by Jamie Hawke
“At least he ordered most of the people indoors, it’d seem,” Esmerelda stated. “Not a completely heartless son of a bitch.”
Frank nodded, remembering his conversation with Rick that first time they’d met. The man had a grand scheme that in some ways could look just, but hurt too many people in the process. Now Rick was trying the same thing, but on a grander, multi-world scale.
If they’d been wondering where all the people were, Frank suddenly stopped—because a large crowd was gathered on the streets nearby, more scouts than before on the rooftops. Shadow pulled back, gesturing for them to all get down, while Frank noted one scout almost notice them, before Rose put a blow dart in his neck.
“What is it?” Keisha asked. “City gathering?”
“Only if the city is entirely made up of pirates and Vikings,” Shadow replied.
“And some of mine,” Temra chimed in.
Frank frowned, confused, but when he went to the edge and risked a glance, sure enough, it looked like the scene from Hook when Peter had just returned. Only here they were real pirates, along with the Vikings and men and women with strange, clockwork exoskeletons and fanciful guns.
How the hell this would be explained to the locals, Frank had no idea. He supposed Rick, or the Ricks, didn’t care. Their objective at the moment was to win.
“We have a plan here?” Keisha asked.
A silence followed, but Frank broke it. “This other Rick, he brought them here to ensure we’re stopped, right? Prevent us from getting in his way, to get those original stones and then change all of this?”
“Likely so,” Rose replied.
“Well, then it’s simple. Kill them all.”
The words leaving his mouth had felt so matter of fact. So easy to say, even as his mind processed the fact that he was suggesting they plow through hundreds of seasoned pirates and warriors, ending their lives.
Looking at his teammates, he couldn’t help but feel their eyes weighing him, their minds wondering if he was okay. He felt the need to justify his words.
“Not only is this some time travel mumbo-jumbo, but we’re dealing with multiple worlds, we think. Right? When it comes down to it, killing these men isn’t a moral choice—they want to see other worlds conquered, others killed in much larger numbers than whatever lives will be cost here today. By doing what needs to be done in this regard, we’ll be saving thousands, if not millions, of lives. We can’t let Rick Draper win. He’s—”
“Frank,” his grandpa cut him off. “None of us doubt the need. I think we were all just surprised that you were the one to say it.”
“What, I’m not a killer?”
Shadow chuckled. Rose glanced around, avoiding his gaze.
“That’s what we love about you,” Keisha said, hand on his shoulder. “You aren’t… not in your heart, anyway. The fact that you felt the need to justify this shows that.”
“But it needs to be done, right? Can we get to Rick and stop him, when all of this is getting in our way?”
She shook her head. “You’re one hundred percent right. And it’s hot.”
“Not that anyone being a killer turns us on,” Esmerelda interjected. “But I agree. Seeing you step up, the warrior ready to plow through them like the Grim Reaper claiming his dues… kinda sexy.”
Shadow cleared his throat. “Let’s get to it then, before my grandson here gets too big a head and it explodes.”
“Aye,” Esmerelda agreed with a flirtatious wink, and drew a pistol. “Where do we start?”
“At the top,” Shadow replied.
He was the first to move, running along rooftops, hopping from one to the next, while the rest of the group moved to keep up. It was probably a good thing Milly wasn’t there with them, as she was big and less agile. She likely would’ve fallen or given them away somehow.
Frank saw a man fall ahead, then moved past Shadow and took out one himself while Temra and Rose went to the edge of a roof and dropped. He moved to get a better view, and saw they’d taken out two pirate men and one Viking lady, and were dragging them into the shadows to get them out of sight.
The next kill came from Esmerelda, as she’d landed on a roof at the exact moment as a man with a clockwork pistol and strange goggles emerged from a stairwell to her right. He spun, drawing, but she cleared the distance between them in two leaps, forgoing the katana for her trusty cutlass and a hack into his throat. No shout of alarm had any chance of escaping his lips as with another strike he was down, twitching, then still.
Fuck, this all was bound to mess with Frank’s dreams. That, or put some hair on my chest, he thought with a chuckle as he bounded forward.
A signal came from Shadow, indicating the building ahead that resembled a courthouse. Frank nodded, turning to repeat the signal to those behind him. Soon, they were all huddled together on the building’s roof, listening to Shadow’s plan.
“This is the best point of attack,” Shadow said, indicating the alley to the right. “We hit them with explosives on the opposite side, then use a burst of firepower from the modified rifle Frank crafted for me. As I’m the most adept at vanishing, it’ll be me, and I’ll disappear into the shadows. The courageous will go after me, therefore heading away from the rest, who will head for this alley.”
“Where we lay our own trap,” Temra said, nodding along.
“And if we see the cyborg, he’s yours,” Frank added, knowing she was thinking it. She gave him an appreciative nod.
“Make it happen.” Shadow kissed his wife, then pulled his rifle close to him as he went off in the direction indicated.
The rest of them took up position around the alley, some high, others low, while Temra was in charge of explosives. She had her steampunk one, and the others Frank had been able to craft. Enough to at least cause a bit of panic.
Frank had his modified weapons at the ready, anticipation building. His trigger finger was moving along the side of his pistol, caressing the cold metal. His other hand on the hilt of his katana, his mind racing with thoughts of the ways this could go down, but also incredibly humored by how far he’d come to get here, in such a short amount of time.
Time. He chuckled, trying to make sense of all this.
Waiting for it to go down, Frank looked over to where he knew Temra would be. She’d done a good job of hiding. The fact that she was fitting in so well with the other ladies somewhat surprised him, as he had thought there might be some jealousy or ownership on her part. As calm as she was, he could totally see her with those red eyes getting up in some bitch’s face, threatening to end them if they ever came near Frank again.
Then again, maybe she would be like that, but in his case there was only Esmerelda and Keisha, for now. They were the farthest from bitches he could imagine any women being. Soon Milly and Mary would join the mix again, he assumed, but neither had seemed to have issue with Temra, nor her with them. Granted, they hadn’t had much of a chance.
He found his mind wandering off to images of all five of them. Could he even handle it? He chuckled quietly to himself again, adjusting his crotch as his little friend started to respond to the thoughts. A few additions to his stamina and strength, and he’d be fine.
A glimmer of an object soaring through the sky caught his attention, and he stiffened, preparing himself for the action to come. Three… two… KABOOM!
The explosion rocked the square, more following and shooting out shrapnel, as screams echoed around from the enemy below. Smoke rose into the sky as a barrage of shots from Shadow rang out. He was right about it giving the impression of multiple shooters. Even Frank thought so, and he was used to weapons that fired in rapid succession like that.
Frank lowered himself, nodding to Rose, then Esmerelda and Keisha. Any minute now, a gaggle of pirates would come squawking through. And sure enough, the first madman ran into the alley, coughing and staggering like a drunk.
They threw extra smoke, adding to the confusion, and used the first group as a chance to practice their ni
nja techniques. In, stab or slice, and out. But as more of them came, they switched to ammo, using up a large portion of what Frank had been able to put together from the loot crates.
More pirates appeared like wraiths through the smoke, dark forms materializing as they drew close. He saw them as red dots with his awareness skill, almost blips in a video game that needed smudging out. Frank was a fucking animal, tearing through his prey, destroying them one by one at times, setting up claymores and doing group damage at others. His strikes were hard and fast, although soon he began to wish he’d upgraded his stamina, as his weapons were growing heavy.
A pirate appeared to his left, out of nowhere it seemed, and nearly got a strike in on Frank, but he countered with a one-legged maneuver that would’ve been impossible if not for his improved balance. Maybe the ninja training helped, too.
At this angle, Frank was able to look up and see where Temra was. He thought maybe the form at the edge of the roof was her. He was about to turn back and find another victim, when an explosion hit and the roof exploded. Large bits of the structure were falling down to the ground not so far off, and he stumbled back, not able to process the fate of Temra that he was certain he had just witnessed.
“I’m going after her,” Frank shouted, charging out into the smoke.
It was chaos all around him, with shots going off, men and women groaning and screaming in agony. Another explosion sounded, and then the whirring of a plane. He remembered that sound all too well, and had to wonder what was going on with the original PK. Was he involved with this? In the know now?
A hand reached out for him and he kicked it away, moving as fast as he could for the fallen rubble. Smoke cleared from his path, revealing two pirates who turned to see him and drew blades. Maybe that would have intimidated him, once, but at the moment he had a mission, one he couldn’t afford any distraction from.
With all the noise and shots going on, he didn’t even bother trying for the incognito thing with these two. He had his pistol ready, not the one with darts, and blew two holes in the nearest man’s chest, then one in the other’s leg. Holstering the pistol, he drew his katana and finished them both off.
Shouting alerted him before the axe of a Viking nearly cleaved his head open, and then he was staggering back as the woman—apparently—tackled him. He felt a tug at his pants, near his pocket. A clanging sounded. Frank assumed one of his weapons was knocked loose, but he still had the sword at the ready. The woman headbutted him, causing everything to go red and then blurry as his vision returned. He still had his wits about him enough to see her raising the axe for another strike, so he quickly brought the katana up and under her armpit, stabbing as deep as he could.
The axe fell, the flat side of it smacking him on the side of the head and making the blurriness return again even as the first round of it was fading. She growled and tried to reach for the axe, but Frank twisted the katana, reaching with both hands to get a better grip, and then pulled it free as he thrust her off with his hips.
He spun, vision returning to normal as he saw her stagger back, clutching what he assumed to be one of his dropped pistols. No way was he letting this bitch shoot him, although he realized she might have no idea how to even use the thing.
She smiled, staggered back, and fell on her ass. A distant look came over her eyes, her wounded side drenched in blood, and Frank decided to finish it off instead of letting her bleed out. He opened her throat, then crouched to clean his blade and keep a low profile as he regained his bearings.
A shot tore through the air and left a cold sensation on the side of his face. He blinked, confused, and then lifted his hand to feel his wet cheek. Pulling his hand away, he staggered back to see the blood, his body tensing.
But if it had been fatal, he wouldn’t be standing there still, right? He had to assume it was merely a flesh wound. Another check, and the blood wasn’t gushing. Still, he cursed, and then saw a mountain of a man staggering toward him, one arm fucking hanging by a thread, blood soaking his pirate leathers, pistol smoking. The pirate tossed aside the pistol, pulling another from a sash with two more at the ready, and took aim.
“I’ve seen you before,” the pirate said, although Frank was fucked if he could recognize him. He was pretty sure he’d remember this huge-ass man. “This’ll be the last time.”
Another shot, but this time Frank realized his mistake and dove, reaching back the way he’d come. The compass was there, as he’d guessed, clutched in the dead Viking woman’s hand.
He pried it free before the next shot could go off, so that as he held it tight, his shield rippled back into place and blocked the shot. With the compass on his body, his shield was good.
The mountain of a pirate stared in confusion, then got a taste of his own medicine. Frank dropped the katana to draw his pistol and shot. Wrong one, apparently, as a dart hit the man in the eye, then another in the throat.
Fuck, he didn’t want to waste those. Staggering back to his feet as he put the pistol back and swept up his katana, he watched as the pirate tried to look at the dart in his eye, then fell to one knee.
Good. Now they were almost on the same level. Frank put his compass into an inner pocket, careful to secure it so he wouldn’t take any more shots as long as the shield was active. He took the three strides needed to reach the man, then sliced him once across the abdomen. The men fell over onto all fours, and Frank took the opportunity to try something he’d always seen in the movies and been curious about.
Could a well-placed swipe of a katana sever the head with only part of the neck, or skin, intact, so it didn’t roll away? The first strike was strong, what with his upgrades, but still only resulted in a cut about a third of the way through the neck. Blood sprayed and he stepped back, disgusted, as the pirate fell to the ground, dead.
Well, damn. He’d have to practice that neck-cutting technique, if given more chances. As he pulled the katana free, he had to wonder if he was becoming a bit of a psychopath. These killings weren’t meaning what they once had and were even becoming pretty commonplace. Then again, they were all bad guys, right? So, fuck it.
He heard more shouting, closing in on him. Really not wanting to deal with any more giants like this one, or even shrimps if he could help it, he threw down one of the ninja smoke balls to give himself cover and sprinted off toward the rubble where he thought he might be able to find Temra.
Halfway there, Frank wanted to slap himself for forgetting about his Awareness skill again. Focusing on it as he blinked, he could suddenly see red dots where the enemy was, regardless of smoke and other barriers. Using this to his advantage, he went about his approach to the entrance in a much stealthier way, moving up behind the enemy and gutting them, slitting some throats, putting darts in others when he couldn’t get close enough.
Then he was there, moving past rubble, searching for any sign of Temra. He scanned the area where the floors above had caved in but saw nothing. If she were dead, would his awareness show him her corpse? He doubted it, but he didn’t want to start down that path.
If she were dead so soon after becoming part of the group, so soon after he’d opened his heart to her, he wondered how he’d take it. A glance around showed nobody else, though, and his heart pounded as he looked back at the rubble. His hand went to the lump of his compass, as he considered the ramifications, if any, of simply turning back time to stop this from happening.
A muffled shout.
He spun, scanning, and saw a faint speck of red, but only partial, like a body missing some parts… and then another form, but not clear. Too many walls between them, maybe, but there was no doubt by the way the two were moving that they were fighting. Judging by the direction, it wasn’t likely to be the others he’d separated from, so his hope managed to jump up into his throat in the form of a laugh.
At that moment, he would’ve bet the compass it was Temra. Maybe more out of hope than certainty, but he would’ve—and, as it turned out, he would’ve been right. He heard her shouts
as he quickly worked his way closer, charging through the doorways and halls of this old building. No time to pause and appreciate the old architecture or the intriguing paintings of this Caribbean landscape. He pushed past it all, finally barging through a set of double doors to see Temra alive and well.
She dove as a plasma blast destroyed the stairwell behind her but was up a moment later to return fire with one of her pistols. A good shot, but Prain the cyborg had a shield, as Frank had seen earlier, so it did no good.
The cyborg glanced over to see Frank, and laughed as he shot at Temra again. This time she thrust her shoulder into it, flinching, but the shield rolled out and deflected the shot.
He glared, circling her, keeping his back away from Frank. “You found yourself a replacement, I see. Maybe better than the one I took away, hmm?”
“Fuck you!” Temra was up, charging, that shoulder absorbing shot after shot.
Frank tried to take a couple shots, too, but knew they would do no good. Maybe if he got in close with his swords he could land a hit but judging by the speed he’d seen the cyborg move, his chances wouldn’t be good.
Again, he clutched the compass in case he needed to use it, wondering about the ramifications. What had Shadow said about it? Would he be creating alternate worlds, and therefore more versions of Rick and assholes like this cyborg? He couldn’t be sure but wanted to be careful in that regard.
Temra was quick to move, her clockwork gear improving her reflexes, the glove on her hand giving her the ability to slam it into the ground and swing around, changing direction fast. Frank charged up at her side, throwing strikes at the cyborg and hoping his enhanced stats from leveling up would give him the edge needed—that and the fact that there were two of them against the one opponent.