Renegade
Chapter 2: Day One
If I'm going to tell this story properly, I guess I should start from the beginning, but first, I think an introduction is in order. My name is John Colman, and I work for the Station, the local newspaper here in Station Square. That's how I got wrapped up in this whole escapade, and thank God I did. Anyway, I should probably get on with the story.
I was in the office on a Tuesday afternoon, trying to find something interesting to write about, when our editor, Lansing, charged out of his office. "Colman!" he yelled. "There's a big story waiting for you at the bridge! Some low-lifes have kidnapped the Mayor's daughter. Now they're holding her for ransom."
I started collecting my stuff. "At the bridge? Do they want to get killed?"
"They've got some fancy-pants machine hooked up to her. If they die, she dies. They're so proud of it that they decided to invite anyone who thinks they can to deactivate the machine. So far, no one's been able to crack it, and they can't destroy it because it's hooked up to enough C4 to blow the bridge."
"Thanks for the info, chief. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." I walked out the door. Little did I know that this job would change my life forever.
When I got down to the bridge, I wasn't surprised to see that the cops had set up a perimeter around the situation. There were people standing all around, staring at the spectacle. I pushed my way to the front of the crowd in order to get a clear view of what was happening. There were three kidnappers. One of them, apparently the leader, was wearing a steel breastplate or harness, which was linked to this big machine. I spotted the white van that they must have used to get it out here. I also saw the Mayor's daughter, cowering at the feet of her captors, crying, begging the crowd with her eyes for someone to come and save her.
I spoke to a man in the crowd. "Hey, has anybody tried to shut that thing down?"
"Yeah, but not recently. Four have tried and failed. The kidnappers got frustrated and said that anyone else who tries and fails will die." I looked at the two other kidnappers. They each had machine guns, and they looked like they were getting restless. "No one's tried since they put out that threat. Hold on, someone's going." We both stared as a shabbily dressed man walked up to the machine. He looked as if he hadn't had a shower or a real meal for weeks. The kidnappers laughed at him and jeered him as he approached the machine, but he continued on. I offered up a quick prayer for the man, as well as for the poor girl who had been captured by these monsters.
As the crowd looked on, the man began to fiddle with the machine. He was there for about fifteen minutes. He got it open and revealed its mechanical intestines. Then he proceeded to cut wires, even going so far as to crawl inside of it. There was an audible gasp form the crowd when all the lights on the machine shut off. The kidnappers were not happy at all. They grabbed the man and put a pistol to his head. Then they spoke for the first time. "This is what happens when we don't get our money!" the leader yelled. He turned towards the man, about to pull the trigger, when somebody yelled and pointed to the top of one f the skyscrapers next to the bridge. Everyone's eyes, including those of the kidnappers, followed the woman's finger. We could see a form at the top of the building, looking down at us. Suddenly, it jumped down. We were all too horrified to make a sound. We watched the figure fall out of the sky, straight towards the kidnappers. It took all of two seconds for it to land in a cloud of dust in front of them. They're eyes were wide. They knew something we didn't. They jumped into their van and drove off. We looked back at the figure. Another audible gasp. It was a mutant fox, with two tails, and two black sheaths on his back.