Radioactive: Chapter Seventeen

Radioactive

Chapter Seventeen

~Rechecking the Data~

“Jumper! What on earth did you do!?” the doctor yelled at the black skinned man.

Jumper sighed, “For the sixth time, I brought out one of your pets for a walk and she got away from me. All I wanted to do was help you out, otherwise how are you going to walk all of them? I tried to chase her down but those people I told you about killed before I could get to her.” Jumper shrugged, “It wasn’t my fault.”

“Jumper—!”

Jumper flipped out his phone, “Oh and here’s all the evidence and proof that they aren’t like any ordinary people.”

He tossed the phone over to the doctor. The doctor muttered underneath his breath as he looked over the phone and its contents. He was quiet as he looked through the information. After a few moments he looked up at Jumper.

“Shall, I assume you found this information after you saw my pet was killed,” the doctor stated.”

Jumper feigned offence, “Of course! I wouldn’t have left her to die on her own. Who do you take me for?”

“Umh,” the doctor muttered. He didn’t believe a word that came out of Jumper’s mouth for good reason. The doctor nodded as he read over the information one last time.

“What do you want to do now?” Jumper asked; a small smile crept across his face.

The doctor looked up, “Well, it does look like that they will be a bit of trouble. We can have them destroying my experiments.”

“I say that we attack them with those pets of yours,” Jumper suggested, “They can’t fight off all of them at once.”

“That is out of the question,” the doctor said, “I will not destroy my creations.”

“Then how do you propose we get rid of them?” Jumper crossed his arms, “And besides, you can always make more once their killed right? What do you have to lose?”

The doctor was quiet for a moment, thinking on his options. He hated seeing his modified creatures die. It saddened him like a father is broken over his child’s death or like a god’s anguish when his creations desert him. As much as he wanted to keep them he knew that if he didn’t do something about the agents that were sent that they would take them away and do who knew what to them. The doctor gave a long sigh and shook his head.

“Fine,” he said, “We’ll have to attack first.”

Jumper’s smile widened, “Shall I start with the preparations?”

The doctor nodded slowly, “Do what needs to be done.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pad of paper, “These numbers are the ones that you cannot use on this mission. They are my favorites. We might need them later.”

Jumper grabbed the piece of paper and looked it over, “This is it? What are you going to do?”

“What am I going to do?” the doctor looked at him, “I have to delete all of my files. We don’t want those Agents getting ahold of my research just in case they make it here.”

“Dang,” Jumper looked at the doctor, “You worked really hard on that research and you’re going to just delete it all?”

“On these servers, yes,” the doctor smiled, “but there are several copies of the information elsewhere. It is none of your concern. I will deal with that end of things.”

“What about the experiments that are still in progress and haven’t finished yet?” Jumper asked.

“I will deal with that to I guess,” the doctor said, “I should be the one to put them out of their misery. The Agents wouldn’t put them through more pain than I would if they got their hands on them.”

Jumper shrugged, “Do whatever you need to. I’ve got my own list of things to do.”

He vanished leaving the doctor alone with his thoughts. The doctor sat down into a chair and propped his chin on his folded hands. He sighed.

~§~

“You aren’t half bad around a carburetor,” Grayson said as he stood back and lit a cigarette. He leaned against a wall behind Fang as he worked on the engine.

“Fixed a few of these when I was younger,” Fang stated.

Ing sat on a chair next to Fang. He looked eagerly at what Fang was doing. Occasionally he asked questions and pointed at different parts of the engine and constantly wondered what each part did. Fang, with growing impatience, answered each question. Next to them, Duke was teaching Riu how to change a car battery. She was giving him a hard time, probably because she was still annoyed about losing her apartment. Kaiba sat at a desk computer working on the accounting while Kiri tried her hand at changing her first tire. Though she wasn’t initially made for this type of work, she managed it easily. Jekyll handed her the things she needed. He didn’t seem at all interested but did what little he could to help out. Grayson looked over his workers. He sent his usual employees home for some well needed rest.

“At least you’re all getting some adequate work done,” Grayson yawned and headed upstairs toward the catwalk, “I’m sure you all have top secret things to talk about so I think I’ll go take a nap.”

“Night!” Ing waved up at the older man.

Grayson waved a dismissive hand. Fang looked over at Ing and shook his head. The kid was very interesting, that much could be said. When Grayson closed the door behind him, the others started talking.

“Something doesn’t smell right,” Fang said.

“Other than all the grease on our hands?” Riu looked over her shoulder.

Fang glared at her, “I mean that there is something in the air. The kind of scent that warns of a coming battle.”

“Oh,” Riu looked away, “Sounds like B.S. to me.”

Fang rolled his eyes. Ing raised his hand, “I think Fang is telling the truth!”

“Of course you would,” Riu stated.

“What do you think the enemy will do now?” Duke asked.

“There isn’t enough data to determine anything,” Kiri said.

Kaiba looked over his shoulder, “Can you determine what their next action will be? What the best probability is?”

“I cannot determine their next course of action without more data,” Kiri answered. “However, it is safe to assume that we have nothing to worry about.”

“Really?” Jekyll looked up at her, “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“As Kaiba asked I gave my best view on the situation,” Kiri said, “It isn’t conclusive but it is what I am able to determine with the little information that I have.”

“So basically all that means that you gave us your gut feeling,” Riu rolled her eyes.

There was the faint sound of screaming in the distance. At first only Fang could hear but slowly the screaming grew loud enough so that the others could hear it as well. People ran started running through the streets screaming about creatures attacking. Something with two pairs of insect wings rose above the building line. The creature glared at them and snarled in the form of various clicks. Another creature jumped onto a roof like a frog and joined its companion in a kind of battle cry. A third lizard type of creature came over the roof and started climbing down the side of the buildings wall.

Kaiba stood up and walked out of the garage. He looked up and down the street. Other creatures crawled out of the sewer man holes and started attacking anyone that was closest to them. When they looked toward the garage, they screamed and screeched at them before charging at them and attacking.

Kiri stood beside Kaiba, “Maybe my conclusion was based on faulty information…”

“I’d say,” Riu placed her hands on her hips. She shrugged, “At least this looks like it will be fun.”

Jekyll tugged on his hat, “It isn’t your fault. They may be a little more ambitions than we thought.”

“Thank you, Jekyll,” Kiri nodded toward him.

“This is going to so much fun!” Ing spun around like an airplane.

Fang placed a firm hand on Ing’s head to stop his spinning, “For once I agree with you.”

“What’s the plan going to be?” Duke asked.

“The same that it has always been,” Kaiba stated, “Fine the person responsible and take down any mutants along the way.”

“Sounds good to me,” Riu hit her fists together.

“Good,” Kaiba looked around, “Let’s get going then.”

Radioactive: Chapter Eight

Radioactive

Chapter Eight

~Welcome to the Circus~

A hush fell over the crowd as the spotlights fell on the center of the ring. A woman in scarlet red posed in the center, a red top hat covered her eyes just above a large red lipstick smile. She waited a beat before cracking her whip and whisking her hat off her head. Arms outstretched she welcomed the crowd. The scarlet ringmaster already captivated the crowd.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” her voice carried without any need for a microphone, “Children of all ages! The circus is about to begin! Welcome,” she paused for effect, “to the Greatest Show on Earth!”

She cracked her whip and the music from the band picked up. Lights shown on the upper rafters reviling the three trapezing sisters stood and waved on one of the platforms. On the others platform was another group of tight walkers. The elephants entered from one side and walked across to the exit on the other side. A pair of clowns ran back and forth in an exaggerated game of tag. There even was a man in a motorized little train filled with trained dogs in the other train cars. The ringmaster stepped forward toward the crowd.

“We have just a fabulous show for you today! A show of wonder and amazement, of laughter and joy! I present to you…the Island Circus!”

With a crack of her whip she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. As the introduction continued, there could be singing heard. Behind the preforming stage, behind the curtains the ring master walked through the different nooks and crannies. Different performers looked up from their warm ups and got out of her way. She looked different off stage. Her smile gave way to a serious scowl. She grabbed someone’s wrist and looked at their watch. The introduction lasted about five minutes. She had that long before she needed to be back out on the ring.

The ringmaster walked out of the main tent and toward the animal cages. Usually the cages were open for viewing but there was now a sign that said that the cages were closed for cleaning. A big man stood guard and got out of her way. The lions and tigers all stood up and walked toward her as far as the bars would let them. with a crack of her whip they retreated sensing she had other business to deal with besides them.

Near the end of the row of cages, there was an empty one. A woman clad in blue with a blue top hat turned to see the ringmaster approaching. Several other performers who weren’t scheduled to perform that month were standing around as well. The scarlet ringmaster cracked her whip and the crowd of people slowly began to scatter. They stayed within eye sight as to see what was going to happen next.

The ringmaster looked into the cage and saw the two people tied up inside. “What the heck is going on here? We have an honest business to run and I don’t have time for this nonsense. Narumi!”

The girl in blue stood up straight, “Reba, they were found wondering around in our camp!”

“Walking around like they owned the place, they did,” her partner, a boy with shaggy red hair walked up and smiled, “Going around saying they just wanted to talk to the Master.”

The ringmaster placed her hands on her hips and looked at two tied up in the cage. They were blindfolded and gaged. She looked back at Narumi and her partner.

“Give it here, Kotei,” she said with her hand out.

Kotei looked shocked, “I haven’t a clue what you are talking about!”

The ringmaster sighed with annoyance, “Narumi! Fill in for me! The introduction should be finished any second now! And for Pete’s sake Kotei, give me her wallet!”

“Yes, Ringmaster!” Narumi saluted and ran off in the direction of the main tent.

Kotei sighed and rolled his eyes, “Fine.” He reached into his pocket and gave up the wallet, “Can I keep the cash?”

“Was there any?” the ringmaster asked him.

“Kotei smiled, “No.”

“Well, you can’t return something that wasn’t there,” she pointed to one side, “Fine then. Now open the cage!”

Kotei opened the gate. The ringmaster let herself in and looked down at the two tied up prisoners. She looked to Kotei.

“Take off their blindfolds and gags,” she instructed.

Kotei did as he was told. He took off Kiri’s blind fold first. She recognized him from when he had bumped into her. Her brow furrowed into a scowl in the face of his smiling. After that, Kotei took off Kaiba’s blindfold and gag.

“I told you to keep track of your wallet,” Kaiba muttered.

Kiri turned her head, “Can we not talk about it?”

The ringmaster cracked her whip, “I happen to agree. Let’s get down business shall we? What do you want with the Master?”

“I never said that we were looking for any ‘Master’,” Kaiba said, “But I did say we were looking for a black wagon. I can only assume that this ‘Master’ lives in the black wagon we were told about.”

“We just want to ask a few questions,” Kiri stated.

The ringmaster leaned forward, “Well, he’s a busy man. If you Tower idiots even thought to call first and make an appointment I’m sure we would be more accommodating. But instead you walk into our home violating our personal space. Even five-year-olds have more sense than you.”

“You hear that?” Kotei smiled, “Even the kids around here don’t go running off to the wagons.”

“Shut up, Kotei!” the ringmaster shouted.

She paused and looked up. A man stood at the entrance to the gate. He wore a grey coat over his black shirt. His white hair fell on his shoulders from under his grey hat. On a strand of braided hair was a purple sphere. In his arm was a doll crafted to his likeness. Though it had no eyes it had shallow indentations of where the eyes would be. Its head was larger than its body.

The man looked at the scene with his purple eyes. He smiled and looked at the ringmaster, “What is going on here, Reba? Everyone seemed very excited for some reason so I decided to check things out for myself. Why do we have these two people tied up in the tiger’s cage?”

“Puppetmaster!” Reba stood up straight, “I didn’t realize that you were standing there.”

Puppetmaster walked in, “It’s alright; I’ll just invite myself to this encounter.” He crouched in front of Kaiba, “Hello. You’re that Kaiba kid aren’t you? Sirius’s son, right?”

“I assume you’re the one who lives in the black wagon,” Kaiba said.

Puppetmaster nodded, “I am.”

“Do you know anything about mutants?” Kaiba asked.

Puppetmaster smiled, “I think about three-fourths of the Island are mutants, unless I’m mistaken.”

“No, I’m talking about mutated others,” Kaiba explained, “There’s a case where there are creatures that strongly resemble humans but are different on a cellular level. Their appearance is different and their behaviors. I was told by a mutual friend that you might be able to help.”

Puppetmaster placed a hand to his mouth with thought, “Hmm, interesting. Sounds like you have an interesting predicament. Quite honestly, I haven’t any information to give you. Have you tried tracking down where these people came from?”

“Is that all?” Kaiba said.

Puppetmaster looked down at the puppet in his arms, “What was that? Oh, yes! I almost forgot.” He looked up at Kaiba again, “If you’re seeing genetic changes, you might be dealing with an Other who is turning humans into Others because of something they went through.”

Kaiba nodded slowly. It was an interesting thought. Puppetmaster looked up at Kotei and motioned to the ties that bound Kaiba and Kiri. Kotei untied the two hostages and allowed them to get up to their feet. Kiri got to her feet herself, even as she was offered a hand by Kotei. She looked at Reba. Reba had her hands on her hips. Kaiba straightened out his shirt and coat. He looked at Puppetmaster.

“Thank you for meeting with us,” Kaiba said.

Puppetmaster smiled, “Be sure to stop by anytime.”

Kaiba turned to Kiri and motioned for her to follow him, “Come on. We’re leaving.”

Kiri turned and followed Kaiba out of the cage. She stopped a moment to say hello to Puppetmaster then ran after Kaiba. Puppetmaster looked after them and smiled. Reba walked up to him and narrowed her eyes.

“You’re just going to let them go?” Reba asked.

“Yep,” Puppetmaster nodded.

Reba shook her head, “You’re too much, you know.”

“Thank you,” Puppetmaster said, “Well; we should get back to running this circus, shouldn’t we?”

“I agree,” Reba walked out of the cage, “I hope you’ll actually do some work today.”

Puppetmaster shook his head, “Don’t I always?”

Iridescent: Chapter Twenty-Four

Iridescent

Chapter Twenty-Four

~The Great Oasis~

After the Fall

“Pineapple or peaches?”

Zara looked over her shoulder, “What?”

Deontay raised up two cans, “Pineapple or peaches?”

Zara rolled her eyes, “I’m not hungry.”

“Suit yourself,” Deontay shrugged. He opened the can of peaches with a knife and ate while he walked.

Zara narrowed her eyes as a gust of wind blew through the desert throwing sand into the air. She took a swig of water as she tried to think. There was a storm coming. She could just feel it and it wasn’t a thunderstorm either. If they were caught out in the desert during a sandstorm they probably wouldn’t make it through.

“How much further?” Zara asked Miwa.

The robotic dog turned his head, “A few more hours maybe, until the oasis.”

“Come on, Deontay!” Zara called, “Lift those legs! Make sure to keep up!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Deontay said as he ate.

They were running out of supplies and decided to stop through the oasis. Miwa said that their way off the Island was near there so taking a slight detour wouldn’t be any problem.  There were several oases that lay like peals in the desert sand but there was one that was unusually large. It was large enough to support several vacation hot spots. In fact, really it was several large oases clustered together in the same area.

Zara wasn’t sure what to expect. There weren’t many people living in the desert but the desert could have attracted several people from the city after the Tower fell because of the fact not many people lived there. The people that came to the desert would need to find water and since most of them didn’t know the ins and outs of the desert the only source of water they would know would be the Great Oasis, where they were headed.

There wasn’t anything she could do about it now. All Zara could really do was to wait until they reached the Great Oasis to figure out what to do from there.

The wind grew gradually stronger as the group of three walked toward the Great Oasis. Zara struggled through the sand. After a few hours, the traveling group crested a large dune they saw the tourist attraction ahead of them in the distance. The buildings in the distance looked abandoned and empty. Zara made it within a mile of the resort type. She ducked down and the others took notice and crouched beside her.

“What’s up?” Deontay asked.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Zara said.

Deontay looked over at Miwa, “Why don’t you ask Miwa?”

“I don’t need to ask Miwa,” Zara stated.

Deontay rolled his eyes, “So Miwa, what is the say on what’s ahead?”

Miwa looked ahead. He scanned the area of the Oasis, “There are a lot of hostiles in the area.”

“Great,” Deontay sighed, “I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.”

“How many oases are there?” Zara asked.

“Seven,” Miwa stated, “Five of them are large bodies of water while the other two are simply smaller connecting lakes.”

“That is a lot of drinkable water,” Deontay nodded.

“The water level has dropped 20% since the Tower fell,” Miwa reported

Zara got back to the problem at hand, “How many resorts and hotels are there?”

“A lot,” Miwa answered. Zara looked at him and scowled. Miwa shrugged in a doglike manor, “What? I just like Deontay better.”

Deontay shrugged, “You are a little rough around the edges.”

“Says someone who likes me,” Zara muttered.

Deontay shook his head, “I told you! I don’t have a crush on you! Someone else does!”

“Right,” Zara didn’t believe a word he said, “Come on, we’ll have to sneak in.”

“What’s the plan?” Miwa asked.

Zara looked at Miwa, “Get ourselves a share of the water here and maybe take over a building while we’re at it.”

Zara crept forward through the dust and grime that blew in the growing wind. Deontay and Miwa looked at each other for a moment. Deontay shrugged and followed close behind Zara. Miwa walked beside Deontay. They reached one of the resort buildings. The building was made almost entirely of glass. The large swinging pool was a buddy brown instead of a crystal blue. People with guns walked into the building as the wind blew in their faces.

“Come on boss!” a grunt complained, “Let us in! A sand storm is coming!”

“Stay there until I say you can come in!” the boss yelled over the howling wind.

Another grunt groaned, “But boss! No one’s going to try to take out turf in the middle of a sand storm!”

“I’ll leave all of you out there if you don’t shut up and maintain the perimeter!” the boss yelled, “Do you want that!? No? Then shut up!”

The door slammed shut and the grunts that stood guard grumbled quietly to themselves. They walked toward their posts and stood guard. Zara looked at Deontay.

“So what’s the plan?” Miwa asked.

“Do we really need this building?” Deontay asked.

Zara shrugged, “I’ve always wanted to visit this resort. Never had the time though.”

Deontay cracked his knuckles, “Alright.”

“Really though,” Miwa sat in between them, “what’s the plan?”

Visibility was bad so Zara decided to use it to their advantage. Zara vaulted over the wall of dried bushes with Deontay’s help. She landed on her feet and couched in the sandy haze. Zara ran low to the ground toward the nearest grunt. She crept up behind him and pulled his legs out from under him. As he fell, she grabbed his gun and struck the man in the jaw with the butt of the gun.

She threw the gun over the bush for Deontay before turning to deal with the rest of the look outs. Zara ran toward another hazy figure in the sand.

The man took notice of a noise, “Don, what was tha—”

Zara ran up and kicked the man in the jaw. He dropped to the ground unconscious. Zara sighed. It wasn’t as stealthy as she had wanted but she could adapt. The rest of the men on the outside knew that she was there. They just still couldn’t see her. She darted toward another man and knocked him out. Then she grabbed his gun and aimed it at the others.

“Drop your weapons!” Zara called.

“There’s like five of us and only one of you!” a man called, “Why would we do that?”

Zara shrugged, “Suit yourself.”

Miwa lunged out of the swirling sand behind the men. He tackled one of them and quickly turned to take down another. His tail lashed out, grabbed a man’s leg and gave a short electrical shock enough to knock him out. Another man raised his gun at Miwa. Deontay hit the man’s arm upwards then hit him in the stomach with the butt of the gun Zara tossed to him. As the man boubled over, Deontay stuck him in the side of the head with the same weapon. In an easy movement, Deontay slung the weapon onto his back and raised his empty shot gun at another man.

“Not so fast, man,” Deontay stated. The man had raised his weapon. Upon seeing the sawed off double barrel shot gun, the man thought twice. He placed down the weapon in his hand and raised his hands. Zara walked up to him.

She looked down at the man, “It’s empty.”

Zara hit the man in the back of the head. She motioned to Deontay and Miwa to head to the door. The class door was covered in a sand film. Deontay walked up to the door and knocked on the widowed glass.

“I TOLD you! You come in when I say you do!” the boss yelled.

Deontay looked at Zara. She motioned to the door. Deontay shrugged and knocked again.

“You bunch of idiots! How many times do I have to say it?! You are not getting in!” the boss yelled.

Deontay nodded, “Challenge accepted.” He grabbed the handle.

“Don’t break my door,” Zara stated.

Deontay looked at her, “I got it, sheesh.”

He pulled on the door handle. The door remained closed, locked from the other side.

“Deontay,” Zara said with a hint of a threat, “I want a door by the end of this whole thing.”

“I know, I know,” Deontay waved a hand at her.

He took a stance and yanked on the door again. The door flew open. Zara ran in and raised her weapon. Miwa ran in beside her. The people in the lobby looked up and got to their feet. Zara looked at Miwa and pointed to the balcony. Miwa ran up the stairs, his tail tazed the men he passed by. Zara ducked down as shots flew passed her. She darted forward and jumped behind the info desk. Zara reloaded her weapon and fired at arms and legs; nonlife threatening injuries. Deontay walked in as the wind blew the door closed again. He sighed and got to work.

Deontay made his way through the resort looking for something in particular. He spotted his target. The leader noticed Deontay’s interest in him and turned to run down a hallway. Deontay rolled his eyes and followed him. The leader ducked into an office with Deontay close on his trail. When Deontay neared the room the man let loose a string of bullets. Deontay crossed his arms and waited a few seconds until he heard a click. He entered as the leader tried to reload his weapon. His fingers fumbled with the clip as Deontay simply watched him.

“You done?” Deontay asked.

The man dropped his weapon and raised his hands with an unsure smile. Deontay grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him back out to the lobby. He raised the man to his feet and pressed his empty shotgun to his back.

“Alright!” Deontay’s voice boomed. Everyone quieted down to look at him, “I’m only going to say this once! The lady wants the resort! So everybody else, get out!”

For a moment everyone just looked at each other, wondering what to do.

Deontay raised his weapon, “I mean it! If you go now you should be able to get to the hotel down the street before the winds pick up to much.”

The men started running out the door. When the door closed behind the last man, Deontay let the leader go who dashed for the door. Miwa and Zara walked to Deontay’s side.

“That went well,” Deontay propped the gun on his shoulder.

Miwa sat down, “That was fun! I really should join your guys’ team!”

“No,” Zara said. She turned around, “Come on. Let’s barricade the resort and make it storm ready. I don’t want those guys coming back. That and I don’t want sand getting in my new resort.”