Chapter 5: A Hound's Fury

Harbin, China

The Sun was setting over the tall buildings, its light cascading against the frosted ground. The ice city is melting, but the colourful lights still blazoned them with colours. People sparsely walked around the city, admiring the attractions. Wolf walked down a dark road in a long, tan trench coat, his hands in his pockets. His breath froze in the air, as the frost wrapped around the lamp posts and the clouds cleared out to show the night sky.

"How're things on your end Wolf?" Raven blasted through his earpiece.

"I'm nearing the west side of the city. It's damn cold."

"Right. Your probably should check your radar, that'll lead you to that warehouse"

Wolf dug into the pocket of his trench coat to pull out his radar. The radar was a beige device, with the size and weight of a brick, a medium sized screen and a number of dials and buttons, carefully labelled. He switched the radar on, the screen giving a green hue. After a few seconds, lines scattered across the screen and formed a map with dots and a single arrow in the centre. Wolf turned a dial, as the dots spaced out and more detail formed on the screen. He put the radar back in his pocket and put his finger to his ear. "Identified target, approximately half a kilometre away. I'm on my way." Wolf continued his staggered walk.

"Ok, here's the basics." Raven replied. "Your target is in a warehouse for said gang. It's listed for packing and shipping 'Double Happiness' cigarettes, but of course, it's just a front for delivering any of their products. Drugs, alcohol, you name it."

"What security are we dealing with?"

"Judging from satellite images, not much on the outside, not much. On the inside, you're on your own for that one. Hopefully you won't come across the kingpin.

"Kingpin? What's the data on him?"

"According to sources, he's known as Měiguó lièquan, or 'The American Hound'. Apparently, the police have been trying to get him for months, but it's hard to do that when they're being paid off as well. Not many photos of him either, or the place itself. The team was lucky to get a photo from the captive. Try to avoid all contact with the men, but watch him especially. He's supposedly a ferocious son of a bitch, hence the name."

"Got it. Wolf out."

The night was in full effect, as Wolf came near the target. The target was in a warehouse. The warehouse was dimly lit, the labels and signs were in what looked in Chinese or Mandarin. Crates and truck were littered around the building, with the logo of 'Double Happiness' was slapped around every corner.

Wolf walked towards the warehouse. It was surprisingly quiet around the area. "Walking through the front door is asking for trouble," Wolf thought to himself, "hopefully there might be some back door."

Suddenly, a voice called from behind. Wolf turned around to see three Chinese men, wearing vests and slacks, covered in tattoos. One was skinny with long hair, one muscular and bald and the other was pudgy and short. The three casually to swigs of their drinks. The tall one called out to him in his native tongue. Wolf stood there, silently staring at them. The thin gangster called at him again, with more annoyance in his tone. Wolf chose silence again, about to turn back around. The short one finished a drink in his hand and lobbed it at him. Wolf sidestepped the bottle, which shattered beyond recognition.

The tall one dropped his bottle and pulled out a black metal bar out of his pocket. The gangster grinned, and pressed down on the black bar, revealing a blade out one end. Wolf smiled as well and whipped the trench coat, revealing his bionic leg and pulled out his KA-BAR knife. "Now you're speaking my language…" Wolf uttered to himself and took stance. The men were taken aback from the sight of his mechanical appendage, but nevertheless, they took stance and charged at Wolf.

Wolf's trench coat slid off, showing a vest and trousers, with his rig over it, as he threw it at the tall one, who staggered back. Wolf hit the short one in the head and swung his knife, slashing the short man across the chest, who recoiled in pain. The bald man bashed wolf in the chest, wolf stepping back, dropping his knife. The two quickly exchanged punches, elbows and kicks, on landing after the other. Wolf pushed him back and the tall man swung wildly between them. Wolf latched onto the tall one's arm and pulled it in between his arm. With one jerk, a painful crack could be heard. The tall man's arm limped, as Wolf grabbed the switchblade and slammed it down into the bald man's arm, who gritted his teeth in agony. By this time, the short one got back up, which Wolf quickly responded with and elbow to the face, slamming him down. A yell came from the bald man. Wolf quickly turned to the man as he cut his arm with the switch blade. Wolf grimaced, but launched a resounding kick with his robotic leg, knocking the bald man back, before Wolf took a throwing knife from his rig. In one quick swing, the knife darted into the bald one's leg, falling to the ground.

Wolf grabbed his coat, looking at the bald man writhe in agony. Wolf ran his finger down the cut on his forearm, wincing at the pain. A fierce look struck his face and slammed a hard kick into the back of the bald man's head, rendering him unconscious. He turned to the tall man, clutching his arm and breathing heavily. Wolf picked him up by his vest, the fear of the man beginning to show on his face. Wolf pointed at the warehouse.

"Měiguó lièquan?" Wolf said, in the best way he could pronounce it. The man glanced at the warehouse and nodded quickly, his body tensing up. Wolf Smiled, and then wrapped the sleeve of the coat around his neck and began to choke him. The man struggled for air, trying to pull to the coat off him, before slumping over. Wolf dropped him, and adjusted his harness. All he had was his harness, pants and white vest. The cold was getting to him, but he had to stay strong.

He jogged his way over to the side of the warehouse and glanced around the wall of crates. He noticed at the middle level of the warehouse there was an open window. He clambered and jumped onto the boxes and just met with the window. He looked inside to see anyone inside. None was in his sight, but he could hear something thudding in the warehouse. He turned to see men running out to check on the downed drunks. Wolf hoisted himself up and threw himself into the warehouse.

Wolf thudded onto a catwalk, he glanced around to see if anyone was in the room, and to no avail, no one was there. The thudding sounds came again, this time he could here grunting. Wolf followed the sounds up to a door, skulking his way there. He slowly opened the door to a single room, with boxes and a single light hanging over. Inside the room. Inside the room there was a man, bloodied, battered and tied to a closed the door over and approached the man, waving his hand over his eyes. The captive was barely conscious.
"This is Wolf, Target found, get a chopper ready for pickup." Wolf started to undo the knot on the ropes.

The door clicked and began to open. "Shit!" Wolf whispered, and quickly hid behind some crates. The door swung open, as heavy boots hit the floor, before the man dropped his things onto the crate beside him, deeply inhaling his cigarette. Wolf peeked over the crates to look at the gangster. He was tall, about 6 foot. He was bulky, his right arm and shoulder carrying tattoos. One was animal teeth, sinking into his flesh, dripping blood and the other a band of barbed wire. The man put down his cigarette, next to an ashtray by a bottle. He picked up a bucket of water and threw its contents at the constrained prisoner, who jerked back in surprise. "This must be our hound." Wolf thought, slowly pulling his Mauser pistol out of its holster. Hound spoke to the prisoner in Chinese, with vague words like 'drugs' and 'supplier' coming out. The bonded man whimpered out word, almost crying. Hound pulled out some brass knuckles, grinning to himself. "Fucking typical…" He said, clenching his fist. "They always don't know shit."

He grunts as he lands a hit into the captive's stomach. Blood splits out of the captive's mouth. Punch after punch, blood and tears, with grunts and shouts. Wolf grimaces in horror as he clicks a button on his radar, giving his location to LD. The Radar made an audible beep. Wolf recoiled back from the light, as the brute turned in confusion of the sound. After he a few seconds. The towering man turned back to the prisoner. "Last chance…" he said, with grit in his voice. He pulled out his Shanxi type 17 pistol. The captive began to shake in fear as the pistol is pointed at his head

Wolf cursed to himself. There was already enough bloodshed, but he knew he had to pull the trigger. He leaned back against the crate as his pistol leaned out from the shadows. The light of the bare bulb glinted off the black steel barrel. The pistol reflected a shard of light onto the prisoner. Hound hesitated for a second, his gaze diverting to this shard. Without a second moment, Hound swung around and fired off his gun, the force moving his gun across as he continued firing. The first shot knocked Wolf's gun out of his hand and spun across the room. Wolf recoiled back into cover, as the shots echo through the room. The brute screamed out to him in Chinese again. Wolf stayed silent, fumbling at his gear. Hound fired off his gun again, trying to intimidate Wolf.

"Or maybe you're with Gino's boys!" Hound called out again, "You'll be in pieces before he gets to me!"
Wolf sat there, thinking of what to do. Suddenly, a plan formed in his head. He opened a pouch on his harness and pulled out a magazine. He primed himself and slid the magazine across the floor. Hound turned his gun again and fired again. The gun kicked again and again. It almost felt as time slowed, as Wolf tackled him from his side, knocking the gun out of his hand. Wolf staggered to balance himself, as Hound stepped back. Wolf threw a punch as hard he could square in Hound's face. Hound stepped back again. Blood poured from Hound's nose as he turned back, clenching his teeth.

With one swing of his beefy arm, Wolf slammed onto the ground. He staggered back, spitting blood on the ground. Hound charged up to wolf to throw a punch. Wolf ducked, as Hound quickly turned around. Hound kicked him back into a set of crates, Wolf crashing into them hard. Hound clutched his shoulder and flung him against the wall. His head smashed against the wall. Hound reeled back to strike, but Wolf swung his elbow back, cracking him in the jaw. Blood dripped from wolf eyes again as the red hue clouded his vision again. Wolf hit a combo, a knee to the stomach, another punch followed by and uppercut. Hound gripped his brass knuckles again, and slammed wolf in the chest three times. Wolf coughed blood again, feeling one of his ribs break. Still, Wolf gritted his teeth and slammed another hit in the gut. As Hound staggered back, Wolf grabbed his shoulders and butt, knocking Hound back to the wall.

Wolf pulled out another knife and pinned Hound to the wall, the knife pressing against his throat. The two had blood dripping from their bodies. Wolf's vision, after calming himself, began to clear up. "You move one God damn muscle, I'll gut you like a fucking pig!" Wolf screamed, pressing the knife even harder against his throat.

"What the hell is your problem!? This ain't none of your business!"

"You're damn right it's my business. I'm taking this guy away, you try to stop me, I slit your throat and let you bleed out here!"

"You serious? You want that bastard that ripped me off!? He's useless! He just keeps moaning on some bastard 'Commander'…"

Wolf's vision began to blur again, as more blood streamed from his eye. "…What did you say?" Wolf uttered, hate in his words. Stomping could be heard from outside. Wolf turned his head in surprise. "Hehehe…" Hound muttered, spitting blood out "You're fucked…" Wolf turned back and slammed his elbow into Hound's nose, his head hit against the wall and slumped down. Wolf stood back and spat out blood again. He grabbed an empty chair, jammed it to the door and lifted his finger to his ear.

"Raven, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear. You got the target?"

"Yeah… is the chopper near?"

"On the west side of city. Why?"

"Let's say things got messy. Hound's been put to sleep. I need an immediate EVAC."

"Shit! You know we can't get closer…"

"Raven, if you don't get closer, they're gonna paint the walls with us. You know my location, simple drop and pickup."

"…Alright, get your ass ready."

Wolf dragged Hound's body behind a crate, and walked up to the prisoner. He slipped his knife up the ropes and in one jerk, cut them. The banging on the door intensified. He picked up the prisoner, still bounded by his hands and feet, and laid him down by another crate. Wolf picked his gun off the ground and hid behind a crate.

The busted through the door, aiming pistols. Wolf ripped the pin of a grenade and chucked it over. The men cried as the grenade sputred smoke as they shot wildly in the cloud. A stray bullet smashed the bottle on the crate and the flammable fluid mixed with the heat to cause the crate to be set ablaze. Smoke filled the room as bullet streamed across to smash into concrete and flesh. Crates of cigarettes fumed into the air as Wolf covered his mouth and went to grab the prisoner and Hound. As he jumped back he shot wildly into the smoke, throwing the POW onto his back. He dragged Hound by his arm as he staggered through the smoke and exited the warehouse. The helicopter was hovering overhead. Wolf threw the prisoner over into the chopper and hoisted Hound up. As he jumped on men ran out, sporadically firing off. Wolf slammed the door and the window smashed from a gunshot. The chopper pulled away. Wolf slammed back into his seat wondering what he was going to do….

The sunrise lit the ocean surface as the copper jetted across the watery landscape. The helicopter lowered before thudding onto the landing zone. Wolf slid open the door as two soldiers came to greet them. "Take them to the brig!" Wolf gestured towards the unconscious passengers. The soldier hoisted them onto their sides and dragged them along. Wolf gazed across the platform.

Raven strutted across the men as they aimed down the scopes of their rifles. He grabbed the barrel of a rifle and raised it up, the soldier adjusting. On the other side men were quickly drawing handguns and firing. Widow fumbled with her weapon, firing three times and missing each one. "Shit!" she exclaimed.

"Something wrong, soldier?" Raven asked.

"I can't hit the damn target, that's what!"

"If you're going to fire straight from drawing, you have to fix your footing."

"Oh, then if I'm wrong, show me, superior."

The other soldiers cringed as Raven's face grimaced. He turned and took his stance, breathing out slowly. His robotic eye whirled, as he quickly pulled his colt, switched hands and popped three rounds out, two hitting the target in the chest. He turned back to Widow, smirking. Widow sighed heavily. "Alright…" she said, slotting her pistol back in, standing straight. Raven pushed her and adjusted her around

"H-Hey!' she exclaimed.

"Calm down. Just shift your foot to the left… and turn… Perfect. Now twist yourself as you draw it. As you raise it, keep hold of it now… you squeeze off a few rounds"

Widow turned back to the target, poised then fired off. A bullet pinged off the target. Widow turned to Raven. "You wanna put your hands on me, at least get to know me."

"Well if you want to piss off rounds like the crack shot you are, go back to the Intel team."

"…Fine then. How bout some actual training instead of this line up bullshit!"

"If it puts you in line," Raven leaned into Widow closer "I'll be happy to oblige…"

Widow smirked back "It ain't gonna be that easy…"

Raven looked up to see wolf watching it unfold, smirking through his bloody mouth. "Meet me later. Everyone keep going!" Raven jogged over to Wolf. "Man, you look like shit!"

Wolf clenched as he moved off the railings. "Probably because I feel like shit. Had a scrape back at the factory."

"I can tell. You get the prisoner?"

"Yeah. He's sitting with our 'frisky hound'."

"You took him too? Why?"

"He said the transaction made, or steal, was mad by a commander. Probably ours. Besides, if I left him back there, he'd be in cinders like the warehouse."

"The warehouse burned down? What next?"

Wolf started walking. "It's a long story…" Raven walked beside him and handed him a cloth. "You're one crazy son of a bitch aren't you?"

Wolf chuckled from the cloth wiping his face. "I guess you could say that. We're starting with Hound first. If he's not of any use, we'll dump him. You sit behind the two way glass, watching. Got it?"

Raven push the door open "Got it. Good luck."

Wolf opened the door into the interrogation room. Hound sat there, fists clenched, blood swiped across his face, as if he tried to wipe it off. Wolf sunk into his chair, Hound lifted his hand to rub his eye, but was short by the hand cuffs chained to the desk.

"So, Hound. Tell me about this, 'Commander'."

"You still using the name the chink's gave me? Doesn't matter. Just some spiritual red lanterns and dragons bullshit."

"Gonna dodge the question or answer me?"

Hound sighed heavily "What happened to the warehouse?"

"Someone gave it a light. If I didn't pull you out you'd be dead."

"What, want me to thank you? That place was good, but I got other place for product. I don't know much about the guy. He called me, looking for stuff. Morphine, anaesthetics, stuff that put you into sleep, even a coma. He wanted a lot, along with other stuff. Sounded like someone with grit in his soul, you know?"

"You see him?"

"No. He just sent his chicken shit crew to pick up and fly off, leaving that guy behind."

"And I guess you tried to persuade him?"

"I have my skills. But that rat wouldn't talk, he just kept going on about that guy. Kept talking about 'ultimate force on earth'."

"Hm, I see. Why did you want information?"

"Because that bastard took my shit and ran without my money! Thought that chink would know where the guys location. If I ever saw him I'd smoke him right there…"

Wolf paused to think for a moment. "Ultimate force? He definitely means War child, but what is it? It could be a nuke, but why the drugs? I'll have to keep him here…" Wolf leaned his hands on the desk. "Y'know, I could help you, I'm looking for the guy myself. I just need you to cooperate."

"What are you, FBI?"

"No, we do dirty jobs for people with clean hands. Are you up for it?"

"Whatever. It's not like I'm going anywhere." He raised his restrained hands.

"Right, welcome aboard… Furious Hound."

"Just remember, you bullshit, I'll rip you're god damn throat out."

"I'll keep mind of that." Wolf step out of the room, Raven coming to meet him. "You get everything?" Wolf questioned.

"Yeah, what's he mean about 'ultimate force'?"

"I don't know, for all I know, it's a nuke. That's why we need the other guy to talk."

"You think he'll talk? He seems stubborn…"

"Well see if we can coax it out of him." Wolf walk down the hallway to the next interrogation room. The door creaked open as the prisoner jumped from his slumber. Wolf closed the door behind him, staring at the ragged man. The man was quivering in fear. Wolf pulled up the chair and sat down, the man immediately averting his gaze. Wolf laid down his photo of the commander and others on the table. He leaned back on his chair, as the prisoner stared at the photo, anger beginning to show on his face. Wolf coughed, the prisoner looking back up.

"You know him?" Wolf asked.

Silence.

"Don't make it harder for yourself. We know about you, about him. I need you to cooperate on this."

He stayed quiet. Wolf was getting irritated. He slammed his hands down on the table and stood up. "I'm not going to ask you again!" Wolf shouted. The ragged man jumped again and started rambling, Wolf not understanding. Wolf gritted his teeth, clearly annoyed at this stage. He pulled his knife out and slammed it down on the table. He picked it up and pointed it towards him. The man yelled and switched languages. Wolf vision began to blur again. He stood up and stepped towards the prisoner. Suddenly, a voice came over the intercom, speaking in the same gibberish as the prisoner. The prisoner blurted in response. Wolf stopped, as he heard steps racing to the door. Raven clambered into the room.

"Wait! Gimme a second here Wolf." Raven pleaded. Wolf stared at him in confusion, glancing back to the blade in his hand. He stepped back, sheathing his blade. Raven grabbed the chair and started talking to the prisoner. The two conversed while Wolf stood by the wall.

"How do you know what he's saying?"

"He's speaking Russian. I know a bit."

"…Figures…"

"Anyway, if you want to ask him questions, I'd say now's the time."

"Where is the Commander?"

Raven went back to talking to the prisoner, the prisoner promptly responding.

"He says he doesn't know who he is. He only knows this guy." Raven pointed to the Picture.

"Shoa Quan…"

"Says he was with him in the drug steal. The bastard put himself first and left him behind. He said he'll be in the country for a while."

"Why?"

"…He says they want to go incognito. It'll definitely happen after what you pulled to get him out."

"How well is he willing to cooperate? Finding him I mean."

"He help you put the gun to this guy's head."

Wolf smirked. "Get him cleaned up, we've got work to do…"

"…He said thanks. He wasn't sure if you were an ally or not."

"Tell him we're only allies because we've only one thing in common."

Raven didn't really know what he meant, but the man knew and Wolf knew as well. It would be the beginning and the end of their crusade. A factor that spun this whole turn of events together. Revenge.