Chapter 6: Hallucinations and human dartboards
Regina felt like she was floating. The last things she saw had been piercing blue eyes and a fist swinging at her face. Eventually she regained some consciousness, and began to notice her surroundings. She was slung over someone's bare back, shoulder blade hitting her in the face as the person beneath her walked. She noticed some other presences, and cracked open her eyes to look, what she saw shocking her. She saw the nations standing off to the side and they had the appearance of what they looked like at the height of their power. There was a long haired blonde in a french musketeers uniform, the fires of revolution burning in his eyes. Next to him stood a silver haired man with vivid red eyes, in armor of a teutonic knight, with an eagle perched on his shoulder and a zweihänder by his side. There was a spanish pirate standing next to him, hat and coat dripping in gold and silver. The next was also a pirate, with emerald green eyes, one of which was covered by an emerald studded eyepatch. His hat had long feathers in it, and he stood with pride, a gold and diamond encrusted pistol in one hand, and an early map of the world in another. A rapier hung in a scabbard at his side, and he held a knife in between his teeth. They passed by a mirror, and if Regina could move she would have gasped in surprise at what she saw. The appearance of the person who was carrying her shifted every other second, though she could tell, even in her half conscious state that it was the same person. First there was a blood covered revolutionary, musket on shoulder, a fighter pilot from the world wars, and finally an astronaut with his helmet off, walking down the hallway with pride. What she could see went dark, and she slipped back into unconsciousness.
When Regina woke up, she noticed five things. She was tied to a chair, except for one of her arms. The room she was in had only one exit. The corners of the room were in deep shadow. She was not alone in this room. All but one of the walls were covered in various weapons, ranging from early european swords and bows, to the latest gun types. The last wall was blank, but had many bullet holes and marks from the weapons.
"I guess this will be the end of me." she thought with a sigh, "and nothing can stop it… not even the army… wait a minute! The army! I'm the president and I can still get out of this if they find me in time!" she began to laugh triumphantly, and a low, sinister sounding chuckle came from one of the corners of the room. A shape covered in shadow in the same corner moved into the light, and Regina's laugh stopped and turned into a gasp.
"Enjoying yourself?" Alfred asked mockingly. His eyes gleamed with cruel amusement, and he had an unhinged grin on his face. She noted that he was still shirtless, his muscular and tanned torso gleaming in the light. "It's far easier to get blood off skin." he smirked and gestured toward himself with his free hand. In his other he held an enormous knife. The silent spell that held Regina broke, and she screamed. Screamed so loudly that Alfred winced and took a step back, hand going up to his ear. As soon as she was done, and the thundering of footsteps could be heard above them, he sighed. "Well I was hoping we wouldn't have to go through this, but I suppose I can wait to have my fun."
The doors burst open with a crash, and dozens of secret service agents stormed into the room, armed with weapons and tasers. Upon seeing the president tied to a chair in the middle of the room, one held up his gun and pointed it at Alfred, who simply raised an eyebrow in question. "Ummmm what are you doing?"
"My job." the agent said, obviously not knowing who he was talking to. "Now drop the weapon and put your hands up."
Alfred stared at him in surprise for a moment, before bursting out into obnoxious laughter. "Hahaha that's funny! Getting ordered around in my own house! Well let me tell you something, little boy," The officer blinked, confused to as why he was being called a little boy by someone who appeared younger than him. "the best thing you could do right now would be to leave. It would save us all such a headache, and I can proceed with what I was doing before you interrupted me with the put down the knife or i'll shoot bullshit."
The agent who was obviously in charge of this stepped forward and said sternly to the other "Put down the gun." he then turned to Alfred, who was glaring at the officer who still had his gun pointed at him, making the officer shake with fear from his stare. "I'm terribly sorry about this mess Mr. Jones he's new."
"Yeah I can kinda tell. You gonna put the gun down or do I have to punch it out of your hand?"
The man ignored his orders, and with a shaking hand, took aim and fired. The shot went wide, hitting the wall beside Alfred's shoulder. Alfred didn't even flinch, instead stabbing the knife into the wall and stepping forward to punch the gun out of loose grip. The officer retaliated by socking Alfred in the stomach, only to fall back, clutching his hand. In the next second Alfred had his arm wrapped around the smaller man's throat. "Hmm lets see. You obviously don't know my name or the events of the previous minute wouldn't have happened. Did your superiors tell you anything about a man named Alfred F Jones?"
The man nodded, barely able to speak. "Describe what they told you to do when you meet him."
"That he looks young, but is the most terrifying person you will ever meet in your life. They said when he does the inspection of the weapons to stand at the side and not speak because he is harsh about discipline. They said he's my boss and that he trains us."
"Very good. Now stand against that wall over there. Back flat and one hand out against it, fingers spread."
The officer obeyed him, walking over to stand against the wall and doing as he said. Alfred walked over to the wall and almost lazily picked up a handful of throwing knives. The poor officer tried to bolt, but out of nowhere a knife appeared in the wall, a mere centimeter away from the terrified man's face. Regina stared at Alfred in shock. She hadn't even noticed how the knife had left his hand, he moved so fast. In the blink of an eye, suddenly he had no knives, and the wall surrounding the victim was full of them, each dangerously close to his body. "Next time you'll follow orders, won't you? And now to make sure you won't be punching me, or anyone with that hand soon. Who knows, this might even improve your aim." Alfred sneered. He walked over to the wall and picked up an ornate bow, decorated with images of hunting and animals. "Now this bow is very special to me so be flattered that i'm using it on you. Usually I just use knives to make my point, but our dear president here needs to be properly terrified." he slung a matching quiver over his shoulder and put an arrow in place, preparing to shoot.
"Stop him!" Regina cried out, getting everyone's attention. "Why the fuck aren't you guys stopping him? He has the president tied up and he's obviously about to shoot this guy! You have weapons so use them you idiots!"
"He could literally kill everyone in this room and not get in trouble for it." An officer near the door piped up. "Plus, he has the right to punish people for crimes. But don't worry we shall give your family our condolences and come up with a really good cover up for this."
"Exactly." Alfred said, as he pulled the string of the bow back and let the arrow fly. It pinned the disobedient man's hand to the wall, the arrow going directly through the middle of his palm. He cried out in pain and sank to the floor, sobbing.
"Who are you?" he gasped out.
"Oh how rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself! The name is Alfred F Jones. Disobey me and the next arrow will go through your head." He stalked forward and stuck out his hand, smirking. When the officer didn't return his shake, he rolled his eyes and pulled the arrow out, ignoring the scream of pain along with the blood that gushed out. "Take him upstairs and bandage him. It shouldn't get infected if you do it properly." The leader obeyed him, and signaled for two others to pick the wounded man and carry him out the door.
As the officers filed out of the door, one of them called "We'll name a cat after you or something." as if that would make her feel better!