Bazz Part 3: Choosing Sides?
"Look Voice, we need to get med staff down now! We can't worry about Bazz, we'll have to catch him later."
"Hel, Bazz might kill again. Creegan has probably already found him and if Creegan gets him on his side, well...Bazz is unpredictable. This could be our chance to gain the upper hand on Creegan."
"I'm not leaving these people to fend for themselves. That's final! Voice, you can't see this mess. We can, so we'll handle it."
"Fine, but take care of it quickly or I'll be forced to send a team down. In fact, I might just do that anyway if you are going to be insubordinate."
Hel laughed bitterly before replying, "You forget, it won't kill me but if you send a troop down and it feels threatened... well, as you say, it is unpredictable. Don't waste men."
"I'll get back to you later." Hel heard a very faint click.
"Voice? Voice!? She's not responding."
Cleo, Sarge, and Hel walked into the Underground Medical Center to find an ER group. Sarge took care of finding enough people and helping with their equipment. Before Hel could take another step, Cleo put her hand on Hel's shoulder.
"Hel, you were talking back to her. She probably doesn't get so much trouble from other teams." She gave an encouraging smile to her fearless leader, then added, "Are you sure we are doing the right thing?"
Hel smiled back, "I'm just doing what you'd do if you had the stomach for it."
Cleo didn't know whether this was a compliment or an insult, but she grinned widely anyway.
"I think you should leave."
"Hm?" Creegan looked over at Bazz. Still unmoving, still lifeless, still a complete mystery, it sat next to him and said, "I think you should leave."
"Well, if that's payment for my company, then fine, I'll depart never to darken, if that's possible, your corner of the mutant underworld."
"Don't be so damn dramatic." Bazz mumbled as Creegan rose to leave. "I'm just tired, I wish to sleep. Then you leave and come back later."
"Fine, later." Creegan stormed back to his lair.
"Why did you tell him that?"
"Tell him what, Matrix?"
"That I told you to kill those criminals."
"Well, you didn't, but I figured you would have. Besides, I need to show an edge of insanity if I'm going to get them to leave me alone."
"Don't bring me into this. You also could have been a lot neater. I hate chaos."
"I know Matrix."
"Now what?"
"We wait, and I sleep."
"You would think that the amount of life force you've taken this afternoon would be overwhelming."
"Hey, stasis took a lot out of me."
Three hours later Bazz rose. "Time to stalk the tunnels once more."
"You and your Death obsession. You should not emulate yourself after a character in a novel. Are we going after more mutants?"
"Probably. Then we have some business to take care of."
"Why? I don't find anything wrong with mutants?"
"It's a long story, before your time Matrix."
"That's long. What, 500 years ago?"
"In normal Earth Time. For me though it was before the gods came to me, before the Ship, and before you. Thousands of years, my friend."
"You can definitely hold a grudge."
"That reminds me, should I check on the Ship?"
"Soon. Now, tell me more about this mutant story."
As Bazz moved down the miriad of corridors the mechanical voice told the intently listening Matrix of how it first became involved with mutants. "It started in 2010, right when the Mutants started to become known..."
Meanwhile, back in the lab...
"The more I think about it, the more it confuses me," Cleo pondered.
Sarge openned her mouth to say something, but Hel shot her a 'Please refrain from insults.' warning look so she simply said, "Did you see the chest-plate? It's gotta be protecting more than just its heart."
Hel sighed, "Just don't think about it, its gender doesn't matter."
Cleo said, "It just seems too violent to be female. Okay Hel, I'll drop it, but I'm not gonna stop thinking about it."
Sarge smirked. "You need a hobby."
"Everyone ready?" asked Hel as she adjusted the holster.
"As I'll ever be," grinned Cleo.
"Maybe we should leave Cleo here, she isn't armed after all," Sarge mentioned.
"These weapons are only for use against Creegan. Voice says nothing will protect us or enable us to hurt Bazz so it doesn't matter if she comes with or not. Besides, she's always been of some use before," said Hel.
"I love when people talk about me like I'm not in the room," Cleo said sarcastically.
"Let's move out."
Creegan had a better plan this time. He motioned for the two henchmen to follow him. But, this time the corridor was empty.
"Can't something go right for me for once?!?" Creegan screeched.
The signal was still nearby, though, and Creegan wasted little time to rush after it.
Bazz had taken only one life, a homeless old mutant loitering at the edge of a shaft.
"That should be enough."
"Fine, what is this 'business' you need to take care of?"
"Owl Stone. It'll help me out of this gods-forsaken armor."
After half an hour of exploring the shafts Bazz knew the stone wasn't going to be where it was before Bazz's entrapment.
"Bazz, we're being followed. Two sets of three."
"I know. My new little friends. Why can't I learn to be ungrateful and not offer my services?"
Bazz kept moving. 'The stone HAS to be there. Where could they have put it? Please don't tell me someone else can handle the powers.' Bazz began to panic.
Suddenly all motion seemed to stop. The two groups looked at each other. Cleo blinked repeatedly. Sarge tensed. Hel straightened up and reached for her blaster. Creegan just stared with his henchmen stock still behind him.
"Well Helen, I don't have time for this," he finally said.
"Same here Creegan." Hel's eyes narrowed. There was another moment of tension before both teams broke into a run toward the direction of Bazz's signal.
The room was empty save for a few dusty crates and an abandoned pedestal in the center of the room.
"This place used to be so beautiful."
"That's all you can say? What about the stone?"
"I'll find it eventually."
Bazz turned to face the followers. "About time you found me," said Bazz and just crossed its arms.
Hel and Creegan were both standing in front, catching their breaths. Hel drew a deep breath and announced, "Voice would like you to work for the underground movement. The cause is trying to regain the surface for humankind. Will you join?"
Creegan snickered. "Helen, you sound like a recruiting commercial. I'm sure I can offer something a little more... tempting? You sem to dislike mutants, well I dislike the ones in control in the underground. You would be of great help."
Bazz glanced from face to face. This time the weapon pulled from Bazz's back was a gleaming sword, slightly red tinted from stains of blood. "Here's an idea. You fight me. The winner gets to keep me. Your choice of weapons. Only the leaders will fight."
Creegan looked at Hel. Hel glanced back at the girls. No one wanted to make a move.
"C'mon now. Two against one. I'm being fair, aren't I?"
Hel made a charge with her blaster shooting away. Bazz effortlessly avoided the shots, except for one which merely deflected and hit the wall, and rolled behind one of the crates. Creegan jumped behind another crate and let his razor ball fly.
With sudden chaos broken out Cleo and Sarge hunted for shelter as the mutant goons just shrugged at each other.
Bazz jumped onto the crate and flipped over Hel. Before Hel could face her opponent she felt a foot against her back and she was shoved to the far end of the room, the breath knocked from her. Bazz's sword made quick work of Creegan's razor ball. The two halves sputtered to the floor.
"Why can't you just take care of them for good?" Bazz heard a nonchalant voice say.
"I don't *want* to kill them. They could be quite entertaining." Bazz muttered. Then aloud said, "Well, if neither of you can take me, then I'm on my own. Understood?"
Creegan didn't give up that easily. He jumped up and pointed to his goons. "Grab it, what are you waiting for?"
The mutants, kind of slow on the uptake realized what he meant by "it" too late. They were staring down Bazz's *other* weapon. The first goon was blown down the shaft, but the other grabbed for something that would cover him. Cleo screamed as the creepy mutant hands grasped her shoulders. Creegan let out a chuckle. Bazz still walked toward the pair and the goon crept back until he lost footing, dragging Cleo with him.
Bazz jumped down after them and caught Cleo. For a moment they were suspended in mid-air. Cleo thought that Bazz must have the same kind of boots that Hel had, only, there was no sound of jetting air.
'Weird,' she thought, 'but who cares? He's so strong. I think I've got a new crush!' She slightly blushed at this thought, but Bazz looked completely impassive, which was easy with the helmet on.
Then up they went. Bazz stopped to drop Cleo off.
"I must go. But this isn't the last you will see of me."
After watching Bazz soar up the shaft, Cleo felt a hand on her shoulder. She was extremely surprised to see Creegan standing there. He had an odd expression on his face. But, he didn't say anything. He just laughed and jumped down the shaft.
"I think she has the wrong impression of you."
"What do you mean?" Bazz shifted a little to look up at Creegan looming overhead.
"I mean Cleo. She seems to think you are some kind of heroic manly creature," he said.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Maybe the 'heroic' part, or how about the 'manly'?" he knelt down so he was face-to-helmet with Bazz.
"What makes you so sure..."
"Please, don't start. I am smarter than most people think and I'm excellent at reading people."
Bazz chuckled, "Well, congratulations. Do you want a prize?"
"No, I just find it amusing that it's the women of this world that cause me so much trouble."
"We're nothing compared to some of the other worldly women out there."
Creegan cocked his eyebrow for a moment, smiled, and walked away.
Home Page
Beth Ann's Story
Time
Bazz
Part 1
Bazz Part 2