Disclaimer: I do not own Totally Spies
Here it is, new chapter, finally. Sorry for the long wait, I've been working on things. School, work, trying to find a better job than the one I have, the usual stuff.
" " – speech
' ' - thought
( ) – author's notes
= scene change
== flashback
The Assassin: WOOHP Files
Chapter 7
===========================================
The Clover-droid walked through the front doors of WOOHP International, through the lobby, and into the elevator. No one there seemed to notice the green-clad man thrown over her shoulder, chained up. Since no one notice, they didn't see the small smile he wore, or the twitch of his eyebrow.
"Jerry's office," Clover-droid spoke and the elevator learched downward.
Slowly she placed him the floor in the corner, inspecting the chains wrapped around him, holding his arms to his sides and his ankles and knees together. When she was finished she stood up and watched the digital numbers tick off the floor. Just because she was a droid didn't mean she didn't get bored once in a while. With a sigh she looked over her shoulder at her "target", it still felt strange calling him that, but it's what he said she should call him. As for why he would want to come back here, that's what confused her even more. Why go to a place where everyone wants to kill you?
'Don't try to think about it, you're task is almost complete," a voice spoke in her head, his voice. 'Just a little further.'
An almost unnoticeable nod from the robot answered his message as she turned to look down at him. The elevator jerked to a halt and the smile on his face disappeared. As the door opened the Clover-droid hefted him onto her shoulder and turned to exit the box. Into the spacious office she stepped, the old man sitting behind the large desk reading some files from another teams mission.
"There you are, what took you?" he asked not looking at her. "Where are the other two?"
"He was a tricky one to catch, the others got tired and went home."
"Good, I'll give them a call," he reached for the phone.
"There will be no need for that," Jerry heard a familiar voice say.
He finally looked over at the Clover-bot, who was setting Nate down on his feet. The chains binding him snapped in several places and fell to the floor, the sound echoing through the cavernous office. He was about to reach for the alarm when a shot rang out, blowing away half his desk.
"I really should thank you for designing these red caps, so much more effective than regular rounds," Nate said as he holstered his gun.
"How...?" Jerry wanted to ask but he was cut off.
"Even you aren't stupid enough to not know how. You built me to be ready for any situations and never overlook little details, such as to check who is on the other side of a door," Nate snapped causing Jerry to fall back into his chair, he had stood slightly when reaching for the alarm and never sat down. "Now then, I believe you know why I'm here."
"No, I don't think I do," Jerry said as his hand slid under his desk for the secondary alarm. "Why don't you tell me?"
"Don't play dumb Jerry, if you do, Clover might just have to give you a hug," he nodded to the android standing next to him. "And with her strength I don't think you'd last long."
"She can't hurt me, it's not in her programming," Jerry smirked defiantly.
"Hehe, programming can be changed," he chuckled. "Now how about you just hand her over to me and I won't have to kill anyone."
"I don't know who you're talking about," Jerry shrugged while listening for the sound of footsteps.
Nate sighed, apparently there was no getting his father to admit that he'd lost control of the situation. Shaking his head he nodded to Clover and turned to head out the door. Clover noticed his gesture and moved towards Jerry, who started to reach under his desk. When he came back up with a gun, Clover was right in front of him, knocking the gun away and wrapping her arms around him, squeezing his arms to his sides.
"I told you not to resist," Nate said as the doors began closing. "Clover, hold onto him till I get back."
"Okay," she replied with a bit of a bubbly look on her face.
"You don't have to do this, I-I'll give her to you," Jerry yelled after him as the doors finally sealed shut.
=
'Too late,' Nate thought as he began walking down the hall, he had something more important to do than listen the ramblings of an old man. "Now, where was that door again?"
He stopped in front of an elevator and tried the button, the doors refused to open; in fact, the light wasn't even on. Sighing, he knew what this was, level 1 system lockdown, all elevators, except the one leading to Jerry's office, were shut down, all doors that were electronically controlled were stripped of power. Personnel were on high-alert status, all were issued pulse rifles and PESS. All the non-military personnel had been moved to a secure area, a bunker-like establishment that was protected by an EDF (Energy Dispersion Field). He could blast at it with his angel arm all day and not even make a dent.
"They can't take her there anyway, the sudden change in temperature would kill her, even with her cybernetic enhancements," he said though he was alone. "Probably should have brought Clover with me, even she can add a constructive comment now and then."
Rounding a corner he was forced back around by a barrage of green lightening which flashed from a horde of pulse rifles. Smirking he pulled his Colt and check the magazine, five bullets, two red caps, two blue caps and one green. Making sure the green was last he rounded the corner and fired off a red cap. The bullet streaked through the air and hit the ceiling above the guards; they dropped their guns and held up their PESS, shielding them on all sides from falling debris. Nate fired off a blue cap, which ripped through their shields, reaching the center before exploding outward. A few seconds later a small hole appeared in space, sucking them all in screaming; it then faded into non-existence.
The shields fell to the floor, clacking and spinning slightly like large coins, before settling down. He reopened the chamber and removed the other blue cap, turning it to read the side.
"DANGER: Interdimensional Matter Transporter," he read aloud, having not actually ever read what the blue ones did before.
Quickly he removed that one and the green one, not even wanting to know what it did. Reaching into his pocket he took out two red caps and two orange caps. Slipping them into the chamber and then closing it, he continued his trek down the hall. He stepped in front of a stairwell door and bashed his hand against it; the door crumpled and fell away. Taking his time he descended the ten flights of stairs he needed to get to the level he wanted.
At the bottom was a proximity mine, which blew up as soon as he reached final landing. He had seen it coming and activated his shield in time to not be burned. The shield fell and he stepped through the destroyed door to another hail of pulse fire. The bolts of green lightening were poorly aimed at best and were constantly missing; which is odd because each rifle is inspected and calibrated to perfection.
He reached beneath his trench coat and pulled his shotgun, taking aim and firing, the shot removing two of the ten guards. He stowed the shotgun and retrieved his grenade launcher, loading an orange-capped grenade. A glowing orange ball launched from the M203, struck one guard, and immediately ricocheted to another, and another, and another, slowly gathering strength for the finale. It struck the ground and exploded in a hellish fury of flames and shrapnel.
Smiling again he slipped the gun back beneath his coat and continued down the hall. The temperature get colder and colder as he walked, the corridor seemingly going on forever. While walking he thought back to the schematics given to him by her, and, surprise, surprise, the door didn't have an EDF. His smile broadened as a bullet whizzed by his head, a regular bullet.
"That was a warning shot," the woman holding the gun said.
"I've never known you to give warning shots, Sarah," he replied as the smile fled from his lips. "Or am I different? You wanna try to stop me, stick me back in that chair and erase my memory? You're welcome to try."
She fired again, this one hitting his right shoulder, and stopping as his skin hardened to the density of iron (which is actually stronger than steel, its weight made it unsuitable for construction). The dent the bullet made was forced outward and into its original shape. Sarah fired again, and again, both times the exact same thing happened. The bullets hit, dented, and were reshaped, no damage done to his internal parts.
"Move away from the door, I don't want to hurt you," he said with his hands up in a symbol of peace.
'Too bad, because I do,' a voice in his head said.
Moments later the wall panels began to warp and bend, wires and cables slipping out through the cracks, behind Sarah's back. Nate saw it, and was about to do something, but his body was frozen, something had taken over. He couldn't even speak; she had completely hacked his system. Given that he knew she could do it, he had never thought she would; never believing that restrictions were needed. The cables encircled Sarah in a flash, knocking her gun away in the process. Her hands were pulled behind her back and tied together, her ankles snatched and pulled apart, while her upper legs were pulled together, forcing her to her knees.
"What are you doing?" she asked as more curled around her neck.
'I'M NOT DOING IT!' he yelled from inside is mind.
"Because you're in his way," his own voice betrayed him.
"It's you..." Sarah would have said more, but the cables around her neck tightened.
'Stop this,' he said calmly, 'she's not a threat.'
"I know, but this will make sure she never will be."
'What about Alex?' he asked trying one of her own tactics. 'What do you think she would say if you keep going? What will she say if you kill her?'
"She doesn't have to know."
'But she will, they'll all know it was you, because they know who I am. Now get out of my head or I will force you out.'
That shocked her, he wouldn't force her out, she was part of him. But then she felt it, his pushing, pushing her out of the seat of power, and getting back into control. The changes weren't just inside him, but outside as well, the cables slackened and released Sarah. Nate shook his head, his already ragged hair getting more ruffled. Looking over at Sarah, he saw her back away.
"Go home, just get out of this while you still have a choice," he said and stepped up to the door.
"You're still going to let her out?"
"I want what's mine," he placed his hand against the door, feeling it open at his touch. "Besides, without her the Daedalus is useless."
"But she's a danger to those around her, including you," Sarah almost begged.
"She's only like that because she's been cooped up for almost nineteen years," he stepped into the elevator and turned around. "Now take my advice and go home, I'm sure your mother has been worried sick."
The doors closed before Sarah could reply, but it didn't matter what she was going to say, he already knew. It was almost time for him to be whole again, to be free from this empty feeling, and he was looking forward to it. As the elevator descended he removed his coat and pulled off the top part of his body suit, leaving it hanging from his waist. While he draped the coat over his forearm, his back split open, revealing the armor panels beneath. The panels then opened to reveal the circuitry within.
"It's almost time."
He turned around to face the door behind him, the one that led into the freezer. The door opened and in he stepped; it hadn't changed much, a few more computers sat next to the one he had previously used, but still only that one was connected to the girl. The others were for something else entirely, a quick scan using the wireless data ports told him everything he needed to know. The other computers were for gene sequencing, in layman's terms, cloning.
"Hm, I wonder why they would want to clone her," he took one step into the room and was immediately attacked from both sides.
Instantly his arms were raised and the weapons the two women carried clashed against his armor. Looking one way, he saw a large battle axe, and the other way was a broadsword. Looking above the weapons he saw two almost exact replicas of himself, except they were female. Both had their green hair cropped short around the bottoms of their ears. He then noticed the earrings they wore, one wore the hoop on her right ear, the other wore the hoop on her left ear.
"Wait a minute..." he leapt up from between them and landed a few feet away, turning around to see the two girls merge into one. "Shit."
"That's right, you're outnumbered, outmatched, and completely out of luck," the single woman said.
"What the hell kind of line is that?" Nate asked as he dropped his coat to the floor and settled into a stance resembling that of battoujutsu (search on the net and ye who are not familiar will find)
"We happen to think it is a very good line, better than anything you could come up with," she said as the sword and axe merged together as well.
"Probably, course, I don't spend my time coming up with catchphrases," he smirked and slowly drew his sword, the edge glowing a faint gold. "So who makes the first move?"
The two combatants eyed each other for a few seconds before Nate finally made the first move. His katana easily slashed through the clone's sword, and her arm, dropping the cybernetic lump to the floor. The clone dropped the sword handle to the floor, howling in pain. This didn't fool him for a second, they were faking, he just knew it. It was strange though, the seemed to be so much like her, it made him wonder, could she be the original, and he the copy.
"No, I won't accept that," he turned to look behind him, at her, if she was what he thought, then his existence meant nothing. 'If they could clone her so easily, but not me, what does it mean?'
'What is he thinking about?' the clone asked herself. 'Maybe he's confused.'
"Wait," he said holding his hand up. "Listen, why are you trying to stop me?"
"Because we were told to," she replied.
"But think about it, now that they have you, they have no need for us," he gestured to the girl behind him.
The clone thought about it, she really did, and the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. He was right, now that WooHP had her, he was no longer needed, but what about the other. Wasn't she needed for something, she couldn't quite remember. What Nate said next put her questions to rest.
"Anything she can do, you can do too, so she isn't needed either," he smiled a little, seeing the gears in her head turning. "let me take her out of here, so that they won't make anymore clones to replace you."
"An interesting point," she looked over at the girl. "So I should just kill you both?"
"No," he sighed, "we still have a purpose, outside of WooHP."
"Very well, take her and leave," she lowered her weapon, the lower arm that had been severed regrew and she stepped away.
"Alrighty," he pulled his suit back up and stepped over to one of the computers, turning off her connection to the system and lowering her to the floor.
Getting up he walked over to her and began to remove the plug in the base of her skull. The cables connecting her arms and legs to the ceiling released, shrinking and coiling around to form her arms and legs. His trench coat, having been tossed to the side, was lifted and draped around her body. Standing, he lifted her in his arms and started towards the door, nodding to the clone as he passed her. The elevator doors opened as he approached, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Take this, Dr. Rivage told me to give it to you," she held out a zip disk, which he took.
"What's on it?"
"I do not know, but she said it was important."
"Thank you," he walked forward, into the elevator, the doors closing behind him.
The elevator lurched as it started upward, but Nate could feel something was wrong with this. With this girl no longer hooked to the system, she could no longer give him information on what lay ahead. He was, for all tactical purposes, flying blind. But he knew they knew what he knew, by cloning this girl in his arms, they have a mix of his and her abilities; they now had a suitable pilot for the Daedalus. There was the annoying ding sound, and the doors opened, to a corridor full of armed guards.
"Shit," he whirled to the side getting behind the partition between elevator and hallway.
With his hands full it was obvious how long he would last, and his shield's energy reserves were running low, it probably wouldn't handle another barrage. There was more than one way out of here, but only one came to mind at the moment. He knew they were smart enough not to come in, not a single one could match him in close combat. The back of his suit ripped open, the wings opening again, circling around in front, connecting, forming a shield. The armor plating on his back was thicker than in the front, a precaution in case this happened.
"Here we go," he jumped into the door and surged forward, plowing his way through the confused guards.
They quickly regained their composure and leveled their guns at him, firing upon his back. Once he cleared the edge of the group, the wings swung around behind him and shielded his back as he ran. His boots ground against the floor as he rounded a corner, and was face to face with Jerry, with the Clover-droid next to him. His father lifted a small gun, designed to emit an EMP and began to squeeze the trigger. With little left to do, Nate rammed his shoulder against the wall panel next to him, it gave way to reveal a maintenance tunnel.
In he went with the girl, and swiftly rounded a corner, and then another. He knew this tunnel was here, but didn't know where it went, odds were likely Jerry did know. He ground to a halt again, knowing what had to be done; it might have been a little extreme, but there was no other way. Placing the girl down, he unholstered his colt, aiming it upward, the box on top exploded outward, revealing the dynamo within. The gun began to grow, forming only a partially transformed Angel Arm, the full one wouldn't fit. Taking one last look at the girl, he retracted it, sure he would be unharmed, but about her.
Instead he grabbed his sword and sliced a hole in the wall behind him, exactly where he thought he would be, the hangar. What amazing luck, the skyport was opening, and someone was returning. Opening his wings he lifted the girl and was off, rocketing to the opening in the ceiling. The plane that was descending opened two ports on the front and opened fire on them, giving Nate no other means of protection but his shield. The shots fired bounced off, but that was the limit of Nate's energy, the shield failed, but he had gotten far enough that he was up through the hole, and was now rushing up the shaft.
It was about halfway up when he hit a barrier, a powerful light screen, so he burst through a window into an office. The woman working at the desk turned to look at him, cringing back in her chair. The sudden appearance freaked her out, and the wings and girl didn't help either. He stood, brushed the glass off, and wiped it off his counterpart's face, picked her up and turned to the woman.
"You new here?" he asked while moving to the door.
"Y-yeah," she said looking as if she were about to piss herself.
"Well, don't dig too deep into what goes on here, might get in trouble," he said as he walked through the door.
Looking one way, then the other, he was able to determine that he was on the thirtieth floor. The sound of footsteps filled his ears as he picked a direction and decided to take his chances. All he had to do was find a window, but with his current position near the center of the building that would be difficult. He shifted the girl over his shoulder, so as the grasp his gun. Checking it to be loaded with normal shells, he closed the chamber and continued on his way. Upon rounding another corner, there was Jerry again.
"How...?" he looked over at the elevator next to his father. "Oh."
"Nate, there is no need for this, just give her to me and you can go," Jerry held out his hand.
"Why, with her DNA, and mine, on record here, you can make endless copies. Why are we so important?" he stepped back. "You have the two down in the freezer, they could easily take my place, and hers."
"Either give her to me or I cannot guarantee the safety of Sam and Alex."
Nate blinked, twice actually, then started laughing, there was no way his father would sacrifice two of his best agents. There was no way in hell that this girl was that important, unless, he was right, she was the original.
"Tell me something," he gently placed her on the floor, leaning her against a cubicle wall. "Is she the original and I the copy?"
"No, she's your twin, conjoint twin actually," Jerry folded his arms, he was getting impatient. "The scar on your side, the one we told you was because of a faulty kidney, that's where you were connected."
"So, our merging, isn't my retrieving a part of myself, but something different?"
"No, it is what you thought before."
"Then what about Chaos?"
"He was a failed experiment, you're DNA is slightly mutated, and can't be cloned."
Nate kept one eye on his sister, and the other on Jerry, but his hand swung up, over his shoulder, and fired a round into the head of the approaching guard.
"Let us go," he smiled wide, almost evilly, "or else."
The gun was then pointed down, at the floor, and slowly began to grow again.
"You wouldn't..."
"Oh yes, I would, Daedalus is directly below us, and the resulting explosion would travel up the shaft, killing everyone in this building," the arm was half-formed by now, and already taking on the acute characteristics of his ultimate weapon. "Let us leave, and you won't be the cause of a great loss of life. You can keep tabs on us, even track us with the satellites, it won't be that hard, considering the arrangement I'm in with Alex. And if you ever need my help, you might, never know, just ask. Agreed?"
Jerry's face turned a variety of colors as he contemplated this; his own son planning to kill him, himself, his sister, and everyone else in the building. He closed his eyes and opened them, taking his sweet time to answer, and all the while Nate's arm was getting bigger, and amassing more power. There wasn't much else he could do.
"Um, what arrangement with Alex?" he asked, stalling for time.
"I owe her a date," the green-haired assassin said simply. "Your answer, please."
"Oh, right, yes I suppose you may leave, but we will be tracking you," Jerry stepped back into the elevator and the doors closed.
"I guess that's my cue," he picked up the girl and started for the elevator at the other end of the hall, the one would take him to the lobby.
The doors opened as he approached, and the guards inside stepped out and apart, some of them saluting him as he walked past them, into the elevator. For the second time in almost fifteen minutes, he felt the lurch. He looked down at the girl, who, amazingly, was still unconscious. Perhaps the shock of being removed from the system was too much, she probably felt like he looked. At the moment all he wanted to do was get into a nice hot shower.
He hit the lobby and stepped out onto the carpet, looking over at the receptionists, who, like the woman before, cringe slightly in their chairs. His faced kept straight, he turned around and pushed open the front doors with his back. Turning back, he saw his bike was right where Clover-droid had parked it. Walking across the wide sidewalk, he placed her in front of him on the bike, so she wouldn't fall, and revved the engine a few times. People turned to look at him, it's a natural reaction, but he paid them no mind, he knew where he needed to go.
=
There was a knock at Sam's door, and she got up from her couch to answer it. Alex, who had arrived there with her, got up too, hoping it was who she thought it was. Sam opened the door, and there was Nate, still holding his sister in his arms. He was looking completely disheveled, his hair had fallen loose of its braid, and the back of his body suit was torn open.
"Hey, mind of we come in?"
"Uh, sure, come on," she stepped aside to allow his access. "So this is the girl you told us about?"
"Yeah."
He placed her on Sam's circular couch, and dropped onto the seat next to her. Alex moved up next to him, while Sam took to inspecting the girl. The first thing she noticed, and this caused her entire face to go red, was that the girl was naked beneath the coat. Quickly closing it she jumped back a bit and sat down. Nate chuckled a little, seeing her reaction.
"Oh come on Sam, we're all naked beneath our clothes," he laughed a little more.
"Nate, how did it go, seeing as how you're here it must have gone well, did you see Jerry, what happened to the Clover-droid?" Alex rapid-fired question at him, but she was silenced when he placed a hand over her mouth.
"I'll tell you later," he said quietly, then turned back to Sam. "Mind if we use your shower?"
"Huh...oh...yeah sure, upstairs, third door on the left," she replied, still a little shaken, pointing to the stairs.
"Thanks," he lifted her up and started towards the stairs.
"Wait, both of you?" Alex asked, somewhat confused.
"Yes," he looked over at her, "what's your point?"
"No point, nevermind," she waved her arms in front of her.
He eyed her a little longer then turned and went for the stairs, at the moment his legs, though enhanced, felt like they were about to break. Grudgingly he made it up the stairs and started down the hall. Upon opening the door he found a very spacious bathroom, pink in color, of course, there was a shower, with almost 50 sq. ft. of floor space, and a massive hot tub. Unzipping the front of his suit, he let it fall to the floor around him, then he began pulling the coat off his sister.
He carried her into the shower and started the water, turning it almost all the way up, better to get the goo that was in her hair. Grabbing some shampoo off the counter to his left, he squirted some on his hand and started to work it into her hair; thank god she was unconscious. Be that as it may, he knew she knew, somehow, what was happening to her; plus there was the small smile that played across her lips.
As the water fell it his him in the face, some of it mingling with the scarlet tears that were falling from his eyes. These, though, were not tears of anger, but joy, they were free, finally free. Given that it wasn't complete freedom, he would no longer be hounded by his father, or in the shadow of his mother. He knew she would be proud of what he'd done, she was the one who told him how WOOHP could ruin a person's life.
"Don't worry, it'll stop hurting soon," he whispered as he grabbed the body lotion.
Once he was done washing her, he removed her from the shower and wrapped a couple towels around her. He then stepped back in and began washing himself. It took far less time than washing her, seeing as how he had much less hair, and didn't have to be so careful with the scrubbing. Finishing up he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist.
"Well, we might as well get started," he span around and saw her standing there, in the nude.
"Might as well," he replied as long strips of metal lifted from his arms, revealing several plugs, ten in all.
Her fingers began to extend, reaching outward to him, the ends inserting themselves into his arms. There was a slight pain as a long protrusion erupted from his palm, connecting with a plug that had appeared in her palm. His abdomen opened to reveal a large number of cables, which uncoiled to plug into the many plugs which had pushed through her back. And, finally, the armor plates beneath his chest opened, and out pushed a single cable, which whipped around behind her and connected to the plug at the base of her brain. Her hair wrapping around the cable to keep it out of the way.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Mmhmm," she nodded.
Slowly she began moving towards him, the cables between them getting shorter as she did so. She turned around as she moved, and soon her back was pressed against his front. Her head was pulled against his chest, and her neck disappeared as her back was being drawn into his abdomen. The front of his legs opened, and cables extended from each one to wrap around hers as they were merged into one. Her arms acted much the same as her legs, getting wrapped in the cords that connected them. Soon she was completely engulfed, and the armor plating closed where there were still parts of her showing.
"Ah," he dropped to his hands and knees.
Quickly realizing what had happened, he stood and moved to gather his suit and coat. It was strange having her inside his mind, but this time it was different, it was like she was there, but unconscious again. He could feel her mind inside his own, but decided to leave her be for now; she needed to rest. He was just pulling his coat on when there was a knock on the door. Upon opening it, he saw Alex, an odd look on her face. Cocking his head a little he looked down at her.
"Yes?"
"Are you all right, you've been up here for more than an hour," she said as her eyes traversed the room, trying to see where the girl went.
"I'm fine, never felt better."
"That's great, but, uh, where's she go?"
"She's inside," he placed a hand on his chest.
"Oh, well, I was wondering..."
"Yes, I talked to Jerry, I've been let go," he answered her question before she could finish.
"That's great, but I was wondering where you wanted to go for dinner tonight," she giggled, leaving him looking stupid.
"Oh, right, you choose, I guess," he said as he turned on the fan to remove the moisture. "I've never had much chance for eating out."
"Okay, I know this great place that'll be just perfect," she almost squealed in that childlike manner she had.
The part of the suit that covered his hands receded back as he placed it on her head. After ruffling her hair slightly he walked by her and down the hall, and Alex could have sworn his hips were moving more than normal. But she just shook her head and put it outside her mind, then she noticed his hair was a little longer. Deciding not to think about it too much, she just shrugged and followed.
'Monica, is this how it's supposed to feel?' he asked himself.
'I'm not sure, maybe,' she replied.
TBC
I have to stop there, I just can't keep going. Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, first my computer went down (the stairs), then a whole row of keys on my laptop stopped working, and I tried to use notepad and wordpad on the spare computer, but kept getting these weird symbols. Oh well, it may be a month late, but I had my reasons, technical difficulties and the lot. But, hey, I got a new computer, and will hopefully have the next chapter up by the middle of August, maybe sooner. Oh, and some parts of the next chapter will be written by my girlfriend, she's much better at mushy love scenes than I am, so keep that in mind.
Here it is, new chapter, finally. Sorry for the long wait, I've been working on things. School, work, trying to find a better job than the one I have, the usual stuff.
" " – speech
' ' - thought
( ) – author's notes
= scene change
== flashback
The Assassin: WOOHP Files
Chapter 7
===========================================
The Clover-droid walked through the front doors of WOOHP International, through the lobby, and into the elevator. No one there seemed to notice the green-clad man thrown over her shoulder, chained up. Since no one notice, they didn't see the small smile he wore, or the twitch of his eyebrow.
"Jerry's office," Clover-droid spoke and the elevator learched downward.
Slowly she placed him the floor in the corner, inspecting the chains wrapped around him, holding his arms to his sides and his ankles and knees together. When she was finished she stood up and watched the digital numbers tick off the floor. Just because she was a droid didn't mean she didn't get bored once in a while. With a sigh she looked over her shoulder at her "target", it still felt strange calling him that, but it's what he said she should call him. As for why he would want to come back here, that's what confused her even more. Why go to a place where everyone wants to kill you?
'Don't try to think about it, you're task is almost complete," a voice spoke in her head, his voice. 'Just a little further.'
An almost unnoticeable nod from the robot answered his message as she turned to look down at him. The elevator jerked to a halt and the smile on his face disappeared. As the door opened the Clover-droid hefted him onto her shoulder and turned to exit the box. Into the spacious office she stepped, the old man sitting behind the large desk reading some files from another teams mission.
"There you are, what took you?" he asked not looking at her. "Where are the other two?"
"He was a tricky one to catch, the others got tired and went home."
"Good, I'll give them a call," he reached for the phone.
"There will be no need for that," Jerry heard a familiar voice say.
He finally looked over at the Clover-bot, who was setting Nate down on his feet. The chains binding him snapped in several places and fell to the floor, the sound echoing through the cavernous office. He was about to reach for the alarm when a shot rang out, blowing away half his desk.
"I really should thank you for designing these red caps, so much more effective than regular rounds," Nate said as he holstered his gun.
"How...?" Jerry wanted to ask but he was cut off.
"Even you aren't stupid enough to not know how. You built me to be ready for any situations and never overlook little details, such as to check who is on the other side of a door," Nate snapped causing Jerry to fall back into his chair, he had stood slightly when reaching for the alarm and never sat down. "Now then, I believe you know why I'm here."
"No, I don't think I do," Jerry said as his hand slid under his desk for the secondary alarm. "Why don't you tell me?"
"Don't play dumb Jerry, if you do, Clover might just have to give you a hug," he nodded to the android standing next to him. "And with her strength I don't think you'd last long."
"She can't hurt me, it's not in her programming," Jerry smirked defiantly.
"Hehe, programming can be changed," he chuckled. "Now how about you just hand her over to me and I won't have to kill anyone."
"I don't know who you're talking about," Jerry shrugged while listening for the sound of footsteps.
Nate sighed, apparently there was no getting his father to admit that he'd lost control of the situation. Shaking his head he nodded to Clover and turned to head out the door. Clover noticed his gesture and moved towards Jerry, who started to reach under his desk. When he came back up with a gun, Clover was right in front of him, knocking the gun away and wrapping her arms around him, squeezing his arms to his sides.
"I told you not to resist," Nate said as the doors began closing. "Clover, hold onto him till I get back."
"Okay," she replied with a bit of a bubbly look on her face.
"You don't have to do this, I-I'll give her to you," Jerry yelled after him as the doors finally sealed shut.
=
'Too late,' Nate thought as he began walking down the hall, he had something more important to do than listen the ramblings of an old man. "Now, where was that door again?"
He stopped in front of an elevator and tried the button, the doors refused to open; in fact, the light wasn't even on. Sighing, he knew what this was, level 1 system lockdown, all elevators, except the one leading to Jerry's office, were shut down, all doors that were electronically controlled were stripped of power. Personnel were on high-alert status, all were issued pulse rifles and PESS. All the non-military personnel had been moved to a secure area, a bunker-like establishment that was protected by an EDF (Energy Dispersion Field). He could blast at it with his angel arm all day and not even make a dent.
"They can't take her there anyway, the sudden change in temperature would kill her, even with her cybernetic enhancements," he said though he was alone. "Probably should have brought Clover with me, even she can add a constructive comment now and then."
Rounding a corner he was forced back around by a barrage of green lightening which flashed from a horde of pulse rifles. Smirking he pulled his Colt and check the magazine, five bullets, two red caps, two blue caps and one green. Making sure the green was last he rounded the corner and fired off a red cap. The bullet streaked through the air and hit the ceiling above the guards; they dropped their guns and held up their PESS, shielding them on all sides from falling debris. Nate fired off a blue cap, which ripped through their shields, reaching the center before exploding outward. A few seconds later a small hole appeared in space, sucking them all in screaming; it then faded into non-existence.
The shields fell to the floor, clacking and spinning slightly like large coins, before settling down. He reopened the chamber and removed the other blue cap, turning it to read the side.
"DANGER: Interdimensional Matter Transporter," he read aloud, having not actually ever read what the blue ones did before.
Quickly he removed that one and the green one, not even wanting to know what it did. Reaching into his pocket he took out two red caps and two orange caps. Slipping them into the chamber and then closing it, he continued his trek down the hall. He stepped in front of a stairwell door and bashed his hand against it; the door crumpled and fell away. Taking his time he descended the ten flights of stairs he needed to get to the level he wanted.
At the bottom was a proximity mine, which blew up as soon as he reached final landing. He had seen it coming and activated his shield in time to not be burned. The shield fell and he stepped through the destroyed door to another hail of pulse fire. The bolts of green lightening were poorly aimed at best and were constantly missing; which is odd because each rifle is inspected and calibrated to perfection.
He reached beneath his trench coat and pulled his shotgun, taking aim and firing, the shot removing two of the ten guards. He stowed the shotgun and retrieved his grenade launcher, loading an orange-capped grenade. A glowing orange ball launched from the M203, struck one guard, and immediately ricocheted to another, and another, and another, slowly gathering strength for the finale. It struck the ground and exploded in a hellish fury of flames and shrapnel.
Smiling again he slipped the gun back beneath his coat and continued down the hall. The temperature get colder and colder as he walked, the corridor seemingly going on forever. While walking he thought back to the schematics given to him by her, and, surprise, surprise, the door didn't have an EDF. His smile broadened as a bullet whizzed by his head, a regular bullet.
"That was a warning shot," the woman holding the gun said.
"I've never known you to give warning shots, Sarah," he replied as the smile fled from his lips. "Or am I different? You wanna try to stop me, stick me back in that chair and erase my memory? You're welcome to try."
She fired again, this one hitting his right shoulder, and stopping as his skin hardened to the density of iron (which is actually stronger than steel, its weight made it unsuitable for construction). The dent the bullet made was forced outward and into its original shape. Sarah fired again, and again, both times the exact same thing happened. The bullets hit, dented, and were reshaped, no damage done to his internal parts.
"Move away from the door, I don't want to hurt you," he said with his hands up in a symbol of peace.
'Too bad, because I do,' a voice in his head said.
Moments later the wall panels began to warp and bend, wires and cables slipping out through the cracks, behind Sarah's back. Nate saw it, and was about to do something, but his body was frozen, something had taken over. He couldn't even speak; she had completely hacked his system. Given that he knew she could do it, he had never thought she would; never believing that restrictions were needed. The cables encircled Sarah in a flash, knocking her gun away in the process. Her hands were pulled behind her back and tied together, her ankles snatched and pulled apart, while her upper legs were pulled together, forcing her to her knees.
"What are you doing?" she asked as more curled around her neck.
'I'M NOT DOING IT!' he yelled from inside is mind.
"Because you're in his way," his own voice betrayed him.
"It's you..." Sarah would have said more, but the cables around her neck tightened.
'Stop this,' he said calmly, 'she's not a threat.'
"I know, but this will make sure she never will be."
'What about Alex?' he asked trying one of her own tactics. 'What do you think she would say if you keep going? What will she say if you kill her?'
"She doesn't have to know."
'But she will, they'll all know it was you, because they know who I am. Now get out of my head or I will force you out.'
That shocked her, he wouldn't force her out, she was part of him. But then she felt it, his pushing, pushing her out of the seat of power, and getting back into control. The changes weren't just inside him, but outside as well, the cables slackened and released Sarah. Nate shook his head, his already ragged hair getting more ruffled. Looking over at Sarah, he saw her back away.
"Go home, just get out of this while you still have a choice," he said and stepped up to the door.
"You're still going to let her out?"
"I want what's mine," he placed his hand against the door, feeling it open at his touch. "Besides, without her the Daedalus is useless."
"But she's a danger to those around her, including you," Sarah almost begged.
"She's only like that because she's been cooped up for almost nineteen years," he stepped into the elevator and turned around. "Now take my advice and go home, I'm sure your mother has been worried sick."
The doors closed before Sarah could reply, but it didn't matter what she was going to say, he already knew. It was almost time for him to be whole again, to be free from this empty feeling, and he was looking forward to it. As the elevator descended he removed his coat and pulled off the top part of his body suit, leaving it hanging from his waist. While he draped the coat over his forearm, his back split open, revealing the armor panels beneath. The panels then opened to reveal the circuitry within.
"It's almost time."
He turned around to face the door behind him, the one that led into the freezer. The door opened and in he stepped; it hadn't changed much, a few more computers sat next to the one he had previously used, but still only that one was connected to the girl. The others were for something else entirely, a quick scan using the wireless data ports told him everything he needed to know. The other computers were for gene sequencing, in layman's terms, cloning.
"Hm, I wonder why they would want to clone her," he took one step into the room and was immediately attacked from both sides.
Instantly his arms were raised and the weapons the two women carried clashed against his armor. Looking one way, he saw a large battle axe, and the other way was a broadsword. Looking above the weapons he saw two almost exact replicas of himself, except they were female. Both had their green hair cropped short around the bottoms of their ears. He then noticed the earrings they wore, one wore the hoop on her right ear, the other wore the hoop on her left ear.
"Wait a minute..." he leapt up from between them and landed a few feet away, turning around to see the two girls merge into one. "Shit."
"That's right, you're outnumbered, outmatched, and completely out of luck," the single woman said.
"What the hell kind of line is that?" Nate asked as he dropped his coat to the floor and settled into a stance resembling that of battoujutsu (search on the net and ye who are not familiar will find)
"We happen to think it is a very good line, better than anything you could come up with," she said as the sword and axe merged together as well.
"Probably, course, I don't spend my time coming up with catchphrases," he smirked and slowly drew his sword, the edge glowing a faint gold. "So who makes the first move?"
The two combatants eyed each other for a few seconds before Nate finally made the first move. His katana easily slashed through the clone's sword, and her arm, dropping the cybernetic lump to the floor. The clone dropped the sword handle to the floor, howling in pain. This didn't fool him for a second, they were faking, he just knew it. It was strange though, the seemed to be so much like her, it made him wonder, could she be the original, and he the copy.
"No, I won't accept that," he turned to look behind him, at her, if she was what he thought, then his existence meant nothing. 'If they could clone her so easily, but not me, what does it mean?'
'What is he thinking about?' the clone asked herself. 'Maybe he's confused.'
"Wait," he said holding his hand up. "Listen, why are you trying to stop me?"
"Because we were told to," she replied.
"But think about it, now that they have you, they have no need for us," he gestured to the girl behind him.
The clone thought about it, she really did, and the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. He was right, now that WooHP had her, he was no longer needed, but what about the other. Wasn't she needed for something, she couldn't quite remember. What Nate said next put her questions to rest.
"Anything she can do, you can do too, so she isn't needed either," he smiled a little, seeing the gears in her head turning. "let me take her out of here, so that they won't make anymore clones to replace you."
"An interesting point," she looked over at the girl. "So I should just kill you both?"
"No," he sighed, "we still have a purpose, outside of WooHP."
"Very well, take her and leave," she lowered her weapon, the lower arm that had been severed regrew and she stepped away.
"Alrighty," he pulled his suit back up and stepped over to one of the computers, turning off her connection to the system and lowering her to the floor.
Getting up he walked over to her and began to remove the plug in the base of her skull. The cables connecting her arms and legs to the ceiling released, shrinking and coiling around to form her arms and legs. His trench coat, having been tossed to the side, was lifted and draped around her body. Standing, he lifted her in his arms and started towards the door, nodding to the clone as he passed her. The elevator doors opened as he approached, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Take this, Dr. Rivage told me to give it to you," she held out a zip disk, which he took.
"What's on it?"
"I do not know, but she said it was important."
"Thank you," he walked forward, into the elevator, the doors closing behind him.
The elevator lurched as it started upward, but Nate could feel something was wrong with this. With this girl no longer hooked to the system, she could no longer give him information on what lay ahead. He was, for all tactical purposes, flying blind. But he knew they knew what he knew, by cloning this girl in his arms, they have a mix of his and her abilities; they now had a suitable pilot for the Daedalus. There was the annoying ding sound, and the doors opened, to a corridor full of armed guards.
"Shit," he whirled to the side getting behind the partition between elevator and hallway.
With his hands full it was obvious how long he would last, and his shield's energy reserves were running low, it probably wouldn't handle another barrage. There was more than one way out of here, but only one came to mind at the moment. He knew they were smart enough not to come in, not a single one could match him in close combat. The back of his suit ripped open, the wings opening again, circling around in front, connecting, forming a shield. The armor plating on his back was thicker than in the front, a precaution in case this happened.
"Here we go," he jumped into the door and surged forward, plowing his way through the confused guards.
They quickly regained their composure and leveled their guns at him, firing upon his back. Once he cleared the edge of the group, the wings swung around behind him and shielded his back as he ran. His boots ground against the floor as he rounded a corner, and was face to face with Jerry, with the Clover-droid next to him. His father lifted a small gun, designed to emit an EMP and began to squeeze the trigger. With little left to do, Nate rammed his shoulder against the wall panel next to him, it gave way to reveal a maintenance tunnel.
In he went with the girl, and swiftly rounded a corner, and then another. He knew this tunnel was here, but didn't know where it went, odds were likely Jerry did know. He ground to a halt again, knowing what had to be done; it might have been a little extreme, but there was no other way. Placing the girl down, he unholstered his colt, aiming it upward, the box on top exploded outward, revealing the dynamo within. The gun began to grow, forming only a partially transformed Angel Arm, the full one wouldn't fit. Taking one last look at the girl, he retracted it, sure he would be unharmed, but about her.
Instead he grabbed his sword and sliced a hole in the wall behind him, exactly where he thought he would be, the hangar. What amazing luck, the skyport was opening, and someone was returning. Opening his wings he lifted the girl and was off, rocketing to the opening in the ceiling. The plane that was descending opened two ports on the front and opened fire on them, giving Nate no other means of protection but his shield. The shots fired bounced off, but that was the limit of Nate's energy, the shield failed, but he had gotten far enough that he was up through the hole, and was now rushing up the shaft.
It was about halfway up when he hit a barrier, a powerful light screen, so he burst through a window into an office. The woman working at the desk turned to look at him, cringing back in her chair. The sudden appearance freaked her out, and the wings and girl didn't help either. He stood, brushed the glass off, and wiped it off his counterpart's face, picked her up and turned to the woman.
"You new here?" he asked while moving to the door.
"Y-yeah," she said looking as if she were about to piss herself.
"Well, don't dig too deep into what goes on here, might get in trouble," he said as he walked through the door.
Looking one way, then the other, he was able to determine that he was on the thirtieth floor. The sound of footsteps filled his ears as he picked a direction and decided to take his chances. All he had to do was find a window, but with his current position near the center of the building that would be difficult. He shifted the girl over his shoulder, so as the grasp his gun. Checking it to be loaded with normal shells, he closed the chamber and continued on his way. Upon rounding another corner, there was Jerry again.
"How...?" he looked over at the elevator next to his father. "Oh."
"Nate, there is no need for this, just give her to me and you can go," Jerry held out his hand.
"Why, with her DNA, and mine, on record here, you can make endless copies. Why are we so important?" he stepped back. "You have the two down in the freezer, they could easily take my place, and hers."
"Either give her to me or I cannot guarantee the safety of Sam and Alex."
Nate blinked, twice actually, then started laughing, there was no way his father would sacrifice two of his best agents. There was no way in hell that this girl was that important, unless, he was right, she was the original.
"Tell me something," he gently placed her on the floor, leaning her against a cubicle wall. "Is she the original and I the copy?"
"No, she's your twin, conjoint twin actually," Jerry folded his arms, he was getting impatient. "The scar on your side, the one we told you was because of a faulty kidney, that's where you were connected."
"So, our merging, isn't my retrieving a part of myself, but something different?"
"No, it is what you thought before."
"Then what about Chaos?"
"He was a failed experiment, you're DNA is slightly mutated, and can't be cloned."
Nate kept one eye on his sister, and the other on Jerry, but his hand swung up, over his shoulder, and fired a round into the head of the approaching guard.
"Let us go," he smiled wide, almost evilly, "or else."
The gun was then pointed down, at the floor, and slowly began to grow again.
"You wouldn't..."
"Oh yes, I would, Daedalus is directly below us, and the resulting explosion would travel up the shaft, killing everyone in this building," the arm was half-formed by now, and already taking on the acute characteristics of his ultimate weapon. "Let us leave, and you won't be the cause of a great loss of life. You can keep tabs on us, even track us with the satellites, it won't be that hard, considering the arrangement I'm in with Alex. And if you ever need my help, you might, never know, just ask. Agreed?"
Jerry's face turned a variety of colors as he contemplated this; his own son planning to kill him, himself, his sister, and everyone else in the building. He closed his eyes and opened them, taking his sweet time to answer, and all the while Nate's arm was getting bigger, and amassing more power. There wasn't much else he could do.
"Um, what arrangement with Alex?" he asked, stalling for time.
"I owe her a date," the green-haired assassin said simply. "Your answer, please."
"Oh, right, yes I suppose you may leave, but we will be tracking you," Jerry stepped back into the elevator and the doors closed.
"I guess that's my cue," he picked up the girl and started for the elevator at the other end of the hall, the one would take him to the lobby.
The doors opened as he approached, and the guards inside stepped out and apart, some of them saluting him as he walked past them, into the elevator. For the second time in almost fifteen minutes, he felt the lurch. He looked down at the girl, who, amazingly, was still unconscious. Perhaps the shock of being removed from the system was too much, she probably felt like he looked. At the moment all he wanted to do was get into a nice hot shower.
He hit the lobby and stepped out onto the carpet, looking over at the receptionists, who, like the woman before, cringe slightly in their chairs. His faced kept straight, he turned around and pushed open the front doors with his back. Turning back, he saw his bike was right where Clover-droid had parked it. Walking across the wide sidewalk, he placed her in front of him on the bike, so she wouldn't fall, and revved the engine a few times. People turned to look at him, it's a natural reaction, but he paid them no mind, he knew where he needed to go.
=
There was a knock at Sam's door, and she got up from her couch to answer it. Alex, who had arrived there with her, got up too, hoping it was who she thought it was. Sam opened the door, and there was Nate, still holding his sister in his arms. He was looking completely disheveled, his hair had fallen loose of its braid, and the back of his body suit was torn open.
"Hey, mind of we come in?"
"Uh, sure, come on," she stepped aside to allow his access. "So this is the girl you told us about?"
"Yeah."
He placed her on Sam's circular couch, and dropped onto the seat next to her. Alex moved up next to him, while Sam took to inspecting the girl. The first thing she noticed, and this caused her entire face to go red, was that the girl was naked beneath the coat. Quickly closing it she jumped back a bit and sat down. Nate chuckled a little, seeing her reaction.
"Oh come on Sam, we're all naked beneath our clothes," he laughed a little more.
"Nate, how did it go, seeing as how you're here it must have gone well, did you see Jerry, what happened to the Clover-droid?" Alex rapid-fired question at him, but she was silenced when he placed a hand over her mouth.
"I'll tell you later," he said quietly, then turned back to Sam. "Mind if we use your shower?"
"Huh...oh...yeah sure, upstairs, third door on the left," she replied, still a little shaken, pointing to the stairs.
"Thanks," he lifted her up and started towards the stairs.
"Wait, both of you?" Alex asked, somewhat confused.
"Yes," he looked over at her, "what's your point?"
"No point, nevermind," she waved her arms in front of her.
He eyed her a little longer then turned and went for the stairs, at the moment his legs, though enhanced, felt like they were about to break. Grudgingly he made it up the stairs and started down the hall. Upon opening the door he found a very spacious bathroom, pink in color, of course, there was a shower, with almost 50 sq. ft. of floor space, and a massive hot tub. Unzipping the front of his suit, he let it fall to the floor around him, then he began pulling the coat off his sister.
He carried her into the shower and started the water, turning it almost all the way up, better to get the goo that was in her hair. Grabbing some shampoo off the counter to his left, he squirted some on his hand and started to work it into her hair; thank god she was unconscious. Be that as it may, he knew she knew, somehow, what was happening to her; plus there was the small smile that played across her lips.
As the water fell it his him in the face, some of it mingling with the scarlet tears that were falling from his eyes. These, though, were not tears of anger, but joy, they were free, finally free. Given that it wasn't complete freedom, he would no longer be hounded by his father, or in the shadow of his mother. He knew she would be proud of what he'd done, she was the one who told him how WOOHP could ruin a person's life.
"Don't worry, it'll stop hurting soon," he whispered as he grabbed the body lotion.
Once he was done washing her, he removed her from the shower and wrapped a couple towels around her. He then stepped back in and began washing himself. It took far less time than washing her, seeing as how he had much less hair, and didn't have to be so careful with the scrubbing. Finishing up he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist.
"Well, we might as well get started," he span around and saw her standing there, in the nude.
"Might as well," he replied as long strips of metal lifted from his arms, revealing several plugs, ten in all.
Her fingers began to extend, reaching outward to him, the ends inserting themselves into his arms. There was a slight pain as a long protrusion erupted from his palm, connecting with a plug that had appeared in her palm. His abdomen opened to reveal a large number of cables, which uncoiled to plug into the many plugs which had pushed through her back. And, finally, the armor plates beneath his chest opened, and out pushed a single cable, which whipped around behind her and connected to the plug at the base of her brain. Her hair wrapping around the cable to keep it out of the way.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Mmhmm," she nodded.
Slowly she began moving towards him, the cables between them getting shorter as she did so. She turned around as she moved, and soon her back was pressed against his front. Her head was pulled against his chest, and her neck disappeared as her back was being drawn into his abdomen. The front of his legs opened, and cables extended from each one to wrap around hers as they were merged into one. Her arms acted much the same as her legs, getting wrapped in the cords that connected them. Soon she was completely engulfed, and the armor plating closed where there were still parts of her showing.
"Ah," he dropped to his hands and knees.
Quickly realizing what had happened, he stood and moved to gather his suit and coat. It was strange having her inside his mind, but this time it was different, it was like she was there, but unconscious again. He could feel her mind inside his own, but decided to leave her be for now; she needed to rest. He was just pulling his coat on when there was a knock on the door. Upon opening it, he saw Alex, an odd look on her face. Cocking his head a little he looked down at her.
"Yes?"
"Are you all right, you've been up here for more than an hour," she said as her eyes traversed the room, trying to see where the girl went.
"I'm fine, never felt better."
"That's great, but, uh, where's she go?"
"She's inside," he placed a hand on his chest.
"Oh, well, I was wondering..."
"Yes, I talked to Jerry, I've been let go," he answered her question before she could finish.
"That's great, but I was wondering where you wanted to go for dinner tonight," she giggled, leaving him looking stupid.
"Oh, right, you choose, I guess," he said as he turned on the fan to remove the moisture. "I've never had much chance for eating out."
"Okay, I know this great place that'll be just perfect," she almost squealed in that childlike manner she had.
The part of the suit that covered his hands receded back as he placed it on her head. After ruffling her hair slightly he walked by her and down the hall, and Alex could have sworn his hips were moving more than normal. But she just shook her head and put it outside her mind, then she noticed his hair was a little longer. Deciding not to think about it too much, she just shrugged and followed.
'Monica, is this how it's supposed to feel?' he asked himself.
'I'm not sure, maybe,' she replied.
TBC
I have to stop there, I just can't keep going. Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, first my computer went down (the stairs), then a whole row of keys on my laptop stopped working, and I tried to use notepad and wordpad on the spare computer, but kept getting these weird symbols. Oh well, it may be a month late, but I had my reasons, technical difficulties and the lot. But, hey, I got a new computer, and will hopefully have the next chapter up by the middle of August, maybe sooner. Oh, and some parts of the next chapter will be written by my girlfriend, she's much better at mushy love scenes than I am, so keep that in mind.