Chapter III
Some random location, in the Pacific US…
"Alright, Anzac, anything new?" Nick radioed to the kangaroo-like experiment, who happened to have been sitting in an abandoned steel mill just outside a small town, observing Leafgreen's movement.
"Nope, they're just as quiet as ever…" he responded, taking a small drag on his cigarette before tossing it into an ashtray nearby. "I'm starting to wonder why I'm even here; they're not doing anything…"
"They're up to something…just be patient…" Nick advised. "Remember, shoot to INCAPACITATE, not to KILL." After he cut the transmission, Anzac, staring down the scope of his rifle, arched backwards and let out a yawn, coupled with stretching his arms. Apparently, he arched back far enough to let his eyes reveal someone approaching. It was tall…and had an odd shape…it was an experiment.
"Makani?" he gave a surprised cry when the engineer entered. "What are you doing here?"
"Just thought I might build a dispenser for ya, whenever you get hungry or thirsty or something like that…" he shrugged, his voice as soothing as ever. "Is that alright?"
"No, not a problem!" the sniper smiled, seating himself again and staring through the scope. He shouldn't have done that…as Makani was actually Agent 3 in disguise, revealed with a quiet puff of smoke. He flipped out his Butterfly Knife, AKA Balisong, and prepared to execute a backstab. However, Anzac knew it wasn't Makani, because he was too busy making chimes back at the base, so he took his rifle, and slammed the butt of it against the spy's face. Obviously shocked, he still kept his professional cool and fought with the sniper. Kicking the rifle away, Anzac grabbed whatever touched his hand first.
Jar of urine.
"GODDAMNIT, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Agent 3 screamed when the jar was thrown at him, not closed.
"Well where ELSE am I going to put it?" Anzac asked, shrugging. Now infuriated AND foul-smelling, the spy brought out his MK23, his personal favorite, and shot the kangaroo not in the arm…but on the bandolier. Anzac's movements caused a part of the bandolier to face him, and when Agent 3's bullet hit it, it caused it to shoot forward, straight into his chest. In a quick movement, Agent 3 re-equipped his knife, and dealt a slice across his temple, stabbed him in the side, and then threw him out the window, already taking his form. "Ha. How do you like-"
THRAACCKA-CRASSSH!
Agent 3 gulped. He'd heard that kind of crash before. He looked outside and saw Tanya was lying underneath Anzac, both moaning horribly, the flamethrower pack on her back broken.
"I can't feel my LEGS…" The kangaroo moaned.
"Lucky YOU, I can't feel my FACE!" Tanya yelled.
"…I guess it all evens out." Agent 3 muttered angrily as he headed down the tower from the back to help Tanya up. Upon arriving, Anzac was gone
How…odd. Agent 3 was SURE he'd that the kangaroo's legs had been broken…how had…
"Hello."
Agent 3 looked up to see the REAL Makani glaring down at him, holding up a bloody knife and tossing it down between Agent 3's toes. "Stabbing in the back is such a cowardly method of murdering, you know." He remarked, suspended in the air using his power over air-pressure, holding a groaning Anzac on his shoulder. Spitting some blood on the ground from his mouth, Makani rushed off through the air, leaving Agent 3 to bring Tanya back to Dr. Leafgreen.
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… "I have good news and bad news." Rupert said, cleaning his hands after finishing checking Anzac. "He'll live! That's the good news. Bad news…he will never walk again. Unless…we had some raw Bios, life magic. That's the only thing that'll cure his legs."
"Never WALK AGAIN?!" Agent 3 snarled. "Damn it, I should have just stabbed him between the eyes but NOOO, I had to do the window-kick!"
"We keep TELLING you, the window kick is not that-!" Yuni began.
"Don't go blaming yourself!" Dr. Leafgreen said, raising his hand. "It's Anzac's fault for landing on her and Tanya for going out to get SALSA at that time of night." He muttered, shaking his head. "Tanya, sometimes I worry about you, I TRULY do. Anyhow, luckily, there is a way to heal her…"
"Life magic?" Grey frowned. "There's not too many people who openly claim to practice life magic…and those that are…they're pacifists."
"Luckily there IS somebody we know who practices it.." Nick said, tossing a folder onto the table before them all. It showed an experiment with cream/brown fur, a fox-like tail, brown hair that neatly fell around his head, angelic wings and a pair of calming eyes that resembled the surface of a pond. "Page, experiment 620! He's a healer for the Catholic Church. He's currently over in Uganda delivering relief to those affected by a recent AIDS outbreak, his healing touch is said to be able to cure ANYTHING and apparently those reports are TRUE."
"So the choir-boy-made-good is our best bet?" Yenh inquired. "He looks like a sissy."
"He's a pacifist, what do you expect? Ten tons of bulging muscles?" Dr. Leafgreen frowned. "Anyhow, we've got to bring him to Tanya and get him to heal her up."
"Naturally, I expect Dr. Leafgreen will be there as well." Nick said, sighing deeply and shaking his head. "But I don't want a big slaughter or getting innocent people involved. Grey, you're coming with me, and Rupert will stay here and keep looking after Anzac along with the rest of you, except for Green, whose powers will be useful out there, and Ranku, since I also need somebody who can hit hard and from a distance. Four people, that's it."
"Agent 3, you stay here and look after Tanya. I'm the only medic, so I'll stay too. Ehjen…I'm putting you in charge of going to pick Page up. You, Psych, Ewa Lani and Yehn will go pick retrieve Page from his position in Uganda. Remember to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible."
"Can we shoot to KILL this time? They CRIPPLED-" Ranku hissed.
"I'm NOT letting you kill Ewa Lani!" Grey snapped angrily, baring his fangs, fur bristling. The snake demon-like experiment and the bestial scout snarled at each other, circling around.
"ENOUGH." Green shouted, making them stop. "There's no time for bickering! What's our rules we follow?"
"…no killing, no harming civilians and stay loyal to each other."
"Right." Green said, frowning deeply. "For all they may take away from us, be it our legs or our dignity-" She added, turning to Anzac who waved his fist at her.
"WHERE ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO GO PEE UP THERE?!?" He roared.
"Or even our lives, we are STILL human BEINGS!...so to speak." She shrugged. "You know what I'm talking about!"
They all nodded, mumbling out agreements. Green was right, very right…
"We got two things in this world, our word and our balls, and we don't break 'em for nobody." Makani said, quoting from Scarface.
"So we go in, get the choir boy, and get out." Ehjen laughed. "How hard can it be tah pick up one pond-eyed little Catholic?"
"This reminds me of a good Catholic joke…" Psych thought out loud, rubbing his chin after he put his baseball cap back on. "How did it go again?"
"You'll have plenty of time to remember it on the trip to Uganda." Dr. Leafgreen said. "And Ehjen…be as little betrunken as possible!"
Ehjen quickly tossed his bottle away and mumbled "Yeah, yeah!" under his breath.
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…Nick, Grey, Green and Ranku are made their way down the dusty dirt road as the sun beamed down heavily overhead, making Ranku frown as he shielded himself with his beautiful, ornate wings. Nick sighed and looked out over the barren wastelands as more and more people shuffled along.
"I don't like this at all." He said as he and his comrades joined the throng. "All these people are starving and poor. The most Page can do is heal their wounds. We should do something, like…like give them all gold or something!"
"I wish we HAD gold to give." Grey admitted. "But as you know, we are POOR. We spend so too much on non-lethal weaponry when it would be cheaper just to go buy-"
"The 3 Rules, remember?" Nick told him.
"I helped pound OUT those rules, Dad, don't get on my case!" Grey insisted.
They shifted through the large throngs of dark-skinned Africans as they made their way to a very large ghost city. There were sand dunes rising high on all sides and a few trees scattered here and there. Within the center was a beautiful fountain made of ivory that was spraying clear water, and there, sitting before it, one gentle paw placed on the head of a baby, was experiment 620. He had gentle, loving eyes that were beautiful, fur soft and warm, and his paws were glowing.
"This child will be sick no more." He told a happy mother as Nick approached with his group. "Go in peace." He added, nodding at the mom.
She nodded happily and said "Bless you sah, bless you" before walking off. Page looked them over and spoke in his crystal-clear, lovely voice. "Ah, hello, Nick! I bid you welcome! What brings you to this place?"
"Anzac's legs were shattered, we need you to come with us." Nick said, nodding as Grey looked over a small portable TV set in his hands, checking the news. "Your Bios is the only thing that can cure him!"
"And in local news, the airports have been shut down due to a bomb scare. There will be no flights in and out of the country until next week." The TV announcer told them all from the portable Grey held in his hands.
"LEAFGREEN." Green hissed. "We'll be stuck here for THREE DAYS without being able to get Page back to our home."
"You are dragging me into this rivalry you have with Dr. Leafgreen?" Page asked. "Honestly, why can you not settle your differences peacefully?"
"Would that I could." Nick remarked sadly. "But the doctor plays for keeps…"
THUDDOW!
A bullet suddenly richocheted off the ground and they looked up to see Ewa Lani was there, putting her rifle up into the air. "Got that right!" She yelled out from the outcropping she was standing on.
"Nice one!" Grey complimented.
"Thanks!" She said happily.
"RUN!" Nick yelled, getting out his gun and firing at the outcropping, making it shatter and causing Ewa Lani to jump back so as to ensure she wouldn't fall. They raced through the alleyways, with Psych, Yehn, Ehjen and Ewa Lani on their tail, Nick holding Page in his arms.
"We've got to split up, but not YET." Nick insisted. "We need to first get THEM off our tail, and then split up before meeting back at you-know-where!" He told them.
"The airport?" Grey asked.
"Why'd you say it OUT LOUD!?" Ranku moaned.
"Thaaaaanks!" Ewa Lani called out.
"UGH! Now we'll have to meet in the OTHER-OTHER place!"
"…OHHHH." Grey nodded in agreement. "Okay, but how do we lose them?"
"Property damage." Green laughed as she held up her clawed hands and jumped up and whipped around, slicing the air and sending waves of flame at the houses. The sides of the houses exploded and came down, blocking Ehjen and the others from coming after them as they headed deeper into the city.
"Split up now, meet up later!" Nick whispered, nodding at them once they were far away enough. All of them nodded and rushed off through the streets.
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…
…meanwhile, while Tanya lay on the bed, clinging to life, the doctor decided to cheer her up by playing her favorite game.
"C'MON, Tanya!" He announced, gesturing at a picture of a horrid, disgusting fiend that was the product of a twisted mind. "You KNOW this one! It's a thing…well, thing-like person! Two words! A hideous, remorseless, BEAST!"
"Time's up!" Agent 3 remarked, holding up a timer.
"It's ANN COULTER!" Dr. Leafgreen moaned, crumpling up her picture. "ANN COULTER! Ach, sometimes…" He moaned.
"Doc…father…" Tanya whimpered from her bed.
Dr. Leafgreen's eyes widened and he took his helmet off. Immediately seeing that this was something very serious, the other experiments left the room as he held Tanya's paw.
"I wanna be back up and walking again." She whimpered. "I don't wanna be stuck in this bed…waiting for them to kill me."
"I don't think they'd do that." Dr. Leafgreen said. "They wouldn't dare attack somebody wounded, lying crippled in a bed…"
He bit his lip. Dr. Leafgreen knew that Mr. Nicholas Michael Grey was a very compassionate rival…he went out of his way to ensure that his "children" and his OWN children weren't killed when on missions. His devotion to them was inspiring. He was certain that, with Nick in charge, no sneaky tactics would be tried to eliminate Tanya.
But Nick was presumably in Uganda. And some of his team members followed the policy of "Eye for an Eye".
So the question became…would they try something?
He hoped not.
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…Grey held his legs close to himself. All of his teammates had split up in the city. Even if they got OUT, there was desert on all sides…harsh winds at night…they would have to be fast if they wanted to reach the airplane rental strip 30 miles west. It would be a long run through the city and through the desert. They had to leave as soon as possible…
Grey carefully brushed the baseball bat in his hand. It was made of Carbon Polytitanide, one of the strongest substances in the Universe, also known as "Galactic Titanium". Ships made their black boxes out if it. He used it to deal harsh beatings on his foes. Usually he preferred his fists though, and only used the bat on things like robots, buildings…using it on frail experimental flesh would shatter bones and crush tendon.
He cringed at the thought of using it on Ewa Lani. He hoped he wouldn't see her again.
Meanwhile, Ewa Lani nervously cleaned her rifle, frowning as she lay awake in the water tower she'd hollowed out and was using to look around the city. She had some coffee with her and planned on staying up all night, if need be. Her comrades were split up…probably nervous like her. She wondered which one of them was going to knock off some z's first…
She looked down at a set of pictures she had of her and Grey in a photo booth. They looked happy together, making funny poses for the camera. She wondered where he was. He was so sweet with her, so gentle. It was hard to believe sometimes that he was the same person who had the strength to knock cars through the air…
Yawning a little and seeing the need to take another swig of joe, she slurped from her thermos and sighed as she looked around through the sniper scope, waiting.
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…Nightwing waited calmly, wings folded tightly to himself as he looked at Tanya's sleeping form.
It hadn't been THAT hard to get inside the base. The others were fast asleep, like her, but unlike her…they would awake soon.
He smiled. She looked almost innocent in that pose. He might actually shed a tear for her later on.
"You know, though I despise what you did and who you work for, don't think I don't RESPECT you or the rest of your friends." He told her sleeping form, a single claw raised. "So be glad I'm giving you this…a merciful end. I am showing something you would never show my friends."
He placed the claw to her throat and was about to cut when he noticed that she was mumbling something. Frowning, he listened closely, and he realized she was speaking to her father…in her sleep.
He sighed at this, feeling some degree of pity rise in him. "Alright…I leave you alive. But…" His eyes turned into slits as he bounded to the open window and his wings spread out. "You'd better not EVER get out of that bed…"
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… Psych woke and rubbed his eyes as the faint rays of the sun streamed out over the rooftops.
"It's dawn." He said softly. "…time to move."