Ch. 11: V for Vendetta
Previously on Inspector Gadget: Body of Steel
"David, are you alright?" Ashley asked tentatively as I clapped the cuffs on Emil.
"Yeah, I'll be fine once I find out what this scum's connection to my attempted murder is. I have a memory of him but it's incomplete."
"He's one of Slater's gang. He was with them when we busted them several months ago."
My memory flashed in front of me again. It was a vague image, just the faces of the men we had arrested that day and of my car alarm going off accompanied by a cruel laugh.
I still didn't have the full picture of what had happened to me but I was starting to remember more and now I had a lead to follow. It was time to hunt the most dangerous game.
All police files and information are stored on one central computer and reports have been done electronically since 2029. That meant it would be easy as proverbial pie for me to access the file I was looking for from one of the terminals at the precinct. I was making my way to the main computer terminal in the station with Ashley on my heels as soon as we were off the clock.
"What are we doing here again?"
"I want to know more about our friend so I'm going to look up his file."
I approached a computer with an interface and extended the cable from the base of my wrist again. Once linked to the police files I input the facial data on Emil. The computer found a match within half a minute.
GLOWER, EMIL
FELONY RAP
MISDEMEANOR RAP
STATISTICS
PSYCH EVALUATION
CREDIT
KNOWN ACCOMPLICES
KNOWN ACCOMPLICES:
JOHN KURTWOOD
RICHARD KEAN
BEN FOREMAN
NATHANIEL DEAN
CYRUS SLATER
"There's the bastard," I muttered and pulled up Slater's file.
SLATER, CYRUS
FELONY RAP
GRAND THEFT
ASSAULT
SUSPICION OF:
SUSPECT-MRDR: TENNYSON, BRIAN
SUSPECT-MRDR: WARD, JOE
SUSPECT-MRDR: SMITH, MATTHEW
SUSPECT-MRDR: BAKER, COLIN
SUSPECT-MRDR: HARDER, DAVID
As soon as I saw the file on my murder attached to Slater's I had another flashback. This time I was trapped in my car. The tablet was counting down, nearing zero. I shot the window and crawled out. When I looked back I only had seconds.
"Sayonara officer," Slater said and followed it with a haunting laugh.
The timer hit zero and the bomb detonated.
"David, can you hear me?"
"Wha-?"
"Are you alright? Should we see Dr. Ramirez?" asked Ashley, her expression conveying her worry.
"No, I-I'm fine. Really. It was just another flashback."
"You're sure?"
"Yes! All systems are functioning at optimum efficiency!" I snapped. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm still trying to cope with this new body, not being completely human anymore."
"Hey, It's alright. If you ever need anything, I'm here."
"Thanks, that means a lot to me. I think I'm going to go home."
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."
I got into Gadgetmobile and drove in silence. Instead of going straight home I ended up wandering around the city, my mind running free. Eventually I was stopped at a light across the street from a catholic church. I decided to go in and let my mind clear, try and wash away the burning hatred and desire for revenge because it scared the crap out of me. I wasn't catholic, I was evangelical, but I liked to go to catholic churches to think when life started getting particularly tough. The atmosphere of catholic churches just helped me with that. I sat in one of the pews, looked up at the stain glass window of Jesus and prayed.
"Inspector Gadget, what brings you here?" asked a voice.
I turned my head and saw the father walking towards me.
"Troubles, father, troubles," I answered.
"What sort of troubles?" he asked as he sat next to me.
I took a second before answering. "I used to be human, flesh, blood, bone… but not anymore. My skeleton is metal and oil runs through my body now as well as blood."
"You are bitter, then."
"Yes. But not to the doctors, they saved my life and I am grateful. But recently I found out who my murders are after struggling with amnesia and I feel a hatred and desire for revenge that goes beyond anything I've felt before, and it scares me. I don't know what to do. The bible says to love your enemies and the Lord's Prayer tells us to forgive those who trespass against us."
"It also says 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.'"
"Exactly, so you see my conundrum. This is the first time in my life that I well and truly do not know what path I should take," I sighed. "I can easily take out the men who tried to take my life now but should I?"
"The most I can tell you is to not worry, the Lord will guide you," the father reassured.
"I know," I muttered.
When I arrived at my home I walked straight to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Root Beer. I didn't drink alcohol but it was times like this I wish I had something stronger in the house than a soft drink.
"How was your day?" a voice asked and I felt arms wrap around me.
"Hey, Shelby," I said and turned around for a kiss. "I've had a hard day."
"What happened?"
"I found one of Cyrus Slater's gang. I now know everything the police do about the gang and it would be so easy for me to find one of them and beat the crap out of them to get the location of the others."
"I'm sensing a 'but' in there somewhere."
"The intensity of my emotions about this whole ordeal frightens me. I've never been one to hold a grudge, you know that. I can't stay angry, but this time the anger and hatred are burning like a furnace and I just really want to hunt those bastards down and kill them. I just don't know what to do. These men are criminals, they killed and robbed and who knows what else. But if I go after them on this vendetta will I really be any better than them?"
"I don't know what to tell you David, all I can tell you is to be what you've always been."
"And what's that?" I asked as I fixed a weary gaze on her.
"Be a cop."
Across town Taylor was at home, lounging on her sofa watching one of the classic episodes of the popular British sci-fi show, Doctor Who. In this particular episode, Genesis of the Daleks, the Fourth Doctor played by Tom Baker, had been sent to the planet Skaro in the past to prevent the creation of the Daleks or interfere with their development so they became less aggressive creatures. The part she liked the best was where the Doctor was getting ready to destroy the Dalek embryos but didn't, questioning if he had the right to destroy an intelligent life form, even one as terrible as the Daleks. That was the scene she was watching when she heard something in the back of the house. Taylor got up to investigate but when she rounded the corner to the kitchen she was knocked out cold.
When she came to, Taylor found herself tied up to a chair and a man leaning against the wall her flat screen TV was mounted to.
"Hello, doctor. I suppose that you're wondering what you're doing tied to a chair and why I'm here. Well, to answer that I'll let my employer, someone I believe you know, explain."
"I don't know who you are, but get the hell out of my house before the security system calls the cops.
"The cops aren't coming sweetheart," Slater drawled. "I have disabled your system. Not even Inspector Gadget can interfere with this. You see, you've stepped on a lot of toes at Archangel and recently you stepped on the wrong person's toes and seriously pissed him off. So now I'm here to… make some cutbacks."
While he was talking he took a grenade out of his pocket and waved it in front of Taylor's face. He removed the pin from the explosive and the timer started counting down from two minutes. Taylor started struggling against her bonds with a renewed vigor while Slater left her to her fate. After what seemed like an eternity she found the knot and began tearing at it. Thank goodness he hadn't used handcuffs. Eventually Taylor felt the knot give a little and felt a surge of relief until she looked at the timer. There were fifty-five seconds left. Finally the knot gave way and Taylor ripped her hands free of the rope.
The only problem she had now was getting clear of the explosion before it happened. She ran for the front door and got a few steps out when the grenade went off. The shockwave hit Taylor, sent her flying a few feet, and then her world went black.
"Hi Jay, how are you?" I asked as I walked into my maintenance room.
"I've been better," he said while fidgeting in his chair.
"What's up?"
"Taylor, her house was bombed last night."
"What?! Is she alright?"
"The shockwave got her; she's at the Mediplex right now but not in the emergency room or ICU."
"Do we know anything yet about the attack?"
"The case is still open, all we know is that someone planted a high yield military grade explosive. We have no idea who, though, Taylor's house is pretty much destroyed. The lab techs are running some fingerprints that we were able to lift but they could very well be hers."
"I sense that something about this business is bothering you, though."
"How do you know?"
"Your left leg is twitching. It only does that when you're thinking or worried about something. So what is it?"
"The grenade used was made at Archangel."
"So? Black market, probably."
"Not this one, it's too new to have made it to the black market yet. Someone in Archangel wants Taylor dead."
"That is a rather serious accusation. Without hard evidence to back your theory up we have no way of convincing anyone."
"Then the killer goes free," grumbled Jay as he clenched his fist so tight his knuckles turned white.
"Maybe not," I mused.
"What do you mean?"
"It's possible that Taylor herself may know something. If she does we have a thread to pull on until this all unravels. I'm going to the Mediplex to see her, I'll catch you later."
Even before the explosion that nearly took my life I was never that comfortable in hospitals. The burning smell of disinfectants, the white walls, the harsh fluorescent lights, it never made for a relaxing environment for me. But I was always willing to push that discomfort to the side for a friend. Thankfully Taylor was awake when I arrived and finishing her breakfast.
"Hola, amiga, como esta?"
"Mejor, y tu?"
"Mas o menos," I shrugged.
"Oh, what's up?"
"Just found out last night who tried to kill me. The feelings it stirred up are of an intensity I'm not used to. But what I'm really here is to ask you if you know anything about who tried to kill you?"
"I remember that he interrupted me in the middle of a Doctor Who episode."
"You watch that show? New Who or classic?"
"Classic, it was Genesis of the Daleks."
"I love that episode! But then again I like any episode with the Daleks, even Remembrance of the Daleks."
"The one with Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor? The special effects were underwhelming for the late 80's but I loved it when he mocked Davros."
"Yes, that was hilarious! 'Crush the lesser races! Conquer the galaxy! Unimaginable power! Unlimited rice pudding! Etcetera, etcetera!'" I said in a flawless impersonation of McCoy's Doctor imitating a Dalek voice.
Taylor and I dissolved into fits of giggles that took a minute to stop.
"That's one of the advantages of being a cyborg, I'm able to imitate any voice I hear," I gasped. "Now, before we forget, what were you saying about the person who destroyed your house?"
"He was tall, had thin brown hair, a receding hairline, deep set eyes, and one of the creepiest grins I've seen."
"Cyrus Slater!" I exclaimed with a snap of my fingers. "Now he's really crossed the line of no return."
"What's wrong, David?"
"What's wrong? What's wrong?! What's wrong is that that son of a bitch is the same man who tried to kill me! I was angry enough that his attempt meant I have a half-life now but he crossed the line by trying to kill someone I consider a friend! He's going down, I'll see you later," I growled and stormed out of her room.
"Gadgetmobile, hook up to the city's CCTV network, find one of these men," I instructed as I uploaded the pictures of Slater and his lackeys.
"What are we going after this time?"
"I have a score to settle with Slater. He made the dumbest move of his career by attempting to kill Taylor and I'm going to see to it that he pays."
"I have located John Kurtwood in a back alley selling drugs."
"Let's get him," I said and gunned the engine.
It was time to take off the gloves.
A/N: Gadget's off for a showdown. Be ready for some intense action in the next chapter. As always, leave a review to get it.