All You Need Is Kill — Legacy Forums

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#41

Dan nodded. "I was gonna suggest that. You know how to work one of those SIG Sauers?"

He strummed his fingers on the kitchen counter. After the whole Phil situation, he kind of wanted to take the rest of the day off. But he needed the work, and the money. "Look, I've got some work to do. Guy needs me to find someone. It's kind of my thing. How about you come with, keep an eye out? After today, I could probably use the help."

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#42

"I've.. been around, though I'm no 'gangsta'. Probably take me a while to strip it, but I can shoot."

He had never shot a human target, but his red-necked, red-nosed father figured his son should know how to use a piece.

He nodded his head at Dan's question - "Sure, don't have anywhere else to be." Lots of places NOT to be though.

"Can I use your razor? I'd rather look a little different."

Eddy was not sure how/if he'd tell this guy about his status, escaped felon and all. He looked like a cop. Well, they had just hid a body together, so that said something.

Later.

He trimmed off his scraggly beard, removed the thin moustache and shortened his hair by a few inches - now barely touching his collar. No more Jesus look.

"K, ready."

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#43

Fu King Lau's was packed as usual, ever-present squid-stench be d**ned.

Karl walked in at the precisely right time. He didn't have long to walk after all, but even if he had, he'd still arrive on time. Was his way.

A semi-interested waiter waved him over to a table toward the back. Fumes from the kitchen blew inside the dining room, harbingers of less than fresh seafood.

"You eat alone?" the waiter asked, with an angry look on his face, then plopped down a kettle of green tea and a cup.

Dan and Eddy strolled in fifteen minutes late. A few patrons looked up from their gloopy bowls, then returned to their dinners.

Quick look around, the Bloodhound was always careful, and ah, that must be "Hathaway" in the back, sitting by himself, looking the opposite of inconspicuous. Menu untouched, back ramrod straight, look of intent blazing in his eyes. Hmmm, this guy doesn't look as old as Dan assumed he would. Weird.

"Ahhh, Mr. Dan! Longtime no see you!" the waiter recognized Donovan. Knew him in fact from his less than dirty days as a cop. "You two eat?" He looked around but there were no other tables available, except the two connected ones where Karl sat. How convenient.

Passing the other tables, Dan thought he recognized a girl who was eating alone. Knew her from somewhere, not sure where. Couldn't put his finger on it. Well, whatever. As Eddy traversed the restaurant, he noticed a tv screen on a wall. Was on mute. CNN. There was an image repeating itself over and over, of several SWAT guys walking a *naked*, dejected-looking man with goggles on his forehead, toward a police van. Larry the Lizard! As Eddy stared, it seemed that Larry looked up for a second and stared at the camera, directly at Eddy! No @!#$ing way!

Eventually, the pair made it over to the seated Hathaway. The waiter described specials before they could say a word to each other. Squid with garlic sauce, squid with salt and pepper, squid with pork....you could have squid any which way your heart desired here at Fu King Lau's.

A text came in on Karl's phone at that precise moment from Teddy..."Checked the call, it came from a place called Sanctum...im guessing you never heard of it. It's a private club uptown, east side, in the seventies. All kinds of debauchery for the rich and bored, Karl. Not your kinda place. Can't even get in without membership. Hope that helps. Hope Katie's ok. I'll touch base as soon as I can."

"Ok, you order now!" the waiter said with his heavy accent.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#44

THEN

The babe was so small and helpless in his arms. She fussed and fidgeted, half asleep. Barely a year old.
Karl reaches down and wiped a fleck of blood off her. He wasn’t worried. Weren’t her blood.
Behind him, a hut, in flames. He didn’t look back. He put a hand to his gut, still a little sore where the knife tore him to hell.
Killing Linh... that had nearly broke Karl. The only thing that kept him going in the hospital was the promise he’d made her. Tonight, Karl kept his promise. Little Khanh Phuong was coming home with him. It was all arranged, with the help of the right connections and the right amount of money.
And the men who had her. The ones who’d took Linh’s baby, who’d forced Linh to do what she done?
Killing them was a helluva lot easier.

NOW

His back to the wall, with clear lines of sight to every door, Karl looks up at the approaching men. He waits quietly. He glances at his phone, then back up at the waiter.
“Squid, Garlic Sauce. Rice, brown, not white. Fer three.” His eyes dismiss the man. As he slinks away, he looks over the pair. He doesn’t hide his opinion; it shows on his face. But none of that matters if this Bloodhound feller can find Katie.
“Brown rice takes longer to prepare. They don’t usually have it just lyin’ around like white. We should have some time.” Karl indicates, with his eyes not his hands, the manilla envelope on the seat next to him.
“This is everything I have. Her name was Kathryn Hathaway ‘fore she changed it back to her birth name, Khanh Phuong. Most recent photo I own is from her College Graduation in ‘92. But I found a picture on one o’ them social networking sites an’ printed that out, too.”
Karl doesn’t add that it was a librarian who helped him figure that stuff out. When Bloodhound looks the older picture is one taken from a distance by a pretty decent camera, pretty vietnamese girl in cap and gown. A long shot, so he was already out of her life by then.
“She’s a doctor now, surgeon. You can see... we ain’t close. Not my choice, but I reckon my fault.”
Karl goes silent for a few seconds.
“Other details I have, where she worked last I was able to check, some volunteer work she done. All in there. Along with your cash. All in there.”
Karl picks up his tea and takes a sip.
“She don’t care ‘bout me none, but I’m still her daddy. You help get her back safe. I’ll owe you more than money.”

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#45

Dan looked at the picture, then poked around the envelope. The money was there, which was nice - what he really wanted in the first place - but that was it.

"Yeah, picture's real nice, but is that all you got?" he asked, raising a helpless empty hand. "I'm not a traffic camera, I need, y'know, something tangible, something she touched. That's why I said clothes, personal items, jewelry, not profile pics." He flapped the paper in the air for emphasis.

He sighed and put it down, pulling his flask from his jacket. He'd refilled it at the apartment - day like this called for vodka - and was glad he'd brought it. Donovan threw back a long swig then wiped his mouth with a sleeve. "Alright. Miscommunication. My fault, I guess. You're from out of town, so I'm guessing you didn't bring much in the way of personal effects." He leaned forward, looking Hathaway in the eye. "Think hard now. You got anything - anything - she might've touched? Old tie for Father's Day, postcard from summer camp, doesn't matter how briefly or how long ago. Anything she touched might have a scent."

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#46

Kate picked at the squid with feigned interest, stirring it around on her plate absently, the smell slowly tying her stomach in knots, the thought of what it would do to her insides should she actually swallow any of it nothing she wished to ponder.

She had more important concerns at the moment, a text from a acquaintance she knew as "chopsticks" needing to discuss some matter of utmost urgency, well to him at any rate. Unless the job involved taking out more syndicate goons or taking a pretty piece of tail out for a night on the town, she really wasn't interested.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she recognized a familiar face slip past her table, Bloodhound! She smiled and nodded slightly in his direction, recalling the time she spent in his company a long while back finding that kidnapped girl. He reminded her a lot of her dad, same career choices, nearly same career ending and outlook on life now that she thought about it.

He barely gave her a second glance as he slipped past, but she knew he probably recognized her, he had a talent for noticing things everyone else overlooked. She glanced back down at her plate, half expecting the squid to entwine itself around her fork of it's own volition, wondering briefly if Chopsticks business involved Bloodhound in some fashion as well; before sighing and starting down at her watch, where the hell was he anyway?

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#47

NOW

Karl looks at Bloodhound, shaking his head. "Sorry, I don't got nothin. Ain't seen her closer than that grad photo since she left home twenty six years ago. She hasn't given me any--" Karl breaks off suddenly.

THEN

"Happy birthday, Daddy!"
Karl looked at Katie in her best outfit. The 8th grade girl smiled pretty as a picture across the dinner table. Karl thought she was growin' up too d**n fast. What started as a promise turned into his daughter somewhere along the way, and he adored his little girl.
"Thank you, darlin'."
"Today is your answer birthday," Katie states with a certainty.
Karl raised a brow at that. "My what?"
"Forty-Two. It's the answer. I read it in this book."
Karl was puzzled. "Must be some book. What's the question?"
Katie laughed, a light sound. "Oh daddy. We don't know what the question is yet."
Karl was more perplexed by that, and shook his head. But the puzzlement vanished as she produced a small box.
"I made this for you, daddy. Happy Birthday."
Smiling, Karl took the box and unwrapped it.

NOW
Karl shakes his head, then reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a set of keys. The key chain shines like brass. He pulls the keys off and thunks it down.
"Katie made this for me in shop for me birthday. More'n thirty years ago. Made it herself. Will it do?
The men can see a .308 round, all shiny and metallic.
"Sniper's round. Drilled it herself, cut the opener, attached the chain." He shakes his head. "Metal shop."

[img width=400 height=400]http://www.cobrabraid.com/image/cache/data/real-bullet/308-opener-side-500x500.jpg

Karl looks at it a moment. "I'm gonna want that back."

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#48

Dan lifted the opener by the key ring, almost gingerly, and twisted it in the restaurant's cheap fluorescent light. He gazed at it like a jeweler appraising a gem. After a long moment, he slowly put it down. "Alright. Should be able to get something from this." He nodded to Karl. "Won't take too long."

Donovan held the cartridge by the rim, twisting it as he thought. Karl's scent would be easy enough to tell apart. Shop teacher probably touched it, too, but he'd be long dead in the ground which had its own distinct odor. Beyond that, he couldn't imagine it passed too many hands. "Let's see here..." Lifting the cartridge up toward his nose, the Bloodhound exhaled then gave a long, deep inhale, the opener pressed against his flaring nostrils. He closed his eyes, trying to grab the scent...

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#49

If Eddy didn't like squid, it would have been impossible to tell, for he quickly finished his portion and began eyeing the leftovers. Some may turn up their noses at it, but the prison food he had been eating had been .. inadequate. Glutton!

His scrawny form hid the appetite, if not the demeanour, of a wolverine, something that tormented him when he was Inside. Never enough, and never very good.

He was unsure how the bullet would help. The way he was sniffing the bullet...

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#50

Revelations

Kate glanced over at Dan's table, as she waited for Chopsticks. The ex-cop was holding some small object and concentrating. No wait, not concentrating, smelling?! The Bloodhound had caught a scent?

Waiter watched Eddy, oh he like squid! Eddy caught another glimpse of CNN on mute. The Bouncer again, this time showing off his bubbling muscles to reporters and standers by. Then suddenly Eddy's eyes glazed over and his heart-rate doubled. Oh oh. He closed his eyes involuntarily, and felt a familiar nausea. He was having a vision...

A figure, alone, sitting, in the center of a huge outdoor courtyard in some kind of super-max looking edifice. The figure looks up, Eddy doesn't recognize the face. But the eyes, oh Lord, the eyes! Pleading...begging for salvation. Then the unmistakable sound of a prison alarm. Then an explosion and all goes dark.

Eddy's eyes open. He's sweating. Karl doesn't even notice, still staring at Dan.

The Bloodhound's scent activated. Faint. So faint yet unmistakable. The weird sensations he barely understood flooded his brain. His five senses all participated in the search. After 20 seconds, even the waiter paused to stare at him. "Squid ok, Mr. Dan?" He asked nervously.

Dan stood there rubbing the bullet-chain. Finally he opened his eyes and sat down. All was known to him. Well, sort of.

A tiny red blip in his brain. A horrible stench in his nose. A hazy vision of water in his eyes. The sound of maniacal laughter in his ears, like an echo repeating. The texture of cold stone and metal on his skin. He knew where this girl was, but it seemed like bad news. She was somewhere smack in the middle of Long Island Sound. Hopefully an island, not the ocean bottom. He could pinpoint her location further, and eventually, precisely, if he physically followed the scent where it led him.

The waiter left and emerged again to clear bowls off tables, and slide plates of complimentary orange slices onto them. 1 AM. Closing time. Last call for squid (to go).

He passed Kate's table and casually deposited a note along with the orange slices.

"Kate,
I had to go. I'm sorry. I needed to talk to you. We are all being hunted. You, me. All of *us*. I was going to tell you that and more in person, but someone is after me. I had to go ASAP. Mr. Celophane has contracts out on all the "freaks" I heard. Knew I worked here. Don't want to use phone. I think someone has poisoned me. Feel strange. Going to consult Cherub. You stay safe. I'll try to find you soon.
Benny"

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#51

It weren't that Karl didn't notice the feller having the fit. But he figured if it were important his friend would do something. Now, waiting, Karl's eyes move around the restaurant, continually monitoring the exits, the corners, the other diners. His eyes slide past, then return to the pretty young woman. He stares for a moment.

It ain't that she's pretty. She sure as hell is, an exotic beauty that would once have turned more than Karl's head. Karl's long past such concerns now. His body's fit, but his head... that ain't been right since Linh.

Karl's gut gives him a twinge. Forty five godd**n years. The old scar, the wound long healed on his body, but still raw in his head. Killin' the woman you're kinda sweet on 'cuz she tried to kill you will do that to a man.

And now... this woman's eyes. Karl can't help staring into her eyes. Then he blinks and looks away. If she noticed, she probably thinks he's some dirty old feller. But he weren't looking at her. Weren't seeing her. In that moment Karl was looking into Linh's eyes. Katie's eyes. Ghosts. In that moment, Karl looks nearly his real age, a tired, broken, used-up old man. But the moment passes and he's back to lookin' fifty-ish. Trick of the light.

Lost in his own memories, Karl almost fails to notice the waiter passing the woman a note. Prolly his phone number, He smiles to himself. Can't say as I blame him.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#52

Kate felt the color drain from her cheeks slightly as she read the hastily scrawled note from Chopsticks, silently grateful she hadn't touched plate of slimy rubber if Benny's fears of poison were correct. She glanced up from the note as she felt someone's eyes on her, locking the old man in a fixed stare for what felt like several seconds.

That man had a gaze, the same kinda gaze she used to see in some of her fathers Vietnam war veteran buddies that used to come around when she was younger, the same kinda gaze she had some days. She blinked slowly, analyzing the potential he was connected to the assassination warning as the would be trigger man, then discarded the possibility just as quickly.

Bloodhound seemed to have his own dance card, but still she owed him at least a warning of what was coming for all of them, he deserved that much anyway. Pulling out a jet black tactical pen from her inner pocket she hastily scribbled a small note underneath Chopsticks warning:

"Heads up, the brown matters headed for the propellers again, likely safer not to engage them solo, -Quick Silver"

She folded the note into a quick origami swan with a blur of motion, then almost causally flicked it across the room in a high arc where she knew it would settle onto the worn table in front of Bloodhound. Not the most practical use of her abilities, but Kate still enjoyed the simple pleasures her "evolutionary specialty" (as an ex girlfriend once put it) gave her when the opportunities presented themselves.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#53

Donovan blinked. "What? No, the squid is terrible."

He threw back another swig of the vodka as he sat. "Long Island Sound," he said to Karl. "It's, ah - it doesn't look good."

"She's alive," he added quickly. "Someone's got her. You get me closer, I can narrow down where." Donovan fumbled with a fortune cookie. The first scent was never pleasant, but ones like this - when the target was in some kind of compromising situation - always shook him up a little.

He chewed the stale cookie and read the fortune: "You have a friendly heart and are well admired." Sure. He took a breath and wiped the sweat from his brow. "So. What's the plan?"

As he put the fortune down, something appeared on the table in front of him. "The f*ck?" he grunted curiously at it, picking it up and toying at the paper head. The origami was nicely made - too nice for a place like Lau's. Looking around, he unfolded it, then frowned as he saw the message. The words ran across his lips silently as he read it. "Silver?" He looked around, looking for a sign of the woman. "Hold up," he said Hathaway. "Sh*t's getting weirder than it already is."

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#54

Kate smiled slightly as Bloodhound scanned the diner for her, toying with the idea of flicking him in the head with a toothpick to get his attention, but decided not to push her luck too far; Bloodhound wasn't exactly good natured when it came to childish pranks from what little she could deduce of his personality.

Instead she settled for something better suited to Bloodhounds senses. Reaching into another pocket she withdrew a small perfume bottle, dust rose, the kind she usually wore, what she recalled wearing the time she worked with him to find that missing girl. Discreetly she pressed nozzle and sprayed it against the container of duck sauce on the table, if she was right he'd have her located in a few moments.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#55

Karl tenses at the news, and looks like he's about ready to come up out of his seat, but then he pauses, thinking. He's about to speak when the Origami flutters into a landing. When Bloodhound reads is and makes his remark, Karl looks over at the pretty woman whose eyes remind him so much of Linh's. Then he looks back at Bloodhound.

Karl glances at his phone. "My FBI buddy traced the call I got back home. It came from a place called Sanctum. She was on the line, so she was there. If we go there, maybe we can find something else she laid hands on. Let's go."

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#56

"Hold it, man," Donovan said. Something caught in his nostrils. Something familiar...

He stood and followed the scent, walking from booth to booth. It didn't take long.

"Quick Silver." He shook his head, looking her up and down. Dan remembered her looking pretty good. His memory didn't fail. "The hell you doing here?"

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#57

Kate smiled warmly, leaning back in the booth slightly and gesturing to the seat across from her as if she'd been expecting him all along; hoping he wouldn't draw too much attention to her table. "A contact of mine Chopsticks texted me to meet him here, said it was urgent, then a waiter tossed me the note I flew to you."

She shrugged slightly as if she was equally at a loss as to the specific implications of the warning. "Noticed you walk in and figured you deserved a heads up and I'd rather not want to fly solo until this mess is over." She let her voice trail off and causally kept an eye on the other patrons, just in case someone was taking an unhealthy interest in their conversation.

"Or is your dance card full at the moment?" She gave a pointed look to the two people still occupying Bloodhound's former table, wondering what kind of riffraff had acquired his services this time.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#58

"Well, I appreciate it. You owed me as much, anyway."

He glanced about. "I won't lie. I could use the help." He lowered his voice, leaning in. "Guy's daughter's kidnapped. D*mnedest thing, they don't want anything but they tell him to come to the city. So he finds me to find her. She's somewhere out in the Sound. The whole thing smells like sh*t."

"Oh, and other great news," he said a little louder, waving his arm dramatically, "guess who tried to kill me this morning? Phil the Thrill, guess on orders of Celophane. The f*ck's up with that?" He shook his head. "What's this city coming to? Anyway, Phil's dead, that guy saved my ass with a last minute distraction." He nodded in Eddy's direction. "Figure he's good to keep around."

He scratched his neck uncomfortably. "Anyway. What's up with you?"

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#59

Eddy looked a bit nervous. First the squid tempted him into Gluttony and now a gorgeous well-endowed woman was making him think of that other awful sin...Lust.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#60

Her eyes narrowed as he filled her in on the details of his latest job, half tempted to ask what her cut was for helping, but knew Bloodhound would settle up squarely after the fact, he knew better then to short change her.

"It smells fishy, fishier then this dive, and that's saying something."

Kate nodded at his info dump of daily events, mentally scratching Phil the Thrill off her contacts/potential target list, pointing to the unfolded bird in Bloodhounds hand. "Like the note Chopsticks wrote said, Cello's got hits out on all of us, I guess he's got issues with congress's repeal?"

"Whatever your current gig turns out to be, legit, double cross, long con, or frame, I've got your back; and afterward we can work on canceling Cellophane." Canceling, it how she preferred to think of hits, Killing usually implied emotion, connection on a personal level. People like Celo, they were just rabid animals in need of a mercy shot for the betterment of the community, nothing more to it than that.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#61

With that they were off. A peculiar foursome.

By the time they got to Sanctum, it was almost 2AM.

No dance club for Molly zombies this.

The door and even the black-glass high-rise was non-descript. No sign, no names, no bouncers, no hint at all that beyond the gray door was one of the world's most exclusive social clubs.

Naturally the door was locked. And thick, Karl surmised. And most likely set with a silent alarm. And who knew what else.

The very gates of hell, Eddy spat. He heard stories, everyone had, of what went on beyond those doors. Anything could be had, if you were of the right breed.

Now what?

There wasn't a doorbell either. Not even an ornate, gothic knocker, though that would probably look cool on the door.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#62

Kate eyed the door up and down while idly tugging down at the edge of her denim skirt, and glanced over at the new faces, having made her introduction to them on the ride here, simply using her street name "Quick Silver" with her task as "Bloodhounds Insurance policy." Yeah it was a bit over dramatic, but she doubted either of them would believe her if she told them her regular line of work, although the guy with the missing daughter did seem to be more then appearances let on...

She shook her head to clear away the trail of thoughts and focus on the task at hand, keeping her sentences clipped and to the point. "Exclusive access. Likely a RFID scanner that opens for those with the right card." She paused and waited for the input of her new acquaintances, could be one of them had a talent that would get them through this door, hopefully without setting off every alarm in the building.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#63

This place. He had been this close before, but had not even seen the door open. Drop off the package and leave. No more. No less. Payment made its way through other channels, but they had always paid well.

So he had no idea how they would get in if they weren’t wanted. He had none of his old tools, and there had been no time to assemble them since breaking out. Plus, he had no money. Also:

“Well, they know we are here. Cameras, though you can’t see em. Probably mic’s as well.”

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#64

"Right card?" Dan asked. He went through the pockets of his trench coat and fished out an all-black card. "Something like this?" he asked, waving it at Kate. "Courtesy of our friend Phil the Thrill, may his lousy ass rot in hell."

He looked at the door and scratched his chin with the card. "So, do I just wave it in front, or...?"

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#65

Kate shrugged, equally at a loss on how such cards worked. Usually in her line of work she'd be canceling targets on their way out of, or into, the club rather then sleazing around the interior. "I'd assume it just scans it automatically while it's in your pocket, like the rfid chips in passports."

She leaned against the wall casually, scanning over the hallway, searching for any concealed doors. A exclusive ritzy club would likely have some kind of manual access/exit for clientele in the event of elevator malfunction, power outage, or fire.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#66

NOW

Waiting for the cab, Karl had introduced himself. Never one for that goddamn Oneshot nonsense Teddy Best had saddled him with, he only said, "Hathaway, miss. Karl Hathaway." Karl spoke to her with a soft politeness he hadn’t used, but didn’t offer his hand. Kate and the others likely noticed how Karl kept his right hand clear at all times, ready to draw. He even used he left to push away the plate of rubbery, overdone squid in the restaurant, always keeping his right free.

In the cab, Karl was quiet, lost in thought. Thinking about Katie, and Linh. Thinking about every move - the few right ones and many wrong ones - which brought him here, now. Thinking, Silently praying to a God he was certain was laughing down at him that Katie'd be okay. To anyone glancing at Karl, his hair seemed grayer, his face more haggard.

Then the group had arrived, and Karl’s mind slipped back into the present, back to the mission. Now sizing the place up, he’s again the young... well, younger... Karl they'd first glimpsed. Shouldering his heavy duffel, he looks around, at the building, then at the others, studying each with a keen eye. A veteran operator, Karl reads in each one that they too have been there, that they have fucking done that. He takes in Kate last of all, and in Karl’s eyes she sees none of the things she sees when most men look at her. But she also sees some regret. She reminds him of someone, and the memory doesn’t bring him comfort..

But then Karl gives a short, violent shake of his head, clearing it. Gotta stay here. Gotta stay now. Useless old man trapped in the past ain’t helpin’ Katie. "Enough of this bullshit,” he says. “Time to give up on ghosts." He nods with his head to an alley across the street, then heads over there. Once in, he looks around.

“I don’t trust easy. I’ve learned not to. But I ain’t a fool. I know I’m in over my head. So I have to trust y’all, an’ ask fer help. That means y’all gotta trust me. So... truth. The short version ‘cuz we ain’t got all night.”

“The FBI, they got a file on me. Not much to it. Old feller, retired Marine sniper, been some places, done some shit back in ‘nam, but he lives alone in the backwoods now, keeps to himself, has done for twenty years or more. Good Marine, once, but no-one to take no account of no more.”

Karl hesitates a moment, before fully committing. “But they got a second file. One hardly anyone's ever seen. One that ain’t under the name my momma give me in 1940. This’n only goes back about four years. It’s coded using the stupid fuckin’ name ol’ Teddy Best give me when I helped ‘im out a few years back. He calls me Oneshot.”

Karl’s quiet a sec. The name speaks for itself to the right ears, and he’s betting with tags like Bloodhound and Quicksilver, these are the right ears.

“Now, neither one of those names appears in the other file, and ain’t no clear pictures of Oneshot. Just a few of some feller in full kit with camo paint on ‘is face. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spread that around none. But I reckon someone else knows about it, because there ain’t no reason anyone would want ol’ Gunny Hathaway out here. So they’re tryin’ to get hold of that other feller. An’ for some reason, they want him mad.”

Karl glances at his duffel, heavy with death. “Now, I reckon they want me here, since they called me from here, and they know I could get the call traced. So, ‘less one o’ you objects, I’m fixin’ to knock on the front door. Got my door-knocker right here. She makes a real purty knockin’ sound, an’ she’ll open any goddamn door this side o’ Fort Knox.”

Karl is quiet a sec. “Any o’ you got a better idea, let’s hear it. But they got my little girl and I’m fixin’ to kick up a fuss.”

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#67

Dan's nose wrinkled. "Wait a sec. 1940?" He did the math. "D*mn, man," he grumbled, "you look good for seventy-three. Frankly surprised you made it this long, though. You wanna run in there guns blazing? F*ck that mess."

He pulled out his flask, fiddling with the cap idly. "I get you wanna get your girl out, believe me. But this is a g*dd*mn trap, pure and simple. I been thinking. They send you to the city with no instructions, no demands, just a threat. They want you to track 'em down, and they know I'm the guy to find 'em. They send Phil the Thrill to kill me - Phil, a jerkoff who couldn't kill a kitten with a shotgun, and who happened to have this card with him."

He sighed, unscrewing the flask and throwing back a swig of vodka. He was already halfway drunk, may as well see it through. "Whoever the f*ck these guys are, they definitely want you dead, and probably me too. We charge in there, we come out in boxes. Ain't gonna help your Katie." Donovan paused, letting the meaning hang in the air. "I say we play it cautious-like. See if this thing works, you and me go in. Kate and Eddy can try to find another way in, back us up that way."

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#68

Karl nods. "Alright. Your jungle. But I got my doorknocker just in case."

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#69

Kate nodded at the plan, half tempted to point out the note from Chopsticks of Cello putting on contracts on them all, but figured one more distraction was one more thing that could get them killed, and judging by his brief explanation of his past, the last thing he'd appreciate at this time would be more distractions.

"Looks like it's you and me Eddy." She wondered briefly at why this guy was tagging along with them, eh did have a "special name" so she had doubts he had an special gifts either. Then again, lots of people under estimated her too, (to their often short lived regret,) so she'd give him the benefit of the doubt for now, and see if he lived up, or down, to both sides of her expectation scale.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#70

Eddy could barely speak to her. He simply stammered, "after you."

His eye was already at work. He sinned heavily in service of his once Powdered master, and learned a few things. Like how to find places to get in.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#71

Kate smiled, careful not to put too much warmth into it lest she send the wrong message and distract the poor man from the task at hand, and create one of those awkward scenarios in sitcoms that made audiences do a face palm.

"Nearly all buildings are required to have at least two possible exits on the ground floor in case of a fire, and a fire escape of some sort if more then 2 stories high," Her tone carried the inflection that came from memorizing a rule book, in this case a fire safety code book she'd thumbed through once when she needed to impersonate a safety inspector for an old contract; funny how stuff like that stuck with people.

"Also unless the clubs visitors are mole men there's no doubt plenty of windows, and the roof will have ventilation access as well."

She knelt down and tightened the laces of one of her combat boots, knowing they didn't exactly go with her denim skirt and black leather jacket, but military chick was a popular look, and carbon fiber toed boots were a hell of a lot more comfortable then high heels.

"Back alley of the place, should be a fire escape or exit door hopefully." Given the look of this guy she half suspected she was telling him what he already knew, or it could be he was just some wall street suit seriously down on his luck after a downsizing left him unemployed and homeless. Not her concern, the contract was what mattered, and today that was backing up Hound, something she planned to follow through on or die trying.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#72

Out Back

They found the back door fast enough, though it was far enough away...they had to circumnavigate the entire block! Eddy spotted another black door, this one not so fancy-looking, while Kate schooled him on the finer points of building safety. Fire-escape, not so much. The building was a post-modern, sleek number. Thirty stories, no escape...from fire, anyway. She glanced toward the roof...no doubt helipads up there.

Eddy approached the door. For the first time since they got here, they could here some sound emanating from inside. A fat NY rat leapt from a nearby trash-pile (this was definitely the back of the building) spooking him momentarily.

Suddenly, the doors opened up! A man emerged, and the doors closed behind him. A man who looked pretty much like this...

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17m00480pa2xvjpg/original.jpg

"Fuck you want?" He growled at Eddy, then noticed Kate and grinned. "What's a hot little number like you doing with this whino?"

It was the Bouncer! Eddy recognized him immediately, how can you not? But for his part, the Bouncer, didn't recognize "Chosen". Nor Quicksilver apparently. He looked like he had been mixing steroids with booze again. Red-rimmed eyes and bulging veins throbbing on his bald head.

Funny thing about the Bouncer, Eddy thought, he was never really a "good guy". When he was with the Fab Five, Cherub and company could control him, but this was a man who would as likely save a drowning kitten, as he would snap the neck of any random fellow, who had managed to piss him off.

"You eyeball me one more time, buddy, and I'll rip your head off, then piss down your throat."

It seemed maybe the Bouncer had stepped out for a piss.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#73

Somewhere nearby...

"Don't start questioning s**t now, Pete. You're not being paid to think."

"@!#$ you."

"We're part of a machine, Pete, small cogs."

"Yeah, I still don't like it."

"Get your s**t together! Let's see what happens here first. Then we go."

*****************

Inside

The card worked like a charm.

The door buzzed quietly and opened, slightly ajar.

They stepped inside and the black soundproof walls drowned Manhattan's night.

Perhaps not what they expected. A short corridor ahead. Then an archway, and they entered what looked like a fancy hotel lobby, all marble, glass, and brass. A grand staircase clad in black velvet, was ahead leading upstairs to wide double-doors. Closed. Bank of black matte elevators to the right. A concierge desk to the left. Kinda @!#$ing place was this?

Behind the desk stood a man. Well, at least from the waist up. The desk hid the lower part of him. Ginger buzz cut. Wrap-around mirror shades. Nose-ring like on a bull! Anachronistic black velvet tux, with bright yellow ascot in lieu of a bow tie. Weird.

"I'm sorry sir," he addressed Dan, "No unauthorized guests are allowed access with your level of membership. Your friend will have to go. Now."

Cameras up above in all corners. Who knew what else.

Deathly quiet.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#74

Kate sighed inwardly as The Bouncer spewed forth his vulgarity, privately wondering what exact mixture of steroids, booze and daddy issues would result in an attitude like that, the analytical side of her already trying to think of a diplomatic resolution that would let them pass, prevent bloodshed.

She realized just as quick the noise Blood Hound and One Shot were about to make would kick off any minute, so she'd be canceling him then, and right now surprise was on their side. She threw a mental switch and turned The Bouncer from a person, a unique human with special abilities, dreams and goals, into merely a target for cancellation, an obstacle to be removed in the completion of her contract with Blood Hound.

His final threat of violence refocused her attention and triggered the adrenaline rush and onset of what she knew was the beginning of what would be, for her target, a very bad night.

She shuddered slightly, as if experiencing a brief, but intense orgasm , the sudden rush of endorphin's and chemicals flooding into her bloodstream. The world slowed down around her, and everything crystallized, feeling sharper, clearer, more real than anything she'd feel when "normal."

She could count every hair bulging vein on her targets arms, could smell his anger and cheap alcohol, she was imminently aware of everything around her.

She felt as if she had all the time in the world. The targets fists were only partially clenched,, and she still had time to think of a battle plan, be revolted by the giant rat and stench of garbage, and even think of a snappy joke, before she needed to make her move.

Almost leisurely she decided it was time to act. Her target was maybe ten feet away.

She closed in with a quick running jump. To her target and Eddy, it was like she just teleported.

They were flies trying to swim through molasses, and she was a Utah Raptor descending on its prey.

What to do, what to do...

She could draw her pistol and drill her target between his eyes, but guns made noise, and noise would ruin their entry, so she drew her Halo II combat knife from it's place on her inner jacket, and thrusted it towards his bulging Adams apple, angling upwards to bury it to the hilt and leave the tip implanted near the base of his skull severing the spinal cord and puncturing the brain stem, while her right leg arced downwards with her speeding body behind it into the side of the mans knee.

The funny thing about knee joints she mused, they were surprisingly fragile to sudden high speed impacts from the side, especially when supporting a grotesque amount of weight.

[img width=400 height=287]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/Strider1/proto_HALO.jpg

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#75

Karl looks at Dan, suddenly incensed, outraged. "You mean ta tell me you brung me on down here for a good time, an' you don't even have the right membership ta get us both IN?!?"

Karl gives Dan a hard shove. "You'll be payin fer that all night long, boy. Payin' on yer knees!"

Karl approaches Dan, readying a backhanded slap. Hope Dan plays along, and the concierge puts them on pay per view.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#76

Dan had just opened his mouth to talk when Karl started yelling. His eyes flared with an intensity of their own, of the The f*ck are you trying to do? sort. He heard the whine of the camera's mechanism and the improvised plan clicked.

"Hey, chill the f*ck out!" he exclaimed, raising his hands defensively. "It's not- I mean, that can't be right, can it?" he looked pleadingly toward the concierge.

Donovan put his hands on Karl's shoulder. "Hold a sec, man, I got this, alright?" He brushed invisible lint off Hathaway's shoulder, servile and craven. He nodded emphatically toward Karl as he approached the desk. "Listen, can you check that again?" he said, putting on a sweaty and pathetic grin. "I know that can't be right." He leaned in closer, dropping his voice. "Please check again. This guy..." Dan shook his head. "Man, please!"

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#77

Eddy sighed silently as Kate burst into action. She was going too fast to change anything. Another one would not have time to repent.

He casually stepped to the side, his hand closing on his own blade. The "Snick" corresponding with Kates impact.

In an almost unhurried motion, he stepped behind The Bouncer as Kate consumed his focus.

He brought the sharp blade across the back of The bouncer's leg, low and aiming for tendons.

Thou shall not kill

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#78

Outside

The Bouncer stared at her as she lunged, a blinking ox in the way of a speeding chainsaw.

She missed the bulging adam's apple but didn't miss the behemoth's throat, plunging the blade deep.

The Bouncer's eyes bulged cartoon-like, as he brought one meaty paw toward his throat feebly trying to staunch the red fountain erupting from his neck.

He gurgled something as his kneecap popped and he toppled, but not before the third attack, a tendon-severing slice by Eddy.

As he fell, a clenched fist sought Kate and he managed to connect, striking her awkwardly in the face with a glancing blow. Good thing too, a non-awkward, non-glancing blow from The Bouncer would have killed her, or pretty much anyone. As is, the punch sent her sprawling, and knocked out a tooth, to go along with a broken nose. She sat there, spitting up some blood.

Eddy looked around. All clear. Just the three of them.

The Bouncer made sickening, garbled sounds as he lay in a fetal position, bleeding out like a giant stuck hog. Not dead yet though. The Bouncer could take a lot of damage. Eddy had once seen him walk away from a head on car collision at 60 mph.

Yes, there was a knife in his throat, but still.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#79

Inside

The mirror-shaded man stared at the pair without any hint of emotion. Then he spoke into a tiny mouthpiece connected to a tiny earpiece, attached to the side of his head.

"There is a Mr. Philip Brill here with an unauthorized guest" He said to himself and waited. Brill, thought Dan, heh, Brill the Thrill. Dan had some second thoughts on the whole trap theory at that moment. So a phone call was made from here by some bad-ass...so what? Maybe no one gave a s**t. The concierge had assumed Dan to be the original card-holder, and that was that...apparently.

"Very well, sir" He then said to Dan, after seemingly receiving some kind of confirmation or instruction.

"Club? Spa? Special floor?" He asked the pair.

Re: All You Need Is Kill

#80

A relieved smile spread across Dan's face. "Hey, thanks, man. You're a big help."

He turned and looked at Karl, making sure his back was to the cameras. "So whaddya say? You wanna go up to the club first? Chat with some of the guys, see what's what?" He waggled his brow for emphasis, hoping Hathaway understood what he was getting at.