The Fury
Issue #12
by Tom Zjaba

Chapter 13
Bounty Hunter Blues

    Huddled around the back table in a seedy bar, sits the three bounty hunters. Having exhausted all their leads, they are desperate for any lead at all. Currently, they are pouring over old newspapers, reading any articles they can find about the exploits of the Fury. He has been a popular subject in the papers, especially when he takes on the mob. Most citizens of North Harbor are aware of how much of a problem the mob is in the city, but until now, no one was willing to do anything about it. The police for the most part, have looked the other way. Or they made a token arrest, in a vain attempt to convince the citizens that they are making their presence felt.

    Buffalo Bill looks up from his newspaper to see a man walk into the bar. The ordinary looking man walks quickly towards their table. Reaching into his coat pocket, Buffalo Bill grabs hold of his knife and readies himself. This catches Boom Boom's attention as he also looks up at the stranger, making a beeline towards their table. Before Slash realizes that he is the only one still reading the paper, the man reaches the table and places a manila envelope down on the table. "Compliments of Mr. Rage." is all the man says before he turns around and walks away. With the threat gone, Buffalo Bill puts the knife back in its sheath and quickly grabs the envelope. Since it is not sealed, he can quickly open it and pour out its contents on the table. Inside are a dozen photos of a man throwing three other men around on an elevator. There is also several pictures of a bum walking in and out of a trailer. There is a small typed note attached to one of the photos that says "Here is what the Fury looks like. Happy hunting."

    With the new found information, the men head out to the streets. They figure that someone out there will give them a lead. They start out at the soup kitchen. The rows of homeless people waiting for their daily handout stretches out the door. One by one, they come up to the counter and get a bowl of soup, some bread and something to drink. The food varies from day to day. It all depends on what is donated. The three bounty hunters walk up to the back of the line and start showing the picture to people, asking if they know the man. One by one, they look at the picture and nod their heads no. Street people are not the most helpful. They get bothered all the time for information. Parents looking for their runaway children or police looking for leads bother them all the time. It doesn't matter who is asking the questions, unless there is money involved, they know nothing. It is better to just say no than to get involved.

    After a dozen straight no's, they are finally hit with a different answer. An older man with thinning gray hair and a scruffy beard looks at them and says "What's it worth?" Buffalo Bill looks at him and says "What?" The man looks back at him and says "Nothing in this world is free and that includes information." Buffalo Bill reaches in his coat for his knife, but Boom Boom stops him. "Let me handle this" Boom Boom says as he then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a twenty and hands it to the man. The man crumbles it up and puts it in his pocket. "That will only buy you a name. The guy's name is Jack." This really irritates Buffalo Bill who stares down the man and says "What kind of information can I get for your hide?" Boom Boom stares at Buffalo Bill and says "Just back off." Boom Boom digs in his pocket and pulls out another twenty. He puts it in the man's dirt encrusted hand. Once again, the money is crumbled up and put in his pants pocket. "He just came into some money and bought a house." The man then puts his hand out for more money. Grumbling, Boom Boom reaches in and pulls out a fifty. The man's eyes light up. "For that, I will take you to the house." Boom Boom pulls back the money and says "I will give you the money when you show us the house." The man turns and gets back in line. "I only work if I am paid upfront." Boom Boom reluctantly hands him the fifty. The man smiles and says "Follow me!"

    The foursome takes a left out of the soup kitchen and takes a short walk down to Wilshire Street. Once there, they go a block over from the subway station and arrive at the house. The man points to the empty looking house and says "That is the place where we helped him move in." Buffalo Bill says "How do we know this is the right house? For all we know, he picked out any old house." The man looks at him and says "There is a huge safe in the basement. If you don't believe me, go in and look." Buffalo Bill and Slash look at Boom Boom and say "Well, go check it out." He looks at them and says "Don't let this guy go, until I come back." Buffalo Bill grabs hold of the man and says "He ain't gonna anywhere." The man gets worried as Buffalo Bill smiles at him with a wicked looking grin.

    Boom Boom goes to the back door and finds it locked. He knocks on the door as he pulls out a gun. There is no answer. He knocks a second time, but the results are the same. Confident that no one is home, he takes the butt of the gun and breaks the back window. There is a loud crash and glass falls to the floor of the house. Looking around to see if anyone heard it, he is relieved there is no one around. Reaching through the hole, he carefully unlocks the door. As he steps in, he looks around at the empty house. He is amazed at how empty the house is. Almost no furniture, just boxes and bags. Slowly walking through the house, he finds a door to the basement. Turning on a light, he heads down the stairs to a dark, damp basement. It is unfinished and still reeks from the trash and dead rats that occupied it only days ago. The walls are damp and there are small puddles on the concrete floor. The light bulbs flickers and makes a popping noise. His footsteps echo in the cavernous room as he walks around, looking for the safe. As he comes to a far wall, he sees the safe. Like the man says, it is huge. Boom Boom wonders what can be in there. It looks like a bank vault door, it is that big and solid. Believing the man, he rushes upstairs to let them know.

    Rushing out the front door, he sees that Buffalo Bill is still holding the man close. They all look up at Boom Boom as he says "The man in legit, there is a huge safe in there." Buffalo Bill lets go of the man, who runs away as fast as his tired old legs will take him. "He still could be lying." Buffalo Bill says as he watches the man run off to spend his money. "Maybe, but I am betting there is something in that safe that is worth more than the money we gave him." The three men then head into the front door.

    Deacon walks up to Justin Rage's door and knocks. The ever present camera turns towards him as he looks up. A voice calls out from the other side of the door. "Come in." He opens the door and sees his boss at his desk. As usual, Justin Rage is looking at multiple monitors on his desk. One is tuned to a financial show that is talking about what stocks are hot, while another has various screens that show the different cameras in the building. "Did you deliver the pictures?" he asks as does not break his gaze from his screens. "Yeah, the pictures were delivered." Deacon says as he is puzzled by the action. "May I ask why you gave them the pictures? You are helping them collect the bounty on the Fury's head." Justin looks up at Deacon and replies "The money is unimportant. The fear that the Fury is putting in my men is costing me alot more than the three million." Deacon understands this, but he is still puzzled. "But with the information, why don't you have our men do it and save the money?" Justin returns his gaze to his monitors as he says "Do you know why hunters use dogs when hunting?" Deacon hates when his boss does this. He feels it is condescending, but he knows that he must put up with it. So he gives him the answer he expects. "To track the animals?" Justin looks up from his monitor and says "No, to flush the prey out. That is what these guys are gonna do, bring the Fury out of hiding. I don't expect them to actually defeat the Fury. But they will give us an idea where he is and where he has been." Deacon walks out as he says "That is why you are the boss."

    Jack walks down the street from the bus station. It has been a long bus ride home and he is glad that his journey is at an end. Just around the block to his house, a mere fifteen minute walk. He is tempted to fly home as he is anxious to relax and watch some television. It has been ages since he watched a ballgame, any ballgame. He thinks back to how he loved going to a baseball game. Sitting in the bleachers with the sun warming his face as he drank a cold beer and ate a couple of hot dogs with stadium mustard. It didn't matter who was playing or if the home team won or lost, it was just an enjoyable time.

    After an energetic walk, he arrives at his house. He looks at the house and smiles. It is nice to have a place he can call his own. It is something simple that he missed, after spending so many years on the streets. He walks up to the front door and pulls out his keys. As he goes to unlock the front door, he notices it is already unlocked. Right away, he gets paranoid. He is certain that he locked the door. Worried, he slowly opens the door as he does a mental scan of the first floor. He does not sense anyone there. Feeling better, he breathes a sigh of relief. Maybe he did forget to lock the door. Placing the suitcases down, he turns and locks the front door. The last thing he wants is for someone to come in and steal all his cash.

    Walking in the kitchen, he heads to the fridge. Hopefully he has something in there to eat. As he enters the kitchen, he notices something that makes his blood boil. There is glass on the floor and the back door is open. He walks over and sees where the glass was smashed in. Now he is really upset. He starts scanning the area, when he picks up some thought patterns coming from the basement. Anger comes over his face as he realizes that his house has been violated. He slowly walks over to his closet and pulls out his trench coat. While he dresses in his outfit, he continues to scan their minds. He can hear their thoughts as they are thinking about how they are going to open the safe in the basement. Quietly he dresses as he fills his belt with throwing blades. The last move is to put on his mask. Once he is dressed, he walks over to the basement door and slowly opens it. Looking down the stairs, he can see the flickering lights and smiles.

    Wanting to keep the element of surprise, he levitates himself down the stairs. The last thing he wants is for the sound of his creaky stairs to give him away. As he reaches the bottom, he sees the three men, who are busy trying to figure out the combination. Slash has his ear to the safe with a stethoscope, while Boom Boom is slowly turning the it. They are trying to listen for tumblers, hoping to figure out the combination. Buffalo Bill is anxious as he paces back and forth, watching the two men at work. "We should just blow it up. This is a waste of time." he says as he stresses out. "Do you have any idea how much explosive it would take to blow this door off? I do and it would bring this whole house down." Boom Boom says as he keeps working. "Yeah, blowing it up would be a bad idea." the Fury says as he is standing behind them. Buffalo Bill turns to see who spoke and sees the Fury looking right at him. The Fury reads his mind and realizes that they are looking for him. "Well, you found me." he says as he smiles. The other two men jump to their feet as Buffalo Bill pulls out his gun. But before he can do anything, the Fury grabs him with his mind and throws him against a wall, knocking the gun out of his hand and stunning him. Boom Boom pulls an explosive out of his pocket and holds it up as he looks at the Fury. His other hand reaches in his pocket and pulls out a lighter. "Back off or I will blow you and your house up." The Fury smiles at him and says "I dare you to light it." He flicks the lighter and says "I'll do it. You better let us leave or I will do it." Smiling a big smile, the Fury takes over his hand and brings the lighter closer to the explosive. He struggles to stop him from lighting it, saying "What the hell is happening? Stop it." The Fury laughs as he says "Didn't your mother tell you not to play with firecrackers?" Sweat pours down Boom Boom's face as he watches the fuse light. He then is forced to drop the lighter and grab hold of the explosive with both hands. The Fury pushes him to the other side of the basement as he screams "Stop it, please stop it." He looks down at the fuse as it burns down. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot move his hands. He cannot get rid of the explosive.

    Fearing for his own safety, Slash pulls out a knife and rushes at the Fury. But before he can get close, the Fury waves his hand and throws him back at the safe. "Sit back and watch the show." he says as he watches Boom Boom squirm. The fuse is disappearing quickly as the Fury asks a question. "Which hand do you want to save? The right or the left?" Boom Boom stares at him in utter disbelief. "What kind of question is that?" The Fury just smiles at him as he says "Hurry or you will lose both hands. Right or left?" Pure terror is seen in his eyes. For the first time, he feels sympathy for his victims. Only they never see it coming. One turn of the key or open a door and boom, it is all over. But this is so much worse than anything he has ever done. Looking at the fuse that is almost at the end, he screams out. "The right hand." The Fury immediately lets go of his right hand, allowing him to move the left hand as far away from his body as possible. He uses the right hand to shield his face as he cries.

    There is a loud explosion that shakes the whole house. Boom Boom screams out as his hand is blown off. His entire hand, all the way down to his wrist is gone. The entire left side of his body is burned as he falls to his knees, screaming out in pain. The Fury created a mental bubble around himself, so he was not affected by the explosion. The other two men were too far away to suffer anything more than a ringing in their ears. The Fury then releases them from his mental grip and says "Take your friend and get the hell out of here. Tell Justin Rage that if he ever sends anyone to my house again, I will personally blow him up." He then turns and floats back up the stairs. He needs to collect his belongings and get the hell out of the house before others come. He has already scanned their minds and knows about the bounty. If Justin Rage wants a war, he is ready to give it to him.

    Buffalo Bill and Slash rush over to Boom Boom, who is screaming in pain. Slash looks at Buffalo Bill and says "What do we do?" Buffalo Bill looks at him and says "There is only one thing to do. We put him out of his misery." Slash looks at him and says "Are you nuts? We can't just kill him." Buffalo Bill pulls out his gun and points it at Boom Boom and says "Sorry man, but there is no other way." He then shoots him in the head, putting an end to his pain and suffering. He then turns the gun on Slash. "What are you doing? We're partners." Buffalo Bill shakes his head no as he says "Now you are a witness and I can't have any witnesses." He then shoots him in the head. Taking a deep breath, he looks around the room and says "A good bounty hunter knows when to cut his losses. I am in way over my head." With that, he walks up the stairs and heads towards the train station.

The Fury © Tom Zjaba 2006-2009