43. THE FAT LADY
CHARLIE:
I WAS MADDER THAN AN ALBINO TRYIN’ TO HITCHHIKE IN a snowstorm. For the first time in my life, I was down to my last two bullets. I never carried much ammunition because, frankly, I never really needed much. Almost every bullet that had ever ripped out of the Fat Lady’s barrel ended up somewhere, in somebody’s pumpkin. But not that day. Ol’ Ace of Spades had managed to either dodge or deflect just about every shot that I’d fired at him.
I couldn’t believe how fast that little sucker was. It’s no wonder he was able to tag Tango so many times on that rooftop. Don’t get me wrong, Tango still ended up puttin’ a few lumps on his head big enough to need their own birth certificates, but I still had to give the kid his due. Before then, I had never even seen Tango take so much as a punch in a fight.
The room was dead silent and still completely dark, but I knew he was still breathing. Ol’ Ace had dove to cover behind a control panel across the room from me after I fired my last shot. There was no way I was about to walk over so he could hop out and stick me with that sword of his.
“You still kickin’ over there, Hoss?” I yelled.
“Why don’t you come over and find out!” he shouted, his voice distorted by his mask.
“I gotta say, Hoss. You’re a lot better than I gave you credit for. After watching Tango tear into you and your partner like a hobo on a couple of ham sandwiches, I thought for sure you’d be nothing more than a light snack for me.”
“Tango will get his!”
“Is that a fact?” I asked.
“That’s a promise,” he replied.
“Well that’ll be the day. What do you say we go ahead and get this over with, Hoss? Ol’ Charlie’s gettin’ tired of waiting.”
“What kind of a fool do you take me for?” he demanded.
I walked over and opened a nearby exit, letting the light from outside spill into the room.
“Are you giving up?” Ace yelled.
“Course not. Just settin’ the stage, Hoss.”
“Setting what stage?”
“Hoss, I’ll level with you. I’m down to my last two bullets and before now, I ain’t never missed so many damn shots in my life. I s'pose I've got you and that fancy sword of yours to thank for it.”
“You’re welcome,” he quipped.
“Now we can keep hangin’ here like a couple of loose teeth or you can take me up on my offer and get this thing over with.”
“What are you talking about?” Ace asked, skeptically. I smiled because I knew that I had him. He wouldn’t have even bothered to ask a question if he wasn’t interested in hearing what I had to say.
“You blocked just about every one of my shots with that toothpick of yours so I figure you’re pretty good with that sorta thang, huh?”
“Damn right I am!” he boasted.
“Well, Hoss I gotta tell ya, if you and me squared off one last time, I’d bet my last bullet that I can slide one by that butter knife of yours and plug you right in the chest.” The room fell silent as he considered my offer.
“What are you saying?” Ace finally asked.
“I’m saying you and me should have us a good ol’ fashioned show down, Hoss. Now, I’ve got two bullets left. You take a stand and I’ll rip one at ya. If I hit my mark, that’ll be the end of it, but if you somehow manage to block it with that piece of scrap metal, I’ll plug myself with the second bullet.”
“Not a chance!” he scoffed.
“Stakes too high for you, Hoss?” I demanded. “I thought you said you were good!”
“How do I know you won’t try to shoot me as soon as I stand?” he questioned.
Without hesitation, I tossed my revolver across the room and over the control panel that he hid behind. “There ya go, Hoss. I can’t shoot without a gun, now can I? Now you just walk on out and toss it back and we’ll get this thing settled.”
“What's stopping you from pulling another gun as soon as I walk out?”
“Hoss, I ain’t never needed a second gun and that ain’t about to change.”
He didn’t move or reply for about thirty seconds. I smiled when he finally emerged from his hiding spot, holding my gun in his right hand and his sword in his left. Even with the light spilling in from outside the room, his jet-black ninja armor made him almost invisible against the countless shadows that surrounded him.
I took off my black hat and removed my red theatre mask and tossed it aside. “I suppose you’re thinking about just shootin’ me yourself and getting it over with, huh?” I asked as I placed my hat back on my head.
“I’d rather watch you do it,” he said confidently as he tossed the gun back to me and took a step forward into the stream of light that cut through the room. I caught the pistol with my right hand and stared at it.
Betty, Brutus, Big Iron, Boss Hawg, Dallas, Hand Cannon, and Mrs. Jackson. These were just a few of the names that I had come to know my daddy’s gun by. She had earned many names during my lifetime but my favorite was always The Fat Lady.
That’s what Pop used to call her.
Nearly every ballad she had ever sung meant the end for some poor soul. It was now down to the last song but the target in front of me was somehow still standing.
Either way it goes, it’s over for one of us, I thought as I aimed for his chest. He pulled his sword in front of him and held it with both hands.
He didn’t flinch as I started to spin my gun on my right index finger. I thought for sure I’d get him to at least move an inch or two but he just stood there as still as a statue.
Here goes everything, I thought as I dove to the right, still spinning the gun with my right hand. Suddenly, there seemed to be nothing in the room except for him and me. Nothing else in the building. Nothing else in the world.
Still outstretched and in midair, I caught the handle of my spinning revolver and squeezed the trigger. Ace twirled his sword in a figure eight motion as the bullet ripped through the air.
The song was beautiful. I had fired my gun just before I hit the ground. I thought the upward angle of the bullet’s path would give him hell for sure, but I was wrong. Dead wrong. Not only did Ace deflect the bullet, but he knocked the sucker right back at me. To my surprise, a piece of the bullet whizzed a few inches over my head before hitting the wall behind me.
He didn’t gloat like I thought he would. The son of a gun had just done what no other man on God’s green earth could lay claim to and he actually had the audacity to be humble about it.
As I stood to face him, all of a sudden my face was hotter than two hamsters fartin’ in a wool sock. He didn’t say much. He just walked over to the exit, then paused and looked over his shoulder to make sure I’d hold up my end of the deal. The reality of my failure hit me like a kick in the gut. As I stared down at my father’s gun, I couldn’t help but feel that I wasn’t even worthy of it anymore. Heck, if Pop had been there to watch me squeeze off eleven shots and not hit my mark once, he probably would have cheered me on as I swallowed that last bullet.
“Well alright then, Hoss. I guess a deal’s a deal,” I said as I placed the barrel of the Fat Lady under my chin. He nodded his head and turned to exit, which is exactly what I was hoping he would do. I knew that Pop was probably watchin’ and, he wouldn’t like it very much, but I had no intentions on keeping my word.
Ace paused as I aimed the Fat Lady at the back of his head.
“What do you say we go double or nothin’ Hoss?” I asked.
“And how do you supposed we do that?” he replied without facing me.
“Well, I figure your back being turned gives me double the chances of pluggin’ you with this here last bullet and from where I’m standing, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
I heard several footsteps hurriedly approach from just outside the room as he stood in silence. The cavalry has arrived, I thought as I thumbed the hammer of my pistol down. I had wondered what was taking them so long to respond.
“You would go back on your word?” Ace demanded, still facing away from me.
“All’s fair in love and war, Hoss,” I replied as I squeezed the trigger.
Nothing happened. I squeezed again, then a third time, and a fourth, but no matter how many times I squeezed, that last bullet never came ripping out of the barrel.
“Son of a gun!” I shouted before popping open my gun, checking for my last bullet. A feeling of humiliation washed over me as I realized that the gun was empty.
“Looking for this?” Ace asked as he displayed my last bullet with his right hand. That sucker must have removed it before he threw my gun back over to me.
“Well played, Hoss. Well played. It’s almost a shame that our little game here has to end. I don’t know if you heard the footsteps, but boys are right outside.”
“You’re right, they are. Just not the boys that you were expecting,” he said.
Moments later, armed men dressed in black tactical combat gear poured into the room. He was right; these weren't the boys that I expected. These were feds.
It hurt like hell to watch them take the Fat Lady away as they slapped the cuffs on me. As much as it pained me to have been bested, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of respect for ol’ Ace.
“Hey Ace,” I called out, just as he was about to leave. He paused and glanced over his shoulder.
“Now, I know I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain as far as our bet goes, but I will give you a piece of advice instead. If you ever see Tango again, you make sure you do two things: run and watch for the right.”
He lingered for a few seconds before exiting the room without replying. I wasn’t sure if he really knew what I meant, but a part of me still felt like I had sold out my buddy Tango. Funny thing is, another part of me felt like I owed the kid. Either way, that bit of information I gave him certainly wasn’t gonna single-handedly win him the fight. It would definitely keep him alive, but winning the fight was up to him. I just wished I could have been there when they finally squared off again.
44. SUPER HUMAN
REAPER:
ALPHA SLUGGED ME HARD IN THE FACE WITH HIS RIGHT. I took the punch in stride and quickly returned the favor. We stood toe to toe in the center of the room, trading crushing blows for several minutes.
My body armor and dense composition made it easy for me to absorb his blows, but it was difficult for me to land any good shots to his face because he was so much taller than me. Each time I hit him, he would pull his head backward or to the side upon impact, which lessened the effect of my punches.
He finally caught me off-guard with a powerful right-handed uppercut that clicked my teeth together and sent me stumbling backward. He leapt forward with his arms outstretched, not wanting to allow me time to recover. That's when I saw my opening. He was remarkably quick for his size but his crushing uppercut had released an adrenaline rush that had given me added focus. As he soared at me with his arms outstretched, his ribs were completely exposed.
I stepped forward and fired a vicious right-handed hook into his rib cage. A sickening crunch rang out as my fist slammed against his torso. His knees buckled, but he somehow managed to maintain his footing. He was still standing, but he was writhing in pain as he doubled over and clutched his left side with both hands.
I rushed forward to finish him, but he quickly dove to the ground and executed a swift single leg take-down before I could react. He seemed to have caught a second wind as he pounced and wrapped his python sized arms around my neck and fell on top of me as soon as I hit the floor. The hold was extremely tight, which made it very difficult for me to breath. I connected with a few wild punches that I blindly threw up at him, but the 400-pound beast of a man that rode my back refused to release the hold.
I could hear my heartbeat echoing as he tightened his grip even more. Get up! I screamed inside of my head. Get up you idiot! An elbow to his broken ribs loosened his grip just long enough for me to pull my hands under me. I pressed hard against the floor and pushed my body upward along with the massive assailant that still clung to me for dear life. He tried to use his weight to drag me down but he couldn’t stop me from climbing to my feet. A deadly piggyback ride ensued as Alpha’s entire body was lifted into the air as I stood.
Brightly colored spots appeared in my field of vision as Alpha maintained his iron grip around my neck. I stumbled over and forcefully slammed him against a wall behind me, but he still would not relent.
I can't get him off, I thought, as I fell to my knees due to the lack of oxygen. I could feel blood trickling out of my nose as the sound of my heartbeat echoing in my head began to slow. You can't give up! Howie needs you! I shouted to myself.
As Alpha continued to choke the life out of me, I glanced over at Howie's cell. He was sprawled across the floor completely motionless. He didn't have much time left and the only thing stopping me from getting him the medical treatment that he needed was the man on my back.
I gathered the dwindling strength that remained within me and threw it all into one massive elbow strike against Alpha’s broken ribs. He finally broke the hold long enough for me to suck in a deep gust of precious air.
Just hang in there, Howie, I thought as I pulled my feet under me and leapt upward with Alpha still clinging to me. His head snapped back and slammed against the tile as we crashed into the ceiling above us. As we fell to the floor, his death grip loosened, and I grabbed his right arm and hurled him across the room. I heaved for air as he crashed against the wall and fell to the floor.
“Stay down,” I barked as he angrily slammed his fists against the floor. It must have really pissed him off that I was so much smaller than him yet so much stronger.
He pushed against the wall with his right foot and broke into a surprisingly swift sprint. I clinched my right fist as he barreled toward me.
We threw our punches at the same time. He aimed for my head but I had aimed for his fist.
“I said, stay down!” I roared.
A shockwave ripped through his flesh as our fists collided and his forearm snapped under the pressure of my crushing blow. I stood over him as he fell to his knees screaming in excruciating pain.
I had warned him to walk away and he didn’t listen. Now he was going to pay for his mistake. I didn’t care that the bone was protruding from his forearm. It didn’t matter that he was already beaten. They had started when they kidnapped Howie, and I was going to finish. I snapped his head around with a swift right cross, sending him crashing to the floor.
“Reaper! Stand down!” a voice in my head yelled. I ignored the voice and pounced on top of Alpha before he could scramble away. We had come full circle as I was now the one on top of him raining down earth shattering punches as he fought desperately to shield himself.
The fight in him died a bit more with each bone crunching strike that I landed. Blood poured from beneath his mask as my left hand slammed against his head. His body fell limp as I drew back my right fist.
“Reaper, stand down! Repeat! Stand down! This is Special Agent Mike Wells! Do you copy!” shouted the voice in my head. But this wasn’t my conscious. It was Special Agent Wells. It was his information and his men that we had used to find Howie and secure the facility where The Strangers were holding him. I was thankful for his help, but as far as I was concerned, he was still in no position to give me orders.
“What do you mean, stand down? This is the enemy!” I barked.
“He’s one of us, Reaper! I told you I had people on the inside. Where do you think I got Echo’s location from?” Agent Wells replied.
“You’re lying! You’re working with them aren’t you?!” I shouted.
“Dammit Reaper, get a hold of yourself! Alpha is one of my agents. And he’s a damn good one at that. I’d like to get him back in one piece if it’s all the same to you.”
I didn’t know what to think. I was angry and confused. I still didn’t trust him, but something told me that he was telling the truth. I finally stood and s
tared down at the broken warrior at my feet.
“Is he dead?” Wells asked.
“No.”
“Good, I’ll have my men extract him along with the rest of The Strangers that we captured. Grab Echo and get the hell out of there. There’s a helicopter waiting for you on the roof.”
I rushed over and picked up Howie. He was weak, but I was relieved to see that he was still breathing.
“Alright. I’m coming up,” I said.
“I’ll see you in a few,” Wells replied.
I was grateful to have found Howie, but I couldn’t help but feel like I had sold my soul to the devil in order to do so. Without Wells, we would have never found him. I didn’t promise him that I would help him go after The Righteous, but I knew that ultimately he would expect something in return.
Maybe I did owe him, but I wasn’t ready to give up my pursuit of The Strangers just yet. I couldn’t stop until it was over. I couldn’t stop until I felt The Suspect’s neck snap beneath my fingers.
45. CHOICES