Disclaimer: (Ties up legal department). Don\'t mind them...just go read!
Ikimashou!
=====
Chapter 12: Payback
=====
A taxi pulled up to the jade-green building that housed the Courier. A middle-aged woman with long black hair stepped out of from the cab and stared at the building. “How beautiful!”
“Megumi Morisato, I presume?”
“Hai,” the woman replied with a polite bow. “How do you know my name?”
“Please allow me to introduce myself,” the man bowed, offering his business card.
Megumi read the card aloud. “William Choi...you are the editor of this newspaper!”
“That I am...I\'m pleased to meet you.” He had the doorman retrieve Megumi\'s luggage from the taxi. “Please, follow me. I\'m sure we have quite a bit to talk about.”
“I do not wish to be rude, Choi-san, but can you tell me where Naya-chan...Attaturk-san is right now?”
“I\'m sorry, I wish I knew...wherever she is, my reporter\'s with her.”
This brought a wide grin to Megumi\'s face. “Your reporter...is it a woman?”
The question made the editor pause. “Yes it is...why did you ask?”
“Oh..I was just curious. I assume they are good friends by now, yes?”
“I\'d think so. They\'ve been through a lot together, so yeah, you tend to bond from things like that. Plus, Annette\'s pretty friendly, so it\'s not hard to like her.”
Megumi wondered which translation of the word “like” Choi meant. Either way, it made her already wide smile even wider.
As they went into the building, the whirr of a camera went off in the distance.
- - - - -
Naya was just finishing the last of the chicken she was eating. “Yes, Lupe is an excellent cook! I don\'t know how, but she must\'ve known I love breasts.”
“I know...I have the bite marks to prove it!” Annette couldn\'t resist the set up, and the shocked look on her usually-reserved lover sent her into a fit of hysterics.
Their mirth and merriment were disturbed by a panicked knocking on the door. “Miss Naya!! Miss Annette!! Please let me in! Something\'s happened!!”
Before Naya could say a word, Annette was already up and one step out of the bedroom. She turned and pointed to her girlfriend. “STAY!”
An obvious miffed Naya shot back, “I\'m a CAT, not a DOG!!”
As the reporter opened the door, Lupe rushed in, panting. “I don\'t know how you managed to do it so quickly, Miss Annette, but they\'re shutting--” She finally caught sight of the fact that Annette was dressed only in a sheet. “Oh!! I\'m so sorry, Miss Annette!” the maid said, blushing furiously and quickly turning away.
“Never mind that, Lupe...what are they shutting down?”
“The humane center...and Camp Hero—they\'re closing them right now! A message came over the PA systems in both places, and people are scurrying about. It\'s crazy! I don\'t know how you both did it so quickly, but thank you!!” She bowed, even though she was facing in the wrong direction.
Naya poked her head out, hearing what Lupe said. “But...we didn\'t do anything.”
“Which means someone else did,” the blonde said, completing the though. “My question is, who?”
“We don\'t have time for guessing games, Annette...we have to find a way out of here.” She noticed the still-blushing Lupe and snickered to herself. “Lupe, can you get us some clothes?”
“Y-yes! I\'ll be right back!” Lupe rushed out the door, only to come right back. “Oh, before I forget, we\'re all meeting in front of the building so we can figure out what to do next. Please join us!”
“We will,” Annette said reassuringly. “Now hurry up!” She watch the fox-maid run off, then turned her attention back to Naya. “We have to help them out of here too, you know. We promised!”
The other woman frowned. “I know that. I\'m sure we\'ll have a better handle on the situation once we talk to everyone else. As for what happened...”
“...there must\'ve been a leak or a breach of security so bad they couldn\'t just eliminate it.” Annette said mindlessly.
“Stop finishing my sentences! You\'re starting to creep me out!” Naya shook her head, then continued. “I doubt it was Megumi...if my guess is right, she\'d have just gotten into New York, so she didn\'t have time to do anything yet.”
Annette thought for a moment. “Do you think those twins have anything to do with it?”
“Maybe...maybe not. One thing\'s for sure; they\'re not going to just let their test subjects just walk out of here...they\'re evidence that will need to be covered up or eliminated.”
The reporter didn\'t like the sound of that. “Can we save them?”
“I...I don\'t know.” Naya\'s uncertainty gave Annette serious pause. It was a rare moment indeed to see her partner at a loss.
- - - - -
Peter Tesla was not happy...not one bit. He had just been given the scientific equivalent of a Christmas gift, and now he had to get rid of it before he got a chance to play with it.
He screamed at the computer montior, which displayed a live feed of Capt. Armbrister en route to Camp Hero. “I demand an explanation!!”
“Tell it to the Overseer, Tesla! How are my daughters? If you lay as much as a latex glove on them, I\'ll be the next one performing experiments...on you!”
“Well, well...so they\'re your girls? That makes this all the more frustrating...I\'d love to see how the people who run this place react when one—or in this case, two—of their own are the subjects! I guess that\'ll have to wait until next time.”
“What do you mean by that, Tesla?”
“I\'ll be taking them with me to Kansas,” the scientist smirked. “It\'s not every day you get an opportunity like this, and I\'m not about to simply give them up because someone else screwed up!”
“I\'m coming for you, Tesla...and believe me, even if your father came back from the grave—or whatever time period he\'s in right now—he won\'t be able to save your ass!”
The screen went dark, and Tesla pounded the counter. “Damn you, Cortez! I don\'t know how, but I know you\'re behind this!” He took out a USB cord and began to download information through his laptop to portable drives. “I\'d better save this before those military idiots blow everything up.” He then turned his attention to the two redheads who were still asleep on gurneys. “Somebody! Get in here and move them to the van...Hey! Where is everybody!!” Before he realized it, Tesla was the only person standing in the lab. Everyone else had been gone nearly a half-hour ago.
“I guess my father was right...\'when you need to get a job done, it\'s best to do it yourself.\' So I will!” Tesla took out a set of keys and unlocked a file cabinet. In the bottom of the cabinet was a box, containing three spherical objects connected by a series of wires. “I guess I\'ll have to be my own guinea pig!”
- - - - -
Naya and Annette stood at the outside doorway of the little building, and were awed at the collection of people who had assembled there. It wasn\'t so much the number, which was appoximately fifty or so, but the...diversity.
Annette stared in awe. “It\'s like an anthropomorphized Noah\'s Ark...execpt there\'s only one of each!”
Naya gave her lover an odd look. “\'Anthropomorphized\'? Did you just say that? Does your brain hurt?”
“I guess you\'re rubbing off on me,” the blonde answered sheepishly.
The crowd came to a hush when they noticed the two women standing at the doorway.
“Hey...aren\'t they the ones who beat up the Chimera?”
“Yeah, they kicked it\'s ass!”
“The blonde one...she just walked up and smacked the crap out of it! It was awesome!”
“Yeah, and they broke out of the holding cell! Coolest thing I ever saw!”
Annette whispered to her partner. “Kinda feels like being a superhero, doesn\'t it?”
Naya rolled her eyes, choosing to address the crowd instead. “Does anybody know how we can get off the island before any action\'s taken?”
“Yes,” a small young man said. “My friends and I found a dock on the north side of the island where two large ships are waiting. If we can get there before anyone else, we can use them.”
“But how will we get there?” a woman asked. “The woods aren\'t safe, even in broad daylight.”
“Leave that to me,” Annette said with a smile. “I doubt there\'s anything out there worse than the Chimera; otherwise, they\'d have used it on us!”
“No, Annette...we have to go back to Camp Hero.” Naya didn\'t like stealing her girlfriend\'s moment, but other things had priority right now. “In the meantime...Lupe, you will lead everyone else to the northern dock. Those of you who can transform, please do so in order to protect the others, and stay in a large group. I\'m sure our more feral brethren won\'t dare attack a herd out of fear. Stay together, and you\'ll be fine.” She then turned to the maid. “Are you okay with that, Lupe?”
“You have given me an order, Miss Naya...I will obey it to the best of my ability!” She bowed to Naya and Annette, then turned to the crowd. “Let\'s go, everyone!” The crowd cheered and ran off into the woods.
Annette simply stared at her lover in wonder. “You\'ve done this before, haven\'t you?”
“What would make you think that,” Naya said, wearing an \'I-don\'t-know-what-you\'re-talking-about\' grin. “If we\'re going to save those twins, we better hurry!” The two women then headed for the southern dock...and hopefully a ride back to Camp Hero.
- - - - -
“Owl Unit reporting.”
Cortez was just exiting the town of Montauk when the call came in. “Check, Owl Unit. What is it, Constanza?”
“Sir, we have picked up a transmission stating Camp Hero and The Zoo are to be terminated. Can you confirm this?”
“Of course I can,” Cortez said with a smile. “I caused it.”
A pause on the other end, followed by Constanza\'s surprised voice. “But...why, sir?”
“Let\'s just say I\'m repaying a debt. Avenging a loss. I know I won\'t be able to shut the project down completely, but at least it\'ll be someone else\'s problem, and I\'d have been able to slow it down and save a few people in the process.”
“Yes...yes sir. Also, we have surveillance photos of the editor of the Courier. He is meeting with the Morisato woman as we speak. I\'m guessing we should not intervene, correct?”
“As usual, Constanza. There\'s no need to bother him anymore. He was right; by the time the story gets out, the place will be empty and the things that went on there will be the stuff of rumor. Let\'s call off the dogs.”
“As you wish, sir.”
“Oh, and Constanza?”
“Yes sir?”
Cortez allowed himself a relaxed smile. “I wish to discuss something with you in person. We will meet at the following location in 10 hours.” Pulling out his cellphone, he sent her a text message. “Due to the sensitive nature of the matter, I suggest you come alone...and dress appropriately. Understood?”
“Understood, sir. See you then. Owl Unit, out!”
Cortez shut off his radio, and continued to drive down the Southern Highway, en route to Camp Hero.
- - - - -
“I\'m sorry, sir, but this area is restriced!”
Capt. Armbrister glared at the young MP. “Try that again, and the next thing you\'ll be working security for will be the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-Yes sir!!”
The captain drove his SUV through the security gate and headed for the operations building.
Reaching the edifice, he was again stopped by guards. “Don\'t even bother,” he barked. “Just tell me where Tesla is...NOW!”
One of the men went into the guard station, returning less than a minute later. “He\'s in sub-level two, sir. You can get there by--”
“I know damn well how to get there!” Armbrister took off down into the tunnel.
“That about settles it,” one of the men said. “We\'d best get outta here before they blow something up!”
- - - - -
“You sure you\'re up to this, Annette?”
“Never felt better,” the blonde answered. “No, actually I felt better this morning, but that was completely different! Let\'s go!” She bounded off of the small motorboat and headed back to the comissary.
“That\'s not it, that\'s...” Naya thought for a moment. “Maybe you have a point...I\'m gonna need more energy!”
Soon the two women ran out of the comissary, snacks in hand. Annette gave her little bundle to Naya, then took an unattended jeep. “Eat up—I have a feeling this isn\'t going to be easy!”
- - - - -
Capt. Armbrister reached Tesla\'s lab in time to see the man disconnect the USB from the lab\'s main server. “Going someplace, Tesla?”
“As a matter of fact I am...and it won\'t be Kansas!”
“You can go to hell, as far as I\'m concerned...I\'m here for my girls!”
Tesla laughed. “I already told you, Armbrister, they\'re coming with me!”
The captain turned to see Jane and Jenna, back-to-back and slumped over, sitting on a mat. Surrounding them were three cantaloupe-sized spheres laid out in a triangle pattern, connected to each other by a series of wires. They in turn were connected back to the main console, while one of the spheres was attached to the power outlet. Armbrister made a move towards them, but was halted by a sharp pain in his chest, caused by a taser.
“I don\'t mean you any harm, Captain...so just be a good boy and stay where you are. I\'m sure at least one of your daughters will be around to see you. Whether you\'ll recognize her or not, well, that\'s up to you.” He tossed the taser to the floor, grabbed his laptop and portable drive and moved towards the girls, keeping an eye on Armbrister the whole time.
“You won\'t get away with this, Tesla!”
Peter raised an eyebrow. “Tell me you didn\'t just say that? It\'s probably the second-most cliched line in science-fiction history!” He stepped over the wires and put the laptop and portable drive down next to the girls. “The sad part for you is, I will \'get away with it\' because you won\'t be able to stop me!”
“Then we will!”
A surprised Tesla looked around the room, “Who said that?”
“A writer of the truth...a champion of justice...a shining hope! Annette Stanhope has arrived!”
Naya pushed her girlfriend standing at the doorway. “Really...must you make such a grandiose entry?”
“That\'s what heroes do!” She checked her stance. “I really need to get myself a cool heroine name. Haven\'t you ever watchec anime?”
“No...and that\'s probably why I haven\'t!”. She contined into the room, walking straight at Capt. Armbrister.
“YOU!!” the captain screamed upon seeing Naya. “This is all your fault!”
“Don\'t be an ass, Armbrister...I\'m here to save those girls, not you!”
“Save your breath instead, Attaturk!" Tesla\'s interruption took Naya\'s attention away from the seething captain. "Soon I\'ll be gone, and I\'ll be taking the captain\'s daughters with me. Even you can\'t do anything about it.!”
“I\'ll get the girls, Naya...” Annette sprinted across the room and towards Tesla.
“Annette, wait!” Naya called out. “You don\'t wanna--”
As Tesla watched the on-rushing blonde, he opened his laptop, typed something, and then hit the “enter” key. Waves of electricity surged through the spherical nodes on the floor, and then up to a central node embedded in the ceiling, forming an electrical tetrahedron. Annette took one step into the space and was harshly thrown backwards across the room.
“--mess with electricity...I get it now,” the reporter said through clenched teeth, still feeling the tingling throughout the length of her spine. “Damn, should\'ve expected that.”
Armbrister regained his footing, resisting the help Naya offered him. “Leave the girls out of this, Tesla! They\'ve got nothing to do with it!”
“No, they don\'t...but they belong to me now! I traded those two for them, so they\'re mine!”
The captain stared at Naya. “Is that true?”
“Every word of it...except for the \'they\'re all mine\' part,” the tall woman replied.
“I don\'t care who you traded them for...they\'re MY daughters, Tesla! And I\'m going to get them back!”
Tesla laughed. “If she couldn\'t get through my electromagnetic sheild,” he said, pointing to Annette, “What makes you think you could?”
“Because I\'m going to help him do it!” Naya stared at the captain. “This isn\'t about you; it about them. So whatever problems you have with me, just deal with them, okay?”
Armbrister snarled, then nodded. “Fine. For the girls.”
“Good...now, how do we stop that thing?”
The captain pulled the taser nodes from his chest, then went to the console. “We have to shut down the power...if he gets enough, that little contraption he\'s got will open up a door to temporal space and swallow him and the girls!”
“Glad to see you were paying attention while working with my father, Armbrister. I see why he promoted you to Project Director so quickly.”
“Wow...the apple really doesn\'t fall far from the tree.”
Annette joined Naya and the captain at the console. “We could just pull the plug on him...literally!” She pointed to the wall socket, which was now arcing from the overload of electricity. “Okay...maybe I could do it...”
“Not a chance!” Naya said, cutting the other woman off. “That much electricity might kill you!”
“Maybe, but it definitely will kill you,” Annette shot back. “I don\'t know how many lives you have left...and I don\'t want to lose you.”
“But I always come back, Annette. Always...”
“This time, you won\'t have to...” The blonde kissed her girlfriend, then jumped at the socket before Naya could grab hold of her.
“ANNETTE!!!”
The blonde grabbed the head of the plug, and pulled hard on it. The electricity ran completely through every nerve of ber body, sending her muscles into continuous spasms and frying her brain. She finally collapsed in a smoking, charred heap.
Naya rushed over to her lover\'s side, but didn\'t know what to do next. “You idiot!! You knew this would kill you! What were you thinking!! Annette!!!” She tried to cradle the woman\'s head, but her skin crumbled to ash, exposing raw burnt flesh. Naya let out a horrible scream, then glared at Tesla.
“Don\'t look at me that way,” the scientist said coldly. “She chose to do that. I can\'t be blamed for her stupidity.”
“No,” the white-haired woman snarled, “but I can kill you for it!” She lunged at Tesla, but the smaller man dodged her.
“That\'s the downside of blind rage, Miss Attaturk...it makes you blind.”
Naya turned and jumped at Tesla once more, this time her fingertips had extended themselves into sharp claws. Again Tesla dodged her, but not before having his face scarred by Naya\'s claws.
“You\'ll pay for that, you stupid cat!!” Tesla reached for his taser, but couldn\'t find it.
It found him instead, the nodes embedding themselves in the back of the scientist\'s neck and sending electricity straight to his brain and spinal column, rendering the man motionless in seconds. Armbrister fired another charge from the gun for good measure.
“Good,” Naya said darkly. “Now I can rip out his heart!!” She pounced on his chest and was about to force her hand through his ribcage when she felt something hit her in the neck. She reached for it, but never saw what it was; her vision faded, and she hit the ground hard.
“I guess that means it safe to enter.” Cortez strode in the room, followed by a group of his men. He looked over at Tesla\'s prone body and smiled. “How ironic...Tesla taken down by electricity.” He then waved to a couple of his men. “Take Tesla and put him in the secured van. We\'ll deal with him later.”
One of the men moved Naya off of Tesla, “What about her, sir?”
“Lay her next to her crispy friend, there. I\'m sure they\'ll have quite the lover\'s quarrel when they wake up.”
Armbrister was still holding the taser, even as the men of Raptor Unit removed the nodes from Tesla\'s neck. “What do you want now, Cortez? Come to offer my daughters to someone else?”
“Actually, I came to offer you this...consider it payback for taking your daughters from you.” He gave the captain two syringes. “This will wake the girls up. I\'d suggest you take them home and put each one in her bed first, so you won\'t have to explain anything. Your wife, however, will need all the \'denial and debunk\' skills you can muster.”
“I\'d say \'thank you\', but since you brought them here in the first place, excuse me if I don\'t show my gratitude.”
“You\'re welcome, anyway.” Cortez motioned for two men to gather the Armbrister twins. “Be gentle with them...they have no idea what happened.” He then turned back to the other man. “Have an nice trip, Captain. I hope to never see you again.”
“The feeling\'s mutual.” Armbrister left the room, followed by the two men carrying his daughters.
Cortez took stock of the room. “Take anything that isn\'t nailed down, then gut everything else. As for them,” he pointed to the two women on the floor, “Take them to this address. They\'ll need some time alone.” He walked over and knelt beside Naya. “I know you can hear me, kitten, so I\'ll say this now. Thank you...I know you meant well, but what happened to Diana was not your fault. Learn to forgive yourself, as I have forgiven you.” He looked over to the body laying next to the white-haired woman, which had already began to regenerate itself. “And keep an eye on her...otherwise she\'s going to cause a lot of trouble. Good luck to you both.”
Cortez patted Naya gently on the cheek. “It would\'ve been great to work with you two...” He then left the room to the workers, who scoured the place.
=====
End of Chapter 12
=====