Impact: Regenesis Part 72

He shook his head and told her to forget about it before he took a drink of his water.

"How am I supposed to forget about her Nick?" Amy glared at him and asked how he would feel if it were her. "I'd be a different story, wouldn't it?"

"Of course," Nick told her.

"Well it shouldn't be," she chastised him. "I mean, she probably has someone out there who's worried to death about her just as much as you would be if I was the one who was kidnapped."

Nick looked away from her and said he hadn't thought of it like that. He took another drink of his water and tried to let the conversation die out.

Amy persisted however and asked what he would do if she was the one kidnapped. "We've only known each other for a month, so what would you do?"

"What could I do?"

"Would you pour all the energy you use to try to avenge your brother into trying to find me?"

"Of course."

She examined him and muttered that he only said it to make her feel better.

"Why would you say that?" Nick snapped. "Of course I would want to find you. I would. I just don't know how I could find you."

"What about your private detective friend?"

Nick said he wouldn't be of any use. "We had a disagreement and he won't help me anymore."

Amy tilted her head to the side and asked what the disagreement was about. Nick only told her it didn't matter, but that he wouldn't be able to look for his brother's killer anymore.

"It's probably too late anyway," he mumbled.

Their waitress brought them a small wire basket with half a dozen breadsticks in it, along with two small saucers and two different dipping sauces to accompany their appetizer.

The server left and Amy didn't hesitate to pick their conversation up from where they'd left it. "So you're all alone now?"

He glanced up at her and asked what she meant. "I've got you, don't I?"

Amy smiled, joined hands with him, laced their fingers together, rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb, and told him that she loved him. Nick told her he loved her too shortly before his date's physical appearance shifted from that of his girlfriend to his stepfather.

Nick felt himself freeze in place. He watched as Paul let go of his hand, took a breadstick out of the basket, took a bite, and asked where Lauren was.

By the time Nick ignored his racing pulse and formed a dull-black Smith and Wesson in his right hand, Paul returned to the form of Nick's girlfriend and let out a terrified shriek that alerted the entire restaurant to his situation with the firearm. Unfortunately for Nick, he didn't see though the diversion and his pet.i.te Amy turned back into Paul, who flipped their table over on top of Nick and fled the scene. Nick let his weapon vanish into a cloud of smoke, pushed the table off of him, and chased after his stepfather.

Paul was well out of the parking lot in Amy's car by the time Nick reached the door, but in a brief moment Nick revved his motorcycle up and gave chase as he ignored traffic conditions and laws entirely. Nick hadn't even remembered to grab his helmet from off the floor next to their table, but didn't concern himself with his safety as he pursued the charlatan toward the Seattle Center. The charlatan continued to change direction and took turns so suddenly Nick had a hard time keeping up. Nick missed the turn Paul made into a small movie theater lot and by the time Nick returned he only saw Amy's red car, parked in the center of the lot with the engine still running.

He left his motorcycle on the sidewalk, created an onyx Daewoo K5, and quietly approached the car. A song, Never the Machine Forever, blared from the stereo of Amy's car. The windows were down, keys in the ignition, but the charlatan was nowhere in sight. Nick ran to the sidewalk in search of his stepfather among the pa.s.sersby but failed to locate the charlatan.

A sudden explosion launched Nick from off his feet and into the street. He turned and found Amy's car completely in flames with debris from the blast raining down onto the nearby vehicles. Car alarms throughout the lot rang out and through the added commotion of the pedestrians who also witnessed the blast Nick heard a man laughing.

Nick ran toward cover behind another vehicle in the lot and hoped he'd managed to vanish before his foe noticed him, though he worried other cars were also rigged to detonate. A thin blue MP3 player slid under the car Nick used for cover and tapped the side of his foot. He looked down and saw that Here Comes Your Man played. Nick failed to react as quickly as he should have and as a consequence the explosion caught and threw him into the middle of the lot before he could fully escape. The shrapnel didn't affect him but he was burned by the fire from the blast. The concussive force from the eruption dazed him as well.

Further explosions destroyed the roads which surrounded the city block and the entrances to the parking lot. Another car exploded and amidst the screams and panic Nick heard his name called out. Nick picked himself up and looked about the carnage to find his opponent. Jeremy Dalton stood with his back against the brick wall of the movie theater. He wore his usual attire and held a few of his shuriken in his right hand and a thin silver MP3 player in his left hand.

Dalton pressed the center b.u.t.ton on his device and all of the car alarms in the parking lot stopped wailing. He pressed another and the car nearest Nick began to play Rocket Skates. Nick didn't stick around to let the vehicle explode but found it was merely a diversion for another bomb to detonate near him. The blast launched Nick into another vehicle where Nick landed awkwardly on his left arm and dashed his face into the ground. He pulled himself together and tried to find cover when Dalton called out to him.

"This can end wheneva ya'd like to kid." Dalton knew precisely where Nick was among the wreckage and chaos. Nick tried to hide, but could hardly bring himself to run. "All I need ta know is where yer hidin' lil' Miss Lauren Facet."

Nick took the opportunity to catch his breath and reclaim some of his sense before he contemplated the situation. He coughed for a moment, from the smoke he'd inhaled crossed with his lack of oxygen, and then asked where Amy was.

Dalton said he'd hidden her. "My a.s.sociate and I needed ta have some sorta incentive ta convince ya ta make tha trade, othawise ya'd just try ta fight and be nothin' more than a thorn in our collective side."

"What are you saying?"

Dalton sighed and blatantly told Nick it was a trade. "We'll give ya yer gal pal back if ya agree ta pa.s.s yer foreign friend along ta us."

Nick tried to use his left arm and felt a sharp pain shoot from his elbow up to his hand. He also did his best to count his teeth and spit out the blood from his mouth. "I'm not going to give her to you, Dalton."

The a.s.sa.s.sin nodded and took a deep breath before he informed Nick that the alternative path was laden with pain and woe. "We'll get tha answers we're lookin' for one way or anotha. It really all depends on how much ya wanna suffa or how ya wanna benefit from this."

Nick shook his head and created a dull-black CZ 110 in his right hand. "You haven't got any intent of letting me leave here. If you did you wouldn't have rigged all of these cars to kill me."

Dalton cracked a smile and told him he was right. "Either way, ya mind tellin' me so I don't havta ruin a perfectly fine pair of clothes with tha whole torture bit? Because believe me, there're 'bout a thousand things I'd ratha do than spend an evenin' extortin' info outta you."

"I'm not going to betray her."

"Oh? And what about yer loyalties ta Amy?"

Nick fell silent and listened for Dalton to continue while he crept toward the end of the car he used as cover to see if he could get a clear shot at his foe. By the time he reached the front of the vehicle and peered down the lot he'd lost Dalton.

"Done talkin'?" Dalton asked from behind him.

Nick whipped around to take aim but Dalton swiftly kicked him in the right side of his ribs and then square in his chest. Nick dropped his gun but Dalton didn't pay any heed to where the gun may have gone. The a.s.sa.s.sin didn't hesitate to seize Nick by his shirt and then tightly wrap a set of black earbuds around Nick's throat.

Dalton held Nick resolutely and grinned while Nick struggled vainly to break free. The young man tried to attack his a.s.sailant but none of his tactics proved fruitful. In fact, his thrashing about caused him to lose his energy faster and Dalton noticed it as well.

"Is this it?" Dalton asked rhetorically. "I woulda thought Strom might have taught ya somethin' ta make this fight interestin', but I guess not."

Nick finally released his grip on the cord around his neck and created a cobalt Kimber Eclipse in his left hand, which he immediately pressed against Dalton's forehead. The killer smirked and tried to steal the weapon from Nick, but only lost his grasp on the earbuds around Nick's throat and gained a fistful of smoke. Nick whipped his head back and broke his foe's nose which granted Nick freedom. He recreated the Kimber Eclipse and took true aim at Dalton, who stood only seven feet away from him after Nick backed up a few paces.

Jeremy Dalton held his broken nose with his right hand and glared at Nick. He lost his fake southern accent and cursed Nick for breaking his nose. "You piece of s.h.i.t. I ought to"

Nick cut him off when he shot the a.s.sa.s.sin twice, once in each of his arms near his shoulders. He proceeded to walk up to the man, took him by the neck, and threw him to the pavement.

Dalton swore, but only briefly enough to allow Nick the moment he needed to stick the barrel of his gun into the killer's mouth. Nick breathlessly demanded to know where Amy was. "No more of this, okay?" Nick told him with bitter tears in his eyes. "I'm tired of all this. I want to know where my girlfriend is right now, or I swear I'll blow your head off right here"

The wounded killer stopped him by struggling to retrieve a key card from his front right pocket. Dalton moved the barrel of the gun to one side of his mouth with his tongue and told Nick his girlfriend was in the hotel across the street. "Room two-six-nine."

Nick slowly removed the gun from Dalton's mouth and thanked him. "Why'd you give in?"

Dalton grinned and told him he had to look out for himself.

Nick picked Dalton's head up from the street and slammed it back down. Once he knew Dalton wasn't going to return to his senses for quite some time, Nick took the card-key and crossed the broken street over to the hotel.

A few hotel guests saw the charred state of his clothes, the way he held his arm, and the blood on him, and asked if he was alright. Nick only told them there was an explosion from across the street, that he was fine, and told them to call the police. He headed upstairs to the second floor and searched for the room Dalton described.

He pa.s.sed a couple, a Hispanic cleaning woman, and four children who occupied the hall before he found the room. Nick swiped the card and opened the door with the a.s.sumption of a pending attack, though there wasn't one.

The lights were off and though he tried the switch it failed to respond. All he had to work off was the light from the hallway, which would disappear once the door closed, and the ambient light from the city beyond the open windows.

He whispered Amy's name in the darkness with no reply. Nick checked the bathroom first, followed by a small closet, and failed to find her on either of the beds, though he noticed a small area of blood on the center of the sheets of the bed closest to the window. He walked over and briefly examined the stain before he noticed a body on the carpeted floor between the bed and the wall.

Amy lay collapsed, still, and b.l.o.o.d.y. Her wrists and ankles were bound behind her with steel wires that cut well into her joints and allowed a weak trickle of blood from her wounds to collect on the floor next to her. More blood covered her ripped blouse as well as her skirt, which was pulled down around her calves. Whatever undergarments she wore were torn away from her and tossed aside.

His heart raced and though he hurried to help her, someone intervened and dug a thin blade into his shoulder. Nick lost his balance and control and allowed his new opponent to throw him into the wall away from Amy. Nick struggled to focus on the a.s.sailant, but couldn't bring himself to get to his feet or create a weapon with which to defend himself. All he could do was watch the Hispanic housecleaner he pa.s.sed in the hall shift into his stepfather, who then retrieved another blade from his pocket.

Paul walked over to Nick, leaned the young man against the wall, and pressed a four inch switchblade against Nick's throat. "How'd you manage to beat Dalton?" Paul asked in a quiet voice. "He's not dead is he?"

Nick lowered his gaze and admitted that he didn't kill him. "Who are you really?"

Paul looked at him and asked what he meant. "I'm your stepfather you"

"Who are you?" Nick asked with streams of tears down his face. "You're gonna slit my throat in a moment anyway, so what the h.e.l.l does it matter to you?"

His stepfather only let out a breath and told him there wasn't anything left to say. "This isn't anything more than business kid; all I need to know is where you're keeping Lauren Facet."

Nick didn't say a word. He stared at Amy's bound ankles, which was all he could see of her, and asked what he did to her.

Paul rolled his eyes and asked where Lauren was again. "This can all end right now and you won't even"

"You killed Victor," Nick stated. "And Drake's dad, and Lauren's parents...Why?"

Paul took the knife in his hand and slammed the blade into Nick's already injured shoulder. The boy screamed and cried and begged for him to stop. Paul quickly removed his weapon, though he left the first knife where it was in Nick's shoulder, and asked where Lauren was. "I can do this all night if I have to."

Even though he tried to stifle his tears, Nick still wept. He trembled and asked if he was going to kill her too. "Who wants her dead? Why do they want you to kill her?"

Paul glared at him and frankly told him he wasn't about to reveal anything about his employer. "Everything I do is confidential Nick; you realize that by now."

"Why are you trying to kill her?"

His stepdad rolled his eyes and said it was all for money. "It's a very simple concept Nick; people want people dead but don't have the stones to do anything about it."

"And who"

Paul took a fierce hold of the young man's shoulder and dug his thumb into the wound he'd just created. Nick yelled for him to stop and continued to shout until Paul let up. Nick sobbed more, muttered his fears under his breath, and felt himself about to vomit from the pain and sight of his own blood.

He heard Paul repeat his question once more even though Nick's resolve hadn't changed at all. Nick tried to control his heart rate and breathing when he asked, rhetorically, why he should even say a word as to where she was. "You'll kill me one way or another; your partner told me that much. So why should I turn on my friend?"

His stepfather proceeded to kick him in the chest and stood by idly as his stepson strove to catch his breath. Nick lay on his side, teeth grit, eyes shut tightly, and clutched his chest with the one good arm he had left.

"Where is she?"

Nick opened his eyes and saw Amy on the floor seven feet from him. He didn't look away from her but asked what Paul had done to her.

The man groaned and said he kept himself busy. "It's been a few months since I'd last gotten off on your mom, so I thought"

Nick snapped at the man and told him to keep his mouth shut. He pulled himself off the ground and lunged at his stepfather only to have the brute strike him across the face and send him back to the wall Nick had just occupied.

"I've had more than enough of this s.h.i.t," Paul barked as he retook Nick by his neck and pressed his blood-covered blade against Nick's throat, "Now tell me where she is or"

Paul missed the moment where Nick created a Daewoo K5 in his good hand. Nick waited until he knew he had a sure shot and took it as soon as his stepfather's shoulder, the shoulder of the arm he used to hold the knife with, was nearly impossible to miss.

The shot rang out in the room along with Paul's scream. Nick didn't waste the moment to get off the ground and rush Paul. He struck the man in the chest and throat as many times as he could with the basic hand to hand combat Bruce taught him. Pain shot through his arms with each movement, but Nick persevered and continued to pummel his stepfather. Paul stumbled back toward the front entrance, though he hardly moved an inch that Nick didn't follow and persisted to savagely attack him. Nick only spent a short period of time sparring with Yong, but he utilized the kicks he was taught to knock the wind out of his stepdad as well as crush the man's groin.

There wasn't an opportunity or simple way for Paul to cry out, since the man couldn't breathe and Nick proceeded to take the man who started to fall to the ground and shoved him into the bathroom and through the plastic shower curtain and into the tiled wall. Nick didn't give him a moment of rest as he dove onto the man's back, took him by the shirt, and beat him half a dozen times before Paul collapsed and stopped resisting.

Nick shook, couldn't breathe, and felt off balance. He got out of the shower and started back to see to Amy, though he stumbled and had to stop to ensure he wouldn't be sick. Nick finally managed to kneel beside her and checked for a pulse. He didn't move for over a minute in hope that somehow she would still be with him.

Nick felt hot tears reach his eyes and couldn't help but sit there and weep. He tried to untie the bands around her wrists and ankles, but couldn't undo them. Instead he only pulled the quilt off the bed and covered her with it.

He removed the thin blade his stepfather left in his shoulder and dropped it near the foot of the bed as he walked to the door. Nick was almost out of the room when he looked back at the man in the bathroom and discovered a changed person. The individual had their back to him, as Nick left him that way, but Nick walked back into the room to finally have an answer to the ident.i.ty of his brother's murderer. It wasn't easy for him to flip the man over with only one good arm, but he managed, and cried again when he saw who it was.

Jordan lay unconscious in a small pool of blood in the shower.

Chapter 27.

October 3rd, 2029 10:54 AM.

London, England News about the rescue of Lily Meyers by Voltage spread throughout London in a matter of hours. The hero Voltage flew Lily to her home at Roehampton University where they intruded on a small vigil of students who prayed for her safety. The sudden reappearance, let alone the presence of a flying costumed hero, shocked the entire crowd and though Voltage left the girl's side in a hurry, the crowd took plenty of photographs to plaster the front page of many newspapers and websites.

Jason sat with Audrey and Suzy at a small table outside of a bistro they met at for brunch. Their group was alone and it allowed them to chat unabashed. They had their beverages while they waited for their meals to arrive. Audrey and Jason had talked at length about the events of his first night out as Ilion, as well as the blood and damage to his costume. Jason didn't lie to either of them, even about his hallucinations and how he killed Todd. He wasn't remorseful, but his conscious begged him to confer with the two people he felt he could trust.

"He was a butcher Jason," Suzy told him through the smoke from her first cigarette of the morning. "I don't condone murder, or violence really, but I feel like it was warranted here. I mean, he wasn't a helpless old man."

Audrey agreed but kept her comments brief.

Suzy finished her cigarette and after a sip of her iced tea fished a second one out of her pack. Audrey frowned and asked, "Do you have to smoke right now Suzy? While we're about to eat?"

She stuck her tongue out playfully and placed the cigarette on the table near her drink.

"What I'm worried about is how easily he drove me to that point," Jason continued. "I mean, I-I believed he'd amputated my b.l.o.o.d.y arm."