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“Wow, you must be near invulnerable my friend. “ whistled the Mole his single good are gleaming . “Your rating just got up several notches on my respect for you. You faced ten bounty hunters and lived to tell the tale? Simply amazing. “


“Actually, I didn’t face all ten at once else I won’t be here. “ Chuckling, Marvel stood at the driver’s side door speaking to his friend over the roof canopy of the car. “Besides I got a help. “ he pointed his thumb over his shoulder behind him at the fence surrounding the building he just came out from. Sudden boom sounds of explosions lighting the night from that angle.


“What the hell was that? Saw it but couldn’t believe it. “ the Mole said getting into the passenger sit to join Marvel already sitting in the car leaving Jade standing alone by the car.
“From the little I could pick up, it’s call an ADMEC, an acronym or a full name, I can’t tell yet. “ Marvel said looking beyond his sitting friend to the female agent outside. “And guess what, Red Mane is the one controlling that thing. He is inside it, driving it like an exoskeleton. “


“This is a complete game changer. If the mega corporations can pull out such tricks within a short time. That thing looks breed for war, heavily armed, highly maneuverable and adaptable. This I know the earth government will be interested to know and will want to shut down. “
“Yes Mole, exactly where our Earthwatch agent comes in. “ Marvel spoke loudly enough for Jade to hear and know she is included in what he just said.


“Don’t worry, I already got live images of that machine, it abilities and actions sent already on their way to earth the moment I saw it. “ Jade said after taking a causal look around. “Where is my bike? “
“At the other side. “ Marvel replied indicating. “Shortest route to it is through that thing. “
“Sorry, I’m not ready for suicide just yet. “

Getting to the floor and the window he had indicated to the Mole, he noticed a tiny hazy image beyond which he wasn’t sure what that is but could be nothing other than the Nexon 3.
“Mole, get the car away from the window a second. “ he spoke to his comm unit.


He brought up his MAC penetrator after getting a faint acknowledgement, facing the window he pulled the trigger. The hardened plastiglass covering on the window shattered under the heavy impact pf the bullets.
“Oh I forgot to inform you Marvel that Jade kinda tagged along with me since you took her ride. It’s going to be a tight fix in here with you added. “ the Mole’s voice crackled in Marvel’s ears.


“Damn “ was Marvel’s immediate response. He walked to the window ledge, he felt the night breeze blow on him filled with the ting of dew on his nostrils. He saw the black air car come closer, he stepped on the flat area of the top canopy and signaled the Mole to take the car down.
He jumped off the car as it touched down and the doors to both sides swung opened. The Mole shook his head with a look of surprise mixed with pity on his face.


“What happened to you bro? Looks like you tangled with several popping matured mud critters. “ The Mole said after seeing the several bullets holes and lazer bolts scorch marks that have torn Marvel’s outer coat in multiple places.
“It was worse than that. “ Marvel said as he pulled off the coat threw it into the little compartment behind the seats of the car, heading to the driver’s side. “You remember the ten bounty hunters we heard were in town? Well they were all here to hunt me down. “

Marvel felt the tiny stings at his back as the explosive bullets hit him there, burning holes on his over coat but his body armor protected him. He rolled with the forced from the shots and fell on the ground. Barracuda came at him screaming with rage. The gun fire continued even after Marvel have obviously fallen, mini explosions struck around the unmoving body of Marvel


“I’m going to kill you again and again for the lose you have caused me. “ the female bounty hunter shrieked as she threw her gun down when it ran out of bullets and pulled out a thin knife with sharp edges. “I’m going to cut off your head, legs and arms. I’m going to gut you like a dead animal, pull out your entrails and feed on them. “


Barracuda bent before the stilled form of Marvel lying on the ground, held his shoulder with one hand to turn him over as Marvel actually fell faced down. Her other hand held tightly to the handle of the knife which was lifted high above her head.


“I’m going to roast every part of your body and feed them to the swamp reptiles. “ Barracuda turned the body of Marvel to face her and the next words she planned speaking got stuck in her throat when she saw that Marvel’s eyes were opened and looking at her.


“No you won’t. “ Marvel said simply as in turning he put the muzzle of the penetrator on her chest and pulled the trigger. The gun was on auto and the bullets tore through her chest, creating a cavity wide enough for Marvel to pass his head through. The impacts and force of the blast kicked her back from him and threw her some feet away. Blood, ripped lungs parts and rib bones were scattered around. Marvel wipes the few blood stains on his face with the sleeve of his coat. Got up and headed for the stairs.

“Marvel hope you are still there, what I’m seeing at the direction your signal is coming from is proving that hard to believe. “ crackled in Marvel’s ears.
“I’m, Mole. “ Marvel replied with relief. “You took your damn time getting here. “
“Not my fault Marvel. The local security boys were slow in coming in. And one of them, their leader I guess, wanted to keep us more for questioning. “


Marvel laughed at that. “And he regretted it I guess. “
“I don’t know about that Marvel. I can’t tell if him missing several teeth after my fists worked his jaws that good would cause him to regret. If not for Loomis, he wouldn’t have lived long enough to regret. “ the Mole stopped speaking for a while as someone was speaking to him behind. “So Marvel what’s happening down there? I’m seeing things but can’t believe them. “


“Can’t talk now, I’m still trapped in the building. “ Marvel replied, his mind working fast on how to escape without drawing the attention of the ADMEC. At the moment he really can’t see much as all the actions seem to have moved outside. He activated his wrist comm pulling up images from his mini drone still hovering some distance away from the building. After taking few seconds observing the angle the ADMEC was in relation to the building he is in, he came up with an idea.


“Mole don’t come in too close so you won’t be seen. Circle to the back of the building, hover close to the fifth window at the first floor level, I will meet you there. “
“Acknowledged. “ the Mole replied.
Marvel jumped out of his hole and headed for the stairs at full speed.
“Die you monster, you led my lover to his death. “ Barrcuda’s voice said harshly behind him as she fired at him with her gun.

Mech-Joe had another rocket ready and he fired. Another explosion shook it again. This time there was enough space for Nostra, Dagger and Armsmith to get out of the place which they did but the guns of the ADMEC still trail them to have a lock on to them. Mech-Joe brought up another rocket from his prosthetic again and he fired. But this time there was a puff of smoke from the rocket ports on the ADMEC’s shoulders, as it also released a rocket aimed at Mech-Joe. There were two explosions, the first was the rocket that hit the ADMEC again, three consecutive times on the same spot. This time it did more that brush the paint off its dense metal body. A huge dent has appeared that shows the beginning of a crack.


The second explosion was on Mech-Joe, the rocket from the ADMEC port hit him and blew up. The explosion tore Mech-Joe into pieces of flesh and mechanical parts with blood scattered in the mix.
Marvel had done all he can to stay away from the fights going on, he may not understand it but that doesn’t mean he should get involved.


With keen observation, he has watched the ADMEC in action and has admired the mad ingenuity that had gone into its creation . He will definitely need one of that. He also noted that the bounty hunters were way outclassed and they will all be killed eventually. Which will leave him alone to face that monster. With him low on ammo, that doesn’t look like a pleasant prospect.

Red Mane sitting on the shock chair within the cramp cockpit of the ADMEC, the dark interior lighting by the glows from multiple display monitors and controls, his hand covered with a cybernetic fibre lining gloves with neural wires connected to the interface helmet on his head which is linked to all the motor coordination of the exoskeleton, the interface was so smooth, fast and precise that controlling the mechanical behemoth was a breeze.


He was having three targets running around him, taking ineffective shots at him. Taking careful reading of their features, he noticed none of them was Marvel, that means the bastard should be among the other three energy signatures still hiding further inwards where he can’t really get to without pulling down this whole building on himself.


Well why doesn’t he just move back and blast the whole building and burying all of them in deep layers of rubbles. That would be very easy but he won’t be sure for certain of Marvel’s death, that pompous piece of shi.t have a knack for escaping things like that. No, he won’t do that, he wants to take out Marvel personally. He wants to see Marvel cowered in fear before him as he blasts him to pieces with either the guns or rockets.


But these three targets are just running around him causing a temporal lack of target lock. Well what the hell, he can override the auto targeting and lock system on this machine and just fire away. As Red Mane prepared to fire, Mech-Joe came out of hiding, his mechanical arm lifted with a rocket already primed and he fired.


The rocket flashed quickly, hitting the center mass of the ADMEC then exploding. The exoskeleton trembled, moved few feet backwards away from the hole that was the entrance of the building. Other than that, it appeared unscathed apart from slight darkening of the paintings on it.

Firstly they have to get out of this place, it has confined them and limiting their ability to move around. Though, the place was semi dark, he was able to get the attention of the others with the hand codes communication known to their bounty hunters circle.


Barracuda was the least to acknowledge reception. Nostra directed Armsmith and Mech-Joe to wipe out something that is strong enough to at least put a dent on that mechanical monster and create an avenue for getting out here. Mech-Joe touched his prosthetic arm, exposing another rocket ready for launch and acknowledged he is ready.


Armsmith signaled he has several explosives in his backpack that can do the job. Dagger shook his head negatively but showed he is ready to move. Barracuda replied not at all, she had a forlorn appearance with a carefree attitude.


Nostra gave the go ahead as he prepared himself to move. He was carrying a heavy duty lazer blaster rifle, that had seem adequate enough when he felt all he had to face was Marvel but with the new odds, it feels hopelessly inadequate. He has just a single bandoleer crossing his chest from his left shoulder to the belt on his waist, clipped on the belt there. The bandoleer was holding very few frag grenade and his huge sized micro keen edge knife of special plazglass making.


Picking up his gun he jumped out of hiding, his heavy duty lazer rifle firing long energy shots at the ADMEC and from the other side, Armsmith ran the other direction shooting at it with his gun. The twin tri-barrel guns on the shoulders of the ADMEC traced the movements of both men independently.


Just then Dagger came out of hiding, ran straight before the mechanical construct, raised his gun and blasted the viewing port area just to distract the man inside from focusing on his other two colleagues firing from the other areas.


It appeared to work a bit, as the ADMEC guns tracking moves stopped. But the bullets and lazer bolts fired at it only seems to bounced off its body with ricocheting pings of metal striking metal and the sizzling hiss of energy bolts being swallowed up by heat sink tech on the outer coating of the paint used on the exoskeleton exterior.

Nostra looked around with worry crawling over his body like the green grass leeches, seeing how there numbers was dwindling rapidly and Marvel is yet to be taken out. He knew if there is no coordinated effort, none of them might get out alive. He tried to take stock of which of them is still alive.


Closer to him crouching behind a pillar is the silently whimpering figure of Barracuda, the lose of her lover might have shaken her beyond all expectations. Dagger his brother is further away behind a sturdy looking pillar. Mech-Joe and Armsmith are holed up behind the same cover area, a partially crumbled wall that only gives the illusion of protection.


He knows that while scrambling for safety, they had taken the closest thing that appeared like a cover to them. And now it’s too late to change their positions because that monster is tracking them. Fat good that will do them, as it is apparent that it has heat signatures detection ability, it can see partially through their cover. The only thing keeping the monster still at the door area is that its height is above the roof level of this ground floor. But that won’t stop the man behind the machine. He can just blow the whole floor away without a second thought, as Marvel is his target, that will solve the problem.


This brought another thought, what is this person’s quarrel with Marvel? He is definitely not a bounty hunter or is he? Surely, Harummah won’t betray them. And this doesn’t look like a law enforcement officer. So what is he doing here or is their principal playing a double game? Or was he not sure of their ability to take Marvel out and has hired an insurance incase they failed?


Then why commit such huge amount to this? Besides the man in that mechanical construct sounded like he has a personal vendetta against Marvel. He called himself, Red Mane. That name sounded remotely familiar but Nostra can’t really place it right now.


Well he should stop just introspection and plan how they can get out of this safely. Yeah right, just five of them against this monster. They never expected this level of opposition and never came prepared for it. They have to try anyway.

“Hey whoever you are, Marvel is our bounty contract, we have been hired to take him out. “ Milestone-Billy said as he came to stand before the ADMEC exoskeleton. “I suggest you back off and allow us do our job. “


For a reply, one of the tri barrel mounted on the shoulder of the ADMEC, moved with a mechanical whirring sound and the muzzle light up with a sudden flash and a short burp sound as high impact uranium core bullets spill from the gun. Milestone-Billy was standing one second defiantly before the ADMEC then the next second his body was sliced into hundreds of pieces of bones, flesh organs and blood.


“Nooooo “ screamed Barracuda as she jumped out of hiding feeling her heart wrenched seeing her lover brutally murdered. She brought her gun shooting at the mechanical monster but the explosive bullets were just hitting its body like tiny fire crackers.
The tri barrel gun whirred again, turning to align for a target.


“Barracuda get away. “ screamed Nostra. The female jumped away as bullets blew the area where she was standing before. The bullets tore up the heavy duracrete floors to pieces and blew the pillar she has been hiding into huge chunks of stones.
“Give me Marvel or you all are dead. “ rang the loud voice from the mechanical ADMEC.


Marvel’s blood ran cold as he heard that. The information that that is Red Mane shocked him. He was running after him thinking he was injured and on the run not knowing that ex convict was running for a purpose. And what is that thing that Red Mane was in? A mechanical construct that is this dexterous is not common but with the brief look Marvel has taken of it from behind the pillar he was hiding in showed it looked like the huge construction manned/unmanned machines. But those ones are huge and lacks the compact size and dexterity this ADMEC is showing. And that monster is heavily armed. Well that doesn’t matter, what is important is how to get out of here.

Coming in just a quarter way into the hall showed the features of the shadowed image perfectly. It was a mechanical construct in the shape of an insect about 20 feet tall. The hind legs it stood on were four of them with three metal digits at the end to hold its weight.


The two items that would have appeared as its fore limbs were actually on, what on a human would have been its shoulders. But instead of mechanical fore limbs, they were long tri-barreled guns and at their sides on the mechanical construct’s “shoulders”, are rectangular boxes with what appeared like ports for rockets or missiles, twelve in all. One of the port was empty and smoking.


That must have been the one that blasted the entrance creating the big explosion that knocked them all off. What should have been its head is an oblong shape with an armored glass face plate. The painting on the mechanical construct, from the little that could be seen from the gray light, was a dull coppery blood color with slashes of yellow and black spots like the stripes on a tiger.


“Hi you all, I can see seven heat signatures on my sight. “ boomed a voice from large speakers which was from the mechanical figure. “ Well all I’m looking for is Marvel. Point him out, I will simply kill him and be on my way.”
“Oh my bad, where are my manners. My name is Red Mane and this here is an exoskeleton construct which I’m presently inside, riding and controlling from within. It is called an ADMEC I think. “

“Nostra are you getting that? “ Milestone-Billy asked.
“Yup, seems to be coming from outside. “
“Think his back up is here already? “ Asked a voice that Marvel hasn’t heard at all this night.
“I doubt it Tiger-Lily, but just go check it out. “ Nostra told her.
Light steps sounded heading at the direction of the blown entrance when there was a massive flash, a huge fire ball blasting the hole of the entrance, tearing the duracrete walls and engulfing the female form of Tiger-Lily. Then the thunderclap of the explosion hit. It shook the whole building, knocking off everyone in the building.


Damn what could that be again, Marvel thought as he shook himself from the dust and debris covering him and his ears stopped ringing. That definitely can’t be the Mole, his friend wouldn’t use such fire power in a building he is in.
Looking up, he saw a wide gaping hole where the entrance has been formally. A hole that was three time bigger than that made by the bounty hunters when they chased Marvel in.


The other bounty hunters were getting themselves up from the different places they have been scattered by the shockwave with different curses spewing from every lips. Through the hole leading outside though the night has darkened the place, it was grayish not a total darkness. A huge shadow that was completely dark covered most of the hole.


As the shadow moved forward, the was the loud whine of servomotors and mechanical part. The ground around the watchers shook as the dark image moved and its feet touched the ground. The ceiling of the hall crumbled from the impact as the shadows top parts seems taller, A rain of broken duracrete debris dropped on it with clanging sounds like stones hitting metal.

Every where in the building sudden grew very quiet, which gave all the opportunity to feel the slight tremble of the floor as if something heavy just landed outside. Marvel took the time to reload his penetrator with a sad stab to his heart as he noticed that this was his second to last clip. He has just a single frag grenade, then another one that might be a flash one but he can’t tell in the darkness.


His two hand guns were back in their holsters and the adrenaline pumping through his veins remained at a steady throb. He would have love to be moving from the pillar he was hiding behind to another one, but the place is so quiet now that any move will create noise that will call attention to him. He knew as he was tensed and waiting for the next move so are they. Well at this period, the longer time favors him, allowing for his back up to get here, the next move will obviously come from them.


“Yo guys, I have a sonic grenade. I may not know the particular pillar he is hiding behind but I briefly saw the direction he moved, so I have a general idea where he may be hiding. “ Armsmith’s voice rang out suddenly in the quiet dark place. “If I throw the sonic grenade at that area, it will shatter all the pillars there, including the one he is hiding behind and take him out as well. “


“Will you shut your yapper and stop making a total fool of yourself. “ Barracuda’s voice replied fiercely. “Taking out the pillars will mean bringing the building down on all of us. “
Marvel would have smiled if the situation wasn’t that dire. Just them another pounding that shook the ground came on again but lighter than the first one. This time the floor was trembling at a regular rhythm.

Marvel’s gun clicked empty, he dropped the rifle to hang around him on the sling, no time to change the clips as everything was moving at breathe taking speed. He pulled out both his hand guns, somersaulted away from the heaps of duracrete debris he had fallen on then rolled to a nearby pillar to hide himself. His breathe came out in heavy puffs as his body trembled with pains, the adrenaline rush helping him to ignore it for the moment. A constant din was pounding his ears but he still tried to get his bearings and pick out other sounds around.


“That was a good plan Nostra, it got two more of us dead. “ Barracuda yelled, all semblance of seductiveness vanishing from her voice. “Any more suicidal idea from you oh great leader? “
“Shut the Bleep up bitch. “ Dagger replied her with a scream of his own. “ Wasn’t my bro’s plan that got them killed. Camara was just too stupid to get too close to Marvel. That is a one way suicide ticket. You don’t get close to Marvel not even when he is badly injured, that man is a living weapon. Ted-Millow was simply bad luck. “


“ Both of you can it, will you? “ Nostra said slowly from somewhere no one was certain of as they all scattered as Marvel’s gun started to shoot. “You are giving out your positions. “
“Any idea where he is hiding? “ Armsmith asked from another angle.
“Just shut up everyone and be quiet.” Nostra said and took his own advice too.

With suddenness, out of the almost perfect quietness of the place, a high pitched electronic whine sounded. Marvel didn’t wait one second to find out what it could mean. He jumped away from where he was crouching. Just then, like seeing things in slow motion, the ground he just jumped away from cracked , broke then blew up into pieces which where hurled up taking the jumping Marvel along with them being pushed by the explosion of a bluish white lightning like energy.


The explosion was silent at first but the Shockwave hit Marvel, lifting him and then the sound of the explosion then blasted his eardrums. But somewhere in his mind was a scream that the delayed sound was because the explosion was from an energy weapon.


The blast tore through the floor creating a hole of about ten feet diameter wide. Just then the slow like world in which Marvel seem to have been transported stopped and hard reality hits him as his body started to dropped down the hole in the midst of showers of duracrete debris.


One thing kept screaming again at the back of his mind, don’t drop the penetrator no matter what. Just then Marvel slammed heavily on the floor crushing several smaller bits of debris beneath him. His whole body trembled, pain hits every joints of his body at the same time.


As the shock of the pains traveled through his body, his fingers held tight to butt of the rifle and the trigger was pressed down. Since the gun’s setting was still on auto, the penetrator blasted with bullets flying wide. Two of the remaining nine bounty hunters got multiple hits as the others scattered and ducked.


Ted-Millow took full blasts on his chest, the armor piecing bullets hitting his combat armor vest, tearing through it, his ribs, lungs , back bones and bursting out the back through the vest again. He died two seconds after he hit the floor. The female bounty hunter, Camara, laughed as the duracrete ceiling blew up from Armsmith’s gun, she watched excited as the debris rained down with Marvel in the middle and ran ahead to be the first among them to finish Marvel off. But as the MAC penetrator fired, one of the bullets hit her neck, blew through her throat creating a wide hole. She stood frozen for some seconds, tried to close the gap, but blood poured out ceaselessly. The shock on her face and the wide opening of her mouth forming an almost perfect circle was frozen as she slowly collapsed.

“Yea I think so. The wall is made of duracrete. Dense truly but I have what can cut through it easily. “ Armsmith dropped his rifle, pulled off his backpack, opened it and rampages in it for something.
The other bounty hunters stood around them quietly and watched without interrupting. Nostra might not be the best among them but his intelligence is highly respected.


Pulling out an odd looking kind of hand gun with two curved muzzles that looked like blocked magnet. “This is a quantum magnetic resonance {QMR) gun. It traps the quantum energy released by a magnet within an electromagnetic field, when released, it shatters rocks easily. Duracrete is child’s play. It’s an old invention modified by me but it will be effective. The only let down is, it has only one shot. It takes a while for it to be recharged. But that one shot will be enough to blow out the floor on which he is standing. If that doesn’t kill him, he won’t be in any shape to fight when he crashes down here. “


“Get sharp every one. “ Nostra said turning back to Armsmith, “Ok, blow the roof. “
Armsmith brought the QMR gun up, pointed it at the point he could see the crouching human image in the goggles, the gun sounded with a high pitched electronic whine and then it fired a white bluish jagged shape energy beam at the place.


Marvel has been very quiet, that he had used a special technique to slow down his heart beats, relaxed his muscles some what and blend perfectly with the shadows to give him some sort of covering. Though he knows that covering is relative, because if his attackers are armed with IR sensor scope or heat signatures reading abilities, neither the darkness or walls can effectively hide him.


Though his armor can disrupt IR readings and the heat sink tech in it can hide his heat signatures, still that can’t be totally full prove, they may have other means to sort him out. These are bounty hunters, professionals. They have had time to get themselves equipped and came prepared.


They may have something with them that he might not be prepared for. Even with the almost complete silence, Marvel didn’t hear anything. He wasn’t worried yet, they may still be downstairs perfecting strategies on how to get him in other to avoid further casualty. Marvel was prepared that any time they make a move he will hear them coming.

The bounty hunters have been able to enter the ground level of the building after blowing up the door hoping to catch Marvel by surprise. Getting in and not seeing Marvel immediately made them know he is hiding somewhere. Since there are several pillars and broken down plastiglass partitions scattered everywhere around, they had supposed he is hiding in one of them.


Spreading out to surround him in the hall and one of them Vulcan, heading for the stairs, had his head blown. This had made them draw back to rethink their strategy. It is obvious but not totally conclusive that Marvel is on the next level above . Still none of them is willing to trade their life for that. But with Nostra able to pinpoint where Marvel is with his gadget, they can get him without too much risk.


Armsmith came close to Nostra having a heavy looking bulging backpack of polyleather with an extra long barrel lazer rifle. “What’s it Nostra? “
“Here take this. “ Nostra gave the goggles to him and pointed at a part of the ceiling ahead of them. “Put this on and look at that place. “ Though the area was semi dark, his fellow bounty hunter cold see what he was pointing at.


“You sure that’s him? “ Armsmith asked rhetorically. After Nostra nodded which was barely seen in the dark, he asked again. “How do you think we can take e’m out? “
Instead of a reply, Nostra asked, “You got anything that can cut through that that?”

“Marvel is too smart and dangerous for us to go after him in a rush, he may be armed with something that can take us all out. “ Nostra brought up a multi spectrum goggles, put it on his eyes, adjusted the settings from infra red to heat sensor, yet he couldn’t see Marvel, that means he must be having a heat dampening tech on him. “And if we go at him one on one, he may just pick us off one by one. We need a better strategy. “


Nostra decided to go on sonar with max sensitivity. The goggles has tiny audio pick up around its rim to enable sound pick up possible. Though well trained men have been known to beat sonar like this by slowing their heart beat rate to the barest necessary to survive. Still max sensitivity can detect the tiniest bit of sound within a limited space.


Marvel maybe able to beat normal sonar sensitivity level by slowing his heart beat, but max level can pick up the sounds made even when you breathe or that of even your pulse. With the sonar activated, it pick up tiny sounds which are then interpreted and produced as images on the viewing part of the goggles.


He smiled as he saw a dull glow highlighted image on the goggle of a man like figure crouching somewhere. Though there were numerous other sounds being picked up by the goggles but it has a basic programming that filter those noises and present what exactly the user wanted.


“Armsmith come over here let me show you something. “ Nostra called out to one of the bounty hunters standing by unsure of their next move as the dead headless body of Vulcan have taught them that one false move with Marvel is instant death.

“Hearing you speak like that seems as if you are admiring him Barracuda. Are you? “ the first voice said.
“Keep your sultry lips to yourself, Nostra or so help me… “ Milestone-Billy voice challenged.
“Don’t worry about me honey, I can take care of myself. “ Soothing word spill from Barracuda. “Nostra is a small fish for me to handle. I can take him and even his side kick together without breaking a sweat. “


“Screw you bit.ch, I’m no body’s side kick. “ countered a voice that Marvel suspected should be from Dagger. Damn Marvel knows those two, they are bad news. Of the two, Dagger is more deadly in combat, despite his single eye but Nostra is more dangerous because of his intelligence.


“Come on guys enough of the bickering, we still have to kill the target. “ Nostra’s voice picked up a higher pitch. “Hey Marvel, I know you can hear us. I love your welcoming attitude, Vulcan’s dead body here is a testament to that. But you should know, even you alone can take us all out by yourself. And we intend to finish the job before your back up gets here. “


Marvel knew what that bounty hunter want to do, he wants to appeal to his ego and draw him out by Marvel giving a reply. Instead Marvel quietly turned back and walked deeper into the buildings, looking for the best places to hide and lay ambush.


This floor has several rooms that Marvel can hide in and either attack or delay them enough for the Mole and Jade to get here. Still it is double edged, a room that covers him can also become a trap. But that is not his problem, these bounty hunters are just distractions, he needed to get out of here and go after Red Mane.

The whole building was semi dark, creating several gray areas of shadows and low lights which Marvel intends to take advantage of. But he is cognizant of the fact that he now faces well trained professional killers whose career of hunting and killing preys are long antecedents enough to weaken the heart of the stout and bold.


Well Marvel wasn’t planning to end his life here, so he fully intends to give them terminal headaches instead. They are bounty hunters like him, though ten to one against these set of bounty hunters is not a palatable odd, he knows them well and how to deal with them.


Just then he heard the tiny crack sound of leather scraping the floor, without thinking he pulled the trigger as the muzzle was already facing the direction the sound was coming from. The muzzle of the MAC penetrator spat armor piercing bullets. A short scream which quickly was cut off came from there. He lifted his hand from the trigger to save the remaining rounds in the clip, as the gun setting was on auto.


“Shit, Vulcan just got blown to bits, his head is a bloody mess.” Someone that Marvel couldn’t identify his voice said.
“What were you expecting, that we will get this job done without incurring casualty? “ the flirtatious voice of Barracuda said. “This is Marvel we are talking about, the best of the best, greatest of the bounty hunters. “

Damn that sounds like all ten bounty hunters are around now outside. Marvel decided to move ahead and give himself an advantage to defend himself. He had already sent a panic message to the Mole, that he needs help. Looking at the data sent by his mini drone it shows that Red Mane is still stationary where he had stopped which is not far from the place he is now. Marvel doesn’t really want to tangle with these bounty hunters, he has no issues with them. They are just a distraction from his target.



This gave him time to wonder, who would have put a bounty on him and for what purpose? The bounty amount must have been very high to attract all ten hunters to work together. Well this is not the time to figure that out but as soon as he gets out of this mess, he will pay a decisive visit to Harummah.



As he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a first door, went in and hid behind the door. To wait for his pursuers. As he heard sounds of foot steps in the hall down stairs echoing. He checked the level of the rounds on the present clip in his penetrator, was satisfied with it then brought it and face the muzzle at the entrance of the second floor he was in.

Marvel backed out and ran into a building with a door hanging loose. Shots from the three bounty hunters pelted the door and the walls around it.


“We have him cornered, you can all come join us now. “ Mech-Joe spoke into a comm unit attached to the helmet he was wearing.


The building Marvel ran into was just an empty hall like floor with several duracrete pillars, with broken down plastiglass partitions and plaswood furniture. Around all of them was a thick layer of dust. As Marvel turned back to face the door he has come through, fierce gun fire from the three bounty hunters outside chased him back in.
“Hey Mech-Joe can’t you wipe out a rocket from that gun arm of yours? “ Barracuda’s voice reverberated from outside like the tinkling of broken glasses.
“Sure do. “ was the curt reply as Mech-Joe touch two parts on his metallic prosthetic arm, a covering slid back on his fore arm, and a tiny rocket come up on small mechanical stand. “Here goes. “ Was the ringing sound from the helmeted head as the tiny rocket shot from his arm and headed for the door to the building.


The door blew out after the rocket hits it and exploded. Huge chunks of duracrete pieces were scattered around.
Inside the empty hall of the building, the explosion sounded much more louder than it did outside as the enclosed space increased the sound. Marvel was pushed off his feet as his ears rang from the sudden sound. Staggering up, he shook his head to clear the haze of dizziness clouding his eyes.


Looking around for a way to escape, he saw a door at the end of the open place, with stairs that definitely leads to the upper levels of the building. He decided to head that way to give some space between him and the bounty hunters who will be coming after him.


He is low on ammo and his offensive capability is limited , he didn’t bother to restock from the air car before chasing Red Mane with the hover bike. Just then, Marvel heard something from outside that chilled his blood.
“Yeah the gang’s all here. Let’s do some turkey shoot and chase that pompous Marvel to hell. “ That sounded like the voice of Milestone-Billy.

Mech-Joe and Milestone-Billy ran on opposite sides as they heard the warning. The high impact bullets missed them by inches as it flew by and struck the floor some distance behind them.


Barracuda turned around, her gun lifted up again at Marvel, this time she held the massive barreled gun with her two hands to hold the gun steady for the sustained blasts she intends to fire having shifted the gun settings to auto.


The gun doesn’t really have a make name as she has cannibalized several gun parts to form it. The huge barrel was taken from a PPL nano cannon single shot rifle, the internal working parts are from the ART field rifle and the stock and handle from the MG CAB 500 carbine auto gun.


A good underground weapon smith had expertly coupled these parts into the unique weapon used by her and she didn’t even bother to give it a name. The gun is an effective weapon but limited to a single shot per second.


Marvel rolled out of the way of the shooting woman but got close enough to slam her body with his shoulder. She was knocked off her feet her high heeled boots making a poor balance for her feet. She fell as the gun was knocked off her hands.


Marvel had to move quickly away from her as the other two bounty hunters turned their guns on him and fired. Milestone-Billy fired from his tri-barrel rifle, while Mech-Joe shot lazer beams from the gun affixed to his metallic prosthetic arm. Both fired with caution in order not to hit Barracuda who was on the ground crawling to reach her fallen gun.

The sound of the gun boomed like that of a mini cannon as the soft nose explosive bullet hit Marvel fully on the chest, exploded and knocked him off the hover bike and crashing him to the hard floor. Marvel coughed after about a minute of lying still on the floor, as the shock of the sudden attack passed.



His joints shock with pains and responded to his mental command to move sluggishly. The soft nose explosive bullet is not actually made for hard target but for soft ones like human body. It is not made for deep penetration but surface strike, to create a wider damage area with the small explosive charge in it.



So Marvel’s full body armor took the brunt well and protected his body from the impact. Still the force of the explosion from the bullet was strong enough to knock him off the bike.



Marvel hands went for the MAC penetrator that was still hanged on its sling by his side. He lifted the muzzle up and turned it to Barracuda, who was still standing to see the outcome of her attack. She saw him moved his hand and she moved as well.



“Y”all duck, the sonofabitch is still alive. “ Barracuda yelled as she dove out of the way and Marvel’s penetrator barrel spit bullets.

Marvel was still several yards away from the point the HUD, as shown by the data from the hovering mini drone, showed that Red Mane stopped when he saw some one walked out of a side part to the center of the road Marvel was on. He slowed the hover bike more and was slowly bringing the bike to a stop when two more people walked from another side to come and stand on the way joining the first person, they all face Marvel.



The bounty hunter brought the hover bike to a complete stop several feet to those standing in the middle of the road. A light pole, that amazingly is still having power, may have been one of those powered by solar panels. It was giving off a low and flickering light that gave Marvel the first glimpse of who they are.



“Mech Joe, “ Marvel just couldn’t hide his surprise at seeing the man with parts of his body made of metallic prosthetics and face covered completely by a helmet. Then turning to the other two he spoke more in bewilderment. “Milestone-Billy and Barracuda. What a surprise to see you here. What brings you to this part of the universe? Y’all on vacation? “



“Something like that. “ the one called Milestone-Billy said, he was huge with a blonde hair tied in a pony tail putting on photo-camouflage combat dress, a huge tri barrel rifle held in his massive fist. Clinging lustfully to his body is the female Marvel had called Barracuda .



Her reddish skin showing a darker shin in the low light of the night. She was tall for a female, putting on a sleeveless black body armored combat clothing, a tight fitting neo leather short with a black shinny leather high soled boot that covered her feet up to her knees. The fleshy parts of her legs from the knees to the hem of the tight shorts were covered by a black net panty hose. She was carrying a wide barrel projectile gun that fires a very big soft nose low explosive bullets.



“Hi Marvel, it’s really been a while. I have missed you. “ Barracuda said as she untangled her self from Milestone-Billy, walking sinuously getting close to Marvel. “We are actually on a job. “
“Job? Heard there were ten of you. “
“Yes Marvel, there are. “Barracuda said seductively as she got within few feet of the hovering bike.
“Now that’s pretty unusual. What bounty will be big enough to pay all ten of you adequately to worth it? “ Marvel asked her but his eyes focused a bit on the other two behind her.
“You. “ Barracuda said simply, with the big barrel of the gun pointed at Marvel, she pulled the trigger.

He kicked the bike into drive, moving ahead without sparing much thought who his attackers might have been. No time for that now, they have been dealt with that’s all that matters. As he got close to the abandoned factories, he brought the bike down to about a meter and half above the ground.



He entered the area that the signs of abandonment and neglects were clearly evident in the crumbling walls of duracrete, broken plastiglass and twisted metals. The waste recycling area is made up of several factory buildings, with some having caved in roofs. Aircircling conduits torn apart, doors pulled down and inside ransacked for whatever might have appeared valuable back then.



The place was a really ghost town. Normally this area should have been a good place for the homeless, strugglers and other dissidents to make their homes. The area is just too far from the places where towns and cities are. And the place was frequently hunted by the local rampaging fauna that had attacked any living thing they have seen in the place. Seems that is why the factories had to be shut down as there was no way to stop those unclassified wild animals, that run down from the surrounding areas during the period they awake from their hibernation.



Marvel watched the HUD display carefully as he moved the bike, this time he was moving much lower, so he had to pay attention. The lights were off, he was depending entirely on the night sight on the windshield to help him navigate the short streets of the waste recycling area. A shadow moved out of a hidden corner unseen by Marvel as he passed slowly by. The shadow brought out a communication unit pulled close to a mouth and a male voice spoke into it.



“He just came in, get ready it’s show time. “ the shadow said as he clicked off the comm unit then vanished into the darker part of the buildings around.

As he watched, one of the tubes belched flame, and a tiny metallic object hurtled his way leaving behind a smoky arc trail. Marvel moved ahead but dodge the coming rocket at the last second which moved on its part to explode harmlessly behind him.



Seems the shooters are not using smart or heat seeking rockets, if not it would have been more difficult for him to avoid them. The new direction took Marvel beyond the pursuing hover car, he didn’t over shoot, just that he needed space to looked at his attackers and confirm that Red Mane is not among them which should be ridiculous as what he had seen showed Red Mane far from here.



The hover car was painted black, which would have made it possible for Marvel to have passed without seeing it. None of the four men in the car looked like the giant he sought. He pulled out his MAC penetrator, left the hover bike on auto as he swung the gun sideways to face the hover car coming at him.



The two men holding the RPGs were busy reloading their metal tubes, the other man apart from the driver pulled out a kind of lazer rife, while the driver was concentrating on directing the car. Marvel had exchanged the armor piercing bullets to explosive bullets cartridge on the penetrator, the muzzle of the gun faced the oncoming car and he pulled the trigger. As the gun’s setting was on full auto, the bullets raced in multiples, striking the car hood and forward canopy with mini explosions. The two riders with the RPGs tumbled out of the car being hit with explosions from the bullets which staggered them and out of the car they fell to hit the ground far down.



The canopy of the car shattered with the explosive bullets, the hood caught fire and the engine under it coughed out flames and thick smoke as it died. The fuel tank there created another fiery explosion which cut off the link of power supply to the antigravity rings below the car which is keeping it afloat. The antigravity rings lost power and the car dropped like a stone, a vehicle burning furiously with two passengers burning and screaming at the top of their lungs till the vehicle hit the ground and blossomed into a mushroom shaped explosion.

The bounty hunter had looked around as the hover bike flew on to pick out any sign of the escaping Red Mane, but he couldn’t get any thing. He had directed his mini drone to move ahead of him, scanning with a wider angle. It was clumsy initially, when he discovered he has to be pulling his eyes off the part he is moving and looking at the holo display on his wrist comm for the data the drone was sending to him.



Just then an idea popped into his head, a little fiddling with the hover bike’s controls, he was able to transfer what his wrist comm was displaying into the HUD of the windshield. Marvel smiled as the drone detected a tiny trace left behind by a recently passing vehicle. When he traced the origin of the trail, it was from the house he just left. Bingo, he just caught on to the part Red Mane had taken, though he was far ahead, Marvel was confident that he will catch up with him.



Uploading a sat map image imbedded in the hover bike’s storage, he superimposed the blinking light showing the direction Red Mane had taken, into it. It showed that Red Mane was headed to a place of several abandoned waste recycling factories. The speed of the blinking light began to slow down then stopped and winked out.



That means he had stopped and the vehicle deactivated. It doesn’t matter, Marvel already has a lock on to where he stopped. The display on the windshield changed suddenly, with a loud screaming alarm sound issuing from a small speaker grill, with proximity and locked on warnings.



Without thinking Marvel swerved sharply to the left and dove the bike downwards. Just as a rocket whistled by barely missing hitting the hover bike by mere meters. A second rocket passed by too, missing the hover bike as Marvel maneuvered out of the way. He watched the contrails of both rockets as they lead down to explode hitting something on the ground.



Marvel dove the hover bike at a steep angle downward with speed and yanked back suddenly on the handgrip, which turned the bike at an almost 180° arc. He felt the g force pressed him firmly on the back rest of the single seat of the bike. With the turn he was brought face to face with where the rockets fire were from.



He saw a hover car struggling to compensate for the swift move Marvel just made. The hover car was a roofless one with the canopy pulled down so the occupants can have an unobstructed view all round. The bounty hunter could see four people in the car, including the driver. Two of them were holding two long bulky tubes pointed awkwardly at his direction. Obviously they are RPGs launchers.

“I need to borrow your bike now, it’s an emergency. “ Marvel grabbed the key from Jade, locked it on the ignition port, with a twist, the hover bike came online. He turned to the Mole. “Stay with them till the local authorities, which are on their way gets here. Then you and Jade should came after me in the Nexon air car. “ As a last word, he faced the female agent. “And bring that trusty gun with you. “



As Marvel drove the hover bike, he lifted it into the air at about twenty five meters. Hover bike are not really made to go as high as air cars but they are highly maneuverable and good to drive around obstacles like buildings. The area didn’t have tall buildings, so Marvel moved the bike at full speed without fear of hitting any thing.



Marvel was glad of the power of the bike, it has speed, the control was fluid and it responds to control. The speed at which the hover bike was moving caused the wind to buffets his eyes and ears with heavy whizzing sounds. He couldn’t really open his eyes fully when looking ahead as he didn’t have flight goggles to protect his eyes.



Straining his sights to pick out the tiny dials of control between the handgrip controls, he saw a button for the activation of a windshield. As the windshield came up, it did several things, one of them was that it deflected the buffering winds from Marvel’s face. Secondly, the windshield served as a Heads Up Display (HUD), with it Marvel is able to pinpoint targets he couldn’t see with his natural eyes.

Just then he heard a high pitched whine of a vehicle taking off somewhere behind them. The Mole turned as he did too, his feet already moving towards the area the sound was coming from. It was somewhere behind the building. Just then tiny flashes of light blinks on the body of the vehicle as it lifted above the wall and zoomed off.



Getting to the point, Marvel noticed that was close to the area Red Mane had fallen off the building and crashed to the ground. The broken glasses, window ledge pieces and bits of duracrete from the damaged area from the top floor were scattered on the ground but the body of Red Mane he was expecting to see lying on the ground lifeless was missing. It was then obvious that the vehicle that just left was that of one been piloted by the exconvict.



“Damn, that was Red mane. Somehow he survived after the fall and everything I did to him. “ Marvel screamed as he ran back towards the gate and the Mole running after him. “I need to get him and question him about Simon Omega. “
“Who’s that? “ the Mole asked as he caught up with his friend.
“An old news, that is every bit bad. I’d tell you about it later. “ Marvel came to the gate saw that they were still being attended to by Loomis. He turned to the Earthwatch agent and asked. “Where’s Jade? “



“She is on her way here sir. “ The agent replied as he administered a bone knitting ointment to the sides of the wincing senator. “She stayed back a bit to still watch out for reinforcements before leaving her post and heading here. “



It was unfortunate that the angle of Red Mane’s taking off is at the other side from Jade’s sight, so no way could she have seen him. And besides she is already on her way no longer on the lookout. Just then a loud whine sounded outside the gate which draw all their attention. It was Jade landing her hover bike and she brought it to a parking. Marvel ran at her before she fully got off from the bike.

Worries smack the bounty hunter in his heart as he moved out of the room heading down to the floor of the building. Simon Omega alive? How is that even possible?



Red Mane was bad news in his days but Simon Omega is much more worse because he was a criminal that is smart. He would have been surprised beyond measure if not for the information about the Afterlife prison and the break out. So some of these dangerous criminals thought dead are actually in the Afterlife and because of an unfortunate event has been released back into the society.



Why he is worried about the news of Simon Omega is that he has a grudge against Marvel and giving him a heads up by giving Red Mane a message to him means Simon wants him to know that he is alive and coming after him. Well he is forearmed and will have to prepare against the day of meeting him.



At the floor outside the building, Marvel saw that the Mole already had the senator and his family free from their bounds and with Loomis around have applied some makeshift first-aid on them. They were all waiting for him to come around.



The wife and daughters of the senator seem in shock or perhaps unnerved by the sight of the dead bodies they have seen around.
“Guess the brute didn’t make it. “ the Mole said as Marvel came closer.
“Not really, he took a tumbling from the top floor. “ Marvel replied as he came around looking at the totally shaken features of the senator, he was lost of words to use in consoling him. Well Marvel ignored him for the moment, something about the sight of him actually irritating the bounty hunter. Anyway the senator should be glad he is alive.

Damibiz:
Gucciqueen..abeg help me look for Apollox oh,bcus føød dón dö

Lol, Gucciqueen? Uh... Where's she?...
Don't mind me, just been very busy this week. I will definitely post some updates today.... And a very wet and cold morning here in ph city.

zelaws:
Thanks Lord Apollux!!! What a way to victory for Marvel. The Giant did not measure up to Marvel's tactical dexterity in the fight though. Seems long years in the afterlife without exposure to enhancement facilities account for that.
Waiting to hear from the 10 bounty hunters hope they are still alive and not those wasted before Marvel could meet jade.

Oh the bounty hunters? they are around... Stalking and waiting to pounce. They are hunters after all.
Uh oh, if you think this is the end of Red Mane, you will be sorely disappointed