Radioactive: Chapter Fifteen

Radioactive

Chapter Fifteen

~Be Careful what you Wish for~

A tattered woman walked through the labs underground. She wore old torn clothing and was overall a dirty mess. People stepped out of her way to avoid getting any filth on them. Others covered their noses because of her stench as she walked by. She walked into a room and spotted the doctor, black goggles and all. The woman walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

The doctor turned around startled, “Oh, what a hideous creature—I mean, hello lovely lady have you come to—”

“Doctor, it’s me! Jumper!” the woman pointed to herself.

“Oh, it’s you,” the doctor relaxed, “You couldn’t have taken a much cleanlier form?”

“I didn’t have time,” Jumper said, “I have to talk to you.”

“If you must,” the doctor muttered as he walked around the room.

“I think we may have a problem,” Jumper followed him around.

“How so?” the doctor started to look interested.

“I saw these people yesterday, well actually it was a boy and a dog, but I still didn’t get a good feeling out of them,” Jumper started seeing the holes in his own theory.

“So boys walking their dogs scare you, now,” the doctor looked at him, “That is a good thing to know.”

Jumper sighed, “No, you weren’t there, there was something weird about the two!”

“Jumper, you’re just being paranoid again,” the doctor said, “Remember the mailman incident? It’s a mailman’s job to deliver the mail. They aren’t spying on you. We don’t want a repeat.”

Jumper crossed his arms, “Okay, can I borrow one of the mutants.”

“Absolutely not,” the doctor said, “My beautiful creatures will not leave the premises.”

“How about the ones that escaped?” Jumper asked.

The doctor looked saddened, “That was an accident. Unfortunately, the security precautions failed and they managed to escape. It wasn’t on purpose however.”

“Fine,” Jumper muttered.

“Now go get out of that filthy skin. You are stinking up the whole place,” the doctor shooed him away.

Jumper left the room and walked to his own room. He jumped into his own skin. Jumper was still unconvinced that who he met that day was more than just a boy walking his dog. Frankly, he didn’t like the way the dog was sniffing at him. He needed to convince the doctor that these new comers were something to worry about and not just some people passing through. The choice was obvious; he needed to take things into his own hands.

He walked barefoot through the hallways of the facility. No one questioned where he was headed. He was the doctor’s favorite and they weren’t going to get in his way for fear that they might anger the doctor. Jumper stood in front of an elevator and typed in a code for the keypad. He used a code that one of the maintenance workers used. Sure that worker would be in a heap of trouble but what did he care.

The door opened and he walked in. The elevator took him down to the cooler lower levels. He got off and walked down a long hallway. On either side were bulletproof windows. On the other side of the windows, were separate cells. In the cells were several creatures. Some of them rammed up against the widow growling and snarling at Jumper. Each creature was assigned a number and that number was placed on a plaque at the base of the widow.

Jumper walked to one of the windows and stopped a moment. A female mutant sat cross-legged in the center of the cell. She had blue skin and black hair; a tail snaked its way around her in a neat circle as she sat. Jumper vanished and appeared inside the cell. The girl’s black eyes opened. She screeched quietly at him, bearing sharp teeth but other than that, she didn’t move.

“Hello, Samantha,” Jumper smiled, “You remember me don’t you?”

She growled. Jumper sat down across from her.

“I mean, sure, this isn’t the form we met in but I’m sure that little detail doesn’t matter anymore with your mutations now,” Jumper talked to her. He smiled at her, “How are your new powers doing?”

The creature glared at Jumper. She bared her teeth in a brief grow.

Jumper reached out and clasped her hand, “Come on, don’t be like that. I got you what you wanted, right? In fact, you should be technically thanking me. But I won’t have you go that far. Instead, I need you to do a little favor for me.”

In a flash, both he and the creature disappeared.

~§~

“That sounds interesting,” Kaiba said as he typed at the computer, “Does that description sound familiar to you, Kiri?”

“Scanning thought Tower records,” Kiri reported, “Found a match. From the description Fang has given us the best match that I can confirm is a Body Jumper. The user sabotages another’s mind and controls their body killing the hosts mind in the proses. Each Body Jumper has an original body but must leave their body in order to control another.” Kiri looked at Fang, “This might be the cause of your observations with the boy having two scents.”

“One was the body he was controlling and the other was his own original scent,” Fang nodded.

“I will add that observation to the records,” Kiri stated.

“So why are we interested in this kid anyway,” Riu stated, “Just seems like a kid jumping bodies if you ask me.”

“He kills people when he jumps into other peoples bodies,” Duke said.

“Yeah, so,” Riu shrugged, “it’s not any out our business.”

“Still, it could explain why people have been going missing quietly,” Kaiba said, “Our Body Jumper takes a form that his next victim will feel comfortable will, maybe even taking the form of a friend or family member, then he’ll lead them to where ever the experiments happen.”

“Makes sense,” Jekyll noted, “He doesn’t seem like the kind to actually do the experiments.  He seems like the supplier, supplying enough test subjects for the doctor to do his work.”

“So our new goal is to find this jumper,” Kaiba said, “Great, let’s get to work.”

A heavy object crashed into the building. Brick and mortar caved in on all of them. They were thrown to the ground. Kaiba covered his head as debris fell. He felt the floor underneath give way and fall through. When things settled down a little Kaiba sat up. He coughed as the dust settled.

The side of the apartment had a huge hole in it. On the roof of the neighboring apartment was a mutant. It’s levitated in the air as it screamed at the team below. It raised its arms in the air, lifting two vehicles in the air and throwing them at the damaged apartment.

“Move!” Kaiba called out.

Everyone got to their feet. Kaiba ran toward the gap in the wall. He jumped down and was followed by the others just before the two cars crashed into the building. Kaiba landed on his feet. The creature screeched at the survivors.

Jekyll landed closest to him, “Finally, a little excitement happens. How are we going to deal with this one?”

Kaiba got to his feet, “She can’t attack all of us at the same. We’ll split up and surround her at all sides.”

“Roger!” Ing reached up and grabbed the apartment roof ledge.

“Where do you think you’re going!?” Kaiba yelled at the android.

“What? Sorry! I can’t hear you over my being awesomeness!” Ing pulled himself up onto the roof.

He jumped up and grabbed onto the creatures leg. The creature screamed and flew off leaving a blue light trail behind her making it easy to track her. Kaiba sighed and clenched his fists.

“Come on!” he called, “We have to take that thing down before it causes anymore damage!”

“The mutant or the kid?” Fang smiled.

“Both,” Kaiba stated. He looked at Kiri, “Come with me.”

“Right,” Kiri nodded.

“Then let’s move!” Fang turned into a wolf and ran down the alley.

He was followed by Kaiba and the others. The trail to follow the mutant was easy even as the blue light in the sky started to fade. Riu and Duke climbed onto the roof and traveled by roof top. The creature tried to kick the little android off her leg. When she saw the others coming, she screamed and lifted a rooftop water tower and threw it at Riu and Duke.

“Read it and weep, babe!” she pulled out two daggers that looked similar in make to the blades braided in her hair. She threw a dagger at the creature fused with electricity. Lightning crashed down on the creature as it screamed. Stunned the creature fell to the ground.

Ing grabbed on to the roof ledge and held on as the creature fell below. Duke grabbed onto his arm and pulled him onto the roof. The creature fell on the ground. Fang lunged at the creature but she stretched out her hand and used her powers to throw him across the street. He hit a wall and was momentarily stunned. With the creature distracted, Jekyll threw knives at the creature striking pressure points but not killing her. The creature screamed in pain. Kiri ran forward only to be picked up and pushed back. The creature reached out a hand at Kaiba and screeched. Her screech was cut short when a broadsword fell from the sky and cut her in her chest.

Kaiba looked up and saw Duke on the roof. Riu waved hello as she stood over his shoulder. Ing called down to the others, making a lot of noise. Kaiba sighed and rolled his eyes.

Jekyll sighed, “Why can you keep these creatures alive long enough for me to examine them?”

Insanity Chapter Eight

Insanity

Chapter Eight

~What’s In a Name~

Day Four

“Shifter?” said the Undertaker with a smile, “I’ve known quite a few Shifters in my day.”

“Really, so it’s useless to try to find a real name from it,” Fang sighed.

“I’d say, yes. Personally I think that it’s their default name when asked,” Undertaker tapped his long black nails on the counter.

Reighn looked around vigilantly today. Everyone was there today and he was expecting profits. Arisa ran up to Fang with a unicorn figurine.

“Please, please, please, can I have it?!” she pleaded.

Fang noticed Reighn’s eyes grew wide. The item cost twenty-five dollars. Arisa couldn’t stand still. She jumped from one foot to the other. Each time Fang almost grabbed the figurine to prevent it from shattering on the ground.

“My, my, isn’t that a pretty little thing,” Undertaker smiled.

“Yeaps,” Reighn said.

“‘Ey, you have any guns anywhere?” Alister asked.

The Undertaker smiled and pointed to the back door on the back wall, “I might. Why don’t you go check?”

Eagerly Alister went through the back door. Raven was looking at a few figurines herself. Penelope was looking at a few cameras that were on display. Blue and Shadow stood outside waiting for the others to get done.

“Fa-ang!” Arisa said in a whine.

He looked at her sternly. She looked down.

“Sorry,” she said.

Fang took the figurine and placed it on the desk then reached for his wallet. Reighn looked at the bills Fang handed him and nodded. The Undertaker reached under the desk and pulled out a padded box. He fitted the figurine inside and closed the box.

“We’ll keep this here until you leave so it doesn’t break,” he told Arisa.

The girl nodded and went to go look at other things.

“She is such a doll,” the Undertaker muttered.

“Yeaps,” Reighn seemed to smile while he put the bills in the cash register.

Fang nodded briefly then got back to business, “So you knew some Shifters.”

“Yes,” Undertaker said, “I went through a few.”

“Do you know what happened to the ones that you went through?”

“No, I just never saw them again,” Undertaker laughed, “My guess is that their talents were needed elsewhere.”

“‘Ey, Fang, can I get this?” Alister came out of the back room carrying a flamethrower.

Fang sighed, “No.”

“But why?” Alister asked.

“Because I said so,” Fang said.

Alister sighed loudly and dragged his feet back into the back room. Fang rolled his eyes and looked around.

“Come on,” he called, “We’re going. I’ll be seeing you later,” he said to the Undertaker.

The Undertaker smiled, “Goodbye,” he said in a sing song voice as he waved.

Fang picked up the box and left. The others followed behind him. They walked through Transaction Square and walked home. Arisa ran through the gate with Blue at her heels. She ran on the lawn and rolled around. Fang and the others went inside.

Inside Fang went directly to the kitchen to brew some tea. He placed the box on the counter. Arisa would find it eventually. When the tea was set, Fang poured himself a cup and took a deep sip. He then went out to the patio and sat down. Arisa and Blue were playing around. Fang watched quietly. Eventually Shadow came out and joined him.

“The others want a meeting,” he said.

Fang looked up at Shadow, “Why?”

“They want a real team name,” Shadow put his hands up, signaling that he had nothing to do with the decision for the meeting.

“Well, I guess I’d be a good thing to talk about,” Fang nodded, “We’ll talk at dinner.”

Shadow nodded and went to relay the message. A little past noon, Fang went to prepare dinner. That night around the dinner table they talked.

Fang started, “So I heard that you wanted a team name.”

“A-a-all the other teams have cool names,” Penelope pushed her glasses up her nose.

“What other teams?” Fang asked.

“Well,” Alister stretched back, “There’s team Explosion, team Disaster, team Justification and then there’s team Those Other Guys ‘At No One Knows About. That last one is us.”

Fang shrugged, “At least we have the longest name.”

“Yeah, a name no one remembers!” Alister argued.

“How about team Pink?” Arisa suggested.

Everyone stopped and stared at her. After a moment she stood and hid behind Blue.

“Or not,” she muttered from behind her blue shield.

“How about the Black Birds?” Raven asked.

“Oh, genius!” Shadow muttered, “Might as well name the team The Creepy Girl Who Likes Birds.”

Raven stared him down for a few minutes as the conversation continued.

“I think we should be the Supper Dupper Awesome Team of Seven: The protectors of the universe!” Penelope stood up and posed.

“Someone’s been reading too much manga and watching too much anime,” Alister muttered to Blue on his left across the still empty seat.

“Don’t criticize the great writings of Japan!” Penelope shouted at him.

“I think she lost it,” Alister whispered again.

You bet. Blue nodded subtly.

“If you don’t like it, then you come up with a name!” Penelope sat down in a huff.

“‘Bout time y’all asked!” Alister sat back in his chair, “This is what I’ve been thinking, wait for it… The Splendid Seven.”

Immediately, everyone in the room laughed. Even Blue smiled a little. Fang rolled his eyes and sighed.

“What!? There’s the Terrific Three, the Fantastic Four, the Frenetic Five and the Secret Six. Why not the Splendid Seven?”

“Now who’s the one who reads too much manga?” Penelope gloated.

“They aren’t manga. They’re comics,” Alister defended himself.

“Whatever, we’re still not naming out team the Splendid Seven,” Arisa smiled as she sat back into her seat. She looked at Blue, “Do you have any ideas?”

Actually, I do. I was thinking that since Fang is so good at coming with plans I was thinking we could call ourselves the—

“Why even bother!? He never says anything!” Alister protested.

Blue looked at him. You little…you’re lucky Fang is sitting right there.

Only Fang and Arisa could understand Blue fluently. Shadow, Raven and Penelope could understand bits and pieces but Alister didn’t understand a thing. This was a form of common conflict between the two.

“What I want to hear is Fang's suggestion, knowing him he's had an idea at the very beginning,” Alister continued.

Everyone looked expectantly at Fang. Fang slowly drank the last of his tea and waited a while.

“There’s a story,” he started, “that my father first told me. There was a pack of wolves that lived in a forest far away. They did everything together. They hunted together, they lived together, and they helped each other.

“One day a bear came into the area. The bear destroyed everything it came across. The wolves felt like they had to do something to get rid of the bear before it destroyed the whole forest. So they all set out to look for it and to kill it. Sure enough, however, the bear heard that they were looking for him and ran.

“The bear ran through the forest, the wolves followed. The bear ran through the desert, the wolves still followed. The bear ran through snow and ice and the wolves still followed. Wherever the bear went the wolves were always not too far behind.  Finally, the bear was so tired that it stopped running. When the wolves caught up to it asked them ‘Why do you keep chasing me? Isn’t it enough that you drove me from the forest?’

“The head wolf said, ‘Because you could have come back and harmed one of us that time. I need to make sure we are always safe.’ So they finished what had come for and then they went home.

“That’s the story of the wolf pack,” Fang concluded.

There was silence as he poured himself another cup of tea.

“Sooooo….”Alister said, “What does that have to do with a name for our team?”

Fang looked up, “Oh, nothing. I just thought that I’d share something while I had your attention."

“That wasted five minutes of my life,” Alister muttered.

“I-I-I think that Fang was trying to say something there,” Penelope suggested.

“We are the pack of wolves and we have to track down whomever we need to keep everyone safe. And we’ll go after them to the ends of the earth until we take them in of until they're dead,” Shadow answered, “And in the end, whatever happens we have to look after each other no matter what.”

“Wolf Walkers,” Raven said.

“What was that, Raven,” Fang asked.

“Our name,” she said a little louder, “I think that our name should be the Wolf Walkers.”

Fang shrugged, “I have no protests.”

“I like it!” Arisa said, “What do you think, Blue?”

I think that's a good name. Blue smiled.

“You do realize he isn’t ever going to say anything, right?” Alister said.

“I think the name is good,” Shadow nodded.

“I-I-I like it,” Penelope smiled.

Everyone looked at Alister waiting for his approval. He looked around and sighed.

“Fine,” he said, “but I still think that the Splendid Seven is better though. No matter what you guys say, that name is still better.”

“I guess its final then,” Fang said, “Now you all can stop pestering me about this specific topic.”

“Where is my unicorn?” Arisa asked.

Fang paused a moment, “It’s in the kitchen.”

“May I be excused?”

“Sure,” Fang answered.

The table almost instantly stood up. Everyone went their separate ways. Empty plates were brought to the kitchen for Blue to wash. Fang sat at the head of the table a little while longer.

“And there goes team Wolf Walker,” he muttered.