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ENTER THE CAT

Story by cillmevin

Confrontation

Bolivian Rainforest

The air was thick with humidity drenching any manmade structures with a thick coating of droplets. Base camp resembled a hastily constructed traveling circus filled with worn looking soldiers all carrying their bandoleers and M-16's tightly against their sweat soaked green fatigues. The room was pitch black and silent aside from the occasional squeak of large rats as an unnamed shirtless man sat, wrists painfully tied to the back of a termite riddled wooden chair. He fought to focus his eyes on some source of light, any reassurance of the outside world, alas the only thing he could make out was the thin strip of light beneath the door jam. His body screamed in agony as his ulcerated, bruised, and battered skin throbbed with each drop of sweat. Face obscured by the darkness two beautiful jade green eyes looked forward. He would not give in, he'd be damned if these miscreants would figure out the locations.

Blinding light spilled into the cell as the door opened with a several loud clanks, the unnamed man tightly closed his eyes to block out the solar onslaught. Two identically dressed soldiers entered the room gripping their M-16's as they took position on opposite sides of the doorway. A familiar sound gradually grew louder, a noise he'd unfortunately grown accustomed to, the familiar crunch of jack boots over the rainforest floor. The steps stopped just outside the room before entering.

"A gusto."

A chilling voice registered in Spanish but with an undeniable Russian accent.

"Déjanos."

The voice calmly ordered, barely a whisper. Both soldiers left the cell closing the large rusted door, relieving the unnamed man of his blinding tormentor.

"You'll have to excuse them. They aren't quite used to dealing with the same things as we old soldiers."

The man slowly opened his eyes not uttering a word as he looked up toward the tall thin figure approaching. He could easily identify the olive drab Soviet uniform adorned with all manner of medals. Strangely absent of any damage from the corrosive environment. His enemies face remained obscured by the darkness.

"Vietnam was it? 101st Special Operations group? Funny how we find ourselves here in this backwater place. You know these men, if you can really call them that, they fight their small wars. Traffic their merchandise. But they lack something. Do you know what that is?"

His captor's voice had a deep resonant quality with a hint of narcissism. He remained silent and stoic never betraying his true emotions. The unnamed man's features grew clearer as more sunlight began to spill underneath the door. Thick wild beard streaked with grey, hair an unkempt tangle of dark brown and grey curls, sculpted upper body carrying scars from unmentionable conflicts long ago.

"Pride my friend. When we fought our war of shadows both sides were on a razors edge expecting the other to fire first. It was as if you and I were both facing a shot gun barrel to the face knowing full well one slip of the finger would lead to eternal damnation for both nations. But we always carried with us an understanding of that fact, a pride in the work we did, we were so much better than these mindless jungle bandits."

The unnamed man's weary eye's looked up at his tormentor whose features began to fall into focus. A large brimmed hat cast a dark shadow across the left side of his face, centered on the hat was the outline of a star, but not the iconic red, rather a dull ash color. He removed the cap, placing it on the floor next to the prisoner, revealing a completely bald scalp.

"We have something else they lack as well."

The unnamed man looked up.

"Scars." His captors face came into view. Hawkish like features and deep set eyes with a black listless quality on the right but it was his left side that revealed this demons true nature. From the forehead down his skin was hideously scared from some kind of serious burning all the way down toward the corner of his mouth which lacked lips on one side, skin stretched back presumably from some shoddy reconstructive work.

"Now...shall we get down to business?" The disfigured Russian un-holstered a silver revolver slowly clicking the safety off while cocking it, gently raising it up to within an inch of the man's forehead. "I grow tired of the same routine. Each day I've asked you where they are and you sit there quietly giving me that same damn look."

The unnamed prisoner held his ground looking straight into his captor's black and pale blue pupils.

"Still no answer? I work for a very impatient man and time is running out for the both of us friend now tell me where they are..."

No answer. The Russian flipped the gun in his hand delivering several hard whacks with the handle. If he was in pain the man showed no sign of it. Thin ribbons of blood trickled down from the gash above his right eyebrow.

"I'll tell you...where they are." The man answered barely audible.

The Russian looked quite surprised by the prisoner's sudden change of heart.

"Excellent comrade! Now tell me where they are." He leaned to hear the full confession.

"They're...."

"Yes...they're where?!"

"They're...up...your ass."

The Russians eye's narrowed in blind rage as he kicked over the man's chair.

"Hah-hah, you have no chance, no chance of finding them you greedy bastard."

The un-named man taunted his enraged captor, who paced around the cell like a frustrated 5 year old.

"You've made one mistake my friend." He stopped, cradling the gun in his hands. "I have another prisoner."

Bang!

Jade suddenly shot up from her chair heart pounding a thousand beats per second, looking around the auditorium for what caused the noise. To her horror she realized ever single face in the room was staring at her.

"I'm sorry have I interrupted your nap Ms. Chan?"

The rotund professor glared at Jade through his thick spectacles tapping his pencil on the podium.

"What a loser. You'd think she'd take this stuff more seriously. Freak." She could make out the snickers and insults from around the room as she felt the blood rush to her face.

"S-Sorry Professor." Jade tried her best to slump down into her military styled hoodie, knowing full well she probably looked like a ripe tomato.

"Now to get back on the subject. Does anyone remember the name of the Sumerian goddess of war?"

The familiar sounds of the city bombarded Jades senses as she left the entrance to the college. Three years of schooling and all she could show for it was a lack of friends and motivation. She tried to remind herself of the fact that her uncle and parents were expecting only the best from her, and would undoubtedly stop assisting if she continued to get mediocre grades.

"Hey Jade!"

She turned toward the voice brushing her neon green bangs out of the way. It was Arty, a boy she'd known since elementary school. Since then he'd been trying his best to convince her to go out on a date.

"Did you forget about our study session?" Arty struggled to catch his breath, he was a little on the overweight side, wearing the standard attire for an engineering major. He had some rather bad acne and bleach blonde, almost white hair. Despite not being a star in the looks department Jade still felt a deep connection with him. When she'd miss weeks of school back adventuring with her Uncle and friends Arty had been there to help her out with school work and remained a close friend. He was a trustworthy and reliable guy and one of the few people Jade could call on for help.

"Oh, that was today." Their weekly study session had slipped her mind, lately strange recurring nightmares had been keeping her from getting a decent night's sleep. She brushed her jet black hair nervously as she tried to think of the best excuse. "I totally forgot about it Arty. Could we reschedule for tomorrow?" Her brown amber hued eyes looked up at Arty apologetically.

"But you said you'd teach me some more moves today." They had an agreement since the semester started, Arty would help her study for her Calculus tests while she instructed him on the fighting techniques she had learned.

"Art, I'm really sorry but I have to be at work in a couple hours, plus I haven't slept in like three days." Jade tried her best to look sincere. "I promise we'll meet here tomorrow okay?"

"Alright, but you owe me. That's two rainchecks in a row."

Jade made her way down the crowded San Francisco street trying to remember exactly where she parked. A brand new BMW SUV sat right in front of her. As she got closer the car pulled away to reveal ancient motorized scooter.

"Oh, come on!" Jade looked at the countless parking tickets stuffed to the front wheel. It took several agonizing minutes of reviving before the busted scooter belched to life. "Can this day get any worse?!" Fastening on her headphones the young student was oblivious to the two well-dressed men wearing sunglasses, watching her carefully from a nearby black sedan. As she sped off into oncoming traffic the Sedan slowly followed.