Ch.13
A moment later, footsteps started moving towards the door between the two areas. “Oh, fuck, Dimi!” a voice said as he saw Dimi’s body lying there, a huge gaping hole in the back of his head.
Blond Ex-Pretty Boy dashed into the room, and 4 people followed him. 2 people moved towards the front door, instead.
The last one through got grabbed by an arm as he ran by me, and was shoulder tossed headfirst into the concrete floor. They had all provoked attacks of opportunity by running through my threatened squares, but I waited until the last one, and took advantage of my surprise round to make a trip attack – yes, throws also fall under the very broad umbrella of ‘trip attacks’.
The impact had probably killed him, but I took my Vicious Stomp anyway.
The crunching sound of his skull being smashed in left little doubt he was VERY dead.
The four other men that had run past me spun at the sound and began to reach for their firearms. They were much less than sixty feet away, the distance I could move in a single round, all standing in a convenient circle so they would all provoke attacks of opportunity when they attacked a combatant in melee range of them with their ranged weapons.
Plus, with my +8 Initiative modifier, it was incredibly unlikely any of them would be able to go before me... not that it would matter if they did. My AC was still 27, and they probably didn’t have more than a +3 or a +4 attack bonus, and that was only if they had a really high Dex. Having a Dexterity higher than a 14 or 15 would be shocking from mooks like them, to be honest!
But yeah, that’s right, using a ranged attack while within melee range of an opponent provokes an attack of opportunity! Of course, there were Feats you could take to get around that, but you’d need to be at least 4th level to have them, and I didn’t think any of these guys were that cool by a long shot!
Plus, I had four attacks of opportunity available now that I had Combat Reflexes, and I was planning to use them all!
Right before my Pommel Smash maneuver from Broken Chains hit the Blond Ex-Pretty Boy, I yelled, “Surprise, mother fucker!” I probably shouldn’t have said that, but I just couldn’t help myself!
He never even saw it coming, which is the whole point of the move; it leaves you flat footed. The memory of him standing over me grinning down at me while he shot me time after time meant that he was number one on the list of people that needed to get put DOWN, right here and right now!
My elbow lashed out, made able to cut like an axe blade by Versatile Unarmed Strike (VUA), and I got a crit! My elbow smash hit him in the solar plexus and its force exploded out of his back, taking his lungs, heart, and a chunk of his spine with it on the way out!
He went down like a bitch, and I spared him no more time than I had Dimi... because I was going to get them ALL!
Cleave let me hit Other Guy, next. Unfortunately, the punch I hit him with wasn’t quite enough to put him down, and I couldn’t use Cleaving Finish on Other Guy, so I lashed out with a kick at a different mob goon, virtually decapitating him with another big hit!
There were only two of them left, including Other Guy, who was genuinely losing his shit! “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!?” the Other Guy screamed.
I couldn’t help but be melodramatic despite how corny I knew I sounded. “Vengeance. Justice. Your evil life’s worth of bad Karma, coming home to roost. Now, be good little goons and go DOWN!” My Intimidate check was at a +13, and I was getting bonuses for slaughtering their buddies so effortlessly, probably another +2 or +3. The DC of an Intimidate check was 10 + target’s level + their Wisdom modifier... so I was probably looking at needing to hit a 14 or 15 at most?
With the circumstance bonus from killing their friends, I made that without even rolling the dice. They were suddenly, LITERALLY, quaking in their boots! They were now Shaken, a minor Fear status effect giving them a –2 on basically every kind of roll there was. One of them pissed themselves, and I’m almost positive it was Other Guy.
From the point of view of combat, it really didn’t matter much. There was almost no way they could hit me, anyway... but it gave me a grim sense of satisfaction that made it VERY worthwhile!
Both of them did the only thing they really COULD do. They pointed their pistols at me and opened fire... which, of course, provoked more attacks of opportunity from me.
Poor bastards had basically no chance at all of hitting a 27 AC. I was shocked, though, when I actually missed on my first attack of opportunity at Other Guy as he jumped back when I took a swing at him, but the second one landed on the other mob goon with another big hit, and he died immediately. One of my normal hits can do upwards of thirty points of damage; that’s almost enough to one-shot a normal ogre!
No way one of these mob goons can take that kind of damage!
Other Guy died a moment later, Cleaving Finish from killing the other mook giving me yet another free attack at him. Meanwhile, the two guys who’d headed towards the front of the building had already gotten into a car, and it sounded like they were tearing away at top speed!
Dammit! Two of them got away! Shit, I might be able to catch them if I go after them right now! No. Ray paused and took a deep breath. Jojo is more important.
Around a minute had passed since I’d ambushed Dimi.
----------------
A shadow seemed to detach itself from the darkness around him, and Jojo saw Ray step into the dim light near where he had been huddling up, hiding from the Russian gangsters.
Jojo’s mind instantly rejected the possibility that this was actually Ray. This... thing was covered in gore from head to toe, blood and bits of bone and viscera all over him.
This... this, THING looked more like the villain from a Slasher flick than the kid that had been his babysitter when he was growing up.
“How are you feeling, Jojo? You look beat up, but other than maybe a few busted ribs, nothing looks permanent or super dangerous.”
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
It sounds just like Ray. What the hell did you do, man? Jojo was so terrified; it took him a few seconds to say something! “Uh, I think I’m ok. Are you ok?”
“Me? I’m fine. Those assholes couldn’t lay a hand on me.” Grimdark Maybe-Ray responded.
“Uh, you know you're covered in blood and... bits, right?” Jojo asked. It seemed like an obvious question, but if this WAS Ray, maybe he didn’t realize it?
“What?” Grimdark Maybe-Ray checked himself and realized that he was, indeed, covered almost from head to toe in blood spatter and gore.
Something in the grim figure changed, and Ray shook his head like a dog trying to get dry. “Well, shit! I... huh? How did I not realize that?” His attention shifted back to Jojo. “Thanks, bud, I totally would have climbed into the Blazer like this!”
Jojo almost collapsed in relief. For the first time, this black clad, gore covered, grimdark avenger of the night sounded like the boy who had babysat him for years, had introduced him, his siblings, and his cousins to L&L and other tabletop RPGs... “What... what happened, Ray?”
Ray held up a finger. “In a second. Did you call 911 and Sensei?”
Jojo shook his head. “I couldn’t. No cell reception.” he said, holding up his phone showing it was getting no bars. Of course, he was also squatting inside of a rusty, old shipping container, with both ends open.
How did he even find me here? I was being completely quiet; he shouldn’t have been able to see me? This is seriously freaking me out.
“Did you try it outside of the shipping container?” Ray asked him.
Shit, I totally didn’t. Jojo thought to himself. “Uh, no. Sorry man.”
Ray waved him off. “It's probably for the better. Makes getting out of here clean easier. Here’s what’s gonna happen. My gym bag with a change of clothes is in my car. We’re gonna go get them and the towel I keep in the back seat and bring them here. I’m gonna change clothes, then we’re gonna siphon some gas out of my gas tank, I’m gonna bust up a few pieces of wood from a couple of these pallets, then were gonna soak all the clothes I’m wearing down with the gas in one of these empty barrels and light it all on fire!”
Jojo couldn’t help but grin. That was more like the Ray he’d grown up with; barbecues, campfires... heck, just fires in the back yard fire pit were all things they’d done dozens of times together with him, his siblings, and his cousins. There was just something about fire that put a smile on most guys’ faces.
Most men just liked burning shit. Well, at least I like burning shit! He thought with a little chuckle. Though I need to be carefol who I say that to. Don’t want anyone to think I’m a pyromaniac!
A few minutes later, Jojo was back and he’d brought Ray’s first aid kit, too, Ray had wanted the hydrogen peroxide. He said that it would break down some of the chemicals in the blood he’d gotten on him despite the outer layer of clothes he’d worn, hopefully making it difficult or impossible to get DNA from.
The whole time Jojo was helping Ray, and it WAS Ray under all those bloody clothes, he couldn’t help but be curious about where it had all come from.
Did Ray really kill all of those Russian mobsters by himself? How? There’s just no way he did it with his bare hands. I mean, come on! That’s impossible! They all had guns! Kajukenbo Karate has more than a few killing techniques, but you’d have to have something like an aluminum baseball bat, or a BIG knife, maybe even an axe to get this much blood on yourself...
Ray refused to talk to him about it, though. Which is probably smart. If he did kill them, the less I know the better, right?
It still irked him. He wanted to know, dammit!
A little while later, Ray was as clean as they could get him, and any blood they’d found had gotten hydrogen peroxide applied.
It was time, so Jojo called his grandpa.
“Jojo? Where the hell are you boy? Do you have any idea what time it is? We’ve all been worried sick about you!” Grandpa Kai sounded pissed.
“Uh, it’s a long story. First off, I’m ok. Uh, second? Those Russian gangsters kidnapped me. I got free, and I’m safe. Can you come get me. Bring, like, everyone?” Jojo texted Kai the address he was at.
Kai was silent on the other end for a few seconds. “Alright, I’ll round up your uncles.” His voice sounded like ice. Jojo had rarely heard his Grandpa Kai sound like he was that mad. “We’re coming, Jojo. We’ll be there as soon as we can. You stay safe and call right away if anything changes!”
--------------------
Sensei Kai sounded PISSED. Not that I expected anything else, really. He was probably gonna show up with twenty or so members of the Hale family, all armed to the teeth, which was a good thing as far as I’m concerned. Kai may have said, and even intended, to only bring Jojo’s parents, uncles, and adult male cousins, but I knew better.
The Hale family women were no wilting flowers. All of them had Kajukenbo belt rankings, and most of them were black belts! Kai Hale had the same rules for family for rank advancement that he had for everyone else, too... so every last one of them had EARNED their Dans – their black belt rankings!
While only a couple of the women had the military experience that almost all of the Hale men had, all of them could shoot, and had been trained how to by their husbands, uncles, fathers, and brothers. There was no way in Hell the Hale women were gonna stay home while something like this went down!
Also, there was no way to know if the two who got away were going to come back with reinforcements. It seemed unlikely, but the rest of what had happened today felt even LESS likely than that, so...
I did try to warn Blond Ex-Pretty Boy and Dimi back then that they didn’t want a piece of the Hale family...
It didn’t really matter, though. About forty minutes later, I’d spotted a convoy of approaching sets of headlights in the distance. I’d dumped more of the wood that I’d gotten from breaking up another wooden pallet and some more siphoned gas on the fire made partly from my blood-stained clothes a few times, now. A slip up from something so simple as not thoroughly burning everything would be incredibly dumb at this point.
I faded into the shadows as the convoy of Hale vehicles approached, quickly moving to a distance where a normal human probably wouldn’t be able to see me, but I’d still be able to see and hear them perfectly well. I broke line of sight, too and was prepared to use Qi Cloak if I needed to, since I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if some of the Hale’s had night amplification goggles or at least scopes on their rifles.
It's probably better if most of them don’t know I was here.
As the Hale family vehicles pulled up, they automatically formed a cordon with their trucks and SUVs, and the men and women hopped out and immediately started establishing a perimeter. Then they started scouting the area in groups.
Whaddaya know? It’s like they were all professional soldiers at one point... or they were married or otherwise related to one!
Absolutely everyone was loaded for bear. Everyone was packing at LEAST two firearms, one longarm and one sidearm. AR-15s and pump action shotguns were the most common longarms, but there were a couple AKs, and even a few high-caliber hunting rifles – handled by the men I knew to be the best long-distance shots among the Hales.
I’ve certainly gone shooting with the whole family often enough to know who’s who as far as that kind of stuff!
Jojo’s parents and Kai went straight for him. Kai and Jojo’s dad, Joey, both looked furious AND relieved while his mom, Alise, was in full momma bear mode.
They all grabbed him in a huge hug.
Congratulations! For rescuing Jojo Hale from certain death, and punishing most of the wicked men involved, you have been rewarded bonus Records!
You have gained 1 Hero Point.
You have gained a +2 un-typed bonus to Luck, representing positive Karma.
What the heck? Is that a quest reward? Holy crap! I can get quest rewards in the real world?
After a few seconds, Kai started questioning Jojo. “What the hell happened, Jojo?”
Jojo grimaced. “Uh, it’s a long story, grampa, but I’ll give you the short version. I got jumped walking home from school. A white van pulled up next to me, four dudes jumped out, and one of them hit me with a taser. Next thing I knew, I was getting dragged into that warehouse over there,” he pointed at the one I’d found him in, “by a bunch of big white guys with Russian accents.”
Kai looked even angrier, if that was possible. With a few quick hand gestures and a whistle, he directed some of the family members to go check the warehouse. “What then?”
Jojo hesitated. “They spent a lot of time beating me up, for no reason other than Dimi wanted them to. Georgy, Tark, and Brucie were there, too, that's the three others from the day at the dojo, with a few other guys I’d never seen before. After a while, they left me alone and someone snuck in and got me out.”
“Who?” Kai, Joey, and Alise all asked at once.
Jojo winced. “He told me that I could only tell Grampa Kai.”
Jojo’s parents didn’t look happy at that, but Kai looked thoughtful. He gestured the two of them away. Alise hugged Jojo one more time, gave him a kiss on the cheek and both his parents walked thirty feet or so away.
Kai looked back at Jojo. “Ok. Who was it?”
Jojo grinned, then spoke just above a whisper. “It was Ray, grampa!” Kai’s face froze, then he sighed.
“That’s...” Kai grimaced, sadness and pain veiling his eyes. “That’s probably not possible, kiddo. The police were at Ray’s place just over an hour ago. They got reports of a ton of gunfire, like a huge firefight had taken place. The front room of his house and just outside his front door was covered in spent shell casings, and there were tons of bullets and pellets from double-aught buckshot... and too much blood for anyone to survive losing.”
Jojo shook his head. “I don’t know who that was, then, but Ray was JUST HERE. He said that he needed to leave so that the family would have plausible deniability. He told me he left his cell phone at home, in his wall safe, so he couldn’t be tracked that way when he came here. His Blazer is parked in the parking lot less than two blocks from here! Gas I helped him siphoned from it is how we started that fire!” he said, pointing at the barrel burning merrily away.
About then, a few men came out of the warehouse where Jojo had been held, looking really grim. One of them, Jojo’s uncle Teo, trotted over to Kai. “Dad, there’s some fucked-up shit in there. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Kai raised an eyebrow. His son Teo had been in the Gulf War and seen some shit working as a contractor afterwards, too.
Teo continued. “Half of it looks like a bear did it. The other half looks like someone with an axe. One guy had a hole punched clear through his chest, in what looks like a single blow, the size of a football!”
How the hell did Ray do that? Jojo thought, wincing at the description of the carnage, despite him knowing that it had to be bad from how much blood was on Ray.
Kai looked at the barrel full of wood still burning. “That’s not to keep you warm, is it Jojo?” he asked, nodding towards the barrel with a fire in it.
Jojo shook his head. “No, sir. Uh, HE said he needed to burn his clothes. He was pretty much covered in blood and gore.”
Kai nodded, even as Teo looked intrigued.
“Make sure no one leaves fingerprints or DNA in there, Teo.” Kai told him.
Teo looked insulted, then snorted. “First thing I told ‘em when we went in. What’s next?”
“What’s next is most of you roll out, and I call an old friend who’s in town on related business.” Kai said.