by K. L. Lewis
With everyone ducked behind their tables, DeMarcus peeked out and spotted the gun-toting assassins bounding in the air toward that blond parahuman. “There they go!” DeMarcus pointed.
Keith looked up and snapped his soldiers to attention. “Soldiers, look alive! We have hostile forces attacking the city! GO GO GO!”
The Gentili spread its wings and launched off its handler while the soldiers and androids bounded towards the assassins. Just like that, the whole vacation went south.
CHAPTER 19 – A NIGHTMARE COME TRUE
No way was this happening. Of all times, why now?
Stray shots bouncing off the ground and nicking the walls had the streets and beaches running and ducking for cover. Iuvian soldiers hurried into the fire, leaping over the panicking crowds and racing across the rooftops in pursuit of the white-suited assassins bounding from the walls and buildings. It was a scene DeMarcus never thought he’d see again as he ducked and covered his head, huddling near Gabby scooting next to him as the bullets whizzed above.
“Not my idea for a first date,” she said to him.
“Yeah, no kidding,” said DeMarcus.
“You said those people tried to kill you?” Jade asked.
“Months ago, yeah. No clue why they’re here.”
The was a pause in the gunshots, but everyone stayed low. James stood up and pointed everyone to the hotel. “Everyone inside! Hurry!”
Curled down in their zigzag through the incoming crowd, DeMarcus kept watch of the assassins jumping away from the police and Iuvian soldiers in their chase of the grey haired parahuman making his escape. Great, they were after that guy instead of him. But that was the least of his concerns as several people in gray jackets rushed pass the hotel, whipping out their guns and firing at the assassins.
The assassin’s scattered across the buildings, followed by three people in dark blue suits leaning out and firing back at the gray jackets as they split through the streets toward the hotel. DeMarcus screeched to a halt and backed away as they rushed past him and knocked Jade to the ground as they took to a nearby alley. He ran back for her and pulled her to her feet. “Let’s go,” he said, tugging her along.
Gabby and Tyrone stood at the hotel doors waving them to hurry. “Come on!” Tyrone shouted.
A small crowd ran between them, two of the grey jackets running among them. It was chaos as one of them tripped into DeMarcus and Jade, sending them and a handful of people piling on the ground. As the people gathered on their feet and resumed their sprint away from the approaching gunfire, DeMarcus noticed a flash drive and a pistol clatter beside his face.
He felt a heaviness on his leg, turning back to one the grey jackets laying in a daze at his feet. She stood up, clenching her head, and DeMarcus snatched up the drive and pistol before she turned his way. “Will you kids get out of the way?” She shouted.
He glared at the woman amidst the panic, rising to his knees as he hid the pistol at his side. Then a shadow flew over their heads. DeMarcus looked back at parahuman assassin clinging to a wall. He stood in front of Jade, guarding her as the grey jacket reached in her pockets—likely for the pistol he just took in his hand. But when the assassin pointed their gun their way, DeMarcus leapt into Jade in a heartbeat, pushing her toward the alley before the assassin opened fire.
They tumbled between the walls, panting as they checked themselves for any wounds. DeMarcus turned to Jade. “You okay?”
“My tail’s sore, but I’m fine,” she answered.
They looked back at the lifeless body of the woman in her grey jacket laying on the ground. There wasn’t any blood, no wounds, or any marks on her body. It was hard to tell if they were dead or alive, but better her than them.
Backing away into the alley, DeMarcus shielded Jade, who jumped as he pulled out the pistol he found. It scared him too, having never used a real one before. Then they heard a man speak to the assassin. “That all of them?”
“I saw some run into an alley,” said another voice.
“Crap, let’s go!” DeMarcus pulled Jade deeper into the alley, passing the drones cleaning the dingy walls and turning right at the first fork they encountered. To think his nightmare came true as he looked back at the rapid sounds of footsteps pattering after them. They approached at a three-way fork in their path, and this time he was at a loss of where to go. “I can’t believe all this is happening! Why now?” He fumed, grasping his head.
“Look, it doesn’t matter now,” Jade said. “Let’s go this way and lose them in the shops.” She pointed to the path on the right and led the way out to the district ahead. They ran past the markets and stores, dodging the thinning crowd following the police guiding them to safety.
More gunshots sputtered nearby. DeMarcus pulled Jade behind another wall and guarded her as he peeked out into the chaos. The corner of the wall chipped away from a stray shot, and he leaned back against the wall as one of the grey jackets bolted past them.
Jade tugged his arm and led him further down to the next alley toward the beaches. The roads and walkways were almost devoid of life, with only police and medics stationed around. They kept into the alley, with Jade taking a path to the right as DeMarcus followed. “You know these parts?” he asked.
“I come here with my mum and dad,” Jade answered. “I know my way around.”
They paused at the mouth of the alley as a trio of grey jackets sprinted pass them, knocking over tables of merchandise as an assassin dropped down and took after them. Another assassin leapt from the walls and opened fire while an Iuvian soldier and his Gentili ran along the rooftops after the grey jackets. With the coast clear, DeMarcus pulled Jade into the empty streets and yanked on the store doors around them. None of them budged, with each door emitting bright red and yellow signs saying they were closed. “What now?” Jade asked.
A voice sounded on the roofs. “Targets sighted!” One of the assassin’s stood on the rooftops and stared out into the streets.
DeMarcus pulled Jade aside as he took aim with the pistol, and the gun kicked hard in his hand from the two shots he made at the assassin. To his misfortune, his shots missed—the assassin ducked on the rooftop, then peeked out and spotted them below. “What the—hey!”
“Crap…” DeMarcus fired another shot, pinning the assassin to the rooftop as he and Jade backed away and ran through a large park.
Another assassin leapt to the roofs and rushed at them, leaping away from his wild shots before dropping to the ground in her pursuit. DeMarcus heard her shouting on her radio. “This is Amazon-one, in pursuit of two armed teenagers running through the shops. Do not engage! Repeat: Do not engage!”
Taking cues from the grey jackets, DeMarcus knocked over any chairs, tables, and stands through the walkways to slow the assassins. He followed Jade taking a right at the next corner, glancing back at the assassins springing back to the rooftops and closing in on them, and just when the whole thing couldn’t get any worse, DeMarcus felt his OmniMorph buzz on his wrist. He looked at Tyrone’s name blinking on his display and projected Tyrone’s face on his screen. “What is it, Ty?”
“Oh, great! You’re alive!” said Tyrone. “Everyone here’s worried sick and had Dad and Shen out looking for you. Is that other girl, Jade, with you?”
“Yeah, she’s here next to me!”
“This way!” Jade pointed, leading them to another street.
“Where are you guys?” Tyrone asked.
“We’re in the shopping district with those killers behind us!”
“Over here!” Jade led him to another street.
Glancing back, they noticed their pursuers were gone. DeMarcus kept Ty on-call as he followed Jade to another street. “She seems to know her way around the block, doesn’t she?” said Tyrone.
“Is it really a good idea to be on the phone right now?” Jade asked.
“I’m just trying to keep us connected!” Tyrone answered. “Everyone here wants to know you’re still safe.”
“It is kind of
distracting,” said DeMarcus.
Yue pushed into the conversation. “Distracting nothing! You guys need to hurry back here!”
“We’re trying!” DeMarcus shouted, noticing a shop with metal barrels outside. “Gotta go! Talk later!”
Yue gritted at him. “Unless there isn’t a la—”
Her face vanished as DeMarcus hung up and examined the barrels. One of them was on its side, empty and hollowed out. “This is perfect,” he said, lifting it up. It had room for one person, but that was good enough. “In here!”
Jade looked inside, then looked back at him. “What about you?”
“I’ll find one, then we’ll run back to the hotel when this is over,” he said. “Don’t worry about me, just get in!”
He placed the barrel over her and searched for another one. But his moment was cut short when an assassin spotted him. “There he is!”
One last shot from his pistol and the gun clicked empty. DeMarcus tossed the gun and high tailed through the streets, leaving Jade by herself as the assassin’s gave chase.
“No! DeMarcus!” Jade cried out.
“Hey, kid!” shouted the assassin.
Once again, he was on his own, lost in an unfamiliar city. He avoided the alleys, not wanting a risk of the last time, but his ears shot up at the sight of an Iuvian soldier running along the rooftops ahead. He waved and shouted for their attention, but his voice was drowned out by gunfire rattling in the air, and the Iuvian dropped behind the building toward the source of the sound without a glance at DeMarcus. He ran toward the building and cut across an opening to the other side, he smacked into another familiar sight: that blonde parahuman he fought off earlier.
“You again?” the man barked.
Great, just what DeMarcus wanted.
“Freeze!” An assassin stood on the roof, followed by another joining her with their guns raised at both of them. DeMarcus’s heart jumped as one of them dropped to the ground, gun steady as she approached them. The entire area was wide and open, and there was no other place to hide or run to.
Frozen in place as the assassin drew near, DeMarcus flinched at the man darting behind him and holding him by his neck. “Stay back!” the man warned, pulling his gun at the assassins.
The assassins beamed their laser sights at the man’s head and DeMarcus noticed the man’s arm shake. In that split moment, he yanked the man’s arm off his neck, wrestled himself free, and dropped the man with a kick to the groin before bolting away as the assassins gunned the man down.
There was barely a sigh of relief as one of them bolted after him through the streets, following him as he turned into a cul-de-sac of buildings walling around him. Then he turned around and faced the assassin standing at the only path back. He backed away, his hands balling into fists as he stared into the four red eyes of her helmet.
The assassin strapped her gun behind her back as she took careful steps toward him. Her arms were held up. Was she surrendering? Or was this just a ruse to get closer? “Easy now,” she said. “A girl was with you. Is she around?”
DeMarcus glared at her. Now they’re playing nice? Like hell he’d tell them where Jade was. His eyes widened at a larger assassin appearing on a rooftop, gun pointed at DeMarcus, and it became clear there was no way out. He prepared to fight as the assassin raised a hand at the other on the rooftop, who pointed their gun away. Then the assassin continued toward him. “Listen—”
“Back off!” DeMarcus snarled. He saw a metal rod on the ground and snatched it up, ready to swing at her next step. “You guys tried to kill me.”
“Uh…sorry about that,” said the assassin. “We were—”
“Sorry?!” DeMarcus yelled. “You kick me around and stabbed me to death months ago in the NAF, and now you’re sorry?”
“Wait…what are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb! I remember what you told me, that ‘the world could use less of my kind,’ right before you stabbed me.”
The assassin stood back. “Look, we’re not gonna kill you. Okay?”
But the snide tone in her voice didn’t convince him as he winded the rod back and prepared to swing. “Oh really? Then drop your weapons! All of them!”
The assassin paused then took out her rifle. “This is so against procedure.”
She placed it at the side of her feet, along with her pistol and knife. DeMarcus took a deep breath, but he remained on guard. He knew who he was dealing with, and he wasn’t going to take any chances just because they did what he told them. He took steady steps around the assassin for the street behind her, watching as she kept her eyes on him.
“Just so you know, they’re loaded with STN rounds,” the assassin said. “They can’t kill even if I wanted to.”
That wasn’t reassuring, whatever STN rounds were. As he made his way closer to the street, he jumped at the gunshots popping in the air. A human woman in a grey jacket ran toward them, away from the Iuvian soldiers, another assassin, and the police giving chase. She turned around and held out a round object as she reared her arm back.
“GRENADE!” The Iuvian soldier shot the woman in the arm, and the grenade fell from her hand and rolled toward DeMarcus. In a blur, a heavy force snatch him in a tackle, and he flew down a stairwell in the arms of the assassin curling over him. An explosion roared over their heads, a high-pitched ringing filled his ears, followed by muffled pops of gunshots. Then, silence. DeMarcus froze at the assassin releasing him, blinking as she looked back over the stairwell. “The hell kind of grenade was that?” she asked.
“Target down,” shouted another voice. It was a wonder if it was safe to come out.
The assassin looked back at him. “You okay?” she asked.
DeMarcus nodded, still in shock that she saved him.
“Come on,” the assassin said. “Let’s get you somewhere safe.”
They rose from the stairwell, looking over at the grey-coated woman lying on the ground, as the other assassins stood over her alongside the Iuvian soldiers and police. Were these not the same assassins that hunted him months ago? Turning to the one who saved him, watching her remove her helmet, she was someone else entirely: an olive-skinned human with short brown hair and a black streak running down her cheeks to her neck. Nothing like the raven-haired woman that nearly killed him back in Grand Detroit.
The human looked back at him. “So, what made you think we came all this way to kill you?”
“That’s what happened the last time I saw you guys” DeMarcus said. “Or…some other group…they chased me all around Detroit and nearly killed me.”
Another assassin approached them, having overheard DeMarcus. “Grand Detroit? In the NAF?” she questioned. “We don’t have any operators there. How the heck could any of us—?”
“Hang on,” interrupted the olive-skinned human. “I did hear rumors we had a few groups sent there in secret.” She tapped her OmniMorph on her wrist and projected a display over her hand. “Amazon-one to HQ, do you read?”
A pale human with ruby-red hair, and deep brown eyes projected from the assassin’s wrist and addressed her. “Confirmed, Amazon-One. I overheard your conversation and I’m having the matter investigated as we speak.”
“Councilor Falay! We weren’t expecting you. What about Director Antiana?”
Councilor Falay’s face hardened upon that name. “I had the director look into a matter with Monumans sneaking off through the oceans. We were tipped off at the last minute of their movements and blockaded the Black Sea before they met their sellers. I assume you have them in custody already?”
“Right here,” pointed the other assassin.
“Good work,” Falay said with a nod before turning to DeMarcus. “Who’s this?”
DeMarcus’s ears jumped in shock as he wondered how to answer the woman. “He’s a civilian we saved,” said Amazon-One. “He mistook us for a rogue group that tried to kill him in the NAF.”
He was more than just a civilian at this point, and he thought now was
the time to get some answers. “I’m DeMarcus Maahes,” he said. “A few months ago, some people in the same outfit as your troops here tried to kill me back in Grand Detroit. Do you know who they are?”
Falay’s eyes narrowed, and Amazon-One’s brow jumped. “Wait…DeMarcus Maahes?” Amazon-One asked. “Are you Sekhmet Leona’s son?”
Did he hear that right?
“You know my mom?” DeMarcus asked. “Do you know what happened to her?”
“Last I heard, Sekhmet was in the NAF for Rec-work and was scheduled to leave to space for the Iuvian colonies,” said Falay. “That was prior to the incident in Grand Detroit when unknown militants attacked the city.”
The memory of that day burned in DeMarcus’s mind. “Yeah, that was the day I lost her.”
“How’d you end up here in the British Isles, then?” Falay asked.
“I’m…here with some friends and Keith Iyrons,” DeMarcus answered.
“And on that day, you said some of our own tried to kill you back in the NAF?” said Amazon-One. “What for?”
DeMarcus shrugged. How should he know? But then he remembered a piece of his killer’s conversation. “I heard them say something about ‘Red Phoenix.’ I remembered my mom receiving something about it.”
Amazon-One glanced at the other assassins and Councilor Falay. Falay switched back to DeMarcus, her face stone cold as she spoke. “So, you’ve heard about Red Phoenix? For your safety, I suggest you not speak about it to anyone else.”
Do what now? He ended up in this situation all because of this thing and he can’t speak on it? “What’s so bad about this thing that I almost died twice over for?” he said, his voice edging to a growl. “Can I at least get some answers?”
“Unfortunately, that’s top secret,” said Falay. “I understand your frustration, DeMarcus. But this isn’t something to speak freely over.” Her eyes switched to the Gentili soaring overhead, followed by a pair of Iuvian soldiers jumping from the rooftops to the ground in their approach towards them.
