Sang Sorenson's POV
The images I saw on the genius' computer were bloodcurdling. The school itself was a prison where freedom goes to die. Just looking at it made my soul drop to my stomach violently. But, the images of the gym, those were the worst.
A man stood in front of a tattooed giant and punched him repeatedly in the abdomen. I watched the feed, helpless to stop the pain he must be in. An ache formed in my heart, having to watch someone else's pain, unable to stop it or ease it in any way was unbearable. Although I couldn't be sure, I think the giant smirked. SMIRKED. Who smirks while being punched into oblivion? That guy must be crazy. Note to self...
Unfortunately, the audio was inaccessible, I am good with computers but I am beginning to think this guy might be my match. It was all I could do to access the footage, the audio was absolutely impossible. And I hate that word. IMPOSSIBLE. Ugh. So I am slightly bitter. I swear I'm going to teach that overprotective boy genius a lesson. Then maybe, only maybe, will I compliment his work.
STAY FOCUSED, SANG. Right. After I was able to tear my eyes away from the smirking giants pain, I was able to count 14 men tied to chairs in the gym. Although all members were accounted for, I messaged Phil immediately to let him know his services would be required. While I cracked the boy genius' cameras, they were still grainy and kept trying to throw me out every few seconds. I couldn't hold onto them for long, but I held on long enough to know they were in bad shape.
After a few minutes of war with this pride destroying computer code, I gave up trying to hack it anymore. I had the location, the gym, and I saw that all members were alive, which seemed like a good place to start. I informed Phil of my discoveries and told him I would be scooping out the gym in person and would text him when I needed him. With the text sent, I made my way out of the apartments and towards my car. I threw a few parting words to the receptionist about my boyfriend being happy to see me, just to keep my cover, and then got in my car and drove to the school.
Which leads me to the here and now, silence. The most powerful war cry. I keep this in mind as the only sound I make as I leave my car is the Mission Impossible theme song in my head. I park two blocks away from the school, plan in place, smile on my face. I quickly recheck my weapons and after noting that they are all in place and loaded I make sure to grab my favorite weapon of all. After strapping Karma, my red oak staff, to my back, I am ready. I hope I am able to handle any problems with only Karma on my side, I do not like to use guns or knifes. Those outcomes are too permanent for my liking.
Now for my favorite part, sneaking. After diligently studying the pictures of the building, I saw there was a window above the bleachers of the gym that seemed easily accessible from the outside. If all goes to plan, I could scale the wall and shimmy through the window, which will place me close enough to the bleachers to maneuver around under. Let Operation: Save the Damsels commence.
As stealthily as possible, I make my way to the window on the east side of the gym, careful to avoid the crunchy leaves along the way with my boots. I should have gone barefoot... Crouching against the wall under the window, I listen for any sound coming from inside. Frowning at the lack of noise, I step back to reexamine the wall I need to climb. The building is in need of repair, which is good for me, because the wall has cracks and broken bricks I can easily work my feet into. The window isn't that far off the ground anyways. I make a running leap to get as far up as I can on the building, hitting the building softly, silently.
Making my way up, I notice the window is already open, with noise coming from inside. Momentarily distracted by my luck, I tone in to just barely make out, "This is ridiculous. They aren't saying a damn thing. Let's just get rid of them. I'm done wasting my time here." The voice was male, nasally, and annoyed. I waited patiently for the reply, adjusting my grip on the wall, but the man just kept talking, "Fine! Whatever." I was close enough to the window to risk a quick glance. I watched as a pudgy man with a rusty mustache slammed his phone into his pocket, mumbling. He threw a scathing look at the tattooed giant with his watery eyes and yellowish skin before turning to someone else in the room out of view, "I'm leaving. Watch them and let me know if something changes." Then the watery eyed man turned towards what I assume to be the entrance of the gym.
I watched him go and was contemplating shimming through the window when a deep chuckle stilled my movements, as well as the watery eyed man's. My eyes grew wide as I searched for the source, one of the damsels, the only one without a gag in his mouth. Why doesn't he have a gag? I quickly realize he is the same tattooed giant that was taking hits earlier, without the grainy feed I can see the lip ring he wears, mostly covered in blood now. The watery eyed man found him immediately, "Do you think somethings funny, boy?" he bit out towards the tattooed giant. I watched as several members tensed, some shooting the giant frantic looks that seemed to say 'shut up'. I'm sure my face showed the same look. He was walking away! Why would he do that?!
Of course, that didn't stop him as he opened his mouth with a dangerous smirk, "You are giving up so soon?" Despite the raspy quality of his voice, that sent shivers down my spine, it was clear he was Russian. I had to stop myself from groaning out loud and giving myself up, of course he's Russian. Never know when to shut up and let things be. Now I find myself fighting the sudden urge to hit my head against the building. Great, just what every great rescue mission needs, someone who doesn't know when to play it safe. I watched as more than a few hands rubbed against their restraints, already raw and most bloody from the effort.
Water eyes made his way over to the Russian with unbridled anger clear on his face, "Do you think this is a game?!" Spittle flew from the mans mouth as he marched over to where the Russian sat, unconcerned and at ease. I tried not to groan as I saw where this was going. I couldn't step in yet, I wasn't ready. I had no plan. I can't help him if he keeps it up. And that thought scared and frustrated me to no end. The man kept yelling as he drew closer and closer, "You want me to do something? Fine, I'll d-" In a split second, the Russian shot forward and bit the mans finger when he got too close.
In between the mans screaming and my stunned shock, another man quickly ran into the gym and pulled the watery eyed man away while struggling to put the Russian's gag back in. But I was too shocked to take note of the other man because... Did he just... bite... watery eyes? Oh my goodness, he did. He bit him. Actually bit him. I guess thats why he didn't have a gag... I was right, the guy really was crazy. Russian through and through.
Snapping back into myself, I realized watery eyes and the other man were now gone and the Russian had his gag back into place. Time to make my move. I move my eyes around the gym, now that the men are gone I can see what I have to work with. Scanning the room, my eyes stop on a desk setup with a frail looking man-boy sitting at it, typing. I couldn't see the screen very well from my vantage point, but it looks like video feeds of the school. Do they have cameras too? Have they seen me? Why would they have a surveillance setup in the same place as their prisoners? He's not even facing the prisoners to keep an eye on them, he's just facing the gym entrance. I need to move now, just in case he has seen me.
I push the rest of my body through the window, my eyes already looking for a landing place when I feel eyes on me. I whip my head up, prepared to fight in case I have been caught, but no one new came into the room. My only enemy is the skinny man still at the computer, so I glance over the team until my eyes lock onto surprised chocolate brown eyes. A smiled a little at the Thor looking blonde with mischievous eyes and threw him a wink that caused him to raise his eyebrows and try to smile through his gag. I quickly remove one of my hands from the windowsill and hold my finger to my mouth in a 'shush' manor, knowing he can't speak anyways. His shoulders move a little, from laughter I assume, which gathers the attention of the man next to him. Suddenly, I'm looking at an Adonis come to life with an olive complexion and kind dark eyes, one swollen shut. He looks surprised to see me, but I no longer have time to try communicating with them, the state of his eye spurring me on. Finding no where to land, since this is apparently not the bleachers, I know I'm going to have to drop to the gym floor.
I prepare myself for the fall, having been trained in falling safely I know to tuck and roll, using the momentum to guide me through gravities clutches. Taking a deep breathe, I let go of the windowsill and bring my body in for the fall, feeling my feet begin to impact, and pushing my body into a roll. I land in a crouching position, one hand on my bo staff in case I alerted the man at the computer. Looking over, I see him still at work on his computer, oblivious to the world. I spare a quick glance to the two damsels who know I'm here to see Thor looking like he just found a new toy, and Adonis looking utterly awe-struck. I can't help but to smirk a little at them and raise an eyebrow at Thor, he's handsome in a model kind of way, but he looks like he's about to eat me, which is unsettling. But not unwelcome... FOCUS. Right.
My presence is starting to attract the attention of the other damsels, I need to control the situation before they blow my cover. I swiftly and quietly get into position behind the man at the computer, knowing I haven't made a sound. I go to strike him unconscious, when I notice the screen. He has the entire inside of the school monitored, even the outside front of the building. The images keep switching, mostly of inside views. Surprisingly, the outside of the gym isn't being monitored, just the entrance of the school. Did they not expect people to come in from the windows? Actually, yeah, I guess that's unlikely. Still, the only outside footage is the entrance of the school? That seems like very bad surveillance to me.
As I'm watching the screens, too far behind the man for him to notice me, I watch as he clicks a button next to the keyboard connected to a microphone. "Testing, testing, one, two, three." As he speaks into the microphone, the whole school echoes with what he says. I feel my eyebrows shoot up, he's connected to the PA system, but why?
I hear the phone on his desk ring and then a voice tell him, "Yeah, it's working now. Keep watching the feeds. Let us know if something changes." He clicks the phone off then sighs as he watches the feeds. I guess he's their alert system.
Looking over the screens I notice water eyes and another man are leaving in a sedan, while there are four other men in the courtyard smoking and playing a card game. It looks like everyone is on break. That just leaves four men and this computer boy, easy. I should hurry before more men come. I look back over his set up and smile as an idea comes to mind.
*Reminder: Sang is Russian, and while she speaks English, it can still be choppy.*
Moving quickly, before the man at the computer can even blink, I have his body pressed against the desk with his hands held behind his back and a knife to his neck. Before he can scream, I apply more pressure to the knife and whisper, "Do not talk." As his body instantly stills, I continue, "Good. Now, I need you to listen to me very carefully. Any wrong move, and.." I apply just enough pressure to draw a little trickle of blood. He swallows, incidentally pushing the knife further in, and nods very slightly, afraid to move. I take that as my queue to keep talking, "This PA system, it goes through whole school, yes?" He nods imperceptibly again, confirming my suspicions, and by extension, my plan.
"I need you to tell the men in the courtyard the Russian is acting up again and to send a couple in to reinforce his hand ties." Something just tells me that this has been a problem before. "Say anything else and I apply more pressure. Can you do that?" His tiny head nod tells me he understands, but I am still skeptical so I loosen my grip slowly. As he makes no move to fight, I let one of his arms loose, keeping my knife on his neck and my other arm securing his remaining arm. Scared he will move too fast for my liking, I throw in a "Slowly," just to be safe.
The boy slowly moves his hand to the intercom and clears his throat before clicking the button and speaking, "Guys, the Russian is about to break through his hand ties. Can a couple of you come in and secure him again?" He releases the button quickly, the light going out that showed it was on. He stiffly moves his hand away from the buttons.
As I watch the four men argue about who has to go, two of them finally split from the group and make their way over to the gym. I release my grip on the man, "Good," I tell him. He sighs and starts to relax. Knowing I don't have a lot of time before the other two men get here I mumble a quick apology that has him stiffening as I take the butt of my knife and slam it against his temple, effectively neutralizing him as he falls to the ground, unconscious. Glancing at the screens, I notice I only have a minute before the two men get here, I need to get into position.
I move quickly to get under the bleachers by the entrance of the gym, feeling fourteen pairs of eyes trail my movements, and I have just enough time to look over at them and throw a quick reassuring smile, noting a scary man in all black struggle even more against his restraints. I want to tell him to stop rubbing his skin off, but just then the gym doors bang open. As the men step in, already screaming about 'that f*cking Russian', I wait until they walk past my hiding place and notice the computer man passed out. As soon as they see him on the floor, they pull out their weapons and scan over my damsels.
As soon as one goes for his phone, I jump out from behind the bleachers and swing my staff out from behind my back, quickly hitting at his legs to make him fall to the floor hard. I faintly realize he has black hair and is much taller than me as he groans on the floor, attracting the attention of my second target. My hands act on their own accord, my body moving to a dance only I know as I spin my bo staff in a perfect circle, switching off hands until I use the momentum to slam the staff into the second mans gut. He leans over, momentarily distracted, as the first man gets off the floor and holds a knife out to me, ready to charge. I watch patiently, never stopping the momentum from my staff, as he finally decides to strike.
He strikes just as I bring my staff back in front of me after moving it behind my body, making it easy to hit his wrist and force the knife to drop from his clutches. While he goes to grab his wrist in pain, I quickly throw my body into a spinning kick to have him clutch his stomach as well. By this point, the second man regains his composure and pulls out a gun from his waist. I land on my feet from the spinning kick and crouch, spinning fully to face the second man before striking out with my foot to knock the gun out of his hand, clattering to the floor and sliding away. My hands continue their dance, spinning the staff as it collides with the mans ankles harshly, knocking him to his knees.
I jump up just as the first man wields a second knife, catching the leather jacket of my right arm, and I use my staff to slam it into the side of his throat, close to his shoulder. I don't want to hit him too hard in the head, we may need information out of him. I notice that both of my opponents are now hurt in several parts of their body and realize its time to end this. I twirl in place, picking up speed with my staff, then bring the staff across my body and arch it up into the second mans gut. Bringing the staff back to me, I twirl again and slam it into the first mans side. I slow my motions and hit the second man in the head with enough force to knock him out just like the computer boy, then I do the same with the first man.
Finished with my twirling dance of fury, I check each of their pulses to ensure they are knocked out and frown down at my jacket before bringing my attention back to the team. I find most of them staring at me and my staff with wide eyed expressions, although a pair of grey eyes look more calculating than anything. Knowing I don't have a lot of time before their buddies come back I make my way over to them, intending to ask if they need anything before we leave this place. The scary man in all black captures my attention first, the same one who is still struggling with his restraints, making them even more bloodied than before.
I quickly take off his gag, ready to tell him to stop struggling so I-, "WHAT THE F*CK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! GET THE F*CK OUT OF HERE! ARE YOU F*CKI-" I stare at him, shocked that he's yelling at me during this time sensitive matter. Also, I can't help but feel a bit mad. I'm trying to save his life, and he's yelling at me to go and won't let me get a single word in. Seriously? I huff and before I can stop myself, I flick him in the forehead, silencing him. I briefly notice Thor laughing again before I go to open my mouth, when again the scary guy starts yelling about how I shouldn't be here.
Annoyed, I do the only logical thing I can do at this point, I put the gag back into his mouth. He stared at me, a mixture of shock and anger as I glare at him and say in a mocking tone, "Thank you for saving me, what can I do to help?" Conveying what he should have said, arms crossed in annoyance.
After sticking my tongue out at him in a very childish manor and mumbling something about ungrateful bigots, I move over to the next closest guy who has bright blue eyes and blonde tousled surfer hair with tanned skin. He was wearing an Iron Man t-shirt and reminded me of a handsome nerdling. He looks tired, but I imagine his eyes are always happy otherwise. I faintly recall him from the photos in the apartment I was in, but I can't think on that right now. I quickly take out his gag and talk before he can, as I have learned my lesson. "Bubblegum."
He blinks at me a couple times before blurting out, "Oh, uh, CPU?" His response was more of a question, which was absolutely adorable. I smiled slightly at him to reassure him, maybe he was afraid I wasn't actually Academy.
"Hello, I am here to retrieve the Blackbourne-Toma team. This is you, yes?" He blinks a couple times before sputtering out an affirmative. He didn't yell, and didn't question me, just said yes. I think him and I are going to get along pretty well.
I smiled brightly at him for not yelling and watched him blush slightly before I asked him, "Do you need something from here before I take you all away?"
He seemed to sober up immediately and began shaking his head yes, his face suddenly serious, "If you untie me, I need to copy the files from that desktop over there and then I can untie the rest while you-" I needed to stop him here by placing my hand over his mouth. His eyes widened slightly at my hand on his mouth, but he was talking a mile a minute and I needed to get moving on those files he mentioned.
"I can not untie you. It is not my plan. You need everything from the computer copied onto hard drive?" I asked, then removed my hand.
He shook his head yes then began speaking again, "Yes, I have a hard drive in the sole of my shoe that you can-", again I cut him off. I normally wouldn't, but this was time sensitive. Although, I did fight a smile at how he ignored the fact that I wasn't going to untie him and his team yet.
"I have my own hard drive." I untucked the heart shaped thumb drive from around my neck and started making my way over to the desktop.
His voice followed me, "I-I can help, there's not a lot of time, plus I- uh, I'm really good with computers." I giggled a little at that and looked back at his hopeful eyes.
"That is ok. I am 'really good with computers' as well." I say, trying not to worry him as I throw a wink at him as well.
He kept talking as I plugged in my heart shaped thumb drive to the desktop and began the process of downloading the files, "I- I don't mean to offend you, but there's going to be an encryption on the important files that I can-" He cut himself off as he saw me get to the encryption and start hacking the software. I momentarily forgot about my surroundings as I let my fingers fly, giving into my need to solve puzzles. Within minutes, I had the files unlocked and downloading onto my drive. I backed away from the keyboard and looked back at the cute nerdling to find him staring at me open mouthed.
I grinned at his look of shock before speaking, "You will catch flies like that. I told you, I am good with computers as well." My grin turned into a full-blown smile as he snapped his mouth shut and his cheeks began coloring a rosy pink again. He was about to say something when there was a cough from a dark toned gentleman with long flowing black hair who reminded me of a Mustang. He caught my eye and tried raising his hands, as if to show me he was still tied down. I glanced over the rest of the team and realized most of them were also pulling at their restraints as well.
The nerdling cut in, "Do you think you can untie us now, so we can help with the other guys?"
I looked between the Indian looking model and this cute nerdling before smiling at the latter with a simple, "No.." He went to say something again, no doubt asking why, but I decided to just explain my reasoning. "I can not untie you yet. I am in the middle of a mission and you are, unfortunately, an unknown. You all look to be in bad shape and I worry you may be more of a liability lose than an asset to me. You are Academy, after all, so I know you would jump into battle without thinking of your wounds." At his look of disbelief I smiled kindly at him before continuing, "I will get you out of here. You will just have to trust in me. Will you trust me, please?"
He looked me in the eye as I tried to convey how serious I was about saving him and his team, and that I was sorry I couldn't untie them yet. He must have realized I was truthful because he nodded in determination before saying, "Ok, I trust you." I beamed at him before taking my phone out and texting Phil that I would need cars and drivers outside the school in five minutes to transport the damsels to the hospital. Looking at the feeds, I realized the other two men haven't even stirred. It was like they hadn't thought about the fact that two of their men hadn't gotten back from their tasks yet. Amateurs. I shook my head before looking back at my phone to see that Phil had agreed to be here in eight minutes.
Sighing at the extra three minutes, I looked back at the screen to see the hard drive was almost finished downloading when the nerdling spoke again, "So..." I chuckled a little to myself, of course Academy guys can't be still for one minute.
Glancing over at him, I smiled at him again, something that is beginning to become a habit, before I began talking, "So... I am about to have you all home. First, I need to know which of you needs medical attention the most." I say this as I scan the group, noting that the Russian as been watching me the entire time with a scary gleam in his eye. The good scary though... I couldn't dwell on it though as I realized he had a gash along his torso that definitely required medical attention, making me frown at him. He didn't even look to be in pain.
A quick scan of the group told me the next two who really needed medical attention were the guy in black who yelled at me, and the not-nerdling look-alike. My scanning took only a second as I turned back to the nerdling, "It looks like the Russian, the Grump, and the not-you need the most attention, yes?" I was pulling out my phone before he could even agree with me, already texting Phil the three most hurt so he would work on them first.
I looked back up in between words when he began talking again, "Yes, but I think Silas should be looked at as well." I nodded, adding the name to my text to Phil before looking back at the screen.
The files had been downloaded. Ok, now comes the break out. I thought of the best way to do this then smiled at my idea and giggled a little, which had fourteen pairs of eyes reflect confusion and concern for me. I begin setting up my phone, ready to have it play out over the PA system for my plan to work. I shoot the team a smile and focused on the nerdling again, "I am going to go take out the remaining two. While I do that, Phil should get here and he will help get all of you out while I secure these five and take them to headquarters. You can question them later, if you'd like. I have already texted Phil to let him know you are all in the gym and which to treat first."
He starts to argue with me, but I have already started my plan. I need to be quick, I have only eight minutes to be out of here before more members show up. On that thought, I quickly press the play button on my phone, making Who Let The Dogs Out by Baha Men blare through the PA system, effectively cutting him off because of the noise. Tucking the thumb drive back onto my necklace and under my shirt, I grab Karma and head to the hallway, where I know the remaining men will be heading to see why music was blaring over the speaker system. They won't expect to be attacked in the hallway, so I will have the element of surprise on my side. I laughed to myself at the irony of my music selection, glad I had the song just for this occasion. I was about to exit the gym when the door banged open, a man stepping through that wasn't part of the two in the courtyard. Great, I must have missed him on the feeds.
Due to my momentary shock of having an unknown enemy in front of me, he was able to process what was happening faster than me and suddenly I felt a pain in my cheek from a backhand that had me sliding across the floor. I felt Karma get knocked out of my hand and heard her slide across the room as I jumped up into a crouched position and examined my prey. I spared a thought for Karma, hoping she wasn't broken, and then focused on the man in front of me. He was huge with bulging muscles rivaled only by that of the Russian and a man I saw with reddish brown hair near him. He had a left scar under his dark eyes and wore a muscled t shirt. He was also bald and sneering, reminding me of an evil Mr. Clean. He took a long look at me, sizing me up as I did him, before smirking a little, "You're the rescue team?" he asked in mirth while looking all too pleased with himself.
I was too busy making a game plan in my head to answer, and he took my silence as a queue to laugh at me. I could hear him clearly over the noise of Who Let The Dogs Out, his deep voice vibrating throughout the room. I calculated his body mass in my head, probably over 200 pounds. My small 90 pound frame couldn't beat him with force so I knew I'd have to use his own strength against him. The best way to do that was to rile him up so he would make a mistake and give me the upper hand. I ignored the shouts from the nerdling as well as the sound of people trying to break free from their restraints. I needed to focus, the other two guys can't be too far away now.
With these thoughts in mind I decide to take a page out of the Russian's play book and open my mouth as well, as soon as I did I noticed the sting on my lip. Reaching up, my finger came away from my lip coated in my blood. Instead of saying something witty or savage, all that came out was a huff. I haven't seen my own blood in a while, not since Saudi Arabia. I can't believe I was so distracted I let myself get caught like that. Of course, my lack of response made the oaf think it was permission to continue speaking.
"What? Does it not match your nails?" He chuckled at his own joke, finding it hilarious.
Over my own thoughts I am finally able to speak with a sugary sweet smile, "Actually I was thinking we would be matching soon enough." At first Mr. Clean looked confused, then he just looked angry. Which is what I wanted, I remind myself as I watch his hulk of a figure charge at me like an angry bull. I hold my slightly bent position with my hands clasped in front of me, not backing away until he's right in front of me. Then I use my small frame to speed out of his way at the last minute, turning as I do so to hit him in the back with my arm as hard as I can while tripping him. Being so large, I knew he wouldn't be able to stop in time, and his own momentum coupled with my shove sent him running right into the bleachers.
I regathered myself and began calculating my next move as he straightened himself with an angry snarl, screaming obscenities I did not know the meaning of in English. Though, they sounded terrible and mean. Though my opponent was strong and relatively large, he was slow and failed to think his movements through. In the end, that will be his fatal flaw. Focused on the battle at hand, I block out all other noise and never waver my focus from my opponent.
When he goes to charge again, this time I am ready and quickly move my arms into an X to block his punch and push him away while also using my left foot to stomp on his. While he is distracted with his foot, I quickly twirl to gain momentum and strike my elbow into his nose, hearing a crunch and an agonized scream. With my back still to him I waste no time in bringing my elbow down and up as fast as I can while he grabs his nose, hitting him in his gut. Not wanting to have my back to him any longer, I swiftly glide around while untucking my knife and use the butt of it to knock him in the back of the head as he is still bent over his stomach.
I watch in satisfaction as he goes down, happy with my victory before I hear someone yell out to me, "Watch out!"
Not questioning the nerdlings warning, I dive into a roll and spin to face the gym doors with one knee still on the ground. At the entrance of the gym are the two men from the courtyard, and I have to fight to hold in my frustration. They have clearly seen me due to my encounter with Mr. Clean so my element of surprise is off, throwing off my whole plan. I briefly depict a knife skidding across the floor where I was only seconds before, too busy taking in my final opponents. However, these two are not as well built as Mr. Clean and look mostly shocked before they start running at me. The first one catches my attention due to the jacket he wears, giving me a plan.
I quickly stand to attention, knowing to keep my weight evenly distributed and to make sure I keep them in a straight line so I don't get a sneak attack. Before Jacket can throw the punch he was preparing for, I charge forward and briefly hug his arm towards me and bend him forward while using my other hand to bunch up his jacket over his head to disorient him and kick at his shin. I use my hold on his jacket to keep him between me and the second offender, noting that every punch and hit the second man tries to use hits only his buddy and not me. Jacket guy keeps trying to yank his jacket off his head while I kick at his feet to keep him between me and his friend.
I stop maneuvering Jacket between me and his buddy just long enough to quickly bring my leg up and slam it into Jacket's bent knee. Just as my boot connects with his knee the PA system suddenly changes from Baha Men to Lindsey Stirling's Shatter Me, my ringtone. Huffing because I know the only person who would call is Alexei, and only if its important, I know I need to answer it. However, Jacket guy is still in play, just hurt, and I have yet to really touch his friend. Slightly tired, I manage to get out, "I do not think you would be ok with stopping this for one moment, no?" I find my answer in the look of utter disgust in my second opponent.
Mumbling about how I knew that was going to be the answer, I quickly shove Jacket into his friend, sending them to the floor as I make a mad dash for my phone, quickly answering while my opponents regain their footing. "Hello?" I have just enough time to put the phone on speaker before ducking at a knife thrown my way and rolling to the side to meet the second guys punch into my stomach.
As I dive into a second punch I dodge him and throw a jab into his side under his armpit. All while I hear Alexei's voice through the PA system, "Ghost? Is everything ok? Why are we to talk in English? Where are you?"
I can barely comprehend that the nerdling gasps out loud and asks, "Ghost? As in The Ghost?!"
I don't have time to answer both so I focus on Alexei remembering he did not want me on this mission, "I am fine. Just working out. Did you need something?"
Alexei sighs through the phone before speaking, "I want to tell you I am sorry for earlier. I told Phil I would be one of his drivers to help this team. You do not need to worry about them anymore. Ok?"
Slightly distracted by my conversation I just barely miss the undercut of a knife as I grab the second guys hand and pull him forward and bring my foot down on his knee as hard as I can. I spare a quick response for Alexei though, "Uh, yeah, ok, do not worry, I understand."
As I block Jacket's punches again while his friend clutches his side, I can barely recognize Phil's voice on the PA as he gets into what I assume is Alexei's car. I can make out his voice asking who is on the phone and internally cringing as Alexei says it is me and Phil asks, "Oh, well she must be done with the capturers. May I talk with her about the team for a moment?"
I resist the urge to groan out loud as I picture Alexei's face turn angry as he spits out, "What are you talking about? She did not go to rescue your team. Ghost? Where are you? What is that noise? You went to the school, didn't you? I told you to wait for more information!" Alexei keeps yelling and I can occasionally hear Phil cut in, but I am too focused on my opponents at the moment to understand what is being said.
The second guy has recovered from my kick to his side, while Jacket is seemingly busy with my kick to his shin. Just as I turn to handle the second guy, I feel arms wrap around mine and hug them to my body, I briefly realize it is Jacket holding me before I push off the floor into him, bringing both my legs up to slam them into his friends chest. This knocks both off kilter, giving me enough leeway to get out of Jackets grip and spin to punch his torso.
As I try to focus on my next movements, I have trouble putting a plan together through Alexei's yelling so I quickly manage to tell him, "Alexei, I am in the middle of Operation: Save the Damsels, be quiet."
Both opponents begin to regain their footing as I hear Alexei mumble while Phil's kind voice comes over the PA system, "Hello Dear, are you sure everything is ok?"
Not wanting to be rude to my first friend here I say a quick, "Yes, everything is fine." While I dodge a kick from Jacket and spin to throat punch his friend.
While I block another punch to my face, Phil continues, "Well, ok then. I'm glad I caught you, I was wondering who you meant in your text about who was hurt the most? The first one you have mentioned is Raven right?"
Completely confused by the mention of an injured bird, I risk a confused glance at my phone, wondering if I typed Russian in wrong. I answer Phil quickly as I elbow the second man and stomp on his toes, "No, no raven, Russian. I must have typed wrong. I am sorry." I finish speaking just as Jacket manages another punch to my side.
There is silence on their end of the phone, besides Alexei yelling about there being a Russian, before Phil manages a slight laugh and then says, "No, Sweetie, that's his name, Raven. Did they not introduce themselves? I can't believe they would do so unintentionally."
Understanding dawns on me as I uppercut Jackets head and kick out at his friend. "Oh, do not worry, Phil. They are a bit..." I spared a glance at the team to see them all struggling against their bindings, "Tied up at the moment. Yes, Raven was first on the list. And Alexei, he is tied up. Besides, he bites."
Alexei continues to yell in the background about how I know the Russian bites and Phil responds just as I manage to finally knock out Jacket with a knee to the face, "Ok, moving on to the second name, I'm guessing the Grump you mentioned is North?"
Thinking he must mean where to find the Grump I can't help the exasperated look I throw at the phone again before saying, "What? No, Phil, the gym is east of the entrance. Did you not get the blueprints I sent to you?" At this point, I'm blocking off another punch to my torso and quickly tiring.
Phil chuckles again, "Ghost, that's his name. Tall, dark, all black? That's North."
I tilt my head a little, considering the name and that it belongs to the scary guy in all black before replying, "Ok, yes Raven, North, not-nerdling, and Silas." Because, honestly, the name suits him.
Quick to answer, Phil asks, "Which brings me to my final question, who is 'not-nerdling'?"
Before I can answer, my opponent goes to punch me yet again. This time I duck and grab his arm while pushing up into him, sending him over my body and landing on the floor. Now that he is down I can answer Phil, "Which twin is good with computers?"
"Corey? Corey is the one hurt?" Phil asks, slightly more worried.
I quickly reassure him, "No, not-Corey is hurt." Then I process what he has said as I straddle my only remaining opponent, Corey? Isn't that the one who wrote that psychotic computer code? "Wait, Corey Corey, the crazy over protected apartment Corey?"
Without waiting for a response, I quickly land a punch to my opponent on the floor before looking up at the nerdl- Corey, "Oh, you and I will have to have a talk when this is over, genius." Not wasting anymore time for an answer, I turn the remainder of my focus on my opponent as Corey goes to talk. I land three more punches to his head before he is out cold like his buddy.
Just as I throw the final punch I can hear Phil on the PA system, "Ok, Ghost, we are pulling up to the school now. Hold on and see you soon, Dear."
I grunt out in the affirmative then take a second to catch my breathe before standing. Walking over to my phone, I slip off my leather jacket that now has slashes in it and frown at it as I disconnect the call and put my phone in my pocket. Taking the zip ties out of my pocket, I move to the first guy and begin tying all their hands behind their backs in case one of them wakes up during transport. I hear a few muffled words and skin rubbing against restraints so I quickly look up to say, "If you stop rubbing your skin raw, I will cut you loose once I am done securing these people."
A few hands still, but only Corey can speak, "You're The Ghost? As in, the one who took down that drug smuggling operation in Dubai?" I remember working with an all dog team in Dubai, they really did most of the work. I was just gathering information for them. "Or the one who hacked the CIA when you were thirteen to unlock sensitive information about the Pentagon?"
He was so cute when he rambled, but that one wasn't true. "Actually, I only did it to find Alexei through facial recognition. Not as cool, huh?" I was almost finished with the zip ties now, one left.
I looked up at him while he sputtered, staring at me wide eyed, "Not cool? Not cool?! That was- is amazing! I can't believe you hacked the CIA at only thirteen..." He trails off here, reminding me of something as I tie up the last of the bad men.
"This reminds me, your home is Fort Knox. It was very frustrating." I threw him a mock-angry look as I made my way to him, pulling my knife out to untie him first. I felt like we were already best-friends by this point. I mean, he warned me when that guy was throwing a knife at me, and he didn't yell at me like... South?... did. So, of course, I was going to make sure he was untied first.
As I cut his ties off, he did not even flinch from my knife, proving he really did trust me already. If he keeps this up, I may have to denote Phil as my best friend here and claim Corey. I smiled brightly at him as I cut his last hand free and said, "I think you and I are going to get along wellly, boy-genius."
His cheeks blushed again before saying, "Nicely. 'I think you and I are going to get along nicely'." He got redder and redder with each word, until he was bright red by the end of his sentence. The sentence he used to teach me how to speak English properly. He was just too cute!
So, naturally, I had to let him know through a giggle, "You are adorable, but it is same, no? Well, nice, nicely, wellly."
His eyes got wide and he looked over at someone, I couldn't see who though because right then, the gym doors opened and Alexei stood there with Phil, I could only assume other Academy members were on their way to help with the mess. Knowing other members were here was my queue to leave, as signaled by Alexei's look thrown my way. I am a Ghost, I should not be seen by just anyone. Only those I work with know what I look like, and sometimes not even then. I look to Phil quickly, "Phil, I must go I can not be seen by-"
Phil cut me off with a wave of his hand, "Go, Dear, I know." I moved to leave when he called back out, "And Ghost," I looked back at him quickly, "Thank you." The sincerity in his eyes as well as his tone made me grateful I was able to help him in any way. I nodded to him and gave him a slight smile before turning to leave.
This time, a hand caught my arm, momentarily making me stiffen from the unexpectedness of it. Quickly realizing I was still in the gym and that all my enemies were passed out, I stopped myself from striking out and followed the hand up to Corey's surprised expression. Great, my weird behavior was not unnoticed. I forced a smile at him as a way of asking him to not say anything as well as conveying I was alright. He nodded and said, "We will see you again, right? You're not vanishing, are you?"
His eyes were so bright and hopeful I couldn't even remember why I was uncomfortable a moment before. I felt my lips quirk up into a grin as I replied, "Oh yes, I will be around. I still have to yell at you about your James Bond wanna-be security system." I winked at him and glanced over the rest of the team, the Russian blocked by Phil hovering over him trying to look at his wound, but being told it was unimportant. I saluted them with a smirk and chanced a glance at Alexei to see him stare at me with anger. With that image burned into my brain, I exited the gym through the locker room and made my way back to my car. I have done all that I can now, I have to leave it to the Academy to take the guys into holding and make sure the team sees medical attention. Now, all I have to do is wait. Because tomorrow, tomorrow I had to go visit my damsels.
*A Report*
Happy Halloween, to those who put up with my lax schedule and tell me to get myself in gear. Thank you. Perhaps over 8,000 words will help the holidays. ;)
- GB