The Kasparov Agenda (Omega Ops Legion Book 1) (8 page)

Santos turned to Alex, who was still in shock. “You know…all the bad fish your father deals with—I think their stink is starting to rub off on him.”

***

Queens, New York, 10:00 a.m.

“What’s the situation?” Varick asked.

“You wanted to be kept in the loop, so we’ve got you a little something.” Henry fought back a smug smile.

Roy, on the other hand, shook his head, unable to contain his excitement. “Don’t be modest. This isn’t a little something, this is the whole pizza pie, right here!”

“Shhh!” a female officer hissed at Roy, while pinching her nose.

Varick and the three police officers were outside a warehouse distribution center, speculated to be an illegal weapons holding. They were crouched down behind a dumpster, several meters from the entrance. Varick glanced at the female officer. “And who might this be?”

“This is Detective Laura Bennett, one of the best,” Henry introduced. “Laura, meet John Varick; a Legion member and former cop.”

“A pleasure, I’m sure,” Laura whispered, shaking Varick’s hand. She had shoulder-length dark hair that was tied back in a tight ponytail.

“So, how’d you find this place, Roy?”

Roy fidgeted uncomfortably. “To be honest, Laura’s the one that did it. She tracked down the guns that Solly’s employees had in their trunk to this place.”

“So, why didn’t I partner up with her in the first place instead of you two?” Varick muttered to Henry and Roy.

“Engaged, I’m afraid; sorry to disappoint.” Laura held up her hand, wiggling her finger that had a diamond ring wrapped around it. “But I’m sure whatever love triangle you three have going will work itself out.”

Varick scoffed. “Cute.”

“Hey, but don’t sell them short; they’re real catches these two—
smart
. Having the stakeout behind this putrid dumpster? Who do you think came up with that idea, John?” Laura smiled, nodding her head in Roy and Henry’s direction.”

“Call me Varick.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize we weren’t on a first name basis,” Laura said, taken aback.

“He prefers Varick—he’s a weirdo like that. It’s nothing personal,” Roy explained.

“Alright, now that we’re all acquainted, how about we get this over with,” Varick suggested sharply.

“Fine by me,” Laura replied, standing up and stretching her legs. Varick and the three officers edged towards the nearest warehouse window and peered inside. They couldn’t see much; the window was caked with dust.

“So, what are we expecting to find here?” Varick asked.

“Well, from the cross-referencing and profiling I did with Solly’s known associates, the man I believe to be the gunrunner here is a—” Laura pulled out a photograph with a name scribbled over it. “Joshua Wyler. The ownership of this warehouse is in his name. Six foot four, 280 pounds—he’s a big boy.”

Roy chuckled. “Fat guy?”

Laura shook her head. “Muscle guy.”

“Damn.”

Varick’s eyes narrowed at Laura. “But you’re not sure if he’s actually the one responsible for Solly’s gun supply?”

“Well, we’ll find out soon enough.”

“Hey…guys!” Henry croaked in a hoarse whisper. He was peering into another window. “I see a body...”

Laura, Roy, and Varick joined Henry at the next window. A silhouette of a large man was made visible by whatever sunlight was seeping in through the dusty window. He was sprawled across the floor, limbs spread. “Looks dead,” Roy whispered.

“I can’t hear anything inside,” Henry informed. “Who knows if there’s anyone else in there.”

“Well, let’s take a look, then,” Laura instructed. “On alert, people.” The officers drew their weapons and, with Varick, slipped inside through the warehouse side door. Henry turned on his flashlight.

“You need a piece, Varick?” Laura asked.

“Nah,” Varick replied absentmindedly, while he scanned the warehouse. It was eerily quiet inside. “With you three packing, I feel plenty safe.”

The group walked through the warehouse to where they had seen the body. Upon reaching the spot, Henry pointed his flashlight at the large figure on the floor. It was clear the man was dead—he was lying in a pool of blood.

Varick looked him over. “Severe blunt trauma to the side of his head. His skull seems to be caved in.”

“Well, that’s inviting,” Roy muttered, tightening his grip on his pistol.

Laura pulled out the photograph from her pocket. She studied it, then eyed the corpse. “It’s Wyler.”

“Jeez. I’d hate to meet the guy who could take out a 280-pound meathead with brute force,” Roy remarked. Suddenly, noises could be heard from a small office room at the north-east corner of the warehouse—
a loud scraping sound
.

“You just had to open your big mouth, didn’t you, Roy?” Henry muttered.

Roy smiled, despite himself. “It’s what I do.”

The door to the office creaked opened. Varick and the three officers watched in anticipation. The frame of the doorway was barely able to contain the figure that emerged from it. This figure was so massive that he was forced to duck his head and exit the office sideways to fit through. Henry instinctively pointed the flashlight towards the office, and a bright emerald reflection nearly blinded the four of them with its sheer brilliance.

“Well-well-well, what do we have here? Some rodents scurrying around in the dark...”

“Oh hell,” Varick muttered.

“Stay where you are!” Laura ordered. She had her gun trained on the hulking figure. Roy and Henry jarred out of their initial shock and followed Laura’s lead and aimed their guns.

“Go…leave now,” Varick instructed the three officers. “I’ll handle this.”

“Varick? Is that you, pipsqueak?” The unknown figure’s massive hand scoured the wall, hitting all the light switches in one swipe. The warehouse lights flickered on and provided a dimly lit ambiance.

Roy squinted. “Yeah...I think we were better off without the lights.” A shimmering emerald-green helmet adorned the yellow giant’s head, who stood well over eight feet. The police officers were taken aback by the bizarre appearance of their target.

Henry went slack-jawed as he stared at the giant, more confused than anything. “What—
is he
?”

“You know this monstrosity, Varick?” Laura questioned.

“Yeah. Gregory Pike, one of Scorcher’s grunts. I’ve tangled with him a few times.”

“Well, he is one big freakin’ grunt,” Roy muttered.

Gregory Pike began to laugh in loud bellowing heaves. “And you brought friends along.” He began to advance.

“I said stay where you are!” Laura ordered once more. “We’ll open fire!”

“Really?” Pike smiled. “Just met and already trying to dominate. You stupid girl.” He stepped forward.

“Get out
now
!” Varick yelled.

Laura fired. A single shot struck Pike’s lower abdomen. Pike staggered, taking two steps back. The bullet itself bounced off the flexible protective vest Pike was wearing. The dark-green vest glimmered for an instant where the bullet had struck. Gregory Pike looked directly at Laura and let out a low growl.
He charged
.

Pike shielded his face with his gauntlets as Roy and Henry shot at him. The bullets simply bounced off his chest while Pike closed in. Varick pushed all three officers to the ground as Pike swung his tree-like arm at the lot of them. Varick sprang to his feet. One punch. Two punches. Three solid punches to Pike’s gut, who grunted in pain. Pike aimed a boot at Varick and attempted to soccer kick him in the face. Varick jumped on Pike’s boot in mid strike, using the force of the kick as a springboard, which sent Varick straight up to eye level with Pike. Another punch. This time, right through the open face in Pike’s helmet. “Argh! Little runt!” Varick’s fist had landed square on Pike’s nose. Pike held his face and eyed Varick with mounting anger.

“Why are you all still here?!” Varick demanded. “I can handle this!” Varick dropped to the ground to avoid a fist, then, locking both hands together, smashed Pike across the knee cap. The three officers exchanged glances, then cautiously backed away from the fight to spectate.

Varick continued to evade Pike’s attacks and follow up with counter-strikes. Pike snarled like a wild beast, quickly losing his patience. “I’m going to
break you
,
Varick.”

“You’ll need to hit me first to do any breaking,” Varick gloated. “You may be strong, but you’re still as slow and stupid as ever.” In truth, Pike was quite fast for his size, but Varick was simply faster. He was faring well for the moment, but in the back of Varick’s mind, he was hoping Bruce would show up to lend a hand.

The three detectives were poised at the side door they came in from, a safe distance from the fight. Roy scratched his head. “So, what now?”

Laura watched in amazement while Varick continued to hold his own against the giant known as Gregory Pike. “We call for backup.”

***

10:20 a.m.

Santos stepped onto the warehouse lot. He pulled his coat tight around his neck as a gust of cold wind passed.
Looks like this is the place.
He surveyed the perimeter: it seemed deserted. On the alert for any activity, he cautiously approached the building and peered through a window. Santos’ eyes grew
wide as he gazed upon the monstrous outline of a figure inside. He rushed to the side entrance and yanked the door open. He was greeted by two guns in his face. Santos immediately put both hands up.
 

“Hold it right there!” Laura ordered.

“Who are you?” Henry questioned.

Roy stepped in front of Henry and Laura. “Easy now, this is Santos. He’s a friend.”

Santos smiled. “Very nice to meet you both. You two seem like charming enough people…” He slowly placed his hands on Henry and Laura’s guns and gently directed the barrels away from his face.

“Did Bruce come with you?” Roy asked.

“Unfortunately not. You’re stuck with the B-team.” Santos’ attention was drawn to Varick and the giant, who were fighting ferociously. “So, anyone care to explain what this is?”

Roy shrugged. “Apparently a buddy of Varick’s. Of course, we were fully ready to mop the floor with the guy, but Varick wanted to handle it himself, so who are we to tell him no?” Santos flashed a quick grin, then proceeded to walk towards the action.

Varick sidestepped a massive swing from Pike, who smashed the shelf directly behind him. The metal racking bent and slowly tipped over and crashed to the floor. Mechanical parts that the shelf once held were strewn out across the warehouse. A loud whistle drew Varick’s attention. He looked over to see Santos waving at him. “Need a hand?”

“What are you doing here?!” Varick barked. “Where’s Bruce?” Another swing from Pike, another dodge—this one was a hairline from hitting.

“Hey, watch yourself, Varick; he looks pretty mean!”

“Don’t you get involved in this!” Varick spat. “Stay the hell back!” The split-second distraction was enough. Varick turned to see the fist coming and instantly brought his hands down to protect his body. The force of the impact on Varick’s left arm drove his own elbow into his ribs and sent him crashing into shelving. He was lying on the cold floor in incredible pain. His head was reeling and his entire left arm had gone numb. Varick felt his side for damage with his right hand:
Two rib fractures at least. Maybe three.
 

Gregory Pike walked towards Varick triumphantly. “Game’s over.” Suddenly, there was another loud whistle. Pike turned to face Santos.

“Stay where you are, monster.” Santos’ hand was outstretched and aimed directly at Pike.

Gregory Pike smiled. “Make me.”

Santos’ hand began to glow. Particles of light appeared to be collecting around his fingers. Brighter and brighter—until his entire hand appeared to be encased in a glowing ball of light. But Pike was not the least bit perturbed. Still smiling, Pike sidestepped towards Varick, with his eyes focused on Santos—as if daring Santos to stop him.

Varick gasped as he struggled to get to his feet. “Santos...don’t. You can’t...”

Santos’ forearm shot back. A ball of bright white energy discharged from his palm and struck Pike in the chest and engulfed him. Henry, Roy, and Laura stared at Santos, awestruck. Laura could not believe what she had just witnessed. “I’ve heard about this kind of phenomenon...energy field manipulation...”

“But to see it first hand...” Henry continued, finishing her thought.

Roy scratched his head. “Yeah...that’s really messed up. Super queer.”

Santos turned to the three officers and flashed them an ‘A-ok’ with his hand. Santos’ smile vanished when he heard a dull laugh. Pike was still standing tall, in perfect health.

Varick groaned. “His armor...it absorbs that crap...”

“Well, that’s not good,” Santos muttered.

“Idiot!” Varick spat. “You just made him stronger!”

Pike laughed; his chest armor was glowing now. He booted the twenty-foot-high metal pallet racking and watched gleefully as it tipped over and pallets stocked with machine parts rained down. Mustering all of his strength, Varick got to his feet and ran to evade the falling shelf. The pallet racking smashed onto the floor with a thunderous crash that echoed across the warehouse. Santos charged at Pike.

“Stay back!” Varick roared. “I can handle this!”

Santos stopped. “Are you sure?”

“You’ve helped enough!”

Santos shrugged. “Alright, if you say so.”

Varick’s back was against the wall. He watched intensely as Pike advanced on him; his gauntlet was surging with energy. As Pike approached, he let out a rumbling laugh. “You should’ve got your buddy’s help. You’re gonna need all the help you can get.”

Varick held his side in pain and was breathing heavy. Despite his injuries, Varick gritted his teeth and firmly stood his ground. He waved Pike forward. “Let’s see what you got, Flounder.”

Pike lunged and threw a massive hook at Varick. His punch went right through the warehouse wall as Varick rolled under Pike’s swinging arm and out of harm’s way. Varick picked up a wooden skid that had fallen off the racking and smashed it on Pike’s back, where it splintered and broke. Pike howled in rage. He extracted his fist from the concrete wall and turned to face Varick. Next up: A crate full of nuts and bolts. Varick lifted the crate high over his head and heaved it with all of his strength. The crate blew up on Pike’s face and showered him with metal. The impact caused Pike to stagger. He lost his footing on the metal parts littering the floor and fell. Gregory Pike was now on his back, looking up at the ceiling rafters in quiet brooding. He placed a hand on his face and felt bruises. Pike examined his gauntlet: it was now speckled with his own blood. “Well, now you’ve gone and done it, you annoying little
bastard
.” Pike got to his feet, looking livid. Varick raised his fists in an attack stance, but the moment he did, his side flared up with pain. Varick took a step back.