“Not worth a damn.” Wulfson chuckled, crouched down, and raised his fists. “You’re tenacious, I’ll give you that, but this isn’t the slums anymore. When you go on missions, you’re gonna be facing some true devils who have a real talent for murder and maybe more blood on them than in them.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, old man. Also, how the hell does everyone know about me?”
“I can promise you that you haven’t faced the worst out there. Hell, I may have never faced the worst. Who knows what’s really out there in that eternal abyss.” He looked up for a brief moment. “But all of that is null and void if you can’t even handle what we got for you. You can train all you want in the Animus, but unless you commit, you’ll only be as good as everybody else.”
“So I should spend my free time getting kicked in the balls by you?” Kaiden snarled, throwing a punch that Wulfson sidestepped.
“Training with me, though, this might happen”—Wulfson kicked low and Kaiden reacted quickly, jumped over the attack, and leaped backward on landing—“if you don’t keep your guard up.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Kaiden scoffed. “So what are you offering me, exactly—a big ass sparring buddy?”
“A mentor,” Wulfson stated, making a few quick jabs that Kaiden blocked. “Someone who will put you through the wringer, get you some grit and scars to go along with all the fancy tech this place is giving you.”
“You think I can’t train myself?” he asked. Wulfson snorted before he suddenly sent a fast, powerful kick to Kaiden’s chin. Kaiden brought his arms together and intercepted the kick but was knocked a good five feet back before stumbling and falling to the floor.
“I’m sure you could run some laps and do basic drills with the rest of the soldiers. Maybe you’ll grow smart enough to take a class in foundations, but that won’t get you much further than you are now,” Wulfson chided, standing straight and crossing his arms.
Kaiden wiped his brow as he pushed himself off the floor, leaning forward with his hands on his knees for a moment. “Am I supposed to guess that all this caring advice comes from the giant’s heart of gold? Trust me, I’ve only met a few people here, and I know it doesn’t work that way.”
Wulfson’s grin returned. “Of course not. I am certainly getting something out of this myself, whether you agree or not. But I was a teacher before, and not because taking maggots and turning them into warriors was a do-nothing sweet gig.”
“So it’s principle?” Kaiden asked.
“It’s dedication, wanting to know that I had a hand in making the heroes of tomorrow.”
“Then you wanna tell me why you’re here instead of being a general or something?”
Wulfson’s grin disappeared. “Another time, perhaps. Now, are you going to continue?”
“Obviously.” Kaiden stood upright again and raised his fists. “At this point, my only dedication is kicking your ass.”
“Pah. Then it’s something you still need to work on,” Wulfson sneered, also moving into a fighting stance.
Kaiden decided to take the initiative this time, dashing forward and striking Wulfson’s gut. His opponent grunted but barely flinched. Kaiden dipped back to avoid retaliation before closing in again for another hit to the ribs. He kept this dance up—a quick hit or two before ducking out—but it began to feel like he was trying to take him down with bug bites.
His fists throbbed and he tried to keep focus, but his quick strikes weren’t allowing him to position himself all that well, and his hands and arms were taking the strain.
He needed a way to get a real opening, something that would allow him to really let loose and attack him with all his might—or whatever was left of it.
His expression carefully deadpan, he moved back and looked around, seeing a shimmering grey pool a few feet away. A snare trap. That could definitely help, but he couldn’t simply bait him into it. The ploy hadn’t exactly worked well the last time.
Wulfson began striking back, massive swings and quick jabs, along with the occasional sweeping kick to try to catch him off guard. Kaiden parried and blocked, looking for a way to try to knock him into the trap without being too obvious.
Right now, they were fighting between two traps—the snare and a heat trap—something Wulfson used to his own advantage as well. He made wider arcs with his attacks and attempted to grab Kaiden as his options for dodging became a little more limited.
He was currently allowing the officer to lead him around, but right now was the perfect place to get him into the trap. Somehow, he needed to swing this around.
Then Kaiden thought of something. As Wulfson went to grab him again, clutching a small edge of his shirt, Kaiden yanked his shirt off quickly and wrapped it around his hand, tugging at it to pull Wulfson toward him. The officer grabbed a full handful of the fabric with his other hand and pulled, trying to yank Kaiden into his grasp.
He obliged, using the momentum of Wulfson’s pull to sail right by him and over the snare trap. When he landed, he spun quickly and grabbed the shirt with both hands and heaved, catching Wulfson by surprise before he let go and stumbled onto the trap.
A whoosh sounded as a hexagonal pattern of lights enveloped Wulfson from his chest down. It looked like a defensive barrier had been flipped inside-out. Wulfson cursed and struggled against the snare, the patterns moving slightly but holding taut.
Kaiden wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. He ran up and began hitting the officer with everything he had. While he had to leap into the air to actually strike his face, he used everything at his disposal—his fists, elbows, and head, even getting a few kicks in.
Wulfson’s face was bloody and bruised, and his eyes were closed. Kaiden couldn’t even tell if he was conscious or not.
“So, do you give?” Kaiden asked, panting as he once again leaned forward and braced against his knees, sweat dripping off him. It had been a while since he had a good fight. The one at the bar was almost a joke. This one he had to work for.
“Is that the best you can do?” Wulfson asked, spitting out some blood.
“Are you kidding me? What can you do now? How are you even talking?” Kaiden demanded.
“A neat little trick—worked better than the first time, at least.” Wulfson still sounded infuriatingly arrogant. “But I told you before, I’m going to put you through the wringer…” The barrier around him began to buckle as Wulfson pressed against it. Stretching his arms out, he roared as he forced his arms apart, shattering the trap.
Kaiden backed up as Wulfson stepped forward, taking deep breaths as he balled his fists. “Congratulations, you really pissed me off.”
“How is that a—” Kaiden began, but Wulfson charged him, closing the distance incredibly fast despite his injuries. “Oh, shit—”
Kaiden was too worn out to dodge quickly enough. Wulfson barreled down on him, knocking him to the floor before he was picked up. The giant had his arm in a vice grip before he turned and threw him down like a rag doll. Kaiden grunted at the hard impact, feeling like he just slammed into a brick wall even with the mat on the floor.
He tried to roll back and recover, but when he opened his eyes, he saw Wulfson’s boot coming right for him. He lifted his arms to deaden the blow, but the force behind the kick was much harder than any strike Wulfson had dealt before. He felt a stinging pain as the boot connected with his arms, and he was knocked back. Helpless, he rolled off the mat and collided with a wall.
Wulfson had been holding back this entire fight. The sudden insight brought an alarming clarity—the stark truth was not good for Kaiden.
He planted a hand on the floor and struggled to push himself up. Finally, he was able to sit up and lean against the wall, dragging in ragged breaths. He saw Wulfson begin to march over to him. Kaiden shook his head and used the wall to help himself stand, damned if he would get his ass beat while sitting on the ground.
After he managed to stand up all the way, he opened one eye to see Wulfson right in front of him, his eyes like stone and blood r
unning down his face. “So, do you give?” he asked. His low, threatening tone made it hard to tell if he was mocking him or dead serious.
“Is…is that the best you got?” Kaiden retorted, certainly mocking though even he wondered whether it was real gumption or simply stupidity. He folded and bent over, his vision blurred.
Wulfson leaned back, and Kaiden heard a low chuckle come from deep in the giant’s belly. “You are probably one of the biggest dumboms I have ever met, but you do put up a good fight. I’ll give you that, Initiate.”
Oh, good, he’d graduated from boy. It only took a liter of blood and what was assuredly at least a broken nose and a couple ribs.
As his vision darkened, Kaiden looked back to see Wulfson cock an arm back. He grabbed Kaiden by his left shoulder to steady him. “I would simply declare the match in my favor, but if you aren’t going to throw in the towel… Well, it was the first one down, and rules are rules.”
Kaiden nodded, not really self-aware anymore, though, as Wulfson’s grip tightened and he reached his arm further back. Kaiden did have one last thought.
“This is probably going to hurt like a bitch.”
Then darkness enveloped him, and he felt nothing.
Chapter Seventeen
Streaks of laser fire zipped past, missing him narrowly, and dust kicked up around his feet as live ammo studded the ground. Kaiden dashed quickly across the alley, catching sight of slumped bodies and melted flesh in his periphery.
He wondered where they came from and how they were able to get through their turf without alerting anyone. The alarm had already sounded. Reinforcements should have been there by now. A chill surged through him. How many did they take out before getting there?
An instinct for survival pressed him up against a wall, and he tried to catch the attention of Rocco, one of their enforcers. He couldn’t hear him, not over all the shouting and chaos of battle. Once again, he tried his communicator. Nothing. The signal was still dead, so it must have been jammed or blocked. He looked around for signs of Selena or Devin. They were the last two techies he remembered seeing before the first shots. Somehow, they had to get the comms back up.
He saw a small orb fly past him, bounce off the wall, and roll back. It was a metal ball, and a red light on top began to blink rapidly.
Shit, a thermal grenade.
Kaiden rushed to try to toss it back, but he couldn’t close the distance. He felt as if he wasn’t moving at all. Then he saw Rocco throw himself on it. Two other Dead-Eyes came up behind Kaiden and began pulling him back, while Rocco looked up and screamed at him to get the hell away.
As his eyes widened and he called to the enforcer, he heard one last shout of, “Get back!” before the explosive went off, knocking him and the other Dead-Eyes off their feet. His head collided with concrete as he drew in a sharp gasp of air.
Kaiden sat up in shock before feeling a dense pain across his chest that forced him back down. His head rested on a rather comfortable pillow. He groaned as he ran his hand across his chest, pressing down lightly on different spots to check the damage. It felt as if his ribs had been struck by a battering ram. Then, as his memories started to come back, he realized he wasn’t all that far off.
“Hello again, Initiate Jericho.” A calm voice greeted him.
Kaiden turned his head slowly to see a somewhat familiar sight. He was in the med bay, being treated by none other than the doctor who did his initial exam. “Howdy, Doc,” he mumbled, words tumbling out of him in pained grunts.
“I must admit, I hadn’t expected to see you so soon—less than two days, that’s quite the record considering training hasn’t officially begun yet.”
“Yeah, well, perhaps not for most people. I like to think of myself as a go-getter.” He chuckled, stopping himself quickly and wincing. It hurt to laugh.
“Perhaps not a particularly wise one,” the doctor noted dryly. She held something up. It looked like a small stick or tube of rubber, and she placed it over his mouth. “Bite down on this, please.”
Before he did as she instructed, he cocked an eyebrow and asked, “What for?”
She twisted around and took something from a tray next to her. It was a syringe which held some sort of blue liquid and had a rather thick needle.
“Hold steady. You should feel a tingling sensation in a moment.” She placed the needle on his chest in the area over his heart. Before he could bark out for her to wait, she pierced through his skin and injected the liquid into him.
The only noise he could make was a surprised squeak.
After a few moments of feeling nothing but surprise, anger, and confusion, Kaiden started to feel rather elated. The pain seeped away, and soothing warmth stole over him.
“Oh, that’s good stuff,” he said, a smile coming over his face as the rubber thing rolled onto the floor.
“It’s a personal blend I developed a few years ago. It’ll take a while, but once you rest a few more hours, you’ll be back in working order.”
“Ya make me sound like I’m some sort of robot, Doc.”
“You are dense enough,” she stated, her tone mildly disapproving. Kaiden could feel his smartass nature kicking up, but he felt too fuzzy inside to really be bothered to retort. Whatever this stuff was, he wanted a couple of vials for the weekend.
“Maybe, but what makes you say that?” he asked finally after a moment of shifting around the bed to get comfortable.
“Well, considering the reason you are here is that you decided to have yourself a brawl with Officer Wulfson, I can make an educated guess that self-preservation may not be a high priority to you.”
“It was a matter of honor…and I really wanted to punch him in his rock-like face, too.” Kaiden admitted. He’d started to feel rather chatty. “How did I get here, by the way?”
“Officer Wulfson brought you here, of course,” the doctor explained. “You can thank him yourself. He should be coming back over here after Nurse Yates finishes patching him up.”
This got Kaiden to snap out of his delighted haze for a moment. “Please don’t leave me alone with him. He might eat me this time.”
“Don’t be silly. Besides, I have to finish stitching you up and apply mending gel to your wounded areas, so I’ll be close by.”
“You got security turrets in here or something? You know, to be on the safe side?” Kaiden asked, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to locate hidden compartments—a task that grew steadily harder as his mystery-liquid-induced high return.
“We do, but I doubt that will be necessary.” She slid off the medical bed. “Besides, I don’t see why you are fretting so much. He said that you were the one who requested to train with him in the first place.”
He could feel himself wanting to call bullshit, but all that came out now was a satisfied sigh.
“I have to go and get the gel and utensils. I would say wait here, but I don’t think I need to worry about that.”
“Yeah, no, I’m doin’ pretty good now,” Kaiden assured her, giving a quick thumbs-up.
“That’s good. I’ll be back soon. Oh…well, looks like you’ll have some company while I’m gone,” she said, waving to someone outside Kaiden’s vision. “Hello, Officer Wulfson.”
“Evening, Doctor Soni, you get my ward back on his feet yet?” he asked, his massive frame coming into view. Kaiden looked him over and felt a small sense of annoyance. His face was all better. He wanted to feel like he’d left some sort of mark on the bastard.
“Not yet. I gave him an injection of rejuvenation serum that will take some time to relax and restore his muscles, then I have to apply mending gel to surface injuries and do some stitching on deeper wounds.” She crossed her arms. “I would like to request that you do not make a habit of sending any student who is willing to train with you immediately to the medical bay. We will have to file a report if it becomes too common.”
“Just letting the skitstövel understand what he’s in for. Kid’s got guts. I’m sure he’ll do bett
er,” Wulfson said, but as he turned to look at Kaiden, he began scratching at the back of his head. “However…maybe I can admit I went a little overboard.” He actually looked a little sheepish.
“It would be a good place to start.” Soni sighed. “I’ll be back soon. You can talk to him if you like, but I’ll need you to depart once I return.”
“Understood, Doctor.” Wulfson nodded. Soni returned the nod and left, calling for a nurse.
Wulfson took a moment to watch her go before turning to Kaiden. He was silent as he walked over to the side of the bed, grabbed a rolling stool from the neighboring bed, and slid it over to him. Without a word, he sat down as he continued his one-sided staring contest.
Kaiden, for his part, tried to return the glare, but he was far to goofed out to wipe the smile he could feel plastered across his face. “So, how are ya feeling?”
“I’m guessing better than you.” Wulfson chuckled, placing an arm on his own knee and holding up his chin with the other.
“Oh, I doubt that, unless you also got some of that blue stuff. It is quite good.”
“So, I’ve heard. Never touch the stuff myself.”
“You’re missing out.”
“I prefer to work through the pain. Speaking of which, I do have to give you your due, boy—”
“Oh, I’m back to boy again. Neat,” Kaiden mumbled, though the blue goo effectively robbed it of any belligerence.
“You certainly did a number on me—pretty good at thinking on your feet and got some real strength behind those fists,” the officer complimented him. “But you’re rash, your defense is spotty, and damned if you aren’t a mouthy little bastard.” Wulfson then tapped a finger to his temple. “Plus, you don’t make use of your full arsenal. Why didn’t you use your EI?”
“What are you talking about? We were fighting each other, not shooting each other…though I wouldn’t have minded that now that it’s all said and done.”
“Pah, kronidiot. Your EI is more than just an aim-assist tool or scanner. You don’t know about its Battle Suite?”
Initiate Page 16
