As Robert and Max rode to South Market, they
decided that it would be best if they put their bikes elsewhere while they
raided, for the area was not exactly a safe neighbourhood for expensive bikes.
The two of them locked the bikes up in a small garage owned by a friend of
Logan's, and knew that if they just blazed out of South Market, it would attract
unwanted attention.
"So how are we going to just get in,
there's no access to restricted zones this late without military
clearance." Max inquired as they walked towards South Market, she wondered
how they were intending to get in.
"Easy, we use the side window as they are
putting out a blaze at the front door." Robert answered as he veered and
started walking down a side street that bordered the fenced area of Sector
Twelve.
"And they won�t notice two people
leaping effortlessly over a barbed-wire fence?" Max lamented upon as they
continued down the street, until Robert walked between two buildings, towards
the fence.
"Not if they have something to deal with
that�s a bit more problematic." Robert said as he reached into his jacket
and pulled out a small black object and proceeded to throw it high over the
fence, landing some twenty feet from the fence on the other side.
"Brilliant, now what does a little piece
of metal on that side of the fence do for us?" Max said mockingly as she
looked at him.
"Everything we need it do." Robert
replied as the small device flashed and burst into flames. As the device
continued to burn higher and higher then Robert ran down thirty meters down, to
where normally two police would be stationed near the fence, he leapt over it
with ease thanks to the incredible power in his legs, as Max pulled a similar
feat and they both landed on the other side.
"What just happened?" Max asked, as
she saw policemen attempting to still put out the fire the device was causing.
"That's a little burn device of mine, it
burns for three minutes, then you just go over when they�re busy valiantly
fighting a fire that will die out itself.
"I see, where did you get these little
toys, or is it a Tracker secret?" Max said as they walked down the block
and then turned left.
"I rigged the burn device, part napalm,
part gas, some chemicals in it as well for stability, it works very well most of
the time, pure napalm is far too dangerous to rig, so I just use a mix."
Robert answered as they took the last right and then saw the small drug house
for the South African group, two stories, but it was a small warehouse compared
to most.
"I see, now what do you have in your bag
of tricks to get the information on their drug dealings without them seeing
us?" Asked Max as she looked at him, wondering what he had in mind.
"You're going to go up that fire escape
on this building." as Robert gestured to the building that was next to the
drug house.
"Then jump onto the roof of the drug
house, and take that second floor window in the centre into that office, it
should be in there." Robert said as he sniffed, looking to detect anyone
who could be near.
"And what will you be doing while I risk
my ass stealing info from people who want to use me as a project to stabilize
their superboys?" Asked Max as she stared at him, wondering what he was up
to.
"I'm going to get their attention to make
sure you can get in and out without any problems." Replied Robert as he
started walking towards the drug house.
"And how will you be managing that
one?" Replied Max as she headed for the fire escape.
"I�ll be too busy kicking their asses
for them to see you boosting the info." Robert said as he continued to walk
towards the drug house.
"Great plan, why don�t we just knock
and ask nicely for the information, this ranks right up there with Japanese
Kamikaze." Max grumbled as she climbed the fire escape to the top of the
building.
"I heard that." Robert called back
as he walked to a side door of the warehouse, and knocked.
After three knocks, the door partially came
open and someone looked out, Robert could smell him, he was one of the two Red's
that Logan had told him about.
"Yo, is this the illegal crackhouse?"
Robert asked as the Red looked at him for a moment, then shut the door.
"Yea, well I don't like you very fucking much either shithead, so you can kiss my ass." Robert said as he decided to get their attention through a more dramatic means. Using the incredible strength he had been given, he kicked the door, smashing it in and off its hinges.
"Catch you fuckers at a bad time?"
Using a line from one of his favourite pre-pulse movies, Blade.
Before the shock could register amongst any of
the Red�s or who appeared to be mercenaries, Robert moved into deadly action.
Robert quickly delivered a high kick that knocked over the Red that had just
been walking away from the door Robert had just knocked down. Two of the men
sitting at the table each brought up a Walther P99, but Robert reacting with
incredible speed reached into his jacket and pulled free both of his H&K USP
Tacticals from his shoulder holsters and shot the weapons out of his
opponent�s hands. The second Red attacked, but Robert reversed his hand and
cracked the butt of his right-hand pistol on the Red�s head. The two other men
that had been sitting down were about to fire their own Walther P99's until
Robert�s left hand flicked over and shot two rounds, each round piercing the
brain of the gun-wielding hostiles.
**************
Yea,
great distraction Rob, kick a door down and start fighting, no one would ever
think of that, Max thought as she grabbed the files Logan and told her to get, and made
her way out of the office, and towards the roof exit.
"Hey! You! Stop!" Max heard from
down the hall as four men were coming towards her, but she was not stopping for
anyone.
Delivering a high kick that knocked one of
them over and then elbowing another in the face, she jumped up and landed both
feet in the third attacker's face, sending him flying. The fourth tried to get
his sidearm free, but Max was too fast and knocked it out of his hand, then gave
two blows to the face that knocked him out. The first man was getting up and so
was the second, but Max didn't give them a chance. She gave the first man a kick
to the solar plexus, and then a high kick that that was delivered with such
force that he was knocked into a wall when it connected. The second man charged
with a fire extinguisher that he had grabbed from the wall, but Max ran to
super-speed around him and delivered blows to the small of his back, upper back,
neck, then his head, knocking him out. She ran to the roof exit and leaped to
the other building, and waited for Robert to finish his job.
**************
"Would you fucking stay down!"
Robert yelled as he delivered another series of hits to a Red, he was rewarded
with the Red falling to the ground again, but the Red rose once again. The
second had attempted to grab a shotgun, but Robert had grabbed it while it had
been in the Red's arms and snapped it in half. The regular men were all down,
dead or crippled. The Red's were moving in again, but Robert decided to end it
then and there. The first Red attacked once again, swinging a right, but Robert
caught the arm, held onto it, twirled behind the Red, and withdrew a six-inch
blade, then sliced open the Red's throat. Blood spilled and the Red dropped to
the floor gasping for air, but died in less than thirty seconds. The second Red
charged, but Robert picked up one of the two pistols he had dropped, and fired
three rounds that tore through the Red�s sternum, lungs, and heart. The Red
fell down, grasping his chest, and let loose a groan, reached for Robert, but
fell short.
"Nice and quiet eh? I thought that was
how we were going to do these missions." Max shot at Robert as he met up
with her two streets down from the drug warehouse.
"I never said I wasn't going to break
some bones and kill some people, you want tame, go find a puppy, I don't do nice
when it comes to drug-dealing fucks and South African supermen." Robert
snapped as he threw another device forty feet away, then as police once again
tried to fight the fire, Robert and Max leapt effortlessly over the fence, and
proceeded to the garage where their motorcycles were locked up.
"You broke down a door and killed what,
four guys?" Max asked as they slipped into the garage.
"I was a bit more discreet in most
operations, but you needed a distraction, I provided one, what more do you
want?" Robert responded as they paused and argued over the operation they
had just pulled off.
"You don�t seem to be showing much of a
problem with taking lives, should this bother me, or were you born a
cold-blooded killer?" Max asked as she looked at him cautiously.
"If I hadn�t attacked them, they would
have seen you and you might have been killed or captured, I wasn�t about to
let that happen. I also know a little secret about the Red Series, they come off
of death row, I was just speeding up their sentences, the hired guns attacked
me, I shot back, end of story." Robert replied as they arrived at the
garage.
"So you have no problems taking lives
when it comes down to defending the X5 group in other words." Said Max as
she mounted her bike and revved the engine up.
"It�s what I set out to do, you kids
have a right to live your lives any way you want, I�m not letting Lydecker or
anyone else take that away from you." Robert said as he mounted his bike
and revved it up.
"Nice to see someone is interested in
keeping me safe. I want to know one thing though, does it bother you that you
took four lives tonight?� Max asked looking at Robert who had an emotionless
expression on his face.
�I do not feel anything from taking their
lives, but I once read that the lack of feeling is not a problem.� Robert
replied as he flicked on a pair of mirrored blood-red sunglasses.
�What is the problem?� Max asked shocked.
�When you start to enjoy it, and if that day
comes, I just hope someone�s around to get rid of me.� Robert answered as he
took off on his motorcycle.
�Awfully paranoid about that aren�t
you?� Max mused as she took off after him. He is for good reason though,
I�m betting only that friend he had that also survived the program could stop
him, but he seems to be easing up a bit, give him a chance, and with any luck he
won�t fall through that dark hole.
***************
�Have no fear lone crusader, your transgenic
superheroes have come through once more.� Max said as she came into Logan�s
den with Robert and passed him the discs she had stolen from the South Africans.
�I take it there were no alerts or
complications?� Logan asked as he took the discs from Max�s outstretched
hand and checked them.
�Other than Robert cracking a few heads
together and removing the potential threat of two Red�s, not really, in and
out in four minutes.� Max said nodding to Robert who remained silent.
�Anyone see you or police notified?� Logan
asked, wondering if the two might have been seen during their operation.
�They were too busy putting out fires to
notice us hopping the fence, and I used silenced pistols, no one else got off
one shot, minimum noise.� Robert answered as he recalled every last minute
detail of the mission he was returning from.
�So in other words, there is no way you two
or Eyes Only can be linked to what you just pulled off?� Logan asked, hoping
for a quick answer.
�Basically, but I have a feeling the next
few ops you�re going to send us on aren�t going to be cakewalks, do you have
anything new for us?� Robert answered summing the job up.
"I've lost my access into their
mainframe, they must have realised I hacked their systems, they couldn't trace
me, but they've re-encrypted the entire network, I'll need some time to access
it, give me the information on their drug dealings, I need to see what they've
been up to there." Logan replied as he loaded the first disc into his hard
drive and loaded up the files that were stored on it.�
"One thing before I go take a quick ride
on my T-Sport, when are you two going to realise that you�re turning each
other on when in each other�s presence?" Robert said, seeing what that
would trigger from the two.
�What?� Logan and Max quipped confused.
�For Christ�s sake, you two are the most
stubborn people I�ve ever met, you dance around each other all day, you let
the sexual tension build to the point where its suffocating my nose, when are
you going to face facts?� Robert snapped at them, irritated that they were
just letting it fester I blew my own chance at having someone to love,
don�t blow yours.
�Where do you get off thinking you can
diagnose our relationship?� Max snapped at Robert, but she was pretty sure
Robert was picking up on what she was now releasing.
�I know what you two are feeling right here,
right now, you two have wanted each other since Max tried to knock over your
apartment, either make something of it now, or let it blow up in your faces.�
Robert snapped back with fury in his voice.
�What if we decide to ignore you and leave
it all alone?� Logan asked mockingly.
�Then I will beat your skinny ass down for
being a moron about this, you�re holding it up and you know it.� Robert
answered and cracked his knuckles.
�So are you, so don�t talk.� Robert said
whipping around and pointing at Max.
�Just sit down for the next fifteen minutes
and talk about what you have, and exactly what you feel for each other, that�s
all I ask, don�t make the same mistake I did once.� Robert said putting a
hand on Max�s shoulder and pushing her down into a nearby chair.
�What mistake?� Max asked wondering what
Robert was talking about.
�I made a mistake involving another woman
once, it burned both of us really badly because of my mistake, I�m not going
to see you two ruin the best thing you�ve ever had in your lives.� Robert
answered quickly, rushing the words out and blanking the images his remembrance
brought to his mind.
�I leave you two to decide your life right
here, right now, don�t fuck it up, or I�ll fuck your faces up.� Robert
said as he walked away, and they heard the door to Logan�s apartment slam.
�Should we?� Logan started as Max looked
towards him.
�We have to, it�s out in the open, and
it�s not going away.� Max replied as she eyed Logan carefully. He�s
still trying to compensate for being in the chair, he�s going for a straight
friendship with no loose ends.
Time
to face the music Cale, she�s not going away, and neither is this, but
you�re no good for her, convince her of that, and keep the relationship as
friends, she doesn�t need you as a crippled lover.
