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  The man whimpered and crawled towards the wall, but he would not speak. Simon nodded at Derek, he fired another web discharge, pinning him to the wall.

  Simon moved even closer, “I’m going to start cutting, you tell me when to stop.”

  Derek was unsure of what to do here, he wasn’t a fan of torture, yet he realized that someone like Simon, with all his smiles, was probably a man who had engaged in the act more than once. A rough life, shared with Zeke, his only link to a safer childhood past. He was different from Derek, who had lived alone for long periods. Preparing to stop him as the latter knelt to make his first incision, something else caught his attention.

  “Don’t bother dirtying your hands with him.” This voice had down from the rooftops. Derek and Simon both turned, looking upwards, Rachel sat on one of the nearby buildings, watching them. Somehow, Derek knew instinctively. She had seen it all.

  Landing on the ground, she confirmed as much.

  “They took Zeke a few hours ago.” Turning to Simon, she said, “You boys must have pissed them off.”

  “We were intercepting some of Douglas’ shipments,” Simon said. “It was all Zeke’s idea, he thought it’d keep Pesque a little cleaner. His way of saying thank you.”

  He punched the wall. “We didn’t think it’d turn out like this.”

  “Wait,” Derek interrupted, “You said, Douglas?”

  “Yeah?”

  “He’s the one I’m looking for. Steve told me about it earlier today. Maybe I can reason with him.

  “I don’t know,” Rachel replied, “Douglas started the Marauders a few years ago, who knows what power and influence can do to someone like that.”

  “It’s worth a try,” Derek stood up. “I came here to find him.”

  “Besides,” He reached out a hand to Simon, “If he doesn’t see reason, we’ll have to beat him senseless and take Zeke back anyway.”

  “What about your quest for the Arche?” Simon asked.

  “I guess it’ll come to an end naturally there” Derek replied. He sounded almost sad thinking of the possibility. Rachel walked up to them.

  “I’m guessing we’re going to need to go to the Marauders base then?” She asked.

  “We?” Simon cocked an eyebrow.

  “I don’t have anything better to do,” She said, “And this Arche business has gotten me all interested.”

  It was decided then. The trio would make the trip to the Marauder’s base, they would visit Douglas, and they would talk sense into him. Or they would violently take Zeke back. Either way, a collision with the Marauders was inevitable.

  Chapter 4 - Spark of Rebellion

  Had Simon, Derek and Rachel proceeded to Douglas’ base immediately, they may have been met with significant resistance. Fortunately for them, events had already been set into motion. At the moment the Marauders had launched their attack with the Thunderdome, one of them spotted Derek in action.

  His orders from a few months ago kicking in, he slipped away and retreated to the Marauders base outside town. There, he would make his report to Douglas. A man with a spider-like Godspark and a facial scar had been spotted, just as their commander had predicted.

  Douglas thanked him for his information and then dismissed him. Things had just gotten a little more complicated.

  He had known Derek would be coming around this time—if his father’s instructions were to be followed — which was the major reason he had come to Pesque in the first place. If he was with Simon and Zeke – he couldn’t afford to mess this up before they even met.

  The Marauders base was a compound just outside the town of Pesque. It was a colourful place, where some of the Marauders like himself lived, and others spent their free time. Training, planning or just generally hanging around in the space. As the commander, he stayed in the central, minimalist, two-story building. Every other building — the mess hall, dormitories and gymnasium — were constructed in concentric circles with that as its centre.

  If not for the barbed wire outdoors, the insanely high walls, and the guards at the gates, one might almost be forgiven for thinking that this was a social club. It wasn’t that kind of place, not by any means.

  At any point in time, there were about 50 or so of the Marauders floating around, today, all 80 of them had been recalled to the base. Just over a dozen of them had been taken down in town and would probably be returning later, if they did at all.

  With all that on his mind, Douglas decided he needed to speak to Zeke. He no longer needed him either captive or dead and if Derek was with Simon, he’d rather be alive than dead.

  He walked into the adjacent room to his office, nicknamed the meeting room. This was where Douglas often held meetings with his lieutenants and decided on Marauder policy and deal making. This was where Zeke had been kept. Chained to a chair, both his arms and feet shackled. He had a reputation, and Douglas had wanted to limit risk.

  Dismissing the lieutenants Reuben and Matthias, who has stood in the room before him, he was now alone with everyone but his second in command, Sophia. She was capable and had earned the nickname Sophia of the thousand knives, she was more prone to carrying substantially fewer, about a hundred or so throwing knives mixed with some long and cruel daggers. With her here, even if Zeke managed to somehow rip the shackles off the ground — as unlikely as that might be — she could easily stop him. The implied threat was more than enough to tell him to play ball.

  Douglas sat aside from Zeke, the two men making eye contact. Grey eyes contrasting with hazel.

  “So, here we are.” Douglas started.

  “Yes.” Zeke replied, “You know there’s a bounty on your head, right? Just because the Marauders have some political influence, doesn’t mean that you can pull this off without pissing off some people.”

  “Come off it Zeke,” Douglas replied, “You’re a loner. You don’t have many friends, I could have killed you and no one would have cared. Aside from Simon.”

  “What do you want?” Zeke asked. “If you want to kill me, then do it. Otherwise, when I get out of here, I’m going to gut you like a fish.”

  Douglas shivered at the last words. Though Zeke was at his mercy, he had been unarmed last night.

  “I say we let bygones be bygones,” Douglas proposed, “There’s nothing more boring than focusing on the past. I’m more interested in your friend, the new one. With the scar.”

  Zeke looked up, his mind racing as he drew a picture in his head “— Derek? Why are you interested in him?”

  “Something from a while ago.” He replied, “If you’re friends with him, I’ll release you when he comes, and we can have some tea and discuss this like civilised people. No gutting of course.”

  Zeke smirked.

  “Gutting all of you here is still at the back of my mind, chained or not.”

  “With all due respect, Douglas?” Sophia interjected, “What do you mean when you say ‘release’?”

  Like many of the Marauders, she held a deep-rooted respect for her boss, and would never second guess him, especially as he had trained her and helped make them stand out from common gangs and bandits. They had been ruthless in their actions since they were founded 5 years ago, and decisions like capturing and then releasing people wasn’t something that they did without a good cause. Especially for someone like Zeke, it would hurt their reputation.

  When Douglas didn’t respond, she repeated her question.

  “Just what do you mean, Captain?“

  “What do you mean, what do I mean, Sophia?” Douglas replied, he was annoyed at the interruption, and his tone showed it.

  Sophia continued, her green eyes boring holes into Zeke.

  “I meant to say, Captain, that we can’t just let the flagrant disrespect he showed us go unpunished. We have him captive, so why not just kill him and his brother anyway?”

  “Sophia.” Douglas hesitated to find the words, “It might be time for me to leave.”

  Sophia raised her eyebrows, her eyes search
ing his.

  “Leave? Why?”

  “The person I’m waiting for…the person I have been waiting for for years. He’s here, I can feel it,” Douglas said. “It’s my duty to go with him, and I can’t remain in the Marauders and continue along like this.”

  “I can’t say I understand,” Sophia’s tone turned to ice. Zeke frowned as he noticed, Douglas was too focused on what he had been saying to do so. “What about your duty to us? The promises you made. To make this town protected so that it remains as it is.”

  He dismissed her with a wave. “This town is infested with bounty hunters and gangs like us anyway, there’s no need for you to stay here. If anything happens, the bounty hunters will defend it. If they don’t, if they can’t, then we’d probably fail too. There’s no need to tie yourself here.”

  “There are no gangs like us, Douglas. Don’t you remember? You founded the Marauders as a deterrent security force around Pesque. My hometown. You told us our reputation was important to maintain to achieve that. That we needed to prevent Pesque into becoming a place like Naran, Karn County, or even Fald. Now that you’ve found someone you were waiting for, it’s time to leave? We shouldn’t tie ourselves here? Don’t be absurd.” Her voice contained a warning now. “Douglas. I think you should reconsider.”

  The unspoken message was clear to all in the room. If you take back the last minute, we can go back to how it was.

  Douglas had no choice, and even if he acquiesced, they could never go back to the way it was before. Not after his confession.

  Zeke began to strain at his chains. He sensed something was going to happen here, and he didn’t want to be in the room when it did.

  “Sophia,” Douglas said, “I can’t.”

  “That’s not the right answer.” She moved faster than he expected, drawing the knife from behind her back just as quick. It broke his skin and pierced his torso, blood spurting out of the wound when she pulled it out. She hadn’t hit anything vital, not yet at least.

  “You…stabbed me.” He stood up in disbelief. “You do realise what you’ve just done. ”

  “Do you realise what you’ve done, Douglas?” Sophia’s eyes flared. Turning to the door, she yelled, “Reuben. Matthias. Come on in.”

  The two other lieutenants walked in. Matthias, with his trusty javelin, and Reuben with a bladed gauntlet wrapped around his forearm.

  “As you’ve no doubt already heard, our dear Douglas has abdicated his leadership. I’m now in command of the Marauders.”

  The two men walked behind her, arms at the ready, eyes placed on Douglas. They had heard him, and both were in agreement with Sophia.

  Sophia spoke again. Her voice now clear and calm.

  “Douglas, it really doesn’t matter what my actions could have meant. You’ve betrayed us, and you will be punished. That is all.”

  Zeke and Douglas’s eyes crossed. Zeke saw his chances of leaving this room without a fight drop through the ground, while Douglas saw their chances of leaving together evaporate.

  Putting up his hands, Douglas gestured for peace.

  “Sophia.” He pleaded, “Do not do something you’ll regret.”

  “Don’t worry Douglas, I won’t regret this.” Gesturing at Douglas, Sophia —Captain of the Marauders —issued her first command. “Reuben, Matthias. Kill him.”

  The duo moved towards Douglas, blades flashing and slashing through the air. Douglas avoided Matthias’ swing, and weaved under Reuben’s swipe, simultaneously striking at their soft parts.

  They fell to the ground, stunned.

  “I may no longer be your captain, but I’m still Douglas ‘The Invincible’ West.” He declared, “You can’t trap me so easily.”

  The javelin poked through his back, coming out of his torso. Douglas cursed as he turned back to see Matthias with a grim look on his face.

  “Sorry ‘boss’, it’ll take more than that to put me down,” He pulled it out roughly. Douglas stumbled, Reuben pounced, slashing twice as he moved catlike through the air. The first caught Douglas across the face, leaving a gash, the second swiped at his torso, cutting over his chest.

  Another knife embedded itself into his thigh. Sophia had thrown it.

  “If we all fight you one by one, you’d certainly win,” She said, “But together, we outnumber you. You’re sentimental and unworthy of leadership Douglas. We should have seen it.”

  Reuben and Matthias, both recovered, now moved towards him as well. In seconds, he would be surrounded, and he had to act fast.

  Douglas swept her off her feet with a kick as he stood. Continuing his motion, he pirouetted towards the nearby wall, kicking the other two lieutenants aside at the same time, reared back, and struck it.

  Dragon Style: Exploding Fist Strike.

  The wall shattered as Douglas broke through it. Taking one look behind him, he dove from the second floor, rolling on the ground and sprinting towards the bushes and away from the compound before he could be tracked.

  Chapter 5 - Parley in Pesque

  Derek scaled the high wall outside the Marauder’s compound. Simon had parked the Thunderdome just outside their base, but far enough that it wouldn’t be spotted immediately. Derek was doing some reconnaissance due to his unique stealth capabilities, and Simon couldn’t help but notice he looked quite like a spider as he crawled.

  “That’s the Marauder’s base up there.” Simon was thinking out loud now, “We should be able to find Zeke and Douglas there.”

  As he said this, the bushes began to rustle, as someone moved through it. Rachel was instantly on her guard, staff at the ready.

  “No need, to go all the way in there to find me.”

  Douglas emerged from the bush that surrounded the compound, bleeding from his side, with a few smaller cuts on his face. The Marauders weren’t looking for him, not yet, he estimated they had another 10-15 minutes before Sophia ordered a search party. He didn’t need that much time.

  “Douglas.” Rachel said, matter of factly. Simon moved from behind her, storming towards Zeke, his armour forming on his arm as he did so.

  “You asshole, where’s Zeke?” He grabbed him by the collar as he did, only to be met with a stare of blank indifference. Douglas brushed his arm off before replying.

  “Calm down, he’s safe.” Simon raised an eyebrow at this declaration. Looking behind Douglas, he saw no sign of Zeke or nothing that would lead him to calm down.

  “Then where is he?” It was then he noticed the other man’s injuries and grew concerned. “Why are you cut up like this Douglas? What the hell’s going on?”

  Derek landed behind them, his reconnaissance of the building now complete. Douglas gave him the once over.

  So, this scruffy looking man is Derek? He doesn’t look like much.

  Outwardly, he extended a hand. “So, we finally meet. Derek, I presume?”

  Derek didn’t take it.

  “And you’re Douglas. I’ve heard about you.”

  Douglas retracted his hand. His reputation had preceded him, and it appeared that Derek wasn’t a fan of him just yet.

  “It’s nice to meet you after all these years,” He said, “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Wait, do you two know each other?” Asked Simon in confusion, as far as he knew, Derek had never met Douglas, yet they acted familiar with each other.

  Derek nodded, “You can say that we do.”

  “Only after a fashion,” said Douglas, “That isn’t important now though, what we need to do now is to get back inside. Zeke and the map are both in there, and the Marauders aren’t going to give up either of them without a fight.”

  Douglas explained the events of the past hour, to an increasingly incredulous crowd.

  “So, to recap,” Simon said through gritted teeth,” You captured Zeke, then you lost your nerve because you heard Derek was here, and before you could do anything, you got yourself kicked out of the Marauders and replaced by your second in command?”

  “That’s more or less
accurate,” Douglas confirmed sheepishly.

  “That is quite the mess,” Rachel said, “And here we thought we were only going to have to beat you up.”

  Douglas shot her a look. Derek had remained silent, he looked thoughtful, like he was taking it all in.

  Rachel and Simon had their wits about them, he wasn’t sure about Derek’s fighting skills, but he would need at least those two to hold off his lieutenants while he grabbed Zeke from Sophia.

  “We’re going in. That’s why I came to get you guys,” He explained, “With backup, I’ll be able to rescue Zeke from Sophia, and we can make our escape.”

  “And what would you have done if you hadn’t run into us here?” asked Rachel.

  Douglas looked sheepish for the second time. He had been disoriented by the loss of the Marauders, and if he had to confess the truth to himself, he hadn’t had a plan, he just needed to escape from a desperate situation.

  “Thanks for your story,” Derek stood, his contemplation apparently complete. “I understand what you need.”

  Simon made to protest, but Derek held up a hand, shushing him. He walked towards Douglas slowly, looked him in the eyes, and punched him in the face.

  Douglas was knocked to the ground, stunned and shocked. Stunned that he could be knocked down by Derek with a simple punch, and shocked that he was actually punched. His nickname the Invincible had been spawned from his Godspark. Once West had died, he had focused on training in the martial arts for therapeutic reasons, then taking part in fighting tournaments across the country. His Godspark meant his bones were made of something harder than normal bone, no matter what he had done to them, jump off cliffs, punch solid walls, they had never even slightly fractured, when this began to show in fights, he quickly picked up the name, Invincible. No one had ever knocked him to the ground with a punch.

  “What the hel-”

  “That was for Simon.” Derek extended his hand, “Now that that’s done, I’ll be happy to come with you.”

  Douglas scowled at first, but then he grinned. The kid was smart, he had diffused the situation but still took charge at the same time. He took Derek’s hand and pulled himself up.