Maki slowly opened her eyes. How long had she been out this time? It was impossible to tell. Time had lost all meaning since she'd been captured two weeks ago with no way to track it. She was constantly in pain. You couldn't find a three inch stretch of flesh on her without running into a cut, bruise or other abrasion. She had spent most of her time unconscious from the daily beatings she was given. The only time she was conscious was when she was being interrogated and beaten. Once Retu had told her he was going to let her go. She had turned to leave, and he attacked her with a pipe from behind. She had collapsed to the floor, and he ordered her up. When she couldn't, two of his goons held her up so he could hit her some more.
The mental beatings were as bad. They had told her repeatedly the sky was red. She had always denied it, but a tinge of doubt was beginning to blossom in her mind. She was slowly breaking. She had apparently lasted longer than any of the other prisoners they broke just for fun.
Retu opened the cell block doors, and walked up to her cell. "Maki, I have some good news for you. I no longer need to beat you to get what I want."
She raised her eyes without moving her head. When he didn't elaborate, it became clear he wanted her to reply. "And why is that?"
"My gang tells me the ambushed your would-be rescue squad - Haggar, Guy and Rena. Haggar was shot to death, he died quickly. Guy was strangled with a rope. And Rena, your sister? I'm afraid she suffered badly." It was more lies, but of course, Maki didn't have to know that.
Maki raised her head. "No, you're... you're lying. They'll be here to help me, and when they do..."
"No, I am afraid not. Your sister suffered horribly. She was badly beaten. Her last words were "I'm sorry, Maki" before her throat was slashed. She died in a lot of pain."
Maki didn't want to believe him. "No! I can't believe any of this. They will be here!"
"You may choose to believe it or not. You will see." And with that, he was gone, leaving her to mull over what he had just said.
________
Another week had passed. In the days following Retu's total lie, he had not had her brought to his chamber to be beaten, which in itself was a mental beating. It reiterated the fact that she was now worthless and they had indeed been killed. Maki spent her time wrapped up in the blanket provided, using it as if it were a shield that protected her. What had once been a vivacious woman who had a sparkle in her eyes and joyous outlook on like had now been reduced to a paranoid broken shell. Gone was that joyous sparkle, replaced with a somber, almost lead-like veneer, as if her soul were dead but her body were alive. She had shed tears on more than one occasion. None of the other prisoners could do anything to console her. She cried herself to a troubled sleep and only hoped she didn't dream about her sister and her friend's murders again.
---------- Post added at 03:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:57 PM ----------
"This is the place."
Mike Haggar had had no time for pleasantries. He had threatened the nearest Mad Gear member with dismemberment if he didn't tell him where the base was. Three weeks of by-the-law methods had got them nothing, so he took it into his own hands, vigilante style. Not the most legal of things to do, but he was the mayor. Who was going to tell him he was wrong?
"Damn it, where's the door handle? Guy, what can you do about this?"
Guy studied the featureless door, and ran his hands over it looking for weakness. His Bushin training had attuned his senses. Finally he said "I believe if I apply enough force here..." he backed up twenty paces and then charged at the door. Leaping at it with a "HE-YAAAA" cry, he kicked the door in. The door flew off the hinges and made a huge echoing clanging sound.
"Shit", said Rena. "I hope no one heard that."
They waited a few moments. Evidently no one had. "That was lucky" said Haggar. "You guys stay here. Stay on the line," he said, dialing Guy's cell phone. "I'll let you know when to come in. I'm going to go get a little information from one of the locals." He produced a long hunting knife.
It wasn't long before he encountered a goon reporting for work. Grabbing him from behind, he swung the thug into the wall, and aimed the knife squarely between his eyes. "Make a peep and I will kill you", he growled. The goon turned white and trembled in fear. "Where is Maki being held? Do not play stupid." The goon was shaking and stuttering. "Sh-sh-she-she's on the fo-fourth floor, the t-top... I was on my w-w-way up there..."
"Oh good, this was much easier than I had hoped. You will take us up there. If you co-operate and help us, I will spare you your life and you may not even end up in jail. Guys, come in."
Guy and Rena made their way over to where Haggar was menacing the hired help. "Take us up there, and don't give us away, or believe me, that will be the last thing you say as I will filet your tongue. And just in case you don't believe me..." he rammed the razor sharp knife into the concrete wall above the goon's head up to the hilt. He turned to look at it, and went even paler. "I'll help, I'll help! Please, whatever you need done, I'll do my best to help you with."
__________
They stood outside the cell block. "Open it up."
The thug did as he was told. He inserted the key and turned. The latch clicked, and the door swung open.
"Thank you, you have been most helpful. Now please forgive me, as I am just covering my bases." Haggar shot his hand out, and palmed the goon's skull into the wall. He dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Taking the guard's keys, he stepped into the cell block. Prisoners were watching the commotion and were surprised to see the trio. They began to murmur. "We're here to rescue you. You can all leave through this hallway out the door we came in, down three flights of stairs. There's a door that isn't on its hinges anymore. It leads outside. You'll be free." He unlocked their cells one by one. They scrambled as fast as they could out of their cells, thanking him. They got to Maki's cell, who was curled in a ball under the blanket. "Miss, you're free to go. We're here to help you." Maki heard her cell being unlocked. "No, please" she said weakly. "No more beatings. No..."
Rena recognized her voice. "Oh my God... Maki? Is that you?? What the hell have they DONE to you?" Rena pushed past Haggar and into the cell. When Maki felt Rena's hands on her, her instinct was to fight back. "NO, NO MORE BEATINGS! NO, GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!" she flailed wildly, her Bushin ninja training not coming to her. "Maki, stop! It's me, it's Rena! Don't you recognize me? Look!" Maki flailed a bit more, than stopped suddenly. Maki and Rena looked at each other for a long time, Maki studying her face as if attempting to remember a dream. The wild look in her eye slowly dimmed, and then recognition set in. "Rena..." she whispered. "Is... is that you? Are you my sister?"
Rena nodded. "It's me, Maki. Haggar and Guy are here too. We came to rescue you."
Maki stared some more. "But... but how? You.. you all died... they told me you were attacked... and I... they said you were dead..."
She was clearly emotionally damaged. Rena tried to get a little closer, but Maki instinctively shied away. "Maki, I'm not here to hurt you. If I were, I would have by now, right? Look at me. It's really me." She held out her hand. "Look, touch me."
Maki stared warily at her hand. Rena was patient and unwavering, with her hand out. Maki stopped cringing and very slowly reached her hand out to Rena's. She pawed at it, as if testing to see if Rena was a ghost or if she was just dreaming this and it wasn't really happening, and that she would wake back up with no rescue in sight. Finally she took Rena's hand, and Rena pulled her to her feet.
"It... it's really you..." and then the realization hit her. She cried tears of joy for the first time in her recent memory and hugged Rena tight. Rena hugged her back. Finally they let go and Rena asked "Oh Maki... what have they done to you?"
As beaten as Maki was, she finally showed some emotion. "How long have I been here? I haven't had any way to track time..."
"Three weeks," said Rena.
Talking fast as if to get it all out quickly, Maki launched into an emotion-filled explanation. "Retu wanted me to tell him where you all were so he could have you all killed, but I refused to tell him, and he tried to beat it out of me, but I wouldn't give him what he wanted, so so he kept abusing me in different ways hoping I would talk, but I never did, because I wanted to protect you guys" - tears started to fall down her face at this point - "and then he told me that you were dead and he didn't need me anymore, but I didn't believe him but then he didn't beat me for a long time after and I began to think there must have been some truth to it cause why else would he not be beating me if he didn't need me, and I began to think you were dead and you weren't coming..." she trailed off.
"But we're here now, and you don't have to go through this anymore."
Maki hugged everybody. "I didn't want to believe you were dead, but... I... I couldn't help it, I..."
"Don't worry about it anymore. We're here now" said Haggar. "And now, I think it's time to take care of that sack of crap."
"I know where his main chamber is, we can use the cell entrance. It's this way." She started off down the hall, and hesitated. She clearly had bad memories of it. Then she straightened, determined, and started off again with the rest in tow. It was time to end the Mad Gear's hold on Metro City once and for all.
---------- Post added at 11:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:49 PM ----------
There was a loud "wham" as Haggar kicked in the door, and the group barged in, interrupting Retu's meal.
"Who dares interrupt my... I see. Congratulations on getting this far. I hope you had no plans on leaving, because this will be your own personal graveyard."
"You lying sack of shit! You told me they were dead! I knew they weren't, I knew it!" Maki yelled out. She could barely contain her emotions. "I knew they were coming for me! You evil bastard. We're going to make sure you never get the chance to do this to anyone else again!"
"Well then, try and make sure." He darted forward and dropped the sisters with a double clothesline. Rena and Maki hit the floor. Rena got up, but Maki rolled onto her side, her piled-up injuries too much. Retu spun and leveled Guy with a discus punch. Haggar and Retu exchanged and parried blows, then Haggar caught him with a right hand. He followed it up with a left uppercut and a clothesline. Retu hit the floor and rolled through back to his feet. He turned and took Rena down with a straight right hand who dropped like a stone. Guy was on top of him with a running flying kick. He clipped Retu who rolled back again. He stood up facing the trio. Maki was still down on the floor behind them, struggling to get up. She was a trooper. Haggar swung a punch which Retu caught, and used his momentum to throw him into Guy, knocking them both down. Spinning around, he buried a punch into Rena's stomach, who gagged and doubled over. He followed it up with a downward elbow to the back of her head, knocking her to the floor. He rolled her over and began to punch her in the face. Maki saw this and without thinking about her well being, jumped onto Retu's back. She drove a finger into Retu's eye, crushing it. He clearly thought she was a nonfactor, and it cost him his right eye. Screaming in rage and pain, he shrugged her off. She hit the floor and tried to shake off the dazed feeling again. Her injuries didn't allow her to do too much.
Rena got up. Maki called out "His right eye! He can't see out of it. Hit him from the right!" Retu located her and kneed her in the face. She collapsed to the floor again.
Haggar and Guy played the distraction game. One of them drew Retu's attention, and the other sneaked up on his right side, landed a blow, and retreated. When he was fixated on the two of them, Rena took the opportunity to lay in a kick. He swung a backhand wildly, which caught her and knocked her back into the wall. She broke a pipe off on her way down. Nobody noticed, but Maki did. As they continued to distract and bait Retu, Maki began to combat crawl her way over to that pipe. Injuries were beginning to mount on both sides, as Guys head started spinning every time Retu landed a blow, and Haggar's arms were beginning to bruise from the parrying. Maki did her best to get to that pipe, and finally clenched her teeth, pushed herself up and limped over to it. She grabbed the pipe and came back to the fray with it. Making sure to stay on Retu's blind side, the other three circled around to be all visible to Retu.
As he began to think they had just made a tactical error, his eyes began to dart between them. He realized he was only looking at three of them, and he whirled around just in time to take a pipe blow to the face. It staggered him, and Maki landed a second one. The second one knocked him down. Maki raised the pipe over her head and brought it down on his leg as hard as she could. His calf snapped with a wet crack sound, and he screamed out. Running on adrenaline, she screamed in rage as she brought the pipe down on him over and over. He tried fending it off, but it just broke his arm. She finally relented. "Now..." she said, grinning evilly. "beg me for mercy, like you made me." He refused. "Very well then..." she raised the pipe again. "Uh, no, wait..." he started. "Wait what? You had your chance." "No! Please... please don't. I...I'm begging you. Please." Maki considered it. "You did well. But there's just one thing... you didn't show me any mercy when you made me beg." And she brought the pipe down on his other leg. He screamed out in pain as the bone shattered. Staggering after him as he tried to crawl away, he looked back at her. Stalking him with the pipe like that brought to mind murderers like Jason or Freddy. "Maki, please... don't do this..." He looked at the other three. "Hey, don't look at us, this is your problem." said Haggar. "What do you think we're going to do, stop her? After what you did to this poor woman, if she wants to kill you, as far as I am concerned, that is her right."
Retu's eyes (or at least, his one good one) went wide. He was now truly terrified. "That's right" Maki said, noticing. "Feel the terror you made me feel. Beg like you made me beg. And most importantly... feel the pain you made me feel." And she brought the pipe down on his shattered leg again. Retu yelled out again and rolled onto his side, clutching his leg. Maki swung the pipe at his back like a golf club, cracking vertebrae. His arms dropped to his side as he couldn't move them anymore. He lay on the floor, breathing hard. "Now, I don't exactly have a gun, but do you remember when you told me Guy had been killed by being strangled?" She wrangled her way behind him, propped him up on her knee and began to choke him with the pipe. He coughed and sputtered, spitting. "That's right, Retu, what are you going to do now? Not so tough now that the little woman is kicking your ass, are you? Let me hear you!" she released the choke before he passed out. As he gasped for air and coughed, she turned to Haggar. "Have you still got that knife?" He produced it for her.
"Now, Retu, for the grand finale. You remember how you told me my sister suffered horribly?" Retu went cold as he realized what was about to happen to him. "Oh my God, no, please. Maki, you're... you're not capable of such an act... you wouldn't."
Her voice was cold and flat. "After the complete breakdown you gave me? I am absolutely capable of it, without any remorse either. I promise you, Retu, my conscience will not feel a damn thing for what I am about to do. What was it you said now? She suffered horribly and was beaten badly before her throat was slashed? Well, I've already covered the beating part... so I guess that just leaves one thing..."
"No! NO!" Retu couldn't move his arms, so he began throwing his head from side to side in an attempt to avoid the knife. He stopped doing that as Haggar broke his neck. Retu was now completely helpless and terrified. "Maki, please, no... I'm begging you..." His pleas fell on deaf ears as she stabbed the knife through his good eye. He screamed out in pain as his eyeball sliced in half. He was now completely blind.
"I have really enjoyed these last few moments we had together, Retu... remember me as the one you shouldn't have tried to screw with." And she flashed the knife across his throat. Blood began to gush from the huge slash. She tilted his head back to accelerate the bleeding out process. For good measure, she stabbed him through the heart with the sharp blade. He died suffering badly as he had made Maki believe her sister had.
Finally, he lay dead on the cold tile floor.
The group of them stared at his lifeless body, continuing to bleed from the throat. "Well. Let's stop congratulating ourselves on getting rid of a menace to the city, and let's all get to a hospital." Rena suggested.
"I'm with you. But I think I'm going to need a hand walking... my adrenaline rush is wearing off..." Maki's knees buckled and gave out, but she was saved from hitting the floor by Guy and Haggar. "Alright you, up we go." They put her arms around their shoulders and helped her out.
When they got outside, she stopped in her tracks and gasped. She stared at the sky in wonderment. It was bright and sunny outside. She took it all in, momentarily stunned.
"Is everything okay, Maki?" Rena asked.
Without thinking she said "It's... it's not red..."
"What's not red?"
Maki caught herself. "Oh... uh.. part of their attempt to cause as much mental damage as possible was to tell me the sky was red, over and over and over. Ridiculous, yeah, but... anything starts to become believable when you've been locked up, beaten and abused like I was... I.." she looked ashamed. "I started to believe the sky was red. I could picture it and everything."
"We'll do anything we need to do to help you through this experience," Haggar said. "I'll bill the city for any psychiatric help you might need, if you want it."
"I'll think about it. I'll try on my own first. After all, I have some pretty good friends. In the meantime, let's seek some help of the medical kind."
In their shared hospital room that night, Maki had more dreams of murder and torture... but they were no longer of her or her sister and friends.
