Thanks to Marvel Comics for their wonderful characters.

Chapter 8

Someone fired a grenade into the main door of the warehouse. A tremendous explosion rocked the area, but the door held with minor damage.

“Get outta the way!” bellowed Cain. He charged the door and effortlessly blasted through it. I could see bullets hitting his body, but other than a small indentation where they struck, they did nothing other than piss the big man off.

“He’s in! Move!” the assault team moved in. I could see Wade as he blinked in and out, swords drawn. He cut down two of Aziz’s guards before they knew what hit them. He nearly cut them in two.

Seeing that made my tummy do a little flip. I decided to focus on other things. A large explosion rumbled inside the building, blowing out windows. “Nitro’s taken out team three. He seems to be immune to the Vulcan rounds”

“I’ve got him” a familiar voice crackled over the radio. It was Wilson.

Wilson blinked in to the rear of Nitro. “Hey, homeless guy. Have you seen a dude in here with an explosive personality? A guy who gets a bang out of life?”

Nitro turned to Deadpool. “Oh, you’re funny, a real comedian, aren’t you” He spoke in a voice that was almost mechanical.

Wilson chuckled. “Well, I do have my moments. You wouldn’t want to give up without a fight, would you? I have a lot more bad jokes in my trick bag”

Nitro smiled. “No, I think you’re going to have to make me surrender”

“Okay. But it’s your funeral”

What followed was a display of swordsmanship and teleportation that was a blur. Nitro was hit over twenty times with sword strikes and punches in less than five seconds from every direction. Deadpool took Nitro’s legs out from under him with a leg sweep to finish. Wilson wasn’t even winded as he stood over Nitro’s prone form. “And Wilson sticks the landing! The crowd goes wild. I think it’s a ten, ladies and gentlemen” Then he noticed Nitro didn’t have a scratch on him.

“Finished?” asked Nitro his eyes flashing white.

“Awww for cryin’ out loud. HELLLLLLP!”

Nitro exploded with the approximate force of a pound of C4. It was a shaped explosion that focused on where Deadpool was. Nitro reformed out of the mist.

Deadpool taunted Nitro from the shadows. “You’re gonna have to be faster than that, greasy. Nice parlor trick though. You’re my kind of guy!”

“Do you think swords and bullets have any meaning for someone who can manipulate his very body as a tool of destruction?”

“No, but I’ll bet Oxi Clean could use you as a spokesman. Things just haven’t been the same since Billy Mays croaked”

“You insolent little…”

“Creep? Toad? I’ve been called them all! Sticks and stones, greasy” He quietly drew his pistol and blinked behind Nitro. He emptied his ten round clip into his head and torso. Nitro dropped like a stone.

“Now bullets, on the other hand…”

“Will NEVER hurt me”

“Crap” was all Deadpool could say before Nitro exploded again. He flew backwards from the force of the explosion as it sent him backwards fifty yards. He skidded to a stop at Juggernaut’s feet.

“Having fun?”

Wilson raised his right arm, pointing to the sky. He wheezed out “I have not yet….begun…ahhhh, you get the point” then he passed out.

“INFIDELS!” It was Aziz. “I was prepared for your cowardly attack! Here are some of my djinn for you to entertain. Allahu Akbar!”

Juggernaut looked around him as he was surrounded by glowing creatures, vaguely human, but clearly modified.

“This is gonna be fun. Aziz. When I get done beatin’ these assholes, I’m comin’ for you”

~o~O~o~
I was working my way with the Boss and five team members to where I knew Nitro was. I was directing them, when a large explosion sent a red and black blur flying backwards from the center of the building. The roof collapsed over the spot of the explosion.

“Is that the best you’ve got?” a voice echoed from the rubble. “I am GOD! You will all bow to me!”

“Keep talking, jackass” muttered Captain Nelson, the leader of the team. “The more you talk, the closer we get”

“Nitro! This is the Director! Can we work this out? You don’t have to blow everything to hell! Maybe we can come to an agreement!”

“I know you! You’re the one who said my research had no value! Now you want to talk? Come closer so I can see you. Then we can talk”

“All right. Just go easy on the blasting”

“Boss! Hissed Nelson. Are you nuts? That idiot is gonna wipe the floor with you as soon as he gets a bead on ya!”

“I hope he’s enough of an egomaniac to hear me beg for mercy. Psylocke, you get behind him and short out his head with those psychic daggers of yours. If we can take out his mind, the rest will follow. Just remember your training, and you’ll be fine”

“Okay Nitro. I’m coming out” he whispered into his comm. “All units, clear out!”

~o~O~o~
The four creatures surrounding Juggernaut were all about seven feet tall, and looked like hybrids between a man and a bear. The main thing that set them apart was that their claws looked like some sort of metal, and they were glowing red. They growled, but their growl was not of an animal. It was more like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Deadpool was starting to come out of his explosion induced stupor. He noticed the creatures and remarked, a la Jed Clampett, “Welllll, doggies. Granny’ll love these fer the pot with collard greens and possum squeezins”

“Will you shut up, Wilson?”

“You need any help?”

“No. What I need is for you to stand there jabbering like a big asshole!”

“Okay, big guy, can do” he paused and held his pistol like a microphone. “And here we are, ladies and gentlemen, in the center of the ring. These bruisers are just itching for a brawl, and Juggernaut is just the palooka to deliver”

One of the monsters leapt at Juggernaut and he met it with a blow that shattered its face. It slid in a lifeless heap by Deadpool, who held its paw, checking for a pulse. He made a big show of shaking his wrist as if trying to jar a nonexistent watch to life. “Well either its dead or my watch has stopped”

The three remaining creatures were on top of Juggernaut clawing with and punching with everything they had, which wasn’t enough to scratch his magically enhanced hide. He grabbed the one that was gnawing on his arm and drove in straight into the concrete with a sickening thud. “Will…you…shut…up!!”

“Well, the palookas are fiddling in the ring, and I don’t think much of the tune. Jugs is bobbing and weaving. It’s nice work if you can get it!”

Juggernaut grabbed the other two and slammed them together in a mess of gore. The fight was over in a minute. “All right Wilson. Those are just lines from a Marx Brothers movie”

“Hey! I’ve been waiting for years to get those into a fight. Besides, I don’t write this crap. I just say what the chick who writes this dreck tells me to say”

Aziz fired several shots from an assault rifle. They all struck Juggernaut and he didn’t even notice. Deadpool blinked from his spot on the back side of the warehouse wall the thirty meters to Aziz’s position. He had him by the throat with a pistol to his chest. “Come on, Aziz! Play nice!”

“You infidels will never be victorious. I will see to it. Kill me, and seven take my place”

Deadpool punched him. “Yeah, I get it. Virgins and all that. yada, yada, yada, I keel you. Been there done that”

“I’m going to take care of that idiot Nitro. You keep an eye on our buddy here”

“Can do, big red. I’ve had my fill of him anyway. C’mon butt nut. Let’s get better acquainted. You’re gonna make my next house payment”

Juggernaut turned to go to the other end of the building when a blur crashed through the ceiling and landed in front of Juggernaut. He was huge, and dressed in a type of middle eastern garb. His face was covered from nose to chin, and his eyes glowed green. He was nearly the size of Juggernaut, and obviously spoiling for a fight.

“I am the Right Hand of Allah, infidel. And you will now pay the cost of opposing the Holy Jihad”

Juggernaut smashed his fists together and growled. Bigger men than you have tried, punk”

The Hand rushed forward, faster than humanly possible and gave Juggernaut two rapid fire punches that sounded like bombs going off. Juggernaut staggered back, obviously stunned by the force and speed of the blows.

“All right! Juggernaut smiled. “Someone worth fighting!”

The Hand hadn’t counted on Juggernaut being so resilient. “By the Prophet! That should have been enough to level a mountain!”

Deadpool had to get his two cents in. “He don’t know you vewy well, do he?”

“He’s about to find out why they call me the Juggernaut!”

Juggernaut charged, and the Hand easily dodged him and drove a big elbow into Jug’s back. It was a tremendous blow, driving Juggernaut forward and down. The Hand pressed his advantage, jumping on top of Juggernaut, leveling pile driving shots on his body and helmet.

Juggernaut finally had him close and blasted the Hand with a massive two handed punch that sent him through one of the outside walls of the warehouse. “Not bad, dickhead, but you still hit like a girl”

The Hand finally came to a skidding stop one hundred meters from the point of impact of the punch. “By the Prophet, this one is strong, but I will take his SOUL!”

He charged straight at Juggernaut at full speed, which was for him, about 65 miles per hour. Juggernaut was waiting.

“The secret to hitting the fastball is knowing when to…SWING!” He rotated his body more gracefully than a nearly two thousand pound man should be able to. The Hand’s momentum was stopped dead and Juggernaut drove him into the concrete floor, burying him three feet deep.

“You’re outta your league, boy!” Rumbled Juggernaut. The Hand, shaken and nearly unconscious, struggled to his feet.

“Never,” he gasped, “Never will I surrender to the infidels”

“Suit yourself” Jugs drove a massive right into the Hand’s chest. He rocketed out of the building and into the East River. He didn’t surface.

~o~O~o~

I had found two of Aziz’ cronies who hadn’t been killed. They were trying to escape out the back. I was able to turn them around and they were now sneaking up behind Nitro with the intention of emptying their weapons into his body.

The Boss was getting closer to Nitro, trying to stall for time as I tried to get into position to strike.

“Closer, Mr. Director, closer. The blasts have one side effect, and that is that my hearing is damaged. I can’t hear you”

“I know what you’re doing, Nitro, and it won’t work. I have people all over this place ready to do whatever it takes to bring you down”

Nitro chuckled. “Why, whatever do you mean? If you make it worth my while, I’ll join your little cause. But I think you will find that my price is a little steeper that of your conscripts”

“What do you mean?”

“I know that they serve, not because of any patriotic duty, but because they are forced to by this pathetic government. Serve us or be our guest in some shit hole prison”

The Boss was surprised by that revelation. He knew it was true, but how would this guy know about that? “I don’t know what you mean, Nitro. All our operatives are working completely by their own choice”

“Now wait just a damn minute” I thought to myself. “I was threatened with that very thing!” Join or get locked up. I did it because it was the right thing to do, not because of the threat. I would have joined regardless. But this guy knew. And he wasn’t going to let them get him without exacting a price. He wasn’t as crazy as I thought he was. He was a psychopath, that was for sure, but he had a method to his madness.

“Come closer, Mr. Director, close enough to look into my eyes and tell me that lie again”

My little puppets managed to get close enough to open up on Nitro. The Director hit the ground as they fired. I leapt and covered the twenty five feet in a second they stopped firing as I hit Nitro with my psychic daggers extended. He screamed in agony as I did from terror that he was going to explode and end my life.

I saw into his mind, or what was left of it. It was ruled only by his ego, and the callousness he would have killed everyone in his way was apparent to me. He needed to die. I gave him everything I had, and he finally collapsed, his eyes and expression blank. Whether he would wake up again was something I didn’t know. He wasn’t dead, not physically, but his mind was the closest thing I could get to dead.

As I removed my power from him, he dropped like a stone. Looking at the director, I saw Jackie rushing to my side. I felt sick for a moment, and then everything went black.

~o~O~o~

Wilson was distracted momentarily by the screams. Aziz took advantage of that and quickly pulled a hidden weapon in his coat. He shot Wilson in the stomach.

“Ow! You crazy son of a bitch! That kind of hurt for a second!” Deadpool yelled. “Well, the reward is dead or alive, so…”

He pushed Aziz away from him and drew his pistol, then with one swift motion, he put one round into Aziz chest, dropping him.

“Ahhhhh, crap!” Deadpool cursed as he saw the wound. All that leaked out was hydraulic fluid and sparks from the circuitry of the Life Model Decoy that was Aziz leaked onto the floor. He had never been there.

The LMD laughed. “Once again, Wilson, I evade your clutches. Your side wins this round, but the war is far from over. It is as the Koran says…”

Deadpool put six more rounds into the LMD, silencing it. “Like I care what the Koran says. Boooooringg!”

Juggernaut’s rumbling laughter could be heard from below the mezzanine. “Looks like the bank will get the house, Wade”

“Real funny, Red. It’s the same old story…Ahhhh, never mind” He blinked out.

A mile from the scene of the battle, The Right Hand of Allah exited the water. “The infidels have not heard the last of me. Especially the one known as Juggernaut. There will be a next time!”

The Hand then glowed and shot into the sky, disappearing from sight as he flew east at near the speed of sound”

~o~O~o~

The darkness that enveloped me slowly gave way to a grey fog. “She’s coming out of it! Get the Doctor!”

I recognized the voice, but in my fog, I couldn’t come up with a name. “Honey? Can you hear me? It’s Trace. Wake up Betsy!”

“Oh, yeah, Tracy, okay, that’s the name”

“Yes! It’s Tracy! Please wake up!”

Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the light in the room. “W-what happened? Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital in New York City. You’ve been out of it for three weeks. God, I’ve been so worried. Charles said you might be under for another month” Tracy hugged me tight, and it felt good. It seemed like a lifetime ago that we had last been together”

“Water. I need water” I asked in a hoarse voice that I almost didn’t recognize as my own.

I felt a spoon at my lips. “Ice chips for now, sweetie”

I took the spoonful of ice chips and held them in my mouth until they melted, then swallowed. It felt so good going down. “More, please”

I took another spoonful. “Take it easy, hon. The doctor is here now.”

“How are you feeling, Ms. Braddock? You gave us quite a scare”

“I’ve been better. A lot better. What the heck happened?”

“You had a cerebral episode of unknown origin. Your brain shut down its higher functions for about three weeks. We don’t know why, but a visit from a Dr. Xavier seemed to be the turning point. He was able to stabilize your function, and get you on the road to recovery”

“So I’m not dead?”

The Doctor smiled. “Far from it. You need to gather your strength now. Three weeks in a bed will take it out of the best of us”

I tried to sit up, but was too weak. “Uggh. I get your point. I guess I need to take it slow”

The Doc ran a few tests and asked me the standard “how are you feeling” crap. Evidently I did okay, because he told me to get some rest and he’d be back in the morning.

Tracy laid her head on my stomach. “You scared me to death, Betsy. Please don’t do this any more. I’d die if you got hurt”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m so done with this save the world crap. I found out a lot about how people like me are treated, and how we are nothing more than physical assets to the spooks. I’m done”

Tracy and I shared a good cry, and I fell asleep again. It’s funny how being in a coma for three weeks can make a girl sleepy, but there you go.

I found out the next day that Cain had been called to North Africa for some unfinished business with some super baddie that he had fought that last night. Jackie was on assignment in Kazakhstan. The Director was back in Washington. My new “minder” gave me a call and asked to see me. She seemed like a nice person. Too bad.

A middle aged woman knocked on my hospital room door. “Betsy? I’m Agent Debbie Jackson. I’m taking over for Agent Garrison. I’ll be you point of contact for any future assignments that come down” She glanced at Tracy. Could we speak in private?”

I smiled sweetly. “Agent Jackson, is it? Can I call you Debbie?”

She smiled. “Of course you can!”

“Great! Debbie, This is the love of my life, Tracy” They shook hands. “Debbie, anything you can say to me, you can say to Tracy. That’s rule one”

Debbie looked a little uneasy. “I wasn’t briefed on Tracy”

“That’s okay, it’s not your fault. You seem like the decent sort, which I can tell because I have already read your mind and haven’t seen anything I don’t like. That’s good, because if I had found any deception on your part, the next thing you would have remembered, you would have been back in your house, wondering what you did yesterday”

Debbie was definitely uneasy now. “I don’t understand”

“Again, that’s okay. I’m done being a tool of the agency. I am going to take a couple of years off, and IF I decide to work for you again, I will. But it will be my choice. Understood?”

“But the Director said…”

I never stopped smiling. “I don’t care what the director wants, Debbie. You’re more than welcome to check up on me whenever you want. Buy me lunch, whatever. But let me be clear. I don’t work for anyone. I’m seventeen and getting ready for my senior year. I’ve already lost too much time to graduate with my class, but graduate I shall”

Debbie was starting to look positively disturbed now. “Miss Braddock, this is highly irregular”

“I know. It’s always irregular when one of your slaves develops a spine. I don’t have anything against you personally, Debbie. You’re a decent person. Which is why I’m not telling you to tell Homeland Security to take a flying leap”

“Miss Braddock! You are in violation of your agreement with us”

“An agreement is, by definition, agreed to by both parties. I was told this was the way it would be or I would be thrown into prison. Do you have any idea what that is like?”

“N-no, but I can’t just tell the Director…”

“I know, Debbie. I do” I looked at Tracy. “Throw me my phone”

I punched the hot key that gave me the Director. He answered on the second ring.

“Miss Braddock! Glad to hear you’re up and about!”

“I’m out, Director”

“I’m not surprised, Miss Braddock. You know, I don’t have to accept your ‘resignation’”

“I know, but you will, won’t you?”

The Director lit up a cigar before he responded. Let’s just call it a break, Why don’t we?”

“Sorry to be a pain, Director, but you know how we kids are. I have homecoming to plan and the Winter Ball, and then there’s Prom”

“Point well made. I think the nation can get along without you for say, a year or two?”

It was my turn to smile. “I think that will do”

“Don’t lose your phone. Just in case. Goodbye, Agent Braddock”

“Just Betsy, sir. Just Betsy”

The End