I gotta tell ya, these last few chapters have been really surprising me with some of the responses. Who knew people felt so strongly about cannibalism? It's the eco-friendly approach to murder, people!
Guardian
Chapter 27
Burnout
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"Ha ha ha! What's the matter, freak? Are you done for already?"
In the middle of a Tokyo city playground, a pair of girls lay on the ground, surrounded by a trio of teenage boys. One was a young teenage girl with shoulder-length purple hair, while the other one was younger, with short red hair and a pair of short horns poking up out of her head.
The biggest of the boys stepped forward and grabbed the purple-haired girl by the back of her shirt as she tried to flinch away.
"You're not going anywhere, witch!" He said, grinning as he hauled the terrified girl up to her feet. "Whatsa matter? If I hurt you, can't you just magically heal yourself or whatever? HA!"
With a feral sneer, the boy pulled his fist back, ready to strike.
"HOLD IT!"
The entire group whirled around, and then their eyes widened as they saw who had spoken. "IT'S SNAKE!"
The American nodded, his expression grim. "Kids, let's stop and think about this situation for a moment. Sure, I know that it feels good to hurt weirdoes like them, but you can't just beat up people for being different!"
The kids looked at each other, confused. "We can't?"
"Of course not! It's dangerously unsafe! Countless teenage brats have met a bloody and somewhat undeserved death picking on individuals who turn out to be insanely powerful freaks of nature," Snake explained, wagging his finger as the girls' faces darkened. "The SAFE approach to spiting people for having strange powers or physical traits is to shun them completely, excluding them from the social environment and starving them of human warmth. It provides the same sense of self-righteous superiority, but fosters a strong desire for friendship rather than revenge in the victim! Which can be a pretty handy plot device, at times."
"Wow... I never thought of it like that," one of the boys said, turning to his friends.
"You're right! Thanks, Snake!" Another said.
The leader nodded happily. "Now we know!"
Snake gave the boys a thumbs-up. "And knowing is half the battle!"
The boys turned away from the girls, giving them disdainful stares. "Come on, guys! Let's do something awesome by ourselves!"
"Yeah, who wants to kick around freaks with horns anyway?"
"I was getting bored beating up girls, anyway. Let's go find some nerds and hurt them, instead!"
Snake looked proud as he watched the boys run off, and then suddenly turned toward the confused and irritated girls as they stood up. "By the way, I don't suppose either of you have some sort of bizarre psychic power that can be used to track down this guy I'm looking for, do you?"
The girls remained silent, glaring up at the American.
Snake rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, forget it. Sheesh. Weird AND useless." Without further comment, he walked off toward the street, hands in his pockets.
The American cop whistled to himself as he passed by a coffee shop, and then halted.
"Hmmm..." glancing at his watch briefly, he clicked his tongue. "It has been almost ten minutes."
Without any further conversation with himself, Snake turned around and entered the coffee shop.
"Hello, sir! How can I help you today?" Said the girl at the counter, smiling with her hands clasped in front of her. A slight twitch in her eye indicated that she was annoyed by something, though, and Snake shook his head as he walked past the counter and stepped through the "Employees only" door.
"What? Sir! You're not allowed back there!" The cashier said suddenly, stepping out and chasing after him.
Snake stopped in front of the supply closet where the supplies were kept, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Sir! You have to leave, now! Only employees are allowed back here!" The girl insisted. "You're a policeman, right? You need a warrant to search this place, don't you?"
"Oh, calm down," Snake deadpanned, drawing his pistol and causing the girl to freeze up in shock at the sight of the weapon.
Then the American aimed it at the door lock and fired.
Clangk! The sound of tearing metal shrieked through the small hallway before Snake pushed through the door.
"Eep!" Lying on the floor of the supply closet was a young man currently wearing nothing but a pair of boxers that he was rapidly pulling up into the proper position. He possessed other clothes, to be certain, but they were scattered haphazardly around the closet.
Leaning over him, and looking at Snake with considerable confusion and annoyance, was Akina, topless but otherwise clothed. "Soooooo... what? Did you want to get in on this?" The redhead asked.
Snake wordlessly picked up Junko's bra and uniform top from where it had been tossed onto a box of biscotti, and then threw the articles on top of Akina's head.
"Hey! What are you doing?" The psychic complained.
"That's my line!" The American growled. "We have things to do! You can't be running off and... well, just hurry up and get dressed! We're leaving!"
The girl, who was already flushing badly, turned away from the scene. "S-Sorry. I tried to stop him..."
As Akina pouted and started putting on her brassiere, the man mustered up some courage and stood up, an indignant expression on his face. "Hey now, who the hell do you think you are? You can't barge into a restricted area like this and start barking orders! What gives you the right?"
Snake raised an eyebrow. Then he raised his .45 caliber sidearm. "I have a gun. You don't."
The man flinched back. "Uh... w-well..."
"Get back on the clock already," Snake snapped, holstering his weapon. "You need to be preparing people's coffee, and WE need to be preserving the peace from the forces of evil and/or corruption. MOVE IT!"
The man nodded rapidly in fear, grabbing his uniform and pulling on his clothes much faster than Akina was managing, even though she had less to put on. In a matter of seconds he burst out of the closet, racing for the front of the shop and away from Snake.
"You didn't need to be so mean about it," Akina griped as she followed Snake out of the back exit of the shop. "I mean, do you really care what I do with other guys?"
Snake glared back at her, annoyed. "I care what you're NOT doing with OUR guys. As in rescuing. And in this case, Saotome."
"I took you to the general area!" Akina insisted. "He's around here, I'm sure of it!"
"Yeah, that's great," Snake growled. "Except that we still haven't found him in this 'general area,' and we have no way of knowing if he leaves if you go back to your slightly-more-useless alter ego. So keep your clothes on, all right?"
"It's not all right," Akina said, grinding her teeth. "Why do I have to take orders from you?"
The American sighed. "Fine. We'll just find Ranma ourselves. Me, Wattai, and Sakura."
Akina's eye twitched slightly.
"I'm sure he'll be happy to see us. I'm sure he thinks of most of us as weak and unreliable, so he can appreciate something like that. He's not sensitive, but he has a sentimental side to him. Of course, he might wonder where the rest of us are while he was in trouble. The captain, with her injuries... Kyle, with patrol... you, with... well..."
"Okay! Okay, I get it!" The redhead snapped. "But it's like I said: I can't track him any closer! I feel that he's around here, but I can't pinpoint him."
"Why is that, again?"
Akina frowned as the pair walked down the street. "I'm not tracking him based on any sense or instinct I can explain. I just... know he's around here. And when that feeling sort of peters out, I have nothing left to go on."
"And what makes you sure, or even makes you think that these 'feelings' are accurate?" Snake asked skeptically.
Akina shrugged. "Because it's the same feelings that let me do this." In demonstration, she reached out toward a lamp post and flicked it.
CLANG! The entire pole bent over as a huge dent appeared where her finger struck, leaving the entire object trembling mightily.
"Huh. Well, it's a start." Turning away, Snake pulled out a walkie-talkie. "How we doing, guys? Found any clues yet?"
Not a thing. If Saotome really has turned into a man-eating freak of nature, then at least he's subtle about it.
"Hey, watch it Wattai," Snake warned. "This is a compatriot we're talking about. Save your judgments for when we find him and sort everything out."
Yeah, yeah, I hear ya... So... remind me again why I get stuck with the whiny blonde and YOU get to go with the oversexed redhead?
Snake took a moment to slap away Akina's arm as she started rubbing up against him. "Because we need to stay focused on the mission and not our bathing suit areas, all right? I know you're too stupid to take even something like this seriously, but this objective is important!"
I still think we're worrying over nothing. What could possibly be out there that could kill Ranma?
BAKOOM!!
"Gah!" Ranma was tossed aside as an RPG round detonated behind him, having hesitated too long before his dodge.
The pigtailed man rolled with the force as well as he could, stopping when he hit the wall on the flat side of a T intersection in the hallway.
Standing up shakily, but quickly, he surveyed the three routes open to him.
"Reload and stand by," Igov told a large cyborg as the cybernetic soldier lowered its RPG launcher, "Igov will cripple the prey."
Ranma turned away from the route he had come, gritting his teeth as he glanced behind him.
"There he is! Activate the security drones!" A scientist shouted as he ran away from the police officer. A younger lab assistant slammed a fist against a console on the wall, and a pair of robotic guns immediately fell out of the ceiling.
"Not much of a choice at all," Ranma mumbled as he darted down the hall the other way, barely avoiding a storm of bullets from Igov's Gatling gun-arm.
Beep! Intruder detected! This is a beta-level security breach! All personnel are advised to enter the nearest secure area and barricade all entrances and exits until the threat has been neutralized. WARNING! Releasing automated defense safeties 2-7!
Ranma saw a pair of red laser dots appear on the walls in front of him as the gun drones behind him calibrated their aiming systems, and he barreled into the nearest lab room to avoid the inevitable rain of bullets as the drones caught sight of their target.
Crash! The door slid across the floor as the pigtailed man staggered forward, panting heavily.
Vrrr... Whrrr... Click! Three cyborgs all slowly turned their heads (which were in various states of assembly, and still attached to nearby computer consoles) toward the intruder.
"Seriously, they need to change the name of this place to, like... Suck Laboratories or something. This is just ridiculous," Ranma said, rubbing his head wearily.
New secondary directive uploaded. One of the cyborgs buzzed mechanically, its hand reaching for a pistol on the desk next to it. Formulating response.
"I don't know what to tell you; I don't feel anything out of the ordinary," Akina said, looking almost painfully bored. "Can we PLEASE make out or something? I'm starting to get depressed, here."
"Depressed? Our friend is out there having his mind worked over by a deadly mutant super-virus and is being targeted by armed cyborgs. You want to whine to me about depression?" Snake snapped, poking his head into an alleyway and quickly looking over the interior.
Akina winced. "It's not like that! Look, it has to do with my powers, all right? Following you around, I'm getting nothing but anger and... well, I guess I would describe it as... 'bloodlust'?"
"Sounds about right. What's yer point?"
"My point is that it's too much!" Akina shouted, shuddering to herself. "It's like... psychic pollution, you know? If I take it in, then I start to lose myself and go crazy. But if I resist for too long without anything to compensate, holding the emotions back starts to get painful. And after that..."
Snake stopped, and then glanced at her. "After that...?"
The redhead sweatdropped. "Well... I don't know, really. I've never been around someone like you before. But when my powers start straining themselves to hold back a psyche I don't like, it never ends well."
Snake muttered something nasty under his breath, and then started massaging his forehead. "Fine. FINE! What can I do to shut you up for another half hour?"
Akina nodded gratefully. "A kiss. That's all. Then I'm back in the game. Promise."
"A kiss," Snake deadpanned.
"A REAL kiss. No cheek or forehead nonsense," the redhead warned. "I just need a little jolt of affection to keep me from going insane from being around you. Then we can find Ranma."
Snake sighed and placed a hand on Akina's shoulder. "Chikiko..."
Chak!
The redhead twitched in annoyance as the barrel of Snake's sidearm pressed up against her cheek.
"Chikiko, quit whining and do your job. Now. That is an order." The American said, glaring down at her.
"What the hell is your problem, anyway?" Junko growled.
"I'll tell you what isn't my problem! Your sad little explosive-migraine-causing sex addiction!"
"It's just a little kiss! Why do you have to be so difficult?"
"I'm not the captain around here! I don't get paid to put up with your crap!"
"You suck!"
As the argument grew more heated, and just as Akina's psychic temperament reached a catastrophic boiling point, Snake's walkie-talkie came to life.
Snake, it's Asuka. Have you found anything yet?
The American immediately turned away from Akina, holstering his weapon as he took up his communicator. "Nothing so far. Chikiko insists that he's in the area, though."
Okay, well, this might interest you. I was doing a search through police alerts at home, and found that a police report was filed in the last hour or so in regards to a disturbance around a local industrial lab. The description wasn't very helpful, but the report said that immediately afterwards, the lab called up the police to warn them away from the area, claiming it was a hazardous accident and that the officers could be at risk if they headed in before it was cleaned up.
"Huh... sounds like it could be legit, but it's worth checking out," Snake reasoned. "Where's this place?"
On Third and Yozuka. It's the Neijwitz Robotics facility; they're a private company that does contract research.
Snake raised an eyebrow as he turned around. "Research for who?"
That information isn't easily available, but if I see any red flags, I'll let you know.
The American smiled. "Awesome. Thanks Captain, we're on our way." Then he frowned, and Snake hesitated as he glanced over at Akina, who was leaning against the wall and generally looking miserable.
Akina blinked as Snake turned away from her, and quickly whispered something into his walkie-talkie. Then he nodded, and approached her before holding the device out to her.
"Uh? What is it now?" The psychic asked.
Ah, Akina, you are there. I'm surprised that Snake actually managed to come up with a workable solution that doesn't involve burning anything down.
"Eh, it's still early," Snake mumbled, shrugging.
Listen, I know that we've only recently met, and we didn't exactly get off to a great start. Between all the killing, jealous anger, NON-jealous anger, and having guns frequently shoved in your face, it must be pretty frustrating. Believe me, I know how this group can be.
Akina blinked repeatedly. "T-Takami?"
Honestly, I'm much better at bossing people around than playing cheerleader, but circumstances haven't been normal around here. So until such time that I can take charge again, I want to thank you for your help. It can't be easy, especially not with a dolt like Snake in command. And I know that Saotome will be thankful, too. Please... I need you to come through for him.
Akina stuttered for a moment, unsure of how to respond; aside from her lack of social etiquette, the psychic nymphomaniac had always shunned responsibility of any sort, keeping herself free of obligations and denying consequences whenever possible. The idea that people actually needed her seemed strange and bizarre.
Trembling somewhat, Akina swallowed and snapped her hand up into a salute, straightening instinctively.
"She can't see that over the walkie-talkie, idiot," Snake deadpanned, sweatdropping.
"I know that!" Akina shouted, her face reddening. "It was just for mood, okay?" Clearing her throat quickly she turned back to the walkie talkie. "Takami... uh... C-Captain Takami, I'll do my best! For you and Ranma!"
Snake snorted and pulled his communicator back to him. "Thanks Captain. Over and out."
Placing his walkie-talkie back onto his belt, Snake took a deep breath, and then stepped up to Akina.
Then, before the redhead fully understood what was happening, Snake took her by the shoulder and leaned in for a forceful, yet somehow still very reluctant kiss.
Akina was thoroughly surprised, but wasted no time, grabbing onto the weapon's expert and pushing forward, returning the gesture with a hundredfold more feeling and passion.
After a mere two seconds, Snake pried his lips away, and separated himself forcefully from the psychic. "THERE. Is your little headache gone, now?"
Akina licked her lips for a moment, then sighed. Pleasant as it was for her, Akina's emotions hadn't synced with Snake's in the slightest. The effect was akin to sipping from a canteen in the middle of a desert: ultimately refreshing, but still a minor and temporary reprieve from the problem at hand. "You didn't feel a damn thing just now, did you?"
"That's not true," Snake countered, "I think I died a little inside."
"Don't be melodramatic. Let's just find that lab."
Clang! Clang! Igov's footsteps fell heavily upon the steel floor that protected the halls of the research facility, being followed by the gentler rumble of a T-1 defense robot following behind.
The general stopped at a doorway and reached for the knob before he threw the door open without stepping in front of the doorway.
The armored robot moved past as Igov pressed his back against the wall, its enormous frame covering half again the width of the doorway (to say nothing of the gatling guns attached to its arms).
After a moment of no responses coming from the room, the T-1 robot's sensor visor started to glow.
Visual scans, negative. Thermal scan, negative. Sonic scan... results are within allowable range. Area secure.
Igov nodded and stepped forward, his own scanners searching the width of the hallway judiciously as he continued the hunt.
Back in the dimly-lit room, Ranma gasped painfully as he rolled out from under a workbench, stopping flat on his back. It had taken a few tries to figure out everything the damn robots were doing to track him down, but after a few experiments (which resulted in only two not-quite-debilitating bullet wounds), he had figured it out.
Of course, keeping invisible with the Umi sen-ken while simultaneously staying cold with the soul of ice WHILE holding one's breath and stalling one's heartbeat was painfully exhausting on one's best day. As it was, Ranma was just about spent.
"I really hope they don't check back here any time soon," the martial artist mumbled as he stood up slowly.
The first order of business was to observe his surroundings; he had been in such a rush to find safety that he really had no idea where he was going, and hadn't searched the room for anything useful save a decent hiding spot.
'Hopefully they'll have something I can use to pry the bullets out of my arm,' Ranma groused mentally, looking over the workbench. It was covered in manuals and notebooks, most of them in some weird foreign language that he was unable to properly identify as Russian.
Turning around, he saw that the wall opposite the hallway had a large glass tube installed in it that reached from floor to ceiling, with numerous wires, tubes, and peripherals sticking into it.
Floating inside the tube was a cyborg. Or rather, an incomplete cyborg, Ranma guessed. The rather muscular man that had been used as a base looked to be mostly intact, with only a few decent-sized bullet holes in his chest marring his body. Although the body had a few metal bits and cybernetic devices built around his arms and one leg, the corpse was still largely flesh.
Although interesting, Ranma couldn't really see any way for him to use a dead, unfinished enemy soldier, and moved on.
Next to the tube was something that sent a tingle down Ranma's spine... and not necessarily an unpleasant one. Sitting next to the tube, mounted into a large computer display, was a small cylinder of a familiar, viscous green fluid.
Ranma immediately found himself reaching for the cylinder, and he stopped. 'Wait... what am I gonna do with a beaker of T-virus? Drink it?'
Honestly, the idea appealed to him a great deal, though he couldn't fathom why.
'That's stupid. The lack of sleep must be getting to me. I mean, I don't even really know if that IS T-virus.'
Looking at the computer display, Ranma noted that it seemed to give rather stable readings and diagnostic data about the body in the tube, though he obviously wasn't able to make heads or tails of what he was seeing.
Ranma also noted that immediately under the viral container was a large red button clearly marked "Do not push".
A few sweatdrops appeared on Ranma's head. "But... why would they put a button here if no one's supposed to push it? That makes no sense!"
Poof!
Ranma turned his head to see a chibi verson of Snake lounging on his shoulder, polishing a shotgun.
"Unless..." the chibi-Snake began, smirking, "we're SUPPOSED to push it, but they don't want intruders to know that!"
Poof!
Ranma turned his head toward his other shoulder, where a chibi version of Rayden Shikodan stood at attention, smoke pouring from a cigarette in the crook of his mouth. He, too, was polishing a shotgun, Ranma noted.
"That is nonsense," the chibi-Rayden mumbled. "No one would design a device such as this with the expectation that intruders would break in and need to be misdirected."
Chibi-Snake snorted and stood up. "Oh, yeah, because you know SO MUCH about evil laboratory design!"
"It is less a matter of designs and more a matter of common sense," the Russian apparition insisted, nodding solemnly. "Putting aside why they installed such a device, the only plausible reason for that inscription is to keep the workers in this facility from pressing it."
Ranma turned back toward chibi-Snake. "He's got a point, you know."
Chibi-Snake fumed for a moment, and then poked Ranma in the cheek. "Just push it, you pansy! I'll bet it does something awesome!"
Chibi-Rayden rolled his eyes. "What could it possibly do that would not make this situation worse?"
"Like... uh..." the chibi-Snake rubbed his chin for a moment. "I'll bet it makes PIE."
Wham! Before any further discourse between his hallucinations could take place, Ranma's fist slammed into the button, very nearly knocking the entire machine over.
Chibi-Rayden twitched. "You disgust me." Poof! He vanished in a blast of smoke, half of which stunk fiercely of tobacco products.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Shlup! The panel at the front of the console started to flicker annoyingly and make erratic noises as half of the T-virus in the cylinder above was suddenly sucked out of its container.
Ranma blinked as the tube containing the cyborg trembled slightly, and a low hum came from above as the viral agent was pumped into the liquids that preserved the dead body.
Ranma blinked again, and then stared at the computer readouts, which had started going berserk. "You know, it's weird. I really don't think I'm going to get pie out of this thing. But for some reason that wasn't obvious at all a few seconds ago."
"Uhm... yeah. That's a bummer," chibi-Snake said, bigsweating as he watched the cyborg corpse twitch slightly. "Well, that's enough insightful advice for today! See you soon!" Poof!
Ranma glared at the shoulder where the miniature American used to be. "You know, looking back, this actually explains a LOT about my life."
Crack! Crick! The glass tube started to split as the creature within fully awakened, and immediately started banging fiercely on its prison with its mechanically reinforced hand. CRASH!
"I was promised pie!" Ranma shouted defiantly as the cyborg tackled him to the ground.
Immediately, Ranma drew his remaining blade and shoved it deep into the cyborg's neck, hoping to finish the creature quickly and without any more noise that could alert Igov.
The cyborg let out a snarling wheeze at the attack, but barely hesitated before it bit deeply into Ranma's neck.
"GAAUGH!!" Ranma screamed at the pain as he felt the creature's teeth sink through to his jugular, and summoning the last of his strength, the pigtailed man twisted and pulled on his wakizashi blade, beheading the monstrosity in a savage, desperate last-ditch effort.
Thwump! The cyborg's body immediately went limp, falling atop Ranma and leaking foul-smelling fluids onto the policeman's chest.
Ranma allowed this arrangement while several minutes passed, his hand clamped tightly over the wound in his neck. The entire time he tried his best to focus through the pain to listen for the sound of heavy footfalls - evidence that his brief mistake had been noticed.
After a few more minutes, however, he grew bored and tossed the body off of him before springing to his feet.
"Hey... waitaminute..." Ranma blinked as he recalled being pushed to the brink of unconsciousness just minutes ago as the last of his energy flooded out of the ragged wound on his neck. "That's weird... I feel pretty good right now."
Realizing that the wound no longer hurt, Ranma rubbed at his neck slightly with the hand that was putting pressure on it, and was justifiably surprised to feel fresh, healthy skin there.
"Sweet! I don't know what's going on, but..." Ranma once again glanced at the vial of T-virus in the machine behind him, and then grinned before he walked up and ripped the tube out of the device, tearing several power cords out and prompting a brief shower of sparks.
Without showing any of the hesitation he had displayed before, Ranma twisted off one end of the cylinder and then gulped down the viral toxins within.
After he had swallowed most of it, Ranma lowered the tube and licked his lips. "Needs garlic." He then stuck his finger in the tube and rubbed the vile slime off onto his finger before drawing it out and licking it clean.
After a cursory inspection to see if he could easily get any more of the viral solution out, Ranma tossed the cylinder over his shoulder behind him and rubbed his hands together.
"Well, I have no idea what that was all about, but I think it's time I got out of here!" he decided, a slight blue aura surrounding him.
Smiling brightly, the pigtailed man started toward the door, but then hesitated as he glanced at the headless cyborg corpse on the floor.
Ranma stopped and stared.
"......... Nah, I'm in a hurry," he said finally, walking up to the door and rearing back a foot.
WHAM!
"Reroute power to level two and three. Ensure that sensor relay have priority when power re-activate," Igov mumbled as he pressed a hand to his optical peripheral, giving commands to the security computer.
Pulling his hand away, the Russian snorted irritably as he stared at the empty storeroom, the supply crates within all battered and broken in the search for Igov's quarry.
"It figure that this one slippery as well as strong. Igov must hurry, or quarry will escape." Turning around, he nodded at the two lesser cyborgs that waited at the supply room entrance, and they gave the general an empty, dead look before turning into to the corridor and stomping away listlessly.
"New soldiers are... useful, but is not same," Igov sighed. "Still, frailty of men is persisting problem. These creations may yet have place in Igov's ranks."
A crackling noise alerted him to an incoming radio transmission, and Igov tapped the side of his head again. "This is General Yutchzky. Report."
General, we've moved to clean up the lab entrance, but there's something wrong. We found a police cruiser parked on the street outside!
Igov frowned as he turned around and started walking down the corridor. "Is not unusual for police to investigate such disturbance. Until officers demand access to premises, continue job."
General... it's the DAPC.
Igov spat a quick curse in Russian. Ordinary police officers could be misdirected, stalled, or even fought without too much trouble if things went that badly, but the DAPC was far too reckless and dangerous to be left unattended.
The question was: what to do? He could always have lab workers go out and try to convince them to turn back, but Igov really doubted that the esteemed and terrifying protectors of the peace would be so easily deflected.
Besides, after chasing one of their number through four floors of his own lab facility, Igov REALLY wanted to kill something.
"Hold position. Igov will resolve problem," the Russian said grimly, stepping into the stairwell leading to the next floor. "Is there further sign of enemy yet?"
Several seconds of silence followed until he spoke again.
"This is Igov. Report. Is that all?" Igov requested again.
Hey, is this thing on? Came a new voice. Hello? Anyone there?
"Who speaks?" Igov demanded. "What happen to cleanup squad?"
Yo! This is Snake, from the Department of Abnormal Phenomenae Containment. Just stoppin' by to see if any major catastrophes have happened.
"Catastrophe? Such as what?" The Russian asked as he reached the next set of stairs and started climbing further.
Oh, I dunno. Seems like a lot of stuff could happen around-hey! Chikiko, cut it out! No! Just tie him up, you don't have to strip him too! Put those pants back on! Yes, yours too!
Igov raised an eyebrow at the sudden disturbance, and his brow furrowed once he heard a frustrated growl at the other end of the line of communication.
Okay, I'm gonna level with you: I don't think this lab is legit, and I'm going in to find out for myself. Unless you'd like to answer some questions for me here and now, that is. If I get some good answers, maybe I'll have better things to do than search some geek tank from top to bottom, right?
"Is this way of police in Tokyo now? Restrain innocent worker without cause and ransack random lab facility without warrant? And people call Japanese polite," Igov spat, biding for time as he caught up with a few more of his cyborgs.
The other end was silent for a few moments before the voice came back, sounding amused. Okay, fair enough. Would you please inform me of all the activities within this facility, Sir?
"Is not of your business," Igov snapped. "More pressing issue is violation of property and employee."
And more pressing than that is you telling me where my buddy Saotome is.
"No one by that name is here."
How 'bout a big metal guy by the name of Igov Yutchzky?
The general snorted. "Is not Japanese name, no?"
Obviously. And while we're on the topic of obvious things, that's a pretty thick Ruskie accent you got there, pal.
"Do you have legal right to search lab, or not?" Igov asked, reaching the final flight of stairs and gesturing to one of the T-1 interior defense droids that was barring the way out. It promptly swiveled about on its large, triangular tread base and scraped the wall closely enough that the cyborgs could get by.
How about you come up here and we'll discuss the extent of my "legal right".
"You will find nothing here, officer. You have simply stumbled upon industrial accident, and your presence has put all others at risk due to your reckless actions. Unless you can come up with evidence to warrant intrusion, Igov have to ask you to leave premises."
There was a tense moment as both sides took a moment to go over what Igov had just said.
Clang! Igov smacked himself in the head and spat a nasty expletive in Russian.
Seriously. Learn real Japanese, metal-head. Snake over and out.
Igov scowled and turned toward his companion cyborgs. "Stay on guard! Enemy will be prepared!"
The cyborgs stared back at him blankly, a series of hissing noises coming from several of the soldiers whose lungs had been replaced with mechanical equivalents.
"Igov misses real army," the Russian mumbled bitterly, stalking up to the blast doors sealing off the main lobby and slamming his gatling gun-arm onto the switch.
As the door opened into the lobby, Igov looked about for any apparent enemies.
Seeing nothing, he focused his cybernetic eye as the cyborgs filed in behind him. "Beginning proximity scan... wait-"
The Russian halted his scan as someone leapt past the doorway opposite the lab entrance too quickly for any of the soldiers to react.
"Never mind. The enemy is taunting us," Igov growled.
Then he aimed his gun arm at the wall where the figure had leapt into cover. "In war, a wise commander never lets enemy set pace of battle. One must control where and how foe is engaged."
Shunk! The gatling gun split in half and widened slightly, opening up a tube in the middle.
"All soldiers, prepare to advance on Igov mark."
Pop! With a tepid puff of steam, a small, metal, egg-shaped projectile burst out of the cannon before sailing across the lobby in a lazy arc and striking the wall opposite Igov's squad.
BWOOM!! The concussion grenade promptly demolished the wall, and a short scream issued briefly from behind the barrier before it was silenced by chunks of concrete and heavy rebar.
Igov gestured forward with his right hand. "Confirm target elimination. Squad beta, secure area."
A raspy creaking noise came from one of the cyborgs as it stomped forward, swinging its bolt rifle from side to side as it advanced.
Igov quickly reconfigured his cybernetic eye to show him the feed from the lead cyborg, and the Russian grinned with anticipation as the cybernetic soldier grabbed hold of a large, flat piece of wall and pulled it up to look underneath.
Igov's smile evaporated. Beneath the rubble lay one of the technicians that he had sent to secure the front entrance and start the clean-up. The man was tied up and gagged, and was now bleeding profusely as well; he estimated that the man wouldn't live much longer without immediate medical attention.
"Damnation! Show yourself, coward!" The Russian shouted, his gatling gun snapping closed as the engine started.
"Didn't you just say not to let the enemy make decisions for you? Sounds like good advice, ya know?" Mumbled Snake's voice from the open closet on the side of the lobby.
A moment later, a pair of fragmentation grenades bounced out of the hidden sanctuary, rolling to a stop at the feet of the cyborg soldiers as they slowly turned to face the new threat.
Thwoom! Boom! Igov stepped through the detonations as his soldiers were staggered by the blasts, the pieces of shrapnel tearing through his coat and clothing only to bounce uselessly off his dermal armor.
"How long do you suppose you can hide from me?" Igov asked, his gatling gun starting to spin as he aimed at the partially open door to the closet.
"How long do you suppose I had to set bombs while you took your sweet time getting here?" Beep!
Igov quickly crossed his arms over his face, deactivating his weapon as he braced himself for the explosion.
Snake, in the meantime, rapidly pocketed the useless detonator - Igov had actually arrived rather quickly, and he had been busy dealing with their hostages - and dashed out of the closet, snapping off a shotgun blast at a nearby cyborg before diving behind the pile of rubble that Igov had created with his grenade.
Igov knew he had been tricked the moment he heard the shotgun retort, and quickly started his gatling gun up again as one of his soldiers slowly teetered backward, its head a mess of blood and shredded metal.
"Fire! Fire at will! Eliminate target!" Braa-aah-aah-aah-aah!
Snake hugged the ground as concrete and dust rained down over him, courtesy of the hail of gunfire that rapidly started shredding the debris apart. "Chikiko! If you want to help out, now would be a REALLY good time!"
Igov snarled and threw his free arm forward as he pulled up his gun-arm, coolant gases hissing from the engine. "Attack at once! Flush him out!"
Directive accepted. Beginning assault. The lesser cyborgs all began stomping forward, their rifles at the ready.
Schlunk!
Igov blinked at the sound of metal being pierced behind him, and turned around in time to see one of his soldiers collapse onto its knees.
Critical damage sustained. Fluid pressure falling. System fail...ure... immi...nent...
The moment Igov turned, he saw a vaguely familiar red-headed woman wrenching a combat knife from the cyborg's back, eliciting a brief burst of oily fluids from the doomed soldier.
"It does not matter how many of you there are," Igov snarled, raising his gun at the woman, "Igov will crush you all!" Braa-aah-aah-aah-aah!
Akina's body turned into a blur as she launched herself to one side, dashing across the length of the room faster than the Russian could track.
"Heeyah!" Once she was relatively clear of the gatling gun, Akina leapt toward Igov, stabbing her knife toward his throat for what she was hoping was an easy kill.
Clangk! She was thoroughly disappointed as the blade of her knife hit a shell of metal, bouncing off without ill effect. Even her kinetic boost hadn't enabled her to puncture Igov's armor.
The Russian responded instantly, grabbing Akin'a left arm with his right as she pushed away his gatling gun.
"Hey now, not so rough, 'kay?" Akina said brightly, expanding her psychic field toward Igov to try and slow him down. "I know you big boys are-" Thonk!
The seductress was cut off sharply as Igov headbutted her in the forehead, which struck with such force that she was sent tumbling across the floor before she crashed heavily into the opposite wall.
"Damn! Ow, ow, ow!" Akina complained, holding her head in agony. Even with her telekinetic field deflecting most of the force from Igov's attack, her skull had been rattled severely.
Igov immediately aimed his gatling gun while she was still stunned, but found that the only thing to come from the weapon was a harsh, grinding noise. A cursory glance revealed the reason why; at some point Akina had jammed one of her combat knives into the motivator, preventing the barrels from spinning. With little more than a grimace, Igov's right hand retracted as a pair of crackling electric talons emerged from his wrist.
BLAM!! A cyborg staggered to its knees as Snake blasted its knee out, and then the American smashed the butt of his shotgun into its faceplate, causing the mechanical minion to keel backwards over the debris and knock over one of its compatriots. "Chikiko, I'm serious! Stop playing around and pull off some freaky psychic stuff before we're overrun!"
"It's not that easy! YIPE!" Akina dove behind the main desk of the lab as one of the cyborgs snapped off a rifle shot at her, and she ducked her head down as a lightning bolt flashed overhead, scorching the wall. "I'm in trouble here!"
"You're the superhuman, not me!" Snake growled as he suddenly sprinted out from behind the pile of rubble, ducking behind the guard shack stationed in front of the main entrance.
Enemy unit falling back. Beggining pursuit. Assemble Lambda formation. The cyborg in the lead droned from behind the steel grill that used to be a human jaw. His compatriots spreading out behind him, the soldier spearheading the formation stepped up onto the pile of debris Snake had previously been using as cover, climbing up the concrete and metal and then dropping carelessly over onto the other side.
Beep! Naturally, the proximity mine tucked into the cracks of a wad of rebar objected to such haphazard terrain navigation, and promptly made its displeasure known. BWOOM!!
Igov snarled as he watched the debris pile burst apart, knocking over those cyborgs that were too far away to be blasted aside by the explosion itself. "Igov not lose here," the Russian snapped, turning toward the desk where Akina was hiding out and smashing his Tesla claw through the feeble barrier.
"Hey! Ouch! Watch it!" The psychic complained as Igov grabbed her roughly by the shoulder. "You rusty eunich, I'm gonna-"
GZACK! The redhead yelped as a surge of electricity paralyzed her, rendering her stunned once more. "You will die, wench," Igov snapped. "But not alone."
The Russian general turned toward the entrance to the facility, holding up Akina in his grasp. "Surrender at once, fool! You have no chance winning!"
Snake grit his teeth as he peeked around the guard kiosk. Several of the cyborgs knocked over by his proximity mine were now standing up, and Igov clearly had Akina at his mercy. "Some invincible psychic warrior she turned out to be," he mumbled irritably.
"Igov give you chance to surrender!" The Russian shouted. "Drop weapons by count of three, or woman dies!"
"We don't negotiate with terrorists!" Snake shouted back, looking about for anything flammable he could use to boost the power of his explosives.
"If that is case, then you need only sit and await execution," Igov said. "Three."
Snake growled in frustration once he verified that there was no surrounding terrain he could use to his immediate advantage. 'Why isn't this lab full of explosive barrels like the video games, anyway? Do they have so little fuel that they can't afford to leave drums of it sitting out in the open where it can get damaged? Yeesh.'
"Two," Igov said, ignoring a weak cough from his hostage.
'What am I gonna do? I know I'm not supposed to just let Akina die, but I know that I won't be doing any good by surrendering! Damn it all! Somebody do something!'
"One," Igov said, grinning dangerously.
CLANG! The cyborg's arm was suddenly struck hard from behind, and Akina fell to the floor as the object that had struck Igov clattered to the ground at his feet.
Igov blinked. It was the faceplate of a T-1 defense robot, conspicuously separate from the rest of the machine. "What is meaning of-"
BWOOM! The Russian was blown off of his feet as a ki bolt slammed into him from behind, and the other cyborg's turned around as Igov skidded across the floor.
Warning! Class beta power source detected! Engage!
Akina raised her head groggily, and was about to mumbled a question when she suddenly found herself lifted off of her feet and into the air. "Whoa! Wh-Wha's going on?"
A familiar voice came from above as she was held closely against a torn and blood-splattered jacket. "Oh, nothing much. Just saving my friends from the clutches of crazed terrorist killing machines. You know, a regular Tuesday," Ranma said, grinning as he landed in the middle of the room and then leapt toward the hole in the wall.
"Get him!" Igov snarled as he climbed to his feet. "Do not let them escape!"
Akina blinked slowly as she heard gunfire nearby, and then blinked again as she saw a round blow through Ranma's arm, splashing blood and bits of gore onto her legs. "Hey, ya okay?" She asked groggily, noting that the pigtailed man hadn't slowed down much at all as he dashed past the kiosk Snake was hiding behind.
"Just a flesh wound," Ranma mumbled as he landed behind the piles of rubble scattered around the outer perimeter of the lab. "Well, mostly flesh. Little bit of bone, too. I'll be fine." Then he turned his head behind him. "Snake, is that you? What are you guys doing here, anyway?"
"We're here to rescue YOU, jackass!" Snake growled as he dashed away from the kiosk, rifle fire tearing the small shack to shreds behind him.
"Are you serious?" Ranma asked, moving again as Snake caught up to him. "Figures you can't even rescue me without me around to rescue you."
"Rescue HER, you mean," Snake snapped as they rounded the gate to the perimeter fence and ran for the street. "Apparently Miss Crazy Sex Addict doesn't do too hot against these new cyborg schmucks."
Said crazy sex addict was silent through most of the exchange, mostly because she was watching Ranma's wounded arm. In the time it took him to run out of the building and reach the sidewalk where their cruiser was parked, the hole in Ranma's arm had shrunk to a slightly puckered patch of fresh pink skin ringed with blood.
Akina didn't get much of a chance to ask about it before she was pushed into the back seat of the cruiser with Ranma sliding in next to her.
"All right, let's go!" Ranma shouted.
Snake started the car, but then shook his head instead of hitting the gas. "Wait for it..."
Targets out of combat area. Move to engage?
Igov ground his teeth together as one of his cyborgs turned toward him with an empty gaze from its cold, mechanical eyes.
"Negative," the Russian growled out. "Do not pursue."
Then, as if in answer to a question that a human soldier probably would have asked, Igov kicked a chunk of debris out of the hole in the wall, sending it bouncing past the guard kiosk.
Beep! BWABOOM!! The cyborgs all stared blankly as a considerable fireball erupted from the kiosk, courtesy of another proximity mine.
"Igov not make same mistake again," the general spat. "Igov had opportunity, and failed. Now is time to salvage remains of this place, before all is lost."
Affirmative, General. We await your orders. The cyborgs all moved into a line and pushed themselves to attention as best they could, each one at the ready.
"Hmmm... curiously unsatisfying," Snake mumbled as he watched the flash from his explosives in the distance.
"What, you don't think you placed enough of 'em?" Ranma asked, sweatdropping.
"No, it's not that," Snake mumbled as he started accelerating. "Or rather, yeah, but also: I don't think they killed anything. I mean, we have you, so this operation was technically a success, but it doesn't feel right that we're the ones on the run."
Ranma rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "Well, whatever. If it makes you feel any better, I've been killing terrorists all day and night before I got stuck in there."
"That DOES make me feel better. Thank you," Snake said sincerely, smiling brightly as he started humming the theme song to Top Gun.
Ranma sighed and turned toward Akina... or Junko, he wasn't entirely sure. At some point after being shoved into the car, the girl had slumped down against his arm and closed her eyes, though he didn't think she was unconscious yet.
"Hey, you all right?" He asked gently, rubbing the redhead on the shoulder. "I didn't see much of what happened back there. I had some bots to take apart. Did he hurt you at all?"
The voluptuous policewoman smiled slightly, her eyes creeping open. "Not too bad. Head's a little shaky." She curled up closer to Ranma, and sighed softly.
The pigtailed man smiled. 'Junko. Definitely Junko.' If Akina even had a gentle, vulnerable side like this, it was sufficiently hidden underneath layers of powerful lust and violent selfishness.
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief as he hugged the redhead against his side, allowing a tide of emotion to wash over the rush of adrenaline and strange chemical high he had been going through. 'They came for me. They actually came to rescue me.'
Granted, they didn't do a great job, but that was irrelevant to the pigtailed man. While people regularly expected Ranma to put his life on the line to solve their problems, it was pretty rare that anyone sacrificed or risked anything for him.
'Heh. She looks really cute like this, actually,' he thought fondly, brushing some hair out of her face. Although Junko could be quite obnoxious and frustratingly irresponsible most of the time, she also had a more mature, understanding cheerfullness that contrasted Sakura's airheaded, bubbly nature, and Ranma could appreciate that, even if he wasn't really comfortable with certain other traits of hers.
To that end, he had a much harder time appreciating Akina's single-minded, sex-obsessed mentality. Sure, the psychic was infinitely more useful in battle, but Ranma figured he could handle the fighting himself and let Junko stay sane.
"So! How you feeling, Saotome?" Snake asked suddenly, glancing back at the pair nestled in the back seat.
Ranma sighed wearily. "Eh, not too bad, but I'm a little tired. I've been running around and fighting since yesterday, you know?"
"You don't look that bad," Snake insisted. "In fact, it looks like you've healed over a couple bullet wounds, there."
"Yeah. That happens sometimes," Ranma mumbled, rubbing his shoulder to try to wipe off the dried blood.
Snake shrugged. "As long as you're okay." Then he frowned. "By the way, just a random question, totally out the blue: you haven't eaten any people recently, right?"
Ranma blinked in surprise. Then he glanced to the left, and then to the right. "You mean, like, alive?"
"Yeah."
The pigtailed man sighed in relief. "Of course not! That's gross! Why would you even ask something like that?"
"Just checkin'," Snake said casually, putting his focus back onto the road ahead.
Ranma started to relax again, when he felt the girl leaning against him tremble suddenly.
"Eh? Junko, is something wrong?"
Snake tsked and took a sharp turn. "Great, not again."
"Again? What's happening again?" Ranma asked nervously.
"Nothing serious. She'll get over it in a bit." Snake maneuvered the car into a parking garage, and then immediately took the first ramp down into the underground section of the structure.
"Are you sure? It looks like she has a fever or..." Ranma trailed off as he looked around. "Wait, where are we?"
"Isolated subterranean structure," Snake said simply as he parked the car in one of the numerous empty spots in the cavernous, dimly-lit lot.
"Oh. Right," Ranma mumbled, started to get an eerie sense of nervousness crawling up his spine. "Okay, so... why are we here?"
"It's out of the way, nobody's around, and we can do pretty much whatever we want without attracting any attention," Snake explained as he turned off the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt.
"I don't follow," Ranma deadpanned, his face darkening. "What's going to happen now?"
"That's none of my business," Snake said bluntly, opening the car door and stepping out. "Have fun. I'll be back in a couple hours."
"Wait, what?" Ranma asked nervously, sitting up. "You're leaving? Why? Junko's in trouble, here!"
"Yeah, I think that's your problem, now," Snake mumbled, walking briskly toward the exit ramp.
"Hey! I'm serious! What are you-" Ranma suddenly stopped talking as he felt a sudden surge of ki energy come from the woman in his arms.
Understanding struck him like a hammer. The psychokinetic burst struck him more in the manner of a freight train.
Whoomph! Snake winced as he heard a muted explosion, and looked back into the garage to see his vehicle trembling unsteadily as the shattered remains of the windows rained onto the ground.
"Sorry Saotome, but sometimes a man has to take one for the team," the American mumbled. "Men other than me, that is. Gotta go!"
"Wha... Wha... A-Akina?" Ranma gasped out, trying to lift his head.
He was currently lying on his back across the seat, his body shaking from a constant onpour of kinetic force that was pushing him down, as if every limb were supporting massive weights.
Akina stood over him, licking her lips sensually as she tapped into her deepest reserves of power. "Just relax, sweetie... I'm going to make this feel SOOOO good!"
"W-Wait! Stop! What's going on? Let me go!" Ranma protested, his face paling.
Akina frowned as she took hold of his wrists. "Hmm... I thought that the virus was supposed to increase your sex drive..."
"What are you talking about?" Ranma shouted. "Sex drive? Even if it was increased, don't you think this is a bit much?"
Akina hesitated, and then sat up, looking unsure. "Yeah, maybe. It's not really my style to be this forceful, but..." She smirked suddenly. "You're a slippery one, so I thought I'd better go all-out."
"Are you serious? You're joking, right?" Ranma asked, a slight twitch in his eye.
Shrrrp! Another wave of telekinesis blasted into him, and the pigtailed man blinked in surprise as his clothing vanished into shreds of cloth and nylon.
"Hey! No! W-Wait! GAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
"Ah, Mr. Michnel. Checking out already?"
Wolf smiled at the young woman behind the reception desk at his hotel. "Yes, my business has been taken care of, here." Using an older cover identity of him like international German businessman Jake Michnel was somewhat dangerous at this point, but he had really wanted to spend the night in a good hotel, and thus took the risk.
The receptionist handed the German man a bill as she spoke. "I see. Well, we'll be looking forward to serving you the next time you have business in this area, then!"
Wolf smirked gently as he took a fold of bills from his pocket and started counting them out. "I'm sure there will be plenty of... business here soon, but I'm thinking that perhaps Tokyo's getting a little hot for me."
The receptionist blinked in confusion, but quickly accepted his payment and bowed. "Thank you very much!"
Several minutes later, Wolf was waiting at the bus stop, a satchel over one arm as he checked his watch.
"Flight leaves in just an hour. Man, I hope it's not raining today," the assassin mumbled. "I wonder what the weather's like in Poland, anyway?"
After his last job, Wolf was quite certain that he had become a top priority for several international security agencies, as well as the normal assortment of national groups that would be very upset at his absconding with top-secret technologies. Dodging them wouldn't be too difficult... unless he was connected substantially to the Freedom's Angels, in which case the Americans and Japanese would both spare far more resources to see him brought down. The Americans in particular were still pretty twitchy about evil terrorist plots.
Then again, after his last job, Wolf wouldn't need to work for a fairly long time. Stealing wasn't his ordinary line of work, and Igov had paid top dollar to make sure that his favorite agent was satisfied.
'Hopefully I can find someplace cheap and unconventional to stay while I send money to my sisters,' the knife fighter thought to himself as he stared out at the Tokyo skyline.
"Heh. Still... I won't miss the work, but I will miss the city."
Foom! A small explosion in the distance flashed briefly, spurting a fireball into the air that was visible for miles.
"On that note, maybe I should take some photos while it's still here," Wolf mumbled to himself as he turned away, ignoring the gasps and sudden chatter from other pedestrians.
"Ah, here you are. Hello there! Mr. Wolf, is it?" Came an unfamiliar voice from behind Wolf.
The German man didn't budge. In his line of work, being identified was usually a liability, and even if it was someone who had a job for him and had tracked him down, he wasn't really looking work at the moment.
"Mr. Wolf, is something the matter?" The voice said, coming closer. "Could I speak to you for a few moments?"
Again, Wolf didn't turn around or make any sort of response to the voice.
"Hey, what's the pigtailed guy think he's doing?" The voice said suddenly.
Wolf immediately whirled around, his eyes scanning the area in all directions. "Saotome? Where?"
"Psyche."
A vein popped up on Wolf's head, and he finally looked down at the source of the voice that had been speaking to him. It was a short, bespectacled man wearing a lab coat with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Who are you, what do you want, and why do you keep calling me 'Wolf'?" The assassin asked, figuring there was at least some possibility that he may need to plausibly deny his identity.
"My name is Professor Yoshi Konta, I want your help with something, and I call you 'Wolf' because that's what the General called you before. Or am I wrong?" Yoshi asked, being perfectly amicable as usual.
Wolf frowned. "Hmph. I'm afraid I'm not taking on any jobs right now. If you'll excuse me, my bus is arriving soon..."
"One million," Yoshi said suddenly, lowering his voice.
"Eh?" Wolf perked up immediately. "One million what?"
"Dollars. American. Or in any other currency you'd like. Euros, perhaps?" Yoshi smirked. "All for five, maybe ten minutes of your time."
Wolf was intrigued, but did a good job hiding it. "Really? What kind of job pays that well and takes so little time?"
"The kind of job that only a man with your... exemplary physical capabilities could perform. You won't even be doing anything illegal, I assure you!"
The German snorted in disbelief. "And why should I trust you?"
"Well, the job is really only worth a tenth of what I'm paying you," Yoshi said, shrugging. "The rest should cover... 'trust'."
Wolf was silent for a long moment before his greed and curiosity overwhelmed his common sense. "Let's see what this job is. Then I'll make a decision."
"Of course, of course. Follow me, please," the biogeneticist requested, walking down the sidewalk.
After a few minutes, the little man reached the edge of a large debris field that was surrounded by high fences.
"Do you know what this area is, Mr. Wolf?"
The German nodded. "It's where one of those big cannon shells landed when... someone attacked the city with a submarine."
"Exactly. Pounded the large restaurant here to rubble, and scratched up everything nearby a great deal, as well. The site is still being cleaned up, but it's taken quite a while. This way."
Wolf followed the diminutive scientist through a gap in the fence, and then into the middle of the lot, which was more or less a lumpy hill of concrete debris.
"Okay, so I think it's fair to ask now: what is this job, exactly?" Wolf asked, adjusting his shades briefly.
"The job is to complete a combat test," Yoshi said simply and earnestly. "I'm going to release a creature that will attack you. Your objective is to kill it using any means at your disposal."
Wolf's eyes narrowed. "And, naturally, this... 'creature' is going to be trying to kill me, right?"
"That is, as they say, 'the catch'," Yoshi admitted. "However, I hardly think that someone of your considerable skill and power could really be killed by any of my little monstrosities. Still... if it does turn out to be too much for you, you can surrender, and I'll stop the test. I'll even give you half the reward for your trouble, but I'm afraid the full payment is only if you win."
Wolf glanced around the lot. "Where is it?"
"It's... nearby. For optimum results, the test requires that the creature's appearance remain a surprise until it begins. Also, there is but one rule I would have you abide by during the test: you cannot leave the boundary of this lot, as the creature will follow you and create all manner of ruckus in the process. We wouldn't want that, right?" The biogeneticist pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Well? Those are the terms. It's completely up to you whether or not to participate. No threats, no excuses."
Wolf stared long and hard at the little man, trying to detect some hint of emotion besides perverse cheerfulness. Failing to gain any insight into his motivations, the assassin shrugged.
"Eh, sure. Why not? I've risked much more for much less. Let's see this mysterious 'creature'."
Yoshi smirked. "Right away. Hold still, please." With that, the diminutive professor pulled out a small plastic squirt gun and aimed it at Wolf. "This is a special solution I call a designator. It's used to 'paint' a target for my pet to hunt. Although it would happily commit wanton violence on its own, this is, so far, the most effective way to guide it toward an enemy. The solution itself is harmless and will wash off easily, so again, please don't move."
Wolf frowned as Yoshi squirted him in the arm with the little toy gun, and then immediately started glancing around the lot, expecting an immediate attack.
"So, has it started?"
Yoshi smirked as he backed away. "Oh, it's begun all right..."
Crack! Crash! Wolf turned around as a nearby pile of debris started shaking.
'Ah. Should've known. That pile looked like it had been deliberately formed, and it's not like the construction crews would have a reason to pile everything there.' He flicked his wrists briefly, and a pair of butterfly knives appeared between his fingers.
Thoom! The top of the mound of rubble finally burst as whatever was within it got free, and Wolf got his first look at his opponent as it pulled its legs out of the debris.
"What the hell..." the assassin mumbled as he stared at the creature.
Honestly, it was on par with what he was expecting; Yoshi was obviously with the Freedom's Angels, and Wolf had seen the sick monstrosities that they set loose on a whim. This one definitely fit in with the rest, although it was a lot farther from human and a lot closer to monster than anything Wolf had seen thus far.
Four large, spider-like legs covered in thick, bony ridges made up the creature's lower body, supporting the rest of it. Similar in size and shape to the legs but armored even more solidly were a pair of curved talons that were attached to the main body just above the legs. Emerging from the quadrapedic thorax of the creature was a long, shiny, worm-like body about the thickness of a telephone pole that ended in a large mouth full of teeth that immediately reminded Wolf of a shark's jaws. The creature had no eyes that were apparent to the German, and it made a low hissing noise as it turned toward him, jaw snapping. All told it was about five feet tall, and three feet wide, though both measures depended upon it bending its legs and neck.
"Heeeaaah!" The creature suddenly jumped toward Wolf while he was still busy staring, and the knife-fighter barely managed to jump to the side as it landed with shocking swiftness and accuracy, stabbing the spear-like points of its legs deep into the rubble.
"This is it? What is that thing?" Wolf demanded as he jumped away, avoiding a second leap as the creature let out a menacing snarl.
"That, my good mercenary, is the prototype J-type genetic weapon, our newest strain of combat mutants."
Yoshi looked proud as the mutant pounced again, prompting Wolf to kick a chunk of concrete into its path. The piece of debris broke harmlessly against the creature's armored carapace, although it did cause it to miss its jump trajectory and land improperly on its talons.
Yoshi continued as the mutant scrambled to its feet. "As our foes like to attach intimidating nicknames to my creations, I've taken the initiative this time: Mr. Calvin Asmodius, I present to you the 'predator'."
"Charmed, I'm sure," the assassin growled as he hopped back to get some distance. 'All right, this doesn't look so bad. All I really need is to find a weak point in the shell and cut the blasted thing open.'
"Huuughr!" The predator suddenly charged at Wolf, its talons raised to attack as its feet scampered across the uneven terrain.
Wolf jumped into the air in response, doing a somersault as he flew over the bioweapon.
Thok! Thok! Thok! A rain of knives struck the predator immediately as Wolf passed overhead, and the mutant screeched to a halt as the numerous blades embedded themselves in its armor.
"Heeah!" The predator's neck curved about to face Wolf's new position, and then its legs scampered about to rotate the rest of the body along with it.
"Very impressive penetration with the knives," Yoshi mused aloud as he wrote down some notes on a clipboard. "That carapace armor was designed to stop anything weaker than a rifle cartridge. It's really quite amazing you managed to scratch it."
Wolf twitched as the predator charged again. "So, tell me again why you thought this fight would be easy for me?"
This time the assassin leapt backwards to get his distance, and then immediately regretted it as the predator mutant simply extended his charge by jumping forward, scything him down in mid-air.
"Guh!" Wolf grit his teeth as he felt one of the talons slice through his jacket and rip into his chest, and a fan of blood decorated the sharpened appendage as the mutant's blades tasted flesh.
The German managed to roll away immediately upon landing, barely avoiding the predator's talons as they stabbed down to try and pin him in place.
"Damn insect! You ruined my jacket!" Wolf snarled as he backflipped away and landed in a crouch. "You'll pay for that!"
"Sssshhaah!" The mutant wiggled its talons threateningly as it snarled at its prey, saliva spraying from its mouth.
"I've had enough of this," Wolf mumbled, drawing a pair of combat knives and holding one in each hand. "If this keeps up I could miss my flight. Next attack ends it."
Yoshi chuckled and wrote down more notes as the predator hissed and crouched, as if incensed.
After a few moments, however, it became clear that Wolf wasn't about to do anything, so the mutant once again leapt at its prey, talons and legs pointed forward to impale its target.
Wolf, surprisingly, didn't leap away or affect any kind of dodge. Instead, he immediately dashed foward, right between the long, bony claws. "Stupid overgrown flea," he snapped as he stabbed both knives deep into the bottom of the thorax, where the legs connected to the upper body.
There was a brief blast of dust along the ground as the force of Wolf's charge impacted the force of the predator's leap, and the mutant let out a stunned squawking noise at finding its attack halted.
It made an even worse noise once Wolf swung his arms down, tearing the knives through the mutant's body in a savage slash that sprayed pale ichor all over the ground as the predator was sent tumbling.
Wolf took a few deep breaths as he stared down at his slime-covered weapons, and then he tossed the blades on the ground. "I win."
Yoshi raised an eyebrow, glancing at the predator as it writhed on the ground, its legs jerking about awkwardly. "It's still alive, though..."
"Not my problem," Wolf said simply, taking out a handkerchief and dabbing his wound. "I just shredded the key tendons to its legs, and probably a nerve cluster too, unless I miss my guess. It's immobile, and thus effectively harmless. Isn't that good enough? I don't really have the time to waste to finish it off, and it'd be a waste of energy."
Yoshi considered it for a moment, and then nodded. "All right, I suppose it's fine. I did say you needed to kill it, but you make a convincing argument. You win."
"Great. Where's my money?" Wolf asked promptly, putting away his blood-stained handkerchief in his pocket.
Yoshi fished a small electronic device from his pocket. "This has all the account information necessary for you to access a bank balance, already in your name, of one million dollars, American. This account is safe, of course, but do be careful where you transfer the funds to," the biogeneticist said, smiling brightly. "I hear that Interpol has been very diligent in hunting down accounts belonging to terrorists and international criminals and freezing them. Be careful, now!"
Wolf snorted and pocketed the device. Normally he would demand immediate proof that the information was legitimate and secure, but something compelled him to trust the little scientist... at least insofar as trusting him helped Wolf leave as fast as possible. The diminutive man was somehow unnerving, and Wolf didn't like being intimidated by old geeks half his size. "Thanks, but if you have any other work in the future, find someone else. I'm looking into retirement."
"Of course, of course. I doubt you'll hear from me again. Have a nice flight!" Yoshi said brightly, bowing to the German as Wolf leapt over the fence around the lot and then dashed down the street.
The assassin gone, Yoshi Konta turned toward the predator mutant, which had ceased thrashing and was now trying to wrap its legs together in an attempt to stop the bleeding from its thorax.
"Well now, that test went splendidly! I think I have an excellent idea of Mr. Wolf's capabilities now!" The mad scientist said happily, approaching the wounded mutant.
Yoshi fished a small spray can out of his pocket, and then blasted the predator with a brief jet of its contents.
Immediately, the predator stopped its pained hissing and curled up silently, still twitching but otherwise still. Yoshi promptly put the can away and then pulled out a clean white rag.
"Now then, my pet... let me help you get some of that blood off your claws..."
Robots dismantled: 3
Cyborgs forcefully decommissioned: 7
Laboratories compromised: 1
Supernatural sexual assaults: 1
Mutants put down: 1
Major future plot points foreshadowed: 1
End Chapter 27