Chapter 8: Die, Ninja, Die!

The gang is ambushed by Queen Cobra, whom they hope to get some answers out of in the midst of fighting her.

While busy pondering what the evidence we'd just found could mean, I was immediately snapped out of my thoughts as I heard the sound of shattering glass behind me.

"Jasper! Look out!" Tequila cried out as she abruptly tackled me onto the ground.

By the time I recovered from the evasive maneuver, I noticed that the nearby window had been completely broken. There was also a peculiar sword stuck in the wall right by the hung corpse, with the handle of a katana, but the blade of a bolo machete. The blade was gold, with several cobra snakes carved into the sides, and had some fresh bloodstains on it, suggesting that it had been used to kill Mike's body-double.

"Wh-What the hell?!" I asked in shock, before looking over towards the window and spotting that same humanoid shadow from before.

Upon being spotted, the mysterious person leapt through the open window and broke her fall with a somersault on the ground. She then quickly got up and spin-kicked Xavier in the stomach before he could react, before yanking her sword out of the wall. She then slashed at his legs, but he spread them apart before she could hit him. Xavier performed a backwards somersault on the ground to gain some distance, before hurrying over to Tequila and I and helping me back to my feet.

Looking closely at the chick who attacked us, I immediately recognized her based on the black spandex with gold accents that covered her body, though now that she was up close, I could make out a few more details I'd missed before. She was sporting a shiny golden mask that covered her face completely, and even though her bodysuit included a hood that hid the rest of her head, there were still a few off-white strands of hair peeking out.

"Well, if it isn't Queen Cobra," I dryly spat. "I take it you had a hand in this break-in?"

Cobra didn't respond and instead thrusted her sword at me. I bent over backwards to avoid it and kicked my leg upwards, hitting her extended arm and knocking her off balance before my friends and I rushed in started to gang up on her. Cobra swung at me again, but this time with a sideways slash. I managed to grab her sword before it could hit me, with no fear of being injured by the blade due to my armored gloves. The two of us firmly gripped it and attempted to overpower each other, and while Cobra was distracted by this, Xavier rammed into her with a sliding kick along the floor, knocking her over to my right. Tequila then hurried over and switched her gloves to electric mode, before punching the metallic floor and severely shocking our opponent. She capitalized on the opening by landing a few electrified punches to her torso, before sending her crashing into the wall by means of a strong palm strike.

"Y'know, I'll be honest here," Tequila taunted, catching her breath a little. "I'd kill to have a body like yours... and I'm sure I'm not the only one."

"Thank you! So did I!" Cobra spoke for once, before letting out a shrill war-cry.

She leapt towards the wall she'd been knocked into and kicked off of it, before performing a front-flip in midair with her sword held out and attempting to slash downwards onto Tequila's head. The latter simply smirked and switched her boots to skate mode, before performing a high-kick, letting the blade on her foot clash with the sword.

The two traded slashes for a while as the fight grew more frantic overtime. Tequila found herself having to do a handstand and kick her legs out rapidly in order to counter the incoming sword swings. The duel abruptly halted as she managed to trap the sword between her feet, before quickly swinging them upward and throwing the sword behind her. Not long after being disarmed, Cobra was abruptly slashed in the face by means of a sneaky flip-kick, though it only managed to split her mask in two, causing it to fall off. Her face was revealed to be quite pale, with several black veins visible all over, and especially around her eyes. Both of which were completely black, suggesting that she had gotten two hyphemas at some point prior.

While she was still stunned, Xavier and I rushed in. He slipped behind her and performed a leg-sweep, knocking her over while I stood a couple of yards away. I switched my gloves to heat mode and pressed them onto the metal floors, heating up a small patch of them while Xavier kept Cobra occupied. He punched her exposed face a couple of times before nailing her with a helicopter kick, sending her reeling right onto the patch of floor I'd just heated up. Cobra screamed in agony for a moment, before I abruptly yanked her up and pile-drove her back to the ground. I yanked her back up again and kneed her in the gut a few times, causing her to hack up some blood, before tossing her back to Xavier. He proceeded to nail her with a flurry of kicks, before he head-butted her into the wall.

Out of nowhere, Cobra's sword was randomly tossed like a javelin, presumably by Tequila. It missed both Xavier and I and wedged itself into the wall right next to its owner's head, which it only barely missed. Cobra gawked at her own sword for a second, giving me just enough time to charge in. I uppercutted her in the chin, before roundhouse-kicking her into her own weapon and sending her tumbling limply to the ground.

"Might as well give up now, Queen Cobra," I said, grabbing her neck and hoisting her up to my level. "Now who hired you to kill us? And where are they headed? And don't you dare pull a Sarah Sanders on me!"

"T-T-To a hospital! Down... in El Paso, t-to get Mike's... stitches... removed! It's the... S-Seymour University... Medical... Center..." Cobra choked out. It was only now that I was able to notice her strong Russian dialect.

"And what about that other question?" I demanded.

"I will disclose no more!" Cobra spat.

In response, I slammed her into the wall and tossed her to the ground, before switching my boots to cleat mode and stomping on her chest and abdomen several times in quick succession. She coughed and yelped through it all, but remained silent otherwise.

"I won't ask again! Where... is... your... boss... going?!" I snapped, harshly kicking her in the face in between words.

Cobra just groaned and fell unconscious. By this time, her face was bruised up, and some blood slowly spilled out of her mouth and nose as she lay there silently.

"Damn it," Xavier grumbled. "Ah well, at least we figured out where to go next. I suppose we can find out who did this once we get to El Paso."

"If we hurry, that is," I replied.

"The question is, though, why are they going to a hospital of all places?" Tequila interjected. "And why does this mystery string-puller keep traveling to establishments that are owned by Mike?"

"Well seeing how Mike wasn't murdered, I think whoever has him might be using him to access his property, and probably his finances too. And given the information we already have, maybe they're using him as a front for their schemes. A disguise to throw the cops off their trail," I suggested. "Maybe Mike wasn't the one who hired these killers after all."

"Speaking of killers, I suppose we'd better make sure Queen Cobra's secure before she wakes up again." Xavier pointed to her unconscious body.

"Good thinking," I replied, slinging Cobra's body over my shoulder and heading upstairs.

---

After turning in the third defeated assassin to the police and making sure her melee weapon was properly confiscated, the three of us were left to our own devices. We decided to retire to the inn we'd checked into, where we put our armor back into our suitcases and got ready for bed after a long night of fighting and making progress in solving the mystery on our hands. We'd all agreed that we'd set out early tomorrow morning and head down south, once again going by car for reasons we'd previously established. Sadly that meant we only got to sleep for a good four hours.

Before we knew it, we were back on the road again, poised to make the twenty-one and a half-hour drive to Texas. A good chunk of the way there, the gang and I stopped at a gas station that was mostly unoccupied. Establishments like these were still a thing even in 2043, for even though Xavier had been able to mass produce his solar-powered cars by now, some people just couldn't stop clinging to the past. Not to mention, Tequila had to use the restroom.

As Xavier and I waited in the car together, I took note of the car ahead of us, which was hooked up to the gas pump to its left. It was one of those large, multicolored Volkswagen vans commonly associated with the 1960s and hippie culture in general. The passenger's side door opened up and out came a man who... looked exactly like the guy we were looking for? I couldn't hear the conversation, but from what I could tell, Mike had been considerably beaten up. The person who drove the van was completely hidden from my point of view, but I could tell that whoever he or she was, they were giving him instructions. As discretely as possible, I rolled down my window to listen in.

"Alright, I guess you can go. The gas should stop pumping in about five more minutes," a male voice with a slight Mexican drawl spoke. "But if you're not back out by then... well, you get the picture."

"O-Okay," Mike replied, hurrying into the store.

"How peculiar," Xavier said, also listening in on the discussion. "Looks as though we've caught up with our target. And he's not alone."

All I did was nod in response. In the next eight minutes or so, Tequila came back out and climbed into the car.

"Alright, let's get going," she said as she buckled in. "...Uh, guys?"

"Shh," Xavier hushed her.

"What? What's the holdup?" Tequila asked, slightly more quietly.

"We're just watching these people over here," I explained. "I think they might have something to do with what we're after."

In just two more minutes, Mike finally emerged from the store and hurried back to his ride, clutching his ear and yelping and cringing in pain all the while. No question whoever was driving him around was making use of that shocking mechanism, most likely as punishment for coming back late.

"Wait a sec. Isn't that Mike?" Tequila whispered.

"Yep, and it seems we've caught up with him," Xavier replied.

The three of us watched in silence as Mike returned the pump to its rightful place and closed the gas tank, before climbing back into the van. Some muffled yelling could be heard as the car rocked and rumbled a little, before it eventually started up.

"Alright, X. you know what to do," I said. "Let's just keep driving and make sure those guys don't leave our field of vision."

"I doubt that'd be too hard, given what they're driving. Not exactly the car I'd use if I was working outside the law," Tequila replied matter-of-factly. "Honestly, these guys may pose a threat to our well-being, but as criminals, they're far from professionals."

"True dat," I replied.

"Jasper, I love you, but please don't ever say that again. That's so 2010s," Tequila snarked.

"Sorry..." I muttered.