Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Reborn Vengeance

The Viper had made his way to the mechanical room in the basement and pulled the large fuses out of the sub panel that supplied power to the house. He reached into his large interior pocket and pulled out the pair of low light goggles that he’d brought from the store room. Everything took on a sickly green glow as he made his way back into the house proper. It wasn’t nearly pitch black up in the house. The light of the nearly full moon came in through the large picture windows in the main hall and he decided that the goggle would be unnecessary up here. His eyes caught sight of moving shadows in every corner and he swung his guns to bear on every on of them while he quietly made his way to the stairs.

The sound of feet running down from up above made him dive into a dark spot on the side of the stairs. Nearly a dozen men came running down, all equipped with goggles similar to his. They fanned out searching for him. They were all armed with submachine guns. “Now or never” the Viper decided and stood, both pistols blazing in the darkened room. Three men went down before they even knew what hit them but he had drawn the attention of the others. Submachine gun fired started flying around the room as the Viper dashed from the stairs towards another corner of the room. He leapt towards a corner, turning around in mid air to bring his pistols in line with his attackers. He pulled the triggers until he felt the sickening click of both guns empty of bullets. He’d managed to hit several more of the guards before he hit the ground, both pistols empty with five heavily armed people bearing down on him. “So much for subtlety” He said under his breath as he swung the M9 grenade launcher from around his shoulder and launched a grenade towards the guards.

The explosion rocked the house and made people both in and outside to glance briefly in its direction. Men flew in all directions as the grenade left a small crater in the wooden floor sending shrapnel through both men and walls alike. The interior walls, like from some action movie shredded under the explosion like the rice paper that they were. The Viper stood and brushed splinters of wood and metal from his jacket and surveyed the area again. Sliding two fresh clips into his pistols he made his way towards the stairs again.

He jumped over the hole into the basement that the explosion had made and climbed several stairs towards the second floor. He was greeted by the sound of automatic gun fire and ducked instinctively. He felt bullets hit him in the chest and he nearly cried from the pain. His Kevlar shirt stopped the bullets but the impact still hurt like hell. He slumped against the wall trying to catch his breath. His pistols hung in his limp arms as the men advanced towards him. He could barely open his eyes from the pain as the group stood in front of him with their weapons pointing towards him. “You’re good, but you’re not that good Viper.” He recognized the voice coming from in front of him. The man knelt in front of him and quickly kicked his pistols out of his hands. The man’s fist, who the Viper knew to be Rupert Silver, the only other Caucasian that Tanaka employed, slammed into the Viper’s face hard, sending bloody spittle flying from his mouth. The Viper’s head lolled slightly as the man stood up and he motioned for a couple of the guards to pick him up. “Boss Tanaka would like to have a few words with you before he executes both you and your friend.

He was roughly picked up under his arms and dragged of the short flight of stairs. He picked his head up slightly and spoke. “Just one more thing Rupert before you die. Where’s the girl?” Rupert laughed at the man’s bravado. “A pain in the ass till the end I see. You’ll see her soon enough. Don’t worry about that.” The sound of an explosion from the basement jarred everyone. “I see you brought a friend with you Viper. That was a very bad choice. You don’t have to worry about them anymore though.” The momentary surprise gave the Viper a split second to act and he dropped all of his weight to the ground and reached up behind him into the men’s waste, grabbing their pistols. He sent several rounds into each man before anyone recovered from the second surprise of the last thirty seconds. He rolled painfully to the side as Rupert rounded the top flight of stairs with his pistol barking. Rolling over onto his back he emptied the gun into the fellow hitman sending backwards across the landing.

The Viper staggered to his feet, shaking the burning and trickling feeling from his chest as he tossed the empty pistols away from him and walked down the stairs to pick up his guns. He turned quickly when he heard a cry of rage descending on him from the upper landing. Rupert Silver was flying down the stairs at him, a large flat knife in each hand. The Viper spun around in a round kick before the man landed, connecting with a loud meaty crack with the man’s head. The killer’s body crumpled on the landing and didn’t move more after that. The Viper knelt down beside the man and felt for a pulse and couldn’t find one. Satisfied that the man wouldn’t be any more trouble he walked up the stairs and continued down the hallway to where he knew the Boss would be hiding. His chest was on fire but he tried to disregard it and resume his normally cool persona.

He felt bad about Skinner. He couldn’t have known that they’d be expecting him to rescue anybody down there, but Tanaka had apparently been just a thorough as he himself was. The Viper felt a little ahead of the game however as Rupert had told him what he really needed to know; that Shin Lao was still alive for the moment at least. There were several rooms before the large wooden door that marked the entrance to Matsuo Tanaka’s inner sanctum. He quietly slid open the doors on the way to ensure that there wouldn’t be any more surprises along the way. He knew this house well after the many years that he had spent working for Tanaka. The rooms were empty which worried the Viper because it meant that they were elsewhere, perhaps waiting for him in Tanaka’s office.

He stood before the large doors. He knew they were reinforced with steel plating. He himself had suggested it years ago when he was still looking out for his employers interests. Before the man had become so paranoid about everybody and he had quickly had them installed. The Viper cursed himself and knew there was only one way to make a dramatic entrance. He backed up several yards and slung the grenade launcher from around his shoulder and fired into the door. The steel plating kept the doors from exploding like he had wanted but they at least had fallen limply, stripped down to the bare metal, off of the hinged and slammed inward to the office. He tossed the M9 and had his pistols in his hands, triggers blurring in the rapid fire of bullets and bodies as the guards had been foolishly waiting for him.

He ejected the spent clips and popped in two fresh ones as he strode over the threshold, his shoes making a metallic sound as he walked over the fallen door. “One more step and I’ll kill the traitor.” Came the man’s voice from off to his left. Boss Tanaka stood with his back to the large bay door holding Shin Lao, arms and legs bound in front of him as a human shield. The Viper lowered his guns and turned to the man, an expression of cold anger across his face. “You’ll kill her anyway so what’s the point.” “The point is young man that I hold all the cards. There’s someone that I’d like you to meet.” The sound of the door opening behind him caused the Viper to spin around and saw a young black girl walk in, twenty three inches of sharp katana in her hand. “You see Elias, you’ve been replaced. It was quite easy I might add.” Shin Lao struggled against her captor but she was bound quite tightly and so only succeeded in angering the man.

“Kill him would you dear.” Boss Tanaka said flatly and calmly as the young woman raised her sword. She rushed in unexpectedly, her sword flashing through the scattered light of the moon streaming in through broken glass and bullet holes. He raised his guns and deflected the sword slashes. The clang of metal on metal persisted as they danced around each other. She rushed in sword poised for a downward strike but the Viper caught the blade in his crossed guns as her weight pushed downward. He felt a poke in his stomach and they both looked down to she the six inch blade pushing into his stomach. But that’s all it did, the Kevlar keeping the blade from slicing into his stomach. “Kevlar’s a great thing isn’t it? Stops bullets and knives.” Her shocked look was only replaced by one of pain as the Viper brought a gun across the side of her face, stunning her long enough for him to bring up the other gun, knocking her unconscious.

The Viper turned back to Boss Tanaka who brought his hostage further in front of him to give the Viper even less of a shot. “I pay you; I feed you, I even you walk off with this little bitch. And now you come to my house and try to kill me?!” “I would have gone off in peace if you hadn’t have sent that cop out to kill me Tanaka, but now there’s only one of us who is walking out of this room alive.” “You’re right about that Elias. But how much is going to be weighing on the survivor’s conscience. Let’s tally it up now. You’ve sent your friend in the basement and a nine year old girl to their deaths.” Tanaka took a breath for that information to sink in before he continued. “Yes there was a little girl in the cell. I can tell you that it won’t weigh on my mind one bit. How about yours?” The Viper’s expression didn’t change a bit though internally he could feel the bile rise in his throat from just being in the same room with this monster.

“And now you’re going to be responsible for the death of this pretty little bitch. Say one last goodbye to your Ghost.” The series of events that happened after those words were spoken were nearly simultaneous. Shin Lao’s head flew back into Boss Tanaka’s face, stunning the man. Out of reflex the aged Syndicate boss pulled the trigger of the .45 he held tight to her head, sending a spray of blood into the air. Her body hit the ground with a loud thud. Boss Tanaka was left without a shield and the Viper raised his guns, spraying the contents of two full clips into the mob boss. The shotgun blast was nearly drowned out by the sound of heavy rain on the tin roof and the shattering glass of the two large bay windows behind Boss Tanaka. The large bore slugs tore into the man’s back as the bullets from the Viper’s pistols tore into his chest.

Despite the wounds, the man lay on the floor gurgling through the last moments of his life. He was covered in shattered glass and blood. His eyes we wild as he felt himself grow colder and colder. The crunching sound of glass underfoot sounded like a tinny echo from far away as the Viper walked over to stand above him, his face barely discernable as his vision began to blur. The man didn’t say a word as the large barrel of a pistol encompassed his vision. The loud crack of a bullet being propelled through the barrel was the last thing he heard before the world went black for the last time.

The Viper looked up into the empty frames of the bay windows and saw Skinner standing there limply. The man looked bloody, beaten and bruised. The jacket he wore was in tatters and blood had crusted where it had run in tiny rivers down his face and arms. “You’re a hell of a man Detective. How’d you survive that blast?” Skinner opened his jacket and revealed the flak vest he wore, the vest stripped down to shining metal. The blast had torn the Kevlar from the rest of it. Skinner walked into the room, his legs seeming to want to give out on him at any second. He still hadn’t said a word as he walked in but merely slumped against the wall and slid down into a sitting position.

The Viper walked over to the limp body of Shin Lao and buried his face in her hair. Skinner vaguely heard the sound of sobbing and decided not to make it known. He had other things to concern himself with such as his bleeding and painful body. The Viper hadn’t asked how he had managed to get in on the balcony out there and he wasn’t up for talking about it either. He reached into the shredded jacket and pulled out the battered pack of cigarettes he had kept secret for a couple of days and tried to pull one out but they were all shredded and burned from the explosion and he simply tossed the pack into to room and lay his head back against the wall.

The Viper pulled his head away from Shin Lao’s neck and looked at the bullet wound. A smile came to his face and he pulled her to a sitting position. The bullet had grazed her temple, tearing a swath of skin along its path. It hadn’t actually entered her skull and a dry laugh escaped his mouth. “Now you know how I felt Elias.” She croaked as her eyes opened slowly. “Though I do have a hell of a headache. Can you untie me now? I think my leg is starting to go to sleep.” “You sly little bitch.” The Viper said as he tried to loosen the expert knots that had been tied in the rope.

The groan from behind them made only detective Skinner turn his head. He hadn’t noticed the other person laying there, his mind presuming that they were dead already. “Oh yeah, Detective Skinner there’s someone I’d like you to meet. There were no introductions needed as soon as her large dark eyes met his. He knew exactly who it was and smiled as best he could through the cuts on his face. “Leona?!” He rasped through his burned throat. He saw her face soften as she stood, two large bruises forming on the sides of her face. “Daddy? I thought you were dead.” “Well almost, but not quite.” He used the shotgun like a crutch as he painfully rose from his sitting position and made a couple of stiff steps over to his daughter who more than met him halfway. She wrapped her arms around him and they both cried, the tears washing some of the blood from his face. He wrapped one arm around her, hugging her loosely and turned his head to look at the Viper. “You’ve known all along haven’t you?” It wasn’t a question. The man had known where his daughter was for a while. Skinner was sure of it. “Yes I did, but Tanaka wasn’t so keen on me buying away two of his assassins. The original plan was to kill you and take your daughter but you and your wife were out at the time and so they only took your daughter and the babysitter. You know they found her body in the east river three weeks later. Tanaka kept her though. He trained her for one purpose though….to kill me.

The girl was apparently not listening to a word of it and was simply absorbing the warmth of the man she thought had died all those years ago. “So congratulations Skinner, you’ve got yourself an eighteen year old daughter.” Skinner smiled again through cracked and cut lips and dropped the shotgun to the floor. The sounds of sirens were starting to blare from the neighboring blocks. “We’d better get out of here. I don’t think those sirens are going to be friendly.” Skinner straightened up and the four of them walked down through the broken and battered house into the basement. The bulkhead door had been left open and a small pool of water was starting to form. They all walked into the pouring rain and stopped to look at the full moon. The rain washed the blood from their faces, and in some cases from their souls.