by Danny and Grimm
The Lost City of the Dragons, Peru:
"Sheik: translate," Johnny Omicron said, his right hand clamped firmly on the shoulder of the priest they had found and taken on as their unwilling guide.
"He is saying he knows nothing. He wishes to leave," the Sheik said, as a steady barrage of babbling came from the priest's mouth.
"Tell him that if he knows nothing, he is useless to us, and we will kill him," Johnny said, his gaze never once leaving the eyes of his prisoner. The Sheik translated Johnny's threat, and the priest fell silent.
"Right. Now we can talk. Ask if he knows where the book is," Johnny said. The Sheik translated as he spoke. "Then tell him to take us there. If he doesn't, we'll kill him. If he attempts to escape, we'll kill him. If he tries to fool us, we will kill him."
The priest shivered in fear beneath Johnny's grip as he heard these threats being translated into his own language. He then muttered something quietly and dropped his head to his chest.
"He says that he made a vow years ago to protect the book with his very life. And he is prepared to do that," the Sheik said. A disappointed look came onto Johnny's face.
"Tell him we are prepared to comply with that vow. And tell him we will kill every single person in this village, from the men to the women to the little children. And then we will kill the dragon. Make sure he knows we are not bluffing," Johnny said. The priest began to cry as he heard all this.
"Would he really do all that?" X-Acute said to Mimic, as they stood a few feet away, watching the proceedings. Mimic said nothing in response. He simply looked at X-Acute and shrugged.
Johnny threw the priest to the ground and stood over him as he cowered at Johnny's feet. After a long pause, the priest nodded and mumbled something.
"He says he will take us to the book," the Sheik said.
Johnny Omicron grinned.
In a forest-covered cliff that overlooked the village, Danny Hearn sat with the rest of his team, discussing what they should do next. Drax and M'xy had reverted to Drake Marshall and Mick Harrison, conserving their energy. Danny sat at the edge of the cliff, staring down at the village, holding a conversation with Hal.
This is above and beyond the call of duty, Danny. If you head back down into that village, you'll be killed. If not by those Omicron bastards, then by those villagers you pissed off.
"I didn't piss them off!" Danny replied.
You killed one of their priests.
"I did not."
They think you did. That's the important part.
Danny thought long and hard on this. "I've done nothing but take risks since I went on that holiday to Europe, back in our time. And..."
Look where it's gotten you.
"...and I've no intention of stopping now."
Behind him, Tobias Christopher sat talking with Mick. Or, Mick sat. Tobias was pacing back and forth, occasionally pacing so fast that Mick wasn't sure where to look.
"Something's up with Ed," Tobias said.
"You think?" Mick replied. He hadn't seen what happened with Danny first hand, but even with Mick in charge, he had a fair idea of what was going on around him.
"He's getting worse and worse. He never used to be like this," Tobias said, gaining speed without realizing.
"You're right, he..." Mick stopped. "Slow down!"
"Sorry," Tobias said, realizing what he was doing and slowing back down to human speed.
"You're right. He used to be more... I dunno. In control," Mick said.
"Exactly! In control! Now he's flashing that sword at everyone all the time..." Tobias said, trailing off.
"That sword," Mick said, voicing what T.C. was thinking.
"Stupid fucking thing," Tobias said. "Ed was one of the first, with us and Danny. We started this whole thing. And I don't want to lose him. Like..." Tobias trailed off again.
"Like we lost Naecken," Mick finished, once again voicing Tobias' thoughts.
"Right," Tobias said softly, and sat down.
Edulcore Cicciotto's voice came from where the rest of the team sat, farther into the trees. "We have to go back down there NOW! We haven't a second to spare! Doesn't anyone else see that?!" the Raptor shouted, using his sword to point to people as he spoke to them.
"Calm down, Ed," Chance said, standing up to face him.
"Don't tell me to calm down! Omicron are down there as we speak!"
"Calm..."
"DON'T TELL ME TO FUCKING CALM DOWN!"
There was a silence between the two. Chance said nothing. Ed breathed heavily.
"We have to get that book!" Ed finally said.
"Is it worth getting killed for?" Chance asked.
"WE WON'T GET KILLED! We'll fight them! We'll win!" Ed yelled.
"He's right," Danny said, pushing aside some tree branches and joining the rest of the team.
"What?" Chance asked.
Danny answered him. "It's a risk, I'll grant you that. It's a big risk. For what is, essentially, just a paycheck. A paid mission to retrieve an artifact isn't worth our lives. But, damn it... I've faced scarier shit than this in my time here, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's not to back down. Taking the risk is usually worth it. So either we go home -- and anyone here is free to do so -- or we say to hell with it, go down there, and kick some Omicron arse!"
Chance just smiled back at him. "So let's go," he finally said.
In the village, six members of Project Omicron descended a huge spiral staircase beneath a stone temple, a staircase that supposedly led to the location of the Liber Vitae. The priest marched ahead of them, guiding the way. Johnny marched directly behind him, the flashlight in his helmet illuminating the way before them. Behind him was Mimic, then Arges, the Sheik, and Pneuma. X-Acute brought up the rear, holding a flashlight to illuminate the way behind them.
Eventually, they reached the bottom of the staircase, where the priest pushed one of the stone bricks in the wall, and a doorway opened up. Flaming torches lit the hallway behind the door, so as the illumination spilled through the opening doorway, Johnny and X-Acute turned off their flashlights. When the door reached its fully open point, two huge guards wielding swords, shields and spears were revealed in the hallway.
The priest dived from his position in front of Johnny Omicron to hide behind one of the guards. As he fell, he shouted something in his native language. The guards raised their weapons and charged at Omicron.
As they ran at him, Johnny raised his left arm and let loose a concussive blast at the guard on the left. The guard was thrown back against the stone wall and dropped his shield. Johnny ran forward, and a high-powered energy blast struck the guard squarely in the chest, shot from Johnny's right-hand gauntlet.
As the second guard ran at the rest of the team, Mimic stepped to the side, and the Shiek stepped forward. Muttering something under his breath, the Sheik rose slightly, hovering in the air. He held up his arm, and the guard was raised into the air. The guard panicked and raised his shield in front of him. This didn't help him, as the Sheik threw him backward down the hallway with another whispered word. X-Acute leaped past the Sheik and threw himself at the wall. He ran sideways up the vertical surface of the wall for a couple of moments, then jumped down, rolled across the floor and stood up, holding his two handguns at the guard.
He pulled the triggers, and the guard slumped over, dead.
The priest watched all this from his position huddled in the corner, tears streaming down his face. Johnny walked over and grabbed him by the shoulder, holding him up and pushing him against the wall.
"You try any of that shit again, and we kill you," Johnny said through clenched teeth. The Sheik didn't have to translate. He got the gist of what Johnny was saying.
The priest led them further down the hallway, their progress at all times lit by the flaming torches lining the walls. At one point, a giant anaconda had dropped from the roof, wrapping itself around the shoulders of the Sheik. A moment later, it was barbecued.
Finally, they reached the end of the hallway. Before them stood a wooden door about six or seven feet high. Across the front of it was a steel bolt, sliding across its surface and keeping the door locked. The priest said a quiet prayer, then wiped the tears from his eyes and approached the door. He slid the steel bolt across the door, unlocking it. He pushed the door open with both arms, then dived into the doorway.
"What the--?" Johnny said, watching the priest dive and raise his arms to his head.
"Shit!" came the voice of Arges behind him, and Johnny turned around. Following Arges' pointed finger upward, Johnny noticed that the roof was quickly falling toward them, jagged hunks of stone threatening to crush them all.
"Damn it!" Johnny said.
With a grunt, Arges grabbed his hammer from its holding place on his belt. He swung it upward, with all the effort he could muster. He let go, and the hammer flew at full speed toward the approaching rock. It shattered, leaving it in thousands of tiny pieces.
With a whispered word from the Sheik, a strong gust of wind blew above their heads and pushed the chunks of stone harmlessly into the corners around them. They stood amidst the rubble, looking up at the roof. All that was left was a ceiling of hard-packed dirt, left exposed when the stone roof fell.
Johnny Omicron looked at the priest, who was now sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth, his head in his arms. His gamble had not paid off. He had tried to protect the book and the lives of his village from the outsiders, and he had failed. Once more, Johnny yanked him up by the shoulder. He punched him hard across the face, and the priest fell through the doorway and landed on the stone floor on the other side. Johnny followed him through the doorway, running toward the frightened man and kicking him hard in the chest.
The priest yelled something in his own language, and Johnny stopped for a moment. With one hand, the priest pointed across the room toward a crack in the wall. His other hand was held to his face, trying desperately to stem the flow of blood from his nose.
"In there?" Johnny asked.
"Yes. He says the book is in there," came the voice of the Sheik. Johnny turned to find the rest of his team filing in through the doorway.
"Damn it. It's just a crack in the fucking wall," Johnny said. "Pneuma?"
Pneuma stepped forward. Except for Johnny, the others didn't see him. They just felt him as he brushed past them. He stopped for a moment in front of the crack in the wall, peering into see if he could see anything. Pneuma then slipped through, his density dropping. He came out the other side and reverted to solid form. He stopped.
In the center of the room there sat, lit from all sides by rows of flaming torches, a stone pedestal. The sides of the pedestal were intricately carved with text and artworks from centuries before. A stone snake circled the bottom of the podium, its stone mouth perpetually open in a gesture of warning.
And sitting on top of the pedestal, covered in what must have been years' worth of dust, was a huge, leather-bound book. Ancient writing decorated its cover. Gold trim glistened on the spine.
The Liber Vitae.
As Pneuma stepped forward, he felt the floor drop slightly. He looked down, and a stone in the floor had dropped. From the opposite side of the room, a hail of pointed stakes carved from wood were bearing down upon him. He went intangible, and they passed through him, clattering harmlessly against the wall behind him.
Pneuma paused for a moment, considering his options. Thoughts entered his mind that he could take the book, collect the whole payment for himself, and ditch the rest of the team. He could do it. He knew how.
He brushed aside these thoughts as being disloyal, something he regarded as a cardinal sin. Turning around, he noticed that a stone door and a lever marked the exit. He pulled the lever, and the door opened.
On the other side of the wall, Project Omicron stood expectantly, awaiting word from Pneuma. Suddenly, a hidden stone door opened in front of them. Through it, they saw the podium. And the snake. And the book.
"Well, fuck me," Johnny said. He stepped forward, walking through Pneuma without realizing it as he did so. Johnny approached the podium, reached down, and grabbed the book, holding it tightly to his chest.
He turned and addressed his team. "Gentlemen... we have the Liber Vitae."
"No, I'd say what you have is trouble... an arseload of it."
The members of Project Omicron turned as one to see the remaining members of MBL Consulting advancing toward them.
"Please, resist us," the Raptor said, his blade flashing in the light reflected off of the torches hanging on the walls.
"Save the wanker who likes to impersonate people for me," Danny informed his teammates, his cat eyes locked on his target.