The Pen is Mightier

by J. A. Cipriano

  “I’m still not telling you—”

  Miss Montgomery shot him in the leg, and he screamed as the sound of the gunshot echoed through the room. Blood spurted from the wound as he gritted his teeth. The thing was, the wound wasn’t as bad as I’d expected it to be. Maybe that was the natural damage resistance he’d spoken about earlier? Perhaps it stuck around even after losing the pen?

  “If I have to ask again, I start having her cut things off.” As I spoke, Miss Montgomery produced a battery-operated circular saw and pulled the trigger, causing the blade to whir.

  “You’re a fucking psycho,” Wayne snapped, glaring at me with hate-filled eyes. This had ceased to be fun for him a long time ago. That made two of us. I was already bored of his antics.

  “Felicia, I guess he needs more persuading.” I nodded to my counselor who smiled like I’d just given her a Christmas present.

  “I’m glad I get to be the one to do this, you fuck.” She glared at him. “Do you think I like being abducted and used as collateral?” She arched a red eyebrow at him. “Did you know all four of us wanted to play this part, but I’m very good at rock, paper, and scissors?” She nodded to him as she brought the whirling blade close to him. “The key is to ask a random question right before you go. If you do, nine out of ten times it comes up scissors.” She made a fist. “And rock always beats scissors.” She punched him in the nose. His head snapped backward in a spray of blood, and as she grabbed his hair and jerked him forward, she brought the blade within millimeters of his bloody nose. “This is gonna hurt you more than me.”

  “Stop,” he croaked, trying to pull free of her grip. “I needed you to give me the pen because it only works for the one it has been given too. If I killed you and took it, the pen wouldn’t work. That’s why that one stopped working when you took it. Since I’m the pen’s rightful owner, only I can use it until I give it to someone else.”

  As he spoke, the lie detector that analyzed him with a whole host of sensors within the room let me know he was telling the truth.

  “Interesting,” I said, tapping the pen against my cheek for a moment. “Tell me everything you know about the pen, its holders, pretty much everything. And don’t leave anything out. I’m not sure how long I can hold off Felicia. She’s quite feisty.”

  Oddly enough, Felicia didn’t even have to torture him anymore. He just spilled his guts, and over the next couple hours, I realized I might have a problem. One, for as much as Wayne claimed to know about the pens, he didn’t know any specifics. Not who the other holders were, nor the limits to the pens. In short, it seemed like he’d just gotten lucky rather than being good. That made me hate him a lot more.

  He was like every other asshole who had lucked into being in the right place at the right time while I’d busted my ass to get ahead.

  “Enough,” I said, waving my hand as Wayne finished telling me for the umpteenth time that was all he knew about the other pen-holders. I believed him, and that meant he’d outlived his usefulness.

  “Enough?” he asked, looking at me. “What do you mean enough?”

  “Felicia,” I said, ignoring him as I turned to look at her. “What do you and the girls want to do with him?” I waved a dismissive hand at him. “I think I’m done with him.”

  “I want to shoot him in the face until I run out of bullets and then feed him to the crocs.” She looked at me, and all I could see behind her eyes was the rage at having been kidnapped, at having been used as bait, but mostly? Mostly she was angry at him for making her feel like nothing.

  “Sounds like a plan, but call the other girls too. They probably want to be here for it.”

  “They will,” she said, nodding furiously at me before shooting him in the shoulder for no reason. “That’s for telling me all the ways you were gonna rape me, you fuck.” Then she shot him again. This time in the groin. I’ll be honest, the sight of me hurt me in my own man parts.

  Still, I couldn’t help but think the son of a bitch deserved it, especially since I hadn’t known about the whole raping thing, but then again, considering the guys Wayne employed, it didn’t surprise me.

  “Maybe you should get them before he bleeds out,” I said as she leveled the gun at him again.

  “Maybe…” She shot him again. “But he’s durable, so it’s probably fine.” She glared at him then dropped her gun to her side and headed toward the door at the end of the room. As she touched the keypad beside it, she cocked her head back. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about the saw, you piece of shit.” The way she said it, almost made me regret turning her into an expert torturer at her request. Almost.

  Only, as the door opened, something grabbed Felicia and flung her backward through the door. As my counselor hit the ground on the other side of the threshold, the metal door that had opened fell back into place.

  A quick glance at my screens let me know nothing was in the room with me, but that couldn’t be possible, could it?

  Heart hammering, I sprang to my feet, surveying the room as Wayne began to laugh. “Oh, you’re fucked now.”

  “Ignoring him, I pulled my own gun as I ran a billion more scans, but nothing showed up. Only, I needn’t have bothered because a second later there was a shimmer of light like the ones my camouflage suits had made when they deactivated.

  A brunette woman with long hair, an hourglass figure, and eyeglasses that magnified her silver-grey eyes stepped from the nothingness and adjusted the FBI badge that hung around her neck.

  “Greetings,” she said, adjusting her clipboard, and I realized she was holding a pen in one hand that looked very similar to mine.

  “Um… greetings,” I said, watching her carefully. “Who are you?”

  “You may call me Agent Smith.” She nodded once, her eyes flicking from me to Wayne. “And I can’t let you kill him.”

  “Why? Because let me tell you, he’s a giant ass and way too big of a liability for me to possibly let live.” I arched an eyebrow as I stared at the beautiful women in confusion. I wasn’t sure how she’d gotten in here, even with her own pen, but I was suddenly very worried. Still, I couldn’t let her know that, and besides, reinforcements would be here shortly. Skye and the others were just outside the door with mechs.

  “I agree, but it is not your problem anymore.” She tapped her badge with the back of her pen. “It is mine.”

  “Explain, please,” I said gesturing at the room. “Because, from where I sit, you should, well, I don’t want to make threats…” As I let my words hang between us, she nodded once.

  “Look, if I wanted you dead. You would be dead.” She pointed her pen at me. “I would take you out as easily as I did John Tenner at the carnival. This is a courtesy.” She ran a hand through her hair, finger-combing it behind her ear. “In fact, I’ve only let you live because you’ve helped me out by bringing me this guy.”

  She had a point, but I didn’t want her to know that. I mean, okay she did know that since she’d been invisible and used the same fucking trick on me I’d used on Wayne even though I’d thought to take precautions against it, but well…

  I sighed and rubbed my temples. Then I got to my feet and climbed down from my awesome dragon throne. As my feet reached the ground, I held a hand out to her. Admittedly, it seemed a bit odd because Wayne was strung up beside her whimpering and bleeding, but you make do with what you have.

  “I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.” I took a step toward her, my hand still outstretched in greeting. “I’m Roger, and I don’t give a flying fuck what you do with that short piece of shit as long as he never bothers me again. If you want him, and can guarantee me that, he’s all yours.”

  “I can guarantee that.” She took my hand, and the touch of her was like coming home after a long day at work and finding out your girlfriend had put on your favorite show, cracked open a beer for you, and then followed it up with a blowjob.

  “Wow. You give good hand.” I swallowed when she released me and looked at my hand. I could
still feel it tingling from the one touch.

  “I do.” She nodded, cheeks coloring. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to take custody of Wayne Tenner.” She gestured to him with her clipboard. “You can keep the pen.”

  “Really?” I asked, suddenly confused. “Wouldn’t you want it more than that old piece of shit?”

  “Yes and no. The reason I want him is because he shouldn’t be killed. If he is, the pen you took from him will look for a new owner.” She smiled evilly. “If I lock him away in a dark hole until time ends, that will render his pen useless forever.”

  As I thought about her words, it made sense. The less pens in circulation, the less assholes I’d have to deal with, and by keeping the pen, I could ensure no one else got it.

  “That sounds like a deal,” I said, shoving my hand into my pocket so I’d stop thinking about how good that one touch had felt. It didn’t really work. “There’s just one more thing I want to know before you go.”

  “What’s that?” She arched an eyebrow at me.

  “What’s with the FBI thing?” I nodded to her badge.

  “I’m the leader of a covert FBI team tasked with taking down the pen-bearers, among other things.” She gestured to Wayne. “We’ve been after this asshole for a while. Well, moreover, we’ve been after this particular pen.”

  “Wait, so you’re going to stop me too? To take my pen.” I swallowed, hard. I wasn’t sure what her game was, but one thing was certain, there was no way I was giving her my pen.

  “No.” Her smile widened as she looked me up and down. “I’m actually here to recruit you to the cause.” She took a step toward me, and I could feel heat wafting off of her. “I could tell you that I could stop you, or that the world is imperiled, but you won’t care.” She touched my arm as she leaned in close. “Here’s what you do need to know.” She trailed her fingers along my arm until she reached my hand, each tiny movement sending shockwaves of pleasure running through me. “You’re going to get bored.” She nodded to Wayne. “He could tell you that, but you’ll find out for yourself. It’s inevitable.”

  She kissed my cheek then, and the feel of her lips was so overwhelming my knees shook. Stifling a groan, I could only imagine what they’d feel like wrapped around a very different part of my body.

  “I’m not quite following you,” I said, trying to push back the feeling as it threatened to drive rational thought from my head. The last thing I wanted to do was to help this chick in exchange for something as mundane as a blowjob. No matter how hot she was, nor how good her touch felt.

  “Oh, it’s simple.” She pulled away then, turning on her heel and striding toward Wayne. “When you get bored, call me. I’ll answer, and together? Well, together maybe we can take out all the other pen bearers.” She looked at me over her shoulder, her pink lips stretched into a smile that was part tease, part promise, and all desire. “And then, when that’s over, you and I? Well, we can talk about that when the time comes…” She bent down, examining the chains holding Wayne’s ankles to the floor. “Little help?”

  “Sure,” I said, staring at her. “Open the ring.” As I spoke, the AI heard my command and caused the ring fastening Wayne in place to open. He slumped forward on the ground, or would have if Agent Smith hadn’t grabbed him by the back of the neck and held him upright like he weighed no more than an empty trash bag.

  “Much obliged.” She grinned. “Be seeing you, Roger. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.”

  “But why me?” I asked, still confused. On the one hand, I got that I might get bored enough to help her, like how Sherlock Holmes was so smart he helped with police work just for the fun of it, but it still didn’t make sense as to why she’d come to me.

  “Oh, that’s easy.” Her hand whipped out in a flash, scribbling something on her clipboard, and as she did, a rent in space and time appeared before her. It pulsated, throwing electric purple sparks in every direction as the smell of ozone filled my nose. “Not all pens are created equal.” She flung Wayne through the portal. “And neither are all bearers.” She winked at me. “I’ve got a good feeling about you.” Then, with those words still ringing in my ears, she stepped through the portal, leaving me standing there all by myself in my throne room.

  “She’s through there!” Miss Montgomery cried a millisecond later.

  As the door opened at the far end of the room, I saw she was still laying on the ground and had barely recovered. Skye, Marty, and a few others surged inside, all wearing their mech armor, while the rest of the girls came in, guns at the ready. Only as they stepped into the room, they looked around in bewilderment.

  “Where did she go?” Skye asked, mechanical suit swiveling around. “She only breached the door three seconds ago.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, looking at them in confusion. “We spoke for a few minutes at least?”

  “No.” Marty shook his head as he came toward me. As he did, he opened his cockpit and jumped out, landing next to me. “Check your time records.”

  “Fine,” I said, turning back to my throne. “Display video of the interaction.” Only as I watched it, I realized they were right because, on the video, both she and I appeared to be moving at super speed.

  “You’re right,” I said after I’d watched the three-second clip ten or so times. “And that’s great news.” I turned, smiling at my friends as I settled into my throne. “It means I can become even more powerful.”

  Thank You for reading!

  Curious about what happens to Roger next?

  Find out soon!

  Author’s Note

  Dear reader, if you REALLY want to read my next Pen novel- I’ve got a bit of bad news for you.

  Unfortunately, Amazon will not tell you when the next comes out.

  You’ll probably never know about my next books, and you’ll be left wondering what happened to Roger, Skye, and the gang. That’s rather terrible.

  There is good news though! There are three ways you can find out when the next book is published:

  1) You join my mailing list by clicking here.

  2) You follow me on my Facebook page or join my Facebook Group. I always announce my new books in both those places as well as interact with fans.

  3) You follow me on Amazon. You can do this by going to the store page (or clicking this link) and clicking on the Follow button that is under the author picture on the left side.

  If you follow me, Amazon will send you an email when I publish a book. You’ll just have to make sure you check the emails they send.

  Doing any of these, or all three for best results, will ensure you find out about my next book when it is published.

  If you don’t, Amazon will never tell you about my next release. Please take a few seconds to do one of these so that you’ll be able to join Roger, Skye, and the gang on their next adventure.

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