“It’s no good, boss . h.e.l.lflower has us surrounded!”

“What?!”

Hyena growled like a feral animal but he didn’t lose his cool . There was a string of gunfire from outside, followed by screams and the sounds of struggle . Something hit two of his men so hard they burst through the door . They lay on the ground, still and covered in blood .

h.e.l.lflower strut into the room with her safety goggles and white lab coat . An ammo pouch hung from her waist and she held a pair of pitch black handguns, lookeing as valiant as she did beautiful . She’d arrived at the base three years ago, no one knew from where . In fact they knew practically nothing about her .

In all that time she had served as a scientist and researcher . There had been few occasions where she’d needed to fight . As such most ignored or disregarded her . Most of the base’s soldiers had never had an opportunity to see what she could do .

Now the ground before her was littered with corpses, their heads blown apart from gunshots right between their eyebrows .

On average h.e.l.lflower was able to kill five targets a second, headshots all . It was a display that made those who witnessed it shudder . Now at last the soldiers knew that this s.e.xy and dignified researcher was also a first-rate killer .

Clack Clack!

Her empty clips. .h.i.t the ground . h.e.l.lflower slapped the b.u.t.ts of her guns against her waist and pressed fresh magazines into place .

Hyena and the dozen or so men that remained walked out of the room . The two faced each other across a stretch of about fifty meters . When Hyena stepped out to see his people dead all around his anger was restrained . Not diminished, just hidden deep in the pits of his feral eyes . His steady gaze made anyone caught in it tremble .

“Mr . Hyena, our venerable Academician always held you in such high regard . Your actions have hurt him deeply . ” h.e.l.lflower’s guns were loaded and bullets sat ready in their chambers . She regarded Hyena with a perfectly calm demeanor . “I’m here at the Academician’s request . Will you come willingly, or will I have to smack you around a little first?”

“So he sends his mad b.i.t.c.h to kill me?” Hyena knew the a.s.sa.s.sination plot had failed . He could no longer remain in Blackwater Base . His eyes began to change, and the muscles all over his body bulged unnaturally . Black hairs slithered out to cover him from head to toe and when he spoke again it was through a throat that was no longer human . “We’ll see who dies!”

Hyena was strong and fast . If they let him leave here alive he was only going to cause problems . h.e.l.lflower didn’t want to give him any opportunity and so her modified pistols immediately started spraying . In an instant everywhere he could go was blocked off by gunfire . However Hyena was no less of a threat than the sweeper lieutenants who had attacked Blackflag Outpost . If his enemy were any average marksman – the likes of Slyfox, for example – then even a few well-placed bullets were not insurmountable .

Unfortunately for him, h.e.l.lflower was no typical marksman . This woman was many grades better than Slyfox had been and Hyena was not going to be able to dodge her shots . Thus he had no intention of dodging . His hands shot out, and before they even knew what was happening two of Hyena’s henchmen were dragged before him like meat s.h.i.+elds .

They were instantly peppered with h.e.l.lflower’s spray of bullets .

Hyena’s men were the elite of Blackwater Base, and as such were thickly muscled . h.e.l.lflower’s guns were modified to sacrifice stopping power for rate of fire, so they didn’t pack enough of a punch to blow through the beefy men’s bodies .

Suddenly the calm fled from her face . Hyena was fast .

The two of them were equally skilled, but h.e.l.lflower wouldn’t stand a chance in close quarters combat against Hyena . Shoving his human s.h.i.+elds before him Hyena covered half the ground between him and h.e.l.lflower quickly . By now the others were reacting, turning their weapons on the wolf man .

“f.u.c.k off!”

His meat s.h.i.+elds were a badly mutilated mess by now . He flung one of them at h.e.l.lflower and the other toward the men who’d come with her . She rolled to the side, avoiding the body . However the other group was struck full on by the dead weight flung at them by Hyena . They all hit the ground in a heap of broken bones and snapped tendons .

He certainly wasn’t welcome in the base anymore!

If Hyena was determined to take his enemies down with him he had a chance to kill h.e.l.lflower . Only, he had no intention of dying . He leapt over the tangle of bodies, tearing out the throats of any soldier who got too close with his razor sharp claws . Skin split in his grip like it was made of tofu . Their carotid arteries were instantly severed, but before they could start spewing blood Hyena bound past them . He was several dozen feet away and free before the fountains of blood began .

Two green figures who had been lying in wait suddenly made their move .

Hyena knew the moment he saw them, they were the Academician’s bodyguards . Though they’d once been mere beasts the monsters were now incredibly strong . Appearing suddenly they caught Hyena unprepared, blocking his path and dealing him several wounds .

One of the base’s snipers lifted his gun and aimed for Hyena . His finger applied pressure to the trigger, but a slender hand reached out and stopped him . h.e.l.lflower slowly lowered the barrel of his gun as she addressed those soldiers still standing . “What’s the rush,” she said calmly . “There are three of them, how can you be sure who you’ll hit?”

“But, they-“

“No chit-chat . Sweep his room . Leave Hyena to me . ”

Though she said she would take care of Hyena, h.e.l.lflower casually walked his way without any hurry . Her guns were lowered with no intention to use them . The soldiers, however, would not dare disobey her orders, so pretending as though they didn’t see her strolling away they entered Hyena’s apartments . Inside they fought the rest of the wolf man’s henchmen and shot them dead .

 h.e.l.lflower muttered to herself . The skill of the Academician’s bodyguards were impressive and not a little surprising . However, remarkable as they were the things were little more than especially clever beasts on steroids . They were no match for a seasoned warrior like Hyena .

One of the lizard men slammed into Hyena and forced him up against a wall . They struck with such force that they left a crumbling indentation in the st.u.r.dy stone . The other lizard snapped at Hyena’s throat like a viper, which the wolf man dodged . He managed to juke around behind one and grabbed it by its tail . He swung it around, flinging it into the wall and causing another cascade of fractured stone to shower over them . He followed by grabbing the second and heaving it into the first, making the dent deeper .

 Hyena fought like he’d lost his mind, slamming his fist into his enemy again and again . Each strike spread the cracks along the wall farther . Both lizard men were reduced to pulp, smeared across the stones .

Bang-bang-bang-bang!

With a clear shot h.e.l.lflower planted bullets in his shoulders and legs . Hyena, unable to dodge, collapsed to the ground with an impotent roar .

A self-satisfied grin on her face, h.e.l.lflower slipped her guns into her holsters and absently waved at the wolf man . “Tie him up . ”

Eve after being shot four time Hyena would be quick to recover . He was set upon by the base’s soldiers quickly and had his limbs bound .

Hyena was carried to the labs and brought before the Academician . h.e.l.lflower reported what had happened . “Academician, Hyena’s been captured . He resisted quite forcefully, and in the struggle I’m afraid your bodyguards…”

Roste, Chimp and Cloudhawk were all within the laboratory .

When Roste saw the sorry state Hyena was in he broke into a fit of coughs . His withered chest heaved as he fought to catch his breath . It wasn’t clear whether it was Hyena’s betrayal or the death of his guards that set him off .

“Hyena, you ungrateful wretch!” Chimp glared at him with two black eyes . Portions of both sides of his face were swollen with patches of blue and purple . He looked in bad shape, but right now no one was paying any mind . Before the Academician could get a word in he was verbally abusing the traitor . “You dare betray the Academician, betray Blackwater Base?! We should never have saved you!”

“Saved me?” Hyena slowly lifted his head, revealing his ugly and savage face . “You think you saved Hyena? No! You only kept Hyena in pain and prolonged his death! For a year Hyena died, little by little, piece by piece . His thinking and behavior twisted – now I am monster in human skin . Every day is torture, a struggle! This is what you call saving?!”

Cough, cough! “I… see . ” Academician Roste’s coughing subsided . He looked over the bloodied, manic face of Hyena while his every wrinkle was writ with disappointment . “I thought you would be special . I never expected… ugh!” [1]

Cloudhawk felt a creeping uneasiness .

“This traitor has caused many losses,” Chimp said to the Academician . “We can’t let him go unpunished!”

“Enough! Enough…” Roste looked exhausted . He waved his hand in exhaustion as though wiping away the matter . “Send him below . Heal his wounds, then wipe his memories . ”

When he heard the verdict Hyena’s face twisted into a mask of rage and despair . He roared at them, “Kill me! Kill me!”

The brainwas.h.i.+ng process involved infusing Hyena’s body with drugs that did irreversible damage to his brain and synapses . He would lose all emotion but retain his combat abilities . He would become a puppet soldier like the ones he often sold .

Puppet soldiers had a very limited capacity for independent thought . They were weapons and little else, incapable of performing any order more complex than murder . Sending Hyena down to get brainwashed was a great loss for Blackwater Base . With his strength and capabilities he had been one of their most effective agents, but once the process was done he would just be another tool .

Hyena screamed in anguish as he was dragged away .

Cloudhawk could hardly believe it . The Academician didn’t even ask him any questions, meaning that his excursion into the secret labs would remain unknown . His task had been entirely successful .

“Academician, what is going on…” h.e.l.lflower still seemed at a loss . “Why would Hyena want to kill Cloudhawk?”

Roste cast a glance toward the young wastelander before answering . “Our young guest has been hurt . Chimp, if you would see to his treatment?”

“Yes, sir!”

Cloudhawk only shot h.e.l.lflower a glance before leaving with the lab director .

“Hyena was unable to resist the beast in his heart . His mind was separated from his body and now he sees himself as a creature and not a man . He may have looked human, spoke like one, but he was no longer anything like us . He now has more in common with the animals locked away in our lab . If it had not been for Cloudhawk’s arrival speeding up our process, he might have been able to resist for a while longer . ”

Academician Roste stopped to hack and cough, continuing after a moment .

“As you know we used Subject Zero in our experiment . Physiologically speaking she is tied to Hyena, she is like a mother . This, along with outside catalysts have affected him fundamentally . It awakened the creature within him . This is why he tried to kill Cloudhawk . ”

h.e.l.lflower suddenly understood . “I didn’t think we would lose Hyena . ”

“It doesn’t matter . We will try again . ” Roste no longer seemed troubled by the loss . “He was responsible for administration of the base’s soldiers . Now that he is no longer capable the men will need a leader . I must request you take on that responsibility for the time being . ”

A light glimmered in her eyes, but beyond that she betrayed nothing on her face . She respectfully bowed before him . “Don’t worry, Academician, I’ll take care of it . I’ll take my leave . ”

“Wait a moment . ”

Academician Roste slowly turned around, leaning heavily on his cane .  His face was pale and sickly, but the weakness of his body never took away from the keen bite in his eyes . He fixed h.e.l.lflower with his stare, like a pair of scalpels that cut down to her soul .

h.e.l.lflower froze, meeting his gaze with a puzzled expression . “Is there something else you’d like me to see to, Academician?”

“Do not disappoint me . ” He held her frozen for a moment longer and then the strength drained from his gaze . Once more he seemed to the frail old man . “You may go . ”

“Yes, sir . ”

Roste shut his eyes and quietly listened to h.e.l.lflower’s receding footsteps . Her gait was perfectly even, in speed and rhythm, all the way until she was out of earshot .  

When h.e.l.lflower was free from the labs she picked the gla.s.ses from her head and wiped her brow . Beads of cold sweat had acc.u.mulated on her forehead .  

Strange… how could this feeble old man be so imposing?

1 . ‘Ugh’ in Chinese was ‘ai’ is a character used in several ways, sometimes pain, sometimes surprise . Here it’s disappointment and regret .

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