Tears And Fears was at a near full dose now. Deimos was sweating but locked his jaw and grimaced through it. General Grant and his officers looked as if they were ready to book it out of the tent at any second. With nothing but fear filling his mind, General Grant was unable to hold onto any rational thoughts. All he knew was that he wanted to get the hell away from this psycho whose sheer presence made him feel like an elephant was sitting on his chest.
After a tense moment of General Grant eyeing the exit, he shouted to his officers, “You heard the man! Take down this blockade! Send all search crews to the closest hospitals! Get more airborne reinforcements in there! And somebody get that damn cell service back online!”
At that moment, Siren signaled back to Eve. Harold shut off Tears And Fears and a wave of relief washed over General Grant. He felt, for whatever reason, that he had made the right decision to listen to Deimos. Anything that was wrong a minute ago was suddenly right, and he no longer felt like he was on the receiving end of an elephant-styled reverse cowgirl.
“Thank you,” Deimos smiled. “Don’t worry about Hans, we’re working on it. Feel free to have a few choppers following us but keep your distance. He only wants me and I don’t want him getting trigger happy with his nuke if one of your soldiers tries to be a hero.”
Deimos turned and walked away on this note, happy to have been able to shove General Grant’s insult right back in his Neanderthalian face.
“Right,” General Grant croaked. He blinked some sense into his face and shouted up to Deimos. “Hey, wait! There’s something else.”
Deimos turned questioningly. He made the motion for Harold to activate Tears And Fears and a low dose washed over them again.
General Grant felt the fear return and quietly stammered, “T-that big monster Hans had working for him. Thought you might want to know that we found him.”
This new piece of info piqued Deimos’ interest. He motioned for Harold to turn off Tears And Fears and relief washed over General Grant once again.
“Where was he?” Deimos asked.
“Crymson Tech HQ. It was the first place we looked for the nuke, but all we found was that freak tearing up the joint. The thing is, he wasn’t in that weird getup he was wearing during Hans’ conference.”
“That’s... interesting,” Deimos said pensively.
“Also, once my men spotted him he surrendered immediately. Started spouting off all this nonsense about Hans using unwilling human subjects for his research.”
Deimos went wide-eyed and asked, “He was talking? Where is he?”
“We’ve got him in a truck north of Chinatown at the high school.”
“Keep him there. Tell your people I’m on my way,” Deimos snapped.
General Grant nodded. He had a thought and ripped a walkie from his nearest officer.
“Here. In case you need to reach me.”
Deimos accepted the walkie before rushing to Indiana Drones alongside Siren. They took off as the blockade was lifted and the first round of cars began hauling down I-5. After they were out of sight, General Grant sighed with relief. He turned to his officers who were staring at him, stifling back laughter. General Grant looked down and realized a large, wet stain had formed on the front of his pants.
As Deimos and the others neared Chinatown, there was a notable difference in the movement of troops. Swarms of military helicopters began to fill the skies, grouping over the various hospitals located throughout the city. Ground troops were seen entering homes and business, ushering anyone left behind into trucks which then convoyed out of the city.
Meanwhile, Eve was live streaming to her millions of followers, many of whom were Los Rebeldes locals, telling them to help by checking their neighborhoods and apartment complexes for any people unwell enough to escape by themselves. She figured there would be a lot of people her age who didn’t take this threat seriously, but an order from her would convince them otherwise. Deimos relayed this information to General Grant, who alerted his troops to not interfere with any twenty-somethings they saw outside trying to help.
Terry spotted a caravan of military trucks north of Chinatown and Deimos directed Indiana Drones toward it. The soldiers had already received word that they would be coming, so this time they were not greeted with the muzzles of a dozen automatic weapons. Once they landed, another officer ran out to greet them and led them to the truck where Triceratop was being held.
When they arrived, they were shocked to see the man that had been underneath all of that armor. The lack of body armor did not make him any less intimidating. His body was rippling with muscles and overworked veins. There was so much muscle on his neck and shoulders that his shaved head looked like a tiny white buoy in a choppy ocean of man meat. He turned to them. The once hate-filled eyes that had looked at Deimos with murderous intent were now calm and filled with sorrow.
“Hello, Deimos,” the man that was once Triceratop said. “It is nice to finally meet you.”
Deimos, still dubious of this sudden change in personality, eyed him angrily.
“We’ve already met, Triceratop. Or did you forget that you tried to kill me?”
The man shook his head.
“Not Triceratop. My name is Alexander. And no, I have not forgotten. I remember everything. Everything that has happened to me. Everything that Hans made me do…”
He noticed Sasha and Aria standing absentmindedly behind Eve. Their cream and black skin rippled calmly underneath their silk clothes. They were each texting at lightning speed into cell phones Eve had given them.
“The Twins!” Alexander exclaimed. “Thank God you escaped.”
Sasha perked up and turned to look at Alexander.
“Oh, sup?”
Alexander eyed her tensely.
“Sup? The last time I saw you, Hans was forcing us to fight to test our abilities. I was a drooling animal then. Voiceless. Nameless. Only knowing anger and the desire to kill. I nearly ripped your sister’s head off. All you have to say to me is ‘sup’?”
Aria snickered, “You weren’t even close to killing me, bro.”
The girls turned back to their phones, entirely disinterested. Alexander’s face fell.
“Their recovery has been going really well,” Eve offered. “Seems like you still have some things to work through. Sorry.”
Alexander stared down at his hands, seemingly disgusted by the sight of them.
“Hans used the death of my family to manipulate me into joining him. He opened up my skull and tinkered with my brain. Every breath under his control was agony. I suffered alone in my mind for nearly a decade.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” Siren cooed.
“Keep it in your pants, honey,” Deimos said. “This is the same guy who kidnapped you and killed Eve’s henchmen.”
Tears filled Alexander’s eyes. He slowly put his face in his hands and began to sob deeply. His massive shoulders trembled with each breath, shaking the entire truck that he was shackled in.
“Oh shit. Come on, man,” Deimos griped.
It was obvious that this wasn’t the same man who had tried to kill him and his wife, but he had been tricked by Hans before. If he was going to get any information out of Alexander, he would need to be certain he could trust it wasn’t a lie planted there by Hans.
Alexander’s eyes suddenly widened in horror. He lowered his hands and turned his tear-streaked face back to them.
“Deimos, everyone in this city is in danger. Hans is not lying about the weapon. For years he had me stealing radioactive material. I do not know what it was for exactly, but I always felt sick afterward. He would make me bring everything to a secret warehouse that his other employees didn’t know about.”
Deimos squinted dubiously at Alexander.
“So I assume you want me to go to this warehouse in order to show me, right? What if this is another one of
Hans’ poorly thought out traps to make me trust you so that you can get me alone and kill me?” Deimos asked.
Alexander shrugged.
“What other option do you have?”
“I have henchmen mapping the city for radioactive signals. I could simply wait for their data to turn up something.”
“You don’t have the time,” Alexander insisted. “I don’t know what I could say to convince you. All I know is I woke up in Hans’ lab a few hours ago. I was alone. My mind was returned to me. I was trying to find Hans when these soldiers turned up.”
Deimos turned to the officer at his right.
“It’s true, sir,” the officer said. “He was literally tearing the place apart. I had never seen anything like it. He was a one-man bulldozer. I have no doubt he could have attacked us at any time but he never did.”
Deimos looked to Siren for counsel who simply shrugged as if to say, “What harm could it do?”
“This warehouse, do you remember where it is?” Deimos asked Alexander.
“I don’t know the address, but I could take you there.”
Deimos ruminated for a moment. If Alexander was telling the truth then that would change everything. He had initially thought the nuke would be hidden away at Crymson Tech headquarters, figuring it was such a stupid place to keep it that Hans must have thought it would be a good idea, but they now had a lead.
New plans already began to form in Deimos’ mind. If the nuke was at this warehouse, it would likely have security cameras linked to wherever Hans was stashed away. If he could distract Hans long enough for the military to trace the cameras’ signals, a covert ops team might be able to put an end to this mess within the hour. Deimos couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony that would bring.
“Okay then, let’s do this,” Deimos said firmly
He walkied General Grant and relayed the information. When he asked for permission to have his officers release Alexander, the ex-supervillain didn’t wait for a response. He pulled his hands apart, easily breaking the shackles that had been binding them, and popped open the back of the truck with one easy nudge.
“No time. Let’s go,” Alexander grunted.
Alexander headed to Indiana Drones and they all followed. As they were boarding, Deimos stopped Eve, Sasha, and Aria.
“I need you three to stay with the military. Secure a helicopter and get as far away from here as you can,” Deimos said.
“No way! I’m coming with you guys,” Eve demanded.
“We need to stick to the plan, remember? You will do more good live streaming to your followers and coordinating with General Grant. Get to a safe distance and contact as many people as you can. We can’t risk losing you.”
Eve looked up at Deimos with fiery tears in her eyes. She knew he was right but hated to admit it, so she didn’t. With a huff, Eve grabbed Siren and embraced her before doing the same to Glenn, Terry, Harold, and finally Deimos.
“You better stop this asshole,” Eve whispered, squeezing Deimos tightly, “or I’ll kill you myself.”
Deimos smiled and hugged her back. “Love you too, kid.”
Eve turned and snapped her fingers at the nearest officer.
“Well, what are you waiting for? We got people to save! Get a helicopter here, now!”
The officer scrambled for his walkie and called in a chopper. Deimos directed Indiana Drones upwards and they flew off. Sasha and Aria hardly looked up from their phones to give them a wave goodbye.
It was only a few minutes after Deimos and the others had left when Eve’s helicopter arrived. She followed the plan, but only to the extent of what she felt was right. She coordinated with her followers and General Grant to help citizens evacuate as efficiently as possible, but she also remained in the city limits to oversee the operation.
As the military pilot circled around the city, Eve, Sasha, and Aria leaned out the open side of the helicopter, each with a pair of binoculars, looking for looters or any others attempting to take advantage of the situation. If they spotted anyone, Eve would call them out on the chopper’s PA system. Once any looters heard the famous Eve specifically calling them out and blasting them on her live stream, they immediately stopped what they were doing and started helping the evacuation.
It was twenty minutes into their flight when Eve forced the pilot to land by the Santa Monica Pier. Eve had spotted a small group of looters that had waved off her initial warnings and she wanted to kick their asses. As she leapt off the helicopter ahead of the armed soldiers, she heard a distant shout of what she thought was her name but couldn’t be sure over the loud whirring of the helicopter. She continued charging at the group of looters, whose full attention she now had. Before she was able to reach them, a dark blur darted past her and collided head-on with the first looter.
Eve stopped, bewildered, watching a flurry of kicks and swings from a baseball-bat-wielding blur which sent the looters running. Once they ran off, the blur finally slowed down enough for Eve to see that it was in fact a man. Actually, it was a handsome, black, afroed man that took her only a split second to recognize.
“Yasuke!” Eve shouted.
Yasuke turned bashfully to Eve as if he were embarrassed for being there. He instinctively attempted to sheath the baseball bat on his side, but stumbled realizing his mistake, only furthering his embarrassment.
“Hi Eve. It is good to see-” Yasuke began before being interrupted by Eve’s firm kiss.
She stopped suddenly and socked him in the arm.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing fighting those guys? You think I can’t take care of myself?”
Yasuke rubbed his arm.
“No,” he said, wincing. “I definitely do not think that.”
Eve kissed him again, adding to Yasuke’s confusion. He wondered if this was how Eve always showed her affection. As the kiss continued for a few passionate seconds, he thought he could learn to live with it.
Eve finally pulled away and asked, “What are you even doing here? How did you find me?”
“Well,” Yasuke said sheepishly, “things have been so good back home I thought I would take some time off and see how you were doing. But as soon as I got here, everyone started going crazy. I was trying to help as many people as I could when I heard you shouting from the helicopter and-”
Yasuke stopped speaking when he saw Sasha and Aria approaching from behind Eve. He pushed Eve behind himself and held his bat toward them threateningly.
“Look out! It is the assassins!”
Sasha and Aria smirked but didn’t stop their approach. Eve ripped the bat out of Yasuke’s grip and held him back.
“Knock it off!” Eve scolded. “They’re with me. We’re friends now.”
“What?” Yasuke exclaimed, bewildered.
Sasha and Aria playfully flicked Yasuke’s hair.
“Hey, samurai,” Sasha mused.
“What’s new, cutie?” Aria asked softly.
Yasuke stood frozen, entirely baffled by what was happening. Eve smiled widely at him.
“We’ve had a big couple of months. We can chat later, but right now I could really use your help getting people to safety.”
Yasuke snapped out of it and nodded determinedly.
“I am yours.”
As they returned to board the helicopter, the far off wail of a siren caught their attention. It wasn’t like the air raid sirens that were activated when Hans first made his threat, those had stopped working hours ago, nor was it like an emergency siren from the ambulances that had been hauling patients out of the city. This siren was different, menacing, as if it were heralding something terrible.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Ten minutes prior to Eve’s reunion with Yasuke, Indiana Drones was hovering above the Manufacturing District. Another mile or so behind it, three Apache helicopters hovered on standby, await
ing orders. Deimos, Siren, Terry, Glenn, Harold, and Alexander all stood in the drone’s egg-shaped platform surveying the area. Despite there being room for ten people, the henchmen still found themselves pressed back against the railings to avoid Alexander’s massive frame.
Before they had even arrived, Deimos knew exactly where Alexander was taking them. Now that he was there, he felt foolish for not figuring it out earlier. Sure, Hans had done some dumb things in the past, but even he wasn’t dumb enough to put a nuke in his main office building. Hans would know that is the first place the military would look. But he was still a sentimental man, which meant there was only one place where he would want Deimos to meet his end.
Nearly one thousand feet ahead of them, tucked away in the Manufacturing District, a nondescript brick warehouse stood among rows of other equally bland warehouses in the area, except this one was once the makeshift lair Deimos had used to build his weather machine in 1989. It looked almost exactly as it did thirty years ago, except now the windows were boarded up and a large “CONDEMNED” was printed across the front entrance.
Even though he already knew the answer, Deimos turned to Alexander and asked, “Are you sure this is the place?”
Alexander nodded, staring wide-eyed at the warehouse.
“That cocky prick,” Glenn fumed.
“How dare he build where you once built!” Terry shouted angrily.
“The place looks like shit,” Harold muttered.
Deimos calmed them and asked Alexander, “What can you tell us about it?”
Alexander thought for a moment then replied, “The front entrance is a false door. There is a misaligned brick along the west wall that works as a door handle, but only if it is unlocked. I usually waited there until it opened from the inside. The same scientist always took the package from me. An older guy. German I think.”
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