by J Bigby
"No, you listen! You betrayed us and you betrayed me," Hotshot says with a passion, interrupting Dex in the process. "Now if you would kindly shut up, while I take your ass to the big boss, that would be most appreciated," he says calmly as ever like he was trying to cover up his emotions.
"Is this all worth it Colt? You saw what those people went through, you're telling me you feel nothing towards them? I couldn't stand being that guy's puppet for one more second. I bet you feel the same way, he killed your family and mine. Let's take him down together. Come on man, you always come through." Dex pleads, hoping somehow what he said would make a difference.
Hotshot closes off the pilot's compartment, separating the cockpit from the rest of the ship. "What did you do to the people I was with!" Dex screams out hoping Hotshot would hear him, but no response.
They approach the warship, The Tiger Claw. "Hotshot here, with a gift for the big man." Colt says through the ships communication device.
"Permission to land granted," says a voice from the warship. Hotshot lands his ship and drags Dex out by his chains towards the bridge.
"Colt, come on! We have been through hell together, we're brothers." Hotshot just keeps walking, not looking back at Dex. They arrive at the bridge, Hotshot uses the chains to pick Dex up and throws him at Commander Whites feet.
"You wanted him?" Hotshot asks rhetorically.
"What did you do with the Ambassador?" Commander White asks back.
Hotshot smiles as he says, "Threw his unconscious ass into the ocean, along with some other guy that was with them. Don't worry, they're stiffies now."
"You better be right because if I don't get paid, you will pay with your life."
"Yes sir," Hotshot says with the smile removed from his face. Commander White unsheathes his knife from the chest of his armour. He looks at the tip and runs his fingers along the edge, testing how sharp it is, cutting his finger in the process, not phasing him at all.
"Leave us, Hotshot, me and an old friend got some catching up to do." Commander White smiles menacingly as he leans down pointing the knife in Dex's face.
Hotshot turns around to leave with a guilt-driven look on his face.
10 minutes ago back on Halfe World... Fury suddenly wakes surrounded by crushing, freezing water. Fury bends time, slowing everything down, as he looks around to discover where he is, and how he got there. He looks over to his left and sees the Ambassador sinking further and further into the water. Fury swims as fast as he can to reach the Ambassador. The water pressure compresses with every stroke he takes.
'He's too far down,' he thinks as a brilliant idea comes to his head. Fury spins around in the water to face the surface and fires a blast of energy hurling him fast toward the dark abyss and closer to Ambassador Raygan. Fury reaches out with his hand and tries to grab Raygan's arm, his grip slipping every few seconds.
'Come on you got this, I can't afford to fail now not while there's oxygen still in my lungs,' he thinks to himself. His fingers grasp the Ambassadors suit sleeve and grips tightly. 'Got ya!' Fury thinks as he brings Raygan closer toward him. Fury holds his body tight against the Ambassador with one hand as he paddles to the surface with the other. A shining light above Fury, appears, blinding him. As he approaches the bright light, he realises its Dex's white powered suit. The bright light is Vicor with the torch of the suit on to signal help. Fury swims towards it and puts on Dex's boots with his free hand then grabs the rest of the armour and uses the boots to rocket through the water to the surface. Fury takes a deep breath as time goes back to normal and they both fly through the air landing on the nearby docks. Fury turns to check on Ambassador Raygan but he can't find a pulse.
"God damn it! I have not just gone through all this, just for you to die on me!" Fury yells. He starts performing CPR until the Ambassador gasps spitting out water and coughing.
"What in the universe just happened? Why am I all wet? I'm guessing the plan didn't go as we intended?" The Ambassador starts rambling.
"Just wait a minute and take a breath, we need to find Dex. After the explosion happened I saw a bounty hunter take Dex into his ship, I blanked after that, he must have thrown us in the water." Fury explains.
"Wait, if you were unconscious when he threw you in, how did you get us out in time."
"Whenever I hold my breath, time slows down but as soon as I breathe again, it goes back to normal. It would have given me enough time to wake up and save you."
"Any other powers I should know about before we proceed?"
"Yeah, the ability to find my ship," Fury says avoiding the question.
"So you not going to inform me of what my own bodyguard can do?"
"When the time comes, but for now, we have to find Dex. I'm not leaving him behind."
"Maybe I could be of assistance," Vicor says from the suit, as it compacts itself into a small square box. Fury and the Ambassador jump from surprise.
"You've been listening to us the entire time!?" shouts Fury.
"I had to make sure that you could be trusted." Vicor responses. "When Sir Dexter first got taken from his family, he and a bunch of others were put through a series of tests. Fail and you died, pass and you got a microchip inserted into your neck to forever find you. Sir Dexter got one of the highest scores in The White Tiger history. As a reward and to make him that much more deadly, they gave him me." Vicor continues.
"So there's a way we can track him?" Fury asks with hope on his face.
"Precisely, but there is a complication. It's on a private server so we have to hack it." Vicor says.
"And just how will we be able to do that?" Ambassador Raygan asks.
"I need you to hook me up to a computer and I'll do the rest." Vicor responds.
"There was a tech lab near where I performed my speech, this way!" Ambassador Raygan yells out as he runs toward the building.
Fury chases after the Ambassador while attaching the compressed suit containing Vicor, to his back. Ambassador Raygan followed by Fury, approaches the steps to the building that's filled with research labs, experiments and plenty of computers. A sign above the door reads HALFELIFE CORP.
"So you think we can just waltz in and use a computer here?" Fury asks Raygan.
"The people respect me here. I'll go distract the front desk and you plug the armour into a computer." Raygan says. "Hey, I have an appointment to have a chat with the staff!" He yells out while casually walking toward the reception desk.
Fury crouches down and sneaks off to the left, taking full advantage of Ambassador Raygan's distraction and quietly going through a door with a sign saying DO NOT ENTER. Fury finds himself in a hallway, multiple rooms on both sides. He looks up through a window and sees people strapped down, while getting injected with unknown liquids, their faces almost looking paralysed by all the chemicals.
Fury rushes back down, clenching his fists with blue energy slowly surrounding them. 'No, I have to keep going, more people are depending on me but I will come back when all this is over' he thinks.
He carefully walks over to the next room and sees a large computer lab with three people in it. As the employees work away on their computers, Fury sneaks into the room being careful not to alert anyone. He notices a key card that logs in to the computers next to an employee and sees the perfect opportunity to access one of them. Fury holds his breath, slowing down time to a near stop. He runs and grabs the card, then heads back to his previous position releasing his breath and resuming time. Fury slowly moves to the back of the room, in the corner of the computer lab, to avoid being seen. He takes off the armour that was on his back and puts it next to him.
"Okay what do I do now," he whispers.
"There's a cord in the torso compartment. Plug it in and I will do the rest," Vicor whispers back.
Fury reaches inside the compartment and pulls out the cord. He plugs it into the computer. A login pops up but Vicor hacks right through it, like he's done it multiple times before.
"This will take a moment,"
Vicor says.
Two men in security uniforms turn their heads and see Fury. They start walking towards him quickly.
"Hey you!" one shouts.
"Don't move!" the other one yells.
"I don't think we have a moment here Vic!" Fury panics.
"60% complete," Vicor states.
"We are going to need more time!" Fury stresses.
He gets up from the chair and faces the guards. He lifts his hands that are wrapped up in black bandages, going all the way up his forearms, to provide support to his muscles. He fires a blast of energy, sending both the security guards to the back of the room, crashing into the wall. The employees get out from their desks and run to safety as an alarm sounds throughout the building.
"80% complete," Vicor says as six of the closest security guards rush into the room.
"I've fought more," Fury says to himself.
Fury runs toward them, jumps and spins while extending his right leg out kicking one of the guards across the face and sending him to the side, forcing two other guards nearby to catch him before he falls. Fury extends his arm toward them and fires another blast of energy, knocking all three guards back. They crash into a glass window, connecting to the next room filled with vials.
"100% complete," Vicor says across the room.
Fury runs at the remaining guards and uses his energy ability to form a small knife and throws it at the one to the right of him. He then uppercuts the guard to the left, sending him crashing into a row of computers. The remaining guard stares at Fury, scared of what he can do. He quickly pulls out his gun and fires but Fury quickly forms an energy shield and runs at the guard. Bullets deflect off the shield as Fury rams the guy into the wall, making a huge hole.
As more guards enter the room and start running toward Fury, he holds his breath and runs towards Vicor, unplugging and grabbing the suit. All the guards remain near frozen, moving ever so slowly. Fury goes to the back of the room again and looks to his right and sees a massive window next to him that leads outside onto the streets. Without a thought, Fury jumps out the window, releasing his breath.
"Where the hell did he go!?" One of the guards says looking around.
As time resumes, Ambassador Raygan hears the crash. "Excuse me," he says as he runs out the entrance door. "Fury!" he yells out.
"We've got to go!" Fury says rushing past him. They both start running back towards the landing docks where Fury's ship resided. Loud gunfire follows behind them.
"I don't know if they know this but I'm deathly allergic to bullets!" Ambassador Raygan screams out as he ducks his head and puts his arms over it. Fury creates an energy shield covering enough of both of them to deflect the bullets.
They reach Fury's ship. "Get in!" Fury instructs.
Raygan climbs up and lifts his right leg over to enter the ship but suddenly a bullet slips past the shield and hits the Ambassadors right thigh. "Arghh!" he yells.
Fury pushes the rest of him into the ship, throws the suit in and jumps into the cockpit. He reaches up and closes the cockpit window just in time as the bullets hit it. The ship starts up and accelerates towards the sky.
"Are you okay?" asks Fury.
"I'm bleeding fast!" Raygan shouts in pain.
"I have an idea. This is going to hurt." Fury puts the ship on autopilot and he turns around. A ball of energy forms around his hand then he places it on Raygan's wound, cauterising it, stopping the bleeding in the process "Arghh! God damn that hurts!" Raygan yells.
"You wanted to know what some of my powers were," Fury laughs.
"Not like this!" Raygan screams out in pain.
"It's a temporary fix for now," Fury says "Vicor, what's Dex's coordinates, it's time we end this!" he continues.
"Taking us there now." The ship speeds ahead as it goes into hyperspace to reach their destination.
Chapter Three: A Hot Shot
Meanwhile, on The Tiger Claw...
Dex is chained up by his hands and feet, surrounded by darkness in the middle of a room. The chain around his wrists are bolted to the ceiling and the chains around his ankles are attached to the ground, suspending him in the air. Dex hangs there, almost lifeless, his body limp and bruised, his head covered in blood from the open gashes across his face. His mouth fills with blood and he spits on the ground.
"Look at you now. I would say you are either really brave or really stupid but seeing that you're here, answers me already." Commander White says as he walks into the room, turning on a light, shining upon Dex. Dex remains silent to afraid to speak. "I don't need your tongue to make you talk," White says inches from his face.
"Not stupid. I got out of your grasp," Dex replies looking away from White.
Commander White laughs "But did you?" he says as he looks up and down at Dex, showing that he hasn't escaped him or The White Tigers.
Dex clenches his wide jaw in anger, trying not to show White any weakness. "Being here is better than doing your dirty work!" Dex yells.
"Oh really? I saw you smile every time you ended someone's life. Couldn't have been too bad for you." White calmly says almost taunting Dex.
"You forced me to smile! If I removed my smile, you would have made sure I had a permanent one!" Dex yells. He screams out in pain from his injuries all over his body.
"You can fake a smile but you can't fake that look in your eyes," White continues to taunt.
"No! Shut up!" White punches Dex in the stomach.
"You can never escape your past, no matter what you do to make up for it!" White snaps "Not because you did those things but because you enjoyed doing them." He continues, calming back down. Dex stays silent, knowing there's a hint of truth in what Commander White was saying. "The average man can withstand seven broken bones before passing out... We'll find your number. You knew the consequences for betraying me, a long slow death. So get comfortable..." White says with a smile on his face. He turns around and walks toward the door. He then turns his head to face Dex. "...You're going to die here."
White opens the door and steps outside. He turns to Hotshot who was standing at the front, guarding the door. "Make sure he's not up to anything in there," White says to him.
"Yes sir, big man," Hotshot says while saluting the Commander almost sarcastically. Commander White just rolls his eyes almost as if he's become used to Colts behaviour.
"Just do it," White says as he paces off. Hotshot enters the room and leans against the wall next to the door.
"So you're not even going to say anything to me?" Dex asks.
"What do you want me to say? I've come to rescue you. Jump in my arms and we can live happily ever after." Hotshot says sarcastically. "Whatever you think is going to happen, it's not going to. Ya see, I have survival instincts and they tell me not to fuck with the big man." He continues.
"You've fucked with bigger guys. Remember that big guy you killed with just a tiny needle? Threw it right at his jugular," Dex says.
"Well dirty old prick had it coming. He told me my hat was ridiculous." Hotshot says back with a little smirk on his face. "You still got to tell me how you got Frank Capper to sit on an active landmine." He continues as he laughs.
"The trick is to get them too shit faced to notice," Dex replies as he struggles to laugh. He then takes a deep breath "I know you're a good guy Colt, you've spared someone's life before, its more than what I can say, we can take him together."
"We will die," Hotshot argues.
"Then we die free."
Hotshot looks as though he is honestly considering betraying his superior. The look only lasts a second as he suddenly shouts "No! Get out of my head! I'm loyal to Comma..."
A loud crashing noise comes out of nowhere, shaking the entire warship, interrupting Hotshot in the process. Hotshot backs up towards Dex, taking out both of his modified laser pistols from their sheaths. He aims at the door, ready at a moment's notice to shoot anything that comes through.
Steps creep towards the closed door as Hotshot grips his weapons tigh
t. A blast of energy suddenly destroys the door, sending it flying at Hotshot. Without flinching, Hotshot shoots the right corner of the hurling broken door, spinning it on its axis and changing its trajectory completely missing Hotshot. Fury rushes through the door.
"Dex!" He yells. Fury goes running towards Dex when a laser blast shoots right past Fury's face forcing him to stop.
"First ones a warning, because I'm nice like that." Hotshot says as he aims his pistol at Fury's face.
"Get out of here," Dex groans weakly.
Fury clenches his fists and remembers a promise he made to himself when he got experimented on almost a lifetime ago, though he vividly remembers like it was yesterday. "I can't let you have him," Fury says as his eyes glow blue, allowing him to be able to see clearly in the dark.
Hotshot pulls the trigger, one gun at a time, multiple shots firing at once. Fury quickly forms an energy shield surrounding the front of his body, making the laser blasts disperse into nothing.
"Nice trick," Hotshot says with a smirk. "Check this one out." Hotshot says as he points one of his guns at a hanging metal light fixture on the roof. He aims and fires at a metal wire, one of which was holding up the fixture. The fixture swings down with force and hits Fury's side that wasn't protected by his shield. Fury gets knocked down as the light fixture swings back and forth in the air.
Fury looks up with surprise. 'How is he that good of a shot in the dark,' he thinks.
"I know, I'm that good." Hotshot remarks almost like he could understand what Fury was thinking. Fury slowly starts to get up but a shot fires right next to him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Oh hell, do it, I don't care, more fun for me," Hotshot says.