Radioactive: Chapter Sixteen

Radioactive

Chapter Sixteen

~Work for Food~

“Good job, Samantha,” Jumper watched as she led the team away. He looked back at the apartment that they ran out off. Jumper teleported inside to have a look around. He was looking for something that would have to persuade the doctor that he wasn’t crazy and was actually on to something.

Jumper walked around the damaged apartment. There was an untouched computer that was still in operation. He pulled up a chair and sat down at the computer. Jumper smiled as he found the information that he was looking for. He went through the information on the computer and sent much of it to his phone.

“I’d thought you’d be here,” a voice said.

Jumper looked over his shoulder. He smiled and stood up, “I thought you were far away from here? I saw you leave.”

Kaiba stood in the room at the edge of the hole in the wall. He looked at Jumper with caution, “A hologram. Androids are rather good at that. Not even the others knew.”

“Well, isn’t that interesting,” Jumper smiled.

“Who are you?” Kaiba asked, getting to the point.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Jumper stated.

Kaiba walked to one side, “Were you worked on as well?”

Jumper laughed, “What, you think that I can’t look like this naturally? Well, I guess you’d be right there. Started as dark spots when I was about twelve years old. The spots grew until you get what you see now.”

“When did realize you could jump into peoples bodies?” Kaiba asked.

Jumper shrugged, “I was on my first date. Looked in to her eyes for too long and before I knew it I was her looking at my own lifeless body.”

“Must have been traumatizing,” Kaiba said.

“I got over it,” Jumper smiled, “Besides, she wasn’t the last. It got easier.”

A blade shot out of Kaiba’s hand. He lunged at Jumper, blade aimed for a cut at his neck. Jumper vanished and appeared on the across apartment. Kaiba turned around to look at him. Jumper disappeared and reappeared behind Kaiba. He grabbed Kaiba’s neck from behind and pulled his head back. Their eyes met and Jumper’s smile widened.

“Got you!” he said.

A searing pain shot through Kaiba’s head. He tried to resist and struggle but anything he did, Jumper countered and kept Kaiba restrained.

“Just relax,” Jumper laughed, “Give in as your mind beings to fade.”

Something flickered in the corner of Jumpers eye. He vanished as a bullet sailed past. Released, Kaiba rubbed his neck and stood up. Kiri stood a few feet away. Her eyes were narrowed in annoyance. She retracted the gun she held back into her arm. Kaiba looked at her and dust himself off.

“You’re lucky I got back when I did, sir,” Kiri said.

“I had everything under control,” Kaiba stated.

Kiri rolled her eyes, “Right, and almost getting your body jumped was part of the plan?”

“It might have been,” Kaiba said.

Kiri sighed, “I won’t tell anyone. As far as anyone else will know, you dealt with the situation yourself and the target got away.”

“Which I could have dealt with by myself,” Kaiba walked passed her.

Kiri shook her head, “Of course. The others have set up a separate shelter.”

“Let’s get going then,” Kaiba said as he led the way out of the building.

Kiri nodded, “Right behind you.”

Jumper watched from a safe distance away. Kaiba and Kiri walked down the alley to rejoin with the crew. Jumper smiled vanished and disappeared.

~§~

Riu knocked on the garage door, “Open up, Grayson! I know you’re in there! Stop ignoring me!”

Attached to the garage was his house of residence. Riu banged on the garage until there was a stir on the balcony above. The lights came on. Grayson walked out onto an overhang and looked down on them from above. He lit a cigarette and sighed. By his appearance, he seemed annoyed to have been woken up. He shook his head and blew out a stream on smoke.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Grayson stated.

“Hey,” Riu pointed up at him, “Let us in! We’ve got to talk!”

Grayson glared at her a moment, “No.” He turned to head back inside.”

“Wait!” Duke stepped in.

Grayson paused and looked over his shoulder, “I’m closed. I suggest you get off my property.”

“Our apartment was effectively blown up by one of those mutants that have been crawling around. We really have no place to stay. We were wondering if we could crash here,” Duke said.

Grayson smiled, “I don’t run a charity.”

Duke shrugged, “I’m sure we could help with you repair business. I myself know a few things about car engines.”

“What!?” Riu shouted, “I don’t know anything about fixing cars.”

“You’ll learn,” Grayson walked back into the building.

The garage opened allowing the Tower Fixers and androids into the building. They walked up a flight of stairs and entered the home of Grayson. His home was very nice, a compete contrast from the garage section of the home. It was well furnished and very roomy. The money for it most likely came from Grayson’s questionable business ventures other than his mechanic business.

Grayson walked out in to the living room to meet them. He pointed down a hallway, “The girls can take the guest room. The rest of you guys can find somewhere else to sleep around here. Get some shut-eye. You’ll be working real hard in the morning.”

He left them to speak among themselves. They waited until Grayson was out of ear shot before getting down to business. Ing ran over and jumped on the couch.

“I can’t believe that thing destroyed my apartment!” Riu groaned. She glared at Duke, “Now I’ve been sold into slave labor!”

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Fang said, “It isn’t that hard to learn.”

“Easy for you to say,” Riu crossed her arms, “You’re apartment didn’t just get destroyed! Who’s going to fix that!?”

“You’ll be compensated,” Kaiba stated.

“And my computers and such,” Riu placed her hands on her hips, “They weren’t cheap you know.”

Kiri answered, “You will be compensated for those as well.”

“Gettimg back to business,” Jekyll tugged at his hat, “How was that Jumper you encountered.”

“He’ll be a problem,” Kaiba stated, “Just don’t look in his eyes.”

“It is good to know we’re on the right track,” Duke said, “We must be getting close.”

“We’d better be,” Kaiba stated.

“No use in staying up all night though,” Fang said, “We’d better get some sleep.”

“Yay!” Ing threw his hands in the air, “This is the best night ever!”

Fang placed a hand on Ing’s head to settle him down, “Don’t you have a standby mode or something?”

“Maybe,” Ing crossed his arms.

Jekyll nodded, “Fang has a point. We should deal with this in the morning.”

“Fine by me,” Kaiba said.

Riu groaned, “Does anyone have an issue with having to work on cars tomorrow? How are we going to find out where this lab is if we have our hands covered in grease, huh?”

“We’ll manage,” Kaiba looked at her, “The Tower always does.”

Iridescent: Chapter Sixteen

Iridescent

Chapter Sixteen

~Reaper~

After the Fall

Puppetmaster sat on a sand dune. He sat cross legged with the sun beating down on him. His cloak was draped loosely on his fore arms. Sweat dripped down his forehead. His white hair glistened in the sunlight. A grey hat sat lightly on his head. He closed his eyes in a kind of meditation. A small doll sat between his legs quietly.

In the weeks after the Tower’s fall, Puppetmaster left his shop and most of his dolls. He managed in the time after the fall to keep himself alive and make his way toward someplace quiet. Puppetmaster managed to live in the desert since and it seemed he did it easily though it didn’t look like he had any weapons of supplies.

As Puppetmaster sat still on top of the dune there was a cloud of dust kicked up in the distance. Shuppet, the doll, looked up at his master. The dust grew closer and the sight of a jeep and two motor bikes drove closer. Shuppet looked out at the entourage with curiosity. They swerved towards Puppetmaster when they saw him.

Puppetmaster opened his eyes and looked at the coming people. His eyes were narrow unlike his usual carefree appearance. He watched the entourage as they neared. The purple gem tied into his hair glowed slightly. Shuppet changed in his demeanor. He seemed waiting for a command from his master. Puppetmaster snapped his fingers and Shuppet started digging into the sand until he was completely submerged.

The group drew closer until they were at the bottom of the dune. Four people climbed out of the jeep and walked up the dune. Two motorcyclists walked up with them. Puppetmaster sat and waited for those people to come toward him. They came at him with guns drawn. The leader walked up carrying a shot gun.

“Get up!” the leader yelled.

Puppetmaster looked up lazily, “I really don’t feel like it, thank you.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion, old man!” another man shouted.

“Do I really look that old?” Puppetmaster said to himself, “I don’t feel old. How do you know if you’re old? Do you just wake up one day and find out or is it a gradual process? Either way, I dislike the assumption that I’m an old man. Why do you assume that I’m old? What makes a man old, I wonder, that you would call me so? Am I making sense to your insignificant mind?”

“Duh…” the man had no way to answer.

Puppetmaster rolled his eyes and sighed, “The point I’m trying to make is that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”

“We aren’t talkin’ ‘bout books!” a woman entered the discussion, “We’re talkin’ ‘bout you, you old geezer, and I suggest you start speakin’ some English! We don’t like being confused!”

“Yeah!” the leader said, “Just hand over your supplies and we’ll think about letting you live!”

“Great, I’m quite literally surrounded by idiots,” Puppetmaster rubbed his temples, “I don’t have any supplies that would be of any use for you. I highly suggest that you keep heading east toward the oasis if you’re looking for water. It’s about three days ride from here as the crow flies.”

“Crows?” the man said, “We don’t want crows do we boss?”

“No!” the leader shouted.

“What about oasis?” the woman asked, “What is an oasis?”

“How am I supposed to know?” the leader cried, “What we need is water and supplies and this old man is going to give it to us!”

“My goodness you are all stupid!” Puppetmaster said under his breath, “Let me make this as understandable as I can manage without insulting my intelligence. An oasis is where you find water, the clear stuff you drink and keeps you alive. After you head off in that direction you can leave me alone.”

The leader aimed the gun, “We ain’t leaving until we get what we came for!”

“I give up,” Puppetmaster snapped his fingers, “Shuppet would you please get rid of these nuisances.”

The ground rumbled and sand shot up in the air. Several people stumbled backwards in the sand, tossing their guns aside. A large creature emerged from the sand. The creature had six bladed segmented appendages that the creature used as legs that sprout out from the creature’s human torso. The legs were ten feet tall. Though it had a human torso it did not have human legs. Instead of legs it had a long tail that disappeared into the sand so it’s true length was hidden. All along the tail were blades. The creature hand human arms and hands that hung lazily. Its nails were black and long. The creature rolled its neck and looked at the group’s leader with a cold stare. Its long white hair fell over one of its black and gold eyes. It smiled showing rows of razor sharp teeth.

The leader dropped his weapon and took several steps back, “What the heck!”

As the creature hung protectively over its master, Puppetmaster didn’t seem at all concerned. He looked up at the creature above him. The creature looked down and smiled.

“WHaT iS yOUr cOMmaNd, MaSTEr?” the creature stuck out its snakelike forked tongue.

Puppetmaster rested his chin in his hand, “Nothing for now. You’re presence seems to be enough to make them think twice.”

Sure enough, the group had dropped their weapons and tried to keep their distance. The leader however didn’t want to be intimidated. He pulled out a vial of Blue Gold and used it.

The leader created a ball of light in his hands and threw it at Puppetmaster. The creature used two of its bladed legs to shield its master. The blast shot off the glistening metal blades and didn’t harm Puppetmaster. The creature hissed; its fangs exposed.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Puppetmaster looked at the leader, “Don’t mind if I harvest your power do you?”

Puppetmaster flicked the purple gem in his hair. It glowed a bright purple. A light shot from the gem toward the leader. It struck his chest and remained like a rope tying him and the gem. The leader screamed as he held his chest.

“Now, now,” Puppetmaster said, “No need to struggle. It will hurt more if you do.”

Gold light seeped through the leaders fingers. The purple string of light reseeded and appeared to be pulling the gold light out of the leader. As much as he tried, the leader didn’t have a strong enough will to reverse the process. He screamed as he fought the force that was taking the light away from him.

“Come on, now,” Puppetmaster said.

He snapped his fingers and the purple string pulled the gold light out of the leader completely. The gold light was pulled into the purple gem and for a moment the majority of the color of the gem was gold. Slowly the gold faded into purple and the gem assumed its normal color and brightness.  The leader fell in to the sand. Puppetmaster watched as some of the others ran to their leader’s side.

“What did you do!?” the leader yelled, “My powers! That old man took my powers! Give them back! You can’t do this!”

Puppetmaster looked at the man with cold eyes, “You’re right, I did reap most of your powers but I did leave a little left for you to keep. If you try and develop it, it should grow again. But for now…will you hooligans leave me alone.”

Frightened, the others dragged their struggling leader to their vehicles and headed off. The leader’s shouts and screams for revenge could be heard until they disappeared in to the horizon headed east. Puppetmaster closed his eyes and sighed. He opened them a little while later and looked behind himself. The monster was gone.

“What do you mean you’re stuck?” he asked.

Shuppet, the doll, was stuck in sand. Its head was the only thing visible above the sandy surface. He looked at Puppetmaster and though he had no eyes, only shallow indents of where his eyes would be, he looked at his master with pleading. Puppetmaster shook his head and stood up. He dug Shuppet out of his sand trap and carried him in his arms.

When Puppetmaster looked up he squinted his eyes as he looked at the horizon. He shaded his eyes with one hand as to see better. A strange caravan approached slowly. It wasn’t headed toward him but would be in view as they drove by. There was a heavy duty jeep followed by a yellow school bus, several vehicles including a pick-up truck, some four wheelers and motorbikes and an animal transport truck.

“Are we going to scare them too?” Shuppet asked in his doll form.

Puppetmaster smiled, “No, I think it’s time we joined some people. It gets rather lonely at times.”

“You have me,” Shuppet said.

“I know,” Puppetmaster laughed, “but I need to keep my sanity in check and talking to a doll isn’t good for mental health, or at least that’s what my psychiatrist said.”

“He’s a moron,” Shuppet crossed his arms.

“Well, that’s why I stopped visiting him ten years ago,” Puppetmaster looked down, “By the way, have you always been able to talk so loud? I feel like you’re voice is defiantly louder.”

Shuppet looked up, “You’ve been sitting in the sun to long! I’ve always talked the way I do now! Have you gone mad?”

“Well, I was just asking,” Puppetmaster started walking down from his dune, “People still can’t hear you, can they?”

“No,” Shuppet stated, “I don’t have a mouth in this form!”

“That’s right,” Puppetmaster sighed, “It’s a shame really. You are such enjoyable company. You don’t think I’m crazy, do you?”

Shuppet shook his head, “You are the sanest person I know.”

“Either that or I’m so crazy I just end up right where I started,” Puppetmaster laughed.

“Yeah,” Shuppet agreed, “It’s probably that one.”

The Turn: Chapter Sixteen

The Turn

Chapter Sixteen

~Mission Impossible – Part Two~

Two Years before the Turn

Zara looked around. If the assassins were to be aborting their original plan with the waiter on the balcony, it was almost impossible to tell what they might do next. She clapped absent mindedly as the President ended his speech and was thanking those who attended. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed movement.

One of the other waiters was walking toward the stage where the president sat. Zara gripped onto her butter knife as she watched him closely. He wasn’t carrying a tray so he wasn’t going to any tables. The waiter rubbed his pant leg nervously. He reached back and pulled out a gun and aimed it ahead at the President.

Zara stood up and threw the knife hitting the man in the shoulder blade. He dropped the gun and fell to the ground gripping his injured shoulder. The whole room gasped. All their eyes were on the man in the center of the room. The President stepped a few steps back in shock.

An officer, the officer in charge of the left side of the stage, walked up on stage toward the President, “Are you alright, Mr. President?”

The waiter grabbed the dropped gun with his uninjured hand. A shot rang through the air and struck the man in the other arm. Naru reloaded the gun and readied the weapon to fire. He figured he had a few more minutes before the place was swarmed with cops. When the officer walked up on the stage, his eyes fell on the officers hand radio. The officer had a radio and the ability to overlook a few weapons entering the facility. He aimed his weapon near the stage.

The officer saw the second failed attempt. He looked at the President as he crouched, hands over head. The officer reached for his weapon and aimed it at the President himself. The President looked up at him. His eyes grew wide with realization.

Deontay, on the other side of the stage, stepped onto the stage and reached for his gun. Vicky grabbed the tray she was holding and threw it at the officer’s leg like a discus. Just as the officer fell, Deontay walked up and kicked the dropped gun out of the way. His own weapon was aimed at the officer. The officer reached for his hidden weapon on his uncle. A shot went off from the third balcony.

Naru brought out a handkerchief from his pocket and whipped down the borrowed weapon. He heard someone running up the steps. Another waiter ran up the steps and looked around. He saw Naru and ran the other direction. There were some stairs that led to the roof. Naru placed down the gun and ran to the man he had knocked out before.

“Someone is headed your way,” Naru said to his sister.

“Time to disappear,” Zara said. She returned to her accent and screamed, “Zere he is! In ze balcony! Run!”

Mass panic erupted. Both Chaud and Zara ran toward the entrance. She darted down one hallway and he ran down another. Zara pulled her dress over her head revealing simple black clothing. She wrapped it around her waist like a decorative belt. Zara made it to a window and opened it. She walked out into the alley and started walking casually walking away.

Hina turned around as the door opened. The waiter stopped short when he saw her. She thrust out her hand and he hit the bottom of the stair well and was out cold. There were noises in the lower floor and Hina ran to the edge of the building. She pumped over the edge and gripped onto the ledge. There was a window below her and she stepped onto the small space above it and kept herself hidden from prying eyes.

Vicky ran out into the alley and nearly bumped into the truck there. She opened the truck and started to hot wire it. Naru came out shortly after with the man he knocked out over his arm. He dragged him to the back of the truck and climbed in. Hina made her way down and also entered the truck. The doors closed, the truck started and it drove away in the chaos.

Zara walked on the sidewalk casually looking behind her with a curious look on her face. A red convertible drove up alongside her. Chaud looked up at her over his sunglasses. He wore a sleeveless shirt and black jeans. Zara rolled her eyes, opened the door and got in. Together they drove away.

Police cars drove up from nearly every direction. Deontay walked out of the building still in his police uniform. He walked to one of the cop cars and got in. After flipping on the sirens he drove off.

IOIOIOIOI

Galaxy watched their hostage sweat in the dark room. He stood in the adjoining room looking through a one way window. Galaxy looked into a file quickly and read the content quickly. Over the year, there had been strange things going on that all seemed to be connected in some way. Galaxy didn’t know exactly how they fit together and that was what he didn’t like.

The door opened and Kaiba walked in. He looked into the other room and handed his father another file.

“Do you want me to interrogate him?” Kaiba asked.

“No, I think I’ll do it this time,” Galaxy smiled.

Kaiba looked up at him, “You want to do it?”

“I want answers,” Galaxy took the folder and walked into the room.

The man looked up at Galaxy as he entered. He looked back down at the table as Galaxy sat down.

“Hello,” Galaxy smiled at the man, “Do you need anything?”

The man shook his head. Then he opened his mouth as if changing his mind, “Maybe a glass of water…”

“We’ll see if we can do something about that,” Galaxy glanced at the mirror to his right. On the other side, Kaiba walked out to get some water. Galaxy looked at the man again, “Let’s get this started, shall we?”

The man shifted uncomfortably as Galaxy fingered slowly through the decently sized file.

“What do you need with kirilium?” Galaxy asked, “There was a robbery a year ago where the thieves stole quite a bit of kirilium. It wasn’t sold on the black market or sold in a private sale. So the question is where is the metal now and what are you going to do with it?”

The man didn’t say a thing.

“A few months later,” Galaxy continued, “there was a large heist in Texas. No one knows it quite yet but once someone starts crunching numbers they will find hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing. What do you need all that money for?”

The man shook his head, refusing to answer.

“Gas prices have skyrocketed in recent months,” Galaxy stated, “It’s even starting to affect us here on out little island. Saudi Arabia seems to be missing several truck loads worth of oil. Over a few months the Saudi Arabian government has lost over thirty trucks. They haven’t shown up anywhere. There are an awful lot of things missing, you see. It makes me feel uneasy.”

The man avoided Galaxy’s gaze.

“There are a lot of other things missing too that seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth. Care to enlighten us on where they went?”

Kaiba walked in just then. He walked to his father’s side, the glass of water in his hand, and waited. Galaxy nodded and Kaiba handed the glass to the man who took it and drank.

“Let’s try a different approach,” Galaxy looked at the man, “You tell me what you want to tell me. I’m sure there’s a part of you that wants to boast about all that you’ve done. You don’t have to say much. Just a useful sentence would be fine. Monologue if you must.”

Galaxy sat in silence as the man sat looking at his fingers. He waited patiently. Kaiba too stood in silence. Silence was a crippling weapon. People in general were afraid of silence because it gave them time to think and depending on what there was to think about some people would spill everything to avoid silence.

“The New Order…” the man muttered.

“I’m sorry?” Galaxy suddenly couldn’t hear. Unfortunately the man said no more. Galaxy pulled together all his things and walked out, Kaiba on his heels.

“What do you want me to do?” Kaiba asked sensing the wheels starting to turn behind his father’s eyes.

“I don’t know yet,” Galaxy said as he walked down a hallway. He stopped suddenly, “Actually, I think I’ll have you look up all you can about what he said.”

“The New Order?” Kaiba raised an eyebrow, “Sounds like a cult.”

Galaxy smiled, “You never know, son. The only thing more dangerous than a cult is a cult with 5000 tons of ammo.”

Kaiba shrugged, “I guess.”

“Stop guessing and get to work,” Galaxy continued walking back to his office.

IOIOIOIOI

Scar walked out of the police station after hours of interrogation. His normally cheery attitude had dampened a little from the intense questioning. He looked relieved as he walked down the steps and saw his driver. The driver stood in front of a limo waiting for his master to come out. He barely smiled as Scar threw his arms around the man.

“Oh! Driver! That was the most frightening thing I’ve ever had to go through! That officer was mean!”

The driver opened one of the doors, “He’s merely doing his job.”

Scar entered the car, “But still! It was as if he were accusing me of setting the whole thing up!”

A dark smile crept across the driver’s face, “Didn’t you?”

“Well, yes,” Scar thought a moment, “but he has no proof!”

The driver closed the door and entered the driver’s side. He pulled away from the curb and drove, “It didn’t happen like we planned, did it.”

“What was your first clue?” Scar said sarcastically.

“Remember when I told you about that secret organization?” the driver stated, “The one called the Tower?”

Scar nodded.

“Well, luckily for you, you got to see their handwork,” the driver pointed out, “I told you they could pose a problem.”

“What do you suggest?” Scar sat up straighter in his seat.

“We’ll have to get rid of them, of course,” said the driver after he made a left turn.

Scar almost laughed, “An entire organization? Just take them out? Are you insane?”

The driver continued as if he wasn’t interrupted, “We still need supplies. So what I think we should do is to do things as we’ve always done. When we send people out for a supply run, we’ll just make sure to send out another group to deal with the pesky Tower when they come.”

“Won’t the Tower need to know where we’ll hit next?” Scar asked.

The driver rolled his eyes, “I’m sure they have their sources. No reason in putting the New Order in jeopardy.”

“Right,” Scar leaned back in his seat, “I knew that.”

“Idiot,” the driver muttered under his breath.