<Episode 13>

Like she thought Jack was walking behind her sulking all the way. He looked that way ever since she told him he was wanted down in R&D. Why it was so hard to get him down there lately she didn’t think she would ever know. But she did believe she heard him mumble something like, “What are they thinking about tweaking now?”. Too bad she couldn’t tell him anything about what they had planned. Mr. Anderson secretary only told her that they thought they had a way to test this strength theory of his.

“Cheer up Jack, at least you’ll find out either way if you’re right or not.”

“If it involves hooking me up to something I’m performing my own test,” he answered sounding a little edgy.

“Why are you so grumpy today? I thought you would have felt better knowing if you were stronger or not.”

“I guess,” he seemed a little distracted. “Sorry, I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

She stopped, “Are you having that nightmare again?”

“Most of the time,” he kept on walking. Rachel hurried to catch up.

“What about the rest of the time?”

“Just some… things that’s been going around in my head.”

“Like what?”

“Look I don’t want to talk about this, I just want to get this stupid thing over with.”

“Alright, but were not done talking about this.”

“Yes we are,” he said like there was nothing to it. She was positive he did that to push her buttons.

“I can make that an order,” she said mainly as a joke. He apparently didn’t take it that way.

“Hey,” he snapped, “you can’t order me to tell you my personal problems.”

“Whoa,” she put her hands up, “relax killer.” Mistake number two right there and she knew it. Mentally kicking herself she said, “Sorry, slip of the tongue.

“Sure.” They walked on in relative silence. Finally he said, “I think we’re both gonna need a vacation after this is over.” She had to agree, a vacation was sounding pretty good right about now. They arrived at R&D soon enough and stared at the contraption that was in the room. “These guys ain’t busy enough.”

“Yeah,” she found herself agreeing. There was a pad suspended between two poles on the far wall. Numerous wires connected the pad to a row of monitors on a nearby table by the door. Jack walked up to a half empty basket of baseballs. The other half was being picked up by a couple of assistants. “Ah Barry?”

“Hi guys,” he came up to them while tossing a ball into the air. “As you can see I had a little brain storm after your last visit Rachel.”

“I’m guessing I don’t punch anything?”, Jack asked while eyeing the ball.

“Without any data from before your upgrade that would be pointless. As would any weight lifting type of test. I figured throwing a few fastballs would the next best thing. I got the idea after I remembered a commercial years ago were a pitcher was pushing his throwing arm into a barrel of rice to keep it strong. I already had several people throw a few to develop a baseline for the test.”

“You put a lot of thought into this,” she was very impressed with all of this.

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to buy a radar gun?”, Jack asked him.

“Then they wouldn’t have the chance to build something from scratch,” Anderson came from behind them. “I thought I come by and see how the test went.”

“Can I give it a go?”, she asked. Barry tossed her the ball. She moved so she stood behind a tape line on the floor. Rachel threw the ball as hard as she could and hit the pad dead center. After a moment a ninety two popped up on one of the monitors. “Still got it,” she smirked to herself.

“That’s pretty good,” Jack said obviously impressed, then he quickly added, “for a girl.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Jack said nothing as he took a ball out of the basket. Then he handed it toward Mr. Anderson.

He held up a hand, “I was never much of an athlete.”

“Oh come on, you know you wanna. Besides,” he had a sly grin on his face, “I want to see how bad I smoke ya.”

Anderson took the ball and studied it,” Well, I suppose throwing one won’t be too humiliating.” He took a spot behind the mark and threw the ball. It registered a seventy two. He adjusted his suit, “Like I said I’m not very athletic.”

“It’s still better than Tim’s best throw,” Barry told them.

“No surprise there,” Jack muttered as he grabbed another ball and got ready to do the test. He juggled it a few times before actually throwing it. The ball hit the pad harder than she was expecting. Everyone turned to the monitor and waited. One sixty two. Barry whistled at the results.

“Well,” he said after a moment, “if this company had baseball team you’d definitely be the star pitcher.”

***

The waiting was getting to him. Barry and his group spent a good half hour going over the results after he threw a few more at the pad. Rachel and Anderson were hovering by making some small talk. They tried to get him in on the conversation, but he grunted if he answered at all. His attention was on Barry’s group. Too bad he didn’t get enhanced hearing to go with the enhanced strength. Better keep quiet about that before they got any ideas. But he had an idea what they were going to say. Most people might say he was being paranoid, but he saw the way these R&D guys looked at him. He could see the wheels turning in their heads, thinking of ways to improve the Fusion systems. It really sucks being a prototype.

“Relax Mr. Davidson,” Anderson told him, his frustrations were apparently showing. “Didn’t anybody tell you patience was a virtue?”

“My Uncle did once.” He snorted as he thought about it, “But I think my mom would kill me if I took after him more.”

“I’d believe it,” Rachel said.

“One of these days you’re going to have to tell me about this Uncle of yours Mr. Davidson.”

“I’ll have my people call your people and we’ll do lunch.”

Barry broke away from the group and came toward them. “Well,” he began, “it’s pretty obvious Jack is stronger in his powered down state. Something we didn’t see coming.”

“Obviously,” he said dryly.

“Well is this stable now?”, Rachel asked him. “I mean is he going to get stronger as time goes on?”

“I don’t know,” Barry admitted, “not without running some more tests first.” He knew Barry would be using those words sooner or later.

“Do we have any options?” Anderson wondered. “Obviously this is going to be an inconvenience to Mr. Davidson. If he does become stronger he could become a danger to those around him.”

“Thanks, I needed that thought in my head,” he mumbled.

Barry started rubbing his chin, “Well, we could adjust the system. After we find out where the power ratios went wrong it’ll be easy to fix. Of course he’ll have to spend a few days in a tank while we fine tune things.”

He had heard enough, “I don’t think so.”

“But Jack…,” Barry started.

“No buts,” he cut him off, “I said no.”

“Are you sure Mr. Davidson? Something like this could be hard to get used to.”

“I’ll live with it.” With that he left the room. He walked down several hallways before stopping. Leaning against a wall he put his face in his hands. Power ratios, fine tune, they were talking like he was a freaking car. Not for the first time he thought Richie was the lucky one in that avalanche.

“Are you going to be alright?”, Rachel asked after she caught up. He put his hands down and nodded. “I knew you wouldn’t go for it.”

“You should have told them that. I already spent over six months in that goop.”

“I was thinking more about the adjustments.”

“That too.”

She leaned against the wall too, “I’m a pretty good listener you know.”

“I know, you say it every chance you get.” Jack put his head back against the wall. “I didn’t ask for this you know. I didn’t wake up one morning wishing somebody would turn me into a freak. But somebody did any way. Now because they were given the ok to tinker with things my boss thinks I could become a danger to everyone around me.”

“Hey, it’s just a concern he had.” She put a hand on his shoulder, “Nobody thinks you’re going to be a danger to anybody.”

“Yeah, but what about the other night when I pushed you out of the way before I found out I could throw a one sixty fastball? What if I hurt you?”

“You didn’t so don’t even think about that. Even in the off chance you did get stronger, we’ll help you through it. I’ll help you get through it.” He put a hand on hers, gently, and smiled wearily.

“I know, I’m just tired Rachel.” He looked at both of his hands. “Tired of this crap inside me. Tired of smelling like death. I’m tired of this whole situation. I’m tired of feeling like a freakin’ lab rat!” He turned and punched the wall in frustration. His fist went through the plaster, a little past his wrist. Just what he needed, a reminder he had to think about this stuff now. “Great, just great.”

“Does anything feel like it’s broken?”, Rachel asked with concern in her voice.

“No,” he said more annoyed with himself than anything.

“Did it make you feel any better?”

“It did before I realized I’m probably gonna have to pay to get this fixed.” After a moment he stated chuckling at the situation, Rachel joined in. “Mom warned me stuff like this would happen if I wasn’t careful.”

“Punch a lot of wall in your time huh?”

“I usually saved it for the punching bag in the basement. I got to remember to buy one of those.”

“Hey Jack,” two security guards passed by. “What happened here?”

He opened his mouth but Rachel spoke first, “Wall sprung a leak.”

“You beat me to it,” he whined.

“Sure man, sure.” Before they walked off one pointed at him, “Don’t forget man, tonight at eight o’clock. Without the wall.”

“Yeah, yeah.” They turned the corner and were out of sight. “I really wish they’d forget about that.”

“Forget about what?”

“Nothing important.” He tugged on his arm to remove it from the wall, it wouldn’t budge. “Uh-oh.” He pulled a little harder as Rachel stifled a laugh. “A little help here.” She got between him and the wall, reached behind his head and pulled the hood over it.

“I’ll see if I can find you some,” she patted him on the shoulder and walked off.

He watched her leave shaking his head, “Should have given her the jacket.” Looking around he didn’t see anybody around. “Oh, what the hell.” Putting his foot on the wall he pulled with all he had and freed his hand. He also ended up making the hole bigger. Dusting the gloves off he looked around, still nobody around. So he put his hands in his pockets and walked off whistling.

***

“You should have seen this coming,” Anderson said as he paced the room. Armstrong sent every else in the room away so he felt free in expressing dissatisfaction. “This is totally unacceptable.”

“I know,” Armstrong said, too calmly. “This is the prototype stage after all, things like this are going to happen. Just think about how this information is going to benefit the Fusion system mark two.”

“The mark two is the farthest thing on my mind right now.” He stopped pacing and calmed himself. “My apologizes Dr. Armstrong. Certain things have been eating at my mind lately. I did not mean to blow this situation out of proportion.”

“No worrys sir, I’ve done the same thing to my staff a few times. This can be fixed, it’s just a matter of convincing Jack to let us do it.”

“You might have a better time in convincing him to pull his own teeth.” Armstrong agreed. Taylor walked in talking on his cell phone. He hung up as he came close. “What is it Taylor?”

“We might have a lead on Christopher.”

He refused to get his hopes up. “Are you sure? I will not go through another debacle like the one Allen put us through.”

“I’d stake my life on it.”

“Good because your life depends in this being accurate.” He picked a baseball out of the basket. “Get Mitchell in on this. If this is accurate I don’t want Christopher leaving where ever he is alive. Is this understood?”

“Perfectly sir.”

“Good.” Anderson looked at the ball in his and than at the pad. Not holding anything back this time he threw it into the pad. As he readjusted his tie he looked at the moniter. Four fifty one. “Smoke me indeed.”

***

Jack wasn’t sure what Hell looked like but this had to be close. That team he saved when all this started finally got him to agree to go out for drinks to thank him. That included the entire scout team on the assignment. But for some reason it grew to include the apparent fan club that was slowly grew among Mitchell’s men. Now the whole lot of them were sitting around bragging about the Drakan they’ve killed. He just sat at the bar drinking his beer, ignoring everything around him. Too bad they wouldn’t let him do it in peace.

Two of the guards, Terry and Dave, he thought that’s what people called them, stood on both sides of him. From the smell they definitely more than a few already. “Jack,” Dave said, “we were talking a bit back there and do you know what we realized?”

“You got a collective I.Q. of two?”

“What a kidder,” Terry slapped him on the back, spilling some of his beer in the process.

“Naw man, we realized that out of all the guys in the room, you killed more of those freaks than anybody. But I got to know one thing, what are you feeling while your doing it? I mean, I feel good ’cause we’re helping getting rid of these freaks. Hell, if I had my way I’d wipe ’em all out if I had the chance, bunch of freaks.” Jack looked at Dave through narrowed eyes. He was on the scout team that checked out the safe house with the elephant. “But you, what are you feeling?”

Jack looked at the bottle in his hands then at his reflection in the mirror behind the bar. “Not a thing, not a damn thing.” Terry slapped him on the back again.

“I told you this guy was stone cold. You have to be to take out a bunch of kids like he did.”

“Good riddance,” Dave said after a drink. “Less of those things the better. Get ’em before they can breed, right dude?”

“Damn right,” Terry readily agreed.

If he heard any more of this he was going to activate the system and start knocking heads together. The fact that was sounding more and more like a good idea by the moment said it was time to leave. So he quickly finished off his beer and got out from between the two. He doubted either of them noticed he left seeing how they were so into there “conversation”.

“Where are you going?”, somebody asked.

“Nature’s calling.” They nodded and went back to talking. He was almost out of there. Then he ran into Mitchell.

“Leaving early buddy?”, he asked. “You don’t look that drunk to me.”

“I got to drive home.” There was a loud crash and a lot of laughing at something. “Glad I don’t have to pay for that.”

“I see the boys are starting to get a little rowdy. It’s good for them to blow off a little steam like this.” Jack looked back into the room. An idiot was standing with his back turned to the others and a bottle on his head while a couple of other was taking aim. He would hate to be around when these guys started blowing off a lot of steam. “Sure you can’t stay for a few more drinks? There on me.”

He tapped his arm, “Don’t want to rust.” Mitchell gave a short loud laugh.

“That’s pretty good, I like that one.” Mitchell clapped him on the shoulder and went into the bar. “Alright you goldbricks, time to show you the proper way to get wasted.”

That was definitely his cue to leave. Jack got to the front door but took a left into the men’s room and locked the door. Leaning against the sink he looked at his reflection in the mirror one more time. Back in school, when he thought about what he would be doing when he was older, this wasn’t what he imagined. He pulled down the neckline of his shirt to reveal a couple of the scars. Nope, not even close. He hung his head feeling the weight of the situation. This night was not helping it get any lighter. Three of these guys were in his room back at World Inc. that night. His first major clue that something was up. And he was no closer to figuring out what was up or who shot that dart. But Dave and Terry might have pointed him in the right direction by accident. Oh what a night. Jack looked back into the mirror and saw the amphibious eyes of a green frog staring back at him. “Holy…!”, he turned around and saw nothing but empty space. He looked back at the mirror but only saw his reflection. Looking back and forth with his heart beating at warp speed he muttered, “Maybe a few more beers wouldn’t hurt.”

***

Rachel exited the elevator holding her head. She mumbled a few choice words in French thinking about that meeting she just left. She prayed the aspirin was still in the glove box. If she had to go through that after every mission she was going to hurt somebody. “Rachel.” Dr. Freidman walked away from his car. “What are you doing here so late?”

“Accounting has a new penny pinching bean counter. He called me in to go over every expense on the mission Jack’s been in. I talking everything from what were paying Jack to how much gas we’re using. Would you believe he told me to buy a more fuel efficient car?”

“Wait, would this be a tall, skinny guy with these huge wire frame glasses?”

“You already dealt with him I see.”

“He asked me if I really needed a machine that was keeping a patient of mine alive.” Rachel groaned, she knew guys like that back in high school. That attitude really rubbed her the wrong way. She was all with saving a little money but that was extreme. It was the same with Freidman apparently.

“Maybe we should introduce him to Jack,” she joked.

“That would cruel for one of them, I’m just not sure who at the moment. Oh that reminds me, when you see Jack tell him I identified what was in that dart he gave me.”

“What dart?”, she asked.

“You know, the one that he said made a Drakan go crazy and attack him. The one at the campus when he went back.” A look of realization grew on his face. “You have no clue what I’m talking about do you?” She started shaking her head slowly. “I think I said too much,” and he turned to leave.

“Wait, what are you talking about.”

“All I can tell you is talk to Jack, he’s the one who told me about the dart.”

“But why didn’t he tell me about it?”, she wondered out loud.

***

Jack brought the bike to a stop at a red light. He left the bar and the party a few hours ago and was just driving around town. He decided he needed some air more than he needed another beer. Especially after a bottle of something flew past his head and the guys cheering in approval as it exploded on the wall. He speed off as the light turned green. Jack glanced down a couple of alleys as he past them. A shadow high on a wall caught his attention. It didn’t look all that human. He told himself to keep on going and that it was none of his business. Half a block later he turned the bike around and headed back, “Damn it.”

He got off the bike and looked down the alley as he took his helmet off. The shadow had just jumped down from where it was. Carefully he went down in case he was falling for another trap. It wasn’t long before he found the source of the shadow. The red Drakan he saw had a bald head and a ring of ragged feathers around its’ neck like a vulture. It had a blue Turtle around the neck and twisted, he could hear the sickening snap from where he was. The vulture let the turtle drop and turned his attention to a dark haired woman a little further down the alley. She hunched down and turned into a green Tiger with darker green stripes. He wasn’t exactly sure but it looked like the vulture’s beak was grinning. The sick bastard was actually enjoying this. “Hey!”, he shouted to get it’s attention.

“Go away human,” the vulture warned, “or your next.”

“Right.” Jack raised his left arm across his chest and the belt formed around his waist. Swinging his left arm to the side he brought his right up to his face. “Henshin!”, and he slammed his right hand on top of the belt. It scanned his body and he was soon wearing the black body suit and blue armor of the Fusion system.

The tiger took a step back, “The Drakan Killer.”

“So you’re the Killer. After I’m done with this one we’ll compare notes.” The vulture turned to look at the tiger. He ran in and pulled the vulture back. “What are…,” it started before he punched him. Jack spun in place and kicked him back. “You idiot! We’re on the same side.” It pointed to the tiger behind him. “She’s one of the rebels!”

“I don’t know if that’s true or not but you’re the one with blood on your hands.”

“Pot calling the kettle black Killer.” The vulture got up and started throwing punches at him. He kept his arms up to block the fist coming at him. Then its’ foot came up and caught him in the gut. He took a step back, side stepped a lunge and brought his knee up. The vulture breathed out hard as he bent from the impact. He went to throw it into the wall but it tripped him up. It started kicking him in the sides as he tried to get up. Then the Vulture grabbed him by the back collar of the armor and pulled him up. He was forced face first into the wall and it leaned against him. “Come on Killer,” it said in his ear,” you know we’re exactly alike, why should we fight?”

“I’m nothing like you,” he growled as he pushed off the wall. Jack backhanded the vulture as he turned around. He grabbed it by the shoulder and threw it into the wall and started punching it to the ground. The last punch cracked the vulture’s beak up the side. Jack picked the Drakan back up and started punching again. The vulture ducked a punched and pushed him back. It tried to make a move for the tiger and he tried to stop it. Jack came away with a fist full of red feathers as the vulture yelped in pain and grabbed his neck. Its’ eyes narrowed as it jumped up and tried to kick him in the head.

Jack dodged the kick and grabbed it around the neck as it landed. He briefly thought about snapping its’ neck like it did the turtle’s. His gaze came around to the tiger. She already smelt like death, he couldn’t add to it. He glanced at the meter, it was close to flashing, now he had to think quick. There was a dumpster that looked like it was close enough to use. The vulture elbowed him in the side so he released his grip and punched him in the back of the head. It was stunned long enough for him to rip the lock off and open the lid. The vulture rushed in like he hopped it would. When it was close enough he grabbed it and threw it into the dumpster, the lid clanging loudly as it came down. He twisted the right pod up and he got into position, waiting as the charge went down his arm. The vulture raised the lid looking groggy and saw him perched there. Jack punched it back into the dumpster and slammed the lid down quickly. He held onto it as there was a muffled explosion and the dumper shook a little.

He started breathing heavy after it was over. “I can’t be anything like you,” he whispered. That comment touched a nerve, no doubt about it. Jack steeped away and was surprised the tiger was still there. “You know, a smart person would have left by now,” he said trying not to sound threatening. She said nothing, just staring at him. Taking a step toward her made her back up and fall. He looked at himself, this wasn’t going to cut it, so he hit the top of the belt. The system powered down as he knelt down to look her eye to eye. “You all right?”

She reverted back to her human form, blue eyes wide in surprise,” You’re concerned?” He shrugged his shoulders. “But you’re the Drakan Killer.”

“So I’ve heard.” He got up and offered her a hand. Warily she took it and he helped her up. “Let me ask one more time, are you all right?”

“I think so,” she said sounding a little stunned.

“Ok then. I’d offer to take you home, but my reputation and all.” He started to walk off, fully aware he was leaving himself expose if she decided to attack. Right now he really didn’t care if she did or not.

“Why are you letting me live?”

“Because,” he paused to look at the dumpster as he passed it, “for the first time in a long time I’m pretty sure who the bad guy was.”