Fernando and Hondo stood about Ichigo’s office, looking about it but not touching anything or making any noise that would bring any attention to the room. Fernando does find an outlet and a telephone jack-box and pulls the wires from them both.
In a tone above a whisper, Fernando says to Hondo, “James needs to be here as well, but he needs to be quiet.
“I’ll take care of that.” Hondo says in the same volume just able a whisper.
“Then I’ll get him. Let’s hope he is not busy with his personal hygiene routine.” Fernando says in a low volume. He points his cane to a spot above the floor by Hondo and twists the crystal on it. James fades into place, unsure how he got there.
Hondo steps up to him, “Do Not Say A Damn Word.”
Seeing the anger in Hondo’s face, all James could do is nod. Fernando arrives with a chair and positions it where it cannot be seen if somebody came in. He does the same with two other chairs, “Let’s sit down and wait, it’s going to take a while for Ichigo to return from wherever she took us.”
“What do you mean, ‘return from where she took you?’” James complains.
“I said keep it quiet! If her men come in here, I’ll make sure you are the only one they will get to see. Now shut up and sit down!” Fernando growls at him.
“But all I waaaa...” James started to say before Hondo pushed him down onto his seat.
“El Jefe said for you to sit down and shut up.” Hondo growls at him.
“James, I do not want to hear your voice. You are to do as you are told, that means when you are told to sign the Death Match papers, you will sign them without saying a word. It is the only way you are going to get my protection.” Fernando tells him, adding, “Don’t listen to me, do your own thing, think you can handle this yourself, then you lose my protection and face death on your own. Do you get my meaning? Just nod, I won’t accept any other answers.”
James nods nervously for a second.
In a couple of passing minutes, Ichigo can be heard yelling the orders of the day to her men in the waiting room outside her room. She goes into her room and slams the door shut, heading to her desk without checking her room because she was blind and oblivious from anger and other emotions that are stirring inside her little brain. Throwing her briefcase onto the desk, and jumps up onto her chair and pulls herself forward. That is when she notices them at the far wall of the room.
“Do not press any buttons, I’ve already cut the wires.” Fernando tells her. He adds as he gets up from his seat and walks over to her desk, “And don’t scream, I do not want to hurt anybody if they come in running to help you. Then you will have nobody to help you afterwards.”
“What do you want.” Ichigo tells him.
“It’s 12o’clock,” Fernando says as he points to the clock on her desk. It and others about the town begin to chime to note the time. He continues, “Time to sign the papers for the Death Match. Or have you forgotten.”
Ichigo looks at her clock on her desk and then at him. She tries to play it off, “How observant of you.” The then tries to stall for a moment, ”We could have had a nice meal together. But instead you decided to blow out my vehicle’s rear window to make a daring escape.”
“I’ll tell you this much, no one puts us in a trap and expects us to sit still through the fun and games. We do not play like that.” Fernando tells her.
“If you do not play like that with me, how are you going to play in the ring?” Ichigo asks.
“What happens in the ring will be expected. What happened in the back of your car was not.” Fernando tells her.
“Don’t you want to play with a little girl like me?” Ichigo teases.
“My time play with little girls ended when I stopped being a little boy long ago.” Fernando tells her. He then throws in, “About those papers, or we comeback the following day and create a Death Match with your boys outside the likes this world has not seen since the Happening.”
“Oh, like what can you do against my boys?” Ichigo nearly demands for an answer.
“How about you call up Biggus and ask him. Oh! I forgot, Biggus is dead because of me, and Lacey is in control of Slavania – again, because of me. So you can call her if you like, but I doubt you will get any honest answer from her.” He mocks her demands for an answer.
“And you say that you are not the Time Walker. You must be.” Ichigo tells him.
“Let me tell you something that will prove I’m not the Time Walker. Basic Science says that there cannot be 2 of the same thing existing at the time, therefore there cannot be two Time Walkers in this world at the same time. As far as I heard, the Time Walker is in Japan negotiating some deal with the Spirits there that would help us here. Since he is over there, I cannot be him over here. Therefore I am not the Time Walker.” Fernando tells her.
“A trickery on words if I ever heard one.” Ichigo begins, “Because you could be him and he who is in Japan is not. That keeps one Time Walker in existence and he is you.”
“What is your obsession with me being the Time Walker?” Fernando dares to ask.
“You are either him or you must be the closest thing to being the best fake out there without even trying.” Ichigo tells him.
“Let me guess, you want him in one of your Death Matches to advance your ticket sales?” Fernando asks. He then throws in, “Do not market me as such. I am ‘The Medic,’ my friend’s ‘The Cowboy’ and I do not know what our guide will go by.”
“James the Red. He’s fought in the lesser fights before and lost, so I do not know why you would have him in a Death Match with you two. He would be the first to be sent to the morgue.” Ichigo explains as she prepares the paperwork needed for the Death Match.
“I do not care who gets to the Morgue first, as long that in the in the very least I am the one who remains standing and is called as the winner when the fight is over.” Fernando tells her sternly. Behind him James gulps in hearing those words.
Ichigo just looks at him in an angered disbelief to what he had said. She puts down the contract book she was working on, turns it around and slides it to Fernando. “You sign the first line. Your partner signs the second line. And James signs the third line.” She tells him as she has a pen out for him to use.
Instead, Fernando reaches into his pocket and pulls out his own pen, a rather fancy looking one that most should not be carrying. In fact it was a $400 Mont Blanc Fountain Pen with an 18K gold nib. “Hondo, you’re next.” He says after signing the contract.
Hondo walks to the desk and pulls out a $200 Shaefer Fountain Pen from inside his coat, similar to Fernando’s Mont Blanc but in silver. He looks at the contract book and signs at the second line. Ichigo is getting jealous that these two men who in her mind if they are not the Time walker and his companion, are no better than the road rat highway gangs and yet they are pulling out pens fancier than what she has. What she does not know is that these pens are over 100 years old even though they were transported with their owners when they got dragged through space and time to this misbegotten place.
They both step away from the desk to either side. Fernando calls to the last member of the team, “James... It’s your turn.” They wait as James gathers his bravery up and eventually gets to the desk. He looks at Fernando and Hondo who both nod at him. He reaches over to Ichigo’s pen and takes it to sign the contract. He gives it back with a shaky hand.
“Now, if we are done here, we’re going home.” Fernando tells her as he twists the crystal on his came to a silent click. He adds, “Before we go, we would like to place a bet on the fight that we would win.”
“I’ll take care of that after the paper work is finalized.” Ichigo tells him.
“then see you at the camp sooner or later then.” Fernando tells her. He then points to the door, “Hondo, James, lets beat this place.”
Hondo nods as he takes James by his shoulders and guides him to the door. Fernando follows him as they go through it and closes it behind him.
Ichigo waits a couple of seconds before getting out of her seat and heads to the door, opening it. Her men were still there. “You guys did not stop them?”
“Stop who, Boss?” One of them asks.
She looks about the room at all of the men standing guard and her secretary at her desk by the door. Nothing is amiss here, as if they were never there. She gives the only answer she could think of “Nevermind then. Everyone back to work. I’ll be heading out again to finalize this fight.”
Fernando, Hondo and James step onto the parking lot as the Reimann dimensional doorway closes behind them. James stops and looks about, trying to make sense of what happened.
“It’s called science. Unless you know science, I am not going to explain it.” Fernando tells him before reaching over and guiding him toward the direction of the camp, “The camp is this way.”
Being huge, it takes them a couple of minutes to traverse from the center of the parking lot to their camping area.
[Rewind a few minutes]
After serving the teenagers and their dogs some of the left-overs she had turned into a hearty breakfast, Ruth walks up to the double-decker trailer knocking on its side cargo door. It opens with a male figure at its doorway.
“What do you want?” The male asks sternly.
“Jason I presume.” Ruth says to him.
“And... What do you want?” Jason repeats himself.
“I’m Ruth, and I over see if things are alright when Mister Fernando and Mister Hondo are gone.” Ruth begins.
“Who cares. Now what do you want?” Jason begins to sound like a broken record.
“I just want to know what happened with the teens. What is their situation and why have they been thrown out?” Ruth says and asks him.
“None of that is of your concern.” Jason tells him.
“It is when I have to feed them, which I would do willing to help others out as Mister Fernando and Mister Hondo demonstrated with me and my family. Now, we can deal with his as honest folks or I’ll let Mister Fernando and Mister Hondo to deal with you.” Ruth tells him.
Jason scowls at her for a few moments, before giving her an answer. “They left on their own accord because they have not lived up to their end of the deal, that is to work and give their money to us every week so we can provide them with food, clothing and shelter. They have not paid up for several weeks now.”
“And you threw them because of that?” Ruth asks.
“They left on their own accord. They left because I told them to go to town and get some work that will at least get them some money to me what is owed.” Jason tells her.
“I see. You were willing to send some defenseless lambs into the jungle where the predators could do to them as they wish.” Ruth says, “I’ll explain all this Mister Fernando and Mister Hondo when they return.”
“They are far from defenseless and they are definitely not lambs.” Jason begins.
“We’ll figure this out later.” Ruth interrupts him, “Both you and I have a lot to do.” She slowly turns away from him and starts to walk away. She has already picked up all the unsaid information she could get from him.
Jason stands at the door way, watching her walk away and takes a mental note on which direction she took. After a few seconds, he closes the door and continues with what he was doing inside.
Ruth makes her way back to the teens who were still eating. As they ate, she tells them, “decide amongst yourselves who does what, but I need somebody to wash the tableware and plates you ate from, a couple to sweep up the area from my truck to that first camper behind this truck, and another to go find some water- I’ll give you a pull wagon and a couple large jugs to fill up.”
“We’ll get that done for you.” Madison says to her, “And thanks for the food.”
“Anytime. And remember we help each other out, not ourselves.” Ruth replies before leaving to check on other things.
As she walks away, Madison calls out, “Who are going to do the dishes, who are going to sweep the area, and who is going to search for water and refill the jugs Miss Ruth will get us?”
“I’ll do the sweeping.” Lisa volunteers.
Alice raises her hand and nods, signaling that she would work with Lisa.
“I’ll do the dishes as long as I get help with them.” Nancy says.
“I’ll help you with the dishes.” Francis says.
“Then Jordan and I will go look for water and refill the jugs Miss Ruth gets us.” Dakota says.
“Good. Don’t fail us, we need to be on our best if we are going to make this situation come to past. Patty and I will wait for Mister Fernando and Mister Hondo to return and ask about a place to sleep tonight and for future nights.”
“I’m not sleeping outside, on the floor or with the dogs.” Robin lets his thoughts known.
“We will all have a place to sleep by tonight, I promise you that.” Madison tells him.
Alice tugs on Nancy’s sleeve and signals to her to what some would consider incoherently. Nancy read what Alice’s motions and basically translates for her, “Uhm, yeah. What about our stuff? We need to get it before that asshole Jason takes them and sells them in town.”
“We’ll get our stuff soon enough, but first we need to talk to Mister Fernando and Mister Hondo.” Patty points out.
“I’m done here. Where should I put the dishes?” Jordan says to be heard.
“Leave them there for now, Francis and I will take care of them.” Nancy explains.
“Thank you.” Jordan says before getting up.
He was the first to finish his meal but others soon followed, piling up their plates on his and separating the tableware.
Ruth returns to see what the teens were up too, only to be surprised that they were ready and eager to do their assigned tasks. She takes Nancy and Francis to her Dub Box camper to do the dishes, gives Dakota the pull wagon with the empty water jugs, and Lisa a couple of brooms, dust pans, and a garbage bag to sweep the area with. As they begin their work, Madison and Patty walk out and wait by Karl’s truck for Fernando and Hondo to return.
Time waits for no one as it continues on with its march forward. In a couple of minutes Madison and Patty sees Fernando, Hondo and James heading to the direction of the camp and start walking to them to intercept them. They meet somewhere in between the distance.
“Mister Fernando?” Madison calls to him.
They stop to gather together for the conversation.
“Excuse us, Mister Fernando. We need your help.” Madison says to him.
“You’re part of Jason’s troop, wuz up?” Fernando says and asks.
“We were part of Jason’s group. We had to leave because he was going to force us to do jobs we did not want to do to pay for the services he provides every week.” Madison explains.
“We were not going to Fight Town to sell ourselves like we did in our former lives.” Patty throws in.
“So we need a ride, food and a place to sleep, we will work for it.” Madison tells him.
“How many are you?” Fernando asks.
“Four girls, five boys and two dogs.” Patty points out before Madison could.
“Hmph...” Fernando reacts, throwing in, “Hondo?”
“I have no room.” Hondo says.
“I was thinking of something else, but either way, can any of you teens drive a vehicle?”
“Most of us can. I know the boys can.” Madison points out.
“The girls can too.” Patty throws in.
“We are going to need at least 2 campers, to separate the sexes. I can’t have any funny business going on, if you get my meaning.” Fernando tells him.
“But, we have no money.” Madison points out.
“Can any of you handle a long arm?” Hondo asks.
“Long arm?” Patty asks.
“Rifle, shotgun, anything bigger than a hand pistol.” Hondo answers.
“The boys can, but, uhm... why?” Madison asks.
“Guard duty, it will be some of your task to keep an eye out on the camp at night while the rest of us sleep. As is we got 3 guards and that is a bit thin, especially in a place like this.” Hondo explains.
“We can do that, in fact Lisa was our night guard with her two dogs.” Patty replies.
“What about handguns? Knives? Can any of you fight?” Fernando asks.
“We do what we can with what we got. It’s how we freed ourselves.” Madison explains.
“We can learn what we do not know.” Patty adds.
“Alright, let’s get to camp. Hondo and I will figure out what you guys need and how to get it. You owe us nothing but to work off what you owe: Guard duty, sanitation – cleaning up the area, and looking for resources like water and fuel and other jobs as needed. Everything else – fuel for the vehicle and water to drink and wash with will be provided as long as you are part of the group. Do I make myself clear?” Fernando says and asks.
“Yes sir!” both Madison and Patty say at the same time.
“Hondo will teach you how to use the fire arms when it is time. Until then you make sure nobody touches the firearms provided for I want no accidents. Hondo?” Fernando tells them.
“After dinner should be a good time to teach and learn.” Hondo points out.
“Alright, then let’s get to camp.” Fernando says as he breaks through the tiny crowd and continues on his way. The others follow.
Ichigo walks out to the waiting area of her office and orders her staff, “I need my ride to go to the commission and register this fight, the printers to print out some posters, and to meet up with the contestants.”
Much of this done rather quickly with the connections she has, but is able to get to the camp some two hours later to continue bothering Fernando and Hondo. She shows off to them the Death Match Poster she had made though not caring for their approval. She is just going to do her thing no matter what. Lunch has not been made yet as the teens have not returned from town with some needed supplies.
Update on the 4 girls in Jason’s group:
Lisa, Patty (Patricia – oldest and unofficial leader), Nancy and Alice (Alicia – seems that she does not speak or can and does not want too, she can hear, so it is not a hearing related problem).
Update on the 5 boys in Jason’s group:
Madison (oldest and unofficial leader), Robin (Mechanic and techno geek), Dakota, Francis, Jordan
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After Chaos (Read 187273 times)
