the end of the detcord.
"Fire in the hole!"
It took a fraction of a second for the PETN detcord to transmit the flame at over sixty-four-hundred metres-per-second. The four blocks of C4 detonated almost simultaneously and there was a large crashing sound two seconds later as the air conditioner fell from its mountings and was then heard to crash to the ground some distance below.
"Let's go!" Stormtide said as the sounds of the air conditioner were replaced by the sounds of battle.
Together, the three girls climbed into the gap left by the air conditioner, but none of them had considered the weakened seventy-seven-year-old concrete which quickly gave way beneath them and all three fell into the unknown.
Nox, Glide & Rogue
The two younger girls were engaged in the fight of their lives.
They were outnumbered and outmatched, but that did not mean that they were going to give up. The two youngsters ages added up to just eighteen which was much less than the single ages of the adult men and women whom the pair were fighting. Both were superbly equipped with weapons and armour, and they were both trained by the absolute best. They relied on their small size and swift movements to keep one step ahead of their opponents. Their stamina was also useful as they had much less body mass to move than the hulking men and the adult women and as their parents well knew, the pair could go on and on and on - just like the proverbial Duracell Bunny (Glide) or the Energizer Bunny (Rogue). Both girls also made exceptionally good use of their melee weapons which gave all the adults something to think about when they attacked – especially the butterfly swords which looked incredibly lethal because, indeed, they were. Rogue had had the best of teachers and she had followed the training set for her, and the youngster had never made a mistake with the ultra-sharp blades which could draw blood with just the slightest touch against flesh. Indeed, one of the woman soon found that out as she tried to take Rogue down with a swift strike from the side, only to find her stomach slashed open from hip to hip by the blade which passed through clothing and skin like they were cream cheese.
Rogue took immense pleasure in the steam which rose from the cascading intestines as they fell out of the woman's abdomen. The woman screamed as she tried to prevent the slippery slimy mass of over a dozen feet of small intestine and another five feet of large intestine from leaving her body. The smell was appalling but Rogue had a compassionate side and another swipe of a blade severed the woman's throat causing the bitch to bleed out within seconds. Rogue had been taught compassion but she had also been taught how to file away death for a later time and to move onto the next threat – a dead person was no longer a threat (unless stepped upon of course). Rogue leapt over the steaming pile of body internals and she ran at a man twice her size in every dimension who had just watched the half-pint vigilante take down the woman without breaking a sweat. The glistening blades were now glistening with fresh blood which unnerved the man as the masked imp approached. The man was armed with a combat machete which somehow seemed inadequate to the man as he deflected the first slash at his exposed midriff. He brought his blade around and attempted to cut the miniature attacker in half, but she caught the blade with the quillion, hooking the machete and pushing it off to one side. Rogue kicked out with her right foot and she struck the man's left knee eliciting a yell of pain. The man tried again, striking with the machete blade but Rogue struck the blade, catching it with both of her own blades, and pushing downwards. Swiftly, she pulled back her blades, striking the machete again to force it down further as she stepped inside the blade. The man tried to step away, bringing his blade back up, but Rogue struck the machete hard and then it was too late for the man as she was close enough to stab the man in the upper chest and then in the neck. As the man folded, Rogue released her embedded blades and she flipped over the dying man as his colleague moved in with his own combat machete. The man's momentum carried him forward only he stopped dead and braced up as intense pain spread through his chest and he sagged to his knees. His head tipped forward and he stared curiously at the pink raindrop 4.25-inch handle which protruded from his chest. The remaining 3.25-inches of the weapon was the hollow-grind, clip-point, steel blade which was embedded in the man's still-beating heart which even then was tearing itself apart as the blade had induced a massive heart attack to rival any heart attack. The Bear Song IV Balisong was Rogue's favourite possession and went everywhere with the girl ever since she had received the weapon on her eighth birthday over a year before. Rogue did not hang around as she retrieved her Balisong and wiped it clean, then expertly flipped it closed and stowed it in her body armour. The twin butterfly swords followed as she yanked them out of the now dead man and cleaned them off before she looked around and saw Glide busily fighting another large man.
Rogue ran in that direction to see what support she could provide to her British colleague.
..._...
Glide was taking a slightly less bloodthirsty route through the opposition.
Her fighting style was different, and the training had been different. Inhibition had been forced from her system and that assisted the nine-year-old as she dished out death and maimed like it was her favourite pastime – it was not her favourite pastime by any means, but it passed the time, she considered dryly as she expertly parried away an inbound blade with the crook of her axe. As the dangerous tip of the blade cleared her body, Glide struck with her opposing axe and she embedded the razor-sharp tip of the axe blade in her opponent's neck. The man grunted with the pain, then he screamed as Glide yanked upward on the axe, twisting the serrated blade inside the man's neck and releasing a torrent of high-pressure blood which arced almost a dozen feet and splashed over Anna Genovese. The bitch was not happy.
"You little fuck!"
Glide turned to face the pissed off Sicilian bitch who brandished a matched pair of combat machetes.
"You think I give a shit?" Glide responded.
"No, I suppose you don't," Anna growled. "But you do need to learn your fucking place, little girl."
"There's something about me you should know," Glide said as she and Anna circled one another. "I'm not a good learner – I'm a bit slow, to be honest."
"I'm a persistent bitch."
"So, I've noticed – like fucking dog shit on the bottom of your shoe."
"You...!"
Anna launched herself at Glide who dived to her right and rolled back to her feet. Anna turned, keeping Glide in sight at all times. The woman could see that the girl she fought while being just a fraction of her size and age, was highly skilled, well-armed, and surprisingly experienced. There had been rumblings about children trained to fight for the American Government but the mere thought had been so outrageous that no one had believed it, however, the mere fact that it was so outrageous made some realise that it may actually be true. Seeing the girl before her fighting with such apparent ease gave credence to the outrageous rumblings. Anna was of a breed where she could respect an experienced fighter and she found herself respecting the young girl for having the balls to fight her one-on-one. Needless to say, the girl was going to die; it was an inevitable outcome, Anna knew.
Glide, however, had not even considered death or failure as potential options. Quite simply, the girl was focussed on winning – at all costs. The woman towered over Glide but that was not necessarily an advantage – it could also be seen as a hinderance. Indeed, Glide ensured that it was a hinderance as she blocked the inbound strikes and then tried to bury her axe blades into the bitch's upper legs. Getting the woman onto the ground was critical to winning the fight. Glide knew the playbook, but it was obvious that Anna Genovese had read more or less the same playbook which complicated things somewhat. But Glide had been taught to overcome, overcome, overcome, and in that manner, she was relentless in her attacks. Glide watched her opponent's facial expressions and body language, watching for the slightest tell that her illustrious opponent was struggling or unhappy about a certain form of attack. Her eyes moved everywhere as they followed Anna, the machetes, Anna, the machetes. It was exhausting both mentally and physically, but Glide had plenty of both in reserve and she laid into Anna then stepped away as the machete blades came in her direction. A quick side flip out of the way helped and every now and then, Anna would misjudge her strike as if she were facing off against a grown adult instead of a miniscule little girl.
Glide took advantage as she slipped under the machetes and she struck with her axe, the blade sinking in deep.
..._...
Nox was in pain – quite a lot of pain.
Part of her mind told her that pain was good – you did not feel pain if you were dead – but another part of her mind did not want to feel the pain as it sodding hurt! Her mind would not focus; maybe she had banged her head. She had fallen; that much she could remember. Then she felt a hand on her back and instinct made her react, ignoring the pain. Her feet moved, and she used them to pivot her body so that she could grasp the hand which had violated her personal space. With a savage twist of the wrist to which the hand was attached, she heard a yelp, and then the thirteen-year-old girl pivoted, throwing her full weight behind her movement, and yanking the person to the ground. At the same time, she reached for a knife, ramming the blade into her unknown assailant as she found herself atop a man who was stunned at the sudden turn of events as he found himself dying, his heart severed in two. The burst of adrenaline associated with the strike had Nox on her feet in a second and facing off against three more men. She drew the twin Wakizashi blades from her back and she thanked her lucky stars that she had bowed to Hit Girl's insistence that she carry additional melee weapons – Nox was otherwise a firm believer in firepower over brute strength and melee weapons, which she believed were not essential and should be limited to just a combat knife for close quarters fighting. However, she could see the change in her opponents' stances as she drew the fearsome weapons with their precision blades.
Nox did not give them time to mull over their new predicament. Instead, she ran at them, blades held out to either side. The men drew their pistols and then ran at Nox, thinking that the girl was possessed bringing a sword to a gun fight. Nox clocked the pistols coming up and she dove forwards, rolling on the floor and coming back up, the bullets passing above her. As she came back to her feet, the men realised that she was now too close for the pistols and they fumbled to draw machetes, but the first man hesitated as he attempted to bring his pistol around, only for the pistol to strike the floor, still grasped by his right hand. For a moment, the man stared dumbfounded at his severed limb before he bellowed out as the pain struck his brain and he dropped to his knees cradling his right lower arm. Nox brought both machetes around in a scissor movement, removing the man's head cleanly and elegantly but with a vicious spray of arterial blood which covered the next man's face in his colleague's blood, distracting him as Nox moved in his direction.
Unfortunately for the poor bastard, the distraction of the bloody soaking meant that even as he used one hand to wipe away the hot blood, his other hand which held his machete wavered slightly as it came down in a vicious slashing movement and missed Nox by a whisker. Nox returned the favour by slashing the man across his back with both of her blades. The man fell to the floor in abject agony as his clothing became sodden with blood. For a very brief moment, Nox thought that she was clear of trouble but then she groaned inwardly as she spotted an enormous man striding in her direction – he seemed angry about something which may have had something to do with his dead and dismembered colleagues scattered around Nox's feet. Either way, Nox knew that the fight was not over. Above, she could hear fighting, and she knew that she had to get up there to help Glide and Rogue – assuming that either or both were still alive.
The man advanced on Nox, his bare hands flexing. Nox good not help looking at the gigantic hands which she knew would be able to crush her bones like they were nothing. The man leered at her, like she was a tasty beef on rye. At first, he showed no sign of carrying a weapon; indeed, Nox figured him to be a weapon. Nox was careful about where she put her feet as there was a lot of blood around, not to mention bodies and parts thereof. She knew that one stumble and she was done for. The beast of a man continued to leer at her as he started to move faster and then he ducked his right hand into his pocket and he withdraw something which Nox was intimately familiar with – it was a two foot leather strap. The girl felt anger, humiliation, and hatred at the sight of the implement which had been used to cause so much misery to herself and her peers. Initially, Nox allowed her anger and hatred to take control, but the strap catching her around the back – it stung slightly through the armour – snapped her back to reality and she dived out of the way of the next stroke but the bastard was quick and he was able to trip Nox as the strap wrapped around her left lower leg. Then the man was striding towards her and Nox tried to scramble away but he seized hold of her right leg and yanked hard, squeezing down on Nox's calf. She tried to strike with her Wakizashi blades, but no joy. Nox began to feel the first vestiges of fear but then she heard a loud crack.
Her mind told her that it was a muted explosion then she looked up to where she had heard the sound and she struggled all the more as she saw a massive air conditioner fall from high above. The cunt noticed something amiss and he looked upwards, just in time to catch sight of the air conditioner not two feet above his head. The man sidestepped smartly, dragging Nox with him as the massive steel air conditioner crashed into the concrete floor smashing an inch into the solid flooring. However, the man thought that that was it as he made to takedown Nox, only Nox was stunned to find that the air conditioner was not the only thing falling from above. The man stumbled as not one, but two armour-clad vigilantes struck his upper back. Then a third form landed close by.
"Fuck me!" Nox exclaimed as she recognised the pair. "It's fucking raining Zetas!"
"I was only an honorary Zeta," Stormtide reminded Nox.
The enormous man was still standing and leering happily at the sight of so much prey.
"Take him down!" Nox ordered and the man was blasted apart by a dozen rounds of nine-millimetre ammunition.
"I think he's dead," Tao Tei commented as she studied the bullet-riddled corpse.
"We need to get up top – Glide and Rogue are in trouble," Nox informed her colleagues.
"Let's move!" Stormtide said as she hauled Nox to her feet.
Together the four girls raced towards the nearest steps.