Outlaws and Origins

by Eric S Kim

  Sabrina yelled, “Give it up already! It’s not worth it!”

  But the mouse didn’t give up so easily. Just as it ran for the Blackjacks, its size had grown at a rapid rate. It completely transformed into a larger, more ferocious animal with two horns on its head.

  Preston already opened fire with his FAMAS, but Woodrow pulled him back.

  “Get out of the way!”

  Woodrow saved him from being trampled by the bison that charged at its adversaries. The Blackjacks avoided a direct hit by jumping out of the bison’s way. It crashed into the cubicles and never stopped running. The cubicles feel apart. Pieces of computer equipment went flying in the air, and chairs had been flattened by the bison’s powerful feet. Cliff used his DP-12 Double Barrel Shotgun to injure the Nevinoth, but the pellets acted as a harmless itch for the heavy animal.

  Woodrow chased after it. “We’re not letting it leave!”

  Preston was already following him from behind. Woodrow wielded his Denial Dart Gun and opened fire. The first dart had missed the bison by mere inches, but the second had made direct contact to one of the hooves. The Nevinoth must not have realized its hopelessness. It still scurried across the hallway that the Blackjacks had previously crept across.

  Both Woodrow and Preston reached out with their Devious EELs, but neither of the electric lassos could touch the bison. They pulled their lassos back as an automatic motion. The five Blackjacks ran after it as a group once more.

  Preston reloaded his FAMAS while making a run for it.

  From behind, Cliff called out, “After this, I’m gonna ask for a vacation!”

  The bison had made it to the elevators. Woodrow had caught up to it and used his EEL. This time, the lasso had wrapped itself around the bison’s left leg, causing it to roar in pain. Preston joined his teammate and used his own lasso to capture the bison. But then, another creature had appeared from behind a wall. A green-scaled alligator opened its jaws and bit down at the two electric lassos. Both wires had been snapped apart thanks to the alligator’s sharp teeth. The bison had been set free by its companion.

  Woodrow stepped back. Preston raised his rifle, but the alligator ran straight for him with its mouth open wide.

  “Oh, shit!”

  Preston moved backwards as the alligator had almost reached him. Cliff would never let it attack. He grabbed the alligator’s tail and pulled him away. The alligator threatened Cliff with its sharp teeth. Cliff didn’t flinch as he hurled the alligator against the wall. The alligator had hit its head, but it wasn’t knocked unconscious.

  The entire lobby had pandemonium verified by the individuals that fully embraced their survival tactics. Nick and Sabrina had to deal with the bison that thrashed its front hooves at them. Preston, Woodrow, and Cliff had to deal with the alligator that joined in on the commotion. And yet, another creature had been added to the mix. A beaver had emerged from behind a wall and jumped right onto Preston’s back. The beaver smacked his back with its tail and bit down at his t-shirt.

  Preston desperately tried to pull the beaver away from his body. “You’re a jackass, you know that?!”

  Woodrow helped him out by grabbing the beaver’s tail and tossing him to the cubicles nearby. The bison had pushed both Nick and Sabrina to the wall. They almost fell to the floor as the scurried away without further harm done. The alligator still wrestled with Cliff, who shut its mouth with his two hands. The alligator wiggled aggressively in his grip.

  Cliff shouted, “Who’s the guy with the darts?!”

  As both Nick and Sabrina chased after the bison, Woodrow stood back up and squeezed the trigger. The darts from his gun pierced through the alligator’s scales.

  At that exact moment, the beaver jumped out of the cubicles and landed on Cliff’s back. The beaver dug its teeth deep into Cliff’s shoulder, making him growl in pain. The alligator had been released from his grip and crawled away at top speed. The beaver had jumped off of Cliff and headed straight for Woodrow. Woodrow opened fire, but the darts missed the beaver every time. The beaver jumped up and smacked the dart gun out of Woodrow’s hands, all the while banging its tail against the Blackjack’s head. Woodrow jumped back and almost hit his head against the elevator doors.

  The beaver and the alligator ran the opposite direction of where the bison had fled. Cliff failed to ensnare one with his own lasso. Preston helped Woodrow up to his feet.

  The young man asked, “You’re not hurt, are you?”

  Woodrow didn’t check for injuries. “I can’t really care at this point.”

  Cliff, whose shoulder had been bleeding and stained his black denim jacket, grabbed his double-barrel shotgun and started the chase.

  “I hate alligators.”

  Preston, Woodrow, and Cliff followed after the two animals that rescued the bison. Preston could hear the unbalanced footsteps from afar. He mustered up his stamina and ran as fast as he could across the hallway. He felt a drop of sweat forming on his forehead. He took quicker breaths when following his two teammates toward their targets. He almost stumbled when he sped past a file cabinet, but he picked himself back up in an immediate fashion.

  The three Blackjacks had already spotted the two Nevinoth Dragons in the same office as before. They would have had another chance to escape via the staircase had it not been for the Blackjack that stood in their way. Oswald howled at the beaver and alligator that stopped sprinting.

  The alligator growled. “Get out of the way, you little shit.”

  Oswald was unfazed by that remark. He laughed as he slowly pulled out the enormous revolver his holster. He showed it off to the two animals while howling like a monkey. Preston knew of the revolver that Oswald proudly owned. It was a Smith & Wesson Model 500. It was an enormous revolver with a long and wide barrel. Oswald pointed it at the alligator.

  His wide eyes and crazed smile made his intentions perfectly clear. “Come and get me!”

  The beaver didn’t move, but the alligator opened its mouth wide. It slowly stepped closer to Oswald, who didn’t step aside. He still had his revolver pointed at the alligator.

  “Come on, now. Frighten me. Go ahead. Frighten me! I want some!

  The alligator replied, “Foolish people like you remind me why I belong to the other side.”

  Oswald’s big grin revealed his perfectly white teeth. “I said frighten me! Come on!”

  Preston, Woodrow, and Cliff waited patiently for what would happen between their teammate and their reptilian opponent. The beaver persuaded the alligator to jump out the window.

  The alligator snarled at the beaver. “They shot me with that dart. I can’t be my true self!”

  Woodrow threatened them with, “You’re hopeless. This will be our killing ground.”

  Without warning, the alligator ran toward Oswald, who pulled the trigger twice. The alligator stopped and winced. The two bullets pierced through his back and made him slide backward. Blood spilled out of his new wounds. The force of the blow caused the alligator’s struggle to walk. Meanwhile, Woodrow aimed for the beaver, but the Nevinoth sped right between Oswald’s legs and headed for the stairs. Oswald turned around and fired three more rounds. From what Preston could see, the beaver managed to escape. Oswald ran after him.

  The alligator stood up, and despite his wounds, he ran for the cubicles. The three Blackjacks separated and chased after the reptile made vulnerable by manufactured armaments.

  They searched all over the room this time. Preston took many careful steps in the pathway situated between two rows of cubicles. He tried to search for either footprints or blood trails. He had found neither.

  Woodrow called out to his teammates. “Find anything yet?!”

  Preston called back. “Nothing!”

  The young Blackjack had found a partially open door in the corner. He stepped inside the room, which had a rectangle-shaped desk and over a dozen chairs surrounding it. The only thing that caught Preston’s attention was the blood trail on the carpeted floor.

  Pr
eston shouted, “I found him!”

  Just as he finished saying those words, the alligator had popped out from underneath the desk and made his charge. Preston had only a few seconds to use his FAMAS. He opened fire at the alligator. Several rounds had done more damage to the alligator’s back.

  But it wasn’t enough. The alligator leapt straight at him. Preston tried to step to the side, but the alligator pushed him against the window. The glass shattered. Preston fell backwards. He had to grab on to the ledge just as shards of glass landed on him. The alligator dropped down behind him.

  He felt a stinging sensation on his bare leg. He looked down and discovered the alligator wrapped his arm around Preston’s right leg to avoid a fatal plunge to the concrete below.

  Preston shouted, “Help!”

  He and the alligator were now dangling on the ledge. The young Blackjack could feel his hands slipping on the ledge. He desperately tried to hold on, but the alligator’s weight pulled him down. The creature tried to bite on Preston’s flesh, but his jaws couldn’t reach him.

  Preston feared the worst. He panicked. Death was official if his fingers let go of the ledge.

  “Help me! I can’t hold on!”

  Woodrow had made it to the room in time. He ran toward the shattered window and pulled Preston’s arms.

  “Hang on! I got you!”

  The alligator still didn’t let go of Preston’s leg. He continued his attempt to bite at the young man’s body. The powerful chomping at empty air produced a loud cracking noise that Preston couldn’t tolerate. He kicked at the alligator’s arm and it resulted in a complete lack of change to the latter’s stance.

  Suddenly, a loud shot led to the alligator roaring in pain. A new bullet wound had been formed on its back. Preston had only a few seconds to turn his head around and pinpoint the exact location of the sniper. From across the street, Jerome stood on the rooftop as he fired a total of five rounds at the alligator. The sniper bullets were powerful enough to pierce through the scales and have him bleed profusely.

  The alligator finally let go of Preston’s leg and fell. Preston could feel the weight no longer pulling him down. The alligator fell eight floors down and landed on the sidewalk with a hard thud.

  Cliff had arrived and helped Woodrow in pulling Preston back into the building. Preston felt so relieved to be touching the carpeted floor again. He moved away from the ledge and retrieved his FAMAS. He checked his leg for any bruises. Only a few scratch marks made been made on the bare skin.

  Woodrow took a peek out the window. “The alligator’s not moving. It’s no longer our problem.”

  Preston was glad. He wanted to give Woodrow a hug for saving him, but he decided not to show off his vulnerability at the last minute. Instead, he pointed his finger at Jerome and winked. The sniper on the rooftop tipped his beret.

  Woodrow ran straight for the door. “We better hurry. The bison is still roaming without permission. It deserves our attention.”

  Preston followed him. “I’m right behind you, man.”

  Cliff was the last to exit the room.

  8:06 PM

  Bryce and Rebecca stayed beside each other and waited for the sound of the bison’s hooves to grow louder. They stood in the middle of a wide hallway on the seventh floor. They could hear the bison in the distance as a faint echo. They kept their weapons raised and their eyes on the end of the hallway. This time, they did not use their own assault rifles. Instead, they chose this moment to demonstrate Milton Han’s new weapon.

  The engineer stood behind them as motivation. “Be sure that your reflexes are quick enough to reload just in case. You might need to drench the bison four times.”

  Bryce replied, “It’s already noted, Mr. Han.”

  Both he and Rebecca had a brand new weapon in their hands. The ISI Cement Gun. ISI meaning “immediate solid imprisonment”. Attached to the barrels of the gun were four glass orbs filled entirely with a clear liquid. It wasn’t water, but a newly made chemical created by Han himself. The glass orbs were situated in a way that they would rotate in a circular motion while reloading.

  Rebecca used her ears to trace the location of the bison. She whispered, “It’s coming closer.”

  Han brought his voice to the same volume. “Stay focused now. This bison is trouble, and the two of you can bring it down thanks to me.”

  The sound of the bison’s hooves grew louder.

  Both Blackjacks stayed put. The bison had made a sharp turn at the far end of the hallway and ran in the direction of its opponents.

  Han shouted, “Now!”

  Bryce and Rebecca pulled the trigger. Both glass orbs jumped right off of the barrel of the gun and flew towards the runaway bison. It was a direct hit. The glass orbs touched the bison’s fur and instantly broke apart during the collision. The liquid touched the bison before it almost immediately transformed into a solid white foam that grew thicker.

  Bryce and Rebecca reloaded their guns by turning the barrel clockwise and bringing the next glass orb into the front. They opened fire again. The orbs crashed into the bison’s front legs. The white form on its fur had already progressed into a thick piece of cement that stuck to the bison’s body. The bison couldn’t move any further. The cement connected the bison’s legs and the floor. The solid matter grew all around the bison’s fur, resulting in various jagged surfaces that trapped the animal.

  Han clapped his hands together. “It worked! Another victory for Mystic Lightning!”

  The bison tried to escape from the dried cement that overwhelmed it. Its attempts had already been deemed to be pointless. It roared at Bryce and Rebecca for their successful attack.

  The two Blackjacks finally lowered their weapons. Han patted both of them on the shoulders and said, “We have become unstoppable.”

  Bryce wasn’t convinced. “You really think this is a good time to celebrate? I mean, we still have a lot of work to do.”

  Han started to walk toward the trapped bison. “Yes, but it’s never wrong to feel so proud.”

  From the other end of the hallway, several other Blackjacks had arrived. Woodrow, Cliff, Nick, Sabrina, Oswald, and Preston had made it in time to observe the outcome of the ISI Cement Gun put to use.

  Rebecca showed off her new weapon with a smile on her face. “We just got some new stuff here, and it’s good.”

  Everyone had now surrounded the bison trapped in the center of the hall. The Nevinoth mammal had given up in its attempt to flee. The solid and jagged cement had trapped it in a confined space between it and the ground.

  Nick poked at the bison’s head with his FN SCAR rifle. “That’s what you get for fucking shit up. You’re not gonna win.”

  The bison reached out for the rifle with its teeth. Nick pulled his weapon away just as Woodrow touched the dried gray cement with his fingers.

  “Your final prison is justified.”

  The bison growled. “Let’s face it. You all know why we have to do this. It’s not for you. It’s for the entire world. Gorvex will betray you. He will destroy everything you love.”

  Sabrina rolled her eyes. “What’s the point of using that kind of talk when you’re already being screwed?”

  “You don’t realize the truth. You don’t even realize what’s happening on the other side of the world.”

  “Well, we don’t care either way, so just forget it.”

  Bryce stepped closer. “Do you have anything else to say before we kill you?”

  The bison moaned lightly. “Place your doubts on the dragon that rules the world. He is nothing like what you would imagine.”

  Cliff expressed his usual nonchalant behavior by saying, “Yeah, whatever. It’s been nice knowing you.”

  The Blackjack activated his Devious EEL. The lasso wrapped itself around the bison’s neck. Cliff pulled at the lasso hard, which caused it to squeeze the bison’s neck tightly.

  Cliff added, “I pity the people who’re going to clean this up.”

  He pulled at the las
so again. This time, he pulled it at a different direction. He bought his entire hand further down to the floor. A sudden snapping noise originated from the head that separated from his neck. Cliff even pulled the spine right out of the bison’s body. Blood spattered everywhere, especially on Cliff’s denim jacket. The bison’s entire body grew limp. It stopped breathing. Cliff had pulled his head off and killed it.

  Rebecca didn’t exactly tolerate the result. “Well, you could’ve just used your gun.”

  Cliff loosened the lasso around the bison’s neck and brought it back into the ampule on the gauntlet. “I prefer a more creative way sometimes.”

  Han knocked lightly on the cement. “You people are lucky that we managed to have this weapon approved. It took us seven tries to make it work. Now, it’s been perfected for your pleasure.”

  Rebecca thanked him. “It’s really great. I’ll gladly keep it.”

  “Well, it’s yours. Think of it as a compliment, just like those infrared sunglasses.”

  Bryce nodded his head. “We’re making history right here.”

  In the meantime, Woodrow informed his captain with the microphone on his earpiece about the death of another Nevinoth Dragon.

  8:11 PM

  In had become an interesting event since the arrival from the NESF Station. Jerome had viewed Mystic Lightning Headquarters with more eager anticipation. A broken window caused by Preston and the alligator had become an incongruous addition to the main building. The alligator’s body lay on the sidewalk below, with several Hammerhead Investigators standing around it. Virgil Hamilton continued to have his session with the press. The reporters and the cameramen almost surrounded him as he apparently responded with the most basic information possible. The reporters still didn’t step away from him. As for Richard Hatchett, Preston’s father, he discussed an unheard story with his Hammerhead crew. The man must have been close to being traumatized when he saw his own son dangling from the eighth floor. Jerome’s skills as a sniper came in handy when his teammate needed it the most.