The Fury
Issue #4
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter Five
Moving Up the Ladder
Jack is looking at his new house and wondering where to
start. Pretty much everything needs to be cleaned in the house. He figures that
the best way to do it is to get others to do it for him. So he heads back
downtown and goes into his old stomping ground. As he walks down the alley, he
comes across one of his old friends. "Hey Cross Eyed Willy!" he screams out.
Willy turns around from pushing his old shopping cart and looks. Like his name
implies, he is indeed cross eyed. He walks over and looks up and down at Jack in
an exaggerated manner. "I know the voice, but I do not place face." he says as
he stops and looks at Jack's face. "It's me, Jack." he says. Willy takes a step
back and looks again. "Damn, you went all cosmopolitan. Where'd ya get the
scratch to buy such nice clothes?" Jack smiles and says "I cleaned up and got
some work." Willy laughs and says "Who would hire you, Jack?" He then reaches in
his pocket and pulls out a roll of twenties and shows it to Willy "I'm looking
for some guys who want to earn some money cleaning. I bought a house and need
some trash hauled out and to have it cleaned up and painted. Know any takers?"
Willy looks at the bankroll and starts drooling. "Damn Jack, you went and became
a drug dealer, didn'tcha?" Jack laughed and replied "No, I'm not drug dealer. So
do you know anyone who is interested?" Willy smiles and says "As long as it
ain't nothing illegal, I can get you some guys. Whatcha paying?" Jack rolls the
bankroll and says "I need ten men and I am paying a hundred a day." Willy keeps
staring at the bankroll. "And how much are ya gonna give me for scrapin them
together?" Jack peels off two twenties and hands them to him "Here is forty to
start and I will give you another forty when you deliver the men." Willy quickly
sticks the money in his shirt pocket and says "Give me an hour and I will have
your men. Meet me back here." Jack smile and says "See you back here in an
hour."
Justin Rage is standing in an old field. He is with two of
the scientists as they show him what the robot can do. The field is in what once
was a military base but was abandoned when the government cut back military
spending in the 1990's. They also did testing here so there was not allot of
demand for the land from developers. While never substantiated, rumors said that
germ warfare was tested here. While the government won't say anything, tests of
the area have shown a greater doses of lethal chemicals in the ground and water.
This made it a cheap buy for Justin Rage. And with numerous security measures in
place, like barbed wire, it fit his needs very well. They are standing in what
looks to be a firing range. There are still a few targets standing up that are
quite weathered. One of the scientists looks at Justin and says "You have total
control over the robot with this remote." He then walks over to Justin and hands
it to him. He looks at it and thinks to himself how this looks like nothing more
than a TV remote with bigger buttons. "So does this thing come with an owner's
manual or what?" he yells as he cannot tell what buttons are what. None of them
are labeled. The only ones he can guess is the four arrows that he figures moves
the robot. "We did not really have time to make an owner's manual, but we can
give you a basic rundown of the controls." Justin gives him an angry look as he
nervously comes over and starts teaching him the basic controls. An hour later
when they finish, he looks like he has a headache. He was looking for a way to
defeat The Fury not a toy robot to play with. He then hands the remote back to
the scientist and says "You can control the robot. You have twenty four hours to
bring me The Fury's head or I will have yours." He then walks away from them as
they look at each other with surprised looks on their faces.
Back at Jack's house, there is an army of street people
coming out of his house. They are walking out with bags or trash. There is a
pile of trash in front of the house and it is growing by the minute. As the men
carry it out, they just drop it on the pile. While they are doing that, there is
another group who are digging through the trash for cans or other items of
value. Inside the house, two women are washing down the walls. One of the women,
Edna, says to the other "It figures that the women get stuck with the cleaning."
The other woman, Alice, responds "Don't knock it, we could be hauling that
disgusting garbage. Did you smell that stuff as they brought it through here?
Disgusting." They both laugh at that and go back to their washing.
In an hour, the basement is cleaned out. Once all the bags
are gone, two men go down there and start to sweep the floors. As they sweep up
the trash that fell out of the bags, they find some very large dead rats. "I had
a dog that wasn't this big." one of the men says to the other. The other guy
laughs and says "They used to have bigger rats than that in the sewers. That was
before they flushed the alligators down there." The first man looks back at him
and says "There's no gators in the sewer, that's bull." The other man then shows
him his right hand which is missing two fingers and says "Tell that to my
missing fingers." The other guy rolls his eyes and gets back to cleaning.
Six hours later, the house is completely cleaned. All the
walls have been washed. The floors are all mopped. And they even painted the
walls upstairs. And at no extra charge, they nailed the cabinets back up in the
kitchen. They even unclogged the toilet and got rid of the ring of dirt in the
bathtub. The house is ready to be lived in. Jack gives the place a final
inspection and then brings out his wad of bills and starts paying them one at a
time. They all line up with their hands out and smile as he pays them. Once they
all have their money, they wave goodbye and head into the streets. It is
starting to get dark and they want to spend some of their money before the gangs
come out.
Knowing he has a safe place to hang his hat, Jack decides to
cause more trouble for Justin Rage. So once again, he heads to the seedier side
of town. It is Friday and he received a tip that it is the day when Justin sends
his men to collect protection money. Most people would think that this practice
would have died out decades ago, it is still real in the bad neighborhoods. With
the police department under his control, he can force the small businesses to
pay protection money or be forced out of business. And since he also has a
controlling interest in the newspaper, any stories about police corruption or
mob practices are conveniently lost. But the street people hear everything and
if you know who to ask, you can find out anything you want. But with Jack's
ability to read minds, he does not need to ask. He only has to probe and he can
find out. That is one of the reasons he hired Crossed Eye Willy. He may seem
like just another street person, but he has connections. Jack found this out
when they were drinking one night. When it got dark, everyone else scattered but
Willy did not. He went down the street, which for most street people would be
suicidal. But Jack followed him that night and saw him get into a limo that
stopped to pick him up. It was a long pink limo that was owned by one of the
smaller mob bosses, Rose Petal. She is not only the only female mob boss, but
also one of the more successful ones. She started as a runaway who got into
prostitution. But when her pimp was killed, she took over his job and worked
with the other girls. Soon she found that she had a knack for it. But she also
found that the men did not like her doing what they considered a man's job. That
is when she was smart enough to recruit some very tough women. She made a deal
with the warden at a women's prison and was able to get the head's up on any
powerful women leaving prison. She also made a deal with Justin Rage and he was
able to speed up the release of selected women for her. The big deal was for
Hostile Alice, a convicted killer who was so deadly with a knife that even the
toughest men feared her. She was a tall woman who stood over six feet and was
thin. She had long sandy brown hair and deep green eyes. Her finger nails were
filed to points and she even filed her teeth to points. Her hair was wild and
often covered her eyes. She carried a selection of knives and was proficient
with all of them. She was the complete opposite of Rose Petal, who was a
striking blonde with surgically enhanced features. Rose knew how to use her good
looks to keep men off balance and if she could not win you over with charm, she
had Hostile Alice to win you over with force. The two of them became a powerful
force in the mob world and Justin Rage was smart enough to align himself with
her. What Willy had to do with her was still a mystery to Jack, but it was
enough for him to know that he had mob ties.
On a ledge overlooking Baker Street, Jack watches as a group
of men walk down the street. He has read their mind and sure enough they are the
men he is looking for. Leading the group is Dashing Donny as he likes to call
himself. He is a small man with greasy black hair. He always dresses to the
nines with fancy suits and top hats. A self proclaimed ladies man who only has
success because of the bankroll he carries with him. In the underworld he is
mocked and referred to as the Squeaky Wheel. This nickname is earned by his
constant badgering for better jobs, more muscle and more money. He also tends to
get what he wants, so they always say "Looks like Squeaky Wheel got the grease
again." He is hated by his peers, but gets results so the higher-ups like him.
He is doing his usual route with three of his chosen muscles. The biggest one is
nicknamed Kodiak after the bear and with his size and excessive body hair, he
has an uncanny resemblance to a bear. He also is easily agitated and is known
for his excessive bar fights. The next largest man is a former boxer named
Bluto. He has since let himself go and with his hard fists and wide girth, he
very much resembles Popeye's arch enemy. Once he got over being called Bluto, he
actually embraced the nickname. He grew out his beard and even wears a sailor
suit on occasions. The last man in the group is Conrad but the guys call him
Connie to tease him. He has a large scar on his face from being on the losing
end of a knife fight. He is one of the few men who survived a fight with Hostile
Alice and proudly displays the scar. He made the mistake of trying to force
himself upon Rose Petal at a bar. He did not know who she was nor that she had
protection. He found out the hard way. While he did not die, he was cut up
pretty bad. No one knows if Rose felt pity for him or if he was just lucky to
live.
As the men head into a small convenience store, Jack floats
down to the ground and starts walking towards the store. Inside, the men are
harassing the owner, a small man with a balding head and horn rimmed glasses. He
is putting some money into an envelope as he is grumbling. One of the men is
opening a bottle of cheap wine and drinking it. Another is helping himself to a
bag of potato chips while Squeaky Wheel is waiting for the money. "Make sure you
have all the money, see. I don't wanna come back and you don't want me to come
back, see." Years ago, Squeaky Wheel saw an old mobster movie and one of the
characters kept saying "see". So he started saying it as he thought it made him
sound more like a real mobster. Most of the men laugh at him behind his back and
some even imitate him with his excessive use of "see". But to his face, few
would have the guts to mock him. Once all the money is in the bag, he grabs it
from the man's hand and glares at him. "We'll be back next week, see. Have the
money ready, we are real busy, see." With that, they head out the door, laughing
as they knock over a display of pop bottles. The two liters roll all over the
floor. One of them breaks open and starts pouring all over the floor.
Outside the convenience store, Squeaky takes the money out of
the bag and starts counting it. As he starts counting it, the money suddenly
leaps from his hands and starts flying around. "What the hell is going on?" he
says as he watches the money floating away. His muscle quickly run after the
money as it floats everywhere. But before they can collect any of the floating
cash, they see it floating over to The Fury who stands there with his hands out.
The money all falls neatly into his hands and he smiles at the men. "Thanks for
the tip." he says as he puts the money into his coat pocket. "That's my money!"
Squeaky screams as he points at him. He then yells "Men, get that money!" With
that, the three men run towards The Fury, not knowing who he is. The first one
headed towards him is Bluto. He pulls out a pair of brass knuckles and puts them
over his oversized fist. The Fury just smiles as he runs towards him. Before he
reaches him, The Fury pulls up a large metal grate that is over a section of the
sidewalk and watches as Bluto falls in the hole. He screams as he falls down,
but once he hits the bottom, there is a loud thud and then a groan. The Fury
then takes the grate and swings it around and throws it at Kodiak, who has the
full weight of this grate hit him right in the chest. He is knocked over and
there is a sickening sound of cracking ribs. Most men would be smart enough to
run after seeing their comrades wasted so easily. But Conrad is not the smartest
man. He pulls out a switchblade knife and throws it at The Fury. The clumsily
thrown knife flies towards him, but he easily stops it in mid flight and brings
it to him. He has the blade land in his hand and he looks at it. It is a common
switch blade, while good in a knife fight is not balanced for throwing. He
closes it and sticks it in his pocket. He then pulls a few of his throwing
blades and says "Now this is a throwing knife." He throws two knives at Connie
who stands there in shock. Each knife soars past his head and cuts off a piece
of his ear as it sails past. He grabs for his earlobes only to find them gone.
He pulls his hands back to his face and sees that they are covered in blood. He
screams in pain and runs away. "Get back here, see." Squeaky says as he watches
his gang being taken apart. He looks at The Fury and starts backing up. "Wanna
tell me who you work for?" The Fury says as he starts walking towards him. He
knows he can easily read his mind and figure out who he is working for, but he
doesn't want to let anyone know about his ability to read minds. "I ain't talkin
to no one, see." he says as he reaches into his pocket. The Fury reads his mind
and as he figures, he is reaching for a gun. When he pulls the gun out, he aims
it at him and says "Let's see how powerful you are now, see." The Fury smiles
and easily yanks the gun out of his hand. He then takes the gun and turns it
around and aims it at him. He reaches and tries to grab the floating gun but The
Fury instead shoots him in the hand. The bullet goes right through his hand,
sending blood squirting everywhere. He then instinctively uses his other hand to
try and stop the bleeding. He tries to close the bullet hole only to find it is
a weak attempt. The blood is still pouring out of the fresh wound. "Son of a..."
he says before he realizes the gun is still aimed at him. "Let's try this again,
who do you work for?" Squeaky tries to hold back the tears as he says "You ain't
getting nothing out me, see." The Fury then takes the gun and aims it at his leg
and shoots it. He screams out in pain as the bullet rips into the flesh. He
falls to the ground and moves his hand from trying to stop the bleeding in his
hand to now trying to stop the bleeding in his leg. While the bullet only hit
the surface, the pain is immense and the flow of blood is strong. The gun then
floats over and aims right at his head. "One last time, who do you work for?"
Tears are rolling down his face as he looks up and sees the gun aimed square at
his face. "I work for the Deacon, I swear. Please don't kill me." The gun then
turns a bit and fires. He closes his eyes and flinches as he expects the bullet
to end his life. To his surprise, the bullet hits a few inches from his head.
The Fury then tosses the gun down a sewer drain. He walks towards the
convenience store and walks in and hands the money back to the shop owner. The
stunned shop owner does not know what to think but just says thanks. He watches
as The Fury walks out the door and quickly hides the money.
As The Fury leaves the convenience store, he notices that
Squeaky has pulled himself away. He must have had a car nearby or something as
he does not see him anywhere. He starts walking down the street when he is
suddenly blinded by an intense light. There is Squeaky coming right at him in a
large Cadillac. He has the headlights on full beam and smiling as he races
towards him. Even with a wounded leg, he has the pedal to the medal as he aims
right at him. The Fury is shocked by the car and just barely lifts himself out
of the path of the car. Squeaky is shocked as he sees him float upward and he
looks back to see if what he saw is real. The problem is he takes his eyes off
the road and does not see the parked car up ahead. He turns his head just as he
crashes into the parked car. With the speed of his car and the impact, his car
blows up in flames and he is instantly killed as he flies through the
windshield. The Fury watches as the cars burn and realizing there is nothing he
can do, flies off into the night. He accomplished what he came to do, even if
the cost was greater than he expected. As he flies away, a man steps out of the
shadows and makes a call on a cell phone. He is calling Deacon and letting him
know what went down.
