4.3 Double Crossed!

“You screwed us! You let our people die for nothing at fucking all!”

Jack Flash didn’t back down from the fury Bulldog projected. They stood on the veranda outside the Kennel, the Dogpack’s home base. The other senior members of the Dogpack flanked Bulldog, and none of them looked too happy. Jack knew this would happen, had even planned for it, but he didn’t think they would be quite so violent about it. He silently cursed himself for being too damn trusting in the basic decency of human beings. If the Divide should teach anything, it was that such a thing did not exist.

Jack Flash held up his copy of the DVD-rom. “I did what I had to do. We needed the information that Skull could provide to us, but we had to get it out of there. This contains the only surviving data on Devastation Day. With it we may be able to finally—”

“We don’t need your true believe bullshit, Flash!” Bulldog looked over at Chihuahua. The Bitch looked Bulldog’s way, and the small deformed man at her side followed her gaze.

“Let me take him out, boss. We don’t need his ass anymore.”

Everyone in the room stood silent as Chihuahua slowly reached up and scratched his elongated nose. He nodded.

Bulldog grinned, and Pitbull moved to his side. They closed in on Jack. Jack took a step back and contemplated his chances of living through an extended battle with an entire street gang. He figured it at absolutely no chance at all.

“Look, guys. I know I—”

“Call your men off, Chihuahua. Flash leaves with me.” All eyes turned towards the street. An aging man sat on the back of a seventies-style stunt bike. Though it looked as though it had suffered thirty years of use, the motorcycle was nearly silent as it idled. The man on its back pulled the half-mask off of his head, revealing craggy skin and a receding hairline. He gave his audience a cocky grin beneath his scruffy beard as he dismounted his bike.

“You’ve got every reason to be mad at this chump, but I can’t let you hurt him, Chihuahua. He works for me now.”

“You have no say here, Double Cross. This is Dogpack territory. We respect you, but we won’t let you stick your nose in to our business.”

Double Cross walked towards Chihuahua. He gave Pitbull and Bulldog each a nod in turn as he passed them. The Bitch he gave both a nod and a smarmy grin, before he turned his attention back to Chihuahua. “You really want to call me out on this, friend? I’m old but not so old that I couldn’t kick all your asses, ‘specially with Jack here at my side.”

Chihuahua gritted his teeth. A low growl rose from his throat as he stood unmoving before Double Cross. Jack Flash looked on with mixed anticipation and worry. He was ready for a fight though, if it came to that. He didn’t think it would though. Even the Dogpack wasn’t stupid enough to cross the meanest son of a bitch in the Divide.

“Fine,” Chihuahua said. “You want the sorry bastard you take him. But if me or any of my dawgs see him in our territory again, he will wish we let him die quick and easy today. You get me?”

“We hear you.” Double Cross looked over to Jack and gave him a wink. “And I promise that good ol’ Jack here wouldn’t even think of bothering you or your people again. And I’m nothin’ if not a man of my word, right?”

“Just take him and go.”

Double Cross looked at Jack. “You heard the man. Let’s roll.”

Double Cross turned to head back to his bike. Bulldog cut him off. “I should tear out your throat you son of a bitch.”

Double Cross shot forward with blinding speed. After images streaked behind him as he struck a swift and brutal chop to Bulldog’s throat. Bulldog staggered back and fell to one knee. He clutched at his throat as he struggled for air.

“That could just as easily been a killing blow, hombre. Don’t get in my face again.” Double Cross walked away from the struggling man. He went straight back to his motorcycle. He climbed in to the leather seat, yanked the mask back over his hair and eyes. Jack walked up behind Double Cross and looked at him and the bike.

“Don’t just stand their gawking like a damn fool. Climb on the back of the bike before the pack changes their mind and tears you a new asshole.”

“Yes, sir.” Jack scurried on to the seat behind Double Cross. The older man kick-started the cycle (with barely any engine noise) and pulled out in to the streets. Within seconds they were cruising down the wasted streets of Old Detroit, zigging and zagging around loose rock, people, and massive potholes. Jack feared for his very life as the old man put on the speed.

They shot down the streets of the Divide and Jack knew they could only have one eventual destination. It was time to go to the Q-Zone. One way or another, the Antagonist’s days as the boss of bosses would soon be over.

*****

“You got it?”

Gigolo chuckled at the question. “You got the money?”

Conundrum hissed through his ever-distorting features. The degen’s skin constantly shifted around his body coupled with the elasticity of the bones beneath made him a constantly-changing mass of skin. Most people would find the result utterly sickening. Gigolo had seen much worse in his years.

They stood in a blasted out wasteland. Very near the epicenter on the Day of Devastation, not even foundations stood here. A few shabby huts stood scattered over the empty grasslands, but no one inside them made any motion. They knew better than to do so in the presence of the Great Question’s leadership.

Conundrum signaled to one of the two midgets that stood several feet behind him. Both wore full bodysuits, one in blue with an “S” on his chest, the other in red with an “A” on his chest. Shock and Awe scurried to Conundrum. Each carried a knapsack. They dropped them between Conundrum and Gigolo.

“There you are,” Conundrum said. “Five million US in each bag. Everything you might need to make your life outside of the Divide. Now give me the disc.”

Gigolo smiled, showing a mouthful of gold. He reached in to his large chinchilla-fur coat. He produced the DVD-ROM and put it in Conundrum’s hands. “That’s the only complete copy of the disc, so be careful with it. You don’t want to have to pay me ten million more for another copy.”

Conundrum took the disc from Gigolo and examined it. He handed it to Awe. “Verify the authenticity please.” Awe scurried away to their jeep, where the final member of their party sat at a laptop. The scrawny young man couldn’t be out of his teens, but he quickly took the disc, inserted it in to the computer, and scanned it. He gave Conundrum a thumbs-up.

Conundrum’s face suddenly contorted. A moment later he looked exactly like Gigolo. “Thank you for your efforts, sir.”

The sniper’s bullet caught Gigolo in the back of the head, near the top of his skull. His face exploded outwards before the bullet lodged in the ground only inches from Conundrum’s foot. Blood and brains splattered across Conundrum’s new face. He slowly grinned as he wiped it away.

“Get the coat and the cane, boys. Then burn the body” Shock and Awe ran to retrieve it. Conundrum bent down to look at the blank eyes of his victim. It was times like this he enjoyed his work.

He raised a closed fist in the air. It was the prearranged sign. Just over a hundred yards away, an empty patch of land atop a large hill shimmered. When the shimmer faded, Kimono stood in its place. The gorgeous Asian assassin was naked except for the high-powered rifle in her hand.

“Hurry to the jeep,” Conundrum said. “We must return to Antagonist and show him our success.”

4.2 Cathouse

Bob Cat blinked his eyes open. His head throbbed but otherwise everything seemed to be in working order. He sat up and ran a hand through his black hair. It took him a few moments to realize he was on the couch of the loft he shared with Death Ray. Ray was in the kitchen making breakfast. The smell of bacon and eggs filled the apartment. Ray gave Bob a nod as he turned back to the frying pan.

Bob struggled up and off the couch. Every part of him ached, but it was better than the alternative. He had already died three times, and he had no plans to suffer through another revival anytime soon. “You got any of that for me?”

Ray looked his way, nodded and waved him over. Bob sat down at the small fold out lodged between the kitchen and the living room to enjoy a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast. He was chewing his sixth bite of egg when the buzzer sounded. Someone was downstairs at their door.

Having been unconscious for several hours, Bob doubted highly it was any of his lady friends which meant it was almost certainly a client. He couldn’t remember the last time they had a paying gig. All this freelance “helping out” as Ray liked to call it wasn’t paying the bills. Bob leapt from the chair and ran down the stairs to the first floor.

He threw a smile on his face as he yanked the door at the bottom of the stairs open. “Hi, can I help you?”

A tall man, thin but well muscled, stood in the door. He wore his hair short and as brown as his eyes. He stood up straight, government-issue straight. Bob wondered which government.

“My name is Conrad Thierry,” the man said. “I’m looking for Bob Cat and Death Ray.”

“Well you found us. I’m the Cat.” He gestured past him. “I assume you’re not here for breakfast, so come inside and tell me how we can be of assistance.”

“Good.” Thierry pushed past Bob and in to the small hallway opposite of the stairway. He continued in to the small room Ray and Bob used as an office and sat down at the vacant secretary’s desk. He promptly threw his feet up on it and looked at Bob.

“Please make yourself comfortable,” Bob said.

“Is your partner available, Mr. Cat?”

Bob nodded before he turned to call Death Ray down the stairs. Ray was already at the top of the stairs and on his way down. “Here he comes,” Bob said. Ray reached the bottom of the stairs, and he and Bob went in to the office and took two of the remaining seats. “Now what can we do for you?”

“First, I would like to put in on record that you two are not my first choices for this mission, but my superiors seem to think considering your past history that you are the best choices for the task at hand.”

Thierry pulled a thick envelope from inside his jacket pocket and threw it on the table. “My superiors at ACTION have come across information that another so-called Norn Stone has been located in the northern areas of the city, in a region called Pisa. Are you familiar with the Stones?”

Bob nodded. He tried not to salivate at the very thought of the Stone. The Norn Stones first appeared shortly after the Devastation. They could be used to channel massive amounts of energy, but prolonged skin contact would cause them to absorb in to the human body. Anyone who absorbed one would then become a metahuman. If a metahuman did the absorbing, his powers would increase several times over. Only a few of the longest residents of the Divide ever came to possess them, people like Mister Mayor and Antagonist. Though dozens existed none had been seen in months.

“Everyone in the Divide knows of the Stones, Mister Thierry. Everyone here dreams of getting one for themselves.”

“Our information within the Divide is limited but we believe it may be in the hands of one of your fellow metahumans, a Venus de Milo. We know little beyond what our satellite scanners can read.” Thierry gestured to the envelope on the table. It was stretched in the middle by what could be nothing other than several bundles of cash. “In that envelope you will find one hundred thousand dollars for each of you, Mister Cat, Mister Ray. I am here to hire you as unofficial agents of the United States government in this endeavor. I want you to enter the so-called Pisa region, locate the artifact, and return it to me. If you do so, we will quadruple the money found in that envelope. Each. As well as another artifact which you will certainly be interested in, Mister Cat.”

Bob reached down and opened the envelope. He found several bundles of hundred dollar bills inside. He showed the envelope’s contents to Death Ray. Ray just nodded.

“What is this artifact you’re talking about, Agent Thierry?”

“It’s a certain sword. A Japanese-made katana. No known name exists for it, but it possesses innate magical abilities. You should be familiar with it, as I believe it’s the missing part of that ensemble you wear, Mr. Cat?”

A greater man might wonder how the United States government had uncovered so much of his history, but Bob could only think of the sword. He spent months looking for that sword after he recovered the rest of the costume, but never found it. Now he could feel it within his reach.

“We’ll do it,” Bob said.

Death Ray reached out and turned Bob back towards him. He gave his friend and partner a glare. Bob could tell he was in no way pleased.

“What? We need the money.”

Death Ray just shook his head in frustration. He snatched the money out of Bob’s hands, turned, and started back up the stairs. He slammed the door shut at the top.

“Don’t worry about him,” Bob said to Thierry. “I’m not sure why he’s so moody right now, but once we take a down payment, we guarantee we finish the job. He and I will be a team when we go in to Pisa. We’re partners and all that even with all his anger management issues.”

“I don’t want excuses, Mister Cat. I want results. Can you deliver me the Norn Stone and do it within the next week?”

“You can count on us, Agent Thierry.”

“You’d better hope so. Because if you fail in this, Mr. Cat, you will find yourself with a powerful enemy in the United States government.” Thierry suddenly smiled, which only served to make him look even creepier. “But that’s not going to happen, is it?”

Thierry patted Bob Cat on the shoulder. He placed a card in Bob’s hand before he continued on his way to the door. “I expect a status report in forty-eight hours. Do not disappoint me, Mister Cat.”

Thierry whisked through the door and out in to the street. Bob watched him go until Thierry turned. The sun’s glare caught Bob’s eyes. He blinked and turned away for a moment, but when his eyes returned to the street, Thierry was gone. Bob pocketed the card and rushed up the stairs to find Ray.