That Which is Unexpected

by A. L. Bridges

  “Really!?” I ask her and then I answer the call.

  “Hel—”

  “ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME A NERVOUS WRECK!?” Okay, Ouch.

  “Cheza, aren’t you in cla—” I start to ask.

  “Ms. Vaele would you please sit down and get off your phone?” I hear in the background.

  “SORRY MR. FLINT BUT MY BROTHER WAS SHOT A FEW DAYS AGO AND HE WAS JUST JOKING ABOUT DYING WHICH ISN’T VERY FUNNY!” Cheza screams, directing the last part at me in a pitch so high that I’m pretty sure she cracked a few windows.

  I can almost hear the teacher shying away from her in fear—that poor man. Seeing Cheza snap from her usual, quietly shy self can be quite a shock. I’d hate to be whomever she is actually angry at… wait, that’s me.

  “NOW, I’M GOING TO BE CALLING IN AN HOUR AND IF YOU DON’T PICK UP, I’M GOING TO COME HOME AND KILL YOU MYSELF!” Cheza shouts.

  “But what if I want to take a shower?” I stupidly ask.

  “I DON’T CARE!” Cheza yells and hangs up.

  “HAHAHA! I am soooo glad that I let you get that!” Tia exclaims.

  “Now let’s switch things up and I’ll use two blades. Oh, by the way, you can find a copy of that picture under the folder entitled Spankworthy,” Tia says while using one of her hands to make an arc through the air above her head as she says ‘spankworthy’.

  We spend the next hour working on dual-sword fighting defense techniques, until we take a break so I can run to the bathroom. As I’m coming back down the stairs, I hear Tia on the phone, so naturally I stop and listen in.

  “I’m sorry, there’s been an accident,” Tia says.

  “What do you mean an accident!?”

  “Well, we were testing the plating again—” Tia starts to say.

  “YOU MEAN YOU WERE SHOOTING HIM AGAIN!?” I am pretty sure that Cheza is on the other end.

  “Yes, and well, you see what happened was I shot him but instead of getting stopped, the bullet ricocheted off the plating, then ricocheted off the bulletproof glass, then ricocheted off the ceiling, then ricocheted off the floor and finally shot his dick off,” Tia says.

  “HIS DICK!? BUT I HAVEN’T EVEN GOTTEN TO USE IT YET!” Cheza jokes… Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.

  I walk around the corner and see Tia holding my phone, which I remember leaving on the bench when I went to the bathroom.

  “Hey Tia, who are you talking to?” I loudly ask.

  “OH YOU BITCH!” I hear Cheza scream over the phone. Tia hands me the phone and then wanders up the steps. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST GOT ME TO SAY IN FRONT OF MY FRIENDS!?”

  “No, what did she get you to say, Cheza?” I inquire.

  “COLE!?” I hear Cheza yelp in surprise, followed by the sound of a phone clattering on a lunchroom table.

  “Oh! Cole! Oh nothing, nothing, don’t worry about it,” Cheza says with female giggling in the background.

  “Good to hear that you’re still alive have to go now bye!” Cheza blurts out and hangs up

  …

  The next week is spent in the basement with Tia while Cheza goes to her last full week of high school. Sara comes down every once in a while to ask for more discs so I make them on the spot. The amount of blood necessary doesn’t affect my training and it is usually followed by lunch or an extended break. As the week progresses, I notice that I’m becoming better at fortifying the individual muscles that I need for certain attacks or defenses to maximize efficiency.

  Tia steps up her speeds on a daily basis as I improve. She teaches me how to fight effectively against a dual wielding opponent, and also against different types of weapons like maces, axes, hammers, etc. Tia tells me that she’s going to train me to defend against any type of weapon because we don’t know who I’ll be facing or what weapon they’ll be using. We also work on marksmanship for my non-god level enemies.

  “What do you mean by that?” I inquire.

  “For all fast enemies, like gods, vampires, etc. your Sic blade or short Sic blade will be best. For other enemies that are slow enough to shoot, like human soldiers, they will most likely be shooting at you so shoot them first,” Tia answers.

  “I’m going to be fighting humans too?” I ask.

  “Well, most likely. Do you know how many mercenary groups there are in the world? Plus, there are always organizations like The Agency that are willing to side with Loki for false promises of power in his new world,” Tia replies.

  My marksmanship greatly improves, but I’m still best with the M&P. Tia starts having me use handguns with higher caliber rounds. The change is noticeable, but I quickly compensate for extra recoil and I’m back to shooting like normal in no time. In addition to shooting, Tia starts teaching me facts about various guns (which included average magazine size, muzzle velocity, and fire rate) because it may help against any gun toting enemies.

  Sara finishes my armored jeans on Thursday. The following day, she comes down the basement steps and tosses me the shirt that we had tested before.

  “Put it on over your t-shirt,” Sara orders. I don’t like where this is going.

  Sara walks into the armory, motioning for us to follow her. I really don’t like where this is going.

  “Cole, go stand out in the range. Tia, pick a gun,” Sara tells us.

  Tia grabs the Glock G34 9mm, walks into the range, and shoots me in the plate. I can barely feel it, just like last time.

  “So how was it?” Sara asks.

  “About the same as before,” I answers. Sara nods to Tia, who grabs a Glock 20 10mm and shoots me in the chest.

  “I couldn’t really feel that one either,” I announce.

  “Try moving around, same as last time,” Tia says and I do.

  “I see! Thanks!” Sara exclaims and then runs out.

  “What was that all about?” I ask Tia.

  “We just found out that the discs stick to you more like magnets than like glue. It means that you can wear a shirt underneath your jacket and still get full coverage,” Tia answers.

  “Now let’s get back to work.”

  …

  [May 13th]

  The following Monday, Tia tells me, “Grab a gun and your Sic blade. Today we are going to try close quarters marksmanship!”

  I go and grab the M&P. Tia nods and then runs to the gun bench below the wall of guns on the right side of the armory. She comes back a minute later and tosses me a new magazine for the M&P.

  “This one is loaded with rubber bullets. Makes cleanup easier,” Tia says, runs back into the armory, and comes out armed with two kukri blades.

  We start out with a spacing of thirty feet. I immediately raise the gun and fire twice, but I might as well have been shooting a pellet gun with how effortlessly she dodges the bullets. She moves in and hits me with a flurry of attacks. I end up getting sliced a few times as I try to block her attacks with only one sword. Usually when we practiced dual-wielding stuff, I always had a short Sic blade in my hand (with the blade pointed down) to use as a companion weapon to block with. I make the mistake of trying to block with the gun on instinct, but thankfully Tia stops the kukri before she severs any fingers.

  “This isn’t working,” Tia says upon stopping.

  “Yeah, I know, and it seems kind of pointless because you can just dodge the bullets,” I reply.

  “I know!” Tia exclaims and then runs to the armory.

  A few minutes later, she comes back holding a Glock 20 10mm pistol that I had used a few days ago when Tia had me start using higher caliber guns. We start again at thirty feet, but both rubber bullets hit her this time around. However, there is a significant amount of space between the shots because of the recoil. I guess that’s just something that I will have to get used to.

  “Oh, I see!” I announce remembering that the 10mm Auto rounds that the Glock 20 uses are about 1.5 times as powerful as the 9mm rounds the M&P uses. They also use them as a defense against polar bears in Greenland.

  When I remember this little t
idbit, I immediately think, ‘Great! Now I have a defense against Tia’s legion of bear assassins!’

  We start again, but this time Tia offers instruction.

  “When an opponent comes in close like this, block the first blade and then fire into the stomach as the second one comes in. This should stagger them long enough for you to make the kill with your blade,” Tia instructs.

  “I don’t know. I mean, I do like having both a long and short range weapon at the same time, but I feel that if I can’t block with my left hand, I’m sort of fucked,” I tell her.

  “Hmm… Yeah, I understand where you are coming from. I could probably order a custom Glock 20 so that it included a hand guard, but custom jobs can take months and we don’t have that kind of time. Plus, well, look. Point the Glock at me,” Tia responds. She takes one of her kukri blades and slices through the barrel.

  “That was at full strength and speed. If you try to block using that against a god, you will just end up getting hurt. Hmm… Cole, hold out your Sic blade and strengthen for defense,” She tells me.

  I do as she says and Tia tries to slice through the Sic blade, but nothing happens except my hand getting hurt from the force. It’s the same feeling you get after hitting a baseball, that kind of vibrating feeling you get in your hands. It doesn’t exactly hurt, but it is a bit uncomfortable.

  “Cole, how do you make things with your blood?” Tia asks.

  “Well, I kind of just picture what I want in my mind and my blood goes there…” Oh, I see where this is going. “but, I haven’t tried making anything intricate and any springs would be a total failure.”

  “Well, why don’t you try making the Glock piece by piece? We can use this Glock for the internal parts to assemble one. All you need to do is make the body,” Tia says.

  “As long as I have a model for what I’m going to make, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Let’s give it a shot! Uh… we do have another Glock 20, right?” I ask while looking at the half of the barrel that is sitting on the floor.

  “Umm… Let’s go to the mall! Yay!” Tia exclaims while looking somewhat embarrassed. “Besides, have you already gotten Chezarei’s birthday present? It’s in two days, you know?”

  Now it’s my turn to look embarrassed.

  “Let’s go to the mall! Yay!” I reply, repeating Tia’s tone and intonation.

  I run upstairs, take a quick shower, and then we are on our way to Scottsdale fifteen minutes later. Tia pulls into the parking lot of Scottsdale’s gun club and store. We walk into the store and Tia starts saying hello to all the staff by name. A tan Caucasian man in a suit comes up, takes Tia’s hand, and kisses it. When they both start laughing, I ascertain that it is an inside joke.

  “Tia! It has been too long!” The man says with a South African accent. I am contemplating the possibility that this man was an arms dealer at some time in his life, or still is, when he turns to me.

  “And you must be the little brother Cole, whom she has told me so much about! She said she would bring you here when you were ready, and here you are! Ah, where are my manners. I have yet to introduce myself. I am Daniel Archer,” Mr. Archer says while sticking out his hand.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Archer,” I reply while grabbing his hand to shake it. His shake is firm, but not crushing. It is calculated, practiced. The perfect handshake to have if you are doing business with warlords that would just as soon kill you as pay you.

  “Please, just Archer. So what brings you two here today?” Archer inquires.

  “I need a new Glock 20. I sliced clean through the barrel of the last one,” Tia says.

  “How did you… No, I know better than to touch that one. I take it that this is for Cole? You will be wanting the 6” barrel modification that allows for a greater bullet velocity, correct?” Archer asks.

  “That sounds great!” Tia replies. “I don’t suppose you have one for left handed shooters.”

  “Actually, I do, but it is currently waiting to be picked up by the customer who ordered it,” Archer says and Tia pouts.

  “However, given our history and the fact that you rarely have time to wait on things like this, I will explain to the other customer that there has been a mix up with shipping and the manufacturer sent a right handed gun by mistake. Do you want me to swap the stock barrel for the modified six inch one?” Archer asks.

  “Perfect! Yes, please do that,” Tia exclaims.

  “That’s good. Now I can stop burning my right arm with casings,” I say, even though that was more of a mild nuisance than a problem.

  “Also, do you have any custom extended magazines?” Tia inquires.

  “Yes, I have four 20 round magazines and two 25 round magazines as well as ten 15 round stock magazines,” Archer replies.

  “Good, we will take all of the custom magazines as well,” Tia says.

  “Okay, I will throw in five boxes of 200gr wide flat nose gas check rounds as well as five boxes of jacketed hollow point rounds,” Archer says and then turns to me. “The WFNGC rounds are denser, increasing their odds of passing through bone, but at the cost of less velocity. The JHP rounds are good for stalling those giant wolves and tougher supernatural entities that you might encounter,” Archer finishes with a wink.

  “You know about the paranormal?” I ask him.

  “I have been all around the globe and have seen much in my time, young man,” Archer replies with a smile.

  Tia and I thank him for all his help and say our goodbyes to Archer before heading to the mall. We shop around for a few hours with no real progress. I find a tan sweater that I think Cheza might look cute in, so I buy that.

  “Ooh! Panties are on sale!” Tia exclaims as we pass by a Victoria’s Secret, and runs into the store.

  I’m not about to go inside, so I stand around for a few moments. There’s a poster in the window for this corset looking thing called a ‘merrywidow’. That’s a strange name… Is that lingerie marketed solely to women that have pushed their abusive husbands into wood chippers and have gotten away with it? Is that why they’re so merry, these merry widows?

  Okay, enough of this. I walk over to a nearby pretzel stand and buy a pretzel, cheese dip, and a medium lemonade. I finish all of them and Tia still hasn’t come out.

  I consider going in after her when something in a jewelry store display catches my eye. I rush into the store and decide that I’ve found the perfect gift. It’s a white gold pendant inlaid with seven small diamonds that wrap in two, mirrored and overlapping, S-shapes around a large ice blue sapphire that matches Cheza’s eye color. It is a little pricey, but it can count as both her birthday and graduation gift. I buy it and walk outside to see Tia waiting for me.

  “All set?” She asks. I nod, a look of satisfaction strung across my face.

  …

  Chapter 19: The birth of a weapon

  We get home and I rush to my room to quickly hide my presents before Cheza gets home. I see that I barely made it as Sara and Cheza walk through the front door just after I exit my room.

  “Hey! Welcome home Cheza! How was your day?” I ask, going for nonchalance.

  “Umm… fine? Are you feeling alright Cole?” Cheza asks, making me realize that I fail at nonchalance.

  “Yeah! I’m great!” I say, realizing that I sound like I’ve been in the bathroom snorting coke or some other sort of suspicious activity.

  “Anyway, I have to go down to the armory. Bye!” I add and rush down the steps. I find Tia standing at the gun bench, disassembling the new Glock 20.

  “Here, replicate the slide first,” Tia says, handing me the top part of the gun.

  I pull out my knife and slice open my left arm from elbow to wrist. I grab the slide and look at it from every angle, and then I close my eyes and feel it thoroughly until I have a solid picture in my mind. I slide my right hand over the cut and will my blood to take the shape of the image in my mind. I feel the slide solidify in my right hand and realize that I’ve never made something this dens
e before.

  (5.0 Liters) Airi says.

  “Holy hell! It took nearly a liter of blood to make this thing!” I say to Tia.

  “Did that voice whisper to you again?” Tia asks. I nod solemnly as she sighs. “Well, how much do you have left? Can you do it?”

  “I have roughly two liters to use up before I feel anemic, another half and I’ll pass out if I drain it all quickly. If spread over the next five minutes, I should be able to use up 3.2 Liters from what the voice said the other night,” I tell her.

  “SARA! PREP A SALINE DRIP AND BRING DOWN SOME JUICE!” Tia shouts.

  “Alright, all you will have to make is the outer casing. The innards, like the barrel, we should leave as they are or it may affect ballistics. Now make the grip like this,” Tia says and shows me a sketched blue print.

  It’s a Glock 20 grip, but a block-shaped hand guard flows from the trigger guard and connects into the butt, just above the base of the clip. That should adequately protect my fist when I’m wielding it. There’s a space between the base of the magazine and the butt on the Glock 20, but this modified version includes a six inch blade jutting down from that space, which is a dangerous idea unless you consider the fact that the blade can never cut me. Finally, sticking out of the bottom of the trigger guard and running parallel with the barrel is a half inch thick bar.

  “What’s this bar here for?” I ask Tia.

  “Ah! That is for catching your opponent’s blade and disarming them. When an opponent swings a sword at you, just catch it in the space, wrench the gun counterclockwise, and it will twist the hilt of the sword towards their fingers, removing the blade from their grasp. It will only work if the sword is in their right hand however. Make sure to thicken the trigger guard to ensure its integrity against hard blows,” Tia explains.

  That actually sounds like a pretty good idea. I don’t bother to correct Tia that I should be able to disarm swords that are in left hands if I turn the gun clockwise. I pick up the separated grip and run through the same procedure as I did with the slide. Once I have the inside of the grip firmly pictured in my mind, I move on to add the modifications to the grip. When I’m ready, I slice open my left palm and hold out my hand like the grip is already in it, allowing the blood to form inside my palm.