Walking With Strangers

[csyphrett]

Re: Walking With Strangers

 

25

 

The Strangers split up into two groups. Oddhat, Alice the Owl, Oz Mike, and Billy Keys stayed to help the Enforcer. The rest went with Aylwin to search for Mr. R. Once they knew where he was, they could deal with him.

 

Aylwin had already lost Mr. Wolf. She didn't want to lose the real mastermind behind the break-in. Maybe something could be done to immobilize his metal body and install it in a cell.

 

"What does this Mr. R look like?" Super Squirrel traveled on the standing supply shelves, hopping over the aisles.

 

"A robot with a round body, tracks, and long arms." Aylwin paused to pick out a direction to go. "He'll probably be waiting for us after what we've done."

 

"We can handle him." Trebuchet looked at his small supply of baseballs. "If I can get close enough, I can throw him through the roof."

 

"Don't underestimate him." Aylwin wanted her service pistol. "If he thinks of something, he will put us down. Right now, he doesn't know what you can do so we'll have a small edge."

 

One of the squirrel army arrived, saluted, and gave its report to Super Squirrel. It started back the way it came.

 

"The robot is just ahead." Super Squirrel stood up to get a better view. "It's standing still."

 

Aylwin nodded, pressed on until the next cross lane. She spotted the machine standing a few aisles down. She didn't think the head not turning meant that it wasn't aware of them.

 

"You're under arrest, Mr. R." Aylwin gestured for the others to keep back in case the robot decided to engage. "Come along quietly."

 

"I don't think so, Agent Aylwin." Mr. R's head turned then to give her his full regard. "I will continue my quest. Someone must know where my heart is."

 

"I can't allow that." Aylwin raised her hand. "Whatever you're looking for is Government Property. I have to take you in for trial and sentencing. You know how this goes."

 

"I'm not going to be responsible for what happens next if you don't help me." Mr. R.'s eyes glowed as he reached inside his shell's programming. "Once I have the heart, I will retreat to my place and retire."

 

"I can't let you have it." Aylwin checked her watch. Agency backup was out of range to be much help. She had to stall. "Everything we confiscate is held for study and then destroyed. It's not returned to the criminals we arrest. Come with me before anyone else is hurt."

 

"I don't think so." Mr. R.'s body opened up. Small rockets poked their heads out of their launchers.

 

Aylwin jumped to one side as the first volley reached for her. The shelving took the blows, spraying shrapnel from the explosions. She didn't see the rest of the group as she hit the ground.

 

She hoped no one had been killed.

 

"I told you but you wouldn't listen." Mr. R. rolled forward. "Now I will have to kill you and everyone who knew I was here."

 

"I don't think so." Trebuchet grabbed one of the rectangular shelves and flung it across the space between him and the mechanical menace. Beams of light erupted from the metal claws at the end of Mr. R.'s waterhose arms. The rack came apart in a small cascade of molten metal.

 

Thia took aim and fired with the rifle she had conjured up. Missiles of her own reached for the robot. Tracks dug into the concrete and backed under cover. Booms filled the air from the near misses.

 

"How do we stop this guy, Question Man?" Super Squirrel leaped across space, racing along the shelves as beams of light reached for his furry form. His called out question made his masked colleague pause to think.

 

"We can give him what he wants." The Question Man smiled under his mask.

 

"What?" Aylwin glared at the amateur hero. "That's not an option."

 

"It's our only option." The Question Man stood tall. "Everybody, stop shooting. Cease fire. We're giving the machine what it wants."

 

"Do you know what you're doing?" Aylwin looked to see if Mr. R. was not stretching an arm over the storage equipment to blast at them with its mechanical hands.

 

"Yes." The Question Man waited for the ceasefire. He didn't want to try and talk while everyone was shooting at each other. "Do you want this heart thing, or not?"

 

"Do you know where it is?" Mr. R. sounded like a heavy duty car speaker in action.

 

"No." The Question Man started forward, holding up his hands. "That doesn't mean I can't find out."

 

"How will you do that?" Mr. R. appeared, weapons still ready to shoot. Most of them pointed at the masked man.

 

"I can answer any question." The Question Man checked around him. The others seemed to be following his lead. "All you have to do is ask."

 

"Where is the generator?" Mr. R. seemed more self possessed now that no one was shooting at him.

 

"It's powering a secret facility in Antarctica." The Question Man felt an itch on his forehead from sweat pushing against his mask. "We can arrange transportation."

 

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Mr. R.'s head swiveled to take in his surroundings.

 

"I haven't changed my mind at all." The Question Man stepped forward. "You can't get to it where it is, and if you stay here trying to fight us, the Project will stop you from leaving. All I have to do is buy a few more minutes."

 

Mr. R. reversed down the lane. Rockets leapt from the launcher in his body. The Strangers leaped for cover as the explosions rolled over them. The robot reached the far wall and started to cut through to the outside.

 

"What was the plan?" Aylwin pulled herself out from under a pile of wreckage. She reached over and helped Thia slide out from under a similar heap. "He's gone."

 

"I told him what we were going to do so he would leave." The Question Man had dodged the blasts but not the dust kicked up. He brushed off as much as he could. "All we need to do now is get Super Squirrel's friends to follow him until he stops to figure out how to get to Antarctica from here."

 

"What if he doesn't stop?" Aylwin looked around for Trebuchet.

 

"Then I'll have to come up with another plan." The Question Man waved at Squirrel to put the next part of his plan in play.

[csyphrett]

Re: Walking With Strangers

 

26

The Strangers had been able to borrow a van from the agents arriving at the storage depot. They piled in after handing over their prisoners and retrieving the Air Force personnel from the lakeside.

 

Staff Sergeant Blue Baloo insisted on driving and pushed his bearish bulk behind the wheel.

 

"Which way are we going, folks?" Baloo wheeled down the long driveway toward roads leading into Marlowe and Minnesota beyond.

 

"Take us south." The Question Man settled in the back, bracing himself against the walls of the van. "The airport is that way."

 

"Why the airport?" Aylwin checked the borrowed rifle she held. She had left her jacket and tie behind while picking up a vest to protect her body.

 

"Because that's where Mr. R. is going." Squirrel rode in the front, tail curled around him. "We might be able to get there before he does if we hurry."

 

"He's going to try and get a plane that he can use to fly down to Antarctica." Aylwin shook her head. "He can't really expect to stay in the air if we want to shoot the plane down."

 

"He can if he takes hostages." The Enforcer stood in the center of the van. He held on to a strut in the roof to stay on his feet.

 

The Enforcer hurt from the blow he had taken, but felt he had to stay in the game until it was over. He didn't want the others to be hurt just because he decided to sit on the sidelines. He owed it to them to keep moving.

 

"What's the plan, Question Man?" Trebuchet frowned at the small amount of ammunition he still had in his bag.

 

"We're going to get aboard the plane Mr. R. picks and ambush him." The Question Man decided that he would ask for a team vehicle with comfortable seats when he had the time. Bouncing against the metal floor of the van wasn't pleasant at all.

 

"Sounds easy enough." Thia had braced herself like the Question Man. Her arms folded in front of her. "We'll have to be careful so we don't blow the plane up while we're trying to take him down."

 

"What about the people who will be onboard the plane?" Billy knew the answer to that before anyone said anything. His power could get everyone off without the robot knowing unless he had some kind of x-ray vision and used it before he boarded.

 

"We'll get them off the plane before anything happens." The Question Man closed his eyes. He felt tired, but not as bad as he had before he had been hypnotized.

 

Baloo put his foot down, roaring along the road. The lights bobbed as the van bounced on the gravel, then asphalt. He headed for the city as fast as he dared. He didn't know how fast the machine could roll but he planned to be at the airport in plenty of time.

 

"We have to take him before he knows we're there." Aylwin pulled out a phone and started calling. "If he ignites any jet fuel, we could lose the runway, part of the airport."

 

"We will." Enforcer looked the group over. They seemed to have their second wind. He knew he did. The internal energy that powered him had pushed his ribs back in place for the moment, but he would still be able to lend a hand to deal with this problem.

 

"Is everyone ready?" Odd had his bag on his lap, gauntlet on his arm.

 

"We're ready." Super Squirrel flexed his arms. "I'll unload my guns on him. The machine won't know what hit him."

 

"You might want to kick him instead." Thia almost laughed at the thought of Squirrel grappling with anybody with his thin arms.

 

"Access road coming up." Baloo pointed at a small sign off the road they were rolling down.

 

"We'll use that to get on the runways." Aylwin made another call. "Which plane are we using for the trap, Question Man?"

 

"Oceanic 481." The Question Man stood and pointed at an airliner rolling away from the departure gate. "Tell the tower to hold it."

 

Aylwin passed the word along as the van rolled down the runway after the plane. Baloo concentrated on not driving into the jet engines' wake. He still had to drive it away so Mr. R. wouldn't be suspicious of a trap.

 

The jet rolled to a stop. Aylwin snapped the phone shut. Everyone got to their feet. They seemed ready to do the job to her eyes.

 

"Alice, we'll need air coverage." The Question Man opened the side door of the van. "Just call when he's close."

 

"No problem." Alice gave Squirrel a peck on the cheek. "Be careful."

 

"Always." Super Squirrel watched his love take flight and soar until Billy closed the door and reopened it on the inside of the plane. "Let's do what we have to do."

 

The Strangers stepped through the door. As soon as they were gone, Baloo kicked the gas and drove off the runway toward a nearby hangar. Aylwin watched the perimeter in the direction Mr. R. had to come from on his way from the storage depot.

 

"How's it going?" Oddhat looked at the passengers staring at him. None of them looked happy to see him. They would really be unhappy after he said what he had to say. "Everyone, we're going to ask you to leave through the front door. There's been a bomb threat to the plane. We're going to have you disembark until we make sure the flight is safe."

 

He held up his hands to silence the panicked questions being thrown his way. The last thing they needed was a stampede.

 

"Just come up front and exit." Oddhat pointed at the door where Billy stood. "We'll try to make this as quick as possible."

 

"You heard the man." Enforcer started walking the aisle between rows of seats. "Get off the plane before you get blown up."

 

That got the people moving. The Strangers kept them at a slow pace so no one had to be trampled. They wanted the plane empty, and not deal with a medical emergency at the same time. Enforcer glared at anyone trying to shove people in front of them. That gave the crowd a pause because of the yellow light burning from the eyeholes of his mask.

 

The Question Man appeared with the pilots. They joined the line of staff and civilians stepping back into the terminal. He looked at the other heroes. They checked the plane to make sure it was empty.

 

"Now we wait for our rabbit." He started back to the cockpit so he could watch from the windows. "You guys better find places to hide."

 

The Question Man settled into the pilot's chair, and waited for the next move.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Walking With Strangers

 

This is very cool stuff; well done!

[bubba smith]

Re: Walking With Strangers

 

yes indeed well done

[DusterBoy]

Re: Walking With Strangers

 

Top stuff, csyphrett :thumbup:

[csyphrett]

Re: Walking With Strangers

 

Thanks, Guys. I appreciate the praise.

CES

[csyphrett]

Re: Walking With Strangers

 

27

 

Mr. R. rolled through the forest. He used his hands to get around obstructions. Luckily his eyes amplified ambient light to see by. That kept him from hitting things as he fled toward the airport.

 

He needed to get away from Marlowe as fast as possible. Sneaking aboard a plane flying out of the airport seemed to be the best idea. His hand lasers should be able to penetrate the hull and allow him to board somewhere in the belly.

 

He hadn't counted on the local heroes to interfere. He should have since he knew the Enforcer had came out of retirement to deal with the giant lizard from the lake. He should have expected them to arrive at the base and interfere.

 

He had relied too much on the Canines. Mr. Wolf had let him down. At least he didn't have to pay the other half of their fee. That was a silver lining.

 

Mr. R. spotted a plane waiting on the runway. It looked like it was in almost the exact position he needed to start his escape plan.

 

He rolled through the fence, slicing the links with his metal claws. His tracks smoothed out on the tarmac which allowed him to roll at top speed under the plane. Now he had to get onboard before the plane took off for its next destination.

 

Mr. R. extended his pipestem arms. His dagger fingers spread to give his cutters a clear shot. He spun in place. Hot sparks drifted down around his barrel body. The hull section dropped into his waiting grip.

 

Mr. R. held the circle in one hand. His other grabbed the edge of the hole in the belly of the plane. He pulled himself up and inside. The hull plugged the wound he had created with a few passes of his hands.

 

All he had to do was wait until the plane landed and he could try to get a plane to Antarctica before Project Z found what he was looking for and moved it again. He had to get there before something else happened to get in his way.

 

The plane slowed down and stopped. Mr. R. looked around the cramped storage space. He spotted a door to go up into the passenger section. He covered that with his cutters. There were plenty of reasons that the plane would stop moving before taking off. None of them had to mean someone had seen him getting aboard.

 

That didn't mean that someone hadn't seen him.

 

Mr. R rolled to the door. He focuses his cybernetic eyes on the passageway leading upstairs. He didn't see anyone waiting for him. Maybe he could take the plane over and fly it where he wanted.

 

Mr. R. reached up and opened the door. He listened. He didn't hear any sounds. Shouldn't there be people speaking before the plane took off?

 

Mr. R. paused. If he had hair, it would be standing up. Something was wrong. That left him with two options. He could go ahead and try to take the plane over against unknown circumstances. He didn't want to do that. He wanted fast travel with no complications. His other option was to cut through his patch and exit before the plane started moving again. He could drop down to the runway and find another plane to hijack.

 

Mr. R. went to the patch. He unlimbered his cutters. It was better to find some other means to travel rather than to fight his way out of some trap.

 

The section fell out of the circle Mr. R. cut. He paused when the metal disc only fell a few inches. Claws grabbed the center of the cutout and pulled. A metal surface stood under the plane to block his passage to the ground.

 

He had just cut his way through a jet floor. He could cut this new obstacle just as quick.

 

The two cutters cut another circle in the roof of the barricade. Nothing could be allowed to get in his way. The circle dropped inside the vehicle below. Gunfire answered his door making.

 

Mr. R. considered his actions before he dropped down into the fusillade. He was reasonably bulletproof but a stray shot could do some damage he didn't anticipate.

 

"You're under arrest." Aylwin's voice drifted up through the hole. "Give up now, or we'll take you down."

 

"I refuse." Mr. R. backed from the hole. He needed to get to the controls before someone thought to immobilize the plane.

 

"Don't make us drag you out." Aylwin shifted into view for a second, trying to spot Mr. R. The cyborg backed up even more, aiming his cutters at the opening.

 

The moment he saw something trying to get in the cargo area through his opening, he would use the intense lasers to cut them. He didn't want to do it, but avoiding capture was the most important thing to him at the moment. Nothing could stand in his way.

 

"Hey, buddy." A new voice came up from the hole. "I know you think you can fight your way out of here, but believe me, you can't. I want to get to a rack and catch some zzzz's. Give everybody a break. We don't want to have to hurt you."

 

Mr. R. didn't answer. He turned and headed for the door. He could use one of his remaining missiles to punch a door. He could drop to the tarmac and roll down to the runway. His treads could carry him out of trouble unless there was a great number of agents waiting for him.

 

If there was, he was a toaster.

 

Mr. R. pulled himself into the passenger compartment. He flipped open the missile compartment as he swiveled to get a clear shot at the side of the plane. Something furry jumped into the missile compartment.

 

"Hands up, tin man." The voice came from behind Mr. R. "Or face the wrath of Super Squirrel."

 

Mr. R. turned his body to face the other way. A furry squirrel the size of a man in a blue T-shirt and jeans grinned at him. The cyborg paused. He armed a missile to shoot. One side of the plane was as good as the other.

 

"You heard him." Another one, a girl with a rifle, stood to the Super Squirrel's left. "Give it up."

 

A giant hand blocked the opening of the missile launcher. The blue light fingers wrapped around the barrel body of Mr. R. He looked for the source. A man in a purple and silver bowler projected the hand from a gauntlet he wore.

 

"We're ready for you." The man in the hat shook his head. "It's time."

 

Mr. R. considered the options available. Somehow it had to shake off the hands, punch a hole in the jet, drop down to the runway, and roll. That didn't seem possible to do with his rockets. He would have to cut them.

 

Mr. R. raised his hands to fire the lasers. He decided to shoot the girl with the rifle and the man in the hat. The human squirrel didn't seem like much of a threat.

 

Mr. R. activated his cutters. He paused. Nothing happened. He tried again. It was the same result. He checked the status. The monitor told him it was off line. Something had damaged the lasers.

 

He realized it was the furry thing that had jumped in his chest when he stepped into the passenger cabin. That was the only thing it could be.

 

"What have you done to me?" Mr. R. decided to shoot a missile while they talked. The launcher told him it was offline also.

 

"Took you down." The girl kept the rifle on him. "I don't hear you saying you're giving up."

 

"I'll never give up." Mr. R. tried to reroute power to fire the missile. That should break the grip on his body. He would take some damage but that was acceptable for freedom.

 

"I think this has gone far enough." The Enforcer stepped from concealment and grabbed the cylinder head. He twisted and the brain center popped out of the socket holding it to the body. The eyes went dark.

 

A squirrel stuck its head out of the resulting hole. Wires hung from its mouth.

 

"Good job, Kowalski." Super Squirrel gave a thumb's up to his follower.

 

The squirrel spat the wires out, gave a salute, then headed out the opened door that was further up the main body of the jet and concealed by the curtains separating the sections. It dropped down and ran for the trees beyond the airport.

 

"What are you going to do with its head?" The Strangers gathered around Enforcer and his prize.

 

"I'm sure not going to put it on my wall." The man in gray placed it on a nearby chair for someone else to take away.

[csyphrett]

Re: Walking With Strangers

 

Epilogue

Mr. Wolf cursed as he walked toward his office. He had to get word to the others that he was going to break them out. He wouldn't let his men sit in prison for long.

 

Mr. Wolf paused at the threshold of his office. Crosshair Collie sat at his desk. The sniper's rifle pointed at the door. The glow from the mercenary leader's laptop lit the beige and brown mask of the shooter.

 

"Come in, Dick." Crosshair gestured at the visitor's chair. "I can't really say I am glad to see you."

 

"What are you doing?" Wolf sat down in the indicated chair. He kept his hands away from his body. He had hired the sniper for his skill. Reaching for a weapon would get him dead.

 

"I am transferring the team's funds from the central pool to my own account." Crosshair's aim didn't waver. "Then I am leaving."

 

"I never thought you would steal our war chest." Wolf had thought that and had put passwords on everything. He figured Crosshair had cracked the protection to activate the transfer. "The others are headed for prison because you ran tonight."

 

"I know." The laptop beeped and Crosshair typed with one hand. "I planned it like that. I have been waiting for a long time for an operation that I could use to get rid of everybody. Thanks for that."

 

"Glad to be useful." Mr. Wolf couldn't keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "So you let your friends get captured for money?"

 

"Yep." Crosshair shut the computer off. He pulled out a pistol and shot the drive. Why leave evidence behind? "Only this time I'm working for myself. The others can sit in jail for the rest of their lives as far as I'm concerned."

 

"What brought this on?" Mr. Wolf decided to keep his former henchman talking. That was the only way to buy time for him to think of a way out of the mess he was in.

 

"I'm thinking of retiring." Crosshair stood up, rifle moving with him. "I don't want to leave anyone behind who knows who I am."

 

"Only I know who you are." Mr. Wolf didn't like that turn in the conversation at all.

 

"Exactly." Crosshair pulled the trigger of his rifle.

 

Mr. Wolf dropped to the floor. His amazed expression came from the impact of the bullet against his skull before it plowed through to the other side and out the back. Another bullet made sure of the deed like that was necessary.

 

Crosshair put a spare uniform and gear on the headless corpse. If anyone discovered the body and checked the DNA, they might discover the deception. It would be a dead end since the sniper's own wasn't in the system. It would just alert anyone in the know that a deception had been put in play.

 

He doubted his former comrades were that smart. He wondered how long they would wait on Mr. Wolf before they started thinking about escaping on their own. The Canines did have a policy of helping captured members out of their prisons.

 

Leave no one behind was their policy. Crosshair wasn't going to rescue them this time.

 

Crosshair walked down to his room. He rechecked that he had left no clue for anyone to track him down with in the bedroom/office/tiny workshop. Then he changed to his civvies and packed his gear in two spare travel bags bought and hidden for just such an occasion. He left everything else so it looked like Mr. Wolf had killed him and took off.

 

Crosshair went to Mr. Wolf's room and cleaned it out. Everything portable went into the luggage. The luggage went into the trunk of Wolf's personal vehicle, a black Honda. Stolen car keys got the sniper on the road. At the first chance he got, he would dump everything and switch to a new car under one of his aliases.

 

The millions in the Canines' war chest could cover a new set of wheels with no problem.

 

Crosshair drove off the ranch. He turned and headed south. He wasn't worried that security would be able to show anyone his face. He had taken care of that before he had transferred the funds to his own account in the Caymans.

 

Crosshair hummed along with Inxs as he drove to the closest city. He planned to leave the car in the worse neighborhood he could find, and ride something else to the closest train station. Then he would quietly roll out of town on the iron rails.

 

Crosshair rolled through town, flipping channels on the radio whenever the music stopped. He had waited for a long time for a job to come along where he had thought the others would be captured. He thought it might never happen with Wolf directing everyone and planning on the move. Then those people from Marlowe had shown up and he knew the time was right to fade away before they spotted him lurking in the trees.

 

He had thought the chances were excellent they would be called on to stop Mr. R.'s search. He had also been prepared to call them himself if too much time passed before they arrived. When he saw the agent use her phone, he had waited just long enough before shooting the phone out of her hand.

 

Too soon and her call wouldn't have gotten through, too late and the others would have noticed something off and said something to him about it. They would have also twigged onto the fact he was still alive based on a slow move when he had never been that slow before.

 

Some of them might have twigged on it. Garou and Fenris Ulf used their heads to hang their fur on.

 

Crosshair pulled the car over to curb of the worst looking street he could find in Minnesota in the middle of the early morning hours. He called for a cab on a pay to use cell. He pulled his bags out of the trunk and waited on the sidewalk for his ride. As soon as the cab pulled behind his stolen car, he told the driver to take to the train station as the bags went in the trunk.

 

He got in the back and waited for the cab to start moving.