Radioactive: Chapter Thirteen

Radioactive

Chapter Thirteen

~Duke of Edinburgh~

Riu walked through the streets. She guided Duke to one of her usual hang outs. Duke followed her without saying a word. She talked to him like one would talk to a close relative. He listened as she talked about uncles and aunts that didn’t really exist and younger nieces and nephews that were full of fantasy fun.

The two were followed subtly by the others. Ing rode on Fang’s shoulders as he walked in his wolf form in the dark alleys. Riu lent him a hoodie to wear in order to hide the discoloration of his arms. The doctor walked along side Fang in the shadows of the alleys. Kaiba and Kiri decided to stay and man the computers while the others did the leg work. Ing hummed a happy tune as he rode on Fang’s back. Fang didn’t seem to mind much, other than the annoyed look on his face.

“Do you know anything about this Duke character?” Jekyll asked.

Fang looked up at the doctor, “Never met him before today.”

“I think that Duke is a nice person,” Ing said.

“No one’s asking you,” Fang looked over his shoulder.

Jekyll smiled, “I think this might be interesting.”

“How so?” Fang asked.

Jekyll looked at Fang, “I’d just like to see how he handles himself in this type of situation.”

Riu stopped by a car garage and walked in. She motioned to Duke to follow her inside, “Grayson! Hey, Grayson! I got someone I want you to meet!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!” a voice came from under the hood of one of the cars.

A man stepped out and closed the hood. The man had short grey hair and a scar over his left eye. He wore worker clothes covered in smudges and grease marks. Grayson wiped his hands on a dirty washcloth and looked up at Riu.

“What do you want, girl? Can’t you see I’m busy?” Grayson glared at her.

Riu didn’t seem to notice. She turned to Duke and motioned him closer, “Come on, Grayson! I just wanted you to meet my cousin, Duke. He’s in town for a little bit and I thought I’d show him the sites.” Duke this is Grayson. Grayson, Duke.”

Grayson took a long look at Duke, “What are you in town for?”

Duke looked around a bit, “I don’t see how that is any of your business.”

“You don’t, do you?” Grayson leaned back on one leg.

“Yeah,” Duke nodded, “Just like it isn’t my business that you sell drugs along with fixing cars. Pretty nifty trick you’ve got going on. Someone wanting their fix drives in to get a headlight ‘tightened’. Sure you fix the problem but you add a little extra under the hood. No ones the wiser.”

Grayson shook his head, “You think you’re so smart don’t ya, kid? An attitude like that will get you killed out here.”

Duke shrugged, “It hasn’t so far.”

Grayson smiled, “You’re cousins.”

“Twice removed,” Duke crossed his arms.

“I know a lot of things, kid, and I know that you two are not cousins,” Grayson said, “But it’s none of my business as long as you stay out of mine.”

Duke glanced at Riu. She smiled innocently and scratched the back of his head. Duke put his hands in his pocket and sighed.

“I guess you got us,” he admitted.

“What?” Riu turned to him.

“Hope you’ll keep that on the down low,” Duke said, “We really could care less about you’re little side business here or anything else that could be going on in this city. We’re just here to look for a few people that have been missing in the last few days. Can we count on you to keep things quiet?”

Grayson shrugged, “It isn’t any of my business as long as you stay out of mine.”

Duke smiled, “Sounds fair.”

Grayson turned around, “I don’t know anything about the disappearances?”

“How about the murders?” Duke asked.

“Nothing about that either,” Grayson answered.

“Thanks,” Duke took a few steps back, “Will you let us know if you hear anything?”

Grayson looked over his shoulder, “If I find it interesting.”

“Great,” Riu pushed Duke backwards, “Thanks for talking to us Grayson!” When they were a safe distance from anyone, Riu stepped in front of Duke to confront him, “You just ruined my cover that I’ve built up in a matter of minutes. What the heck is wrong with you!?”

Duke shrugged, “He already knew you weren’t who you said you were. I guess he thought you were nice enough to be trusted so he didn’t say anything.”

“And how would he know that?” Riu had her hands on her hips.

“He didn’t seem shocked that I wasn’t really your cousin. Most other people in these types of neighborhoods would shoot us…at best…or torture us, either way,” Duke said.

“Well, we’ll just have to ask him later then wont we!” Riu turned and stomped off.

Duke followed, “I wasn’t your fault. No one else seemed to know that you aren’t who you say you are and no one overheard us. He’s kept your secret this long there isn’t any reason why he wouldn’t still keep your secret now.”

Observing in the shadows, Fang sat on his haunches effectively throwing Ing off his back, he nodded approvingly. Jekyll smiled approvingly.

“I told you this would be interesting,” Jekyll said.

“He is fast on his feet, that’s for sure,” Fang nodded.

Ing looked at Riu and Duke as they walked away from the garage then back at the two spectators, then back at the couple. He took some mental notes on how to react fast to changing situations. Being out in the field was giving him good experience.

“Is it time to go look for leads?” Ing asked.

“I guess so,” Fang got back onto his paws, “Look cute, kid.”

Ing jumped onto Fang’s back. Fang walked passed Jekyll who was headed on his own way. The wolf and the child walked through the alleys. Fang frequently sniffed the ground and the air around them. They were generally unnoticed other than a couple of side glances. Ing kept quiet as they walked around aimlessly. He would record any conversations that they would overhear or take pictures when Fang said to but other than that, it was rather uneventful.

Fang had his nose to the ground when he caught scent of something interesting. He brought his head up and stood still. There was an apartment complex ahead of then and on the steps was a black man talking to a girl. From the looks of things, the guy liked the girl and was awkwardly trying to lengthen the conversation in order to be around her longer. Fang tilted his head and walked closer with his nose to the ground.

“You’re kidding? People can really do that?” the girl said.

“Yeah, it’s actually pretty cool,” the guy nervously rubbed the back of his head.

Fang sniffed at the guy’s leg.

The guy jumped a little, “Whoa! Hey there!”

“Awe,” the girl bent down to pet Fang on the head, “what a cute dog. What bread is he?” The girl looked up at Ing.

Ing quickly compared Fang’s wolf image with a wide range of wolf like dog breads, “A Northern Inuit.”

“He’s gorgeous,” the girl scratched behind Fang’s ear.

Fang didn’t want to be rude so he let her hand find that spot that was always so hard to scratch on one’s own. His tail waged happily as his ears were being scratched.

“What’s his name” the girl asked.

“Fang,” Ing smiled, “he looks threatening but really he’s a big puppy.”

Fang looked over his shoulder slightly and growled. The girl laughed, “Looks like he resents that remark.”

“You knew in town,” the man asked.

Ing nodded, “Yeah, we’re just passing through thought. Sorry if we interrupted you.”

“No, it’s okay!” the girl smiled.

“Let’s go Fang,” Ing kicked his sides like one would to get a horse moving.

Slowly, Fang walked off. He listened to the couple talk a little more until they were out of earshot. Fang looked back and growled at Ing.

“Really? I’m just a big puppy?” Fang growled, “I’ll show you how much of a puppy I am when I rip your little robot head off your shoulders.”

Ing crossed his arms, “We’ll its true isn’t it. The big bad wolf turns puppy when his ear gets scratched. Let’s hope the bad guy isn’t a good ear scratcher.”

Fang looked ahead, “Don’t you dare tell anyone! Or I will tear you limb from limb!”

“Hmph!” Ing stuck out his tongue, “Why did you even go over to them in the first place?”

Fang stopped a moment before answering, “I don’t know.”

Ing leaned down so that he was by Fang’s eye, “You don’t know?”

“I don’t know, something was just different that’s all!” Fang snapped, “Now will you shut up and leave me alone!”

“Fine!” Ing snapped, “Mr. Bossy…”

“That’s it!” Fang sat down causing Ing to tumble backwards, “You’re walking the rest of the way, Mr. Smarty-pants!”

Fang got up and started walking away. Ing got to his feet and ran after him asking for forgiveness and a second chance. Fang ignored the cries for a while but eventually allowed the android to sit on his back again.

Iridescent: Chapter Thirteen

Iridescent

Chapter Thirteen

~Copycat!~

After the Fall

Once Chaud had crossed from the forest to the mountains the Blue Gold wore off. He fell. His feathers scattered and he fell from the sky. He wasn’t flying that high but it was still a notable distance. Amber rolled on the gravel. She immediately got up and looked for her brother. When Amber found him as the rain fell, Chaud was throwing up and started convulsing. She watched in horror as her brother seized uncontrollably. Not knowing exactly what to do she stayed by his side and tried her best to keep him still. Her eyes filled with tears as she waited for what felt like an eternity.

After a while he lay still. Amber kept her head on her brothers back afraid at what she would find. She waited for him to say something, nothing was said. She waited for him to move, he didn’t. Amber feared the worst. Slowly she moved to look over her brother.

His eyes were opened and stared off into space but it was obvious he wasn’t conscious. Amber tried to calm herself down and turn him on his back. She pressed her ear against his chest and tried to listen for a heartbeat. She closed her eyes and listened. His heart was racing so fast that Amber could count it. She looked around frantically. Amber wanted to call for help but was scared to call their pursuers to them.

She looked around and found a cave. Amber pulled her brother into the cave. She laid him on his side before going out to grab their things. When she got back she tried to care for her brother. She made sure he was breathing. The night was falling and darkness started creeping into the cave. Amber gulped unsure of how she was going to make it through the night.

Amber jerked awake as the new days sun touched her eyes. She looked at her brother expecting to be awake. Unfortunately he lay still barely breathing. She opened their bags and found some food. She ate breakfast and pulled out a water bottle. Amber tried to get her brother to drink but the water just flowed down his face and neck.

She looked at their food stores and they were low. Amber took a deep breath and grabbed her dart pouch and left the cave to find food. She figured that Chaud would wake up later. In all honesty she could bear the thought of sitting around waiting for him to wake up. Before she left, she glanced one last time over her shoulder.

Amber walked over rocks and boulders. She did pass a small stream and filled their water bottles again. There wasn’t much in the way of food. She did spot a rabbit sitting on a rock but when she threw her dart the creature ran away. Amber’s shoulders fell in a disappointed sigh.

She made sure she didn’t wander too far. Every mountain looked exactly like the other meaning one could easily get lost. She was about to turn back when she heard something. Instinctively, Amber ducked down and hid behind a rock. She listened closely. There was a whimpering sound in the air very animalistic in nature. Curious, Amber went to go see what it was.

Just around a bolder was a ledge. A scrawny tree grew there near the edge by the face of a cliff with the mountain rising far above. Some rocks must have fallen loose when a white she-wolf was walking past. Her paw was stuck under a pile of large rocks.

The wolf looked up at the girl’s sudden appearance and growled. Amber took a few frightened steps back. She looked around and saw a long fallen branch from the tree. Amber walked slowly over to it and picked up the branch. She used the branch to try and lift the rocks off the wolf’s paw.

The she-wolf growled a warning for Amber not to get to close. The wolf watched Amber as she created a leaver using a smaller rock as a fulcrum. Amber managed to lift the rock off the wolf’s paw. The wolf looked at her cautiously before limping away. Amber waved the wolf goodbye.

A motion in the tree caught her eye. A large bird landed in the fragile branches, a blue vial in its beak. It looked at her and flew away again. The blue vial dropped from its beak and fell on the ground. Amber walked up to the vial and picked it up. The vial was cracked and most of the liquid had dripped out. She held it in her hand and walked back the way she came back to the cave.

Amber placed down the water bottles and knelt down beside her brother. He hadn’t stirred and inch since she had left. She looked at the vial in her hand. Her thoughts traveled to a time a while back when she had been climbing a tree in their back yard. Mother called her down saying that it wasn’t very ladylike at all for a girl to me crawling through the trees. So Amber jumped down. When she landed, she twisted her ankle.

Naturally, for a girl her age at the time, started crying. That brought on the attention of her father. He knelt over her and placed a hand on the injured ankle. She remembered watching him carefully. His powers traveled to his hand and created a type of healing radiation. As a copycat she saw the powers within her father move and shift as they were used. She saw the pain in her led fade as his power engulfed it.

Amber looked down at the vial in her hand. There was only a small amount of the blue liquid left. She felt like she could duplicate what her father did for her though she wasn’t exactly sure what was wrong with her brother. But she knew she had to try in whatever way she could.

She used what was left in the vial.  The surge of her powers activating made her so dizzy that she had to close her eyes. She knew that she didn’t have all that much time with such a small amount. Amber though of her father and tried to duplicate how he used his powers. When she opened her eyes her left eye was blue like her fathers while her right eye remained orange.

Amber placed her hands over Chaud’s chest. She slowly pushed her powers through her as her father did. The healing flowed like light into Chaud’s body chasing out the darkness that ailed him. As she healed him, she could also feel his pain. She felt the darkness trying to engulf her as well.  As she tried to push the darkness away she focused on making her brother better.

Her time ran out and it felt like a rubber band snapping, as if all her energy was sucked out of her all at once. Chaud gasped for air but remained unconscious. Amber lay against her brother and shivered quietly. She slept quietly from the exhaustion listening to her brother’s steady breathing.

When she woke up she lay again she heard a fire crackling in the cave. She felt too tired to move or react. Amber lay facing the entrance of the cave. The cave was quiet and she felt strangely at peace. She watched the entrance of the cave lazily. A shadow passed over the mouth of the cave and glanced in. The white wolf cautiously walked inside. The she-wolf sniffed at Amber and nudged at her.

Another shadow fell over the cave. Chaud walked in toward his sister. He looked pale and tired. The wolf looked over her shoulder and steered clear of him by walking to the other end of the cave. Chaud placed a hand on her forehead.

“You have a fever,” Chaud said.

Amber was too tired to respond.

Chaud sighed, “Don’t do that again. You could kill yourself.”

“Sorry,” Amber muttered.

Chaud started tying together the backpacks. He opened one of them so they lay out flat after tearing at the seams. He carried the makeshift saddle toward the wolf who growled menacingly. Chaud rolled his eyes.

“It’s either you help out or get moving. I know you were worried about my sister for whatever reason but you can’t keep staying on the fence,” Chaud sighed, “And you probably don’t even know what I’m saying because you’re a wolf.”

The she-wolf’s ears perked up when he spoke and she walked a little closer. She was tall and much broader in the shoulders than what was usual for females. Her back was even to Chaud’s waist. He lay the saddle on the wolf’s back and used the strap handle to tie the device in place. Chaud got the other bags and tied then to the saddle. He then picked up his sister and situated her on the wolf’s back.

The wolf growled uneasily.

“Oh, shush,” Chaud said.

He carried a bag of his own filled with ammo, two vials, a water bottle and a small portion of the food. Chaud attached his guns to his belt. He looked at the white wolf behind him.

“Let’s go,” he nodded.

The wolf straightened and walked easily out of the cave behind Chaud. To show her independence, the wolf always kept a few paces in front of him and Chaud allowed it; as long as he could keep a close eye on his sister, that is.

The Turn: Chapter Thirteen

The Turn

Chapter Thirteen

~Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide~

Three Years before the Turn

Sirius smiled down at the six teens below, a glass of wine in his hand. Mrs. Galaxy jumped up and down near the large mirror. For a moment, she didn’t care how childish it was or how many people were watching, she was overjoyed by her son’s victory. She turned toward her husband and draped her arms around his neck. Sirius, with years of experience, raised his glass clear out of the way from his wife’s exited outbursts.

“Oh! Look, dear! Look at him! I told you that he needed a release for his energy!” the Mrs. started, “I told you he was definitely the fighter in the family. Didn’t I tell you?”

“Yes, dear,” Sirius nodded.

Mrs. Galaxy released her husband a moment and looked at Kaiba, “I did tell him didn’t I? That your brother needed a creative release and that he was definitely the fighter in the family?”

“Yes, mother,” Kaiba nodded. Personally, he thought he was much better at fighting that any of his brothers but he decided that Chaud needed to be good at something.

Mrs. Galaxy looked back at Sirius, “I told you!” She turned back to the window and looked out, “A mother knows best you know.”

“I wouldn’t dare to argue,” Sirius raised the glass to his lips.

“And did you see how well they did! Oh, I hope that boy will be alright! Did that girl just hit my Chaud in the head?! Why I ought to—oh, there they go! Where do they go when they disappear, sweetie? I wonder who the next group is. Whoever they are, I’m sure my Chaud can take them out, no problem! Now you have no excuse to hire him and his team! Oh, look at that! What is that woman wearing?! I should donate some of my clothes to her! My goodness she needs it! Can I do that honey?”

Sirius raised a curious eyebrow. He had almost missed that vital sentence in his wife’s exited rambling. Fortunately, his finely tuned ears, usually used for listening to diplomats, caught what his wife said.

“Sweetheart,” Sirius started.

She turned to him with an innocent look on her face, “I can’t donate things to one person can I? I’ll have to make an organization for people with horrible taste.”

“I can’t guarantee that I can hire Chaud,” Sirius continued, “I have to think what’s best for the Tower and not just personal preferences. And after their performance, I’m sure a lot of the other countries would want—”

Mrs. Galaxy walked up slowly to him, “Are you saying that my son could end up thousands of miles away because you don’t want to get personal? Am I hearing that right?”

“Oh, boy,” Lynx muttered. He leaned in to Kaiba, “I bet ten bucks that mom won’t let another word in.”

Kaiba smirked, “Fine. Dad’s been in worse situations before and got out of them alright.”

“Yeah, but none of them were with mom,” Lynx smiled.

Sirius was about to respond but his wife jumped ahead of him, “I don’t care if China offers them a trillion dollars! You will put up our life savings if you have to too keep our son at home! If my boy sets one foot on a plane, I swear, you will wish the devil himself were married to you! I will make your life a living hell! You understand! I don’t care how personal you have to get! I don’t care if they are the worst choice for the Tower! I don’t even care if you get a vision of the world ending if you accept them into the Tower! You will get them a job at the Tower even if it’s sweeping the floors! Because, honey, if you don’t I will divorce you! And it will be a messy divorce where I ruin your life!! Do we have an understanding!?!?”

Sirius had backed into a corner in the room. A very angry wife stood in front of him, her pointed finger bearing a hole in his chest. The look in her eyes was one of anger and dead seriousness. He knew that she meant every word. On top of that, she would probably lay him on a slab and cut his fingers off one by one until he got her what she wanted. Even worse, he would end up on the couch for years until the divorce was settled. By the look in her eyes, it was going to be one of those divorces that never really ended. Plus, she would still live there just to torture him. First it would be the fingers, then the toes, and then she would just start hacking off limbs.

For a moment, the diplomat side of him assessed the benefits and the overall pain. Then the husband side of him took control.

“I’ll do what I can,” his mouth suddenly went dry.

His wife leaned in closer, “Oh, you‘d better do a whole lot more than that, Sirius, or else.”

Sirius nodded, “Yes, darling.”

She smiled sweetly all of a sudden, “Good! My, I’m starved! Where is that room service menu?”

Sirius walked over to the couch and undid his tie. It felt like it was strangling him all of a sudden. Kaiba searched his wallet for a ten and handed it to Lynx. Lynx donned a victorious smile. Kaiba then looked at his father.

“That was frightening,” he muttered, eying his mother as she browsed through the menu.

Sirius glanced sidelong at him, “You have no idea.”

IOIOIOIOI

Zara packed her things and was about to head down to the doctor’s office to check up on Naru. Poor Naru had been in the hospital now for about three days and through he was much better, the doctor wanted to do more tests. She looked for her apartment key through the piles of envelopes that had come in the mail. Zara appreciated that almost every country wanted her and her team but she wanted one letter in particular.

She left the building and biked to the hospital. It was a new building that was only about five years old. It was easy to find Naru’s room.

A nurse was just exiting, “Dr. Jekyll will be with you in a moment,” she said in a cheery tone.

Zara turned the corner into the room. Naru sat on a bed poking at the hospital Jell-O in front of him. He looked up and saw Zara and smiled.

“You can eat that you know,” Zara stated.

“I know,” Naru said, “But should I?” he then looked at her with desperation, “You have to get out of here!”

Zara stepped back, “Why?”

“The doctor’s scary! I think he’s trying to kill me!”

Zara’s eyes narrowed, “Naru, are you going insane?”

Hina walked in just then with two soda’s in her hand, “I think so! He keeps rambling about how scary the doctor is. He’s supposed to be the best. When he’s not here, he works for the Tower. Not sure what he does exactly though…”

“So he could be a mass assassin that kills people in droves,” Naru said with barely any emotion.

“The Tower doesn’t assassinate people!” Hina shoved one of the sodas in her brother’s lap, “They just strongly recommend that you step down or else, type of thing.”

A shadow loomed over the door. Zara turned as the doctor walked in. Naru hit his drink under his sheets. The doctor was surly light footed, if she had not seen the shadow, Zara wouldn’t have known he was there. He had black mid length hair. He wore a white dress shirt and a black tie. His pants were black dress pants and black dress shoes were on his feet. He didn’t look at all threatening. In fact, he looked like a good well-dressed doctor. That was until you looked in his eyes and heard him speak. His eyes were black like black holes void of emotion. He rarely ever smiled and when he did it sent a shiver down your spine. When he spoke, he spoke slowly forcing you to draw in closer like a spider inviting a fly.

Zara understood Naru’s feelings toward his doctor now.

“Hello, Naru,” the doctor sighed, “How are you feeling today?”

“Good,” Naru swallowed.

Dr. Jekyll eyed him without blinking as he reached for a clipboard that the nurse had left, “It looks like everything is normal. I don’t see why you can’t go home today.”

“Really? That’s great! I’ll just leave now if that’s okay!” Naru could hardly wait to get out.

Jekyll ignored him. He looked at Zara, “Who are you exactly?”

“Zara Uzek,” she said as confidently as she could.

“Hmm,” he said looking back at the notes, “I’ll be sure to remember that.”

Zara glanced at Naru. What was that supposed to mean?

Naru shrugged.

“Hello, everybody!” Zara felt her stomach drop. Chaud walked into the room. He saw Jekyll and smiled, “Hey, Doc!”

“Hello, Chaud,” Jekyll seemed disinterested.

Hina looked at Chaud suspiciously, “How do you know everybody?”

Chaud awkwardly put his hands in his pockets, “I hear things.”

“From your sources?” Hina rolled her eyes.

Chaud nodded, “Sure, let’s go with that!”

“Goodbye, Chaud,” Jekyll walked out of the room, “Remind your brother that he still owes me one.”

When he was out of ear shot Zara stated the thought that was on everyone’s mind, “He’s creepy.”

“Well what do you expect from an ex-serial killer?” Chaud shrugged. Then he stopped, “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that. You doing okay, Naru?”

Naru had gone a deathly pale.

“What’s he doing in a hospital?” Hina glared at Chaud.

“Who’s doing in a where?” Chaud responded.

“Jekyll—”

“Who?”

“What’s he doing—?”

“What?”

“Chaud stop it!”

“I don’t have a clue what you are talking about. You’re speaking gibberish,” he turned to Zara, “What say we get Naru out of here before he fades into the wall?” He walked casually over to where Naru was sitting, “Come on. We got accepted to the Island Tower. You should be happy.”

Zara looked at him, “When were you going to tell me that?!”

Chaud shrugged, “Eventually,” Zara walked toward him, arm raised. He crouched down and covered his head, “Okay, okay, don’t hit me! My dad just told me! We start at the start of next week!”

Zara rolled her eyes, “Did your dad tell the other countries that you weren’t for sale.”

He looked up at her, “You make me sound like a male prostitute but no. Apparently, my mom threatened his life or something.”

“That’s a lot of letters to send declining letters too,” Hina sighed. She and Naru must have gotten a few themselves.

“I have a few standard letters made,” Chaud smiled, “You can copy a few of them.”

Hina nodded, “That beats writing out a thousand of them.”

Chaud helped Naru to his feet, “You guys can meet the others at the entrance. I’ll help Naru into some clothes.”

Zara and Hina both left. Sometimes Chaud could be the most annoying person to deal with…wait, scratch that, he was the most annoying person to deal with but at least this time he was the bearer of good news.