ISSUE #12 (October 2021)
Written by John Cheese Featuring: Dare
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Stepping onto the train, Lester Buchinsky pushed his way through the late evening commuters into a seat. As he felt the train move off, the earpiece he wore buzzed, causing him to check the hard case strapped to his leg.
Eventually, he accepted the call and fed the visual feed to the smart glasses he was wearing. “I have an update for you Lester,” Giz stated, his face appearing in the left-hand eyepiece of the glasses. “Thought you might like to know about what’s hitting the street.” “Talk to me them,” Lester replied as he saw a woman sitting opposite him give him an angry stare. “Well your boy Xtreme is out, Dare sent him dropping off the mortal coil,” Giz announced as Lester’s eyes narrowed at the news. “Well not fully, the helmet acted as we suspected, supercharged his adrenal glands.” “What does that mean Giz?” Lester asked as two large men dressed in jeans and tank tops walked over to him, glowering at him, the muscled tattooed man’s arms crossed. “It means as long as the helmet stays on and he’s got carbs and fats as fuel he’ll keep running,” Giz explained as Lester got up to look the two men in the eye, his sudden movement causing them to back off. “He’ll hunt Dare until she’s dead or he’s nothing but bone.” “And the delivery?” Lester asked as he sat back down and smirked at the woman. “Pradea are right on top of it.” Giz answered as he smiled, his grin filling up the whole lens of the smart glasses. “Then let’s make sure they get what they are owed,” Lester replied as he balled his fists and laid back in the chair. ********** Aliki hung off the superstructure of the bridge as Pradea’s masked gunmen began rolling the dead or dying bodies of Blockbuster’s men off the side of the barge and into the river. Focusing on the back of the armoured car, Aliki watched as two of the criminals were cutting through the back of the vehicle with acetylene torches. “Pradea are cutting into the car.” Aliki whispered as she panned up to see a quadrotor drone fly over the barge. “I’m not sure if the Electrocutioner can take them all out by himself, if the gunmen don’t take him out the drones will.” “Those drones are a problem for you too, they have quicker reflexes than the shooters on the ground,” William stated as he cracked his knuckles. “These are modified Boa Assault Scouts, part of AmerTek’s Army Automata project that they developed in concert with the US military.” “Weaknesses?” Aliki asked as the welders finished cutting the doors open, the gunmen surrounding them and the drones levelling their weapons at the back of the truck. “Not disclosed, AmerTek state that their Army Automata units are un-hackable and un-evadable,” William replied as the doors to the back of the armoured truck were ripped open to reveal a large box with electronic wires sticking out of it. “That’s some kind of EMF generator.” Aliki gasped as the device started blinking before it exploded in a shower of ions, the gunmen convulsing at they fell backward and the drones falling to the floor. “The drive isn’t here, neither is the Electrocutioner.” “We have more EMF readings all across the city,” William announced as Aliki saw EMF readings appear across the map overlaid across her HUD. “They are decoys, Electrocutioner is playing smart,” Aliki replied as the drones began to reboot and take off, their spotlights swinging across the barge and the bridge. “But if he’s not on the road then, where is he?” she added as one of the Boa drones drew level with the bridge and swung its spotlight over her. Stunned for a second Aliki dodged a little too slow, bullets raking the bridge’s superstructure, red hot shrapnel washing over her legs as she climbed up. Leaping from beam to beam, Aliki heard the drone of the quadrotors amplified as three of the UAVs followed her through the steel superstructure. “Maybe concentrate on the drones.” William stated as Aliki swan-dived off the bridge, grabbing one of the drones as she fell. With the additional weight, the rotors of the drone stalled as the two plummeted towards the river. Disengaging, Aliki sprung off the drone and darted into the underside of the bridge as her mechanical opponent splashed down. Hot on her heels, the two remaining drones followed her into the maze of steel bars, the retort of gunfire pinging off the beams. Locating a small access crawl space Aliki darted into the narrow space, the leading drone hovering in after her. “Not smart are they,” Aliki stated as she crawled out the other side, the Boa following her out only to receive a swift kick to the optics, the drone smacking against the bridge, the rotor casing warping with the impact. “No, but they are persistent,” William told her as the last Boa hovered above her ready to open fire. “You need to move.” He added as a scream echoed around the bridge and Xtreme dropped down, landing on the drone and smashing it at Aliki’s feet. “Oh yeah, I definitely need to move.” Aliki gulped as she shot off up the side of the bridge, the howling Xtreme following her, saliva dripping from his lips. “How is he alive? He was dead!” she asked as she sprung over a safety barrier and headed for the nearest building. “I’ll go back through the footage and see if there is any indication on what happened,” William announced as Aliki ran into a back alley and scaled a wall to the other side. Not wasting any time, Xtreme leaped over the same wall, grabbing his prey by the hair and dragging her painfully over the other side, his arms wrapping around her. “Get off me!” Aliki hissed as Xtreme bit into her neck even as he began to crush her with his greater strength. Panicking Aliki jabbed her finger into his cheek, leaving a long scratch on the thug’s cheek. Switching to a series of kicks, Aliki’s vision began to blur as she had her life squeezed out of her. With her last action, Aliki grabbed the grenade launcher holstered on Xtreme’s back and pulled the trigger, a flash grenade detonating at the pair’s feet. Screaming Xtreme threw Aliki to the ground and covered his eyes, allowing her to crawl away. Getting to her feet Aliki saw Xtreme charge at her knocking her to the floor before delivering a swift kick to where she was lying, forcing her to roll away. Grabbing the grenades off Xtreme’s belt, Aliki ripped the pinout of a projectile decorated with a biohazard symbol and threw it at her assailant, a thick glue gumming up the thug’s feet. Panicking Aliki ran up the side of a vehicle, Xtreme howling and hissing behind her as he began to tear the adhesive off of his boots. “William, I need somewhere safe.” Aliki gasped as she vaulted over a balcony and leaped over to the adjacent building, grabbing the drain pipe and sliding down to the ground. Looking up, she saw Xtreme standing on the edge of the building above her, the grenade launcher in his hands. As she reached halfway down the pipe, Xtreme fired, the concussion grenade detonating against the top of the drainpipe, shattering the steel and sending the pipe and Aliki falling to the floor. “Aliki I don’t know why he’s back, but going back through the footage I think I saw the Electrocutioner,” William announced as Aliki limped out onto the street, stopping just in time to avoid a speeding taxi from hitting her. Stalled for a second, Aliki heard Xtreme leap off the building, tackling her from behind hard onto the floor. Groaning Aliki felt Xtreme grab her by the throat by one hand, the other arm lying at an odd angle, broken by the impact of the attack. Grimacing, Aliki grabbed his choking hand and forced it off her throat, just as she brought her legs up levering him off her and flipping Xtreme into the road. “Where is he?” Aliki asked as Xtreme got to his feet just as a transit van slammed into him. “The trains, looking at where police records state Blockbuster’s headquarters are, Electrocutioner will likely be heading to Dayton’s Circle Station, from there it is only a few blocks away,” William announced as Xtreme crawled out from under the van, the side of the helmet concaved in, fragments of skull jutting out of the armour. “I need a way to stop Xtreme.” Aliki gulped as she leaped onto the van and up onto the roof of a truck, using it as a springboard onto the side of a vehicle. Lopping along on his three remaining good limbs, Xtreme continued, seemingly unaware of his skull fracture or broken arm, the grenade launcher dragging along behind him, sparking on the ground. “He walked off a fall and a car impact,” William stated as Aliki looked north across the city, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, her pursuer chasing after with a speed and endurance that was beyond anything human. “I don’t think there is anything you can do to stop him.” “Call Katherine, tell her to head to Dayton’s Circle, if I can’t stop him, maybe the police can.” Aliki groaned as she felt her adrenaline wear off and the toll of her injuries weigh down on her. ********** Lester stepped through the ticket booth and looked around the booking hall, spotting the group of men and women waiting across the room from her. Striding over he tapped the hard case containing the courier drive as he saw Giz update him on the best route to the drop-off location. “Guillermo, how close are Pradea’s forces to discovering our ruse?” Lester asked as he listened to the sirens sounding in the distance. “Far from here, Mercedes drunk the life of all those on this side of the river,” Guillermo replied as one of the men opened up a backpack and handed each of his comrades a hard case that looked identical to the one strapped to Lester’s thigh. “Then let’s move out,” Lester stated as he and his entourage walked through the doors onto the street. As he walked down the steps, Lester saw a shadow above him before seeing Dare drop down onto him, her momentum causing the pair of them to roll down the steps. As they fell, Aliki ripped the case off Lester’s leg and went to run, only for a throwing knife to soar through the air and stab into her shoulder. “So, you are the last sister, Juliana drank your sister’s blood, she thirsts for another taste,” Guillermo stated, as two of the thugs grabbed Aliki, holding her between them as he drew a long saw bladed knife from within his jacket. “Brutale!” Aliki hissed through gritted teeth as she heard a howl from above. “You saved me a long trip to find you,” she added as she leaned forward, pulling the two men over her shoulder’s seconds before Xtreme landed where she’d been standing. Surging forward, Brutale’s attack stabbed into the insane thug’s armour, the insane thug slugging the knifeman, knocking him backward with enough force to wind his would-be ally. “Xavier, kill Dare!” Lester ordered, as one of the women from the station aimed a spinning kick at Aliki, her target dodging just in time before dropping an adhesive grenade at her feet, gumming the hitwoman in place. With a howl Xtreme lunged at Aliki, only for her to wearily leap over her charging foe, sending him slamming into two of the other thugs. Uttering a snarl, Lester removed a stun gun and swiped at Dare’s exposed back as she shoulders slammed the second hitwoman, the electrical bite sending her convulsing to the floor as the sound of sirens and screeching tires filled the circle. “I’ll take that.” Lester growled as he reached down for the hard case only for Xtreme to tackle him mid lunge, before aiming a heavy stomp at Aliki’s chest, the blow causing her to scream out in pain. “Xavier! Stand down, she’s mine!” Lester roared, as Aliki pulled out two concussion grenades from her stolen horde. “I’m nobodies, you’re all mine!” Aliki hissed through gritted teeth as she removed the pins and threw the explosives up, the stun blast knocking Lester and Xavier out, the later recovering first, getting to his feet as Aliki mirrored his action. “Hands in the air!” a commanding voice ordered, the command accompanied with the cocking of shotguns and pistols. Looking over Aliki saw a cordon of police officers arranged behind their cruisers ready to shoot. With a howl, Xtreme lunged at her, the report of gunfire sounding as the deranged thug was torn apart by the officers. Raising her hands Aliki dropped the last grenade, a thick cloud of smoke enveloping her as she lunged forward, shots going above her head as she leaped over the cruisers, dropping the hard case at the feet of Katherine Rhioden, the officer feeling the impact seconds after the vigilante made her exit. “Aliki, come back here as fast as you can,” William ordered as Aliki rounded a corner and collapsed behind a skip. “You need medical help.” “I hope this was worth it, that something of worth was on that drive,” Aliki groaned as she removed her mask and looked at the cuts and bruises now spread across her body. ********** The police cruiser pulled up outside the Desmond Security Consulting building, the vehicle greeted by three men dressed in suits, holstered machine pistols at their sides. Getting out of the vehicle, the officers opened the door letting Lester and Guillermo step out, the former smiling as he headed for the door into the security office. “Mr Desmond wants to see you Lester, he wants to congratulate you,” one of the security guards stated as Guillermo spat on the officer before following his colleague inside. Walking through the atrium the pair of them taking the steps up into an office decorated with an ornate rosewood desk, the walls decorated with clippings of the great sons and daughters of Bludhaven. Sitting behind the desk was a skinny man with a brown ponytail dressed in a suit, his veins popping out of his arms like vile serpents slithering beneath his skin. “You wanted to congratulate us?” Lester asked as he saw the man pull out a brown manilla envelope. “You mailed the courier drive to me,” the man announced as he pulled out a bulky hard-drive from within the envelope. “And you showed me the measure and the resources of my enemies.” “It was nothing Mr Desmond,” Lester replied as he took a seat on the opposite side of the desk. “Dare managed to get the decoy drive, she will learn nothing from it. Your operation is secure, the city is yours.” “Not yet,” Desmond started as his smile turned to a frown and clicked a button on his desk, hidden panels in the walls swinging round to reveal a mannequin wearing a yellow leotard, mask and boots. “Until Dare, Pradea, and anyone else who can challenge me, the city is not mine. But they all will bow to me,” he added as he stood up and placed his hands on Lester’s shoulders, the gesture causing the Electrocutioner to shudder. “No man can withstand me, no man can beat me, no man can kill me. All in the Haven are mine.” “I understand,” Lester replied as he felt Desmond’s hands begin to grip him harder, pain radiating through his shoulders. “What are your orders?” “Bring me the sister, the last one provided me so much entertainment,” Desmond announced as he looked down at Lester, his bulk eclipsing the big street tough. “This one will provide more, and then when she’s broken…” He stopped and turned to the mannequin, “…I’ll crush her bone by bone.” |